For a split second, I didn’t know who’d slammed into me, hard enough to rattle my bones and lather bruises on my skin. Then the scent of wide open fields and wildflowers reached my nose, and a growl poured up my throat, warning everyone to back the fuck off or risk me eviscerating them. She was terrified.Whywas my mate terrified?
“Woah, shit,” Justice blurted, the beta backing up with wide eyes and his palms up, facing me, our conversation forgotten. “Okay, we’ll finish this conversation later. Jessia, you alright?”
My growl rose. I curved over her, my arms engulfing her shaking body, trying to imprint myself upon her as if my presence might ease her fear.
“Right, gotcha,” Justice said, taking another step back and watching me with sudden clarity. “That’s… unexpected. But sure, backing up, moving away now. Come find me if you need anything.”
It took all my effort to jerk my head in a nod, and then he was gone. I scanned the hallway outside the dining room, my eyes narrowed as if my brothers had suddenly become threats. The irrational urge to grab Jessia and run took real effort to fight back.
“What’s wrong, angel?” I asked with effort, trying to soften the edges of my murderous growl and doing a shit job of it. I wanted to stroke her back, wanted to cover her face in kisses, but I settled for keeping my arms tight around her. “You’re safe, I’ve got you.”
“He found me,” she replied in a flat voice that made warning bells ring in my head. “He found me, and he’ll come back, and he’ll kill me this time.”
Now I really did kiss her, my lips finding her forehead and pressing for a long second, unable to help myself. “Come here.” I guided her into the dining room and left the door cracked so she didn’t feel trapped, guiding her into a chair. I hated the robotic way she sat, staring into space.
I pulled out the chair beside her and brought it close enough that I could warm her hands between mine. “Who found you, angel?”
“Pierce.”
The word was a whisper, barely audible.
“And Pierce is one of the men from the Alpha’s Bark?”
She shook her head, eyes dull, empty. “He’s my—my husband. I left. I ran away. I thought I was safe.”
“You are,” I insisted in as gentle a voice as I could muster, masking my surprise that she wasmarried.Although the way she shook voided any marriage certificate in my eyes. “No one’s going to hurt you, and they’re certainly not going to fucking kill you. I’ll end anyone who even thinks about it.”
I meant what I said. I’d leave a pile of corpses if that’s what it took to keep Jessia safe and unafraid, but her expression didn’tchange, not even her eyes flickering. But I could feel her terror. It sat in my chest like a spiked bomb, ticking down to an explosion.
I touched her cheek, needing her eyes to focus, needing to see the bright spark that made herher.“How do you know he’s found you?”
“There’s a letter,” she said, staring through me. “On my bed. It was waiting for me and—and the door was open in the hall.”
“Someone got in?” I snarled, then dragged my composure back together with effort. Someone had gotteninsidethe compound? “I’ll kill him.”
I got to my feet in a rush, rage beating through my heart, pumping blood fast to my body. “Stay here. I’ll tell Prodigy and get everyone on high alert—”
I froze when her fingers snagged my wrist.
“I don’t know why you’re the only person who feels safe,” she breathed, “but you can’t leave.”
The words were right there, on the tip of my tongue. But she’d only just got out of that basement, and she’d lost someone she cared about. The last thing she needed was more overwhelming emotions.
“Alright, angel, I won’t leave.” I dug out my phone from my pocket and fired a quick message to Prodigy, unsurprised when he immediately called. I silenced it and sat beside Jessia again, my eyes glued to her face, so much paler than usual, her lips colourless.
“What are the chances I can give you a hug right now?” I asked, my voice full of gravel I could do nothing about.
She blinked, her eyes focusing on me for a moment. My heart damn near stopped when she pushed out of her chair and dropped onto my lap. I wrapped her up in my arms, my lips finding the top of her head like it was the most natural thing in the world. I couldn’t explain why I was safe for her, deep downat a soul level, but I could give her this. I could hold her until she stopped shaking.
“How do you feel about becoming a widow?” I asked when her vicious shaking subsided to trembles.
A rasping exhalation was her only reply, but it encouraged me to keep talking.
“I’d make an awful hitman, but I’m down to kill him in a dozen different ways.”
“Why?”
Why?Fuck.I swallowed and said, “I don’t know how to explain it. But you—you’re so fucking good, and kind, and you deserve those things in return. If I have to kill every bad person in the world so none of that touches you again, I will.”
