"Randal—"
Randal held out his hand. "Come on. I know you don't get it yet, but you will. Just come with me to talk to the alpha."
Luca might not have faith in the alpha, but he had faith in Randal. He took the man's hand and allowed himself to be pulled out of the kitchen and into the main room. Rob was walking in the front door. Luca had no idea where he'd been, but he didn't like the anger he could see in on the alpha's face.
"We need to talk," Randal said.
Rob's jaw clenched. "We need to go back home."
"What?" Luca started to pull away from Randal. "No, my na—"
"Enough!" Rob snapped. "Go get in the truck."
Was he insane?
"Alpha—"
Rob's eyes narrowed. "This is one of those times when you have to listen to your alpha, Luca. Now, do as I said and go get in the truck."
"But—"
Rob raised his hand. "Not another word. Go get in the truck."
"Come on, Luca." Randal tugged on his hand.
The tears that had flooded Luca's eyes spilled down his cheeks as he followed Randal out of his nana's house to the truck. He felt numb as he climbed in and put on his seatbelt. When Randal climbed in beside him, Luca turned and looked out the window, refusing to acknowledge the man. He couldn't believe no one was doing anything to save his nana.
When Jeb, Harvey, and Rob climbed in, Luca ignored them, too. He had nothing to say to any of these men. They didn't know his nana. They didn't care about her. Luca would have to figure out how to rescue her all on his own.
It broke Luca's heart to realize Randal was included in that group. He thought mates were supposed to be a team and yet at the first opportunity, Randal had turned his back on him in his moment of need. He never should have agreed to be mated.
Maybe people were right when they said humans and shifters shouldn't mate. He certainly didn't understand how things were done, and he doubted he ever would.
"Alpha Rob," Randal began, gaining Luca's attention, but not enough for him to turn away from the window. "I know—"
"We were being monitored," Rob said.
Luca's head snapped around. "What?"
Rob’s watchful eyes met Luca's in the rearview mirror. "I'm sorry for snapping at you the way I did, but I couldn't take the chance that you'd say something you shouldn't." He held up a small round black device with a black wire on it. "I found this on the bookshelf in your nana's living room. Harvey says it is a listening device. I don't know if there were others, but I felt it was better for us to get out of there rather than search for more."
Randal stiffened. "Alpha, my father called while we were in the kitchen. He has Nana and he said he'd kill her unless I...uh..." Randal's eyes were huge on his face when he turned to look at Luca.
"Unless you what?" Harvey asked.
Randal swallowed hard before looking back.
Luca reached out and gave his hand a squeeze of encouragement. "He said he'd kill my nana if Randal didn't kill Alpha Rob. We were coming to talk to him about it when he ordered us out to the truck."
The man beside Randal and the two in the front of the cab stared for a moment before all three of them burst out laughing.
"I fail to see the humor here," Luca said.
Rob shook his head, but there was still a touch of amusement in his voice when he spoke. "You did tell me that he pushed the line, but never quite crossed it, and he used other people to do his dirty work. I just never thought he'd go as far as trying to have me killed."
"I did try to warn you," Randal insisted. "He never does anything anyone can see him doing that might get him sanctioned by the council. It's all behind the scenes."
"Except this time might be a bit different."
