her, ruffling her hair. “Go wash your face and take a nap. Are you hungry?”
“It’s better if four of us go,” she told him. “Don’t make me order it.”
“Don’t make me knock you out,” Liam warned, standing up when she did. “Just because you’re more dominant than me doesn’t mean I can’t put you in your place. If you came with, all you’d be doing is putting my life in danger because I’ll be worried about you.”
Olivia glared at him and he didn’t look away or down. There was no way he was going to back down on this. Liam was in the right this time and she knew it.
“Fine,” Olivia snapped. “And yeah, I’m hungry. Are your balls on the menu?”
“Unfortunately, no,” he said airily, turning toward the kitchen. “I’m saving them for my mate. She’s meaner than you are too.”
“I’d say it’s weird that’s a turn on for you, Liam, but honestly I’m not surprised.” Olivia went for the stairs that went up to the second floor, and then paused, looking back as he started pulling out all the ingredients for sandwiches. “And…thank you.”
“Anytime boss. Now go.” Liam kept his face as lighthearted as possible. When she disappeared upstairs, he pressed his palms to the counter and took a deep breath.
Keeping the pack together was fucking impossible sometimes. Now that so many of them had mates, his emotional workload was less, but it felt like shit kept shitting the fan. And now he had a mate who wanted nothing to do with him.
How was he going to fucking manage all this while keeping them safe and sane?
All he wanted to do was drop everything and run and run until he forgot about all the problems waiting for him. He wanted to pretend like nothing had changed and none of them had found their mates.
But that was selfish and stupid.
Liam was just afraid of being happy. He was worried that it would be temporary and then everything would come crashing down around them like it had when that first Alpha had taken over and started running their pack into the ground.
He was worried about him and Noah becoming nothing again – or worse than nothing.
In a few hours he’d have the chance to run and work out some of his anger and anxiety.
Slowly he unclenched his fists, not even realizing he’d done it. Liam shook out his hands and then started making sandwiches. Everyone could always eat, and it would help him calm down to make sure that at least no one was hungry.
Then he’d take a shower and find Zoe. They needed to talk.
8
Zoe
She probably shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but it was something she’d always done. There were things people would never tell her or show her if they knew she was watching or listening. Zoe didn’t like to be surprised, and she didn’t like to be lied to.
There was also the fact that she still thought this was all pretty sketchy. They even had their own doctor. One who was very skilled.
Zoe had a lot of questions but observing and listening had always answered most of them for her.
Liam had come up from the basement and she’d watched him stop to talk to Olivia.
The girl was also a wolf she’d guessed, and it was confirmed when she’d heard her talking about mates.
She’d ducked into one of the guest rooms when Olivia had come up, and then sat at the top of the stairs once the other girl had shut a door. Now Zoe watched Liam make enough sandwiches for a small army and there wasn’t a hint of his teasing nature or that dazzling smile that he flashed around like a girl with a brand-new engagement ring.
Sometimes it was genuine, but sometimes it seemed like a distraction.
Liam had a gift. She had to admit that. The way he was attuned to people was fascinating and the way he’d handled Olivia with such perfect finesse was jaw-dropping. He’d comforted and then taken care of her all without undermining her except to point out when she was the one not doing her job.
Someone who obviously held some kind of rank over him.
That kind of skill in a person always rankled and Zoe had to admit it was because she didn’t like being told what to do, even if someone else was in the right. That was another flaw she knew she had.
It was annoying but sometimes she did things just because people told her she couldn’t. Zoe operated on spite