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“Brock,” I repeated slowly. “Leigh. An alpha from Boston.”
“He was on the list I gave you. He’s an ass, but wha—Shit. Is he...?” Cory caught on to what was going on.
“Yes! That’s the brother of the asshole who raped Zi. His father killed her family and tried to kill her. I didn’t know he had taken over. I was looking for his dad’s name on the list.” I groaned, feeling so guilty that this was my damn fault.
“I’m going to go kill him,” James growled when I finished talking.
“NO! Please no! I can’t-I can’t lose you, too.” Zi was hanging onto her sanity by a thread, and James’ words threatened to snap it.
“You can’t expect me to do nothing!” James raged.
“You don’t get it. He’s an alpha. Please, James! I love you! I can’t lose you!” Cory and I suddenly felt like we were intruding on a moment because, from James’ reaction to Zi’s words, this was the first time those words were coming out of her mouth.
James pushed forward and crashed them into the back of the pantry, his mouth on hers, Molly giggling in her arms, trying to push them apart. I turned to look at the door while Cory was looking up, a silly smile on his face, though his eyebrows were still furrowed in concern. “Please don’t do it,” Zi whispered when they pulled apart. “Please,” she begged, a little calmer.
“Did he recognize you?” Cory asked, breaking whatever spell was going on between the two.
“I don’t know. He was looking our way, but he could have just been looking at Evie.” Cory growled at that, and Zi gave him the tiniest apologetic smile. “Sorry, Alpha. She looks pretty hot in that dress.” Cory looked down at me; it was like he was looking at it for the first time.
“What happened to the dress?”
“It was part of the design so that we could dance a little,” I answered, blushing at his stare. This was the weirdest breakdown in a pantry I’d ever been in. Okay, this was the only breakdown in a pantry I’d ever been in.
“James, why don’t you take Zi and Molly to your floor? They should be safe with you tonight, and you’ll be close enough to us to help if he tries anything. Jo and I will keep an eye on the bastard. We can’t do anything with so many people here, and we have nothing we can pin on him. His dad and his brother are the ones that did things to your family, not him, right?” Cory looked over at Zi, who nodded her head.
“I’m sorry, Evie,” Zi mumbled, and I pushed her hair back and made her look me in the eye.
“Stop that. None of this is your fault. Not what happened back then. Not what is happening now. Get that out of your head this instant. Go enjoy an evening with your mate and pup. We’ll make sure you’re safe.”
The mood was somber when we split at the stairs, and James took Zi to the elevator to take her to the gamma floor.
‘Go grab her something to sleep in from my room,’ I told James.
‘Thank you, Evie.’
‘Just keep her safe and don’t rage. It won’t help. She needs your love more than your hate right now.”
‘I’ll do anything she asks of me.’
When I end the mind-link, I look up to Cory.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready, my Luna,” he kissed my temple, took my hand and led us outside, where everyone congratulated us and praised the memorials and my speech. We danced the night away, always ensuring someone had an eye on Alpha Brock. He did seem to be looking for someone for a while, but after an hour or so, he appeared to give up and continued to enjoy the party. By the time he left for the evening, I was exhausted, ready for bed, and felt relieved the danger was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
James
Watching as the sun rose through my windows, surrounded by the two people that took over my heart months ago was bittersweet. I dreamt of the day I could spend some time snuggling with Molly and Zi for weeks, but I didn’t expect the first time to happen because my girl was terrified.
Cory linked me last night when the damn broccoli left, and in a way, I was relieved because every bone in my body told me to kill the motherfucker. If Zi wasn’t trembling in my arms with Molly between us, I wasn’t sure I could have kept Max, my wolf, from hunting down the bastard. It didn’t matter to us that he was an alpha. It might be a close fight, and we might not come out unscathed, but I was confident we could beat him. Years of training with Aunt Kassie meant we were stronger and faster than your regular gamma wolf. But Evie’s words kept me from leaving because Zi needed me more than I needed vengeance for what they did to her.
It took Zi hours to calm down and fall asleep; even then, her sleep was plagued with nightmares. I’d spent the entire night awake, watching over them and comforting my mate through her tormented sleep. I knew she wasn’t ready to accept my mark, but it didn’t matter to me. She’d accepted me in every other way, and as far as I was concerned, she and Molly were mine to protect, mine to love, mine to cherish. And that’s just what I planned to do.
‘How’s Zi?’ Cory mind-linked me.
‘Sleeping for now. She’s had nightmares all fucking night.’
