Page 133 of Believe it or Knot

Someone took our girl and held her hostage. Terrorized her and hurt her. Drugged her. And then the stupid cops nearly blew up the building while she was still in it.

She pauses when she sees us, hesitating next to Aurie Whitten, who must be her lawyer. Her pretty aqua eyes scan the room, lingering on all the exits and I know, without a doubt, she’s trying to plan her escape. She doesn’t want us anywhere near her, and I can’t even blame her.

But I’m not one to give up on a member of my pack. We messed up. I will own that fact until the day I die, just like I will strive to make it up to Sorrel until the day I die. She deserves nothing less.

Gage moves first, closing the distance between them and tugging her into his chest. A shot of jealousy hits me, along with relief. Jealousy because I haven’t held her in my arms for over a week. The most I’ve touched her is to stroke her hair as she fell apart on Liam’s lap. Relief because while she’s still angry at Gage, she’s at least letting him close to her, letting him comfort her.

She needs someone who can do that right now. It appears Gage is the lesser of two evils. It makes sense. For years, he’s been her best friend and her safe place. Now I need to prove to her the rest of us can be her safe place, too.

I trail after Gage, and Rafe and Liam are right behind me. I come to a stop just in time to hear Sorrel mutter, “I just want to go home and sleep.”

Gage slides his hand down the back of her head until he’s cradling her neck. “I know, biscuit. We’ve got you covered.”

I watch as Sorrel’s face scrunches up and her lips part. I think she’s about to tell him she doesn’t want us to take care of her, but then she lets out a weary sigh. “Thank you.”

He drops a kiss to the top of her head and then flicks his gaze up to meet mine. We discussed what our next steps should be, and it’s too late to drive all the way back to Lake Kilrose. Not only that, but Sorrel’s cabin is torn apart and not safe in the slightest. We’d considered taking her back to our pack house, but ultimately decided she might not be comfortable there, and right now her comfort is the most important thing.

While we were waiting for her, we booked a suite at the Falcon. It’s a lot closer than Kilrose and has excellent security. There should be fresh clothes and food waiting for our girl, too.

I give a slight nod and Gage turns so Sorrel is tucked into his side. We talked about this too. About how she still trusts him enough to let him take care of her, so he’s going to take point on that until we can all sit down and I can apologize for my actions.

But it’s fucking hard as hell watching her walk away from us with him. Don’t get me wrong, we’re going with them. But we’ve all agreed to keep our distance, to not push her too hard, too fast.

Liam lets out a whine that has my alpha prickling. Rafe pulls him into his chest, almost on autopilot. His eyes remain focused on Sorrel, a look that’s close to devastation in his dark brown eyes. He thinks we aren’t going to fix this.

But we are.

There’s no other fucking option.

Aurie’s fingers on my elbow draw my attention away from Sorrel. My beta’s aqua eyes linger on the spot where Aurie is touching me before she allows Gage to guide her out of the police station. “Can I speak to you a moment?” the lawyer asks.

I want to say fuck no, and hurry after Sorrel. I don’t want my beta out of my fucking sight. “It’s important, or I wouldn’t ask.” She presses and I relent, turning my body to face hers.

“What is it?”

Her teeth sink into her lower lip and she looks toward where Sorrel disappeared. “Sorrel told me something rather disturbing during the course of our conversation.”

My stomach tightens with anxiety at her tone. “Oh, and what was that?”

Aurie frowns. “She told me she’s received multiple death threats from Liam’s fans for the… misunderstanding that occurred at the OM interview.” That rocks me back on my heels and Aurie keeps talking. “You know she doesn’t have access to the security you do. I might suggest keeping someone with her for the foreseeable future until the frenzy dies down.”

I nod. “We’ll stay with her, keep her safe.”

The lawyer’s eyes run over me from head to toe, gauging me, judging me. Whatever she sees makes her tense shoulders relax the slightest bit as she blows out a breath. “Good. That’s what I want to hear.” She hesitates, glancing in the direction Sorrel went and then back to me. “You might issue a statement about Sorrel. One that counteracts what the media is saying about her. It won’t stop all the crazies, but it will hush up a lot of the gossips.”

I nod again. “Already on it. And we’re dealing with the problem at the source as well.” I don’t elaborate. She doesn’t need to know the details of Liam’s assistant, manager and studio execs working against our pack. How they made us turn on Sorrel.

But they will be dealt with in a swift and brutal fashion.

If only I could deal with myself in the same way.

She hands me her card. “Excellent. If you need anything else, let me know. I’ll be happy to help. I’ll be in touch if the detectives need anything else regarding this incident.”

I almost snort. Calling this an ‘incident’ is like calling wildfire just a little blaze.

“Thank you, Miss Whitten. I’ll be in touch.”

I tap her card against my palm as I hurry after the rest of my pack.

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