Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(24)
What would I tell the police? What would I tell the other pack members? What was my wolf plotting to do to the people who did this?
I could feel her rage beneath my skin, and could sense she wanted to shift into her werewolf form. I was guessing the only reason she hadn't was because she knew the cops would need to talk with me.
All the worry that I hadn't felt in the last few days suddenly crashed down on me like a ton of bricks. I assumed that was because she was upset and couldn't even contain her own fear of what was to come.
Tears spilled from my eyes and I felt two arms pull me into a tight embrace. He didn't smell sweet, like Phoenix did, but his strong arms were inviting, and my energy was depleted. I clung to the man and went ahead and fell apart.
The guy held me to him and ran his hand lightly over my hair. "Oh, God, Mena, I thought it was you. I couldn't get back here fast enough."
"Alex?"
"You're staying with me until all of this is over—"
"She already has a place to stay," Phoenix interrupted. "At my place." He held out my phone and I shook my head as I took it from him.
"I'm not staying with either of you. I will be just fine here."
"Mena," Alex started, and I noticed that Phoenix was smiling. He knew me well enough to know that arguing with me after I make a decision is a waste of time and breath. Alex didn't know me that well.
"Forget it, Alex. It's not happening."
Phoenix's smile grew wider. I rolled my eyes.
"Well, then I am staying here."
My jaw dropped and Phoenix's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "What?" we both shouted simultaneously.
"Hell yes!" my wolf shouted over the mess of thoughts getting tangled in my mind.
"Hell no!" I shouted back. "There are werewolves staying here! Someone is bound to let something slip. Stay where you are and let me handle him."
"I'm not letting you out of my sight, Mena." He pointed to what was left of the smoking vehicle. "That right there is proof that someone wants to kill you. It's not just threats and it's not a game. If you won't stay at my apartment, I am staying here. I let you have your way earlier and not ten minutes later somebody set off a bomb in your car!"
"What about your cases, Alex? You can't—"
"You are my case, Mena. I'll work on anything else that needs my attention while I'm here."
I was stunned into silence. Phoenix was seething. Dear God, this was not going to end well.
"You want to move in with Mena?" Daryn said to Alex as he walked up to us. His eyes were red from crying and his hair was a disheveled mess of sweat and smoke from fighting his way to Katie. He looked at me. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, Mena, but the—the group won't like this."
"He's right," Phoenix said.
Alex's head whipped around and he looked at Phoenix, as did the rest of us. "He is?"
"I am?" Daryn said.
"Well, yeah, but you are right, too," Phoenix said to Alex. "I think it's a good idea to get her as much protection as possible, but you can't do it all by yourself. Mena will have to go places and do things, and it's not possible for you to do your job and she do what she has to do as leader of her—her group. I'll put some extra men of mine on night detail to watch over her, and she has her own protection during the day, so you will be free to work on your cases and can check in when you have the time. We need to find out who this is before someone else gets hurt or killed. That's where you come in, detective. I thought you liked solving mysteries… like this one?"
Alex studied Phoenix for a moment then finally nodded, but I wasn't sure he was in total agreement with everything he'd said. He'd actually just rearranged some words of the plan that was already in place. Maybe Alex was dumber than I gave him credit for. I crossed my fingers behind my back and prayed that Alex would concede to it all. It really wasn't possible for him to stay at my house twenty-four-seven.
"I also agree with you that she needs to stay somewhere besides here, at least at night, when most people sleep. My men and I are night creatures," he said with a wink. "She will be safe at my residence."
"That's not happening, Mena," my wolf said. "If you won't go to Alex's apartment, then we sure as hell aren't going to Phoenix's. We have to find Jessica. My way, not their way."
Oh. My. God!
I growled in frustration as I glared at Phoenix. "I'm not going with either of you!" My scowl didn't change as I looked to Alex. "And you are not staying here!" I then turned and stomped back into my house, slamming the door in my wake. I was not about to let two men and a wolf tell me what I was and was not going to do. I could take care of myself just fine.
V''''V
Phoenix
Phoenix knew Mena wasn't coming back outside, but as he looked at Alex, the guy's face a mix between shock and stupefaction and his eyes full of expectation, he realized he still thought she might—at some point.
Phoenix sighed. "That was her way of saying goodnight, in case you were wondering."
The fingers of Alex's hands curled into fists as the muscles around his jaw flexed. Without turning to look at Phoenix, he spoke. "Who are you to her?"