I'm upstairs changing when I hear the voices start up below. Not arguing, exactly, but the sound of words being carefully chosen.
I come back downstairs to find Rhys standing in the middle of the living room, arms crossed, taking up a considerable amount of the available space. Alex is across from him and Malcolm is leaning against the doorframe with the expression of someone who has decided to observe rather than participate.
Finn, wisely, has relocated to the kitchen.
"I'll stay back," Rhys is saying. There's something underneath it that I recognize now. The tension that lives in him when something is wrong and he's working to keep it managed. "I won't be seen. I just want to be there."
"I know," Alex says. Same calm register he always uses. "And I understand why you want to be. But you drawing attention to yourself in a public space with unknown alphas around is a risk I'm not willing to take."
Rhys's hands clench. "I'll manage it."
"You'll try to manage it," Alex says. "That's not the same thing. One unexpected encounter with a strange alpha and we have a situation that brings every eye in that town onto us." He pauses. "That's not a risk to Vee I'm willing to accept. Not while Ragon is actively looking for her."
The silence that follows has weight to it.
I look between them. At Rhys, who is objectively larger than Alex in every measurable way—taller, broader, more muscle than any one person should reasonably have. And at Alex, who is standing in front of him like the size difference is irrelevant, which apparently to both of them it is.
Ragon would have used his alpha bark by now. I've heard him use it too many times to count.
Alex hasn't raised his voice once.
"You know I'm right," Alex says, quiet and direct.
Rhys stares at him.
Something changes in his face. The tension doesn’t dissolve—just rearranges. It’s the look of a man who already knew the answer and was hoping he was wrong.
His arms drop.
He doesn't say anything, just turns away from Alex and looks out the window with the expression of a man who has conceded a point he didn't want to concede.
Alex turns to me. "Ready when you are."
I look at Rhys's back.
He's still facing the window. The set of his shoulders is tight. He knew this was the right call the moment Alex made it, I think. That doesn't make it easier.
I cross the room.
He hears me coming and turns slightly. Just enough that I can see his face.
I don't say anything about the conversation, I just step into him, wrapping my arms around him as far as they'll go, which is approximately… not far.
He goes still, how he always does when I touch him first, like his body needs a moment to register that this is real and allowed. Then his arms come around me easy. Complete.
"I'll be back," I say into his chest. "In a few hours."
He doesn't respond, just holds on.
I tilt my head back to look up at him. The angle is significant, he really is very tall.
"Alex will watch over me," I say. "You know that."
His jaw works in reluctant acknowledgment.
I go up on my toes. He helps pull me up with his arms.
I press a kiss to the scar that crosses his cheekbone. The raised, pale skin warm under my lips.
