Page 129 of Javier

My anger melted away, replaced by a bond that was as old as I was. I walked into her arms and clung to her with all I had. We melted into each other. A hint of Thena’s jasmine scent enveloped me.

“You’re here.” Eyes burning with tears, my heart soared.

“I came to find you,” she whispered in my ear.

This was the woman who’d raised me since my mother died, my rock, the person who’d kept our family together and anchored my life for so long.

“I’m so grateful for you, for being able to see you again,” I sniffled against her shoulder. “I have so many questions, so many things I want to tell you. I’ve missed you, Thena. If you only knew how much.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” She squeezed me as tightly as I was squeezing her. “Please, forgive Dash.” She drew back and met my eyes, managing to convey the same deep emotions clogging my throat even as she continued to speak. “You see, communication between alphas—even if they’re the modern version—can be forceful at times.” She admonished Dash with a look. “But I promise you, Missy. Dash is better than this. He would’ve stopped himself had we not intervened. Am I right, my love?”

“Right as always,” Dash replied briskly, but his glower fled across the room. “Even though Guzman knows what he deserves.”

“One hundred percent.” From his place on the other side of the room, Javier agreed, wiping the blood off his mouth with his hand.

Thena split her glare between the men.Uh-oh. I remembered how it felt to be the recipient of my sister’sdisapproval. It was the same look she saved to reprimand Cece when she fell asleep at the breakfast table after staying up all night reading her big tomes. The same glower she fixed on Affie when she returned to the house after sneaking out in the middle of the night to go to the town bar and meet a boy or two or three.

“And here I was, looking forward to a magical reunion with Missy.” She shook her head, setting her soft curls aflutter. “What a sorry pair you are.”

“What a pair of idiots, indeed,” I piped up, not holding back.

“Missy.” She took my hands and inspected me from head to toe then lifted her eyebrows and smiled. “What was my baby sister up to when Dash so rudely interrupted?”

The blood ignited my face. Without any additional prompting, I could’ve confessed all my sins to her right there and then, but a low voice that seemed to lift from the very center of the earth interrupted the process of spilling my guts.

“Moving in,” The low baritone echoed from outside the suite.

“Who’s that?” I asked, letting go of Thena’s hands.

She grinned. “I think you’re about to meet the guys.”

Dash called out. “Move in.”

“Sorry, boss.” A dark giant of a man ducked under the threshold and stalked into the room, outfitted in street clothes but wearing a tactical vest and holding a weapon like Dash. “Miss Thena got impatient and we still had to secure the perimeter and make sure Allen’s men understood we were friendlies.”

“It’s all right, Bozeman,” Dash said, unable to hide his irritation. “It’s like King always says, Thena’s the wave no one can catch. She’s got a will of her own.”

“Apologies all the same.” The giant called Bozeman cocked an eyebrow at me. “Ms. Missy Astor, I presume?”

“You presume correctly.” I craned my neck to stare up at the muscled colossus.

“I’m Micah Bozeman.” He shot Javier a fearsome glare. “What have you done now?”

“Moving in,” a jovial voice announced before Javier could answer.

Dash called out. “Move in.”

“Clear from the roof.” A tall figure with a bushy beard and longish hair almost as red as mine dropped down and landed on the deck by the sliders, holding the biggest rifle I’d ever seen. He slid open the screen doors and stepped into the suite.

He stared from me to Javier and let out a cackle. “No, don’t tell me. You fucked up. Again?”

Javier gave the man the finger. “Go fuck yourself, Cooper.”

“Moving in.” Yet another male voice announced.

“Move in,” Dash said.

Two other men made an appearance, easing their way through the front door. The first was Kai King, whom I’d met before. He was dressed and equipped like the rest.

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