Thanks to the alpha, our situation had just went from bad to fucking impossible. The three of us had mated with Cassidy but only one of us, if we were lucky, were going to be able to leave. And I just sort of forced myself into the number one position by disappearing and throwing my two best friends under the Charlotte bus.
“Indeed,” Steele agreed.
“One thing is for certain, and that’s we can’t leave her alone,” Dallas said. “It’s too dangerous for her right now. But we can’t all be around her as well. So that means, we need to take turns.”
“Agreed,” I said. “But she’s not going to like having us around her all the time without tipping her off to what’s going on.”
“Only one of us should be here at a time,” Steele said. “Otherwise, it may tip Charlotte off.”
I nodded. “We have ourselves a predicament, gentlemen.”
Steele nodded. “So long as we make it seem like we are just out to spend time with her, it shouldn’t be an issue. The most she will suspect is us protecting her from her ex.”
“I know one thing for certain, and that is whoever hangs around her can’t always be you either, Malachi,” Dallas said. “Even though you’ve pretty much been MIA. Charlotte will find out about you eventually.”
“I am aware of that,” I said through gritted teeth as I set my glare on him. “I’m not an idiot, but thanks for pointing out the obvious.”
Steele moved to stand between the two of us. He held his hands up to keep me from going after Dallas and vice versa. The problem was it wasn’t Dallas I wanted to go after.
“Let’s do this smart,” Steele said. “I’ll take the first shift.”
“Why you?” I asked.
“Because I have enough restraint to keep my hands to myself,” he said. “Malachi, you take the next shift. Dallas, you take the next one.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Dallas said.
I nodded. “Very well. I’ll take my leave now then.”
“Where are you going?” Steele asked. “We’re not done.”
I sighed and resigned myself to staying long enough to finish the discussion. After we formed a plan for what we planned to do while not taking watch, I made my exit and went for a hunt. My duties were to find out as much information about the ex-boyfriend as possible.
Once I had my fill of small game that was easily hunted, I shifted back to my human form and returned to my little makeshift camp to collect my things. I wasn’t about to leave Cassidy high and dry. Not anymore. And I wasn’t about to spend another minute under Charlotte’s thumb. No matter whose turn it was to keep watch, I was going to stick by Cassidy.
Until Cassidy made her decision, that was what I was going to do.
After dropping off my things, I headed back out to find this ex-boyfriend. All I had to go on was a brief glimpse of him being thrown out of the hotel by Steele. My guess? If I were a guy who was possessive and obsessed with the woman I loved, I would stick as close to her as I was physically able to.
I would probably also have something of hers, which would give off her scent.
So, with that in mind, I hung around, near the hotel, searching for signs of Xander. And it wasn’t very long before I found him. He stood outside on the patio of a bar, facing the direction of the hotel. With where he stood, he was positioned to see exactly when Cassidy left the building. My guess was the guy thought he would find her leaving and then corner her.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my hands into fists.
Every single nerve in me wanted to pummel the guy into an unrecognizable mess. I wasn’t going to though. I respected Cassidy and her desires too much to act on my urge. But, make no mistake, all she would have to do is give me the slightest hint at a go-ahead and I would gladly teach him the lesson he would never forget.
Until then, I was forced to bide my time, observing him, and learning all that I was able to from a distance.
As I observed him, his mouth moved as though he spoke to someone. I narrowed my eyes to figure out who he had spoken to and realized the handful of gentlemen hanging around him were there with him. That might prove to be slightly problematic.
One: they could be there for protection. Steele might have had all the brains, but he wasn’t a pushover. He could deal some heavy blows when push came to shove. I might believe him needing protection, especially from the three of us.
I highly doubted that was the reason, given what I had already known of him. Still, this option wasn’t completely off the table. What information about him I had, there was enough to make some possibilities, but I didn’t have enough for definites.
Two: He might have a posse willing to take the three of us out because as much as we were spying on him, he was doing the same amount of spying on us, and he had done enough research to know exactly how much of a fight to put up in order to get his hands on Cassidy.
This was the more likely of the two options in my mind. Especially with the recent events. And they were all standing there, holding beer bottles, trying their darndest to blend in. Except not a single one of them had taken a drink. They only held onto the bottles, which also meant they were willing to jump into action at a moment’s notice.