Page 28 of The Brooding Alpha's Mate
Then Alex, the man, emerged and the look on his face, well, I never wanted to see it again. It was pure rage. His jaw clenched. His skin red. His eyes bulged in a way I could only describe as murderous.
He pulled Dean out of the car and I turned away from the scene. There was some grunting and yells from Dean, but soon those sounds died off.
“Are you okay? Colson, omega, talk to me.” Alex didn’t have to beg.
“I’m okay. Well, not really. I think I bruised some ribs or something. Is he dead?” I had to ask.
Alex stood in front of me, reaching out to take my hands in his. “Come here. Yes. He’s gone. I’m sorry I took so long to get to you.”
“I know you came as fast as you could.”
He tucked my head under his chin. “I did. I almost lost my mind thinking I might lose you.” He peppered kisses across my face and then down to my neck when he stopped dead.
“What?” I asked, feeling the change in the air.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Now I feel awful. I should’ve never let you out of my sight.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Tell you what?”
“That you’re carrying our cub?”
I looked down at my belly as though it would answer for me. “I didn’t know. How…Alex, how do you know? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” He pulled me closer. “Your scent has sweetened. My bear can feel another life inside you, omega mine. Goddess, I love you. When I thought I might lose you, well, the feeling was all-consuming.”
“You have me,” I said, laughing. “You have us, I suppose now.”
He chuckled. “You’ve made me the happiest alpha ever, you know that, right?”
“I do now. And by the way, I love you too.”
Seconds later, Hammer and King arrived in a vehicle. They got out and assessed me, Alex, and a very dead Dean.
“Should we do something about the body?” I asked.
“Nah,” King said. “Let the fucker get eaten by the scavengers when they find him. Fought back, did you?” he said, getting close to Dean’s body.
“I tried to strangle him but it didn’t work. He crashed the car before he died.”
Alex kissed me. “Good omega, fighting back. That’s the way we do it.”
Chapter Sixteen
Alex
All I wanted to do was take my mate into my arms and hold him tight, blocking the rest of the world away. But there were things we needed to attend to first—mainly his friend Chad.
Now that Dean was dead and Colson was alive and well in my arms, my anger toward his friend had dissipated. Chad was a victim too, and just because I hated that my mate had been in danger, that didn’t make it any less true.
We arrived back at the warehouse to find him sobbing in a corner by himself. I was glad that he found a place to let it all out. He didn’t need to be kept prisoner, despite how, not too many hours ago, I had wanted to tear him limb from limb.
“Hey.” My mate took one step closer. “Chad?”
Slowly, the omega lifted his head. When he saw my mate, his face bloomed into a smile, and he rushed over to him, hugging him, apologizing over and over again. Repeating how he didn’t mean to lead Dean to us, how he wished he could take it back.
And my mate, being so much more gracious than I ever could, assured him that he didn’t blame him, that he might have done the same thing.
Me? I knew better. Colson was stronger than that. Heck, he was the strongest person I know.
