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“They’re never empty. I just tell her they are to stop her nagging when I raid her pack’s kitchen. Now can we talk about something that doesn’t piss me off? Because I was already pissed when Vinnie’s tip came to nothing. My mood turned even shittier when I realized you were confronted by Moira—that mood isn’t improving.”
“Not my problem, big guy.” She dropped her pizza back in the box and took a swig of her soda … mostly because it was far too tempting to fling the half-eaten slice at his face.
Really, it wasn’t Alex who had her so wound up. It was the sheer knowledge that there was a real good chance Bernadette and Ruben would show their faces to indulge in a “how dare you break our daughter’s nose” rant. She wasn’t looking forward to it, and Alex didn’t deserve to have them dump a metaphorical bag of dog shit on his doorstep.
She half-wished she hadn’t moved out of her house—then at least Alex wouldn’t have his home tainted with their crap. “I’ll bet you’re looking forward to having the apartment to yourself again, huh?”
He blinked. “Where did that come from?”
“You said you wanted to talk about something else.”
“Not something dumb.”
“How is that dumb? Sharing such a small place with someone can be hard.”
He shrugged, taking another bite of his pizza. “We can live in your house, if you’d prefer that. We just need to wait until the threats to you have been neutralized.”
Ah, so Elle was right—he didn’t consider him and Bree living together to be a temporary thing. Hell, the redhead had even been right that he’d offer to move to Bree’s house. “I wasn’t sure if you were ready for us to live together yet.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Sometimes I worry that you felt pushed into this relationship.”
“Then you’re stupid.”
She bristled. “Um, hello, you didn’t want a relationship until you found out I was planning to leave the pride.”
“I’d already decided you were going to be mine; I made it happen—it was the best decision I ever made,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I’ll be moving in with you because it’s what I want. Waking up and seeing you right there sets me up for the day. Why wouldn’t I want more of it?” He shook his head, as if she was dumb for thinking differently, and then went back to his pizza … completely oblivious to the fact that he’d just melted her bones.
Bree could only gape at him, unsure what to say. It hadn’t been a soppy speech. There’d been little emotion in his voice. It was more like a practical statement. And yet, it touched her as surely as those infamous three little words that were so easily thrown around would have done. Her cat just looked at him, stunned and warmed by his declaration.
Bree cleared her throat. “Well then, I guess—” She stilled at the sound of knuckles rapping on the front door. Please don’t be the Cages.
Alex released her foot and pushed away from the table. “I’ll get it.”
Bree forced her body to relax muscle by muscle. It wasn’t easy. But then Alex strolled into the kitchen with Vinnie and his eldest sons. Tate and Luke predictably helped themselves to pizza.
“Please tell me you’re here to say that at least one of the missing people has been found,” said Bree.
“Wish I could.” Vinnie sighed. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep looking. I’m here about two things. First, I want to let you know that Moira has been … dealt with. She assured me she won’t bother you again.”
“If she does, I’ll deal with her myself,” said Alex, returning to his seat at the table. “I’m serious, Vin—Bree has enough going on; she doesn’t need to be dealing with Moira’s brand of bullshit on top of all that.”
“Agreed. Now, as for the second thing that brought me here …” Leaning back against the countertop, Vinnie rubbed at his jaw. “I had a call from Nick Axton.”
Bree had met the Alpha of the Mercury Pack a few times. His pack was so closely allied with Mila’s that the two seemed intertwined in many ways. If the Phoenix Pack ever threw a party of any kind—to which the Olympus Pride was usually invited due to their connection to Mila—the Mercury Pack members were often also there.
The Mercury Pack had already been known to Bree, though, since a lone pallas cat they knew, Madisyn, had mated with a Mercury Pack enforcer.
“Not sure if either of you are aware of this,” Vinnie went on, “but his mate, Shaya, is a mediator. The shifter council often ask her to mediate between two parties that can’t agree on a matter, hoping to avoid a battle.”
“Okay,” Bree drawled, picking up her glass of soda. “Why is this important?”
“Because Shaya was recently contacted by Dale Bray. He wants to meet with me.”
