Page 21 of Alpha's Second Chance

Normally I’d have relished a few days in a cabin in the mountains, with time to read and take baths, but under the circumstances, I was climbing the walls. During a few of my more lucid moments during my heat, I’d torn through the two novels he had that I hadn’t read.

I thought of my own stack of hardback novels by my bed. The copy ofThe Adventures of Sherlock HolmesI’d bought in London. The first edition ofLittle Women. The cheap paperbacks I kept to read during those infrequent long baths.

All of them were gone. Turned to ash because of Bull.

Ugh. I was sick of my life being dominated by this mob boss. I dug through Owen’s living area cabinets under which I found a pack of cards. Maybe I’d suggest a game of strip poker once he got back. Surely it would lift my gray mood.

As I was shuffling the cards, Owen slammed into the cabin. I had the rifle in my hands before I realized it was him.

Owen was wild-eyed. His chest heaved with every breath. I lowered the gun. I unloaded it, making my movements slow and deliberate. I stood and made my way over to him. “Owen? What is it?” I asked.

Owen ran his hand through his hair until it stood straight up. “Bull escaped.”

“Escaped?” I should have considered that as a possibility. In all the scenarios I’d imagined, Bull would remain locked away in the county jail until his sentencing.

I stared straight ahead into the fireplace. We’d just wondered what Bull would do next, and that had been when we’d thought he’d be working from a jail cell. Now he was free. It was unlikely he’d head straight for us himself, but he wouldn’t leave us alone, especially not after we’d killed his three men. That was an insult to him, a humiliation.

Would Owen’s cabin be the next to go up in flames? With us inside?

Would Bull target our clan? I didn’t want to live by my family’s rules, but I sure didn’t want any of them harmed by Bull. “We need to warn your clan. They’re probably in danger.”

The sound of cracking wood brought me out of my daze. Owen stood by the splintered side table. It lay in pieces on the floor. He shook his hand out.

I took his hand in mine. The skin was red and scraped raw, but not bleeding. “Did you break anything?” I ran my other fingertip over the bones.

“No. It’s fine.” He pulled his hand away. “I’ve warned our family. My second in command there helped get everyone into a few houses that are well-guarded.”

“I should have known you’d have thought of that.”

He shrugged. “Part of the job.”

I knew he’d say that. “Your job as a soldier or your job as the clan’s Alpha?”

“Both.”

“Owen. I know you. I know you’re used to busting your ass for each and every case, and now this one is personal, a lot more personal than most.” I chewed on my lip. “Has the clan ever been in danger before?”

“Not since I’ve been the Alpha.”

The threat against me and the clan had to be making Owen crazy. He wouldn’t tolerate the lack of action for much longer, I could see that clearly.

“If you decide to do something, will you let me know?” In a way, it hardly seemed like a fair ask, considering our history. But I was going to ask it of him anyway.

“Do something like what?”

“If you decide to leave and go after Bull yourself.”

“I’m not leaving you unprotected,” he barked.

“Your team is here.”

“Not good enough.” He said each word slowly, over enunciating. I got the point.

Not good enough?Owen had told me he trusted his team like they were his brothers, but I recalled the lessons I learned as a young teen. A bear shifter Alpha was intensely possessive of his mate right after sharing a heat with her. Was he thinking of me as his mate, now that we’d shared a heat?

And if he was thinking of me as a mate, how did I feel about that?

Owen

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