Page 46 of Alpha Reid

I fire up the engine and we’re both quiet as I pull away from the squad complex and out onto the forest road toward Stillwater.

My mind races. There’s still the possibility that whatever she’s hiding has nothing to do with this attack on IT, but I need to calm down before I ask the hard questions. I need to separate my emotions from the conversation, something that I’ve never been able to do with Serena. I turn on the radio to fill the silence and both of us stay quiet all the way back to the packhouse.

When we pull in the driveway, I cut the engine and turn to her, heaving a sigh and rubbing my temple. “Well the good news is that the attack on IT didn’t work as it was intended, so crisis averted, in a sense. But in the meantime, you’re going to have to stay put here until we get things figured out.”

“Yeah,” she mumbles, staring out the front windshield. She sounds so distant; detached. “Because they all assume it was me, right?”

“You’re just the easy one to blame right now,” I murmur, watching her carefully. “They don’t know you. Not like I do.”

She flinches, flickering her gaze in my direction. Our eyes collide for the briefest of moments before she returns to staring blankly out the windshield. Like she doesn’t want to look at me too long and risk revealing too much.

I draw a breath. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Serena turns away for a beat, and when she turns back in my direction, she’s wearing a tight-lipped smile that looks anything but genuine. “Of course,” she clucks, reaching down to unbuckle her seatbelt.

We both exit the car, Serena heading up the front walk to the packhouse while I hang back. When she reaches the door, she looks back to me in question, but I wave her on.

“Go ahead. I’m gonna make a call and I’ll be in soon,” I say, and she lets herself inside, closing the door behind her as I pull out my phone to shoot a text off to my beta. I ask Cy to keep an eye on Serena for the time being, letting him know that I’ll explain everything when I return, then cut across the lawn to head next door.

I need a little bit of perspective right now and I know exactly where to get it. While the large packhouse sits off by itself, there’s a more modest house nearby that we built when we moved to the territory. I jog up the front walk of the house next door, knocking briefly before letting myself in and calling out to announce my presence.

“Anybody home?”

“Back here!” my dad answers, and I head down the hall toward the living room, stepping through the doorway right as he’s climbing out of his big leather recliner.

Dad flashes me a warm smile, then looks down at my mom in her matching recliner beside his, reaching out for her hand. “Look who came to visit, honey,” he coos before returning his gaze to me. “How’s it going, son?”

“Good,” I sigh, entering the room and approaching my mom.

She smiles up at me drowsily, still wearing her pajamas. Guess I kinda forgot how early it was when I decided to stop by. “Good morning, Reid. It’s so nice to see you.”

“You, too, mom,” I breathe, leaning down to plant a kiss on her cheek. “Sorry I haven’t been by lately.”

“You’re very busy,” she says matter-of-factly, giving me a little nod.

“You want some more coffee, honey?” my dad asks her, lifting a mug from the side table next to her chair.

She looks up at him and smiles tenderly, nodding.

Dad gives me a little flick of his head, beckoning me to follow him. “Looks like it’s going to rain,” he comments as I trail behind him into the kitchen.

“Yeah,” I agree, glancing out the window at the grey sky as I post up against the counter to watch him refill their coffee mugs.

“Want some?” he asks, lifting the pot.

“Nah, I’m good,” I mumble, raking a hand through my hair. “Thanks, though.”

He nods, topping off both cups and setting the pot back down. Then he turns to me, folding his arms across his chest with that knowing look in his eye. “What’s going on, Reid?”

I chuckle wryly. “Am I that obvious?”

“Nah, I just know my son,” he smirks. “Anything I can help with?”

I blow out a breath, leaning back against the counter. “Maybe. I’m just trying to figure out what to do.”

“About?”

I scrub a hand over my face and launch into my current dilemma as he sips his coffee. I give him the highlights, telling him all about the virus that IT found this morning, the fact that Serena was coincidently spending the night at the complex when it was planted, and how everyone seems to be pointing the finger in her direction. He just listens carefully, stroking his close-shaven beard with a hand and nodding on occasion.

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