Page 81 of Rocked By the Alpha

“No!” A voice screams out. It’s Nat’s. Ruby opens her eyes to find her best friend standing between her and the Alpha. Nat barrels towards the Alpha, pushing the man so hard, he stumbles back a step.

“No!” she yells again, meeting his outraged glare as he growls at her.

But in the next moment, the security guards are on him, pinning him into a chair.

“Come on,” Nat says, turning her back on the Alpha, “they’ve got him. We don’t need to see anymore. Let’s go.”

“Not yet,” Ruby says.

The man wrestles in the grip of the security staff but soon they have him flipped face down, his arms twisted behind his back. When they have him secured, Dean walks over to the band. He reeks of the Alpha and Ruby holds her hand in front of her face.

“We’ll take him down to the police station,” Dean tells them. “With the DNA evidence, they’ll be able to link him to the scene.”

“He shouldn’t have got in here,” Nat snaps.

“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll be reviewing our arrangements, find out what went wrong here.”

“What’s going to happen to him?” Ruby asks, trying not to look the Alpha’s way.

“He’ll be charged.”

“And probably get bail.” She looks at each of her friend’s faces. “I doubt he’ll even get a prison sentence.”

“It’ll depend what else he has on his record. But Ruby,” she meets Dean’s stern eyes, “we’ll be having a word with him on the way to the station. When we’re finished talking, I promise he’ll have no desire to come anyway near you again.”

She nods, letting out a gush of breath.

“Let’s go get a coffee,” Tanya suggests, and she lets her friends lead her to the dressing room.

It feels safe to be surrounded by them. Comforting to know they’ve caught this guy. Knowing he was out there was like a shadow following her wherever she went.

But something is missing.

West.

She wants his strong arms around her. His smile. His laugh.

He’d make her laugh right now if he were here and nothing else would make her feel as safe as that.

Chapter 24

The bright LA sun glides high in the sky and droplets of water sparkle as the kids kick and splash about in his pool.

It’s Sunday and his sisters and their kids often swing by for an impromptu pool party. Today just Darlia, her husband and son and daughter are here. They’re all in the water apart from West.

He’s half watching, half scrolling through his phone. His body sinking into the sunlounger, heavy and useless. Moving his arm to lift his drink requires so much energy he can’t be bothered, even though his mouth is parched and his lips dry.

He closes his eyes, but he doesn’t want to sleep either.

He just wants to lie, still.

He hasn’t felt like this for a long time. This useless listlessness. But if he moves, he might stir his heart and then it might ache. Better to just lie. Try not to think about that argument. About the fact she never turned up for that flight even though he’d held the jet. About the fact she hasn’t called or messaged.

He can’t think about it. He screwed up. And so did she.

That’s the end of it.

His eyelids are orange from the sunlight but they darken as a shadow falls across his face and cool water sprinkles over his body.