“Come for me, Trissy. You’re so fucking beautiful when you do,” I demand, being an Alpha-asshole against her lips, but she loves it.
I taste my blood on her mouth, I feel her settle inside my fucking bones and when we come together, I see the fucking promise of a good life in her eyes.
She shudders under me before we breathe each other back to life. Soft kisses, little nips, growls as I lick her bite before I hold her to me, rolling us both to her side. “Nap?” I suggest.
“No chance, Steel, he will seriously kick your ass if you are late for your first day.”
I look up at the clock on her bedside table before I drop back onto the pillow, throwing my hand over my face. “You wouldn’t put a good word in for me?”
Tristan laughs so loud I use my hand to cover her mouth to shush her. Not that it stops her making noise or laughing. Grumbling, I hold her mouth shut before kissing her forehead and dragging my nearly late ass into King’s shower.
“What are you doing today?” I call out, waiting for the water to turn warm.
She’s shuffled around on the bed so she can see me, but she’s buried herself under a pile of blankets.
“I’m going out. Shopping, actually.”
“Sounds… unpleasant.” I step under the shower to stop all the excuses I have piling up in my head about why she shouldn’t go out by herself. Like she’s explained to our dumb asses plenty of times, she’s well aware of the need to always have her guards with her. Her pack just thinks it should be one of us, but she’s exactly like King, pushing us all to get back to life now we have the chance of a future.
Rinsing the conditioner out my hair, I look over to where she should be, but King’s bed is empty.
“Trissy?” I call out.
And there’s no answer. All of a sudden I’m racing through the house, naked and dripping wet, my head jammed with images of Rex holding her hostage in King’s house. There is nothing in my head but this fucked up noise and all these goddamn memories, and imaginings that feed the flame of panic.
I search every fucking room in his house. I fly out the fucking back door to check his yard, everywhere is empty. All my senses are obliterated by my fear, I can’t even stop for a second to check through our bond. Racing back inside, I’m swiping my phone off the counter when the front door opens.
“Steel? Jesus, what happened?” She races towards me and gives me no chance to explain, instead she launches herself at me.
“What? What happened?” she yells, squeezing the crap out of me.
“I couldn’t find you.”
“Hey? I yelled out Big Tom was at the door. I’m having issues letting anyone in the house, so I was speaking to him outside. I thought you knew.”
I hold on to her shoulder and push her away to check her over. I can hear she’s fine, she’s right in front of me but the fucked-up images, the years of living in Rex’s world mean I’m not as trusting as I should be.
Trissy’s eyes narrow as she lets me triple check she’s okay. In the very next exhale, she makes the sharpness of her scent cut through my freak out and I see her standing in front of me pissed the fuck off. Her teeth grind for a second until her anger erupts. “That’s it. I am putting my foot down. I want him dead. You all have until midnight to make it happen, or I’ll murder him myself.” And then she slams her lips to mine, snarling and bitching. “He has taken enough from you. No fucking more, Steel. Do you hear me?”
I do hear her. I feel her too. And I realise again how much I need her.
Chapter
Sixty
TRISTAN
Around nine o’clock, Steel, Maverick, Tyson, and King finally leave, without so much as a grumble. Admittedly, King’s house is surrounded and the compound locked down so there is that. But with them gone, it means I have three hours to get everything in place; it’s going to be a hustle, but I love a challenge.
Racing around the back, I open the gate for the prospects I bribed into helping me. Except I also did it right, including Joker in my plan.
I wasn’t messing around earlier with Steel. The end of Rex’s life was absolutely necessary, but what I had spent the day doing was equally important.
Sitting on the stool in the kitchen, I watch the prospects lift off the large hot tub. The six of them seem to manage it easily. Joker keeps an eye on them from the back of the pick-up truck they used to bring it as close to the deck as possible. I’d be out there helping, but like I told Steel, I’ve got issues with any Alpha not my own stinking up our home, and that’s exactly how I’m selling to them the pack home I bought earlier.
I need our own space. Like I need, need it for so many reasons. I nearly slipped up big time earlier, Raney demandingI FaceTime her, and my finger hovered until I was sitting at the breakfast bar of her family home, wearing one of her dad’s hoodies. But I also had the world’s blotchiest face after reading the letter I got from Banks Talent Agents.
They fucking terminated my contract after hearing on the grapevine that I was associated with ‘undesirables’.
