CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The next morning, Bree rested the side of her face on Alex’s kitchen table and groaned. A drumbeat seemed to pound on her temples, and every little noise just made the pounding worse. Hello, hangover, my dear old friend.

The coffee hadn’t helped much. Nor had the plate of eggs, bacon, and sausages that Alex—who looked close to laughing—made her.

She’d have snarled at him, but he’d been great last night. The moment she’d let Renee inside, he’d given Bree a quick kiss and then disappeared into the bedroom to give the two females privacy. When Bree had later joined him in bed, where he’d been watching something on his tablet, he hadn’t complained that he’d been alone for hours. He’d just stripped her naked and set out to investigate just how good drunk-sex-with-Bree would be.

She’d thought it was pretty damn fabulous.

When she’d tried to apologize for leaving him alone for so long, he’d put a finger to her lips and said, “This is what you do—I get it, I don’t resent it. I’ll be here when you need me to be, and I’ll be out of your way when you don’t.”

He could be ace at times. It had settled something in her cat to know he accepted the omega side of her nature and all that came with it.

Four loud bangs seemed to rattle the very walls of the building and reverberate through her poor, poor head. Bree squeezed her eyes tighter shut. “Are we being bombed?”

“No,” said Alex, a vein of humor in his voice. “Someone’s at the door.”

“Bleh.” She winced as the legs of his chair scraped along the floor. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard.

“I’ll get it.” Fingers danced over the side of her neck as he disappeared from the room. He didn’t make a sound as he walked, bless his beautiful soul.

Hinges creaked, and then … “Good morning, Alex. I’m here for Bree.” Dani.

Bree groaned. Hell. She weakly lifted her head just as her primary swanned into the kitchen looking as perfectly groomed as always. Her cat sat up, rumbling a put-out growl.

“Morning,” Bree mumbled when what she really wanted to do was sharpen her claws on the bitch’s face.

Dani took one look at her and sighed, all superiority. “I’ll bet you’re promising yourself that you’ll never drink again, aren’t you?”

Bracing her elbow on the table, Bree rested her chin on her hand. “I try not to lie to myself.”

Dani looked at Alex, who was leaning against the countertop. “Could you leave Bree and I alone for a minute so we can talk in private?”

“No,” he said. Ah, the wolverine tone had returned.

The primary sighed. “I realize this is your home, Alex. But, with all due respect, this is omega business.”

“Don’t care. You want to talk to Bree, get it done. I’m not a fan of having people in my apartment who I don’t like or respect.”

Bree inwardly winced. “Mean,” she mouthed at him. He only shrugged.

Twin dots of red stained Dani’s cheekbones. “That was uncalled for. But since I don’t have much regard for you either, I won’t—”

“Talk or leave,” he said.

Her mouth tightening, Dani turned to Bree and folded her arms across her chest. “I heard Renee came here last night. How is she doing?”

“About as well as anyone who’s in mourning can be expected to be.” As Renee had said she didn’t mind if Bree shared the session with the other omegas, Bree gave the primary a quick rundown of it.

Sighing, Dani shook her head. “It’s all just so devastating. I’m making the arrangements for Benny and Crawford’s memorial. It’ll be held in two days. I don’t suppose Renee told you where she and Benny’s parents want his ashes scattered, did she?”

Bree shook her head. Pallas cats didn’t bury their dead, they cremated the bodies—it was a centuries-old tradition for their kind. “If you’d come twenty minutes earlier, you could have asked her yourself.”

Dani stilled. “She stayed over? Oh God, please tell me she’s not as hungover as you.”

“Well …”

Dani’s mouth dropped open. “Jesus, Bree, she came here for help with her grief, and you got her blind drunk instead?”

“Not blind drunk. We had a little buzz going on, that’s all.” They’d downed a shot each time they thought of a real good memory about Benny; they’d drank to what a good, albeit damaged, guy he’d been. “We kicked back with a movie and some munchies. She fell asleep at some point, so I set her up in Alex’s spare bedroom to sleep it off.”

Dani shook her head. “I cannot believe you, Bree.”

“Is it so wrong that she and I dealt with her grief with laughter more than tears? That we spent a night celebrating his life rather than simply mourning his death?”

“Grief is a process. You can’t deal with it by extracting that emotion.”

“I didn’t extract her grief, I just helped ease it in a different way than you would have done. But let’s be honest, you’ll always find fault in whatever approach I take.” Bree gave her a brittle smile. “Maybe you can ask Renee if she’d like to make an official complaint about me—that would sure help you build your bullshit case, wouldn’t it?”

“There is no case, you’re being paranoid.”

“No, I’m not. You’d like me out of the way, and you want people to believe I’m too unstable to be primary—then they won’t care that you’re less powerful than me, will they?”

“You’re twisting things.”

“I’m calling you on your bullshit. You really need to reconsider whether it’s wise to go down this path. You don’t want to push me any harder than you already have.”

Dani’s eyes flared. “Is that a threat?”

“It’s advice. I’d take it, if I were you. Because if it comes to a battle between you and me, I’ll win. And we both know it.”

“You think winning a battle would be enough to make you primary?” Dani shook her head. “You won’t take this position from me. Your omega abilities might be growing in strength, but strength isn’t enough. You lack every quality a primary needs. Hell, you lack most of the qualities a standard omega needs to—”

“Okay, you’re done.” Alex pushed away from the counter. “Go.”

Dani’s spine snapped straight. “I’m talking to Bree.”

“You’re talking down to Bree. And I don’t fucking like it. I wouldn’t let anyone else talk to my woman like that. You don’t get a free pass just because you’re the primary omega. So either get out, or I’ll put you out.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“What, you think your status in the pride will hold me back? That it protects you somehow? You couldn’t be more wrong. Especially since it’s a status that no longer rightfully belongs to you—something you’ll have to make your peace with sooner or later. Now get the fuck out of my apartment.”

Bree squeezed one eye shut, expecting Dani to explode, but the primary didn’t. In fact, Dani flicked her gaze to the wall as she drew in a breath. It was almost like she wasn’t just taking in air, she was sucking in all her emotions. A mask of cold calm fell over her face as she exhaled. Wow, impressive.

Lifting her chin, Dani pressed her lips together and stiffly straightened her blouse. “We’ll talk another time, Bree,” she said, a hard edge to otherwise cool words. She didn’t storm out, she elegantly strolled out of the room at a leisurely pace—didn’t even slam the front door shut behind her when she left.

Bree scrubbed a hand down her face. “Such an awesome start to the morning. Hopefully she’ll take my advice and back off.”

“You know better than that,” he said.

“I can hope, though, can’t I?”

He stroked a hand over her hair. “Yeah, you can hope.” His cell began chiming. He grabbed it from the kitchen counter and swiped his thumb over the screen. “Yes?” he answered.

She almost snorted. He didn’t even do “hellos” when taking a phone call.

“All right, I’ll be there.” Alex’s whole body went rigid. “You are shitting me?” He cursed. There was a long pause, and then his eyes flicked to Bree. “Yeah, I’ll tell her.” He rang off, his jaw hard.

She stood. “What’s wrong?”

“Vinnie went to see Mateo, intending to banish the little fucker from the pride.”

The Alpha had ripped her a new asshole over the phone last night when she’d told him what Mateo had done, insisting she should have reported it immediately. “And?”

“And he’s gone. There were no signs of a struggle, but he didn’t pack any of his stuff. His cell phone was smashed to pieces.”

“Just like with Drina,” Bree whispered, her stomach bottoming out.

Alex nodded. “People are already speculating that Paxton took him. They don’t know what Mateo did to you, but they know he must have upset you badly. Plus, many saw him barge into your house after the polar bear clusterfuck—they’re figuring that Paxton didn’t like it much and decided to get rid of him.”

“Which is highly possible.” She rubbed a hand down her face. “I’m pissed at Mateo, Alex, so damn pissed. But I wouldn’t want him in the hands of someone like Paxton.”

Alex palmed the back of her head. “We don’t know for sure that Paxton took him.”

“But you think he did, don’t you?”

“There’s a chance Mateo ran off but, yeah, I think he was taken. I can’t think of anyone other than Paxton who’d want to get ahold of him. Calvin was being watched, as usual. His guards say he hasn’t left his apartment since yesterday morning.”

She grabbed onto the back of a chair. “I’m so worried that he might try to take you.”

“I’m with you all the time, and you’re too closely guarded. Paxton will wait rather than risk being seen.”

She nodded. “He’s incredibly patient like that.”

“Vinnie also wanted me to tell you that he’s been given another tip for the hyena’s location. I’m going with him to check it out. We’ll be leaving in an hour or so.”

Bree flexed her fingers. “I hate staying behind while you guys all scout places.”

Alex could totally understand that, because he’d feel the same way in her position. “I know you do, but—”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s best if I stay close to the pride.”

Alex cupped the side of her neck. Her frustration was written all over her face. “I get why you and your cat are chafing at the bit, but the hyenas mean business.”

“I’m not pissed that Vinnie wants me to stay close to the pride, I’m pissed that I’m in this situation. I’m pissed that you were shot six times because those assholes just won’t give up. Personally, I think the hyenas will make the next move themselves. The agency failed, the ex-cop failed, and the polar bears failed. In Dale Bray’s position, I’d be thinking it was time to take care of the matter myself.”

And she didn’t sound as though that worried her. In fact, she sounded as if she’d welcome it. Alex narrowed his eyes. “You want them to come for you, don’t you?”

“I want to make them pay for what happened to you. I’m never going to get the image of you bleeding all over the place out of my head.”

His chest tightened. “Just like I’ll never forget seeing your drugged cat getting dragged along the ground or trapped in a cage. They will pay for what they did, Bree.”

“Damn fucking straight,” she agreed, a deep growl in her voice that came from her cat. Alex knew that she and her feline would kill the hyenas without a second’s hesitation if the opportunity presented itself.

The assholes had made a mistake by fucking with a pallas cat. Her kind were vengeful shits. Really, the hyenas were walking dead men. They just didn’t seem to know it.

“Are you going to eat that?”

Bree blinked. Realizing she’d been staring at the biscotti for a good five minutes, she slid the plate across the bistro table to Elle. “Have it if you want it.”

Elle pressed her lips together. “I don’t know why you won’t let me kill the bitch.”

Bree had brought her friend up to speed on the “Dani being a skank” situation and, yeah, the redhead was livid. “If anyone’s going to have that pleasure, it’ll be me.”

“Fine, be mean. But at least stop thinking about her.”

“I’m actually not. I’m sitting here doing the very thing I find myself doing often these days—trying to piece together everything that’s been happening. I’m having zero luck with that, and it’s getting to me.” Bree lifted her hot cardboard cup, and the steam feathered over her face. “The shit with Dani just makes it worse.”

She’d figured some retail therapy might help so, about half an hour after Alex left to check out Vinnie’s recent tip, she’d called Elle and talked her into coming along to Little Shop of Books—the pride’s very own bookstore.

A good story never failed to pull Bree in, which was what she needed—an escape. If that was cowardly, she didn’t care. Everyone needed an escape sometimes. Some used drugs or alcohol. She used books, and anyone who thought that was childish could go fuck themselves with a Tiki torch.

Although the enforcers were keeping a close watch on Bree, Alex wouldn’t like that she’d left the safety of his apartment. Tough shit. While she was smack bam in the middle of her pride’s “street” surrounded by her pride mates, she was about as safe as she could be.

Walking around the store had been somewhat relaxing. At first. But then Bree had felt eyes on her. She’d sensed her prides mates watching her, heard them whispering—could Paxton have come back to claim her? Could Bree have been in contact with him all these years? Was it only a matter of time before the hyenas got to her?

Some had approached and ask how she and Alex were doing. Others had wanted to know if she’d really moved into his apartment, or if she truly believed that Paxton was back.

Normally, Bree would buy a bunch of books, but today she’d wanted to escape the stares and questions, so she’d chosen just one novel and then headed straight to the check-out. Once she’d paid for the book, she and Elle went to the in-store coffeehouse. Being able to just sit at a table while smelling both coffee beans and books—two of her favorite scents—was comforting all by itself. Usually. But not while eyes were again fixed on her.

Elle bit into the biscotti. “Let’s not talk about all the crap going on or you’ll never cheer up. Let’s talk about Alex. What’s it like living with him?”

“Not sure yet. I’ve only slept at his place one night.”

“But I’ll bet it was a damn fine night.”

“It always is with Alex.”

Elle chuckled. “You’re good with moving in with him? This isn’t too fast for you?”

Bree felt her brow crease. “I’m just staying with him temporarily.”

Sighing, Elle leaned back in her chair and shook her head sadly. “Oh, Bree.”

“What? You were there last night; you heard him ask me to stay with him until all this shit has blown over.”

“Look, I love Alex. I do. But I’m not blind to his cunning, unprincipled nature at all. He saw an opportunity, and he leapt on it.”

“Opportunity to do what?”

“To have you live with him, dumbass.”

Bree’s head jerked back. “That would be a big step. I don’t know if he’d be ready for that yet.”

“Tell me, have you had a minute’s peace from him since you two got together? Or has he monopolized your time, ate up your space, meddled in your business, and acted as a shield between you and the world? Wolverines may dawdle as they agonize over a decision. But once they make it, they act fast, and the only speed at which they move is lightning.”

“We’re just going with the flow,” Bree weakly insisted.

“No, he’s let you think that’s the case. Really, he knows exactly what he wants from you, and he’s been working toward getting it.”

Bree set her cup down on the table beside her newly purchased paperback, her eyes narrowed in thought. “He makes me breakfast every morning. Brings me a mug of hot chocolate when I’m reading. Runs me a bath when I’m stressing out. Even does little random things like charge my phone if I forget or buy the brand of coffee I like.”

“Shoehorning his big, bad self into your life so you can’t imagine not having him around. Once all the danger is gone, he’ll ever so casually suggest he move into your place with you. You’ll be so used to having him there every day that you’ll be like, hey, why not? Come on, Bree, it’s Alex. You didn’t honestly think he wouldn’t take the wheel, did you?”

Bree blew out a breath. “I guess I should have anticipated it.”

“It’s good that he’s so focused on you. This tells me he’s serious about you. I like that a lot, because I know how much you care for him. Not gonna deny it, are you?”

“No. I wouldn’t have said yes to giving the relationship a shot if I didn’t care about him.”

“And there you go again thinking you have choices here.” Elle rolled her eyes. “Girl, he wouldn’t have gracefully accepted a no. He would have been all up in your business twenty-four/seven, doing whatever necessary to change your mind.”

“Well, I almost did say no.” Bree danced her fingertips over the smooth jacket of her paperback, tracing the bumpy letters of the title. “Although I’m a little scared that things will go tits up, I don’t hold back out of fear. I want to be happy. Alex is the type of guy who’d do his best to make his woman happy if he was serious about her.”

“I can agree with that. And he is serious about you. Anyone can see that.”

Once they were both done with their coffee and Elle had demolished the biscotti, they headed for the exit, passing bookshelves, the bestseller wall, racks of novelty gifts, and customers browsing or reading. The sight of the kid’s corner made a smile tug at Bree’s mouth, but that smile faltered when she saw Moira heading her way.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” said Elle, moving to Bree’s side.

“I so don’t have the patience for her today.”

Moments later, Moira stopped in front of them, glaring hard at Bree. “Are you still so sure my brother’s dead? Paxton saved you in the woods, Bree. You know it was him. And how do you repay that? By shacking up with someone else. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you’re with Alex. Paxton can do better than a little whore like you.”

“It’s strange but I’m starting to get the feeling that you don’t like me.”

Moira folded her arms. “Admit it, you’re scared that he’s back.”

“Terrified. Truly. My knees are shaking and everything.”

“They should be. He’ll punish both you and Alex for betraying him.” She lifted her shoulders. “I don’t blame you for being scared. I would be too, in your shoes.”

“You know something?” Bree took a step forward. “I hope it is him, Moira. And I hope he comes out into the open and confronts me. Then I can do the very thing I always knew I might have to do one day if he was alive. I can kill him.”

Moira’s eyes blazed. And then her fist came flying at Bree.

Bree whipped up her arm, blocked the blow, and then rammed her forehead into Moira’s nose. Bone cracked. The bitch staggered back a step, gaping in shock, her fingers probing her bloody nose. Bree’s cat peeled back her upper lip in a feral grin.

“You broke my goddamn nose!”

“Don’t,” Bree said when Moira tensed to spring. “I can take you, and we both know it.” Her warning might have been ignored if two enforcers hadn’t then slipped between them, stopping what would have been an ugly fight before it had the chance to start.

One enforcer began leading Moira away, saying he’d take her to Helena, but the dumb female dug in her heels and pointed hard at Bree. “You’ll pay for this, just as you’ll pay for hurting my brother.”

“You don’t care for your brother as much as you like to act,” Bree told her, speaking calmly. “I mean, who wouldn’t resent him? He was the golden boy—he couldn’t do any wrong. There’s you and Calvin, being ‘good’ children, and yet that twisted fuck is somehow your parents’ favorite kid. He’s all your mom ever talks about.

“It must have made you feel like you and Calvin were afterthoughts to her, really. Hell, she paid more attention to me when we were kids than she did to you and Calvin. And I think that’s why you hate me so much. I didn’t just ‘get all the light,’ as you insist on stating. I got the motherly devotion from Bernadette that should have been yours.”

Moira’s eyes flickered. She stared at Bree, looking pissed and … lost. She didn’t say anything more as the enforcers led her away.

“That woman is such a bitch,” said Elle. “I tell ya, Alex is not gonna like this. Good luck keeping him calm when he finds out what just happened.”

It was a mere minute later, as she and Elle were walking back to the apartment building, that Bree’s phone began to chime. She pulled it out of her purse. “It’s Alex. I’m thinking someone already gave him a heads-up about the Moira incident.” Sighing, she swept her thumb across the screen of her cell and answered, “Hello?”

“Tell me I heard wrong and you didn’t just get confronted by Moira,” he growled.

Bree twisted her mouth. “If it makes you feel better about it, I broke her nose.”

It didn’t make him feel better.

Sitting opposite Bree at the kitchen table later that day, Alex squeezed her foot—a foot he’d rested on his thigh when they first settled down to eat dinner. “You’re not giving me money for groceries—end of,” he said.

Bree lifted her brow, a slice of pizza in hand. “Oh, but you were fine with paying for my groceries.” And she wasn’t a fan of hypocrisy. She tried snatching her foot back, but he held it tight.

“That was different.”

“How?”

“It just was.”

“It just was? That’s the best you’ve got?” She bit into her pizza. The wolverine was sent to test her, she was sure of it.

“I was eating more of your food than you were,” Alex reminded her. “You barely make a dent in my supplies, so there’s absolutely no reason for you to pay for groceries.”

“On a side note, it is surprising how well-stocked your cupboards are. Mila once told me they’re always empty.”

“They’re never empty. I just tell her they are to stop her nagging when I raid her pack’s kitchen. Now can we talk about something that doesn’t piss me off? Because I was already pissed when Vinnie’s tip came to nothing. My mood turned even shittier when I realized you were confronted by Moira—that mood isn’t improving.”

“Not my problem, big guy.” She dropped her pizza back in the box and took a swig of her soda … mostly because it was far too tempting to fling the half-eaten slice at his face.

Really, it wasn’t Alex who had her so wound up. It was the sheer knowledge that there was a real good chance Bernadette and Ruben would show their faces to indulge in a “how dare you break our daughter’s nose” rant. She wasn’t looking forward to it, and Alex didn’t deserve to have them dump a metaphorical bag of dog shit on his doorstep.

She half-wished she hadn’t moved out of her house—then at least Alex wouldn’t have his home tainted with their crap. “I’ll bet you’re looking forward to having the apartment to yourself again, huh?”

He blinked. “Where did that come from?”

“You said you wanted to talk about something else.”

“Not something dumb.”

“How is that dumb? Sharing such a small place with someone can be hard.”

He shrugged, taking another bite of his pizza. “We can live in your house, if you’d prefer that. We just need to wait until the threats to you have been neutralized.”

Ah, so Elle was right—he didn’t consider him and Bree living together to be a temporary thing. Hell, the redhead had even been right that he’d offer to move to Bree’s house. “I wasn’t sure if you were ready for us to live together yet.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Sometimes I worry that you felt pushed into this relationship.”

“Then you’re stupid.”

She bristled. “Um, hello, you didn’t want a relationship until you found out I was planning to leave the pride.”

“I’d already decided you were going to be mine; I made it happen—it was the best decision I ever made,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I’ll be moving in with you because it’s what I want. Waking up and seeing you right there sets me up for the day. Why wouldn’t I want more of it?” He shook his head, as if she was dumb for thinking differently, and then went back to his pizza … completely oblivious to the fact that he’d just melted her bones.

Bree could only gape at him, unsure what to say. It hadn’t been a soppy speech. There’d been little emotion in his voice. It was more like a practical statement. And yet, it touched her as surely as those infamous three little words that were so easily thrown around would have done. Her cat just looked at him, stunned and warmed by his declaration.

Bree cleared her throat. “Well then, I guess—” She stilled at the sound of knuckles rapping on the front door. Please don’t be the Cages.

Alex released her foot and pushed away from the table. “I’ll get it.”

Bree forced her body to relax muscle by muscle. It wasn’t easy. But then Alex strolled into the kitchen with Vinnie and his eldest sons. Tate and Luke predictably helped themselves to pizza.

“Please tell me you’re here to say that at least one of the missing people has been found,” said Bree.

“Wish I could.” Vinnie sighed. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep looking. I’m here about two things. First, I want to let you know that Moira has been … dealt with. She assured me she won’t bother you again.”

“If she does, I’ll deal with her myself,” said Alex, returning to his seat at the table. “I’m serious, Vin—Bree has enough going on; she doesn’t need to be dealing with Moira’s brand of bullshit on top of all that.”

“Agreed. Now, as for the second thing that brought me here …” Leaning back against the countertop, Vinnie rubbed at his jaw. “I had a call from Nick Axton.”

Bree had met the Alpha of the Mercury Pack a few times. His pack was so closely allied with Mila’s that the two seemed intertwined in many ways. If the Phoenix Pack ever threw a party of any kind—to which the Olympus Pride was usually invited due to their connection to Mila—the Mercury Pack members were often also there.

The Mercury Pack had already been known to Bree, though, since a lone pallas cat they knew, Madisyn, had mated with a Mercury Pack enforcer.

“Not sure if either of you are aware of this,” Vinnie went on, “but his mate, Shaya, is a mediator. The shifter council often ask her to mediate between two parties that can’t agree on a matter, hoping to avoid a battle.”

“Okay,” Bree drawled, picking up her glass of soda. “Why is this important?”

“Because Shaya was recently contacted by Dale Bray. He wants to meet with me.”

Alex’s slice of pizza slipped from his fingers. “The fuck?”

“He told Shaya he’s not comfortable contacting me directly about a meeting as he knows I believe that he wishes to harm Bree,” Vinnie went on. “He apparently also assured Shaya that that’s not the case.”

Bree’s eyes narrowed. “He asked Shaya to facilitate the meeting because he thinks you’ll feel more comfortable attending if you know the mediator.”

Vinnie nodded. “That would be my guess, yes. We know this isn’t the hyenas attempting to spring a trap—it would be plain stupid of them to turn a mediation meeting into a war. That sort of thing simply is not done. And the hyenas have proven through their success at keeping their territory’s location secret that they are not stupid.”

“That’s not to say that Dale Bray won’t have a chunk of his clan hanging around,” Alex pointed out.

“But we’ll have many of our cats waiting in the wings, so we’ll be prepared for an attack,” said Vinnie. “I’m honestly not interested in anything Dale Bray has to say. I just want to draw the fucker out into the open so that someone can follow him back to his territory and then report its location to us.”

“So you’ve agreed to the meeting?” asked Alex.

“Yes. It’ll take place tomorrow morning. Bree, you’ll need to take the day off work.”

A loud growl rumbled out of Alex. He shot out of his chair. “Hell, no. Hell. Fucking. No. They’re not getting near her, Vinnie.”

“Dale asked for her to be there—it’s mostly Bree he wants to speak to.”

“I don’t give a shit what he wants. It’s not happening.”

“I get why you have reservations, but think past your overprotectiveness, Alex. You want to find out where their territory is, don’t you?”

“Not enough to put Bree in close proximity to him.”

Bree bit her lip. Did Alex’s response surprise her? Not in the slightest. His protective instincts were naturally on hyperdrive after the polar bear fuck-up, and that was perfectly understandable. She couldn’t be angry with him for it. But there was no way she’d sit the meeting out just to placate Alex or anyone else.

“I want all this to stop, Alex,” she said. “I’m sick of almost being kidnapped. I’m sick of people around me getting caught in the crossfire. You were shot six times. Benny and Crawford died simply because they were guarding my house. This needs to end.” She wasn’t asking his permission; she was explaining why she couldn’t stay behind. He saw that, and it made him curse a blue streak in Russian.

“I don’t like it, Bree. I don’t like it at the fuck all.”

“I doubt anyone in this room does. But Vinnie’s right; this is the only way to draw the hyenas out into the open, so let’s just do it.”

“It’s not going to be that easy to follow them back to their territory,” Alex told Vinnie. “They’ll be expecting that.”

“Of course they will,” the Alpha agreed. “Which is why I’ll also ask Farrell to follow them in his avian form. The hyenas will be so busy concentrating on losing the car that’s following them that they won’t think to look up.”

“Thought of everything, haven’t you?” Alex said a little bitterly.

Bree rose from her chair and crossed to Alex. “I need to do this.”

But, of course, he spent a good twenty minutes trying to talk her out of it. She’d known he would; known it was best to just let him vent. She never said a word. She just watched him, her face blank, sending him the message that this wasn’t negotiable; that this wasn’t something she’d argue over because it was happening and that was that.

Finally, Alex sighed. “This is fucking bullshit.” He took a long breath and then sliced his gaze back to Vinnie. “If she’s going, I’m going. I’ll be with her every second. And if any of those bastard hyenas touch her, I will kill them—mediation rules be damned.”

Vinnie inclined his head. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”