The conviction in his words sends spikes of relief through my bloodstream. I nod my head a few times, but I’m not ready to let go of him. I’m not sure that I’ll ever be ready.
I feel a hand on my other arm, and a glance over my shoulder shows Wolf staring at me, brow furrowed.
Fuck.
I can’t explain it exactly, except that I feel this need to keep him—all of them—close. It beats incessantly underneath my skin.
“C’mere, baby girl,” Wolf murmurs as he tilts his head toward his side of the car.
I turn to search Rush’s eyes, seeing sincerity shining in them before I nod once and uncurl my fingers from his shirt. I take a moment to smooth the fabric, and he drops his hand from mine. Rush leans in and sweeps his lips across my cheek and lingers on my lips for a moment. My eyes flutter closed without thought, and I feel myself sway toward him.
As soon as it starts, it ends. I open my eyes and blink a few times to clear my vision. Rush closes my door and rounds the front of the car to get in the driver’s seat. It’s then that I notice Sully’s in the passenger seat talking on the phone. His voice is low enough and I’m distracted enough that I can’t make out any words.
Wolf shuffles toward me and wraps his arm around my shoulders.
“You’re alright, Red. We’ve got you,” Wolf assures me. His voice soothes some of the raw aching in my soul, and my eyelids droop.
I fight the hold that sleep is trying to take out on me, but after my head dips and eyelids close a few times, I lose that fight.
It’s probably the only fight I don’t mind losing tonight. I know that my dark kings will protect me.
I turn my head into Wolf’s chest, and he places a few chaste kisses on the top of my head, murmuring something too low for me to hear.
Surrounded by them, I let myself rest.
Chapter Eight
Rush
Sully ends his phone call and tosses his phone in the cup holder in the middle console. He exhales, though the scowl doesn’t quite leave his face. “He’ll do it. But he said it’ll be double our usual fee.”
“Double?” My eyebrow quirks, and I flick another glance in the rearview mirror to check on my little bird. She’s curled into Wolf’s chest with her eyes closed. Good. She needs the rest. Tiny embers of jealousy swirl in my gut—I want to be the one to comfort her right now. It was my job to protect her, and I failed. But I did find her. That has to count for something, right?
I douse those embers with truth, enough that they flicker and steam out. I know that this is the plan. I just have to stick to the plan.
Now that Wolf’s on board, all that stands in my way is Sully. I glance at my brother and notice his clenched jaw and curled fist as he stares out the window. Tension lines every muscle in his body, and I just know that whether or not he’s ready to admit it—he loves her.
Which is good.
It is good, I tell myself, even if some parts of it feel like someone stuck a hot poker in my gut. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy at first—sharing a woman like this. Sharing a woman for one night is one thing, but sharing a woman for the rest of our lives is something else altogether. We’re three possessive alpha assholes, and we’ve been trained to be the best, so I knew that it wouldn’t be as easy as dropping her in our universe and saying “play nice.” But I didn’t expect this—any of this.
I didn’t anticipate the juxtaposition that is Alaina.
She sings in front of a crowd every week, but she took a year to walk up to me.
I didn’t expect her laugh or the way she fiercely loves her cousins. I didn’t expect her to charm Wolf so innocently and easily or for her to be the one that broke Sully’s heart all those years ago.
I have a suspicion that she’s going to surprise me at every turn.
I exhale through my nose, and any lingering jealousy leaves me. If it can’t be me that offers her comfort right now, then I’m happy it’s one of my brothers.
“Aye, double. He said double and a favor,” Sully says with a growl in his voice.
“Mm, someone’s getting greedy. And we’re sure Doc can’t meet us?” I sigh, trying to get the adrenaline to level out.
“Aye. He’s caught up on vacation down the coast,” Sully says as he taps his foot on the floor. “Fucker hasn’t taken a vacation in ten years, and he chooses this week of all weeks to go?”
I feel my brows furrow as I slot this piece of information into the big puzzle. “Did Da okay it?”
“Dunno. Doc said he did, but since service is spotty where Da is, I can’t confirm.” Sully clenches his jaw, and I know he’s thinking the same thing we all are: He should be home for this.
“For as much as we pay him, Doc should run when we call. I don’t give a fuck where he is,” I grumble. Using a new person is always a gamble, and lately, I’m not feeling very lucky—or charitable, but I don’t need to tell Sully that. I’m sure he already knows. “What’s your take on the guy? Should we change our meet-up to somewhere further away from the safe house?”
“Depends. How trusting are you feeling?” Sully pauses. “Enough to risk her?” He jerks his head toward the backseat. “Because we don’t really know jack shit about him.”
I glance at her in the rearview mirror again. She looks like a fallen angel—covered in dirt, scratches, and blood. There’s no way she realizes her own ferociousness. Not yet. But she will—one day soon.
I’d already made a silent vow to her, to my brothers, to myself, that I’d make her one of us.
She doesn’t realize that she wears her fierceness like a soft leather jacket.
“Doc’s been on our payroll for at least twenty years. If he wanted to bury us, he’s had plenty of opportunity to do it before now. And if he vouches for this guy—”
“Sam,” Sully interjects.
“For Sam, if you asked me last week, I’d say sure. But today? Nah, today I’m not feeling very trusting. Move it to somewhere totally random and a couple hours away.”
Sully shrugs—this forced, rigid movement that looks more uncomfortable than nonchalant. “Sure. It’s up to you, brother. It doesn’t matter much to me either way.”
“Shut the fuck up with that bullshit, man,” Wolf snaps from the backseat.
Sully stiffens and whips his head to face Wolf. “Fuck you, man. This doesn’t change shit between us.” He gestures between himself and Alaina. “I came for you guys, because we’re brothers.”
“Aye, we’re fucking brothers. So you best remember that next time you try that bullshit again, clear?” Wolf’s tone is hard, unyielding.
He’s not wrong. Despite Sully’s loud protest to our little birdie, he’s been amped up since her kidnapping. I decide not to bring up the fact that he had to be pulled off not one but two guys in the basement of the carriage house earlier today.
“Alright, Wolf,” Sully grits out between clenched teeth. It sounds a lot more like fuck you, Wolf.
I glance at Wolf in the mirror, his jaw clenches, and his glare would make lesser men piss themselves. Sully weathers the glare like only a brother could. That’s their shit they’re going to have to sort out. No one said this would be easy. But we’re brothers, and we’re more than just blood.