“Nothing,” I said finally. “Not yet. Not until we have more information.”
“Knox...”
“She doesn’t need more to worry about right now.”
“She’s going to find out eventually. And she’s going to be pissed you kept this from her.”
“I’ll deal with that when it happens.” My mate’s temper was legendary. But I’d rather face her fury than risk her safety.
Hunt looked ready to argue but thought better of it. “Your funeral.”
Damn right it was.
We locked up Mary’s house and posted new guards. Older wolves this time. Ones who knew better than to accept anything from anyone. Then I made my way back to the pack house with a weight in my chest that hadn’t been there this morning.
Mary was gone. Thomas was gone. Cole was out there somewhere tracking them down. And I had no idea who was helping Mary or what their endgame was.
The pack house was quiet when I walked through the front door. Most wolves were at work or school. The usual bustle of daily life continued around me while my world felt ready to implode.
I could hear the shower running upstairs. Lina. My mate. Pregnant and vulnerable and completely unaware that one of our biggest threats had just escaped.
My wolf rumbled protectively in my chest.
I stopped by the twins’ room first. Rowan and Thea were both napping, curled up in their respective beds. Rowan clutched a book even in sleep. Thea had somehow managed to kick off all her blankets and was sprawled across the mattress taking up twice the space her small body should reasonably occupy.
I pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads, breathing in their scent. Safe. They were safe. I’d make damn sure they stayed that way.
Our bedroom door was open. The sound of water running came from the attached bathroom. I stripped off my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor, and pushed open the bathroom door.
Lina stood in the shower with her back to me, water cascading over her curves. Her dark hair was wet and slicked back. She held a bottle in her hands, bringing it to her nose.
“Did you change my stuff?” she asked without turning around.
I grinned despite everything, despite Mary and Thomas and the chaos waiting outside this room, because my mate was here and safe and mine.
“Maybe,” I said, stepping into the shower behind her. She was about to be so pissed at me.
3
— • —
Lina
“You did what?!”
My screech echoed off the bathroom tiles while Knox’s hands worked magic on my lower back. His thumbs pressed into the muscles on either side of my spine and I had to fight to stay mad at him when my body wanted to melt into a puddle.
“I didn’t throw them away,” Knox said, sounding way too pleased with himself. “I just replaced everything.”
“With what exactly?”
“Products with my scent. So you always smell of me.”
I twisted around to glare at him, water streaming down my face. “You replaced every single soap, shampoo, lotion, and bodywash I own? That’s insane. That’s possessive psycho behavior and you know it.”
His grin was absolutely unrepentant. “You complaining?”
I wanted to complain. I really did. But his hands were still working their magic on my back and the pregnancy had made every muscle in my body feel stretched and sore. Also, I was genuinely impressed he’d managed to find products that smelled so close to his natural scent. How did someone even do that? Did he go to the store and sniff every bottle until he found the right ones?
