Ty pulled out his phone and called his head security guard. “I need everyone on hand to search the woods. Liza saw someone watching her.” He turned to face me and cupped my face. “If there’s someone out there, they’ll find them.”
I nodded. I hoped they’d catch the person. But what if I had imagined it? What if the stress of anticipating Castro’s next move was getting to me? I certainly hadn’t gotten more than five or six hours of sleep each night, but could those factors really cause hallucinations? Plus, I was certain my wolf had sensed someone in broad daylight during my run. It couldn’t all be coincidental.
While we waited, we sat on the bed and tried to watch a movie. He insisted it would take my mind off everything but it didn’t. How could I chill and watch a movie when there was a creeper lurking in the shadows, waiting to do gods only knew what?
An hour later, the head of security knocked on the bedroom door. I pulled the blanket up to cover my chest since I’d chucked my bra across the room thirty minutes earlier. Ty padded to the door in his comfortable sweatpants. He’d ditched his suit before I’d released the girls.
“We’ve searched every inch of the woods, Alpha. My men didn’t find any intruders or any unfamiliar scents. I’ll put extra guards around the perimeter of the woods tonight.”
Ty nodded and thanked the guard before crawling back into bed with me. “Maybe you’re just stressed.” He pulled me close in an attempt to comfort me. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep? Everything will be okay.”
I forced a smile and kissed him before burrowing down in the high-thread-count sheets and down comforter, hoping it would lull me to sleep. But as I lay in bed that night, my thoughts racing, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. I wasn’t crazy. There had been someone in those woods watching me. The question now was, who were they, and what did they want?
69
TY
Istretched and repositioned the pillow under my head, turning to find Liza awake, sitting upright on the bed beside me. I wondered if she’d had any sleep at all. The dark circles marring her beautiful face told me she hadn’t. Her bright blue eyes, usually full of life, held a haunted look.
“Hey,” I said, pushing myself up into a sitting position. I brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “You don’t seem yourself this morning. Are you okay?”
Liza stared into nothingness as she slumped against the headboard. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her temple. She remained stiff in my embrace.
Worry gnawed at my gut. I’d never seen her like this, so withdrawn into herself. She’d always seemed so strong, filled with warmth and light. Even through the nightmares about the truth of the Wylde’s pack destruction, she never allowed Castro’s games to dim her spirit. Not even her worries about being an omega—a secret she’d held her entire life—had kept her down. Now, it felt as if her light was fading as darkness crept in, creating a void between us.
“Talk to me, Liza,” I said. “What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”
Her gaze was distant, as if she couldn’t quite focus on the here and now. “I don’t know.”
“Would you like a massage?” I offered, hoping to ease some of the tension. All I received in response was a shrug. It pained me to see her this way, so unlike the vibrant, confident woman I knew and loved.
I wrapped both arms around her now, trying to offer comfort through my touch, but she remained distant, her body rigid against mine. My concern only deepened, and I wondered if she was obsessing over the shadowy figure she’d spotted in the woods behind our estate.
“Are you worried about what you saw in the woods?” I asked, my voice soft yet insistent.
“No, I’m fine,” she blurted. Not only was her tone unconvincing, but I felt the spike of fear through our mating bond.
She’d been okay last night after our interview with Isaiah, upbeat even, until the moment she’d seen the shadowy figure in the woods. I believed she’d noticed something, but I couldn’t ignore the chance that her encounter with the mysterious figure was nothing more than a stress-induced hallucination. The extent of her powers as an omega remained unknown to us, and I couldn’t disregard the possibility that they’d somehow played a role in what she’d experienced.
But for now, my priority was to make sure Liza felt safe and cared for. I needed to find a way to get through to her, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and do something special for her. I wasn’t great at big gestures, but I could make her breakfast. It was usually a task reserved for the staff or Liza herself when she was in the mood, but today I wanted to surprise her and show her how much I cared.
“Take your time in the shower,” I suggested gently. “The hot water will help you relax.”
She nodded slowly, a ghost of her usual smile crossing her lips as she slid out of bed and trudged to the bathroom.
I slipped out of bed, pulled on a T-shirt, and padded down to the kitchen, where I found the chef working away. “Good morning, Alpha, what can I get for you and Mrs. Keller this morning?”
“Morning, I’m going to make breakfast for Liza and me.” Chef gave me a grin. He’d been with the Keller family as long as I could remember and knew my cooking skills were pretty basic, but he happily left me to it.
I searched through the pantries for inspiration. There were plenty of ingredients at my disposal, but I wanted something simple and comforting. Something I could make without burning anything. Eventually, I settled on a basic dish of scrambled eggs with cheese, cinnamon toast with honey butter, and bacon.
The sweet scent of cooking filled the kitchen as I whisked the eggs and melted a generous amount of sharp cheddar into the mixture. The sizzle of bacon accompanied the aroma of cinnamon toast crisping in the oven, a rich layer of honey butter melting over its golden surface.
As I cooked, my thoughts kept going back to Liza. I couldn’t overlook the possibility that I was partially responsible for her stress. If I had taken care of Castro from the beginning, we wouldn’t be dealing with all this shit or worrying about people lurking in the shadows.
Once the meal was ready, I carefully arranged it on a tray, along with a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice and a small vase containing a delicate rose I’d snatched from one of the many floral displays throughout the house.
Carrying the tray upstairs, I found Liza emerging from the bathroom, her hair twisted up in a towel, and a delicate peach satin robe that fell just below her ass wrapped around her slender frame. A jolt of desire shot through me at the thought of what I knew was hidden beneath that robe, but I pushed it aside for now. There were more pressing matters at hand.
