“Ready?” I took Jace’s hand while he stared at me in shock.
“I can’t believe you did that,” he whispered as I tugged him from the room, then down the hall, toward the front door. In the chaos, Jace’s escort to the border had been forgotten.
Lucas and Teo caught up with us on the front porch. “What the hell happened in there?” Luke demanded. “I’ve never seen so many Alphas all shouting at the same time.
“They kicked Jace out.” I looped my arm through his. “Total exile. Effective immediately.”
“Are you serious?” Luke said. “Man, I’m so sorry.” He frowned, studying us closer. “Why don’t you two look more upset?”
I shrugged and gave him a secretive smile. “Part of it’s shock.”
“The rest is because Abby defected,” Jace said, while his former enforcers gaped at us. “By the way, you both now answer to Isaac. Or you will soon, anyway.”
“Wait, you’re leaving?” My brother looked like he couldn’t quite wrap his head around that concept. “I’ve never heard of a tabby defecting.”
“Holy shit!” Teo swore, and I laughed.
Lucas’s mouth opened and closed. “I don’t know what to say,” he finally spat out, after a couple of false starts. “I can’t believe you’re leaving! Either of you.” He scowled with a sudden new realization. “I can’t believe I work for my little brother.”
“I know. It’s crazy, but we have to go.” I pulled Lucas down for another hug, anxiously aware that as soon as the Alpha’s finished arguing, they’d try to stop me from leaving. We needed to be gone by then. “We’ll call you when we know where we’re going.”
“Take care of her,” he warned Jace over my head, while I slowly suffocated against his chest.
“You know I will. You two watch out for Mel and Isaac, okay?” Jace pulled me free from my brother’s grip. “They’re going to need a lot of help.”
“We’ll do what we can,” Teo promised. He thumped Jace on the back as we clomped down the front steps and onto grass. “We love you guys.”
“Love you too. But we gotta go.” I gave my brother one more hug, then started pulling Jace toward his rental car.
“The council’s not really going to let you go, you know,” he whispered, as we waved goodbye to Des and Parker, who were playing in superhero capes on the lawn.
“Then they’re going to have to catch me.” I dug the keys to his rental from his pocket on the way toward the car, then slid into the driver’s seat, adrenaline buzzing beneath my skin. He got in as I started the engine, and less than a minute later, I pulled out of the long driveway and onto the road. I didn’t have so much as a suitcase to my name.
But I’d never felt more in control.
Jace took my hand as I drove, and together, we watched the Lazy S fade into nothing in the rearview mirror.
EPILOGUE
Jace
Abby finally fell asleep about an hour from the border, with her head propped against the window of the locked passenger’s side door. Her hair fell over her face, hiding her profile from me, but I could still hear her voice in my head, chattering about all her plans.
Finish college in the free zone.
Get a little house in the free zone.
Make new friends in the free zone.
Do whatever the hell we want, in the free zone.
She was high on the possibilities, and I couldn’t blame her. But she didn’t fully understand the danger. I would fight to the death to protect her, but I was only one man, and the free zone was the equivalent of the Wild West for shifters.
I wanted her to have everything she wanted, and I wanted to share all those things with her—more than I’d ever thought possible. But she deserved more than an anonymous existence in a lawless place, a constant source of fascination, curiosity, and desire to dozens of strays who’d never seen or smelled a female member of their own species. She deserved the comfort and security she’d grown up with. She deserved a support system and a true community.
And I was damn well going to give it to her.
I dug my phone from my pocket and dialed from the favorites menu.
Titus answered on the third ring. “Today’s the big day, right?” he said in lieu of a greeting. “Did it go like you expected?”
“Not even close.” I glanced at Abby as she shifted in her bucket seat, but her eyes never opened. “They didn’t just take my territory; they kicked me out.”
“Ouch. Sorry, man.” Something clicked over the line, and a washing machine began to slosh. Titus had been in a fight—he only washed his own clothes when he got blood on them. “But you know my door’s always open if you get tired of serving at the pleasure of whoever they gave your spot to.”
“Yeah. About that. Exactly how wide open is your door?”
“What does that mean?”
“Abby defected. We’re headed your way right now, if you’ll have us.”