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“He won't lay a hand on you ever again, baby girl. I promise.” Elias pressed kisses against my temple, as his hand glided up and down my back.
A throat cleared, and I looked up to see a strange man standing in the doorway. “Gentlemen. Ms. Alena. I hate to interrupt, but we’ll need to take statements and get the investigators in here before you can clean up.”
I tilted my head up to Elias, blinking in question as my words weren’t quite working yet. A sliver of awareness ran through my mind at the voice. It sounded familiar but I couldn’t exactly place it.
“It’s okay. Detective Allen is one of the good guys. He’s my cousin.”
Ah, that explained the slight resemblance. Would that account for his voice being familiar too? I could barely think, much less process where I recognized the voice from.
Elias cleared his throat. “She needs rest, John. We need to cement our connection back and get our scents back.”
The detective nodded, his eyes softening as he looked down at me. “I can stall things and come by in the morning to take the statements. Just get her out of here before the feds come and I’ll cover for you.”
Xavier stood with me against his chest and without another word, marched me out of the horrific hotel room.
“See you tomorrow, John.” Elias gave his cousin a hearty handshake before leading the way out of my nightmare.
John murmured a reply, but we were already too far away for me to make out the words.
The shaking started shortly after Xavier sank into the cool leather seats with me on top of him.
“Turn up the damn heat,” Xavier growled as his arms tightened around me. “Shh, Princess. We’ll get you home soon. We’ll change your clothes and make you smell like us again.”
I whimpered as I snuggled further into his masculine scent. The unique aromas of each of my mates filtered through my nostrils and calmed the tears seeking to escape my eyes.
“I’m s-s-so.” I broke off into a sob as I couldn’t speak past my stutter.
“No apologizing.” Julian’s voice washed over me, his hand smoothing down my hair and comforting me with his touch. “You shouldn’t have gone downstairs alone, but none of this is your fault. It’s only Dylan’s. You aren’t to blame for his actions.”
“I—“ I swallowed, my hands fisting in Xavier’s shirt. I spoke slowly, each word drawn out as I fought the stutter. “I love you all. I just want to go home.”
* * *
XAVIER
Every instinct within me demanded revenge for my mate. She’d been taken from us. Abused. Terrified.
And I felt like a fucking failure because I didn’t prevent it. I was the security and tech expert. I should have put something in place to alert me that she left the office.
We all piled into the SUV, Elias sliding behind the wheel in his normal position. I folded myself into the third row seat with our omega secure in my arms.
The adrenaline had worn off, and with my purr soothing her, Alena finally shut her eyes and her breathing evened out.
Thank the gods for small miracles. And for alpha purrs.
“I know what you’re thinking, Xavy. This isn’t your fault.” Julian knew me too fucking well. He knew exactly what I’d been thinking. Probably before I even started thinking it.
I shook my head, but he held up a hand. “Save it. I’m tired of you thinking every security breach is your fault. Fuck, you’re the reason we actually were able to find her. You and your little tracking device in her hair pin.”
“Julian is right.” Elias gripped the steering wheel tighter and his eyes met mine through the mirror. “None of us knew she was out there alone. None of us knew Rayna was going to step away.”
Simon grunted in agreement. “She was taking care of us like always. She knew we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and instead of calling for delivery she wanted to support the cafe downstairs.”
“She’s too good for me.” I said it quietly, but as soon as the words left my lips, I knew the mistake I’d made.
A chorus of snarls had Alena stirring in my arms. Her gray eyes darkened as she peered up at me, sleepy and shimmering with tears. Fuck, I was happy she recognized our sounds enough not to freak out about the growls. “Why the growls? What happened?”
“Xavier said he wasn’t good enough for you,” Julian stated simply as he crossed his arms over his chest.
