Page 128 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

I shoot my father.

The gun has four rounds.

I empty them into his chest.

The shocked look in his eyes as death seizes him is not satisfying. As Beruth falls to the ground, there is Robert, suddenly appearing in the doorway, his face as white as a sheet.

I look at him and the dam breaks, the agony in my heart more vicious than the pain radiating from my wound.

The gun drops from my grip as I extend my arms toward him, an inhumane sound of grief leaving my mouth, tears spilling from my eyes. “Robert! Robert, Angie!”

He doesn’t know who the dead woman on the ground is, or how much she meant to me. He doesn’t know that I’ve lost someone so utterly precious to me. But he rushes over and wraps his arms around me. He soothes me as I wail like a child who has lost the only mother she ever knew.

He won the war, and I paid the price.

Chapter 27

Robert Montgomery

I was very young when I lost my mother. So, I never really grieved the woman I didn’t know. I know grief, but to lose someone so close isn’t something I’ve ever experienced.

Quietly, I close the door of the dimly lit bedroom, then head downstairs.

It’s been two weeks since everything went down at the shelter. Charlotte hasn’t spoken a word since. She hasn’t gone to work, not that I’m worried about her being fired. Jazz has given her an indefinite leave of absence. I don’t care if Charlotte quits her job, but I know she likes that place.

She’s not eating as well as she should. She barely touches her food, just wanting to sleep.

I can feel this hollow grief inside me, Charlotte’s grief.

I also feel the mating bond between us now, a combination of the mating mark I put on her and the blood she drank from me. It is thrumming inside me, a sentient bond that nearly knocked me into a state of unconsciousness the night Charlotte was attacked by her father.

The guard I had assigned to her was found dead in one of the two dumpsters in the street, wolfsbane in his system. Ricky’s phone call had been frantic. I didn’t understand why he couldn’t help her until later.

It was Jazz who told me about the conversation she had overheard. The woman who died was Angie; I remembered seeing her the other day at the shelter. I didn’t know Charlotte had been close to her.

I enter the kitchen, and Aisha looks up. Cynthia is sitting across from her, and Morris and Adam are leaning against the counter.

“Well?” Aisha asks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Give her time,” Morris says quietly. He lost his own mother last year, so he can probably relate to Charlotte to some extent.

“What’s happening in the Nelo Clan?” Adam asks. “They’ve gone silent. I haven’t been able to gather any information.”

“I’m meeting their new leader tomorrow,” I tell him. “What I know for now is that they want to call a truce. With Beruth dead, and the only heir also dead, the clan’s in chaos. They’ve appointed someone to take over, but that’s it.”

“What about the drugs?”

“I’ll ask him,” I murmur. “But for now, don’t retract any of your people from their positions.”

Cynthia glances at her watch and sighs. “We should get going. Maya and Tony need a reprieve from babysitting all of our kids.”

Everybody shuffles to their feet and begins to leave.

“If Charlotte needs anything,” Aisha says softly, “let me know. Even just someone to talk to.”

Morris nods. “And be patient with her.”

---