“Yeah, yeah, it’s best if I stay close to the pride.”
Alex cupped the side of her neck. Her frustration was written all over her face. “I get why you and your cat are chafing at the bit, but the hyenas mean business.”
“I’m not pissed that Vinnie wants me to stay close to the pride, I’m pissed that I’m in this situation. I’m pissed that you were shot six times because those assholes just won’t give up. Personally, I think the hyenas will make the next move themselves. The agency failed, the ex-cop failed, and the polar bears failed. In Dale Bray’s position, I’d be thinking it was time to take care of the matter myself.”
And she didn’t sound as though that worried her. In fact, she sounded as if she’d welcome it. Alex narrowed his eyes. “You want them to come for you, don’t you?”
“I want to make them pay for what happened to you. I’m never going to get the image of you bleeding all over the place out of my head.”
His chest tightened. “Just like I’ll never forget seeing your drugged cat getting dragged along the ground or trapped in a cage. They will pay for what they did, Bree.”
“Damn fucking straight,” she agreed, a deep growl in her voice that came from her cat. Alex knew that she and her feline would kill the hyenas without a second’s hesitation if the opportunity presented itself.
The assholes had made a mistake by fucking with a pallas cat. Her kind were vengeful shits. Really, the hyenas were walking dead men. They just didn’t seem to know it.
“Are you going to eat that?”
Bree blinked. Realizing she’d been staring at the biscotti for a good five minutes, she slid the plate across the bistro table to Elle. “Have it if you want it.”
Elle pressed her lips together. “I don’t know why you won’t let me kill the bitch.”
Bree had brought her friend up to speed on the “Dani being a skank” situation and, yeah, the redhead was livid. “If anyone’s going to have that pleasure, it’ll be me.”
“Fine, be mean. But at least stop thinking about her.”
“I’m actually not. I’m sitting here doing the very thing I find myself doing often these days—trying to piece together everything that’s been happening. I’m having zero luck with that, and it’s getting to me.” Bree lifted her hot cardboard cup, and the steam feathered over her face. “The shit with Dani just makes it worse.”
She’d figured some retail therapy might help so, about half an hour after Alex left to check out Vinnie’s recent tip, she’d called Elle and talked her into coming along to Little Shop of Books—the pride’s very own bookstore.
A good story never failed to pull Bree in, which was what she needed—an escape. If that was cowardly, she didn’t care. Everyone needed an escape sometimes. Some used drugs or alcohol. She used books, and anyone who thought that was childish could go fuck themselves with a Tiki torch.
Although the enforcers were keeping a close watch on Bree, Alex wouldn’t like that she’d left the safety of his apartment. Tough shit. While she was smack bam in the middle of her pride’s “street” surrounded by her pride mates, she was about as safe as she could be.
Walking around the store had been somewhat relaxing. At first. But then Bree had felt eyes on her. She’d sensed her prides mates watching her, heard them whispering—could Paxton have come back to claim her? Could Bree have been in contact with him all these years? Was it only a matter of time before the hyenas got to her?
Some had approached and ask how she and Alex were doing. Others had wanted to know if she’d really moved into his apartment, or if she truly believed that Paxton was back.
Normally, Bree would buy a bunch of books, but today she’d wanted to escape the stares and questions, so she’d chosen just one novel and then headed straight to the check-out. Once she’d paid for the book, she and Elle went to the in-store coffeehouse. Being able to just sit at a table while smelling both coffee beans and books—two of her favorite scents—was comforting all by itself. Usually. But not while eyes were again fixed on her.
Elle bit into the biscotti. “Let’s not talk about all the crap going on or you’ll never cheer up. Let’s talk about Alex. What’s it like living with him?”
“Not sure yet. I’ve only slept at his place one night.”
“But I’ll bet it was a damn fine night.”
“It always is with Alex.”
Elle chuckled. “You’re good with moving in with him? This isn’t too fast for you?”
Bree felt her brow crease. “I’m just staying with him temporarily.”
Sighing, Elle leaned back in her chair and shook her head sadly. “Oh, Bree.”
“What? You were there last night; you heard him ask me to stay with him until all this shit has blown over.”
“Look, I love Alex. I do. But I’m not blind to his cunning, unprincipled nature at all. He saw an opportunity, and he leapt on it.”
“Opportunity to do what?”
“To have you live with him, dumbass.”
Bree’s head jerked back. “That would be a big step. I don’t know if he’d be ready for that yet.”
“Tell me, have you had a minute’s peace from him since you two got together? Or has he monopolized your time, ate up your space, meddled in your business, and acted as a shield between you and the world? Wolverines may dawdle as they agonize over a decision. But once they make it, they act fast, and the only speed at which they move is lightning.”
“We’re just going with the flow,” Bree weakly insisted.
“No, he’s let you think that’s the case. Really, he knows exactly what he wants from you, and he’s been working toward getting it.”
Bree set her cup down on the table beside her newly purchased paperback, her eyes narrowed in thought. “He makes me breakfast every morning. Brings me a mug of hot chocolate when I’m reading. Runs me a bath when I’m stressing out. Even does little random things like charge my phone if I forget or buy the brand of coffee I like.”
“Shoehorning his big, bad self into your life so you can’t imagine not having him around. Once all the danger is gone, he’ll ever so casually suggest he move into your place with you. You’ll be so used to having him there every day that you’ll be like, hey, why not? Come on, Bree, it’s Alex. You didn’t honestly think he wouldn’t take the wheel, did you?”
Bree blew out a breath. “I guess I should have anticipated it.”
“It’s good that he’s so focused on you. This tells me he’s serious about you. I like that a lot, because I know how much you care for him. Not gonna deny it, are you?”
“No. I wouldn’t have said yes to giving the relationship a shot if I didn’t care about him.”
“And there you go again thinking you have choices here.” Elle rolled her eyes. “Girl, he wouldn’t have gracefully accepted a no. He would have been all up in your business twenty-four/seven, doing whatever necessary to change your mind.”
“Well, I almost did say no.” Bree danced her fingertips over the smooth jacket of her paperback, tracing the bumpy letters of the title. “Although I’m a little scared that things will go tits up, I don’t hold back out of fear. I want to be happy. Alex is the type of guy who’d do his best to make his woman happy if he was serious about her.”