While his beast roared and raged, Alex pulled out his phone and called Tate. “Someone is shooting at my living room window. They’re in our other pride’s building, the floor below mine.” He swore as another bullet hit the glass. “Find them.”
Pocketing his phone, Alex looked down at Bree. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”
She fisted his shirt tight, her eyes wide. “No.”
“Bree—”
“No. We both know Paxton fired those bullets. He used to live in this building, he’s well-aware that the windows are bulletproof. He’s trying to lure you outside. You’re just going to play into his hands?”
“I’ll be safe.”
“Great. Then I can come with you.”
“No.”
“If it’s not safe for me, it isn’t safe for you.”
“He won’t get near me.”
“A bullet might.”
“Think, Bree. If I go out there, he’ll linger long enough to keep shooting, and then maybe one of our pride will catch him. If I don’t go out there, he’ll cut his losses and run.”
“I can’t watch you get shot again, I can’t.” She swallowed. “Stay with me.”
He felt a faint echo of a bone-chilling fear race up their partial bond and knew the emotion was hers. It just about broke him. “Shh, calm down. I’ll st—” His cell began to ring. Relieved to see Vinnie’s name flashing on the screen, he answered, “You got him?”
“We arrived at the building in time to see him running down the fire escape,” replied Vinnie. “My enforcers gave chase. He took off on a motorcycle. They pursued him in a car.”
“Was it Paxton?”
“Don’t know for sure. He was wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet.”
Alex felt his nostrils flare. “I’ll be right out.”
“No,” said Vinnie, “I want you to stay inside.”
A growl built in Alex’s chest, and his beast raked his claws at the air. “Vin—”
“He meant to lure you out here. He either did it to shoot you or to separate you from Bree. Maybe even both.”
“He doesn’t want her dead.”
“She was supposed to get rid of you. She didn’t. He might be pissed enough to hurt her. Or he might have just decided to take her away from you—especially if he thinks it’s the only way to get you out of her life. He took Mateo, Drina, and possibly Calvin. You think he’d hesitate to take the one person he believes he has rights to?”
Alex inwardly cursed. “You said he left the scene—”
“And he did. But Paxton was always a sneaky fucker. I wouldn’t put it past him to circle back here to either shoot you or slip into your building and take Bree.”
Just the possibility of the latter made his gut clench. “She can wait in my parents’ apartment.”
“But she won’t, just as you wouldn’t sit somewhere safe while she put herself in harm’s way. I want you both to go to your parents’ apartment. Consider that a direct order. I’ll be there soon to tell you what we find.” He rang off.
Cursing a blue streak in Russian, Alex sat back on his haunches. “Waiting around” wasn’t his thing, especially when the situation concerned his mate. But he couldn’t ignore that Vinnie made a good point—Paxton might well intend to come for Bree. It didn’t seem likely, but it was possible. More intent on protecting his mate than exacting vengeance, his beast ushered him to get her out of there.
“What did Vinnie say?” asked Bree, pushing herself up into a sitting position.
Too pissed to watch his tone, Alex curtly gave her a quick rundown of the conversation. Fuck, someone had shot at his window. Shot at him, right in front of his mate.
It didn’t matter that the bullets would never have penetrated the glass—that wasn’t the point. She was supposed to feel safe here. Happy. At ease. It was the only place she ever seemed so much as remotely relaxed these days. Paxton had just ruined that.
He took her hand. “Come on, we have to wait with my parents.”
So that was what they did. It was at least half an hour later that Vinnie and Luke finally joined them. It felt like fucking hours.
“Did enforcers capture Paxton?” Valentina asked before even closing the front door.
A muscle in Vinnie’s cheek flexed. “No. He went off-road; they lost him.” The Alpha turned to Bree who was sitting in an armchair with a cup of black tea she’d barely touched. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“Tired of this shit,” she replied.
“Whose apartment did he shoot from?” Alex asked, standing in front of the fireplace. He was too damn restless to sit.
“Mateo’s,” replied Vinnie. “It doesn’t look like Paxton’s been staying there; it seems more like he just used it tonight while waiting for the right time to shoot. No one spotted a stranger hanging around, let alone inside the building itself.”
“I heard rumors from my uncle that Paxton can slip in and out of buildings undetected,” said Alex, feeling his jaw harden. “Those rumors clearly aren’t exaggerated.”