I whimper, stilling deep inside him as I come, overwhelmed by the depth of his love for me.
“Mierda,” I whisper, collapsing against his chest as our bond begins to settle.
“Love you, Hot Stuff,” Foster mutters, already drifting off to sleep.
My laugh is buried against his chest, but he feels the echo in my heart. He bonded me. Claimed me as his.Forever.This feels like a fevered dream, and if it is, I’ll happily spend the rest of my life trapped in it.
Elation swirls through my new bond as I help with the label’s trick-or-treat event. It’s been a tradition far longer than I’ve worked here, and is one I enjoy. Though I am sad to miss out on my pack’s trip to the community center that Foster helps run.
Hundreds of kids come through before I see her. My princesa, all dressed up in her Batman costume. She jumps up and down, waving her sparkly wand in the air when she sees me. Apparently, even superheroes accessorize. “Papa Manny!”
I wave back, watching them explore the other tables as they make their way to mine. My coworkers gush over Kait’s costume and coo at the baby. Pride fills my heart, knowing they call me family. Brushing a finger over the bite mark adorning my neck, I smile to myself. Fate has finally shown me the right path.
The next batch of kids comes in from outside, bringing a gust of chilly wind with them. I glance their way, but returnto passing out the bags my mates helped me fill. Halfway to handing a bag to a girl in a teddy bear costume, I freeze. My eyes fly back to the crowd who just walked in, searching all their faces. None of them is familiar, but I could have sworn I saw Hannah’s ex-husband among them.
A coworker elbows me, and I quickly apologize to the little girl, winking at her when she laughs at my‘trick.’Anxiety skitters up my spine, warning me that someone is watching me. With the lobby as crowded as it is, I can’t figure out where he could be hiding.
Foster pushes a pulse of emotion down our bond, a wordless question. I meet his eyes, unsure how to respond. He tilts his head when I don’t respond, eyes scanning around the room. When he doesn’t notice a threat, he leans over to whisper something into Shepherd’s ear. Our Alpha turns to me, searching my pinched expression. How he understands my concern, I doubt I’ll ever know.
Turning around, I ask one of the production staff to cover my spot. If Colin is here, we cannot let him get to our family.
Shepherd is on alert, pressing himself against Hannah as she walks Kaitlin through the line. She eyes him over her shoulder, likely assuming his reaction is from their new bond. The overprotective feelings from their mating will help if anything happens.
I skirt around the back of the tables where only staff are allowed to stand, and head directly to the security desk. They listen as I quickly explain the situation and show them a picture of the ex. They spread out, searching through the crowd, while I go to my mates.
“Papa! Look how much candy I got!” Kaitlin beams up at me, shaking her bag so I can hear everything moving inside. I pull her into my arms, spinning her around once before settling heron my hip. She wraps her arms around my neck, hugging me tight. “You works here?”
“My studio is upstairs. Would you like to see it?” If I can get her, Hannah, and Foster up there, then Shepherd can help search the crowd for Colin.
Kaitlin bounces her head. “Yes, please! But after candy!”
Letting her go is difficult. I want to keep her in my arms so that I can act as her shield, but I don’t want to scare her. In case I was wrong. She slips her hand in mine, smiling up at me as she leads us to the next table. Shepherd urges Hannah in front of me, stopping at my side and leaning over to whisper in my ear. “Is he here?”
I jerk my head up and down once. My teeth dig into my cheek as we move through the tables, eyes still scanning the crowd. That crawling feeling of being watched doesn’t fade until we reach the last booth, where the executive staff is handing out pizza and drinks. A security team member catches my eye and waves me over to their desk.
“Okay, Manny. We did a full sweep, but couldn’t find him. If he’s in costume or wearing a mask…”
Of course!It’s Halloween, so blending in would be easy. How close did he get to my family?
Frank, our head of security, motions for me to come around the desk, where he shows me a security feed. It’s from earlier, about five minutes after Hannah and the kids arrived. He’s there, walking in with the next group. I try to track him through the room, but he uses the crowd to his advantage, disappearing within a matter of seconds. “I don’t know how much help this will be, but I emailed you a copy of the footage. With approval from upstairs, of course.”
My phone pings with the message, and I forward it to Shepherd. “Thank you for helping me search. I appreciate it.”
“Sorry, we couldn’t catch him before he took off.”
I wave off their apologies and head back to my pack, still wary of the many adults in costumes around us. The stalking and scare tactics need to end. That asshole should be rotting in prison, not out on bail and evading detection.
“What’s wrong?” Hannah asks when we climb into the elevator a few minutes later. “I can feel your agitation.”
Shepherd glances at Kaitlin, who is busy telling me all about her trip to the community center. While she’s distracted, he leans over and whispers into Hannah’s ear. I watch her eyes widen, slowly filling with fury. She clutches the baby to her chest. He was Colin’s true target, after all. His heir. Which is such an outdated train of thought. There won’t be anything left for him to inherit after the FCDA finishes tearing apart the Montgomery cult.
Whatever it takes, we’ll keep our pack safe. That’s what family does. We protect each other.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
After confirmingthat Colin followed us to the label’s trick-or-treat event, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was always there. Every knock at the front door made my pulse stutter, my hands shaking with every trip out of the house. My skin crawled with the feeling of his eyes on me.
We didn’t see him, but he made sure we knew. Leaving threats on our car or sending envelopes full of photos of us when we were out. Somehow, he was everywhere.Watching.Waiting for the moment our guard would be down so he could take my son.
