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Bree scrubbed a hand down her face. “Such an awesome start to the morning. Hopefully she’ll take my advice and back off.”
“You know better than that,” he said.
“I can hope, though, can’t I?”
He stroked a hand over her hair. “Yeah, you can hope.” His cell began chiming. He grabbed it from the kitchen counter and swiped his thumb over the screen. “Yes?” he answered.
She almost snorted. He didn’t even do “hellos” when taking a phone call.
“All right, I’ll be there.” Alex’s whole body went rigid. “You are shitting me?” He cursed. There was a long pause, and then his eyes flicked to Bree. “Yeah, I’ll tell her.” He rang off, his jaw hard.
She stood. “What’s wrong?”
“Vinnie went to see Mateo, intending to banish the little fucker from the pride.”
The Alpha had ripped her a new asshole over the phone last night when she’d told him what Mateo had done, insisting she should have reported it immediately. “And?”
“And he’s gone. There were no signs of a struggle, but he didn’t pack any of his stuff. His cell phone was smashed to pieces.”
“Just like with Drina,” Bree whispered, her stomach bottoming out.
Alex nodded. “People are already speculating that Paxton took him. They don’t know what Mateo did to you, but they know he must have upset you badly. Plus, many saw him barge into your house after the polar bear clusterfuck—they’re figuring that Paxton didn’t like it much and decided to get rid of him.”
“Which is highly possible.” She rubbed a hand down her face. “I’m pissed at Mateo, Alex, so damn pissed. But I wouldn’t want him in the hands of someone like Paxton.”
Alex palmed the back of her head. “We don’t know for sure that Paxton took him.”
“But you think he did, don’t you?”
“There’s a chance Mateo ran off but, yeah, I think he was taken. I can’t think of anyone other than Paxton who’d want to get ahold of him. Calvin was being watched, as usual. His guards say he hasn’t left his apartment since yesterday morning.”
She grabbed onto the back of a chair. “I’m so worried that he might try to take you.”
“I’m with you all the time, and you’re too closely guarded. Paxton will wait rather than risk being seen.”
She nodded. “He’s incredibly patient like that.”
“Vinnie also wanted me to tell you that he’s been given another tip for the hyena’s location. I’m going with him to check it out. We’ll be leaving in an hour or so.”
Bree flexed her fingers. “I hate staying behind while you guys all scout places.”
Alex could totally understand that, because he’d feel the same way in her position. “I know you do, but—”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s best if I stay close to the pride.”
Alex cupped the side of her neck. Her frustration was written all over her face. “I get why you and your cat are chafing at the bit, but the hyenas mean business.”
“I’m not pissed that Vinnie wants me to stay close to the pride, I’m pissed that I’m in this situation. I’m pissed that you were shot six times because those assholes just won’t give up. Personally, I think the hyenas will make the next move themselves. The agency failed, the ex-cop failed, and the polar bears failed. In Dale Bray’s position, I’d be thinking it was time to take care of the matter myself.”
And she didn’t sound as though that worried her. In fact, she sounded as if she’d welcome it. Alex narrowed his eyes. “You want them to come for you, don’t you?”
“I want to make them pay for what happened to you. I’m never going to get the image of you bleeding all over the place out of my head.”
His chest tightened. “Just like I’ll never forget seeing your drugged cat getting dragged along the ground or trapped in a cage. They will pay for what they did, Bree.”
“Damn fucking straight,” she agreed, a deep growl in her voice that came from her cat. Alex knew that she and her feline would kill the hyenas without a second’s hesitation if the opportunity presented itself.
The assholes had made a mistake by fucking with a pallas cat. Her kind were vengeful shits. Really, the hyenas were walking dead men. They just didn’t seem to know it.
“Are you going to eat that?”
Bree blinked. Realizing she’d been staring at the biscotti for a good five minutes, she slid the plate across the bistro table to Elle. “Have it if you want it.”
Elle pressed her lips together. “I don’t know why you won’t let me kill the bitch.”
Bree had brought her friend up to speed on the “Dani being a skank” situation and, yeah, the redhead was livid. “If anyone’s going to have that pleasure, it’ll be me.”
“Fine, be mean. But at least stop thinking about her.”
“I’m actually not. I’m sitting here doing the very thing I find myself doing often these days—trying to piece together everything that’s been happening. I’m having zero luck with that, and it’s getting to me.” Bree lifted her hot cardboard cup, and the steam feathered over her face. “The shit with Dani just makes it worse.”
