I stumble blindly, and honestly, it’s lucky Aleksei is leading the way because when the dog barks again, it sounds like we’ve gone the wrong direction.
Rounding a clump of trees, we find Nalla. Only half her body is visible, the rest pushed into thick shrubs. Roshka is standing in the opposite direction, barking. He stops when he sees us.
The silence that follows is heavy, but before it grows ominous, I hear a sound I’ve been hoping to hear since I arrived.
Marco makes another noise. And I know it’s his by the unique, nasally sound.
“Nalla,” I bark out as I crawl through the thickets, trying to push her out of the way.
But she found him and won’t budge an inch. I also want to hug the shit out of the ornery beast. Marco is in a small ball, his head protected by his arms. I tap his shoulder, and he jumps a mile.
And then I drag his body into my arms and burst into tears.
Chapter Fifty-Five
QUINN
He’s tucked in so tightly, I have to pry his arms from his head, but as soon as I get one arm free, he looks up. His expression goes from absolute terror to pure relief and joy in one heartbeat.
We don’t bother talking; we hold on to each other for dear life, and I keep on crying.
Roshka parks his butt behind me, keeping me safe, while Nalla shoves her face between Marco and me. She doesn’t let up until we’re forced apart, and then she’s licking his face.
He laughs before he starts demanding answers. It’s hard to understand what he’s saying because he has to sign around Nalla. She refuses to move and drops her head down, slightly snarling in warning and staring at me in challenge whenever I try to move her.
Aleksei barks at her from outside the bushes before he barges into the small space, telling her to move. She ignores hiscommand, too, getting more protective the more we tell her to move.
But seeing a male he doesn’t know, fear coats Marco’s features.
“He is a good man, Marco. I promise, he is going to look after us. He is my Alpha.” I talk a mile a minute. My signing is a jumbled mess because I’m a jumbled mess.
And because it’s Aleksei, and this man doesn’t understand the word patience, instead of giving Marco time to adjust to the concept of a safe male near us, he pushes Roshka over and kneels next to me.
He holds his phone in one hand, the flashlight helping us see, and holds his hand out to shake Marco’s and starts talking. “She is my wife. I’m lucky, huh? But apparently now even luckier because she did not tell me how strong and brave her brother was. And since Quinn is my wife, that means we are basically brothers.”
Aleksei speaks exactly how you should when communicating with a deaf child. He talks clearly, and I sign everything he says.
Judging by the look on Marco’s face when Aleksei finishes, Marco understands, but he looks at me for confirmation.
“He is not the man I was going to marry. This one, we like a lot. He will look after us.”
“And Nalla is my dog, but now she looks like she wants to be your dog,” Aleksei says, more animated than usual.
I know it’s because he’s still picking up on Marco’s fear. Aleksei’s designation is riding him as hard as mine is. Which is to be expected, as is the crash that’s going to happen to me pretty soon.
“Come on,” I say to them both. “Let’s go back to the house. Deena is there, and she will want to see you, Marco.”
As soon as he learns Deena is okay, he latches on. He wraps around me like an octopus, burying his face in the crook of myneck. Except he stills because Aleksei makes a very Alpha noise. It’s so loud that it rumbles in the air like thunder, which is how Marco feels it.
Before I can explain, Marco switches sides, and the crisis is averted.
“You forgot to tell me,maya, you have a baby Alpha on your hands,” Aleksei growls softly against my ear as he starts dragging us out.
My pants are going to be ruined, but being pulled out is the only way, considering the way Marco won’t let go. Nalla isn’t helping, either, as she’s basically supergluing herself to Marco.
As soon as we’re free of the shrubs, Marco turns so he can keep an eye on Aleksei, and the two of them make no bones about sizing each other up. Their stare down is going as well as can be expected until Santiago appears.
Marco locks up again. I change how I’m holding him in my arms, so he can read what I’m saying. “That’s Santiago, he’s good too.”
