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I must have missed some conversation while I was stuck in my own thoughts and daydreams because by the time I look back around the room, Doctor Tanner is shutting the door behind her, and Ava is lost in her own head, eyes unseeing but pointed in the direction of her murder wall, for lack of a better word.
"Ava," I say, nudging her gently on the forearm. "I'm going to head out." She jerks at the contact, startled, before looking back down at me.
"Huh? Oh... okay. Yeah. You sure? You're okay now?" Her concern warms my heart. I love this girl.
"Are you?" I counter, eyebrow quirked and nodding pointedly at the corner. Her returning smile is sardonic.
"Good as I'll ever be." Boy, I hope that's not true. She deserves so much better than the pain swimming in her piercing green eyes. But I hold my tongue, wrap her in a bone-crushing hug, and say goodbye.
"Thank you. For everything." I throw as much emotion into the words as I can, my throat closing slightly with it.
"Anytime, babe.Anytime."
Then I'm out her door, ready to find my mates.
Three
Brooklyn
"Wouldyou guys calm the fuck down," I hiss at the three brutes crowding the door to Summer's apartment complex. Herveryrun-down apartment complex. The day when I beg her to move into the pack house with us is looming closer and closer. Especially when I realize someone wedged a rock between the doorframe, so there are virtually no safety measures in place for my mate. Save for the lock on each person's door, I suppose.
"What stupid fuck did that?" Maverick grumbles, opening the door and then aggressively kicking the rock out of the way so the lock will engage behind us.
"Probably just someone who realizes they forgot their building key. It's not that grave of an offense, Mav." Mason rolls his eyes, equally snarky as Maverick. That's how they've been recently. Since Summer's heat, when Mav decided not to tell Mason his own mate was in heat. I knew immediately, thanks to Hudson. So that made Mason the only pack member not to know.
I would have told him... I just assumed Mav already had.
He's been pissed at Maverick ever since. Locking his door at night so Mav can't sneak in to sleep with him, talking to him only when he has to, and getting frustrated over the smallest of offenses. I get it; I really do. Maverick messed up, but they need to work through their shit and fast.
"Just be quiet, both of you." My voice has a little bit of a growl to it, not quite a bark, but enough to tell them I'm not messing around. Mason shuts up immediately, but Maverick bristles a little. It's in an alpha's nature not to back down from a challenge. But we established hierarchy before we even created the pack, so he rolls his shoulders, cracks his neck, and nods at me submissively.
Hudson is already at the elevator, tapping his foot and holding the doors open for us to get in. The fact that he hasn't said a word since we left Nonna's and just been stoic and determined worries me a little. It's not his personality. Even under stressful conditions, he always finds humor in it.
When we're in the elevator, he crosses his arms and looks straight ahead. I nudge him with my shoulder. "You good, big guy?" His eyes trail down to mine, straight face still fixed firmly in place.
"We shouldn't have gotten rid of her security."
A blow to the face would have hurt less.
He blames me.
Ithadbeen my decision to stop the twenty-four-hour security, though. Hudson was against it, and so was Mav. But Mason agreed it felt like too much of a violation. After all, she's been starting to spend so much time with us; weareher security. But he's right. If I hadn't gotten rid of them, at least we would know where Summer was right now. One call to the detail watching her and we'd have answers.
It's likely not as sinister as it seems. Maybe she got caught up at work or just forgot we were meeting for dinner. Still, the what-ifs can be crippling. What if a group of alphas cornered her on her way to the restaurant? What if she got hit by a car? What if her past caught up to her?
A side eye tells me Hudson has gone back to staring at the elevator doors. Just as the ding sounds, he's moving. They haven't even opened all the way, but he turns his body to squeeze out of them. In six long strides, he's at her door. At complete odds with the tension roiling through him, he taps gently on her door and in a soft voice calls out. "You in there, pretty girl?"
In a tight semi-circle near her apartment, we all lean in and listen.
Nothing.
Three more soft knocks. "Summer?" Hudson calls out again, a little louder this time.
Crickets.
It doesn't sound like there is any rustling of clothes, no TV static in the background. I shove my ear directly against the door, the boys leaning in, too, when a phone chimes. The sound comes from our side of the door, out in the hallway, so we startle back. In my haste, I shove into Mason, who bumps into Maverick.
"Shit!"
