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“You are my mate,” he rumbled, leaning down, his breath whispering against my cheek. “I was stating a fact.”

“I think she was looking for a name,” I mused, fighting a smile.

“You don’t like her,” he declared, proving how astute he truly was and my smile broke free. “I figured introducing myself was a waste of time.”

“A man of few words and fewer friends,” I teased, bumping my nose against his cheek and inhaling. “Alpha,” I added, breathing the word into a title. A growl formed in his chest but before he could say anything the apartment door opened.

“Why is your mother standing outside the door with a broken nose?” Dad asked, coming to a stop when he saw how close Dom and I stood. He exhaled roughly but didn’t say anything. I knew it was tough for him to see his Bunny growing up, mainly because I had the same issue when I saw him with Wren. Hard to get past the eww factor but we were both trying.

Dom eased back, putting space between us and I smirked. Dad rubbed his temple, pretending like he didn’t see the move, and I could imagine the headache forming behind his eyes. It hadn’t even been a week since Monster had been kidnapped and we’d staged a rescue of him and Dom’s nephew, Nicky. Now, my mother had shown up and the worst of it was I knew without a doubt that Dad had no idea she came from a shifter line.

There’s no way she doesn’t know? I asked Dom telepathically, the question borderline desperate, because I was not ready to explain to my dad how shitty his ex-wife and my mother really was.

No, Dom answered emphatically. She knows.

My breath escaped me in a rush. I have to tell him.

Can I leave first? The note of pleading in his mental thought almost had a smile coming to my lips. My big, brave Alpha didn’t care for emotional outbursts or the fallout from them.

I might need your help, I replied and felt his thoughts form a question. In case he decides to shoot her and put us all out of our misery, I explained and he snorted, drawing Dad’s attention.

You think I’m going to stop him from shooting her?

No, but we might need your help disposing of the body, I countered, sending him a sidelong glance.

“Can you converse where everyone can hear?” Dad broke in, an edge to his voice that snapped our heads around. He waved at the door, his normal good nature absent at the reappearance of my mother.

My shoulders curved in at his chastising, knowing we had been rude with our mental conversation.

“Sorry, sir,” Dom rumbled, manners on full display and my eyebrows rose at his quick apology. “It was rude of us not to include you.” He glanced at me and then lowered his voice confidingly to my Dad. “But you can claim plausible deniability.”

Dad stared at him for a second, his mouth opened and then shut again, before he finally shook his head. “I don’t even want to know why she’s here,” he declared. “I came in to see if we had more cookies.”

His words reminded me I was still hungry and I headed to the cabinet to see if there were any left. “Where’s Monster?” I asked over my shoulder. Since the kidnapping, Monster was usually within eyesight of me or Dad, with the rare exception of Dom unless he could get out of it.

“With Trent,” Dad replied shortly, and I turned, cookies forgotten as my gaze zeroed in on him.

“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice bordering on curt as Dom’s gaze went inward, a sure sign he was talking to Trent or another pack member.

Dad sighed as he walked toward me, his expression becoming placating and my hands went to my hips. “I don’t need anyone coddling me. What happened?”

“Dylan ran off,” Dom answered before Dad could and Dad shook his head slightly as he muttered under his breath, “I’ll never get used to that.”

My brow furrowed as I tried to follow the logic that had brought my Dad inside, leaving Monster outside with Trent. “What are the cookies for?” I finally asked in confusion. After a second, an amused smile formed on Dom’s face and I knew he knew, but my stare didn’t waver from my Dad.

He had the grace to look sheepish as he mumbled, “Monster is trying to lure him back with cookies.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that bit of logic so I whirled around and went back to digging in the cabinet. My hand curled around a familiar package and I yanked it from the cabinet, snitching a cookie before I handed it off to Dom, to both of their surprise. “Take these to them,” I told him and he lifted his eyebrows.