that Rico was behind this. “And Rosa?”
Rourke smiled. “Apparently our aunt has been seeing a gentleman in town. Ben went to find her.”
Despite everything, Alejandro grinned. “Good for her.”
Rosa had lost her entire family in the massacre, and it did Alejandro’s heart good to know she was finally moving on. She wasn’t anyone’s aunt, not by blood, but she was a pack elder, which meant she was well protected. Even before the massacre everyone had looked at her as an aunt, someone they went to for advice and someone they cherished deeply.
“I bet Ben had a fit when he found out.”
Rourke grunted. “You have no idea. He doesn’t care about her dating. He’s just pissed that she kept it secret and snuck out, especially knowing the danger in town.”
“He’ll simmer down after she’s safely back here, but she’ll need to be set up in a different room.”
Rourke’s expression turned sad. “Everything she held dear was in that room. It’s going to be a hard loss for her, and after everything she’s already been through, I don’t want to be around when she sees the state of her room.”
Neither did Alejandro. He wasn’t good with women and crying. He never knew what to do or say. “Do you know where Shane is?”
Rourke pointed to the ceiling. “The mates are upstairs in the den with Evan. But be careful. The west corridor has been taped off until we can get the floor repaired.”
Alejandro ground his teeth. “Yeah, I know about the floor.”
He didn’t feel so panicked now that he knew where Shane was and that his mate was safe.
“How do you feel?” Rourke asked.
“Sore,” Alejandro admitted. “I didn’t sleep as much as I should have.”
“Because you were worried about Shane.” Rourke nodded. “You know none of us would have let anything happen to him.”
Even though Alejandro knew that, he still wanted to see Shane for himself, to ensure his frantic mind that his mate was whole and healthy.
“Go,” Rourke said. “I can tell you want to get to him.”
Alejandro wanted to jog up the stairs, but he took them slowly, hating that he wasn’t at full strength. If something happened right now, if a fight broke out, he might get his ass handed to him.
As if Shane knew Alejandro was looking for him, his mate appeared in the entrance to the den and smiled as soon as he spotted Alejandro.
“I was so worried about you.” Shane ran to him but stopped short, as if afraid he would hurt Alejandro if he hugged him.
“Takes more than a fire to keep me down, sunshine.” Alejandro slid his arms around Shane. After keeping his mate at arm’s length for weeks, it felt good to finally let his guard down and show how Shane just what he meant to him.
Alejandro hissed when Shane squeezed him too tightly.
“Oh crap!” Shane let him go and took a step back. “I thought you were healed.”
“Mostly,” Alejandro admitted. “I need to shift so I can finish the process, but I needed to check on you.”
Shane narrowed his eyes. “Why? You thought I took off while you were unconscious? I promised you that I wouldn’t, so why do you need to check on me?”
“I needed a dose of your sexiness,” Alejandro said. “I was jonesing for a fix.”
Shane rolled his eyes. “You’re so full of it. You thought I left, didn’t you?”
Not until Shane said the words did Alejandro realized his mate had spoken the truth. Not consciously, but there was a small part of Alejandro’s brain that worried his mate had taken off. Hadn’t that been a concern of Alejandro’s for some time?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Alejandro slid his arm over Shane’s shoulders. “Now help me back to bed.”
Shane started walking, taking his time so Alejandro could keep pace. “You’re gonna have to start trusting me, or this isn’t going to work. I’m not going to be locked in your bedroom when you feel you need to keep an eye on me.”
“First off, it’s our bedroom. Second, I still don’t know what you’re talking about. I had no such thoughts.”
Shane stopped and pulled from under Alejandro’s arm. He poked Alejandro in the chest as he spoke. “Don’t you dare treat me like an idiot. Whether you know it or not, I’ve somewhat gotten to know you over the past few weeks, and one thing you are not is a trusting man.”
Damn. Alejandro had no clue his mate had been watching him so closely. The human was