Page 54 of Cruel Alpha

“Wolves and the car,” he whispered, and Alyssa nodded.

“You know we’re safe now, though, right?” she reminded him, and he nodded, tears still leaking from his eyes.

“Right,” he agreed. He didn’t sound entirely convinced, but it always took a little while for either of them to calm all the way down after a nightmare like that. In my arms, Emmy leaned a heavy head against my shoulder; her duty done, she was ready for sleep again.

“We’ve got Daddy here to protect us,” Alyssa was telling Jack, “just like he did back then.”

“Yeah.” Jack still sounded pretty miserable, but his breathing was evening out, and though his eyes were wet, the tears had stopped flowing.

“You and your sister want to stay here until you go back to sleep?” Alyssa asked, and he nodded.

“Uh-huh.”

Emmy was already asleep as I sat down on the bed next to them, tucking her in next to her brother. Jack watched us undress and change into our bedclothes with wide, shining eyes, curled up next to his sleeping sister. Only when Alyssa and I joined them in bed did he really settle, snuggling against Alyssa’s chest and taking several deep, shuddering breaths.

I looked at her over the tops of their heads; limned gently in the dim lamplight, she looked like an angel. The soft smile she gave me was apologetic, and I sent her a wave of simple love through our bond.

In a little while, Jack would go back to sleep, and we would carry our babies back to their own room, tucking them into their own beds for the rest of the night. Then I’d take Alyssa back to bed, and if I was lucky, we’d pick up where we had left off. However this night transpired, I needed nothing more than to have this woman in my Pack and in my bed and in my arms, now and for the rest of our lives.

*****

THE END