Page 92 of Reclaiming Home

I followed them at a more sedate pace and went to get the first aid kit. I sat at the kitchen table and opened it, waiting for Ben to appear.

I was waiting for the adrenaline to hit me, to get shaky maybe, but that didn’t happen. I felt normal.

Half an hour later, I had Ben patched up and we were all sitting by the kitchen table, figuring out what to make for dinner, when we heard the familiar rumble of Brodie’s truck.

The Alpha who burst in through the front door had red eyes and was barely hanging on. Holden’s eyes were glowing beta yellow, but he was more analytical and seemed calmer.

Before I had time to do anything but stand up, Brodie had his hands on my shoulders as he looked at me from head to toe.

“I’m fine. We’re all fine,” I assured him, the last word muffled by his chest I was suddenly squished against.

I heard Holden ask the others questions, but I was content hanging onto my mate, squeezing him back.

“We’re okay, I promise, Brodie. They won’t be coming back.”

“We were scary AF,” Carys piped up.

There were chuckles, but Brodie stayed silent. Then he pulled me away from the kitchen and through to the family room, then sat on the couch.

I straddled him and attached myself to him like a koala. We needed a moment, that much was clear.

“You’re not going to lose me,” I whispered into his ear. “I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

He buried a choked up sob against my neck, and I held him together while he gradually relaxed.

My sweet, sweet Alpha. I was so in fucking love with him.

Chapter Twenty One

Brodie

The Ramirez pack was lovely. Jessie, the Alpha, was both glowing and tired as fuck—her words—because of the new addition. The baby was cute, too. Jessie’s betas and the rest of the pack who were home and not at work or school seemed like good people.

We chatted a while about my pack and how I’d “snatched” Holden to join mine instead of hers, and it was all done in good humor.

We’d just been served coffee when my phone dinged in my pocket.

“Excuse me,” I said, knowing that she’d understand. Alphas had a responsibility to be reachable almost all the time, after all.

Rian.“Visitors. NQ SOS.”

My heart jumped into my throat and I showed the message to Holden. We’d had time to fill Jessie in with the weird vibe we’d gotten off the warning Holden’s boss had given us, so when we told her we needed to go, she nodded.

“If there’s anything we can do?”

“I’ll let you know. Thank you. We’ll try this again—”

“Go, go!” She smiled, but her eyes were filled with worry for us.

We were in my truck in no time, and I started toward home.

“Take the backroads when I tell you. It’s gonna be faster and less cops,” Holden said.

I nodded, my fingers white with how hard I was squeezing the steering wheel.

“What was the NQ in the message?” he asked after we made it through the long winding driveway, the pack’s property being in the middle of nowhere much like ours.

“Oh, it’s something Rian uses. Not Quite.” I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to stay in control. “I wish I’d never seen it in this context, though.”

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