“It’s not …” Owen starts, before letting out a sigh. “Lana wouldn’t like that I’m telling you any of this. You’re an outsider, and I don’t think she believes Robin’s your true mate.”
“She’ll know Robin’s our true mate soon enough,” I tell him.
“Yeah,” he admits. “Probably. I doubt it’ll make her trust you.”
“So, you know what Corvina is doing this for?”
“He has more than one reason. There are Omegas in the academy he was in the process of brainwashing to sell to Alphas. It’s possible he’ll attempt to trigger them. It’s also pretty obvious he doesn’t like what Lana’s done to Goldcrest. She made changes no one before her would have dared to suggest. She’s locked out all the old sponsors of the academy. They don’t get a say in what happens there now. His friends will be pissed off about that, too.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they hate that it’s not their kind of exclusive anymore.”
“Pretty much. If you’re worried about your mate’s safety, you shouldn’t be. The academy is the safest it’s ever been. We know Corvina’s our biggest threat. We know what he can do, and we’re careful about who gets into Goldcrest.”
“Sorry, but I can’t take your word for that. This guy could have gotten into the property. He got close. If I hadn’t been here today and I hadn’t seen the hole in the fence, then the biggest threat you have would have gotten inside.”
“A patrol of the exterior was scheduled for tonight, and we have cameras all over the property that are monitored constantly. We would have caught him.”
“After how many people were already affected? You have a priority to protect Lana. She’s your mate. I know how that feels. Everyone else matters, but if it comes down to the wire, and it’s her or someone else, we both know who you would put first.”
He doesn’t try to deny it. I wouldn’t believe him if he did.
After a few minutes, he sighs and stops walking, forcing all of us to a halt.
“You have no intention of leaving once we’re done,” he states, with a sour note in his tone.
“I can’t. Not while Robin’s still here.” I shake my head.
He doesn’t look pleased. “Lana’s not going to like that.”
“With all due respect to your mate, I don’t care.”
He curses under his breath, before he admits, “I knew I shouldn’t have told you about Warren Corvina.”
“That wouldn’t have changed anything.”
From the wry expression he has on his face, I think he already knew it.
He has true mates. He knows what that feels like.
“You know I can’t leave her,” I add. “If I need to spend all night circling the fence, I will, but I’m not going away. None of you can make me do that.”
“I’ll talk to Lana,” he tells me. “Once we’ve got this guy secured.”
“Secured?” I ask, as we start walking again.
“I’ll call a team once we’ve got him back home. They’ll come out and watch over him. Corvina can’t use him if he’s under guard.”
“That’s the plan?”
“It’s not perfect, but it’s all we’ve got,” he admits. “We can report his attempted trespassing to the police, but it won’t get us anywhere. What he did was barely even a crime, and it’s not like he’s going to confess to whatever he was going to do when he can barely even function as a human being.”
“So, you’re just going to use some of your guards to keep him from being used.”
“Unless you have any other ideas?”
“I guess not,” I murmur.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
