Minutes or hours later, when she was limp as a doll in his arms and he could finally breathe, he laid down on the bed and pulled her against him so her back was to his front. Holding her tight, listening to her heart fall back into a normal rhythm as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed, Adam felt the weight of what he’d done sink into him.
He was going to have to talk to Riko. See if maybe since he and Addison were a thing now, the rules could be relaxed a bit. Then he would have to talk to Faye. Tell her what he was, and hope to hell she didn’t freak out.
Because she was his now.
And his she would stay.
Chapter 8
Adam
The next day, Adam caught Riko as he came into the garage. “Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”
Riko studied him for a second, his expression giving nothing away, before saying, “Sure. Let’s go into the break room.”
Adam closed the door behind them. “I need to talk to you about Faye. The girl I met on New Year’s.”
Riko held up one hand, palm out, stopping the speech Adam had practiced all morning before he even had a chance to say anything. “I know what you’re about to say. I can smell her all over you.”
Adam didn’t try to deny it, but he could tell from Riko’s tone this wasn’t going to be an easy discussion. His jaw clenched as he lifted his chin. “I can’t give her up, so please don’t ask me to.”
“You barely know her.”
“I want the chance to get to do that.”
They stared each other down for a few seconds before Adam lowered his eyes and bowed his head in deference to his alpha.
“You know the pack laws,” Riko said. “You know how inflexible they are here, Adam. I’ve already had to shut down two attempts to banish you from the pack. And you know damn well this won’t be the last of it. What in the hell were you thinking?”
“Probably the same thing you were when you came back for Addison. A pure human, I might add.”
“I didn’t come back for her. I came back to bury my father and things just…happened. Besides, it’s different with me and Addi. I’ve known her for a lot of years. And we had a thing going back in the day.” He sighed. “Look, I know I’m being a damn hypocrite right now. But you know what happened the minute the rest of the pack caught a whiff of what was going on between us. They were ready to take her out to protect themselves. And that was with me.”
Adam knew what he was trying to say. Riko was a dominant wolf. An alpha. And they were still willing to risk his wrath to remove the chance that Addison would tell the world about their existence.
“You’re putting that girl’s life in danger, man.” He studied Adam’s face. “And what happens if she gets pregnant?”
“That won’t happen.”
“It might.”
“It won’t.”
“Have you even asked her if she wants kids? Is she okay with never having any?”
Scrubbing his face with his palms, Adam paced away. He didn’t know. He had no fucking idea what Faye wanted or didn’t want. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted.
“How do you not know?” Riko asked him. “I hear y’all are engaged.”
Adam barked out a laugh. “Small town rumors that got out of hand to keep away an unwanted admirer. That’s all.”
Gesturing for Adam to sit down at one of the round lunch tables, Riko took the seat across from him, crossing his arms on the tabletop as he leaned forward and speared Adam with his sharp gaze. “Look, I’m just trying to think of Faye here. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her. And I can’t guarantee that with the way things are with the pack right now.”
“You’re the alpha now,” Adam reminded him. “They’ll do what you tell them.”
Riko laughed. “And you’re a goddamn idiot if you believe that. This pack, although it’s getting better, is still too fucking volatile for me to trust any of them. And I’m not completely convinced a few of the rowdier ones aren’t meeting behind my back, trying to think of a way to get rid of me, without dying, that the rest of the pack will accept.”
Adam knew exactly the wolves he was talking about. “They’ll never get enough support from the rest of the pack. And if they try, Lex and I will be there to make sure you kick their asses fair and square.”
