Pieces go flying as the lighter makes contact with the concrete wall, and my chest heaves as I stare at the fragments that land on the floor.
“Bratishka?” My hackles raise at the deep, Russian-accented voice that comes from the doorway. “Where is Jo?”
My alpha is all out of sorts, and even thoughin the back of my mind I know that the huge, tattooed Russian giant in the doorway is Kole, my soon-to-be pack brother, a snarl rips out of my chest.
Why is hehereand not out finding our mate? Our panicked,scaredmate?
“Hayden,” Kole barks out, his dominance rolling over me. I freeze in response, and I find myself baring my neck to him in submission. For the first time today, my body relaxes.
His eyes dart to the ground, where my lighter lies in pieces. “What has happened?” He shuts the door and approaches me, and just like that the spell of his dominance is broken. I can’t stop the growl that finds its way out of me. Red starts to spot my vision as the alpha studies me with concern, and then he’s grabbing the back of my neck, gripping tight. “Bratishka. Talk to me.”
At his contact, it’s like something loosens in me, and my vision starts to return to normal. My mind clears somewhat, making me all too aware of the way I’m gasping for breath. “I…” I choke on my words as my eyes screw shut tight. How am I supposed to do this? West and Sam told me not to say anything.
Kole presses his forehead against mine, his hand still bracing the back of my neck. “Breathe, Brother.” He’s still pushing out his dominance, but instead of overpowering me or sending me to my knees, it grounds me. It’s like a weighted blanket settling over my body.
My breathing slows, and my heartbeat calms. I realize I’ve reached up to grip the arm grasping my neck. “Better?” he asks, his voice a deep rumble.
“Yes,” I sigh, and the giant, scary, tattooed alpha presses a brotherly kiss of affection to my forehead.
He pulls back to look at me. “Now, tell me,Bratishka. What has happened?”
At that moment, there’s another knock on the door, and in the next second, Sam is bursting into the room, wearing a murderous expression. “We have a problem.” West follows behind him, a serious look on his face. That in itself isn’t new, but the note of despair in his eyes is.
West slams the door shut behind him, space suddenly seeming way too small. This room wasnotbuilt for three alphas and a beta.
Sam’s eyes catch on Kole, who is now standing next to me, his hand still bracing the back of my neck. I’m not gonna lie, having it there has me feeling a hell of a lot better. I don’t care if it makes me look weak, Kole is the only thing keeping me grounded right now.
Our orderly friend fixes the Russian with a look. “Fuck. I’m warning you right now—you can’t kill anyone, Kole.”
Kole’s eyes darken. “I’d like to see you try to stop me.”
“Okay, both of you, take a step back.” West is getting between them. “We need a plan.”
“A plan for what?” I ask, doing a shit job of disguising the panic in my voice. “Whereisshe?”
“We don’t know where Jo is?” Kole snarls, his hand dropping from my neck.
“We do now,” West admits, running a hand over his hair. “They…they took her to the Cathedral.”
My blood runs cold. The fear makes so much more sense now.
It’s the worst place they could have taken her. Really, it should have been the first thing I thought of—but I didn’t want to even think it.
“Why?” I shake my head, pacing. “Why did they take her? Do they know about Banesworth?” If she’s taking the blame for something we all had a hand in, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.
“No,” West sighs. “They’re saying the alpha she beat last night had tranq serum in his system, and connected Jo to the missing vial from Helaena’s stash. That she drugged him. Only thing is, it’s impossible for that to be the case because—”
“She used it on Banesworth,” I mutter.
“So we can’t prove she didn’t do it,” Sam growls in frustration, "because then we’re implicating all of us in a way more serious crime and then we’llneverget her out.”
Kole’s whole demeanor changes, his expression turning murderous as he starts to walk towards the door. Without thinking, I move to follow him.
“What are you doing?” Sam snaps, grabbing his arm.
“I’m going to go rip Brooks’ spine out and wrap it around his neck like a pretty bowtie.”
“You can’t do that!”
