Then Ruben had called.
Brooks had moved off to the end of the hallway outside the waiting room to take the call so he didn’t disturb anyone. That turned out to be a good thing, because he’d just about lost it when Ruben told him that Ernesto Lopez was at the high school with two gangbangers.
He’d told Ruben he’d be right there, then motioned to Zane and walked out without saying a word. He hadn’t even told his other packmates. He’d wanted to move fast and not talk. Zane agreed to drive. For all his complaining about speed, Brooks was glad his friend was driving. He was too freaked out.
The front end of Zane’s car scraped the asphalt as they pulled into the high school parking lot, and Brooks couldn’t help but remember the last time he’d been there, when he’d saved Selena from Pablo. He prayed to God this visit would have the same happy ending.
Ruben waved them down before they were halfway across the lot, panic on his face. “Ms. Rosa is in there with the asshole who’s making those energy drinks,” he said as they both jumped out. “She seems to know him, but I’m pretty sure they’re arguing. I’ve heard a few shouts already, and a chair/desk came through the window just before you got here. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think I heard growling, too.”
Zane threw Brooks a quick look. The shouting, growling, and airborne furniture meant Selena was pissed.
“Any idea what they’re talking about?” Brooks asked as they ran across the parking lot toward the building Selena’s classroom was in.
Ruben shook his head. “Those two muscle heads are parked in the hallway right outside her door, so I can’t get anywhere close to the classroom. And listening at the windows doesn’t work. But I think I heard him say something about her leaving with him.”
Brooks bit back a growl and moved faster. What the fuck? Ernesto thought Selena would go on the run with him? Was the man that frigging stupid?
“If you plan on storming in through the front door, don’t you think we should have a plan to deal with the guards Ernesto set in the hallway?” Zane asked. “If he hears us coming, it might provoke him into doing something stupid.”
Brooks slowed, knowing his friend was right. He needed to stop thinking like a freaked-out werewolf and start thinking like a SWAT cop.
“Can you distract them?” He glanced at Zane. “Get them out of the hallway? I’ll come in the far door of the building and go for the classroom while you deal with them.”
Zane looked at him dubiously. “The moment they see me in this uniform, they’re going to warn Ernesto or shoot, neither of which is really what we’re looking for.”
“I could distract them,” Ruben said. “Get them outside so you can deal with them.”
That was a horrible idea, and Brooks opened his mouth to tell him so, but then he heard a shout from inside the building. Selena screaming for Ernesto to stop lying. The raw anger and rage in her voice were enough to decide the matter.
“Go,” Brooks said. “Get those two gangbangers out of that hallway now.”
Then he was off and running for the far side of the building, his head imagining all kinds of horrible shit. Selena would never voluntarily go anywhere with Ernesto, even if he was a long-time friend. But if he had a gun…
Brooks heard the sounds of fighting on the other end of the building as he reached the door on his side. True to his word, Ruben had gotten the gangbangers out of the hallway. Brooks only hoped Zane was up to the challenge of quickly and silently dealing with two armed men.
But as he shoved open the door and raced for Selena’s classroom, he heard something that made him stop worrying about Zane and refocus on the more serious issue of stopping the woman he loved from doing something she’d regret for the rest of her life.
“I should just kill you. And do the world a favor.”
Cursing, Brooks opened the door and found Selena a foot away from Ernesto, her eyes vivid blue, her claws and fangs out, murder in her gaze.
“I really don’t think you want to do that, Selena,” Brooks whispered softly. He needed to pull her back from the edge—fast. “And I don’t want you to do it, either.”
Brooks ignored the terrified look Ernesto gave him, walking over to her even as she snarled at him. Like she was warning him away from her intended prey. He ignored that, too, only stopping once he was beside her.
“I’m here now, Selena,” he said softly. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
She didn’t even look his way, her gaze locked on the rapidly beating pulse throbbing visibly in Ernesto’s neck. Her fingers flexed, claws retracting and extending. No doubt, she was picturing what it would be like to rip out the man’s throat.
Brooks didn’t give a damn if she shredded Ernesto to pieces. After what he’d done to Ray, the guy was officially scum. But Selena would be devastated if the omega inside her ever killed someone, even if that someone deserved it. She simply wasn’t the kind of person who could deal with doing something like that.
“He killed my brother,” she whispered, still not looking away from Ernesto. “Because Geraldo wouldn’t let him bang his little sister. Ernesto shot him, then used his death to take over the gangs and turn them into his custom car empire.”
Ernesto shook his head, like he thought Brooks wasn’t going to believe what Selena said. This asshole was a grade A piece of shit. Brooks had never really liked the man from the moment he’d met him. But you don’t get to pick other people’s friends. You just have to deal with them.
Brooks ignored Ernesto and gently put a hand on Selena’s arm, making a soothing, shushing sound. “You need to let him go, Selena. He needs to be punished for what he’s done, but you don’t need to do it. He killed your brother, and he’ll pay for that. I promise. But killing him isn’t the answer.”
She continued to glare at her brother’s killer for so long, Brooks was afraid she hadn’t even heard him. But then she turned her gaze on him, blinking until the blue began to fade. The second she stepped away from Ernesto, the son of a bitch crawled away like the piece of crap he was.
