Page 67 of Her Cruel Alpha

I called Henrik, crying and panicking and the line ended with him. I called Sam, and she answered all the other calls for me while I drove over to the house. I found him and the car surrounded by darkness. I knew Henrik was in it because I could see the outline of him.

“I arrived at the lab, and it was already out of its container. It must have left the room because I found some of the guys unconscious.”

Questions loomed in my head now. I had left so quickly afterward that I wasn’t even aware if they were all doing okay.

“They are doing just fine,” Jennisa said, giving me a soft expression. Maybe she could see that I was worried about them.

I was a little relieved to find that. I had gotten to know them all so well, and every one of the guys who worked in the basement had been nice to me. I would have felt utterly terrible if something had happened to them.

“All packs need to be on high alert, not that Katie’s lab has lost its ability to test it.”

“Not that I don’t think this is an urgent matter, but my wife needs rest,” Jay waved a hand towards Sam, who looked seconds away from falling asleep. I was sure she probably used a lot of energy using her magic earlier.

“We need to discuss this matter while it’s fresh,” Ralph said, straightening his back.

“It will still be fresh in the morning,” Aaron said with his arms crossed. “We are all able to stay in town and talk about this in the morning.”

All the Alphas seemed to agree on this. I looked at Henrik, who looked just as tired as I felt.

Somehow, the Council agreed, and we all started to head out. But Frank spoke loudly in the hallway. “Hold you four. We aren’t done talking.”

Jay, Sam, Henrik, and I all paused. We turned, and the other four had their arms crossed and looked irritated. “While we agree that being reprimanded right now isn’t a good idea, do you want to share with us why none of us knew that you had some part of this darkness underground?”

I chewed on my cheek and Henrik frowned. “I just learned about it a few weeks ago.”

“Doesn’t make that better,” Aaron grumbled, his eyes narrowing. “I thought we were all friends here, and don’t friends share information like that? Important information that other packs should be aware of? And when you found out, why didn’t you share it with us?”

“Do we really want to get into it right now?” Jay asked, holding Sam up at this point.

“Don’t get me started on you, Jay,” Frank growled. “You guys have been keeping information that should have been known through the group. How do you think we all felt hearing that Katie had some outbreak in her labs and it was attacking Henrik? All news to us. But yet you knew what was going on!”

I knew that the guys were all close, mostly because I thought they were forced to be given their statues, but looking at them, I could see they were genuine. They were all worried about Henrik and angry that we didn’t tell them what was going on.

“I’m sorry,” I offered. “Everything happened so quickly. I called Sam because she was the only person I knew that I could turn to.”

Frank crossed his arms. “While you may not know us that well, you are married to Henrik, which means you need to turn to us.”

“Really? You couldn’t have said that in a nicer tone?” Sam snapped instantly, grumbling at Frank. “She did what she thought was important. You can’t get mad that she didn’t make five other phone calls in an emergency.”

Aaron waved his hands. “Our point is, you guys didn’t include us in any of this. You kept secrets, and we didn’t hear about this from you guys like we should have. We heard about it from the Council.”

We all fell quiet. I knitted my fingers together, unsure of what to say.

“Do you have any idea how worried we were?” Frank asked. “I know we were all forced into these positions, but I’d like to think we’ve grown to be friends who trust each other.”

“I got a speeding ticket,” Maddox added. “Because we were told you might be dead. That’s what we were told. Dead, Henrik. Not hurt. Dead.”

I could see they were all frustrated, but it came from a soft heart. Even as they yelled, I could see the love in their eyes.

“We’re sorry,” Henrik said. “And I mean it.”

All four of the guys seemed to relax a little at his words.

Jay sighed. “Not that I don’t love the connection that’s going on here, but I need to get my wife home.” Jay turned to Sam, hoisting her up. “I’ll see you all in the morning. You can yell at us more than.”

The other four walked closer, and Frank placed a hand on my head. “You call us all next time.” His words came out grumpy, but his hand was soft on my head before he pulled it back, and they all walked by.

Henrik smirked. “I think they like you.”

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