Chapter Three
After poking around the guest room, Alex discovered a small balcony outside his window. Despite the earlier rain, he climbed out and sat on the ledge.
It wasn’t very comfortable under his butt, the cold ledge digging into flesh, but at least he could enjoy the fresh mountain air.
The skies were now clear, allowing him to see a million twinkling stars overhead. He tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and finally exhaled after what felt like years of not breathing.
He didn’t even mind the cold. Not when he had the option of going back inside to the warmth of his room.
Thanks to Wade.
Alex still couldn’t believe he’d found his mate in the middle of his life falling apart. The wolf had fed him and given him a place to stay, even if it was just temporary.
But…Alex didn’t want to leave. For the first time in his life, he felt like he belonged somewhere and didn’t want to give up the friendship the mates offered or the possibility of a relationship between him and Wade.
Alex glanced to his right when he heard grunting. Wade was climbing out of the other window, struggling to get his ginormous frame through it.
He looked like a giant squeezing out of a sausage casing. “Maybe you should take the long way around,” Alex suggested.
“We’re on the third floor,” Wade grunted. “I think I might’ve had better luck if I’d come out feet first.”
“Careful!” Alex’s eyes widened when Wade pulled himself back inside, nearly taking the entire window with him. The wood groaned and the glass shook, but thankfully it stayed intact.
Then Wade vaulted through the window like he’d been shot out of a cannon.
Alex gasped, hoping the wolf stopped before he reached the edge of the balcony.
It was a steep drop.
Wade used his booted feet to press against the rails then just lay there, staring at the stars while chuckling.
“Totally ruined my cool creds. Worst entrance, or exit, ever.”
Alex hid his smile behind a hand. “What did you do, get a running start before launching yourself?”
“Pretty much,” Wade groaned. “Seriously thought I wasn’t going to stop.”
Neither had Alex. The fall wouldn’t have killed Wade, but it would’ve hurt like hell.
“Is there a reason you became a human missile?” Alex asked.
Wade glanced over his head at Alex. “To chill with you. Maybe next time I’ll just paraglide to the balcony. Probably would be less painful, unless I missed the landing.”
Alex’s smile widened, making it impossible to hide. “Or crawl out slowly. Just a thought.”
Wade sat up, his back soaking wet from the puddle he’d landed in. Alex crawled back inside long enough to grab his blanket. The guy had to be freezing with wet clothing on.
“Here.” He held out the comforter. “You might not be able to get sick, but you can turn into a Popsicle.”
“Same with you.” Wade jutted his chin toward Alex. “You don’t have a jacket on.”
After wrapping the blanket around him, Wade held out his arms. “Free heat. No strings attached.”
Alex hesitated for a heartbeat, telling himself the strings were already attached. The pull made it impossible to turn Wade down, even if it would be the smart thing to do.
Chest to back, they stood there staring at the mountains, the high peaks dusted in snow. Alex slowly leaned against Wade, soaking up his offered heat.
“That’s an amazing sight to look at,” Alex murmured. “I can see why you live here. Beautiful and peaceful.”
Wade rested his chin on the top of Alex’s head. He hated how right this felt, how intimate the moment was.
“Even better when you have someone to share it with,” Wade said, his voice barely audible, like he was talking to himself instead of Alex.
There was no mistaking the loneliness in his tone, a feeling Alex knew all too well. That was the main reason he’d dealt with Drew. Alex had thought it was better than being by himself.
Now he wished he’d stayed single.
“You ever make the worst mistake of your life?” Alex asked. He was breaking open, his body betraying the walls he was trying to keep up. That wasn’t what he was about to ask Wade, but it was what slipped out.
“More than once.” Wade tightened his arms around Alex, making him safe for the first time in months. “You don’t get to my age without screwing the pooch a few dozen times.”
Alex’s shiver wasn’t from the cold. He just wasn’t sure if it was from his situation or being in Wade’s strong arms.
“But I’m still standing here, no worse for wear. Unless you count my soggy clothes and horrible entrance.” He softly chuckled, his hands gliding up and down Alex’s arms, soothing him in ways that shouldn’t be possible considering his circumstance.
“What horrible entrance?” Alex teased. “If I recall, you slid out the window with finesse.”
Wade rubbed his jaw gently against Alex’s hair. “Nice. You keep my secrets, and I’ll keep yours.”
Alex had walked right into that one. He knew what Wade was doing, but his secrets were too dangerous to share. Valcore wouldn’t hesitate to wipe out everyone in this house like minor inconveniences just to get to Alex.
“No secrets.” The lie tasted as bitter as it felt. There was a deep hunger to trust, but he couldn’t. “We should get inside. I felt a few sprinkles.”
“Wouldn’t want to get soaked by the invisible rain.” Wade pulled his arms free, stealing the warmth enveloping Alex, that little echo of loss as the heat vanished.
Alex turned, glancing back at his mate. “Some things can’t be fixed with a warm blanket and quiet promises.”
Past his mate’s shoulder, Alex saw glowing eyes in the dark forest. He blinked, hoping he was seeing things, but they were still there, floating like disembodied orbs.
Valcore.
The demon had found him.
Alex couldn’t stay, not even one night. If the demon was out there, watching him, the men in this house weren’t safe.
After crawling back through the window, Alex hurried toward the bedroom door, unsure where he would go. But he couldn’t allow Valcore to destroy this nice pack.
He made it down the stairs and to the front door before Wade caught up to him.
“Whoa!” He used his palm to slam the door closed like a wall of fur and muscles when Alex opened it. “Why are you running?”
“Please,” Alex sobbed, wishing he’d had at least one night of peace. “Let go!”
Instead, Wade curled Alex into his arms, holding him even as Alex fought to get free. “Breathe, honey bunny.”
“I-I can’t.” Alex curled his fingers into Wade’s shirt, clinging for dear life. “He’s here,” he whispered. “He’ll kill all of you if I don’t leave.”
“Who?” Wade’s arms tightened as a low growl escaped. “Who’s here, Alex? The person who put that collar on you?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Someone much worse.” He yanked his head back, eyes wide. “Turn on all the lights!”
Wade’s eyes narrowed. “Demon.”
As badly as Alex wanted to shield everyone under this roof, he’d said too much, hung around too long. Wade wouldn’t let him walk out, no matter how much Alex begged.
“Zeppelin!” Wade shouted, pulling Alex toward the den, turning all the lights on. “Demon!”
A stampede of thunderous footsteps could be heard heading their way. Alex pulled free and helped turn on the lamps as Wade hurried toward the kitchen.
Alex rushed behind his mate, hitting every light switch he found.
“What’s going on?” Zeppelin demanded on the stairs as Alex hurried past him. The alpha. The one guy who made Alex’s bunny want to hide under the couch.
“My mate has a demon after him,” Wade explained as he emerged from the kitchen.
Alex braced himself, waiting for the alpha to rescind his offer to stay for as long as he wanted and yeet him out the front door. They didn’t know him, so why should they risk their lives to keep him safe?
Being Wade’s mate didn’t automatically mean family, and Alex wouldn’t blame Zeppelin. The mates were their first and only priority, not someone who’d just shown up on their doorstep like an abandoned baby needing adoption.
“Don’t worry. I got you.” Sasha grabbed Alex’s wrist and hauled him toward the steps leading upstairs. “You can chicken out in a room with the rest of us mates until the crisis blows over. Jalen always has snacks, and I think Preston snuck his apple pie upstairs.”
“But I caused the crisis!” Alex yanked at his hand, but for someone so skinny, Sasha was surprisingly strong.
The redhead stopped pulling and stared at him.
“We all have baggage, Alex. Preston had a stalker ex-boyfriend after him. Jalen dealt with a twisted uncle and a pill dependency. Newt was running from a father who wanted to marry him off to some chick, and my cousin was a drug dealer who sicced two coyote shifters after me so he could use me as leverage.”
Sasha just dropped the pack trauma receipts like a damn ledger.
“But none of you killed anyone!” Alex’s brows shot up, his heart thundering. Oh god. He’d just shouted the truth at Sasha like a grenade he hadn’t mean to throw! They were going to call the cops, and he would be arrested.
He yanked so hard he nearly made Sasha tumble down the steps. “Let me go!”
“Get your ass upstairs and eat the apple pie Preston worked so hard to make,” Sasha demanded. “Whatever you did, you can deal with that with Wade. Right now, we need to stay out of the wolves’ way.”
Alex glanced around, but no one was paying him any attention. Instead, they had turned into the lights brigade, making the house so bright Alex had to squint.
Instead of arguing, he let Sasha shepherd him upstairs for pie and safety like it was the natural order of things. Alex watched as men ran from one room to the next, sending the electric bill into the stratosphere.
They entered a room, and Sasha slammed the door closed. On the bed, Jalen lounged, remote in hand. Newt was… Alex cocked his head. The fae was pacing midair. How was that possible?
Preston was at one of the dressers, cutting the apple pie and putting slices on paper plates.
This had to be some sort of bizzarro world where everything was opposite of what it should be. Newt was the only one acting worried. The rest of the mates made it seem like any other Tuesday.
What kind of pack had Alex walked into? While the wolves were running around, the mates were acting as if they were having a late-night snack.
All except Newt, whose midair pacing was freaking Alex out.
“Sorry,” Preston said as he glanced at everyone, “but I don’t have any ice cream.”
“Why aren’t you guys panicking?” A plate of pie was shoved into Alex’s hands.
“What do you want us to do?” Jalen asked from the bed, arm tucked behind his head. “Should we all run around the room, screaming in panic?”
Sasha snatched a plate from the dresser. “Of course we’re afraid, but I’d much rather watch TV and gain five extra pounds. Less of a headache.”
The dissonance between his terror and their blasé domesticity made Alex’s head spin.
He pointed at Newt, who paced from the window to the closet on the opposite side of the room. “He’s panicking.”
Preston snorted. “He’s pissed we don’t have ice cream. That’s not panic. That’s irritation. If he flies toward the door, tackle him.”
How? Alex glanced up, knowing damn well he wouldn’t be able to grab the fae.
“It would take me five seconds,” Newt argued. “Fly downstairs, grab the ice cream, then be back before you even missed me.” He stopped pacing, standing there like he had a floor under his feet, arms crossed, wearing a scowl. “I could use my magic.”
“No!” Preston, Jalen, and Sasha shouted at once.
“You might send us to Alaska instead,” Preston said. “We can eat this without ice cream, Newt.”
“What if we went as a group?” Newt asked, his eyes shining like he’d come up with the perfect solution. “I could even blast the demon if he showed up.”
“Or double him,” Jalen grumbled.
“That was one time!” Newt argued.
“You turned three vampires into six.” Sasha took a bite of his pie and moaned. “You’ve outdone yourself, Preston.”
Alex slowly ate his pie—oh my god, it was amazing!—as he kept glancing at the door, waiting for Valcore to burst in at any second.
A hand landed on his shoulder, startling him. “There are sixteen wolves under this roof. They can handle one demon. We’ve been through a demon crisis before.”
Newt slowly glided to the floor. “Vex was a toadstool. He tortured me and Vaughn, but my wolf eviscerated the…slimy mold.”
“So, who did you kill?” Sasha asked. “Horrible ex-boyfriend? Abusive relative? Loud neighbor?”
“You killed someone?” Jalen sat up, eyes wide. Alex waited for the fallout, for everyone to pull away, afraid of him. “That’s so cool. Gun, knife, explosion?”
“I wish I’d had the guts to kill my ex,” Preston said. “Zeppelin did it for me.”
“But you kicked his ass before he died,” Sasha said softly. “That counts for everything, Preston.”
Alex just blinked at them, unsure if he was awake or if he’d frozen to death in the woods and this was some strange afterlife. “You guys…don’t care?”
“We care,” Jalen said, “that the guy got what he deserved and you’re safe.”
Tears welled up in Alex’s eyes. Ever since Drew had lured him to the trap house, had tried to shoot him, only for Alex to grab that heavy metal pipe and use it as a baseball bat. He hadn’t even meant to kill Drew. Alex had just wanted the guy to drop the gun.
“Don’t cry or you’ll trigger a group cry!
” Preston pulled Alex into his arms, patting his back.
“I know, hon. We’ve all been there. Not killing anyone, I mean, but we’ve all been terrified out of our minds.
When Antonio trapped me in that bathroom, I just knew I was dead. You survived. That’s all that matters.”
They hadn’t even asked if he was guilty or if Alex was the bad guy. They assumed, maybe because he was a mate, he had only been defending himself. The blind faith was nearly his undoing.
That unwavering trust meant everything to him. Maybe trusting his secret—now no longer a secret—with Wade wouldn’t mean jailtime or exile.
“Now, tell us why the demon is after you.” Newt begrudgingly took the pie from Preston but not without a huff.
Alex touched the necklace, feeling its weight like a yoke. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather talk to Wade first.”
“Could lead to some amazing sex,” Preston muttered around a mouthful. “Zeppelin rocks my boots six ways from Sunday anytime I confess something…dark.”
They all cracked up, snickering like the room had filled with laughing gas.
Alex chuckled, the laughter infectious. Before he knew it, he was bent over, a stich in his side.
He wasn’t even sure what was so funny, but it felt damn good to laugh.
It was like a relief valve that had finally opened, releasing the pressure, even if it was only for a moment.
* * * *
“Anything?” Wade asked after an hour of searching and waiting for some kind of attack.
“Nothing.” Zeppelin stared toward the woods from the back porch. “It might’ve just been taunting Alex.”
Wade ran a hand through his hair, relieved. “Thanks for believing my mate.”
Zeppelin shook his head, one foot resting on the lower railing. “No need to thank me. We take care of our own. Alex’s a part of our family now, Wade.”
Despite knowing that, it was still good to hear. “I’ll go let the mates know things are clear.”
“Find out what’s going on,” Zeppelin said. “If Alex’s got a demon hounding him, we need to know why so we can better defend him.”
Wade started to head inside but jutted his chin toward Vaughn. “How long has he been standing there?”
“About half an hour,” Zeppelin replied. “I got him. Go check on your mate.”
With a nod, Wade strode inside the house, anxious to make sure Alex was okay, even though Wade knew his little bunny was safe.
* * * *
Zeppelin rubbed his hand over his bearded chin. Even though his beta had participated in the hunt, he knew how much of a toll it had taken on Vaughn because of Vex.
The guy stood in the middle of the backyard, hands on hips, shoulders back like he was daring the demon to come at him.
“Have you thrown down a gauntlet yet?” Zeppelin asked as he approached. “Might help lure it out.”
Body stiff, Vaughn didn’t even look his way. “Won’t fail this time. I’m not hiding in the kitchen when the pack needs me.”
God. Zeppelin hated to see Vaughn like this. Before the attack, his beta had been the steadiest hand among all the wolves. Since that demon had kidnapped and tortured him, Vaughn just hadn’t been the same.
Not that Zeppelin blamed the guy. Since finding his mate and slowly healing, Vaughn had shared with Zeppelin some of what Vex had done to him.
It was a miracle the wolf hadn’t broken completely.
Vaughn had even suggested Zeppelin replace him as beta.
Not a chance in hell. It would take time, but Vaughn would heal. Zeppelin should know since he’d gone through a similar situation about a century ago. Only his captors had been half a dozen vampires. The torture he’d survived would’ve made a lesser man go insane.
Clapping Vaughn on the shoulder, Zeppelin headed inside. He would send Newt out to help his mate.
Right now, Zeppelin wanted to feel Preston in his arms. Although his mate would try to seem brave in front of the other mates, Zeppelin knew the human was frightened. After nearly a year living in the preternatural world, Preston still wasn’t used to demons and vampires.
Honestly, Zeppelin never wanted his innocent mate to become numb to the threats. As selfish as it sounded, he always wanted his sunshine to remain the man he’d met.
Sweet and wholesome, without any part of darkness tainting him. Although Preston had had to fight off his ex, he hadn’t lost who he was, and Zeppelin would protect that innocence for as long as he could.