I didn’
t. “Even that,” I said, “if it means keeping them safe.”
She nodded. “I hope it doesn’t come to that. Truly. I am sending teams to Oregon. You can’t fight me on that. If they find him first, well. We will do what we can. But if he makes it through, if he comes for all of you, I… I hope you know what you’re asking of me.”
“We do,” I said.
“I hope we’ll talk again soon,” she said. “We have much to discuss. Alpha Bennett, Alpha Matheson.”
The screen went dark.
“That didn’t go like I thought it would,” I muttered.
He didn’t say anything, so I looked over at him. His face had paled slightly.
“What?”
“You were serious.”
“About?”
“Dying for them. For us.”
“No one’s dying, Joe. I was making a point.”
“But you would,” he insisted.
I didn’t know where this was going. So I said, “Yeah, Joe. Yes. For you. For all of you.”
He reached up and gripped the back of my neck, pulling me forward. He pressed his forehead against mine. “You can’t,” he said. “You can’t die.”
“Joe—”
“Ox,” he growled.
I sighed. “I can’t promise you anything.”
“Then you stay by my side,” he said. “No matter what happens. You don’t leave my side.”
“You knew this. You know what I would do for them. For you.”
His grip tightened, and he shook me a little. “I don’t care,” he said, sounding desperate. “You don’t get to do that. You stay by me.”
“You think he’s coming.”
“I know he is.” His eyes burned. I saw a flash of fangs.
“With others. Omegas. Osmond. Robert.”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. He’ll come either way. Alone. With an army. He’ll come.”
“For you. Because you’re the Bennett Alpha.”
“Yes.”
“This is our territory.”
“Yes.”