“I will be with you,” I said.
“What?” Andrew said, gripping my elbow. “Hell no.Fuckno. You aren’t going—”
“It is my failure. I need to fix this.” I didn’t want to look at him. His anger and hurt in our bond was hard enough to endure. But I forced myself to meet his eyes. “I will make sure she is safe.”
“When do we move?” Jason asked.
“We go tonight. Now.”
“No,” Andrew growled. “You’re exhausted. You need rest.”
I knew he just wanted time to convince me not to go, but I was determined.
“He’s right. The sooner we move, the better,” Jason said.
The rest of the Alphas got up to prepare except for Theo. He sat at the table, still peeling the label from his bottle.
“And what the fuck are we supposed to do while you’re off playing fucking Batman?” Andrew asked, gripping my arm again. “I swear to god, Gabriel, I can’t lose you.”
“You will not lose me,” I murmured, reaching for his jaw. He closed his eyes briefly at my touch. “And while I am gone, the two of you will prepare a nest for Bridget.”
“I’m not just going to play house while I’m worried you’re going to get—”
I silenced him with a soft kiss. “I promise I will come back to you. With our Omega.”
“This is insane,” Nathan protested. He leaned forward in his seat, scowling. “You can’t just go off on this… rescue mission. We need to call Maggie.”
“No police,” I said. “They will only interfere. And my friends do not exactly operate within the bounds of the law.”
Theo scoffed, reminding us he was still there. We all looked over at him and he turned scarlet, murmured a “sorry,” then disappeared into the living room behind us.
“Go home,” I urged. “I will call you as soon as I have news.”
“We’ll take care of him. You have my word,” Jason said from the doorway to the kitchen. “But he’s more than capable of taking care of himself.”
“See, amore? The large scary Alpha says it will be fine,” I teased.
It took a few more minutes of convincing, but Andrew and Nathan finally left. Andrew was limping more than ever, and it broke my heart to watch him go, but I was doing the right thing for all of us.
I would make absolutely certain no one would ever threaten my pack again.
Chapter 33 - Bridget
I had been expecting a dungeon, but Domenic brought me to an ordinary-looking office building across the river, on a deserted street full of offices and warehouses that seemed closed. The sign above the door we parked in front of readPark Ridge Veterinary Clinicin peeling blue paint.
The ride there had been one long lecture from Domenic, about what I owed to him and my family. My mother trembled beside me, not offering even a shred of comfort.
Even though my blood boiled with every word out of his mouth, I kept my head down, my hands clasped in my lap. It wasn’t time to fight back yet, not until I knew more.
Marco was driving. His unpleasantly musty scent made me want to roll down the window and hang my head out of the car, but I recognized the stress in it now. He was just as scared as I was. When I first slid into the backseat, he’d met my eyes in the rearview mirror with something that almost approached remorse.
“Take my lovely wife home,” Domenic told him when we parked. “I’ll deal with her later.”
His voice was tight with rage, the kind of rage that only happened when she and I had disobeyed him.
“Come along, Bridget,” he called to me.
I looked at my mother for the first time since we’d gotten in the car. She shook her head minutely, but I didn’t know what she was trying to tell me. That she hadn’t told him about meeting me? That I shouldn’t go with him?
