Chapter 5
Slater
I force myself to leave Evie’s room, but it’s hard.
I close the door behind me but don’t move from the door.
My wolf is restless inside me, and I can’t bring myself to step away from the room that my mate is sleeping in.
My mate. Those words crash through me with just as much force as they did yesterday.
I can’t believe I met my mate, and I can’t believe how amazing she is.
“Is there a reason you’re standing outside my mate’s room?”
I turn to Zane, realizing just how out of it I am if I didn’t hear him come into the house. “Oh, Zane, I didn’t hear you come in,” Evie says, joining us. “Sorry, I was in the bathroom.” She shoots an apologetic look at me.
Zane frowns at the closed door and then pulls Evie against him before giving me a look. “My mate’s in there,” I finally tell him.
“She’s exhausted, and her suitemates were being too loud. So, I told her to come here,” Evie says, looking up at him. “Is that okay?”
“Of course.” He leans down and kisses her temple. I look away. Normally, their PDA doesn’t bother me. Things are different now.
“I met with my dad this morning,” Zane says.
The way he says it catches and holds my attention.
He cocks his head towards the living room, and I watch as he and Evie walk away.
I use my wolf's senses to hear my mate’s even breathing.
I’m still not ready to walk away from her door, but I force myself to.
I keep an ear tuned to her, though, as I head into the living room.
I don’t bother sitting; I’m too restless. Zane sits and pulls Evie down next to him. “He’s gone,” Zane wastes no time saying.
“Who’s gone?” Evie asks.
He looks down at her a moment and pulls her closer. “The master.”
She stiffens. “Where’d he go?”
Zane shakes his head. “I don’t know. The facility, the people there.
..everything is gone. I mean most of it was destroyed during our attack anyway, but there’s no trace of any of them.
Joe’s had our enforcers watching the building, and there hasn’t been anything.
Our best trackers haven’t been able to find anything.
” A pang of guilt hits me. I’m one of our best trackers, but I’ve been so busy with school and soccer and now my mate, that I haven’t been able to help at all.
Zane doesn’t miss it. “It’s not on you, Brother. You’ve got too much going on.”
“I should have helped,” I admit.
“No, your schooling right now is the priority. And now, your mate.”
I nod agreeing at least with the mate part. Speaking of mate, “How much does Tessa know?” I direct the question to Evie.
“Not much,” she admits.
“I told her that Jace and Sam were really mad at me when I broke up with him and that they were just using me.” She smiles suddenly.
“What?” Zanes asks, watching her intensely.
“I just remembered her response when I told her.” She meets my eyes, smiling. “She stole Sam’s shampoo, conditioner, and soap from the bathroom.” She laughs. “That was her way to get back at Sam.”
“By stealing her shampoo?” I can’t help but ask.
Evie nods, smiling. “That’s about as evil as Tessa gets. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.” Her smile fades, and she looks over at me. I can see the wheels turning, and I have a good idea what she’s going to say before she says it.
I beat her to it. “I know she’s too good for me.”
Evie frowns. “That’s not true.”
“It is.” It’s the truth, and I have no problem admitting it. I look at Zane. “Anything else from your dad?”
“No. He just said to stay alert. They’ll keep searching. He’s reaching out to a few other alphas to find out information on the master.”
The front door opens, and Quint strides inside. He doesn’t skip a beat when he sees the three of us. “You didn’t invite me,” he says as he drops his bag and joins me on the couch. “What did I miss?”
“Not much,” Evie starts.
“The master and everyone that was with him at the warehouse is gone,” Zane adds. “We’ve got nothing on them, but our best trackers are on it.”
“Except for this one,” Quint says, nodding at me.
“Yeah, well he’s got other responsibilities now that his mate has showed up.”
“Speaking of the adorable Tessa, how is she?” Quint asks.
I growl at him calling her adorable. “She’s asleep in my room,” Evie provides. “She works nightshift and needed to sleep, but her suitemates are terrible.”
He nods. “She in your room?” he asks me.
“No,” Evie answers for me. “She’s in mine.”
Quint squints his eyes at me. “I would have thought you’d have taken the opportunity to put her in your bed.” I lean forward and smack the back of his head. “For a nap...without you,” he adds, rubbing the back of his head. “If it were my mate—”
“She’s not,” I tell him in no uncertain terms.
“But if she was—” he starts again, and I growl low in my chest.
“Quint, stop trying to goad him,” Zane orders.
Quint laughs. “I can’t help it; you guys make it so easy.” He grins. “So, I guess we’re back to night patrols then?”
Zane eyes me, waiting for my response. “How many times a week is she on security?” I ask Evie instead.
“It changes weekly. Usually it’s around three or four nights. I can try to get her schedule weekly,” she offers.
I nod. “That would be good. She probably won’t give it to me.”
Evie grins. “I wonder why not?”
I scowl at her. “Maybe because you told her I was a jerk.”
Quint turns to Evie, wide-eyed. “For real?”
“She wants nothing to do with me,” I grumble.
“Okay. That has nothing to do with me,” Evie defends herself. “You did all that yourself.”
“You told her I was a jerk,” I counter. Quint makes a tsking sound that we all ignore.
“No, I really didn’t. That’s just what she picked up.
” I level a look at her, and she fidgets next to Zane.
Zane shoots me a warning look that I ignore.
“I really didn’t. It was all crazy. I was trying to explain why you looked like a deranged, serial killer when she finally met you for the first time. ”
“No, I didn’t.”
Evie’s eyes are wide. “Yes, you did.”
“You totally did,” Quint adds.
I look to Zane for support, but of course, he takes her side. “You did.” He laughs. “What? It took the three of us to hold you down, so she could escape.” I growl at the memory of them keeping me from my mate.
“See, that right there,” Evie says pointing at me. “That look and growl.”
“What was I supposed to do? You all were trying to keep me away from my mate,” I respond as anger rushes through me.
“And thanks for the heads-up that she works security,” I add since I’m already irritated.
“That would have been good to know.” I tried to get information on my mate from Evie, but she was like a vault.
She just kept telling me I needed to get to know her on my own without cheating—whatever that means.
Her eyes light up. “Did you see her in her security outfit? She hates that outfit.”
I think back to the outfit she was wearing this morning. I can see why she wouldn’t like it, but she made it look good. I focus on Evie’s question. “I ran into her this morning.”
“Really?”
“Bet she didn’t look as bad as she thought she did, right Slate?” Quint asks with a grin.
I ignore him. Again. “Yeah, she was at the gym this morning when I got there...with a guy,” I add.
Evie’s brows knit together. “Was it Connor?”
My anger rises quickly at the name. “No, it wasn’t Connor,” I bite out. I strongly dislike that guy, the guy that dared to touch my mate. I should have ripped him apart.
“Slate,” Zane says in a warning voice. I crack my neck, trying to keep my calm.
The image of him touching her and telling her he’d meet up with her flashes through my mind again.
But the real gut twister was when she touched him.
I’ve never felt her hands on me, and he did.
A growl rumbles in my chest. “Slate, dial it back,” Zane says again, with more warning in his voice this time.
I take a deep breath. Normally, I’d just go for a run; but I’m not leaving my mate here. So, that option is out. “Slate,” Evie says, snagging my attention. My eyes meet hers, and I see the compassion there. “What can we do?”
I crack my neck again. “I have an away game this weekend. Will you keep an eye on her?” I ask Zane. I hate the idea of leaving her on campus and being several hours away.
Evie turns to Zane. “You don’t have a game this weekend, right?”
“Nope,” Quint answers for him. “We have a free weekend.”
“Can we go to Slate’s game and take Tessa with? I mean if she’s not working.”
He rubs her shoulder. “Sure. Where’s it at?” he asks me.
“We play Alabama this weekend.”
Zane thinks a minute. “That’s like what a five-hour drive?”
“Road trip!” Quint adds, pumping his fists, and promptly inviting himself along.
“I’ll ask her,” Evie starts, but she glances at me. “I just don’t know—” she pauses.
“If she wants to,” I add, answering for her. My hope deflates just that quick. I run a hand over my head. “I didn’t mean to scare her.” I hate that I scared her, hate that she would be afraid of me. It makes me sick to even think about.
“Let’s not decide for her,” Zane says, the voice of reason. “Just ask her. If she says no, she says no.”
“I mean the girl is sports-obsessed,” Quint pipes up. “So, she might want to.”
Evie laughs. “That is so very true.” Then she looks at me and stands. “She loves you, Slater Thorne, at least in her sports loving mind just like she loves Zane and Quint and Reid and most of the players at—”
“You can stop now,” I grind out. “This isn’t helping.”
“Oh, sorry. I just meant that it won’t be hard to get her back to being your biggest fan.” She eyes me critically. “Maybe just don’t be so...so...” I cock an eyebrow.
Zane stands and walks over to me. “Just be you, Brother. If she doesn’t love you like we do, then she doesn’t deserve you.”
“Yeah. We love our little Slatey,” Quint says, totally ruining the moment.
I pick up a pillow and throw it at him. He dodges it, laughing. “I can’t wait to watch you try to win her back. Big man Slate has to grovel. You haven’t done that here ever.”
I turn to him. “Are you still talking?”
He grins. “I’m just here for the show.”
“I’ve got to get to work,” Evie says as she stretches.
“I’ll take you,” Zane says. He looks at me. “You going over now too? You’ve got practice, right?”
I glance at my phone. Tessa hasn’t even been asleep for an hour, but Zane’s right. I do need to get back for practice. “You think she’ll drive my truck?” I ask Evie.
She shrugs. “I mean what other option does she have?”
“Can I get her number from you?” Evie eyes me, and I put my hands up in surrender.
“I should have gotten it earlier, but I’m going to work for it with her. I just need her number, so I can text her about the truck and my keys.”
Thankfully, she caves and gives me her number which I immediately add to my contacts. “Thanks, Evie.”
“Let’s go,” Zane calls out and heads for the front door.
I walk down the hallway to Evie’s room and crack the door quietly and stare at the small blond sound asleep.
She looks so peaceful but also so vulnerable in this state, and it makes my chest ache.
Thankful she’s getting some sleep, I ease the door shut without a sound and force myself to leave.