by Mandy Rosko
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Miranda asked, pulling back and staring at her with wide hazel eyes. She looked Lois up and down, as though expecting to find some terrible gaping wound on her.
“I’m fine. I—”
The slam of the truck door caught her attention. Lois turned back to what Dane was doing.
He wasn’t looking at either her or Miranda. He was pulling out the bags that were in his truck. All of Anna’s shopping bags were in there, too. Lois had felt weird leaving them in the parking garage even as she’d been in a hurry to leave.
Miranda grabbed Lois’s hand. “Dane, you want some help?”
“I got it,” he said, still not looking Lois’s way. “You both go inside.”
Lois felt that throat closing thing happening again as her heart ached at what sounded like a clear dismissal.
Miranda squeezed her hand comfortingly, but Lois barely felt it. “You can come to my room. We can talk there.”
“Are you sure?”
Miranda nodded. “Garret’s busy. He already left with Jax and some of the other betas. They’re going to be hunting for a while.”
The way Miranda hesitated before speaking that last part made Lois shiver as she could only imagine what it was Garret was trying to hunt. He might be gone for days while he searched for his sister.
Lois went with Miranda. She needed her help to make her forget about her part in this, and how Dane was avoiding her.
* * *
Dane didn’t blame Garret for immediately going out to try and hunt down Dennis’s rogue pack. Someone needed to stay behind and guard the pack anyway. Garret left behind almost no betas to watch over them, just a few handfuls who were too young to be doing more than babysitting their younger siblings.
That was dangerous, but after what happened, Dane still could not hold it against the man. Hell, for all Dane’s training, his time in the Navy, he knew for a fact that if Emily was alive and she had been taken, he would have lost his damned mind, too.
He practically had after she was killed. Even the most solid of men could break, make stupid decisions, and snap while still being capable leaders under intense pressure. It was only when that pressure struck the wrong point, or the right one depending on which side you were on, that things went to shit.
The omegas were a little skittish. The last time the pack had been in so much turmoil, Garret’s father had been killed. The ones old enough to remember that were wondering if they were about to get a repeat of that scare. When the alpha of the pack died, things didn’t always turn out so great.
Others went about their work in the house with a little more perceived confidence. Doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning, watching after the pups, and making sure homework was done. Katie was especially good with this. She took command of the omegas and ran them smoothly whenever she could, proving herself to be a good leader in that respect, though she said nothing much about Jax. Dane wondered if she and Jax knew the reason why Anna had run away.
Katie was smart, and so was Jax. They both must at least suspect it.
Regardless, she didn’t allow it to interfere with the way the house was run. Maybe they thought Dane’s presence was comforting enough in Garret’s absence. If that was the impression he was giving them, he wasn’t about to burst their bubbles by announcing he had no intention of being anyone’s leader on the off chance Garret didn’t come back.
That asshole better come back. If he was gone for more than a week, Dane might have to go out and find him. An alpha couldn’t be away from his pack for too long. The chance for a takeover from a rival pack was too high for that.
Hell, for all anyone knew, this was exactly what Dennis was after and Garret was just playing into his stupid trap.
God, he hated that guy.
But in the two days since Garret had left Dane in charge, things had been mostly quiet. The omegas had a few questions, which he tried to answer as best as possible. He was vague when they asked when Garret was coming back. It wasn’t like Garret had done something smart like take his phone so Dane could contact him, and Jax wasn’t answering his texts anymore. Dane never mentioned that bit. No point in worrying a house full of omegas over what might be a dead battery.
Miranda and Lois mostly stuck to themselves.
Dane was not avoiding Lois. He really wasn’t. He could feel her in his head. He could feel the level of shame she felt for Anna’s kidnapping. He didn’t want that for her. He brought food to Miranda’s room, where she and Lois were shacking up now that Garret wasn’t there. Three times a day he did this, and so far, Lois never answered the door. Miranda always did. At first she seemed shocked at how Dane was serving them food and taking their plates whenever they left everything outside the door. Then she started thanking him whenever he came by, taking whatever he offered.
And as much as Dane wanted to ask after Lois, to check if she would see him, he didn’t. There was no comfort he could offer that another woman wouldn’t be able to better provide.
And what would he talk to her about? How she’d asked to be with him after Dennis tried to steal her away and he’d pretended to be stupid on the issue? That wasn’t a good way to get things started. He didn’t want his mate asking for him because she’d been scared, or felt she owed him anything. He wanted her clear-headed.
It had been days. She’d had plenty of time to think about what she’d asked for, and he wouldn’t hold it against her if she wanted to pretend as if it hadn’t happened. Still, Dane found himself touching his face from time to time, noting how the wounds had closed entirely.
He’d been lucky. The bastard that tried to blind him hadn’t sunk his claws deep enough to catch his eye. Dane’s brow had been partly at work there, and the mutt’s claw had raked over his eyelid, but barely scratched it. There was no sign it had happened. No scar on his face to prove he’d ever been in a fight at all.
He’d never healed so fast.
Perhaps it was the adrenaline at play? His need to protect his mate, to see to it that she not be taken, and the way she’d helped him to the truck, picking everything up and working quickly to care for him when he couldn’t care for either of them. His weakness hadn’t lasted long, but it was long enough for Lois to work, to get them both out of there before the police could arrive.
The memory of that, of her quick rush into action even as she’d been terrified, made his desire for her intense and hot in his body. The animal inside Dane was still alive and well, and still desired her touch on his skin, her mouth, her sex, her everything.
She was his all right. She was fiery and brave and belonged to only him. Dennis was lucky Dane wasn’t out there hunting him too, because Dane would sure as hell like to have the bastard alone after what he’d done.
That desire was a dangerous thing for him, and for her at the moment. Things were too fragile for that sort of thinking, or that sort of action. Too many hazardous variables were at play for him to think of lowering his guard for a minute.
Despite how much he ached to do so.
Taking the young betas out on patrol, and teaching them to search for traps or signs of intruders, helped a little.
It was on day six that Dane began making plans to bring Garret back. He’d expected Jax would have talked some sense into Garret by now, convincing him to return to his mate, his pack, and his business, but with Garret’s absence, even the calmer omegas were starting to worry, and there were calls and emails coming in from the warehouse where the majority of Garret’s business was being conducted, and Dane had no idea how he was supposed to handle that sort of thing. Dane knew nothing about how business worked. That was Garret’s and Jax’s specialty.
To be fair, if Jax did suspect the reason why Anna had left, then it made sense if he wasn’t actively attempting to convince Garret to return. Two men torn by guilt and leading a hunting party was never a good thing.
Miranda had started appearing outside her and Garret’s room, then had to start hiding away again when too many omega
s began asking her when her mate would return. Dane didn’t mind being the bad guy in those instances, sharply telling them to quit pestering the alpha’s mate and allowing Miranda to escape back to her solitude with Lois.
But every time Dane brought their food, Miranda’s expression became paler and paler, her eyes more haunted.
“I’m going to search for Garret tomorrow at dawn,” Dane said as he handed over Miranda and Lois’s tray of dinner on the sixth night.
Miranda paused, the tray held between them with both their hands. “You are?”
Dane nodded. He wasn’t asking her permission. He allowed her to hide away from the rest of the pack, but with all alphas away, she would be in charge. She had to get used to that. “You’ll need to stop comforting Lois so you can come out of there and make sure the house runs smoothly while I’m gone. You’ll be in charge.”
Miranda opened her mouth, then closed it before looking behind her, where Dane couldn’t see since the door was still mostly closed.
Then it opened wider, and Lois stared at Dane with blazing eyes, her red hair wild around her shoulders.
At first he thought her anger was because of his comment, but her words made him realize she wasn’t upset with that at all.
“You can’t just go! You’re the only one left strong enough to defend the house!”
“The alpha is missing, and his second-in-command hasn’t managed to convince him to come back. I need to go out while I can still track their scents.”
“But what if you don’t come back?” Lois demanded, then apparently realized the implications of her words when Miranda looked right at her.
If she thought Dane wouldn’t come back, then it stood to reason she thought Garret might already be captured or killed.
Still, Dane felt a selfish joy in her concern for him. Then he had to suppress the animal inside that wanted to grab her, throw her over his shoulder, and take her out of hiding in Garret’s damned bedroom. She even smelled a little like Garret after days of sleeping in his bed with Miranda. Regardless of whether or not Garret had been there, the bear didn’t like that.
“I’ll be fine. Garret’s fine, too. He’s an alpha, he just needs to come back for his pack. Miranda needs to run things in the house, and if you could keep an eye on the phones in case Dennis, or someone else from his pack, calls, that would be great. If you can’t, I’ll get Katie to do it.”
Katie was already watching the phones every minute that Dane was out, making sure Dennis wasn’t sneaking onto the territory, but her workload was high with so many scared omegas to manage. She needed some help.
Miranda was the first to shudder, as though coming out of a shocked state. “O-okay,” she said, looking down at her hands. Just as Dane was starting to think she could be no leader for anyone, Miranda’s expression hardened. She turned her gaze back up to his, eyes determined. “I can do that.”
Dane made sure to show no outward sign that this impressed him. It would impress him more if she could keep the show up while he was away. That’s what a lot of bravery was anyway. Just a show for other people. It was in how long she could convince herself and other people of her command of the situation that counted.
“Good,” he said. “You can eat that privately, but while I’m gone, you’ll be expected to eat with the rest of the pack. It shows them respect and lets them respect your authority easier.”
Miranda nodded, though she still looked like she was struggling to maintain this new show of bravery.
She’d be fine. As the alpha’s mate, it was only natural that she had to take over from time to time. Having three alphas in the same pack wasn’t normal, and she needed the experience of handling things without an alpha around.
Lois looked between the two of them, her mouth still dropped open, like she was in shock, having trouble processing what she was seeing and hearing.
“I’ll come by tomorrow before I go. Make sure you’re up early.”
“I will be.”
Dane had nothing else to say. Miranda wasn’t a soldier, and though trying to address her as one felt familiar, it wasn’t comfortable. He turned and walked away. Lois didn’t follow him, and Dane’s face itched where he’d been scratched, as though the wound was still struggling to heal.
20
When the door closed, Lois still could hardly think. She could barely feel anything but how utterly strange and…unnatural that had been.
Dane didn't quite look at her, or acknowledge her after seeing her for the first time in days. Lois knew things were awkward between them, could sense the tension in the air as clear as she could sense his pain, but really? That?
“Are you okay?” Miranda asked, taking the tray of warm food Dane had brought for them and setting it on Garret’s desk. They’d been mostly eating on the bed, quietly talking, comforting each other and questioning what was going to happen with the pack, with Garret, and even between Dane and Lois, but now Lois saw it all almost as time wasted.
Instead of speaking to Miranda and trying to gather her courage, she could have been acting, doing. Anything would have been better than hiding away from Dane and her shame. Seeing Dane again, and feeling the full blast of everything he was feeling, the sadness and loss, as though they were linked together, was like a splash of ice water in her face, waking her from the dark cloud of gloom and depression she’d been falling into.
Lois wasn’t so introverted. She was supposed to be the brave and outspoken one between her and Miranda. Where had that woman gone?
“Lois?”
Lois blinked, looking at her friend, and saw the clarity in Miranda’s eyes. She knew what Lois was going to do.
Lois scratched her head and pointed to the door. “I need to go.”
Miranda nodded, smiling. “Should I wait up for you?”
Lois was already at the door, but she stopped at the question. “I hope not.”
She left. Lois didn’t have a shifter’s sense of smell, but of course she knew where Dane would go. She’d been in his room enough to know where it was, and it wasn’t far.
Hell, because of all the time Lois had spent inside it, nursing Dane’s grumpy ass back to health when he wouldn’t let anyone else near him, she’d almost let herself into his room without knocking just because of how used to coming and going she was.
Luckily, she didn’t embarrass herself that much. She knocked.
Dane didn’t look surprised when he opened the door to her. Could he smell her on the other side? Regardless, his expression was apprehensive.
“Hi.”
Lois nodded. “Hi.” She pushed through him, letting herself in.
“Come on in,” Dane said, shutting the door.
Lois spun around on him. “What’s going on?”
Dane lifted a brow. “What’s going on?”
“Why are you avoiding me?”
He blinked. “I’m not avoiding you. I’m letting you grieve.”
“Anna isn’t dead.” She really hoped Anna wasn’t dead, at any rate.
Dane rolled his eyes. “All right. I thought you would want to be alone anyway, or, if not alone then with Miranda. She’s your friend. She knows you better than I do.”
But as much as she’d needed Miranda, she’d needed Dane more. “You haven’t spoken to me since I said I wanted to be with you,” Lois said. “Is it because of what I said or what I did?”
“What you did?”
“Anna,” she clarified.
Dane’s eyes hardened. “That was not your fault. That’s entirely on that dickhead Dennis, and he’ll consider himself the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet if Garret can’t find him, that’s for damned sure.”
Lois shivered at the horrifying possibility of what that really meant. She wouldn’t want to be an enemy of Garret’s right now either. Considering her involvement, she wasn’t so sure how far removed she was from being on his shit list.
“But I was there. I took her to the mall—” Lois stopped abruptly when Dane walked up to her,
his size and weight making her feel so tiny, and shocking her into silence when he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her just a little.
“That had nothing to do with you. You couldn’t have known Dennis was watching you and you couldn’t have known this would happen. It’s not on you.”
“Was he watching me?” Lois asked. The idea unnerved her about as much as the thought of letting a couple of spiders crawl across her bare skin.
Dane released her shoulders. “I don’t know. To be honest, Garret sent one of his men to watch over you. You met him in the parking lot. He was the one who called Garret and let him know when Anna arrived. I got there before he did, and I followed you to the mall to make sure nothing would happen. There’s a good chance Dennis gave up on you and had someone watching the roads leading to the house. Anyone in Dennis’s pack could’ve seen her car driving down the road and decided to follow. If anything, this is my fault for not being diligent enough.”
Dane’s words came out softer towards the end of that sentence, as if it shamed him to have to admit something went so far south on his watch. Lois didn’t think it was his fault any more than Dane apparently thought it was hers, but it was something else he’d said that really caught her attention. “You were there?”
Dane pulled back, rubbing his chin with his hand. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a while. Lois wasn’t sure why she was noticing that now when he shook his head the way he did.
“It’s not what you think. I wasn’t trying to be creepy or anything. Whenever Anna goes out, she needs an escort. It’s to prevent this sort of thing from happening. You couldn’t exactly protect her in a fight, and since you were both having your women time together, I stayed back. That’s another reason why it was my fault. I told Garret to wait for us at your apartment. If he’d been there to back me up, this might not have happened.”
