Chapter 7
Ansel
“Are you good?” Russo asks.
I nod, barely sparing him a glance as I survey the scene. Members of the Midnight Haven are rushing about, preparing for the Alphas to get here. The men’s bodies are still lying in the grass and I growl as I glare down at them.
We saved her. We kept her safe. We’ll always keep her safe, my bear growls.
We should have done it away from her. We shouldn’t have made her watch that. She’s not used to all of this, I remind him.
I can feel his nervousness then.
“I’m going to run home and grab my phone,” Russo tells me.
“Are you okay?” I ask, glancing over at him.
I should’ve checked after we dealt with the men, but I was so distracted by Mira that I forgot.
“I’m good. They never saw us coming. There was no time for them to do anything to me,” he assures me.
I nod again, looking out at the two dead bodies lying in my backyard.
“We need to call the Alphas and deal with this,” Julian says, coming to a stop at my side.
Pyrce turns to make the call. “I’m on it.”
My mind is racing as I look around for Mira.
“She’s inside with Ever,” Russo tells me, reading my thoughts.
“She’s okay,” Julian adds. “Rattled, but okay. Christian already checked her out and gave her the all-clear.”
I nod distractedly at my friends. My eyes are locked on Mira, where she sits on the couch with Russo’s mate, Ever.
She hasn’t said a word since everything happened.
I know it must have been a shock, seeing those men again and then seeing Russo and me kill them right in front of her.
I hoped she’d feel safer once they were gone.
Now I’m worried I messed up and ruined everything we were building by protecting her.
She looks pale, her hands shaky as she lifts a cup of tea and takes a sip. I grit my teeth as Ever rubs Mira’s back, consoling her.
We should be in there doing that, my bear growls.
I shake my head. We need to get this mess cleaned up. Then we can be with Mira.
Do it quickly. Our mate needs us.
“Okay, Alphas are on their way,” Pyrce says, joining us on the back porch again. “We’ll be looking into them and dealing with the bodies. From what we know so far, no one is missing them. They don’t seem to have roots anywhere or families that will come looking or causing trouble.”
“That’s good,” Russo says. “I’ll be back in a few.”
He jogs off through the trees to his place.
I turn back, staring at the bodies.
“Does this happen often?” I hear Mira ask Ever.
I strain to pick up their hushed conversation.
“Not too often, I don’t think. I only joined the pack a little over a month ago,” Ever replies.
“When you met Russo?” Mira asks.
“Yeah. He saved me. I was running away from my terrible parents. I was adopted and didn’t even know I was a bear shifter. Russo taught me about this world and helped me learn to shift,” Ever replies, smiling lovingly as she reminisces about her and Russo’s love story.
“I’m glad he found you,” Mira says, smiling at Ever.
“Full disclosure, we did kill my parents when they came to drag me back home,” Ever admits, wincing as she says the words. “They were terrible, abusive people.”
“I’m sorry you went through that.”
“Me too, but I can’t complain too much. It brought me here, to Russo and the pack.”
“So, you had to learn about shifters and fated mates too?” Mira asks.
“Yeah. It’s crazy, huh?” Ever laughs.
“It’s been hard to wrap my head around,” Mira admits. “I grew up reading and watching romance movies. None of them ever happened like this. I always thought I would fall slow. Dating, getting to know each other, all of that. It would happen over time.”
“And instead, it’s like BAM! You have a soulmate now.”
“Exactly.” Mira laughs. “I still don’t trust it completely, I guess. I know how my body and heart feel for Ansel, but my head is still stuck on ‘it’s too fast.’”
I want to barge in there and pull her into my arms. I want to promise her that it’s real, that she can trust me and this bond between us.
I take a step to do just that when a hand clamps down on my shoulder, pulling me to a stop.
“The Alphas are here,” Julian tells me. “Let’s get this done. Then you can go be with your mate.”
I take one last look at Mira before I head out to greet Rhodes, Cyrus, Foster, and Camden, the four Alphas of the Night Grove Falls Pack.
“They filled us in on what happened,” Rhodes says.
“They kidnapped my mate from a town about six hours away. Southmill. I’m not sure where they were taking her, but she escaped from the truck, and I found her,” I explain.
“They’ve been in town looking for her?” Cyrus asks.
“Yeah, we tracked their scent all over town before they came back here to find her.”
“Okay, well, it’s a clean kill. We’ll be checking into them fully, making sure there’s no trouble. In the meantime, we need to bury the bodies,” Camden orders.
“Other girls were taken,” I tell them. “Mira’s best friend, Ridley, was with her. I’ve been trying to find her, but I’ve hit a dead end. I could use some help to locate and rescue her too.”
“Of course. You’ll have the pack’s full support. The Midnight Haven will have resources too, and all members will be on the lookout for her. Maybe there’s some other way to track her down,” Foster says.
“I’ll go to headquarters and get everyone started on that. Can you send me any information you have on her friend?” Julian asks.
“Sure. I’ll email it to you.”
“Good. I’ll let you know if we find anything,” he says, clapping me on the shoulder before he leaves.
“Where are they going?” Pyrce asks.
“They’re digging a hole up by the north ridgeline as we speak,” Camden tells us. “We’ll put them there.”
We all get to work. Russo comes back to help us load the bodies into the back of Rhodes’ truck. Within the hour, the bodies are buried, and I’m heading home to clean up the backyard.
“Hey,” Pyrce greets me, shutting off the hose.
I smile gratefully when I see that he’s already taken care of the backyard. It looks like nothing happened.
“Thanks,” I tell him.
“No problem.”
My eyes stray to the house, and I move closer, needing to get my eyes on Mira.
“Hold up,” Pyrce says, catching me before I can go inside.
“What?” I ask distractedly.
“You need to take a shower,” Pyrce tells me, gently nudging me towards the stairs.
“Right,” I say, still staring at my mate.
“Hey,” Pyrce says, gripping my shoulder. “She’s fine. She’s okay. We’ll watch her. Go shower. You need to get the blood off you, man.”
I glance down and wince when I see all the dried blood on my chest.
No wonder Mira hasn’t looked at me. She’s probably trying to keep it together, and I’m over here covered in her kidnapper’s blood, staring at her like a stalker.
“Got it. I’ll be right back,” I tell him.
I take the stairs two at a time and dart into my bedroom. The bed still smells like Mira, and I inhale deeply, wondering if she’ll let me hold her again tonight.
I rush through a shower, tossing my ruined clothes in the trash and tugging on clean ones. I jog downstairs, beelining for the living room, only stopping when I have Mira in my sights again.
“We should get home, but call if you need anything, okay?” Ever asks Mira as she stands.
“Okay. Thanks. For everything.”
Mira smiles shyly at Russo and waves as they head out. My brother shoots me a worried look, but I ignore it and return my focus to Mira. I need her to meet my eyes. I need her to give me a sign that everything is okay.
Mira’s gaze stays on her feet.
“Are you all right?” I ask gently, taking a step toward her.
“Yeah, I—it was just a shock.”
I try to come up with something to say to get us back to a lighter, happier place.
“But I’m glad that they can’t hurt me or try to take me again. Thank you for saving me. Again.”
“Always, Mira. I’ll always keep you safe.” I clear my throat. “Have you eaten?”
“No, not yet.”
“I’ll make dinner.”
She follows me into the kitchen, which I take as a good sign. At least she’s not running away from me in fear.
I don’t smell any fear on her, my bear says.
I relax slightly as I cook in silence, stealing glances at Mira every few minutes. She sits at the table, staring out the window at the backyard. Is she replaying what happened in her head?
As we eat in silence, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve pushed her away. She should only ever have good things happen in her life. She shouldn’t ever be scared or frightened again.
But the one thought that keeps circling my head is:
Will she want to be mated to a killer, even if that person saved her life?