I walked into Josie’s bedroom without knocking, my body trembling with anger. The moment I saw her, my rage melted away. She was sitting on the side of the bed, staring at the wall. Seeing her like that made me want to cry.
“What do you need, precious?” I murmured, sitting down next to her.
She didn’t move, didn’t say anything. I wondered if she needed me to back off or to take control like I had during her heat. The idea of leaving her alone like this was unthinkable, so instead, I went to her dresser and got out a pair of sweatpants and one of my sweatshirts she had pilfered. I moved back towards her carefully.
“I’m going to get you changed, precious, so we can lie down and be more comfortable.”
She kept staring at the wall, but at least this time, she gave me the tiniest nod of acknowledgment. I quickly changed her clothes and tugged her onto the bed so she was curled up against my side.
“We’ll all be together tomorrow,” I murmured, holding her tightly. “We won’t leave. We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”
Her breath hitched and tears streamed down her face.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
“Me too, precious. But you’re not going in there alone this time.”
She entwined her legs with mine and we held each other close, as if by clinging to each other, we could prevent anything bad from touching us.
The door clicked and Cam and Theo walked in, both looking anxious and uncertain.
“I’m sorry,” Theo said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, running his hand down Josie’s hair as he met my gaze. “To both of you. I panicked and went straight into solution mode. I don’t know how to deal with this.”
“I’m sorry, too,” I said.
“It’s okay,” Josie said, reaching out to hold Theo’s hand.
“What do you need, baby girl?” Cam asked, brushing the hair out of Josie’s face.
“Will you lie down with us?” she asked hesitantly. “Unless there’s other stuff you need to do,” she added quickly.
“Nothing I would rather do than be here,” Theo said. They lay down on either side of us, wrapping us in their embrace.
ChapterSixty-One
Josie
“Josie, sweetheart, you’re so tense you’re going to hurt yourself,” Cam said, scooting his chair closer to mine so he could rub my neck. I leaned into his touch, trying to focus on the feel of him, but nothing could soothe me while sitting in the Designation Center lobby.
“I just have a really bad feeling about this,” I whispered, fidgeting in my seat.
Ben squeezed my hand from the seat beside mine, his leg bouncing as he looked around the hall.
“We’ll go in there, answer their questions, and be out of here before you know it,” Theo said. “Where do you want to go for lunch?”
I shrugged. My stomach was so twisted up I wasn’t sure I could eat anything.
“I just want to go home,” I whispered.
“We’ll be back home so soon, baby girl,” Cam said, squeezing my thigh. “Just hold on.”
I nodded and forced myself to take a steadying breath.
A door opened down the hall, and laughter filtered into the lobby. I gripped Cam and Ben’s hands as tightly as I could as heavy footsteps sounded on the marble floor.
An alpha I’d never seen before strode towards us with a mild smile plastered on his face. His blond hair was perfectly coiffed and his dark navy suit was tight across his chest, as if it were a size too small. The very lines of his body felt sinister, and it took everything in me to stay in my chair when he raked his eyes over me, licking his lips. Cam and Ben tensed, and Theo subtly angled his chair to partially block me from the alpha’s view.
Then, heavy footsteps echoed in the lobby as a group of security officers filed in and lined up against the wall.
