Page 46 of Who We Were

"What?" Amaya's head begins to turn, noticing I'm looking over her shoulder

"Nothing." I divert quickly and snatch her up into my arms. "Let's cuddle."

She goes lax in my arms, her breath puffing across my collarbone with a sigh. "It's okay, Vince. I already saw the car leave earlier."

Okay, so it sounds like we need to move. A state change preferably.

Tucking her head beneath my chin, I settle myself in the corner of what I now know to be her nest. "Time to sleep, Omega."

No response greets me except for a little wiggle to get comfortable. Offering the only comfort I know right now, I purr and relax when her body goes boneless against mine.

With the lights on to keep the spookies away, I shut my eyes and drift off, knowing my mate is safe in my arms.

Except, I will never be able to keep her completely safe, will I? Her scream of terror hours later proves I have no control over the nightmares her mind can conjure.

32

EMMETT

“Em, wake up."

"Hmm," I groan, tucking further into my pillow.

"Em! Alpha, come on, get up!"

Some of Oliver's urgency registers, but not much. Well, not until I'm smacked upside the head with denim. "What the fuck?!" I growl, sitting up and glaring around the room until I find my beta hunched over by the window.

"Come see this," he hisses, waving me over.

Swallowing my annoyance, even after I see the shining red clock that says two in the morning, I slide out of bed. To appease my crankiness, I spank his asshard.

"OW!" Oli yelps, jumping around to give me his most ferocious glare. I grin and he scowls. "Just fucking look!"

He yanks me forward by my arm and finally forces me to look outside. Two flashing squad cars are parked at the new neighbor's house. I don't hear any sirens, but it doesn’t look like there's too much of an issue. It also looks like they won't be leaving for a minute.

I can't see much under the cover of darkness, but I'm pretty sure there are a few people standing around too.What's happening?

The sight makes my stomach warble with worry. "Get dressed. We're going over there." Snagging the jeans that hit me in the face, I shove my legs through them and grab whatever shirt I can find.

"Really?" Oli asks but is still ready to go in under ten seconds.

"Yeah." Hustling down the stairs with Oliver on my heels, I reason, "We should check on her. From what we know, she's living there alone."

"So we finally get to meet the mystery girl?" he all but squeals.

With our shoes on and the door unarmed, we're jogging down the road before I realize I might need to tone my crazy beta down. Before I can actually warn him this isn't a normal 'welcome to the neighborhood' moment, we're walking up the driveway.

"Ma'am, everything is just fine. We appreciate you calling us."

Some of the tension bleeds out of me when I see the big beta officer calming our elderly neighbor lady. Mrs. Nelson twists her hands in front of her, breaking my heart a little seeing how worried she is. It makes sense. She also lives alone, so I bet whatever happened is hitting her a little harder.

"The scream was so loud, are you sure the girl is alright?"

"Scream?" Oliver asks, stepping forward. The cop stiffens, but my beta just holds his hands up. "We live a few doors down and saw the lights."

The officer still narrows his eyes but explains, "Mrs. Nelson heard a scream and called it in. Everything is fine, gentlemen. You can head home now."

I know a dismissal when I hear one, but I can't shake the need to push the matter. "My pack and I sold her the house. Is she okay in there alone?"

---