"With us." He already has our information so the only thing he needs to know is that she’s safe. "But I need to know what happens next. Because right now it feels like we're sitting ducks waiting for him to make his next move."
"We'll handle it, Mr. Sterling. I promise you that. Although he hadn’t been served the restraining order, breaking and entering is a criminal offense. We'll be bringing him in."
"You better," I say, my voice hard. "Because if something happens to my sister because your department couldn't keep her safe, there will be hell to pay."
I hang up before he can respond, my hands shaking with residual anger and fear. Amelia could have been taken today. Vincent could have grabbed her in that pharmacy or caught her in one of those residential yards. She could be gone right now, disappeared into whatever nightmare Vincent had planned for her.
But she's not. She's safe, upstairs in her nest with three Alphas who will die before they let anything happen to her. And I'mgoing to make damn sure Vincent never gets the chance to get close to her again.
I get back in my truck and head home, already planning. Security cameras, check-ins, coordination with the Alphas. Whatever it takes to keep my baby sister alive and safe. Because I've already lost our parents. I'll be damned if I lose her too.
When I pull into my driveway twenty minutes later, I can hear the kids' laughter through the front door before I even get my keys out. Maddox has them in the kitchen, Isaac covered in flour and Riley carefully measuring ingredients into a bowl. The normalcy of it, the domesticity, makes my chest tight with gratitude.
"Uncle Dylan!" Isaac shouts when he sees me, leaving white handprints on my jeans when he crashes into my legs for a hug.
"Hey, buddy." I ruffle his hair, getting flour in it. "What are you making?"
"Cookies!" Riley announces proudly. "Mads says we can eat one warm from the oven if we help clean up."
Maddox catches my eye over the kids' heads, his expression questioning. I give him a small nod, letting him know that Amelia is okay, and watch the tension drain from his shoulders.
"Is Mia okay?" Riley asks, her voice holding a bit of uncertainty.
I crouch down to her level, making sure she can see my face. "She really is. Your dads and uncle are taking good care of her right now. She just needs them for a few days, that's all. But she's thinking about you, I promise."
Riley considers this, then nods solemnly. "Can we save her some cookies?"
"I think she'd like that," I say, my throat tight. "I think she'd like that a lot."
The kids go back to their baking, their attention span already moving on to the next thing. But I stay crouched there fora moment, watching them, thinking about how much they've already lost. How much Amelia's already lost. How we're all just trying to hold on to what we have left and protect it from people like Vincent who want to destroy it.
"They'll be okay," Maddox says quietly, coming to stand beside me. "All of them. Amelia's tough, and those Alphas aren't going to let anything happen to her."
"I know," I say, standing and pulling him close. "I know. But I can't stop thinking about what almost happened today. How close we came to losing her."
Maddox hums, leaning his head on my shoulder. "I could feel how worried you were through the bond and the cryptic text you sent me after leaving the station didn’t make it any better.” I grimace, realizing I hadn’t really explained anything more than Amelia was safe and that Vincent was nearby. I don’t even remember really sending the text. I just knew I had to let Maddox know that that terror wasn’t for me. “She’s okay though," Maddox reminds me gently, pulling me back to the present. "She got away, back to you. She's safe. And now we make sure she stays that way."
I open my mouth to explain but he just shakes his head, telling me in his own way that he doesn’t really need the details. A heavy sigh falls from my lips as I take comfort in his presence for just a moment. Then I pull back, squaring my shoulders. "I need to make some calls. Security company, maybe a lawyer to see what else we can do legally. And I want to be available for the Kanes if they end up needing anything."
"I've got the kids," Maddox assures me. "You do what you need to do. We'll be fine here."
I head to my office, already pulling up contacts on my phone. Because Maddox is right—we didn't lose her today. But that doesn't mean Vincent's going to stop trying. And I'm going to make damn sure he never succeeds.
Amelia
It's been two days of pure bliss, two days where nothing exists except this nest and my Alphas and the overwhelming need that drives us all. The outside world has ceased to matter, Vincent and restraining orders and fear all fading into background noise that can't touch me here.
Currently Wyatt is between my thighs, his movements slow and deliberate, taking me apart with the kind of focused attention that makes my mind go blank with pleasure. Every nerve ending feels hypersensitive, my heat making everythingmore intense, more desperate, more necessary. His citrus scent surrounds me, mixing with the pine and rain of my other Alphas until the whole room is saturated with pack.
Silas is beside me, his lips tracing patterns along my neck and shoulder, his hands gentle on my overheated skin. He murmurs praise against my throat, telling me how beautiful I am, how good I'm being for them, how perfect I am for them. The words wash over me like a balm, soothing something deep inside that Vincent spent years trying to destroy.
Hunter had disappeared a few minutes ago to refill the water bottles scattered around the nest. They'd played rock paper scissors to determine who had to leave, all three of them reluctant to be apart from me even for the brief time it takes to go downstairs. Hunter lost, grumbling about it being rigged while Wyatt and Silas laughed.
The whole room smells like us now, like pack and home and safety. Every surface is covered in our combined scents, marking this space as ours in the most fundamental way. My rose scent has bloomed fully without blockers, mixing with honeysuckle and something warmer that apparently only shows during heat. The Alphas can't seem to get enough of it, constantly pressing their faces to my neck, breathing me in like I'm air.
"That's it, sunshine," Wyatt murmurs, his hips moving in steady rhythm. "You're doing so good. Taking me so perfectly."
I gasp as he hits something inside me that makes stars burst behind my eyes, my hands fisting in the blankets beneath me. Silas captures the sound with his mouth, kissing me deep and thorough, swallowing my cries of pleasure.
