"It's all right," he tells me.
When I look up at him, my entire body trembles from the aftershocks of crying. From frenzied despair.
"I need you to come home," I croak up at him.
He nods, and his eyes are glossy beneath his skull mask. "And that's exactly why we will. Because you need us."
And my scariest, sweetest alpha bends down and plants a solitary, chaste kiss on my cheek before he sets me back on my feet.
He turns and starts to follow all the other men toward the barn, but I call after him, chest tight.
"That's it?"
When he spins back around, his words are an arrow to my heart. "I won't kiss you goodbye. But when we get back, be ready…"
And then the last member of Alpha Team X disappears under the shadows of the trees.
My heart disappears with him.
Frantically,I pace my room, my fingers interlaced behind the back of my head as I worry my lower lip with my teeth. I check the clock on the wall again.
"She should be here already," I mutter under my breath.
A knock sounds at the door, and I nearly trip over my own feet as I race to open it. The entrance to my castle prison swings open, and there stands Harper, in a black sheath dress looking ready for a runway.
"The security in this place is madness!" she exclaims. "I had to go through three different pat-downs." A naughty little smirk crosses her face. "The last one might not have been completely necessary, but there was this one very delicious-looking alpha with pecs that practically ripped the seams of his shirt apart."
"So that's why you were late," I state flatly, amusement counterbalancing some of my misery.
"Couldn't resist." She yanks her phone out of a tiny clutch purse and unlocks it. "Look. I even took a photo of him when he was swiping his hands up my legs."
My jaw drops. "Harper!"
Her face goes tomato red, but she's laughing, and her hand flies to her cheek. "I know! I went a little bit crazy for a second."
I grab the phone from her and see the blurry photo she has of the top of a guy's curly, black hair. "Well, at least you got a good angle."
A snort erupts from her that sends us both tittering until my ribs hurt. But it's a good ache, a wonderful ache, so much better than the hungry worry that's been eating me up all day.
"Need a drink?" I ask.
"Yes, please," she responds, and I lead her through the maze of halls to the kitchen in my wing.
There was a cook in there earlier, but I told her I didn't want any servants in my wing for a few days as I adjusted to the space.
She cleared out as soon as the chocolate chip cookies she'd been making me were finished. I hope she acquiesces to my request, but we'll see. I really do need a few days alone.
Especially for the plan I've been hatching…
"White or red?" I ask Harper as I slide the plate of cookies across the countertop to her.
"Ohh, white!" she responds.
I open the fridge and pour us both glasses as she takes a seat at one of the barstools at the counter. Taking a big gulp as I join her, I weigh my words. What I'm about to ask isn't just a silly omega favor any longer.
Maybe I shouldn't even ask it.
Perhaps I need to do this all on my own.
