I rolled my eyes but reached for his hand at the same time, smiling when he grudgingly met me halfway. All his growly annoyance was because he loved me as fiercely as I loved him.
He cared and he worried, and I’d never take that for granted.
Mase looked between us. “Is that what all the growling was about?”
“No,” I said softly. “That was because I reminded him what Xen had done to me.” I gave Rys’s hand a squeeze and sat back.
“I want to kill him.” Rys’s gaze swept over me, and I wondered if he was seeing my injuries all over again. Outwardly he looked calm, but I sensed the rage underneath it all, and Mase did too because he walked over and set a hand on the back of Rys’s neck.
Their soulbond worked its magic, Rys’s anger slowly dissipating as he closed his eyes and leant into the support Mase offered.
With one hand carding through Rys’s hair, Mase looked at me. “How bad is it?” He nodded at my body. “Because you looked pretty fucking bad when Jake brought you here yesterday.”
I winced, imagining what it must’ve been like for them. “It’s… manageable.”
Rys heaved a sigh, but Mase shushed him. “Like you’re surprised he’s down here. You’d be exactly the same and you know it.”
I laughed because it was so true. “So,” I said, the urge to dosomethingimpossible to quash any longer. “What’s the plan?”
“Breakfast,” Mase said before Rys could answer. “I suspect today will be long and exhausting, so before anything, we’re all going to eat.”
By the time Mase,with Jake and Rys’s help, had prepared a breakfast to feed half the pack, we’d been joined by Sasha, Talis, and Elliot.
Elliot immediately drew me into a hug, head buried in the crook of my neck. I felt his inhale and wondered what I smelt like to him now. I was already used to the idea of Xen no longer being my alpha, that was fine. Welcomed, actually. But the fact that the pack I’d been a member of foryearswas no longer mine, that although Elliot didn’t smell like my pack mate any longer, he stillfeltlike it? That would take longer to get my head around.
The whole thing was confusing and unsettling, and I wasn’t a fucking fan.
“I’m okay,” I whispered, figuring he still needed to hear it, even though he could see for himself.
“I know.” He stepped back. “But for a second there I didn’t think you would be. I’m so sorry, if I’d known he would—”
“Don’t. If you hadn’t come when you did, then I’d be dead.” I didn’t blame him for anything. He nodded once and stepped away, allowing Talis to take his place.
“You’re looking better.” Talis’s gaze swept over me like he was checking me for injuries.
I grinned. “I feel it.”
Talis shook his head. “We came to see you last night. It was bad, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. Fighting with your alpha was about as bad as it got.
He clasped my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I glanced around the kitchen, at the easy camaraderie Rys had with his pack. Such a fucking difference to what we’d had with Xen. I put my hand on top of Talis’s. “So am I.”
At Jake’s urging, we all sat down at the table and breakfast was dished out. I had a million questions for Elliot, but Mase vetoed all of them, insisting we eat first because once we started, it wouldn’t stop.
He had a point, but by the time we’d cleared away all the plates, I was almost bursting with the need to know what was going on. “What’s happening at the pack house?” I asked Elliot.
Elliot held his coffee mug in both hands, seemingly fascinated by it. “Nothing,” he said, finally looking up and around at the faces watching him. “Apart from the four who’ve gone with Xen, no one has a clue what’s going on. But they’re not stupid, they know something isn’t right within the pack. I’ve told them to trust me and that I’ll explain soon, but that won’t hold for long.” He sighed, a quiet sadness in his eyes when he looked between me and Jake. “The minute any of them get within scenting distance of you, they’ll know you aren’t pack any more. And they’ll want answers.”
I wanted to reassure him that we’d all be part of the same pack again when this was cleared up, but the words wouldn’t come. Not only because I couldn’t promise what the outcome would be, but also, I wasn’t sure I could go back, even with a new alpha.
But that was a discussion for another day.
“We could ask Myla,” Jake said, his thigh jiggling against mine. I automatically reached down to still it, my hand resting higher than Xen’s order would’ve allowed. My pulse kicked up, and yeah, that wasn’t getting old any time soon. “She might know something about where Xen has my dad.”
“She might,” I agreed. “And if she doesn’t, she might be able to find out.”
