“They aren’t your members. They’re ours. We are just retrieving our own people.” Alfred ducked to avoid getting swatted himself. “Why would you want these two youngsters anyway?”
“They both left your pack of their own free will and joined ours. Now they belong to our pack, and no one bothers members of our pack, or family for that matter.” Ryan stomped off. “I’ll look for the car.”
Alyssa spoke. “I still don’t understand why Fredrick would go to the trouble to send you to get either of us?”
Alfred glared at her, his eyes shooting daggers, the only daggers he currently had at his disposal. “To save face you fool. He doesn’t like people to make a mockery out of him. He promised you to Dwight Wells and then had to tell the man you’d disappeared. He had big plans to use Tyler for his right-hand finance man. He didn’t want to let that expertise slip away.”
Tyler spoke up. “Plans? What plans? If Wells planned to hire me for something, why not just do it? Why the theatrics? I paid for my own education with scholarships and loans. Hell, he knows I’ve been interviewing for jobs for a while now.”
Alfred twisted his arms in the ropes. Charles nudged him. “Answer the question, asshole. You aren’t really in a position to piss me off right now. Perhaps the council will be more lenient with you if you do more talking and less sniveling.”
Alfred looked up. His eyes widened as though it just occurred to him he was in hot water. He wasn’t the sharpest tack. Sharper than Judas apparently. The man had barely uttered a syllable. “It was all a ruse. Wells just wanted you to believe you were making your own decisions. He never intended to permit you to leave the pack. He was testing you. If he made it all seem perfectly natural, you wouldn’t question his motives.”
Pity that. Alyssa smiled. “Guess he’s not going to be too pleased when his hired killers don’t come back either then, huh?”
A car drove up, and Alyssa turned to watch as Ryan pulled closer.
Justin grabbed Alfred and nodded at Charles to do the same with Judas. “Our ride’s here.”
Ryan stepped out of the car. “Nice. Not only did they leave the car nearby, but they left the keys in the ignition.”
Michael’s brothers stuffed Judas and Alfred into the backseat of their own car.
Justin shook hands with Michael and Tyler. “We’ll stop by the house and then head to Seattle. Think you two can pick up some of the slack for a few days?” Justin lifted only one side of his mouth in a half-grin.
“I think we can handle it.” Michael backed up and took Alyssa’s hand as Justin climbed into the car right behind his other brothers and drove away.
Alyssa began to shake. As if she had a chill, she couldn’t stop the shivering. Even when Tyler wrapped his arms around her, her teeth still chattered.
“Let’s get you inside.” Tyler pulled her in close and turned to the cabin.
“It’s the adrenaline. Why don’t you lie down for a bit, babe?” Michael reached for the door and held it open.
Alyssa shook her head. “Can we just get out of here? I don’t feel safe anymore. I couldn’t sleep here anyway. After the last two days, I just want to be back at home in my own bed, nice and warm, where I know I’m safe with all you Masters surrounding me.”
“One condition.” Michael smiled. “We switch to my bed. I’ve got the only king-sized bed, and I don’t know about you two, but I need more space.”
“That’s for sure.” Tyler slapped Michael’s arm. “You do take up a lot of space. Can’t you lie still?”
“You want to argue bedroom habits?” Michael’s grin warned he was full of information about Tyler he was just dying to share with the group. “Are your feet always that cold? Do you have to hog the blankets like that? Do you always sigh so loud just before you go to sleep?”
Tears filled Alyssa’s eyes. When Michael stopped his litany, both men turned to look at her.
Michael reached for her first. “What’s the matter, babe? You know we’re just kidding, don’t you?”
Alyssa nodded and then shook her head.
Tyler took her chin and tipped her face up. “Yes? No? What is it?”
She coughed to clear her throat. “I’m just so happy. This is going to work, isn’t it?”
“Of course it is.” Michael wrapped his arms around her. “It’s going to be perfect. You can spend half the year in Denver with Ty and the other half in Corvallis with me. What more could you want?”
She gasped and looked up into his eyes. They were filled with mirth.