And he said, “My name is Joe. Joe Bennett.”
My shift returned, sudden and savage.
My fangs dropped as I roared at them. At him.
The witch shouted at the brown wolf, telling him to get the fuck off him even as the wolf growled. The Alphas stood there, barely affected.
Bennett. They were coming for Ezra. They were coming for the Alpha of all. I knew this because Michelle had told me. They were traitors, they were monsters, they were the enemy, and I would do what I had to in order to protect what was mine.
They stood their ground as I ran toward them.
The muscles in the bigger man’s legs flexed as he began to crouch, eyes flashing impossibly in shades of red and violet.
The other one, the dangerous one, popped his claws and—
“Robbie!”
Everything stopped.
My breath hitched as a fourth man stepped out from behind the Alphas.
A wolf.
He looked like the dangerous Alpha, all blond and blue-eyed. They had to be brothers.
He took measured steps, barely looking as if he touched the ground with his bare feet. His jeans were rolled up above his ankles, and he wore what looked like a work shirt, gray with thin red stripes, the hem hanging around his waist.
There was a name embroidered in a patch on his chest.
ROBBIE.
The world tilted.
He took another step toward me. The darker Alpha reached out to stop him, but the other Alpha shook his head once.
I barely noticed.
I couldn’t look away from the man in front of me.
His smile was a trembling thing. I thought for a moment he was scared, but the scent that assaulted me wasn’t fear.
It was sorrow.
Oh god, there was an ocean of blue pouring from him. There was hope, yes, green along the surface, but it was overwhelmed by the sea that engulfed him.
He said, “Hey.”
He said, “Hi.”
He said, “Hello.”
He said, “I see you, you know?” and “I see you” and “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry we let you go, I’m so sorry I let you go, but I swear to you, I swear it’ll never happen again. Yo
u’re safe. You’re safe now. Finally, after all this time.”
I was surrounded.
I could do nothing about it.