The effect was immediate.
Reid went rigid, his hands tightening on my face before he forced them to relax, his jaw going tight, his scent spiking with something dark and dangerous. Behind him, Nolan sucked in a sharp breath, his green eyes going hard. Sawyer's hands curled into fists at his sides, a low growl rumbling in his chest. Kol's scent spiked with sudden anger that burned away the fear, his amber eyes going dark and hard in a way I'd never seen.
"Living room." Reid's voice was controlled, but I could hear the fury simmering beneath it, barely leashed, his dark eyes blazing with cold fire. "Now."
We settled on the couches — me in the middle, surrounded by Alphas, their bodies forming a protective wall around me. Reid sat beside me, his hand finding mine and holding on tight, his grip almost bruising. Nolan was on my other side, his calming scent washing over me in waves, his thigh pressed against mine, his hand resting on my knee. Kol perched on the arm of the couch, close enough to touch but giving me space, his amber eyes never leaving my face, his whole body tense. Sawyer stood behind us, his hand on my shoulder, a solid weight of protection, his pale eyes scanning the room like he expected threats to materialize from the shadows.
"Tell us everything." Reid's voice was quiet, but there was steel underneath it, his dark eyes holding mine with fierce intensity, his thumb stroking across my knuckles. "From the beginning."
So I did. I told them about leaving Marley's shop, about the feeling of being watched, about Easton appearing from nowhere with his wrong scent and cold eyes. I told them what he'd said — acquisition, that word that made me want to scrub my skin raw — and how he'd looked at me. I told them about Marley intervening, about the history she'd shared, about her warning to stay away from him.
When I finished, the silence was deafening. Reid's hand had tightened on mine until it almost hurt, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin. His scent had gone sharp and aggressive, barely contained fury rolling off him in waves that made the air feel thick.
"He touched you?" Sawyer's voice was gravel and broken glass, dangerous in a way I'd never heard before, his hand tightening on my shoulder until I could feel each individual finger pressing into my flesh, his pale eyes burning with barely leashed violence.
"No." I shook my head quickly, reaching up to cover his hand with mine, trying to ground him. "He didn't touch me. Just... looked. Talked. But the way he looked..."
"Like prey." Sawyer finished, his voice dropping even lower, something feral and protective flashing in his pale eyes, his whole body coiled like he was about to launch himself through the door and hunt Easton down. "He looked at you like prey."
"Yes." The word came out small, and I hated how vulnerable I sounded, how scared, my voice barely above a whisper. "Yes."
"That won't happen again." Reid's voice was quiet, controlled, more frightening for its calmness than any shout could have been, his dark eyes blazing with cold fury that promised violence. "You won't be alone in town again. One of us will always be with you."
"Reid—" I started to protest, but he cut me off, his voice going firm.
"This isn't negotiable." His dark eyes met mine, blazing with protective fury, his grip on my hand tightening, his jaw set with stubborn determination. "Easton Branston has been a problem for years, but he's never crossed certain lines. Going after you directly?" His jaw tightened, a muscle ticking in his cheek. "That's new. That's escalation. And I won't have him anywhere near you."
"He won't touch her." Kol's voice was harder than I'd ever heard it, all the sunshine burned away, his amber eyes gone dark with something dangerous, his whole body tense with barely leashed aggression, his scent sharp with protective rage. "He won't get the chance."
"No." Nolan's voice was calm, but there was iron underneath it, his green eyes cold in a way I'd never seen, his gentle features set in lines of quiet fury. "He won't. We protect what's ours."
Sawyer didn't say anything. Just squeezed my shoulder once, hard, his silence more eloquent than any words, his pale eyespromising violence to anyone who tried to hurt me. I looked around at them — at Reid's steady determination, at Nolan's quiet competence, at Sawyer's barely leashed fury, at Kol's fierce devotion — and felt something settle in my chest.
Fear, yes. Easton Branston was dangerous, and I'd seen enough predators in my life to recognize the look in his eyes. Beneath the fear was something stronger. Something that felt almost like certainty. I wasn't alone anymore. I had four Alphas who would burn the world down to keep me safe. Together, we could face anything.
"Okay." I squeezed Reid's hand, leaned into Nolan's warmth, reached up to touch Kol's knee where he perched beside me, felt Sawyer's solid presence at my back. "Together."
The word hung in the air between us, a promise and a declaration, and I felt their scents surge around me in response — possessive and protective and utterly, completely mine.
Whatever Easton Branston was planning, he'd made one critical mistake.
He'd come after someone who belonged to a pack. This pack protected its own.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
NOLAN
I couldn't stop watching her.
It had been two days since Aster came home smelling like fear and another Alpha's scent clinging to her skin like a stain. Two days since she'd told us about Easton Branston approaching her in town, about his cold eyes and his wrong scent and the way he'd looked at her like she was something to be acquired.
Two days, and I still couldn't shake the rage that had settled into my bones. That wasn't like me. I was the calm one, the rational one, the one who thought before he acted and analyzed before he reacted. I'd spent years training myself to be steady, to be gentle, to channel my Alpha instincts into healing rather than harm. Violence had never been part of who I was.
When Aster had described Easton's smile, the way he'd called her Reid's "acquisition," the hunger in his eyes — something dark and primal had reared up inside me. Something that wanted to find Easton Branston and make sure he never looked at her again.
It terrified me.
I was in the clinic, supposedly catching up on paperwork, but I'd been staring at the same page for twenty minutes. My mind kept drifting back to her — to the fear in her scent that night, to the way she'd trembled in our arms, to the steel that had replaced the fear when she'd looked around at all of us and said "together."
