My brother narrows his eyes to a glare.Rich coming from you!He links me.
I feel my cheeks burning. He is right. I was more than a little self-conscious about meeting my mate and not being enough. I shouldn’t tease anyone else about overthinking anything.
But I am truly happy for you,Dario adds.
I smile at him.I know, thank you.
“Going by what you told us, she must be very tough,” Dario muses.
“Yeah, her old pack must have sucked,” Charlie says. “At least for the most part.”
“She said that while her father was still alive, they treated her well,” I say, blood burning in my veins when I think about how they treated her once he passed away.
“Unbelievable,” Dario mutters. “Just because she is a hybrid. They weren’t even able to respect her father posthumously.”
“Good thing she had that one old friend from her father and the elderly couple looking out for her,” Charlie muses.
“The alpha’s son giving her money and the option to get out without notice probably helped too,” Dario adds.
“Yeah, but he wasn’t so great beforehand, from what Felix said,” Charlie says.
“It’s hard not to judge,” I admit.
“I want to say I would have never stood by and watched a member of my pack getting bullied,” Dario says. “But I have never been in that situation, so it’s easy to say.”
“You totally would have kicked a bully’s butt,” Charlie says with emphasis.
Dario smiles at her. “Thank you for believing I would.”
“He helped her get out,” I say thoughtfully. “For that, at least, I am thankful. Without his money, she would have been stuck there for longer.”
Dario nods. “We can definitely agree on that.”
“I am still not comfortable that she is alone here,” I say. “What if someone from her pack is looking for her? She said, she feels like someone is watching her.”
“We saw those shifters two days ago,” Dario adds.
All three of us fall into an uncomfortable silence until Charlie breaks it. “Let’s go somewhere else and discuss this further. I need better coffee, though.”
I peer at my own cup of hotel coffee. “Yeah, this one didn’t do it.”
twenty
Potential Danger
*FELIX*
We go back to our rooms to grab a couple of things and then head out. I am glad we are having a slow day – it’s exactly what I need. My mind is constantly on Gwen, my mood fluctuating between joy and worry – joy for having found her, and worry of the shifters Dario and I spotted. Neither Charlie nor Dario pushes me to do some sightseeing or some sort of activity; instead, we go to a small, rather rundown, coffee shop and spend a couple of hours there.
Dario pulls a small notebook out of his pocket. “We can prolong our stay here for as long as we want,” he muses. “On our way back home, though, we’ll need at least one stop.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask before realization settles in. “No, wait, I don’t want you to cancel your trip!”
“Under normal circumstances, I’d say to invite Gwen on the trip,” Dario says. “But she has two more people she is caring for right now, and she told you herself that she doesn’t feel safe. I hope she agrees to come home with us.”
“I hope the same,” I say. “And if she doesn’t want to come to Silverlake immediately, I will stay with her until she is ready. She is looking for a pack, and I hope that when she sees our home, she will like it there.”
“It’s a good thing to invite her to come for a visit and see things for herself,” Charlie says. “Emphasize that she doesn’t need to move immediately. It’s obvious she has trust issues.”
