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My mate, my wolf growls, forcing my shift. He lies down by her side and wraps his neck around hers protectively. Offering her peace and comfort.
And that stream of light that settled into me now shows as a physical link between our wolves.
“Fucking hell, Wild. What did you do to her?” Reed bellows from down the hall. Charging towards us like a raging bull rather than the alpha wolf he is, causing Riley to shrink back.
“I didn’t mean to, honest. I was coming out of the bathroom, and we just sort of collided with each other.” Looking down at Riley, I wince and ask, “Are you okay? Can I see your nose?” I reach out to touch her cheek, but she jolts away from me like I’m about to hit her. A rush of anger, guilt, and sadness flood my system from my wolf. He doesn’t like that someone put that kind of instinctual response in her. On this, I agree with him. “Hey, it’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you. Or at least not any more than I already have. Which I am really fucking sorry about.”
She glances at me from under her lashes, hiding any hint of recognition. “It’s fine.” That’s all she says before walking into the bathroom and closing the door. Hearing the click of the lock is like a slap to the face.
Reed stands beside me, staring at the bathroom door, when my head goes flying forward.
“What the fuck man, that hurt,” I exclaim, rubbing the back of my head where he smacked me.
“Next time, watch where you’re going. Also, remember that feeling. Riley is not one of your race bunnies. You’ll treat her with respect and dignity. Got it, asshole?” Reed’s alpha command washes over me. We may both be alphas, but he’s always been the most dominant out of all of us.
“Dude, I get it, all right.” I follow Reed into the living room, still rubbing the back of my head, joining Cree and Axel.
“Where’s Enzo?” Reed asks, and Cree tilts his head towards the door.
“He’s gone.”
“What happened back there?” Axel asks in a hushed tone.
Reed proceeds to explain what transpired between Riley and Enzo. What he heard standing outside the bedroom, the creeper, and Enzo’s reaction to Riley’s panic attack before he intervened to talk her down.
“He was definitely in that state of mind of talk to me and die. We weren’t about to try and stop him. Better to let him go work it off,” Cree states, relaxing back in his seat.
“Wise choice,” Reed replies, knowing Enzo better than any of us since they’re old army buddies.
“Speaking of state of beings. We touched on this already, but I think we need to get something straight. You know, make sure we’re all on the same page,” Reed begins before Cree cuts him off. Gods, those two are so alike, they should just fight or fuck already and determine who is the true alpha so we can get a moment of peace. That’s a show I would enjoy either way—Riley too, I’m sure.
“For fuck’s sake, Reed. We’re on the same page. We all feel the connection with Riley, including Enzo—even if he thinks he’s fighting it, which he’s not. None of us are going anywhere. Am I wrong?” he questions. No one replies, we all know what’s coming, and none of us question the will of the gods. A fated or true mate is not something you question. It’s something you embrace and treasure. While we know right now Riley is not in a state to bond with us, we’re not going to leave her, either. We’ll be whatever or whoever it is she needs us to be until she’s ready to call us mates.
I stare out the window, out onto the darkened street as the early morning rays of sunlight peek over the horizon. These guys are my chosen family, we may not share DNA, but I know if I ever needed them, they would be there for me, no questions asked—other than where to bury the body. I would do the same for any of them.
From army pasts to drunken fight nights, we’ve built a pack—a family—out of the shit we’ve been dealt. So, to share a mate with them, even the bear, is no hardship.
“The stashes we found in her apartment … It’s amazing she’s still alive,” Reed states, bringing my attention back to their conversation.
“Did you dispose of them?” Axel asks. He wasn’t with us yesterday when we raided Riley’s apartment and dumped her stashes of pills and alcohol. He’d stayed behind with Riley and Enzo.
“Yeah, but the concern is—what’s her withdrawal going to be like?” I ask.
“For both her and her wolf,” Cree chimes in.
“It’s going to be painful, but we’ll help her through it,” Axel says.
“We will,” I state matter-of-factly and take a seat, picking up the remote to the TV and flicking on something mindless as we wait for Riley to emerge.
About halfway into an episode about antique-picking through people’s junk piles, Riley finally brings herself to exit the bathroom. She stops, frozen in her tracks; a deer caught in the headlights look on her face upon spotting us. The look morphs into one of concern and confusion as her gaze scans the room.
“Where’s Enzo?”
Chapter 13
ENZO
Jab.
