his son slammed into him, driving him to the floor. The attack caught Dave off guard, and in that second, Diego felt the chains holding his mind in check start to weaken. The gun fell to the floor, and his claws and fangs shot out to their full length. Diego spun around, ready to end this himself only to see Dave shove Brandon away from him, his blood all over the boy’s face.
“Get off me, you freak,” Dave yelled, both eyes riddled with burst vessels now. More blood streamed from his nose and his ears as he scrambled backward. With a wail of agony, Dave lifted one hand to his head, pounding his temple as he flicked his attention from Diego to Brandon, then back again.
“Why won’t you two fucking die?” he shouted.
The words dropped Brandon on the spot and sent a spike of pain through Diego’s chest so intense it felt like a hand had reached in and crushed his heart. But for all the agony, the only thing Diego could think about right then was how scared Brandon must be.
That thought gave him all the strength he needed, and Diego fought off the mental shackles holding him down and leaped over his beta, landing squarely in front of Dave. One shove sent the asshole flying backward through the air, slamming him into the wall hard enough to crunch halfway through the Sheetrock.
Diego advanced on Dave, ready to rip the son of a bitch’s throat out if necessary, but Dave’s eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped limply to the carpet, unconscious.
Within seconds, the sound of shooting outside faded away.
Diego heard gasping from behind him and turned to see Brandon lying on the floor, looking like he was going through a full-blown panic attack.
He was at his beta’s side in a heartbeat, dropping to his knee and putting a calming hand on Brandon’s chest. Brandon’s claws and fangs were still out, his eyes were as yellow-gold as ever, and his heart was thumping out of control exactly as it had in the diner not too long ago. Like that day, Brandon was stuck in his shifted form, too freaked out to get himself under control.
Not surprising. Between the kidnapping, being trussed up to a chair, and having his father try to kill him, Brandon had been through one hell of a day.
Diego paused long enough to reach out and slice through the tape binding Bree to the chair, then he ripped a piece off the bottom of his uniform T-shirt and used it to wipe Dave’s blood off Brandon’s face, making calming sounds the whole time.
“I’m here, Brandon,” he said softly, rubbing gently on the kid’s chest with his hand and forcing him to breathe. “Your alpha is here and you’re going to be okay. I promise.”
Diego repeated the words over and over until Brandon finally calmed down enough for his fangs and claws to retract. A moment later, his eyes stopped glowing and returned to their normal brown color.
“You’re really my alpha?” Brandon asked softly, looking up at him in awe from where he lay on the floor. “You didn’t say that to get me to calm down?”
“No. I’m your alpha and you’re my beta.” Diego smiled. “I’m pretty sure you already knew that. It took a while for me to catch up to the idea.”
Brandon threw his arms around Diego and hugged him so hard it almost hurt. Then Bree’s arms were around both of them, and Diego couldn’t possibly ever put into words how right it felt for all of them to be together like this.
“I love you so much,” she said softly. “I can’t explain it, but I know with all my heart that if I looked for the rest of my life, I’d never find anyone more amazing and more perfect than you. Not just for Brandon, but for me. I love you.”
Diego turned his head a little and pulled her in closer, kissing her until he could almost forget where they were and what the hell had almost happened to them. But then he heard the thump of heavy boots running up the stairs and knew he didn’t have much time before they were interrupted by his concerned pack mates.
He pulled back to look at her as Brandon sat there with a knowing look on his happy face. “You don’t ever have to explain. I fell in love with you before our first date was over and have been waiting for