I just didn’t want three mates who didn’t want me for duck’s sake.
“Really. Which is why I’m ordering you, as your alpha, to go talk to them. I won’t let you get hurt, kid. So take care of it, or I’ll drag those sons of bitches back here by their tails. Got it?”
I didn’t know how I could possibly promise him that. Sure, I didn’t want the bond to kill me, but I might actually die of pride, because the very last thing I wanted to do was crawl back to them and beg them to stay with me. I’d rather be banned from the lake.
Hugo must see the conflict on my face, because he opens his mouth to argue with me, except we’re interrupted suddenly when Stinger comes back outside. “Alpha!”
Hugo turns to face his enforcer, and Stinger walks up to him. He must’ve been in the process of changing into his guard uniform, because he has his black cargo pants on now, but his polo shirt is still the same as before, and he only managed to get one black boot on before rushing out here.
“What is it?”
“There’s trouble at the front gate.”
Hugo nods, his expression turned hard and protective. “Alright, let’s go check it out.”
Stinger hops on one foot to get his other boot on while following Hugo. He strips his polo next, revealing an impressive chest, and yanks on his black enforcer shirt. When he catches Aspen watching, he grins and sends her a wink. She turns bright red and hurries inside the house.
“Stinger, you’ll ride with me,” Hugo says, as he walks around the back of the house to get to his Jeep. I start heading inside with Zoey and Aspen, but Hugo stops me. “Come on, kid. You’re sticking with me until I can get you and your mates together.”
“Alpha…”
“No arguments. Let’s go.”
Hugo gets behind the wheel of his Jeep, and I climb in the backseat while Stinger takes the front. He has his phone to his ear, hearing reports from one of the other enforcers. Hugo takes off, his big tires making a rut in the road as he guns it back to the gate. I hold on to the back of Stinger’s seat, worry clenching my stomach.
What if it’s Pack Rockhead come to cause trouble? They’re a strong, pred-only pack, and we’re primarily prey animals. Sure, we have good defenses, but nothing is one-hundred-percent safe.
If Pack Rockhead decides that they want our land or to take out our shifters, this could go very badly. Hugo is strong, and he’s made sure our enforcers are too, but they can’t fight an entire pack on their own, and most of us in Pack Aberrant aren’t physically strong animals when it comes to fighting.
But there’s also this other little voice in my head that keeps rearing up, no matter how much I try to dash it away. What if it’s the guys?
I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I can’t help it. What if they finally came here to talk to me? What if they feel the intensity of this mate bond as much as I do? My stomach twists and turns, and all I can do is try to stop the barrage of what-ifs that are crashing through my brain. My mate bond pulses with longing.
Stinger keeps listening to the other end and relaying back information to Hugo, but they’re talking in enforcer-code language that I just don’t understand. Hugo cuts the wheel sharply around the corner and then flies the car past the rest of the housing. We make it to the front gate in record time, and he’s already parked the Jeep and hopped out with Stinger before the dust from the tires has settled.
“Stay in the car, kid,” he tells me before slamming the door shut.
I scramble to the driver’s seat and roll down the window, my eyes scanning the fence. It’s solid, thick iron, with spikes at the top and barbs beneath. The gate is closed, but there are five enforcers in a line, and another three in the tower, all of them male, and they’re clearly speaking to someone on the other side.
I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I see Igor, Hugo’s second in command, step forward and quickly fill Hugo in on the details as he strides up. Igor is a huge dude with a bald head, massive biceps, and a neck thicker than my thigh. He doesn’t say much, but one look from him