Page 136 of All Packed Up

“If they knew where we were, they would have already been knocking on the door, so you’re safe,” he told Wendy, squeezing her hand. “I’m positive there’s no way they could find us here. It’s been so long since Grif and I…” His gaze trailed to the alpha, at a loss for the exact words.

“No,” Grif said. “There’s nothing that ties me to you. Nothing like social media or anything that I can think of.”

It had been so long since they’d been in the other’s life… something like sadness tugged at Nic’s chest. Was that all it took? A few years for him to erase the alpha that had once been his whole world?

Nic shook his head, shame curling up in his chest to keep the guilt company like an unwanted house cat.

“Can I hear the voicemail?” Wendy suddenly asked.

Dread filled him. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Wendy stared across at him. “Nic, I’m sure I’ve heard much worse than anything he left you in that message.”

Grinding his teeth, Nic pulled out his phone and handed it to the omega. She turned the speaker mode on, and Derek’s voice filled the living room.

Chapter 33

WENDY

Derek’s voice scratched against Wendy’s ears like nails on a chalkboard. He sounded so prim and proper and polite, but each word was a thinly veiled threat.

Wendy would know, because that voice had been aimed in her direction enough that it still slithered through her mind every single day.

She shivered. A family? Who will take care of me? Who was Derek kidding?

So many emotions swirled inside her she couldn’t decide what she felt most. Clenching her jaw, Wendy handed the phone back to Nic silently.

“So we’re just ignoring them then?” she asked.

Nic studied her, and she stared back, unsure of the expression reflected on her face. Was she schooled, calm, and collected? She was a little numb, so it was hard to tell.

“Do you not agree?” Squeezing her hand, Nic caressed comforting circles into the back of her hand with his thumb. She focused on that point of contact, trying to wade through the tide of emotions to fucking think.

“Are you sure they can’t find us here? If they tracked you down at the gym…” The circles paused on the back of her hand, and she darted her gaze to him.

“It’s public record that I own the gym, it’s not a secret.”

Tate nodded. “We can confirm that.”

Wendy glanced down at the alphas who’d wrapped themselves around whatever part of her they could touch. Their scents were meddling together in a delicious cocktail of comfort, which was probably part of why she wasn’t having a meltdown.

Nic was still rubbing those cute circles into her hand, his own distant way of scenting her, just like the alphas were.

Well, not all of them. She darted a quick look toward the almost silent one and was shocked to find so much… fury. It was in his stance and the way his arms were crossed over his chest and the set of his shoulders. He was pissed.

Wendy didn’t know why she found comfort in that too. Chuckling bitterly at the ridiculousness of the situation, she glanced down at Tate. “Why do you say you can confirm it?”

Arlo’s lips twitched, and the two mates shared a look. “When we first met Nic we tried to find him on Facebook, you know. The friendly neighborhood stalking,” Tate said with a chuckle. He ran a hand through his hair, and Wendy could have sworn his cheeks pinkened.

Even Arlo looked a little flustered. “We found the business page, which listed your name as the owner. Took maybe ten minutes.”

Nic was bewildered. “You looked me up?”

“Well, duh!” Tate said, spinning around and staring at the beta beside her. “We were curious about the hot new neighbor.”

Wendy let out a whiny protest. “Stop it, you’re gonna make me needy,” she complained. “And I’m sad, not horny!”

“Wendy, why’re you sad?” Nic asked with a frown and moved closer to her on the couch.