“She is mywife. She will follow my orders-”
“I filed for divorce.” Hannah’s words land heavily between them. “Legally, we are separated, and the court granted us an order of protection against you. One you’ve broken by coming here.”
Colin takes a step toward her, and I push him back, watching him slam against the wall. “Don’t touch her.” Gripping the door with one hand, I use the other to pull Hannah behind me. He’ll have to go through me to get to them, and this scrawny Beta doesn’t stand a chance against me in a fight.
The elevator dings, and two officers step out. They immediately lock onto us, and their hands go to the stun guns on their hips. Waves of angry Alpha pheromones filter out of the apartment, blending with the fear-soaked notes of Hannah’sscent. When they get closer, one of them recognizes me. “Mr. Wilson, we got a call about the violation of a protective order?”
“Yes, Officer Monroe. This is Colin Boyd. My Beta, Hannah, is his ex-wife.”
“We aren’t divorced-“
“Yet,” Hannah chimes in, leaning around me to look at the officers. “He tried to force his way into our apartment, and was threatening both my daughter and me.”
Monroe steps forward and pulls Colin to his feet. We watch as he is arrested and escorted to the elevator. If this stunt proves anything, it’s that the threats against Hannah haven’t disappeared with the destruction of her father’s cult. The little hope we held that she was finally free has now shattered.
Fates, I wish I had punched that asshole in the face.
Slamming the door shut, I turn and pull Hannah into my arms. The tart notes of her cherry scent flow through my senses as I breathe her in. Slowly, the anger and aggression dim back to manageable levels. I drag us to the couch and lift her onto my lap. Kaitlin comes too, climbing up to wedge herself between us. Tears trail down her tiny cheeks, breaking my heart with each new drop. Cupping her face, I gently wipe them away. “It’s okay, Princess. He’s gone. I’ll never let him near you again.”
My phone vibrates on the table. A call from the front desk. I answer it one-handed, refusing to let either of my girls go when they’re still shaken. “Mr. Wilson, this is Harry, at the front desk. I’d like to apologize for the slip in our security. We’re reviewing our procedures to ensure there isn’t a repeat of this situation.” Grunting in acknowledgment, I let him continue. “One of our security guards is on his way up to check over your door. He will bring up the food you ordered. Again, I’m sincerely sorry for our mistake.”
The call ends a few minutes before there is another knock at the door. Kaitlin’s whole body locks up, her eyes wide as shesnaps her head up to stare at the wood. I carefully shift Hannah to the couch, and then I place Kaitlin beside her. “It’s our pizza this time, Princess. You’re safe, I promise.”
Her eyes track me across the short distance to the door. I hear her sigh when I swing it open to reveal a uniformed guard holding three large pizzas. “Mr. Wilson. Your door doesn’t appear to be compromised, but I can put in an order with maintenance to have it swapped out, if you’d like?”
“That won’t be necessary. Thank you for bringing this up, and checking in with us. Can you let the head of security know that I’ll need to speak with him tomorrow? We will need to debrief in case that asshole comes back.”
“Of course. Enjoy the rest of your night.”
Closing the door behind him, I plaster a cheerful smile on my lips and turn back to my girls. “Who’s hungry?”
Chapter Sixteen
I’ve been caughtup in my slow-building relationship with Hannah, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been blind to the struggle my best friend is going through. Omen’s rejection is wearing her down, cracking her foundation, and shattering her into irreparable pieces. The medicine her doctor prescribed has helped to slow her downward spiral, but it’s a temporary solution. The only permanent fix for the rejection is for her mates to pull their heads out of their asses.
When they called me a few days ago, I was shocked to hear that Bea is barring them from speaking with or seeing Omen. How is she supposed to survive if her mates can’t even apologize properly?
Stepping into Bea and Omen’s apartment, I cross my arms over my chest and narrow a sharp glare on Bea. “Have you been stopping Pack Graves from seeing Omen?”
Her head snaps toward me, lips pinched. “Those bastards won’t get within a hundred feet of her. They had their chance to believe in her, to be the mates she needed them to be, and they threw it away. So yes, Foster, I’m standing between her and them.”
“She needs them, Bea!” How she cannot see this, I don’t know. Our best friend is barely hanging on. We will lose her if her mates don’t step in and fix what they broke in her.
Bea throws her arms wide and glares at me. “They tossed her aside like she was trash on their doorstep! She deserves better than those assholes!”
Do I agree with her? Yes. That doesn’t change the role Pack Graves must play in Omen’s future. “Maybe so, but that isn’t an option!”
“She’s doing better, Foster! I will not allow them to come rushing back into her life so they can hurt her all over again.” Tears line Bea’s eyes, and for the first time, I see how close she is to breaking.
We all feel it—the fear.Watching Omen give up in the livestream, welcoming death as if it were inevitable, broke us all. Am I afraid those assholes will make her situation worse? Kind of. They could ruin her as easily as they could fix her.
“Omen isn’t doing better, she just isn’t getting worse! The medicine they gave her is only a temporary solution, not a cure. The only way to guarantee she gets better is to fix the bond with her mates.”
“I won’t risk putting her through this again. Wewillfind another way.”
Her stubbornness has a growl ripping through my teeth. A hand tears through my hair, mussing the carefully sculpted strands. “It isn’t our decision to make! Don’t you see that? Omen needs to choose which path to take for herself. Something she can’t do with you blocking them from even speaking with her!”
Omen appears then, stepping out of the hallway. Her skin is still too pale, and the circles beneath her eyes make my breath catch. I barely hear her response to Bea as my eyes track every detail of her health. I hadn’t been with Hannah when she came to visit a few days ago, so I wasn’t aware of how things hadstagnated. She might not be getting worse, but she sure as hellisn’tgetting better.
