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Cole’s eyes were wide as he saw the cold-blooded killer that my woman kept hidden for appearance sake.
“We’ll get it done.”
My assurance brought her back from the darkness enough to remember where we were and the persona she needed to keep up. She turned back to the young Alpha sitting before us.
“Cole, I appreciate all you have done. Please know that Ethan cares for you, too. Take what we said to heart. My pack is whole, and they are all safe. We have a list of people and they are none the wiser. Go to the barracks and rest. But keep this between the three of us until you know more.”
The young Alpha’s shoulders dropped slightly, and he nodded as he rose and left the room, closing the door behind him. I stood to walk around the desk and position myself behind Jade so I could rub some of the tension from her shoulders. She tipped her head back against my stomach and looked up at me with so much rage filling her gaze, it all but consumed our bond.
“Right under my fucking nose.”
Her hands gripped and flexed the arms of the chair as she struggled for control. I moved around until I was crouched before her.
“We have Shae. Theo is going to be fine. We will find whoever helped them and we will handle it. Then we’ll make sure we bring them all down.”
The rage bled from her features and some of the tension left her body as she reached out and cupped my jaw between her palms. Tipping my face to hers, she met me in a kiss that wasn’t full of the wild heat that she’d given me earlier, but I felt her love and the promise that we were sealing with it. Moments later, she pulled back and pressed her forehead to mine briefly. We both stood and she reached out for my hand.
“I have to go home to stay with Shae, or Miles won’t feel comfortable leaving them to pick up Ethan.”
The tiniest spark of jealousy lit within me. Not because I didn’t want Miles and Ethan to make progress on their relationship, whether that was friendship or something else, but because I wanted to be there too. I just wasn’t sure how to get there without risking Ethan rejecting me. I deserved that, his rejection, but I still hoped enough to make me afraid.
“I have an appointment with Dr. Bea, but I will be home after.”
She pressed one more quick kiss to my mouth before reminding me to keep her updated then she left my office. I left only a minute or two behind her and struggled not to give anything away in my interactions with the people I worked with, who I’d come to respect as much as I had my team when I was still doing fieldwork. Knowing one of them was actively betraying Drake House, betraying me, stung as much as it angered me. The sooner we rooted out the mole and dealt with them the better.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SHAE
“Shae, for fucks sake, your knee’s shaking the table… again.”
I winced, embarrassed as I slowed the bouncing of my knee, rubbing my hands along my thighs. Theo mopped up the small puddles of water that had sloshed over the rim of the glasses. We were waiting in the private room Jade had booked for us at the restaurant I’d suggested—one that was owned by an Alpha who Jade and Miles had grown up with and his pack. This restaurant was the perfect compromise for wanting to take this final step in courting Ethan properly, without prying eyes or staff we couldn’t trust. Plus, the others refused to take a chance on our safety by going somewhere unknown.
“Sorry. I can’t quite calm down. I think he’ll say yes, but I just… what if he doesn’t?”
Theo’s jaw clenching was the only sign that he might be struggling with the same level of nerves as I was. He sighed and lifted his arm for me to cuddle into. I buried the surprise, so it wouldn’t show on my face, as I scooted across the bench seat and ducked under his arm. Theo had never been particularly affectionate with me before everything had happened. I didn’t know if it was me being taken, him being the one to find me first, or his whole transition, but he’d been much more tactile since then. There was so much comfort in being with someone who was pack even if we weren’t bonded or romantically together. He was just another piece of home and I needed that to ground me.
“He loves us. He’s told us. Maybe he won’t be ready for a bond right now, but he wouldn’t—” I felt the bob of Theo’s throat as he swallowed roughly from where my head rested on his chest. “He wouldn’t leave us.”
I nodded and squeezed him around the middle before I moved away from the hug. We both resumed our vigil, staring at the door and waiting for our Omega and our girl to walk through.
The waitress came back in to fill our waters and leave another basket of biscuits when the scent of eucalyptus and cinnamon rolls seeped through the open door. Theo and I both scrambled, in a completely dignified manner, to get out of the booth to greet Ethan and Jade. The waitress was fighting back a laugh at our expense when the other pieces of our hearts came into the room.
Ethan’s smile stretched broadly across his face at seeing us standing there and he moved toward us while Jade told the waitress their drink orders. He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me against him and pressing his face into my neck, inhaling deeply before the sweet, soft hum of his purr vibrated through his chest. Theo had an arm around Jade as he leaned down to press a kiss to her jaw while she smiled fondly at me and Ethan. I felt Ethan’s other hand reach toward Theo as Theo reached back. Their fingers tangled together and I felt the swell of affection coming through my bond with Jade. The nerves I had been fighting earlier completely released and the tension in my shoulders loosened. I pulled back from Ethan and gave him a chaste kiss before tugging him into the booth until we were sandwiched by the Alphas.
Theo pressed a kiss to Ethan’s jaw in the same way he had Jade’s and rubbed his cheek along Ethan’s briefly, scent marking him, and causing Ethan’s perfume to grow in the confined space. Jade cleared her throat to make sure Theo and Ethan didn’t take anything too far as the waitress came back into the room to bring their drinks and the first course.
She laid out the various small plate dishes and explained she’d be back in about fifteen minutes with the main course. Ethan ducked his head and began to look around the seat of the booth, as if he’d lost his phone. Once the waitress was gone, he put his hands over his face with a quiet groan. We all smiled at him and I felt Jade’s amusement in the bond as Theo tugged his hands away.
“Why are you embarrassed?”
“She absolutely told us the number of minutes she’d be gone so she didn’t walk back into the room and find an orgy. Are people always going to assume we’re fucking if the door is closed?”
Jade’s grin was mischievous and she met my eye. I didn’t need the questioning nudge in the bond to know where she was about to take this.
“It wouldn’t be the first time our pack has played in a somewhat public space.”
Ethan’s head whipped around to her so fast I was surprised he hadn’t hurt himself. He spluttered indignantly as she casually sipped her wine like she hadn’t just told him we let her dominate us in public. He looked back to Theo who raised one shoulder nonchalantly.
