Carefully, Levi pushed the final door open. The hinges swung smoothly, perfectly oiled. It weighed heavy in his hand, made of solid, good wood, not particle board or hollow pasteboard, and smelled of cedar. Levi resisted the urge to click his tongue, shaking his head at the effort put into the door. Typical Alpha, to worry about something as trite as a door.

On the other side, lush carpet greeted him, making a tasteful cream ocean of the floor. He stepped gently onto it, peeking around the door at the room beyond.

At the far end of the room, a bed stood atop a plinth. Modern and gorgeous, it boasted rumpled sheets and a fluffy matching crème comforter. A woven goldenrod blanket with tassels laid in a pile at the foot of the bed.

“Whoops, did I wake you?” Levi muttered to himself.

“It’s okay, babe,” a sleepy voice murmured back.

Levi stiffened. His eyes widened.

“Wha’ you… doin… come back…” A yawn echoed through the room.

Clearing his throat, Levi carefully closed the door. He stood on his tiptoes, taking in which way the body faced, and walked closer, sitting down on the opposite side of the bed. He glanced over at brown hair and a bare back, curves vanishing attractively into the sheets. Quietly, he cleared his throat, then replied in a deep voice, “Not yet, babe. I just came back for a second. Had to… get something.”

The woman half-turned, her eyes shut, and gave him a sleepy smile. “Go ‘n… save the worl’, babe.”

Holy shit, it’s Rainer Drift! World famous pop star! That woman Jackof is creepily obsessed with! That lady whose concert got attacked! Right here, in the flesh! The rumors were true, she and Alpha are dating! God, I could make so much money with this scoop!

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He reached out and patted her on the shoulder. Rainer Drift giggled quietly and snuggled into the bed. In a moment, she began snoring, drifting back into a deep sleep.

Letting out a breath, Levi stood and backed quietly away, wary of so much as stepping wrong on the deep carpet. Only when he’d retreated out of sight of the bed’s surface, hidden once more behind pillowy clouds of comforter, did he relax. Good thing I know Alpha pretty well, or else I would’ve got got there. Damn! I should’ve known. Though honestly, I’m surprised. That paranoid bastard has a girlfriend?

Rainer Drift. Rainer Drift! Damn, man. She’s half your age. If not less! Yikes, dude, yikes!

Shaking his head at the bed, Levi walked along the wall, softening his footsteps, though the plush carpet did most of the work. He felt along the grain of the wall, searching for something, anything. A line. A seam. A handle. Any sort of aberration that might indicate a hidden door.

As he walked, he slowly approached a large portrait of Alpha, hung on the wall. A familiar handsome face with its usual swoop of brown hair gazed down at him, a small smile on his face, as though he shared a joke with the portraits’ viewers. Levi looked at it, snorting under his breath. It couldn’t be that obvious, right? Certainly not. A portrait? It was far too cliché.

He reached under the portrait, and his fingers found a switch.

“Well, no one ever called Alpha inventive,” he mouthed to himself silently, flicking the switch.

The wall beside the portrait rumbled, shaking slightly, then retreated up into the ceiling. On the other side, a dark, narrow hallway awaited, the walls, floor, and ceiling clad in stainless steel. It wrapped around the apartment and vanished, climbing slowly upwards.

Levi took a deep breath, eyeing the metal cocoon he’d be walking into. His skin crawled, the discomfort of walking into an obvious death trap crawling over him like a thousand ants. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and jumped in place, hyping himself up, then carefully, quietly, stepped inside.

Let’s see what Alpha’s hiding.