Page 150 of Claimed

“You smell Brody’s claiming scent yet?” he asks.

“I don’t know what that would smell like, but I don’t think so.”

“When it happens we’ll all smell it and know just what we’re smellin’. He hasn’t claimed her yet because she’s been through a lot, obviously. While I trust Brody, I’m not sending you into a den where a wolf shifter has been waiting almost a day to claim his mate for the first time. Where he’s holding his temper being pissed at what she’s recently been through. Brody’s someone I’m tight with, someone I trust. But as your mate and protector I won’t ever put you in front of an alpha fighting off the rutting urge.”

“Eek,” I whisper.

“Yeah, Blossom. Eek.”

“I hope he’s as kind and gentle with her as you were with me.”

His eyes warm for me and he grabs my hand and squeezes it affectionately as we continue walking. But I’m feeling troubled for Addy, wanting to put her mind at ease if at all possible.

“Not to worry, babe. This is Brody we’re talking about. He’s a Savage.”

“Pun unintended? Because… well… not sure that makes me feel better. TysonSavagekidnapped Ivy and he has a track record of getting pretty extreme about… mating. And I heard about Riley Savage and Erica’s mating from your sister and it sounds like…” I put up air quotes with my fingers, “Savages” I drop my fingers “can get pretty … uh…savagein the mating department.”

He tips his head in a way that shows I’m making a good point.

“Then again, it’s not just the Savage family, is it?” I add. “Because Bailey said Mason walked up to Amelia at the gas station and kissed her, then kidnapped her and brought her home to claim her. Then you and I both know you carried me out of that cell to your house to claim me, almost getting into a fight with the alphas on your council, deciding to wait because I was scared, then very creatively claimed me a few hours later anyway.”

“Ended the runnin’ away were doin’, though, didn’t it?” he asks, mischief filling his features as he lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses it.

I beam a smile at him. “Sure did. But me sneaking off aside, I suspect the Arcana Fallsextra alphaalphas have a difficult time with a lowkey claiming.”

Grey throws his head back and laughs. “Good point.”

And it’s good to see him laugh.Sogood.

He kisses the side of my head. “Love to see that smile, Blossom. That dimple. Don’t see enough of it.”

“I was just thinking the same about you. Haven’t seen enough of yours in the past couple days.”

“Yeah, well, things have been a little…crazed.” Darkness clouds his expression.

“Understatement. Are you nervous about the Starling coven?” I ask.

“Not particularly,” he replies. “We did nothing wrong.”

“I’m worried about Halla,” I admit. “She’s a beautiful, sweet little girl. We all got really close to her. I hope she’s okay.”

“I hope so, too. What did your brother threaten where she’s concerned?”

“It was vague. He warned we’d never see her again, but didn’t say what he’d do. I wouldn’t have thought he’d hurt a little girl. Then again, Larry giving Kimmy that soup… he’s shown he’s capable of some pretty heinous stuff. I suspected he planned to hold onto her until she was of age to start practicing magic, so he could use her to his advantage.” My heart sinks as I again hope that Halla is safe.

“And you don’t have any ideas about what could’ve happened to Aphra Starling?” he asks.

“None,” I respond. “I was looking after Halla after Wyatt hurt Aphra. Coming in twice a day to see Aphra, bring her food and help her with her healing. But only a few days later, Aphra was just… gone.”

“When?”

“A week or so before I left to go to Drowsy Hollow. She was staying in his house with Halla, had been here a couple months, but he sent Halla to stay with us while she was recovering after he did what he did. Then suddenly my brother went ballistic looking for her with his betas, said she vanished in the dead of night. That’s all I know. She loves her little girl so much, I couldn’t imagine why she’d leave without her, but like I said, I promised her I’d take care of Halla for her. I just didn’t know how long I’d be doing it and then of course Addy and Misty had to take over when I got sent to Drowsy Hollow.”

We get to the trailer and Grey lifts his phone out of his jeans and dials.

“Hey, Brode. Got to get some things of Halla Starling’s from in there. Needed for a locator spell.”

A moment later, Brody comes out, handing a bag to me, saying, “Adelaide put that together.”

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