Instead, Wade curled Alex into his arms, holding him even as Alex fought to get free. “Breathe, honey bunny.”
“I-I can’t.” Alex curled his fingers into Wade’s shirt, clinging for dear life. “He’s here,” he whispered. “He’ll kill all of you if I don’t leave.”
“Who?” Wade’s arms tightened as a low growl escaped. “Who’s here, Alex? The person who put that collar on you?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Someone much worse.” He yanked his head back, eyes wide. “Turn on all the lights!”
Wade’s eyes narrowed. “Demon.”
As badly as Alex wanted to shield everyone under this roof, he’d said too much, hung around too long. Wade wouldn’t let him walk out, no matter how much Alex begged.
“Zeppelin!” Wade shouted, pulling Alex toward the den, turning all the lights on. “Demon!”
A stampede of thunderous footsteps could be heard heading their way. Alex pulled free and helped turn on the lamps as Wade hurried toward the kitchen.
Alex rushed behind his mate, hitting every light switch he found.
“What’s going on?” Zeppelin demanded on the stairs as Alex hurried past him. The alpha. The one guy who made Alex’s bunny want to hide under the couch.
“My mate has a demon after him,” Wade explained as he emerged from the kitchen.
Alex braced himself, waiting for the alpha to rescind his offer to stay for as long as he wanted and yeet him out the front door. They didn’t know him, so why should they risk their lives to keep him safe?
Being Wade’s mate didn’t automatically mean family, and Alex wouldn’t blame Zeppelin. The mates were their first and only priority, not someone who’d just shown up on their doorstep like an abandoned baby needing adoption.
“Don’t worry. I got you.” Sasha grabbed Alex’s wrist and hauled him toward the steps leading upstairs. “You can chicken out in a room with the rest of us mates until the crisis blows over. Jalen always has snacks, and I think Preston snuck his apple pie upstairs.”
“But I caused the crisis!” Alex yanked at his hand, but for someone so skinny, Sasha was surprisingly strong.
The redhead stopped pulling and stared at him. “We all have baggage, Alex. Preston had a stalker ex-boyfriend after him. Jalen dealt with a twisted uncle and a pill dependency. Newt was running from a father who wanted to marry him off to some chick, and my cousin was a drug dealer who sicced two coyote shifters after me so he could use me as leverage.”
Sasha just dropped the pack trauma receipts like a damn ledger.
“But none of you killed anyone!” Alex’s brows shot up, his heart thundering. Oh god. He’d just shouted the truth at Sasha like a grenade he hadn’t mean to throw! They were going to call the cops, and he would be arrested.
He yanked so hard he nearly made Sasha tumble down the steps. “Let me go!”
“Get your ass upstairs and eat the apple pie Preston worked so hard to make,” Sasha demanded. “Whatever you did, you can deal with that with Wade. Right now, we need to stay out of the wolves’ way.”
Alex glanced around, but no one was paying him any attention. Instead, they had turned into the lights brigade, making the house so bright Alex had to squint.
Instead of arguing, he let Sasha shepherd him upstairs for pie and safety like it was the natural order of things. Alex watched as men ran from one room to the next, sending the electric bill into the stratosphere.
They entered a room, and Sasha slammed the door closed. On the bed, Jalen lounged, remote in hand. Newt was… Alex cocked his head. The fae was pacing midair. How was that possible?
Preston was at one of the dressers, cutting the apple pie and putting slices on paper plates.
This had to be some sort of bizzarro world where everything was opposite of what it should be. Newt was the only one acting worried. The rest of the mates made it seem like any other Tuesday.
What kind of pack had Alex walked into? While the wolves were running around, the mates were acting as if they were having a late-night snack.
All except Newt, whose midair pacing was freaking Alex out.
“Sorry,” Preston said as he glanced at everyone, “but I don’t have any ice cream.”
“Why aren’t you guys panicking?” A plate of pie was shoved into Alex’s hands.
“What do you want us to do?” Jalen asked from the bed, arm tucked behind his head. “Should we all run around the room, screaming in panic?”
