Page 60 of My Brutal Alpha

There was a moment of silent understanding between us then. Regardless of our spat and the things said between us, we both knew it didn’t matter at that moment. Zoe was the one thing that mattered, and even if the two of us had ourdifferences, one thing was for certain—neither of us was willing to be without her.

Nodding as I put everything aside and set my sights on getting Zoe back, I let Sebastian lead the way as he followed that scent.

Despite my senses being heightened by my alarm and the need to get Zoe back, my sense of smell was almost too strong and seemed to confuse them all. Given how my parents and Zoe had been around, the scent trail I picked up on contained mostly their scents.

Since Sebastian’s read on Kody’s scent was the most recent, it only made sense for him to guide us forward with me right on his heels.

Even if I wasn’t picking up on Kody’s, I found my focus was squarely on Zoe’s, and as we hurried on that trail, she was all I could think about.

The group of us hurried in the right direction, moving through the woods as quickly and efficiently as we could. On the way, I caught the scents and blurred movement of my pack running alongside us in their shifted forms. Nick was on my right as a silent bid of camaraderie and support as his grey fur rippled from the breeze before taking a slight detour through the trees.

I didn’t know I needed the reminder until that moment, but seeing my beta and having the guys with me told me everything I needed to know. It set into place that I wasn’t alone, and I never was.

I had my pack. My alpha status and territory. I had my friends. Beyond that, I had my mate, and I had to get her back.

Despite my problems and baggage, I had people around me who cared, and it gave me the push I needed to keep going, to focus on Zoe, and to tie up those loose ends later.

As we moved through the grounds, eventually reaching the borders of my territory, those scents grew stronger, and we closed in around the hotspot where they all seemed to come together.

Running in, I was fully prepared to see Kody there, ready for the confrontation that had been put off long enough. But as I broke through the trees and took everything in, I soon realized my assumption had been way off.

I found Zoe bound with tape over her mouth and dazed, as I expected, but standing behind her was Rory with his claws extended at the side of her neck. In front of them, my dad stood there, seeming perfectly fine. His eyes were narrowed with a combination of triumph and anger.

Seeing the hazy alarm in Zoe’s features made my blood boil.

Realizing that Kody wasn’t there at all, I knew at once that it was Dane Sebastian had smelled at the gym. Everything seemed to fit together piece by piece in my mind, and at once, that rage consumed me.

Chapter 28 - Zoe

From the moment I regained consciousness, the only thing I felt was pure, unbridled fear—not to mention a dull ache on one side of my face.

I didn’t know where I was or what was happening as the woods came into view, and I found my hands bound behind my back at a painful angle. It took time for my awareness to return, but when it did, something in me wished it hadn’t.

The moment I saw Dane and Rory there, my heart was in my throat, and I couldn’t help but feel a wash of complete panic as everything from the gym came back to me.

He managed to pull me away, and I had no idea where I was or what he planned to do with me.

I only knew that I was an inconvenience and I was just in the way to him.

He needed to get rid of me to get his way, and I didn’t like what that implied.

Despite the tape over my mouth, I did my best to breathe through my nose. It was uncomfortable, and I wanted nothing more than to pull in a deep breath after being unconscious. But mixed with my panicked breaths, it felt impossible to come by, and that lightheaded feeling remained.

Dane glanced over at me, surely detecting the change in my breathing, and scoffed. “You’re awake, huh?”

Rory snickered, giving me a slight nudge with his boot. I bristled, wishing I wasn’t bound so I could finally give him a piece of my mind.

Unable to say anything, I only glared at Dane.

I may have been in his possession and unable to do anything, but that didn’t mean I was going to make it easy for him.

He just scoffed and shook his head, looking at me with pure disdain. “I can tell you’re a stubborn one. Can’t imagine why Ezra would ever waste his time on you.”

My anger only mounted as my heart ached beneath it all.

Thinking about where everything was left off between us only made that pain worse, and I hated knowing that our situation was completely up in the air.

As far as I knew, he didn’t want me anymore, and whether those were his true feelings or if he said it as a defense mechanism, it still made my chest hurt anyway.

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