Page 65 of Cruel Mate

“I thought you’d want to head straight home once you reported to Jack,” she said, taking JJ from him once more so that he could do just that.

“Not if you’re not coming with me,” Zander said. “While I’m in town I’m going wherever you are, beautiful.”

He stroked her cheek and gave her one last kiss on the forehead before he took the porch steps two at a time.

“I’ll meet you in the garden once I’ve reported in,” he called over his shoulder, slipping past Kane, who followed him through the manor to Jack’s study.

“So, how was it?” the tatted-up werewolf asked once the manor door shut behind them.

Zander sighed and shrugged. “The usual. I’m glad to be home.”

Kane scoffed at that. “I remember a time when you loved all the action.”

“We all did,” Zander pointed out. “But that was before I settled down, before I had a proper family to come home to.”

“Hey! You had us!”

Zander almost jumped out of his skin as Will appeared around the corner and shoved him hard in the shoulder. “Or were we not pretty enough to come home to?”

The golden-haired wolf battered his lashes playfully, and Zander couldn’t help but laugh. Before he could say a word to defend himself, Will hooked him into a brotherly hug. “It’s good to have you back, bud.”

“It’s good to be back,” Zander admitted. “And for the record, you might be pretty, Will, but you’ll never be my kinda pretty.”

He clapped his friend playfully on the cheek. The three packmates laughed until Jack’s study door opened and the alpha stepped out.

“I thought I told you to report directly to me when you got back from mission?” Jack grumbled, scowling at him with his hands shoved into his jeans pockets.

“You try getting past this lot!” Zander gestured at Kane and Will. “And do you honestly think Bonnie would let me be the first to welcome you home if the roles were reversed?”

Jack’s face broadened into a smile at the mention of his mate, and he threw his arms around Zander. “I’m just playing with you.”

Zander hugged Jack in return, breathing a sigh of relief. Being back home with the men he’d come to see as his brothers was always a relief.

“Where’s Ed?” he asked when they parted, half expecting his final brother-in-arms to hop out from behind a corner at the mention of his name.

“He’s off at the border with Hanson and Dean,” Jack explained, and all the men sighed. Zander glanced around at them, brow furrowed.

“Something I need to know?” he asked.

Jack shook his head. “Nothing serious. Just the usual.”

Zander cringed. It had been a year and still they were waiting. Christian’s pack had promised retribution for his death, and so far it hadn’t come, but they were no fools. They knew it would come eventually. Werewolves were unrivaled when it came to holding grudges. It was just a matter of time.

“Maybe I should stay in town for a while?” Zander suggested. “If things are picking up, that is?”

Jack looked thoughtful, and it told Zander all he needed to know.

The scents they’d been smelling at the border for months were multiplying, pushing against the border, warning of what was to come.

And Zander hated the idea of not being in Nightstar when it did come. There was no way in hell he would be caught halfway across the world when his family was under attack.

“Come on in,” Jack instructed, gesturing into his study. “I can see you’re itching to get back to your wife and son.”

“I’m not the only one,” Zander laughed when he saw Jack glance at the picture of his own family sitting on his desk.

Jack shrugged. “We’re both family men now.”

Zander shivered at that. His friend was right, and yet he still couldn’t believe it.

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