My stomach turned only seconds after. “Who is it from?”
Lyon brought the plain white envelope to his nose and scented deeply. His stare confirmed what I suspected. Not good news. Not a fun letter at all. “It’s from him.”
I shook with fear. Mark was nowhere near me, and I had my alphas here, but the trauma he’d buried inside my consciousness reacted as though he were standing above me, eyes black with hate, his sour breath covering my face.
“Hey.” Lyon scooped me up and sat on the couch with me in his lap. I turned to lay my face on his shoulder and forced calm breaths. “He can’t hurt you. I won’t let him.”
“How long will this last? How long will I live in his shadow?”
Lyon growled so powerfully that it vibrated the both of us. “Cashel should’ve let me kill him.”
Though I knew, given the chance, that my fierce grizzly mate would easily take Mark in one bite, I laughed at the vision in my head.
“That’s funny, female?”
“Not you. You’re big and terrifying. But him in your bear mouth. That would be funny.”
He handed me the letter. “No matter what, I’m here. We’re here.”
I slipped my finger under the edge of the envelope and opened it. Scanned the words. “It’s from her. His mistress. She…she wrote me to say that she’s pregnant with Mark’s child.”
By the time I finished the short letter, Cash and York had come in as well. They sat around us, and I handed York the letter. My teddy bear, the one who comforted me and healed me in ways I didn’t know were possible, was worried. The lines on his forehead deepened.
Cash let out a long sigh.
Lyon held me tighter against his chest while his bear rumbled inside him.
“Why does she think I care? They could have two dozen children if they want. I hope they live awfully ever after.”
Lyon turned me to face the room, and Cash said, “That’s not gossip. She didn’t send you that letter out of the goodness of her heart or because she’s giddy with pregnancy hormones, omega.”
More confused than ever, I blurted out, “Why can’t they just leave me the fuck alone?”
Lyon gave me some whispered praise about saying fuck. Said it was damned sexy.
He would hear more about that later.
“Sweetheart, maybe we should consider moving you to Millie’s until this… I don’t know for how long.”
“Because she’s pregnant?” How on earth did this affect my life? Except maybe in a positive way. “Maybe this is his chance to move on. Distract him for a minute until he gets bored.”
“It could be her blowing smoke,” York offered, studying the letter. They’d all stared at it like there was a cryptic message included. But what? I clearly didn’t want Mark. He had someone else. He retained my father’s connections and status because we weren’t divorcing. Hell, he could tell the whole world I had gone bonkers and he had to put me away. It would be a modern rendition ofJane Eyreexcept his mistress wasn’t some plain Jane, and I wasn’t in the attic. I was here. Happy with my mates. Healing from years of compounded abuse.
With people who loved me instead of using me.
“Better safe than sorry,” Lyon said.
“Not this time,” I snapped. “I’m not running to Millie’s house. I’m staying right here with my alphas who love me and whom I love. Period. No more running. No more hiding from this bastard. Besides, maybe this will make him forget me once and for all.”
I didn’t even believe myself.
York let the letter float to the floor. “What did you say, omega?”
“I’m not scared, and I’m not going to Millie’s.”
“The other part.” Lyon squeezed my thigh.
“Oh. I-I do love you all.”
