Page 12 of True Wolf

“N…no one.”

She was lying.

I took a step forward but Xander grabbed my arm. “You can’t just go in her unit, Zi. What the fuck?”

When I swung my head in his direction, I snapped out of my confusion. They already thought I was crazy after the Keerah mix up. If I told my brother I sensed my mate again, he and Lazar both would have me committed. “Nothing, let’s go.”

I yanked away from him and stalked down the hallway but this time toward the elevator. I heard him apologizing to her before he stepped into the car, barely avoiding the doors as they closed.

“Are you sure you’re…”

“Stop fucking asking me that. I told you I’m fine.”

He stepped in front of me so close that we were chest to chest. The scowl on his face was enough to have my wolf erratic and ready to pounce.

“I hear you saying you’re fine but doing shit like that contradicts what you’re saying. Do you know her?”

“No.” I shoved him back and attempted to step around him but he had me pinned to the back of the car in a matter of seconds. My eyes changed and I sneered through my teeth but Xander didn’t falter.

“Then tell me what the fuck that was, Zion? Is she a problem?”

He assumed she was a threat, which was the last thing I needed. She hadn’t done a damn thing and if I didn’t clear this up, she would find herself on my family’s radar.

“I don’t know her; she’s not a problem.”

I kept him out of my head while he searched my face. When the doors opened to the rooftop, he stepped back and nodded. “Let’s go and don’t do any weird shit like that around Laz or Jo. I don’t believe you, which means they won’t either, but at least I’m willing to give you space to work through whatever the fuck that was without being on your ass.”

He stalked off the elevator and headed straight to his wife Toyin who was waiting with a huge smile but their son Rafe barreled into him first. My chest was tight watching as Xander lifted him into the air and kissed his wife’s cheek before motioning to me.

Maybe I was losing my damn mind because I never cared about a family before. Even when Xander left and I stepped up to help Toyin with my nephew in his absence, I handled the role unbiasedly like I should have, as an uncle. Watching Xander with his family felt different now but I pushed the thoughts aside, plastered on a smile, and lifted my sister in law from the ground into a big hug when she approached me.

“I missed you,” she whispered lowly against my shoulder, causing me to hug her tighter.

“Of course you did. You’ve recently downgraded.” I set her on her feet and tossed my chin toward Xander who narrowed an angry stare in my direction.

“Don’t do that. You know he’s sensitive about the time we spent together while he was away.”

“You want me to coddle his feelings because he was a fucking child and left you and my nephew?”

Toyin’s smile expanded. “He wasn’t being a child. He thought he was protecting me.”

“Yeah.” I smirked, leaning down close to Toyin. Her short height forced me to bend to an uncomfortable, exaggerated rate. “He should have stayed gone and we would be a happy little family without him.”

I only said that to fuck with Xander because he was listening extra hard to our conversation. When I lifted my head, I winked, and he growled his displeasure with my taunting.

Toyin punched my arm. “Don’t be a dick, Zion. You and I have never and will never be anything other than family.”

“I know but it still pisses him off and I live to fuck with his peace.”

“Well, I’d rather you here, fucking with his peace, than out there where we have to worry about you.” Her tone softened and I didn’t bother arguing that they didn’t have to worry. I was more than capable of taking care of myself. Toyin’s concern came from a place of love, so I refused to give her a hard time.

“Zion…” Jo’s high pitched squeal right before she collided with me, throwing her arms around my waist, had me grinning again.

“I don’t know what’s with these Bennett wives. You act like you married and mated the wrong brothers. Maybe I should be reconsidering my position in both of your lives.”

Jo laughed, shoving me in the shoulder after she let me go. “You better not let your brother hear you say that.”

I chuckled, doing a quick scan to find Laz. He was never far from Jo. “Speaking of, where is the Alpha?”

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