As Caleb starts to walk towards the —now broken— door to the staff hallway, Mathew steps behind him, his eyes on me filled with worry.
I reach out to him and he takes my hand, softly kissing my blood-covered fingers.I’m so glad he’s safe, that he’s fine now.
We really have to come up with a solution soon.
Him not being able to use his pheromones to calm his Alphas down when they go into a frenzy trying to protect him is really dangerous.This has happened twice now and both times I had to resolve it.But no matter how well we plan things, I won’t always be at his side to help him out.
“Riley, are you—” With a jolt, Caleb’s words are cut off and he turns abruptly, ripping my hand out of Mathew’s.Within moments, he’s grabbed Mathew and has dropped all three of us to the floor, covering us with his body.
Then I hear the bullets as they hit the floor and wall just above our heads.
I glance over Caleb’s shoulder and some bastard is looking down at us from one of the large vents high up in the wall.
Next to me, Mathew’s moves are fluid and precise.He grabs his gun and shoots the attacker, hitting the man in his shoulder as he tries to get away, but not killing him.
That slows the shooter down for long enough that the second bullet hits him in his head and he slumps down.He’s dead.
Fuck.
“Caleb, are you okay?”I crawl from under him, looking him over, but I have no idea what blood is his and what blood is from other people.
He lets out a soft chuckle as he pushes himself up.“I’m okay.I just landed poorly and got a few extra bruises.Are you okay?”He reaches out and takes me in his arms.
I nod, not able to say anything anymore.I’m too tired and just want to go home with my mates.Just…
Home.
12
Jorge
Riley is staringin shock at where the dead shooter’s hand is hanging from the vent.It’s right above her, which is probably why Caleb noticed him when he looked her way.
“Riley?”I walk closer to her and she blinks, focusing on me.“Are you coming home with us?”
I don’t think it’s a good idea to let her go back to her hotel, in case the people she met up with know where she’s staying and decide to take revenge on her when she’s on her own.
“I guess so.”Then her eyes slide down to my arm.“You’re hurt!”
“It’s fine.I’ll have someone patch me up back at home.”
It’s only a cut.It hurts like hell, but I can still move all my fingers and the bleeding isn’t too bad.It can wait until we’re back.
I still when I hear loud footsteps in the hall, only for Timothy’s clear voice to calm me down.“Check the bodies.Take all ID.Don’t leave anything behind.We need everything we can get.”
He appears in the doorway, his body tense and controlled, until he sees Derrick and he lets out a long breath.Then he seems to pull himself together.“Get everyone the help they need.Get a move on!”
Those two can deal with cleaning up, it’s what they always do.I’ve got more important things to worry about.
I cross the room over to Caleb, Mathew and Vera.
As soon as we reach them, Caleb jerks his head to the door and I nod.Yeah, getting out of here is our first priority.
Vera takes Mathew’s hand and they follow Caleb, walking side-by-side, while Riley and I follow them.
We carefully make our way through the hallway, avoiding the bodies and the pools of blood, as the adrenaline is slowly leaving my body.
What just happened will probably hit me in a couple of hours, but for now, I can handle it.