“What were you thinking? Marking him?”
I blow out a breath. “That’s the thing. I wasn’t. When I saw Rose snap at him, and Grady moving in, I lost all sense of thought and defended him.”
“What do you mean, ‘lost all sense of thought?’”
“My first response was anger and the need to protect. Even though I know they wouldn’t have attacked him. I just, I don’t know, Kai. It’s weird, it’s almost like he’s . . . ” I trail off.
“What?”
I hesitate.Do I tell him?I tell Kai everything, we have no secrets between us. I don’t think I’ve ever kept anything from him. I don’t think I’d be able to, he can read me like a damn book.
I run my thumbnail along my bottom lip as I mumble the next words. “My mate.”
Last night, I tried to go for a run and clear my head. Next thing I knew, I was standing outside a small ranch style home on the outer edge of town. When I realized where I was, the awareness hit me like a lightning bolt. It played over in my mind all night. I barely got any sleep.
The other end of the phone is silent, and I pull it away from my face to see if we’re still connected. We are. “Kai?”
“Your mate? Are you sure?”
I blow out a breath. “I don’t know, Kai. I’ve never had a mate before,” I deadpan.
“Right, sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. It’s just weird.”
“He’s human.”
“I know,” I whisper.
Kai blows out a deep breath. “If he is your mate, he’ll be an even bigger target.”
I grumble, tipping my head back to rest on the sofa, and staring up at my ceiling. This is a huge bloody mess. I need to get myself together, but every time I think about Logan, my pulse speeds up, and my mind races. I just can’t get those haunted eyes from my mind. He seems to carry a dark shadow on his shoulders. I could feel the weight of his despair in the air of the parking lot, his face etched with defeat. It was like he accepted he was going to die, and he was okay with that. It makes my heart hurt to know he felt that way.
“We will need to have Reaper watched, at least for a few weeks. Who knows how he’ll take this. He has been vying to be your mate since you became alpha.”
“I know,” I sigh.
Reaper is unpredictable and dangerous. I want someone watching Logan as well. If something happens, I want my pack there to help him.
“Who do you want on it?” Kai asks, his voice firm, the voice of a protective brother.
My mind automatically goes to Felix. My younger brother will make sure Logan stays safe. “I’ll get Felix to watch Logan.”
“Logan? He’s a detective. I’m sure he’ll notice someone following him. I was talking about Reaper.”
“Well, what do you suggest, then?”
Kai blows out a heavy breath, and I can just imagine him pacing with his hand on his head. “What if we just tell him about Reaper?”
I scowl, even though he can’t see me. “Absolutely not.”
“Okay, fine. We can have someone watch his place at night. I don’t think Reaper would be stupid enough to attack a detective in the middle of the day.”
“True, I’ll get Felix to sort out shifts. As for Reaper, he’ll notice another shifter in his territory, so we need to send a contact in,” I murmur, and take a sip of my drink.
“You can’t mean–”
“Yes,” I cut him off. “I will call Ashwiyaa.”
