“Jono—”
“Ethan is the enemy, and I’ll know the people who were with him if I see or smell them again. We don’t need to put your position at risk.”
He knew Patrick’s past better than the other two. While Emma, Leon, Marek, and Sage knew Ethan was Patrick’s father, they didn’t know the horrible details of how the Greene family was torn apart, nor what Patrick had gone through to survive. Public records on his mother’s murder case were sanitized, and only a handful of people knew Patrick had been forced to cut ties with his mother’s family at a very young age when his name was changed to keep him safe.
Patrick pressed his mouth into a thin line before finally shaking his head in capitulation. “Fine.”
The pantry door closing had Jono looking over to see Wade walking out of the kitchen area with his arms full of crisps and crackers, stuffing his face with a strawberry Pop-Tart.
“All the food choices and you go with junk food?” Jono asked.
“Marek said I could have whatever I wanted,” Wade said, sounding sulky as crumbs sprayed from his lips.
“If you’re hungry, eat some actual food.”
Wade clutched one of the Doritos bags so hard he ripped a hole in it. “WhateverIwanted.”
“Let him eat. It’s fine. He’s making room for our next grocery run anyway,” Marek said.
Jono eyed Wade and the way even Patrick’s T-shirt hung loose on his skinny frame. He’d much prefer to cook Wade a better meal, but calories were calories at this point. He’d let Wade demolish the snacks and then make a proper lunch for him later.
“How long do these alpha meetings usually last?” Patrick wanted to know.
“Depends on what needs to be discussed,” Sage said as she toed off her high heels and curled up against Marek on the sofa. “Considering how we left, the meeting might take longer.”
“I fucking hope not. I hate waiting.”
They ended up waiting two hours for Emma and Leon to make it home. In that time, Jono cooked Wade the fry-up they’d missed that morning, made a pot of coffee that Patrick drank by himself, and made a second pot he banned Patrick from drinking. He also spoke to Sage’s managing partner regarding her absence from the office—apparently being her alpha now meant he was qualified to excuse her from work—and hid Marek’s mobile to keep him from calling the god pack alphas and threatening them with a lawsuit.
“I can keep them busy in the courts if I want to,” Marek snapped when Jono refused to give back his mobile.
“Trust me, mate. Now is not the time,” Jono said.
“I don’t know, I’d be all for suing that bitch,” Emma said tiredly as she entered the apartment.
Jono hadn’t heard their arrival, belatedly realizing the silence ward Patrick had put up earlier was still active. He pushed himself to his feet at their arrival, taking in their bloodied clothes but healed bodies.
“You all right?” Jono asked.
Emma smiled in a way that spoke of remembered pain. They must have shifted at some point to heal their wounds, but their clothes were still mostly intact. “We’re fine. Still a pack. Still tithing Estelle and Youssef.”
“For now,” Leon muttered.
Sage stood and took a hesitant step toward her former alpha, expression twisting. “Emma…”
Emma closed the distance between them and pulled Sage into a hard hug. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep you safe.”
Sage shook her head, her knuckles going white with how hard she held on to Emma. “Don’t. You have nothing to apologize for.”
“You know you always have a home here, no matter what Estelle and Youssef said. This is my territory, and it’s your home. Your name is on the title next to Marek’s.” Emma looked over Sage’s shoulder at Jono, never blinking. “Thank you for claiming her, Jono.”
“Couldn’t let that bollocks stand,” Jono said.
Emma carefully put Sage at arm’s length, giving the other woman a tired smile and a gentle shake. “You arealwayswelcome here, Sage. Remember that. Goes for all of you.”
“Don’t think Estelle and Youssef will appreciate me being in your territory, Em.”
“Yeah, they said as much,” Leon said as he sank down into an armchair and stretched out his legs. “We expect you to be at your shift when this whole case Patrick has going on blows over. I’m not dealing with the bar after overseeing people debug code all day and sitting in meetings.”
