My eyes close with relief. Thank fuck we took precautions to protect our mate against such a possibility. I look down at the golden ring on the finger of my right hand. It contains a tracking chip as well.
“He’d have bitten me if you guys were a second late,” Iris says with a tremor that hits me right in the heart. “Callahan came too close to binding me to him that night.”
Moving closer to her, I wrap my arms tightly around her. A gasp escapes me because of the pain in my broken ribs but I don’t care. I hold onto her until her body stops trembling.
Warmth seeps in through the thin fabric of her dress. The scent of roses and summer berries wraps around me, making me close my eyes.
Despite the pain lancing through me, comfort and bliss steal through me. Iris sags against me. Her lashes flutter and almost close.
A yawn escapes her.
“Tired?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says, moving away from me. She gazes toward Caleb, Damon, and Raiden.
Our mates are unhurt but she can see the fatigue in their features. These past couple of days must’ve been hell for them too.
“You’ve got to alert the authorities,” Iris says in an urgent tone. “Callahan needs to be arrested.”
“It’s not going to be easy,” Caleb says in a grim tone.
“Why not?” Iris demands. “He’s responsible for killing so many innocent people. He’s the reason Damon had to endure so much pain after the Black Widow captured him. We can’t let someone like Callahan roam free. Who knows what he’ll do next.”
“Calm down, Wildcat,” says Damon. “We’ll destroy the fucker but it’ll take time to gather all the evidence we need to implicate him.”
“What about footage from the surveillance cameras?” Iris suggests, looking around at us. “There are cameras inside the house too, right?”
Disappointment washes over our group.
“The surveillance room was completely destroyed,” I say, meeting her hopeful gaze. “All the servers that stored surveillance data of our home were damaged. The bastards didn’t leave behind any trace.”
“Don’t we have another surveillance unit that gets monitored by your soldiers?” she asks.
“We do,” says Damon. “But, they don’t receive feeds from inside the house. I’ve checked them over but didn’t catch Callahan on any of them. We’d have known he was involved with the terrorists if he showed up on any of the cams that surround our grounds.”
“Callahan has been to our house a few times,” says Raiden. “He must’ve found out about our home surveillance system during those visits.”
“I can’t believe we let that snake enter our home,” Damon says through clenched teeth.
“You can search his house,” Iris says with a desperate look on her face. “Maybe search that old manor too. Two other women were living there. They both have the Black Widow tattoo on their body. Arrest them and question them. I’m sure you’ll get more information from them.”
“We didn’t see anyone else that night,” says Raiden.
“That’s because they were passed out in the bathroom,” Iris says, cringing. “They wanted me to take off Damon’s shirt to bathe me and clean me. It kind of drove me nuts and I hurt them.”
Chuckles escape Damon. His amber eyes glow with sudden intensity as they gaze at her. “Good kitty,” he says with pure appreciation in his voice.
Warmth pools into her cheeks as she giggles like a love-drunk teen.
“So, there’s nothing we can do?” Disappointment laces her soft voice.
“We know the truth now,” says Caleb. “It might take a while but we’ll gather all the evidence needed to implicate him.”
“Don’t worry about him,” I say, gazing at her. “You’re here and that’s all matters.”
Ice spreads through my veins as I realize how close I came to losing her. These two past days have been torture without seeing her pretty face and hearing her sweet, shy chuckles. It feels like pure dumb luck to have her back with us.
“Let go of the shirt now,” I say, noticing the grimy piece of clothing she’s still holding in her hands. “You’ve got the real man right here.”