Robbing the Alpha

Ch. 13: Protection

BROOKE

Traveling up the mountain wasn't anything like the journey down. Neither of us spoke a word after we left the valley, but Huck's tight jaw and tense shoulders may as well have been shouting. I kept my lips sealed and gave him the time he'd asked for, and we returned the car and made it back to the castle just before the sun. Another half an hour, and the sky would have lightened too much to make it past the sentinels.

When we reached my door, I turned to finally break the silence.

Huck did it for me. "Get some rest."

I hesitated, desperate not to leave off without having resolved the tension between us. But an argument brewed in his stormy expression, and now was not the time. So I nodded, and I went to bed, and exhaustion was both a blessing and a curse.

I'd barely slept an hour when Titan retrieved me for breakfast, and it took every ounce of strength I had not to face plant into my eggs. Titan droned on about the upcoming trip, but my lack of response eventually turned him toward his food. I forced bites into my mouth, tasting nothing, desperate to clean the plate and get away from him. It wasn't just hard to pretend today. It was more than that. I didn't want to, and for the first time, that mattered.

But then the dining room doors banged open, and Blaze stormed in, beelining toward the table. "They stole my car!"

I choked, spluttered, eyes desperately falling on Huck. He stood just as stiff as he always did, gaze fixed on the far wall.

Titan reached over and rubbed my back. "For goddess' sake, Blaze! What are you on about?"

Blaze glared at me as if my choking offended him, then he focused his attention on Titan. "It's all on camera. They came to my estate in the middle of the night and stole my Hypersport!"

Titan offered me my glass of water, and I took a deep drink.

"Better?" he asked.

I nodded, but it wasn't better. Why wasn't Huck reacting? Shouldn't we be running? Fighting? Something?

"Who did?" Titan asked, leaning back in his chair.

I held my breath.

Blaze's jaw twitched. "Someone. Valley wolves." He threw up his hands. "Probably whoever managed to get in here, because they somehow knew exactly how to stay out of sight. One second, my car was parked, the next it was being driven away."

My muscles relaxed, and it took every ounce of will I had not to laugh in manic relief. Of course he hadn't seen him. Huck was a ghost.

"Alright." Titan heaved an annoyed breath. "Get the sentinels on alert. It should be easy enough to find something so rare."

"It isn't gone," Blaze said.

Titan's lips thinned. "You said it was stolen."

"It was stolen. Then they brought it back."

"Is it damaged?"

"Well, no."

"Are you sure it wasn't one of your servants? Perhaps they took it for a wash."

"In the middle of the night?" Blaze seethed.

Titan gave him a warning look. "What is it you would like for me to do?"

Blaze hesitated, looking ready to explode, and after several, long, drawn-out minutes, he turned on his heels and left without a word.

Titan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.