27. Kace
27
KACE
After Xan and Nevin had left for the mall, I’d decided there was no time like the present and drove over to Pike’s new place to help him with a few things. He’d helped me more times than I could count when I’d decided to buy my DIY cottage. It’d been in dire need of some TLC, let’s put it that way, and both Pike and Sevren had come in clutch many times.
So when Pike said he might need some help installing some new lighting in the living room, I was the first one to offer. What else are friends for?
I was standing on a ladder with a cordless drill, anchoring the housing for the recessed lighting fixture, when my phone went off. It buzzed against my butt in my back pocket. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
“You wanna get that?” Pike offered. “We can take a break.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Thanks, man.”
I carefully climbed down the ladder and set the tools aside, then answered my phone. “Hello?” I wasn’t sure what I expected, but a very serious-sounding Xan, asking where I was, was not on my bingo card. “I’m over at Pike and Phoenix’s place. Why? What’s going on?”
Nevin needs you. Three words that made my heart squeeze and my stomach shrivel. He needed me?
“What happened?” I barked into the phone, gripping it a little tighter in my hand. My thoughts flew to my pregnant mate, and the baby, not due for another three months. “The baby, is it?—”
But Xan assured me the baby was fine. Nevin was fine. I just needed to get home because they needed me. My Omega needed me, and from the quiver in my little brother’s voice, he needed me too. Something had happened, and I had to get back to them. Now.
“I’ll be there soon. Hang tight, Xanny.” I hung up and turned to Pike, feeling a little shaky. “I need to go. I’m sorry.”
Pike frowned. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I told him, feeling just as lost as he looked. “Xan said I need to come home, that Nevin needs me and that they’ll explain when I get there. I’m worried. I’m sorry.” I glanced back up at the half-finished job. “I could come back over later, maybe…”
“No.” Pike’s tone was matter-of-fact. “It’s fine. Go and be with your Omega. We can finish this another time.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Once I got to Nevin’s side, I doubted I’d ever want to leave him. At least for the rest of the day. “Thank you, man.”
“Anytime,” Pike said, clapping me on the back.
I grabbed my coat off the coat rack, shrugged into it, and climbed into my truck. I gunned it home, driving ten over the speed limit down backroads, bouncing along to the sound of silence and my heart beating. I got there in no time flat.
Parking haphazardly in the gravel drive, I burst through the front door and into the house. “Nevin? Xan?” I called out.
“In the living room,” I heard my brother say, so I followed the sound of his voice. I found Nevin curled up in blankets on the couch, and Xan… His face was smeared with blood and dirt, scuffed and bruised. What the hell had happened?
I stared at my brother, who frowned at me and chin-nodded to my mate, whose bottom lip wobbled with oncoming tears.
“Baby… What happened?” I sat down beside Nevin right as he burst into noisy sobs. He threw himself against me, wrapping his arms tightly around my neck. I hugged him close.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here. What happened, Nev? Honey, what’s going on?” I pulled away so I could look into his soulful blue eyes. They were wide and frightened. “Are you hurt?”
“N-No. Not yet anyway,” he uttered.
“We were attacked at the mall,” Xan said flatly.
Attacked? I growled and Nevin shrank away from me, scrunching up his eyes. “By who?” I demanded, looking at my brother. “That skeezy coworker of yours?”
Xan grimaced. “No. Not him.”
Nevin’s voice was small and timid as he spoke. “It’s Rex… H-He found me. He and one of the other Alphas from his pack attacked us in the lot. If it wasn’t for Xan’s quick thinking…”
He shivered, hunching his shoulders up around his ears and shaking his head, like he might be able to shake off those bad memories. “I don’t know what would’ve happened. He wants to take me back, Kace.” Nevin whimpered, and my soul went cold.
“No,” I growled. “That’s not happening. You’re mine, and you’re not going anywhere, Nev. I promise you that.” I reached for him, pulling him into my lap. He straddled my legs and clung to me, crying quietly as he buried his face in the crook of my neck. I stroked his hair, shushing him. “Everything’s gonna be okay, honey…”
Xan looked down at the floor. “The Alpha that roughed me up… He said he was going to ‘add me to his collection’, whatever that means. Said I’d look good barefoot and pregnant—so I maced his ass.” He wrinkled his nose and I growled under my breath, anger simmering just below the surface.
“So they plan to take you both?” I bit out, squeezing Nevin to my chest. “Over my dead body. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of this. I’ll kill that bastard if I have to.”
“Kace—” Nevin whimpered.
“I will,” I said firmly.
“I’m going to use the bathroom,” Xan muttered before standing and limping off down the hall. My heart ached for my brother, whose bravery had saved both himself and my mate today. If it wasn’t for him…
No. I couldn’t think that way. Nevin was safe, right here, in my arms. And I wouldn’t let him be snatched away to be used and abused all over again. I refused.
Nevin cuddled closer. “I’m scared.”
“How did he find you?” I asked, confused. Nevin turned his face away, but not before I saw the guilt flash through his eyes. “Nev?”
“I… I didn’t want to tell you,” he whispered bitterly. “I didn’t want to worry you, but a few months ago, I ran into one of my old packmates at the mall. One of the Omegas. I begged her not to tell Rex, but apparently she did. I’m sorry. I’m so stupid.”
“Oh honey.” I pulled him close, kissing his forehead, then the top of his head. “You’re the farthest thing from stupid there is. You’re scared. There’s a difference.”
I held him for a little while, needing to feel his warmth in my arms to reassure myself that he was safe, but my mind was already speeding ahead, a train off its tracks.
Xan came back out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later. His face was cleaned off, but he still looked shaken up. He hesitated in the doorway of the living room. “I think I’m gonna head home.”
I wanted to argue. I didn’t want him to leave, but I knew he’d be safe at home with Mom. “Okay, Xan,” I agreed. “Drive safe, please.”
“I will, bro. I’ll text you when I get there. Love you.”
My chest ached at the words. After Xan left, I gently lifted Nevin so that he was sitting on the couch. I wrapped him in his blanket and placed a kiss on his lips, gentle and sweet.
“Hey. Will you be okay if I step outside and call Mom real quick? I need to tell her what’s going on, so she can alert the pack.”
Nevin’s smile was wan, but he nodded and grabbed the remote off the coffee table. The TV blared to life, no doubt to keep his mind busy. I stood and walked out onto the front porch, leaning against the sturdy railing as I dialed Mom’s number.
She answered on the second ring. “Hi, honey. What’s up?”
“Hey, Mom. I need to give you a head’s up. Xan and Nevin were attacked at the mall today.”
“What?” Alarm rang out in her voice. “What happened?”
“They’re okay,” I assured her. “Xan’s on his way home right now. He’ll be there soon.” I growled softly, shaking my head, then dropped my voice to a hush. “It was Nevin’s ex. The man who brutalized him and left him for dead. He caught wind that Nevin’s pregnant and now he wants him back. He threatened to take him and Xan both. Thankfully, Xan’s a smart cookie and carries mace. The two of them got away, but we need to be proactive.”
I swallowed hard. “I can’t lose Nevin, Mom. I can’t. It’ll break me.”
“You won’t lose him, honey,” she promised me. “We’ll figure this out. I’ll send out a pack-wide alert, ensure the enforcers scout the territory more often, and tell everyone to keep their eyes and ears open. Don’t worry, Kace. Everything will be okay. Just keep him close.”
“I will,” I promised her. Oh, I will.