My head falls back against the mat as I stare up at the ceiling.
This. Right here.
Jo in my arms, my pack all around me.
This is what happiness looks like.
“Here you are,lyubov' moya,” Kole brings Jo her little shorts. “You will need these if we are to continue with our sparring.”
Jo stiffens for a second before lifting her head. “Continue…sparrin’?”
“Yeah, Siren,” West smirks, crossing his arms. “You even got us these cute little outfits. It would be a shame to waste them, don’t you think?”
“But my bones are jelly!” she protests, pushing herself off me. “I don’t have it in me to spar three more times!”
“Maybe we’ll actually stand a chance then,” Sam laughs, clapping West on the shoulder.
She huffs. “Fine. But I’m not goin’ easy on any of you.”
“We would never ask you to,” Kole grins, holding the shorts out for her to step into.
She allows him to help her, albeit begrudgingly, and as she faces West on the mat while Sam and Kole shout out differentadvice and directions, it occurs to me that for the first time, I think I know what family feels like.
thirty-five
West
This isn’t a good idea.
My steps echo as I follow Jo downstairs to where Declan is holding Brooks. We only have four hours until we’re supposed to leave to take down Thornfield, and she choosesnowto make her final confrontation with the bastard? The whole thing makes my skin itch.
Anxiety swirls through our bond, but I’m not sure how much of it is about seeing Brooks, and how much is the fact that Xavier Bowen called and left her a scathing voicemail last night about how he’s taking Adela back to the asylum, and it’s all her fault.
We all know we’ll stop it from happening, but…itwashard to listen to.
She sighs, glancing over her shoulder at us. “You don’t need to be down here with me.” Her voice is calm, despite the emotions I can clearly feel from her.
Kole, Sam, Hayden, and I all speak at once.
“Of course we do—”
“You shouldn’t be alone—”
“The man’s a rat-bastard—”
“Let’s just kill him already.” Kole’s voice stands out the most, and Jo rolls her eyes.
“You know why we can’t kill him, Sugar Bear.” We reach the door with the fingerprint scanner, and Jo presses her hand against it. It lights up and beeps once, letting the door slide open. We all shuffle behind her as she leads the way to the end of the hall. “We need him as a bargainin’ chip to keep Addie safe if Xavier figures out we’re makin’ a move.”
“You know, I still say we should go ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ on his ass,” Hayden mutters. “Slap a pair of sunglasses on him, prop him up between Daddy-O and the big guy, and nobody will be the wiser.”
“I am actually starting to agree with him,” Kole says, a hint of approval in his voice. “It is not a bad idea.”
“We keep him alive,” Jo all but snaps as we reach the end of the hall. The walls are red, and before I can ponder too hard on it, Hayden gasps.
“Oh, sothat’swhat Declan was talking about. It really does feel more ominous.”
But our omega isn’t looking at the walls. Nope. She’s looking at the hunched-over figure in the corner of the room.
