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“You knew about that?”
Jade scoffed and turned to sit beside me, on the other side to my mess, and tipped her head on to my shoulder.
“You left the flyers from that ‘pick your major’ fair, your books, and drawings on your desk. Didn’t take fucking Sherlock Holmes to riddle out that you were interested in it, dumbass.”
I laughed and laid my hand palm up between us and squeezed her hand when she laid hers in mine. We’d be fine. We had each other and we’d find the rest of our pack. No one would hurt us like this again.
“Miles? Love, I need you to come back now.”
Blinking my eyes into focus, I looked at Shae, whose brows had creased adorably with worry. I had gotten completely lost in that memory—maybe the hit to my head had been harder than I’d thought.
“Sorry, Sunshine.”
“Nate got the police to agree to talk to us up in the apartment.”
I nodded, sliding my hand from their back down to lace my fingers with theirs as we walked into the lobby. This time had been different than before. When Jade had been attacked, I was young and dumb and still trying to cling to the version of myself I thought my family wanted. When those men had made a grab for Cat and Shae, I hadn’t lost myself to the rage. I hadn’t been so consumed that I didn’t know where they were and hadn’t lost sight of the fact that I was there to protect before anything else. Something lifted from me then, an old lingering fear that I would lose part of myself if I ever had to be that man again.
I tugged Shae to my side and kissed their temple, a purr rising from my chest as we ascended in the elevator. No matter what darkness the world threw at us, I knew I could meet it head on, and still be me.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MILES
By the time we made it up to Ethan’s family’s apartment, Mari had gone into full Omega-mom-mode. Cat was swaddled in a cocoon of blankets with Mari on one side stroking her hair. Nate stood at the kitchen island with a look of concern on his face. His expression was so similar to Mari’s, it was easy to see that they were mother and son. Bodhi stood off in the corner of the main living area so he could have eyes on the door but still be close to Cat. Shae had suspected for a while that Bodhi might be harboring some kind of feelings for her best friend, and everything that I’d seen today confirmed that.
As soon as Cat saw Shae, her lips began trembling and tears began sliding down her cheeks. I reluctantly released their hand and Shae flew to their best friend’s other side. Mari squeezed Shae’s shoulder as she walked into the kitchen to stand with her son, letting the two have their space. Just like when they’d been in the car together, their heads bent close, and Shae began speaking in a low voice to Cat until the tears began to dry up.
Bodhi walked over to me and stood at my side, still unwilling to keep his eyes off the traumatized Omega.
“You good?”
I nodded and he shuffled side to side like he was nervous. It struck me as odd. He and I weren’t friends like he was with Theo, or even the way he was with Shae, but I couldn’t think of anything that would make him uncomfortable around me.
“It’s just that." He cleared his throat before lowering his voice. “I’m used to you being the calm, quiet, funny guy at the barbeques you all have. Even though I heard you were almost in at Drake, alongside Jade. The Alpha that came out downstairs just now? That was… unexpected.”
So that was it.
“I haven’t had to face someone that I love being hurt in front of me in a long time. Turns out it’s like riding a bike. All that training came back, muscle memory or some shit. I don’t want to do what you all do, but the day I let someone take Shae from me again is the day I die.”
Bodhi turned his focus away from Cat to look at me and I met his eyes. Whatever he saw in my expression must have been enough because he nodded once and then put a fist out for me to bump. An amused huff escaped me as I rapped my knuckles against his and we resumed watching the two friends on the couch.
A forceful knock on the door drew everyone’s attention. Bodhi pulled a gun from somewhere and raised it as he advanced toward the door behind me. When I looked through the peephole, I saw two officers that I recognized as the ones Nate had been speaking to earlier. I signaled for Bodhi to put the gun away and opened the door for the police.
They were respectful and took all our statements, careful to not push Cat or Shae too much. When we’d all answered their questions, they started to leave, asking myself, Nate, and Bodhi to walk them out. After going out into the hall, they turned to talk to us with grave expressions on their faces.
“Thank you for coming out here to speak with us. We didn’t want to say anything about this in the apartment, as we don’t want to upset them further after what they’ve dealt with today. But it took us so long to get up here because, when we called it in, we were made aware that one of the other victims who had originally been kidnapped with them was abducted a short time ago. It seems like there was a coordinated effort to grab them all around the same time. Only one of the girls was taken though.”
Bodhi cursed and Nate scrubbed at his face. I held myself perfectly still to fight the urge to go back into the apartment, slam the door in their face, and pull Shae into my lap.
“Our captain has ordered a patrol car to be stationed outside the residence of each of the victims' homes until further notice.”
When Nate spoke next, I saw the proof of all his years as a Senator’s son, in his tone and the confident demeanor.
“We appreciate that, officer. Please let us know if there is anything else you need from us.”
The soft ding that signaled the arrival of the elevator sounded and our attention shifted to the doors that began to slide open. Before they were far enough apart to see anyone inside, the scent of burned cinnamon rolls hit me. Ethan.
“I swear to god, Theo, if you don’t move out of the way your knot isn’t getting anywhere near me for months!”
