Pride to Pack

  ***

  An incessant twitch in my thigh wakes me from a deep sleep.

  I try to move my arm so I can slap the offending body part, only to find it tangled with an arm that doesn’t belong to me. I only have to use my nose to work out who it belongs to. I can feel Theo’s energy pulsing off his body, and his scent is everywhere.

  “If you don’t stop that phone from buzzing, I won’t be held accountable when I break it,” Theo grumbles as he burrows his head under the pillow.

  With that, I realise it isn’t my thigh twitching; it’s my phone vibrating in the pocket of my dress. I take note of the time, quarter past five in the morning, and the caller ID, Misty, before hitting answer.

  “Misty, I am so sorry for not calling,” I apologise, thinking she must have been worried that I hadn’t made it home yet.

  “Theo called to let me know ya’d fallen asleep and he wasn’t waking ya.”

  Theo places his arm over my middle and pulls me towards his body. His energy running along my skin comforts me and I relax into him.

  “I’m not calling about that. Ya’ve got a visitor. I can’t get out of him who he is. He’s in a bit of a state.”

  I sit up immediately.

  Jared has found me. I bet he’s drunk. I hope he doesn’t get aggressive with Misty. He isn’t usually violent unless he needs to be. He isn’t a bad guy.

  “I’ll be right there, Misty. If he gets violent you lock yourself in another room, you hear me?”

  “He doesn’t seem like he’ll hurt me but I’ll keep that in mind,” she says before disconnecting the call.

  I grab my shoes from the floor alongside the bed and start pulling them on. The bed moves as Theo gets up. My mind is running away with me imagining all the damage Jared could cause while I’m on my way.

  God, I hope he stays human.

  Theo appears in my line of sight, crouching before me. He rubs my forearms with his warm hands. “Everything is going to be okay. Let’s go and see what’s happening.”

  Instead of going through the front entrance like I expect, he leads me through a door that brings us out into a garage. I hear the click of a car unlocking and look around the array of cars. It isn’t the black car from last night that flashes its indicators; it’s a 4x4 of some kind. I’m not much of a car junkie. The badge tells me it’s a Mitsubishi and that’s about it. It’s white, if that helps.

  It doesn’t take us long to get to Misty’s. Theo pulls up outside her apartment block and starts to exit the car. I lean over and grab his arm to stop him. “Theo, wait.”

  He closes the door and sits back in his seat.

  I release my hold, allowing my hand to relax against his arm. “You can’t come up. If it’s who I think it is, all hell will break loose if you do.”

  He gives me a worried look. “If there’s a threat I don’t want you going up there without me.”

  “He isn’t a threat to me. He’d never hurt me. But he will be a threat if he sees you. Please Theo,” I plead. I need him to let me go up alone. I don’t know if Jared will recognise my change in scent, but if Theo goes up too he’ll flip. He’ll attack Theo and I can’t have that on my conscience.

  “Okay. But I will wait down here, until I hear that you’re safe. If I hear anything that sounds violent I won’t be able to stop myself from coming up there.”

  Knowing it’s the best I’m going to get, especially from an alpha; I grab his face and give him a quick kiss before exiting the car.

  “Thank you,” I shout over my shoulder as I dash into the building.

  I walk into the apartment, expecting the worst. A fight with Jared or worse yet, a bloody Misty if he’d lost it, in my absence. My brain takes a minute to catch up to what my eyes are seeing. My cousin Benji is sitting on the sofa. A suitcase is by his feet and tears are streaming down his bruised and battered face.

  “Oh, Benji,” I whisper, dashing to crouch before him.

  “I’m sorry… he made me… made me tell him,” he says between sobs as I pull him into a hug.

  Misty comes into the lounge from the kitchen with a tray loaded with coffee and cookies. She gives me a worried smile as she catches my eye.

  “Don’t cry, Benj. Did he do this to you?” I ask pointing to his face. Neither of us needs to say the name, we both know who we’re referring to. Jared.

  Taking a few deep breaths he calms down and reaches for a coffee and a cookie. “Yeah, I tried not to tell him. He didn’t want to hurt me, I could tell. But he wanted to know where you were and he knew I could find out. I pinged the GPS on your new phone. I’m sorry.”

  I’d bought the new phone a few days before leaving so Jared couldn’t get a hold of me or ping my GPS. Looks like my purchase was pointless.

  “It was all pointless. I should have just stayed; he wouldn’t have done this to you then.” I reach out and stroke his bruised face as I try pushing away the feelings of guilt.

  Benji smiles at me but it’s sad. “No, you needed to leave. You don’t belong there. You need a pack. You always have.”

  My phone starts vibrating in my pocket. When I look at the ID and see Theo’s name I jump up from my seat and pace to the window.

  “Oh shit,” I say to no one in particular before hitting answer.

  10. HUNT

  Theo