Trey didn’t look at him as he finished putting his equipment away. “No problem.”
Zane knew he and Trey needed to talk, so he could apologize for being such a wanker these past few months, but now wasn’t the time. When they got back to Dallas, he’d definitely make a point of it, though. Since giving his pack mate a fist bump was the best he could do right now, he offered his hand. Trey looked at him, his hazel eyes filled with surprise, but then something that didn’t need words passed between the two of them and his teammate returned the fist bump.
Giving Trey a nod, Zane led Alyssa out of the response vehicle. Her friend Christine was waiting for them, and she looked up from her mobile phone to give them a smile.
“I was wondering where you were,” Alyssa said.
Christine shrugged. “I had a few fires to put out—no pun intended. I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay before I got out of here.”
Alyssa’s lips curved. “We’re fine. Better than fine, actually.”
Christine glanced at Zane, regarding him thoughtfully. He got the feeling she wanted to say something about him being a werewolf, but instead she reached out and hugged Alyssa.
“Okay, I have to go.” She gave Alyssa a pointed look. “Call me, okay? We have a lot we need to talk about.”
Alyssa nodded. “I will.”
That was going to be an interesting conversation, Zane thought as Christine gave them both a wave, then hurried off.
As he and Alyssa made their way through the crowd of police, FBI agents, and fire department personnel, it occurred to him that the area looked like some kind of casualty exercise. Except this wasn’t an exercise, of course. And there had been a lot of casualties.
Zane tugged Alyssa’s hand, pulling her off to the side, so they’d be out of the way of any workers—or roaming reporters with their cameras. He hadn’t even realized he was holding her hand as they walked until now. It felt damn nice. He’d never done that with any woman he’d ever been with. He decided he’d been missing out.
They passed by Jake, Zoe, and Chloe, the three werewolves sitting and talking quietly in the back of an ambulance, Zoe messing with the white bandage wrapped around one of her forearms. The alpha and his two betas looked happier than anybody had a right to, considering what they’d just been through. It was obvious they were comfortable together, almost like a brother and his two younger sisters. Zane wondered how it was all going to work out for them. It seemed…complicated.
“So, what do we do now?” Alyssa asked when they stopped a little while later. She wedged her butt up onto a flower bed retaining wall and wiggled around until she got comfortable. “Now that everything is wrapped up, I mean.”
Zane glanced over to where his tall, dark-haired boss, Gage, was talking to Alyssa’s bespectacled boss, Nathan. Those two were getting way too chummy in his opinion.
“I somehow doubt this situation is going to be wrapped up anytime soon,” he said. “That rumor your boss leaked to the press about an electricity fire starting down in the basement during a Black Swan meeting isn’t going to hold water for very long. Sooner or later, news agencies are going to wonder why the FBI was down there and why most of the people rescued are men and women who’d been missing.”
“That’s Nathan’s problem to solve.” Alyssa gave him a smile. “I was more interested in us. Where dowego from here?”
Zane moved closer until he was standing between her legs. He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Since I’m in love with you, I was kind of hoping we could go to Dallas. My flat is kind of small, but we could get a bigger one if you want. Or a house even.”
“Move with you to Dallas, just like that?” She blinked. “I know you want to be there for your pack, but what about my job? Are you suggesting that I quit?”
He shook his head. “I’m not suggesting anything like that. You said it yourself—you spend almost all your time on the road looking for things that go bump in the night. Wouldn’t it be better to have a place to come back to that you can call home?”
Alyssa regarded him thoughtfully, her heart thumping fast. He hoped like hell he hadn’t pushed too hard, too fast. But the idea of letting her get away wasn’t something he was ready to do. Not after everything they’d been through.
“Say we do this,” she murmured, resting her hands on his shoulders. “How are you going to handle my job? As you pointed out, I’m on the road—a lot. Is that something you can deal with?”
He wanted to howl at the thought. But didn’t. “Will I be thrilled that you’re out there on your own, going after creatures you know almost nothing about? No, not at all. But it’s who you are. I get that. So if dealing with it is what I have to do to have you in my life, then I’m in. As long as you promise me one thing.”
She looked at him curiously. “What’s that?”
He slipped his hand into her hair, then bent forward until his forehead was resting against hers. He’d done that with her when he was in wolf form and it had been amazing. It felt even better now. “Just promise that if you’re out there on the road and run into something you think you can’t handle, you’ll call me and let me help.”
She gazed at him warmly for a few seconds and then tipped her face to kiss him. “I promise.”
Alyssa kissed him again, so long and so thoroughly he thought maybe they might need to find a room—or an empty FBI tactical response vehicle. But then Alyssa slid off the brick wall, tugging Zane along the sidewalk with her.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
She smiled at him over her shoulder. “To go talk to my boss and tell him I’m moving to Dallas—immediately.”
Chapter 14
