She reached up and cupped my face, running her fingers through my beard.
“I just keep thinking about how he pinned me so easily. He pulled down my jeans and there was nothing I could do to stop him. He would have raped me if Theo didn’t stop him. That’s the scariest part—something like that could happen again, and I would be just as helpless.”
I felt a surge of anger and grief for my omega. “You are so far from helpless, and you have all of us now to protect you.”
She lifted her head off my chest, finally meeting my gaze. “But you won’t be around me all the time. And anyway, I don’t want to need an entourage around me to be safe. I’ve spent the past two years in self-defense class, but when it came down to it, it’s like everything I learned vanished.”
“Self-defense class?” I asked.
“Oh. My friend Josie talked this gym owner, Luc, into hosting a self-defense class for omegas.”
A growl went through my chest before I could stop myself. I knew it was ridiculous, but the idea of another man teaching her self-defense made me see red. “Bear and I can help train you to fight,” I blurted out. I would make sure she never had to actually use the skills, but I hated that she saw herself as weak.
“Really?” A smile spread across her face and a feeling of rightness settled in my chest.
Everything in the world seemed right when Westin smiled.
“Of course, kitten,” I said, kissing her forehead.
If I was honest with myself, the idea unsettled me, especially since we didn’t know what was going on with her health. I didn’t want to put her at risk, but I knew she needed this.
“Not sure what I think about that nickname,” she said, but the soft smile on her lips gave her away.
I stroked her hair, keeping my touch feather light to not bother her neck. “Close your eyes,” I said gently. “I’ll be here to keep the nightmares away.”
I stayed awake long after Westin fell back asleep. I needed to talk to Gray about finding the person who hired her attacker. They needed to be caught and fucking dealt with. Rage burned in my chest, and it was only the feel of Westin’s small body against mine that kept me calm. I hadn’t felt rage like this in a long time, not since the last time I stopped my father from beating my mother. I’d broken his arm, and he’d never raised it against her again.
Westin deserved to be safe, and I would do anything I could to make sure that happened.
53
WESTIN
The room spun as I stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around me. I gritted my teeth as I walked to the bed with slow, heavy steps. Last night’s nightmare clung to me, along with the embarrassment of Liam seeing me like that. He had been so tender with me in the night, and I wondered what it would be like to trust the people in my life to not hold my weaknesses against me.
I collapsed onto the mattress and breathed through the pain that radiated down my head and neck. My symptoms hadn’t been this bad in a while, and I didn’t want the guys to see me like this. I pulled on my sweatpants and Liam’s sweatshirt I’d refused to give back. Finally, I forced myself to stand, breathing through a wave of dizziness.
My steps were slow as I headed down the hallway to the living room, where I knew the guys were waiting for me. A wave of bitter alpha scents washed over me and gave me pause. I stopped before I turned the corner and listened to the low voices.
“What have you found so far?” Liam asked.
“I sent all the letters off to my forensic guy. He’ll try to get prints off them and analyze the writing to see if there are any patterns there,” Gray responded.
My heart beat faster as I realized they were talking about my stalker letters.
“What about the guy who attacked her? Has he said anything?” Henry asked.
“He admitted to the police that someone did hire him, but he didn’t know their identity. I thought about sending someone after him to get more information but haven’t done it yet,” Gray said.
I leaned my forehead against the wall, breathing through the tightness in my chest.
“What if he was making that up and he’s the real stalker? How do we know someone hired him?” Bear asked with a growl.
“We don’t,” Gray said. “The letters are so possessive it wouldn’t make sense for whoever wrote them to hire another person to attack her. But the timing makes it hard to imagine the letters and attack are unrelated.”
“We should track down the attacker,” Liam said, his voice tinged with fury.
My skin felt hot and flushed and I gripped the wall, feeling dizzy again. While I couldn’t control the nightmares, I did my best to push the memories of the attack away when I was awake. Now it was all coming back, flooding me with the same helplessness I felt in my dreams.
