Chapter 20

**Ezra**


When Elise stepped out of that dressing room my jaw nearly dropped at the sight of her. She is a beautiful woman but in the black get-up, she's wearing she looks downright sinful. Her slim form looks almost lethal in itself and I imagine her strapped with a gun holster and bulletproof vest and nearly get hard at the image.

"Is it okay?" She asks glancing down at the outfit and then back at us.

The others are watching her just as intently as I am but instead of being proud and confident, she starts to shrink back. She thinks we don't like her in the clothes but the opposite is true.

"You look...fucking hot!" Sawyer says less than eloquently.

Elise blinks at him in shock but a smile slowly works its way over her lips as does that pretty pink flush. Sawyer steps forward but I move faster. I'm sick of him stealing all these moments with her, and leaving us to watch them together. I may be the leader of our family but she is my girl too and I want to have some time with her.

"You look stunning love," I say brushing her hair away from her face.

She uses it as a shield and that makes me think. I glance around and see that there are some plain black rubber band things girls use for their hair sitting on top of one of the clothing racks. I move over to it and open the small container and glance over at Sawyer.

"Here," I say handing it to him and he gives me a sly smile.

He moves around me so that he's standing right behind her and he slowly pulls her hair back. She keeps her head low as he works and soon all her hair is pulled into a ponytail at the back. When she lifts her head to look at me and I can take in her full beauty.

"Better," I say giving her a small smile and there is that blush again.

It's...cute.

"Come on. Let's go show you off." I say reaching down and taking her hand in mine.

I don't look back at the other guys but I know they all picked out several items for Elise while she was trying things on and will have to stay behind to pay for them. While they do that I lead our girl out to the car and help her climb into the front passenger seat. She'll sit with me this time. Once she's safely inside I walk over to the driver's side of the car just as the others come out.

They stop short when they see where Elise is sitting and I smile to myself at their surprised faces. One of them always rides up front with me, a habit from our time overseas when I needed someone to watch for trouble while I would drive. Well, we aren't in the service anymore and I want my girl close to me so they will have to suck it up and squeeze it back.

I pull myself into the car and when I settle into my seat I see Elise is buckled up and ready to go, but she's too far away. This model SUV has three seats up front, so I reach over and unbuckle her. She gives me a confused look but I ignore it while I hook a finger in one of her pockets and pull her toward me. Once she is sitting beside me I pull the seat belt over her and buckle her in.

The guys have climbed in and I glance back to see Archer squished between Weston's huge frame and Sawyer's bigger form. It's comical but I don't give a damn about their comfort right now. I start the car and quickly pull away from the shop. I turn us in the direction of our compound. A sharp turn has Elise leaning into me and she quickly moves away to put space between us but that won't do.

I reach out and take her hand. She flinches slightly like she wasn't expecting me to touch her but when I thread our fingers together and rest our entwined hands on my lap she relaxes. After a couple of minutes her head drops down on my shoulder and I push down a purr at the feeling of her body against mine.

When we pull up to the compound she quickly straightens and gasps.

"This is your's?" She asks looking at me and I puff up with pride.

"Sure is love. This is the shack." I tell her and she gives me an adorably confused look.

"The shack?" She asks looking back at the huge building and then looking back at me. "This doesn't look like a shack."

Sawyer moves forward so that his head is right next to hers. "It's a military thing. We call things the opposite of what they are. Like big guy here was called Tiny back then."

Weston grumbles something I can't make out before throwing his door open and slamming it shut before Sawyer can follow.

"Asshole. Come on move it, Romeo." Sawyer says to Archer and Elise looks back at them.

I just shake my head and climb out at the same time that Archer and Sawyer stumble out they bicker and argue. Those two are always going at it.

I slam my door shut and jog around the front of the car to help Elise get out. We really need to get a car that is easier for her to get out of, but that would mean we wouldn't have to help her, and I don't think I want that to change. I open the door and she slides over so that her legs are facing me. She holds her hands out and I reach up and rest my hands on her hips. I tug her forward while she uses her hands on my shoulders to steady herself.

"Sorry, you guys have to keep helping me out of the car. I'm too short for this thing." She says laughing.

When I have her safely on the ground I hook my fingers in the loops of her pants and tug her closer to me.

"It's no trouble at all love," I tell her.

The urge to kiss her is strong but we're about to go into a building full of Alphas and Betas so that won't be enough. Instead of a simple kiss, I slide my hand along the side of her neck until I am able to grab the hair cascading down from her ponytail. I give it a tug and she titles her head to follow the motion giving me the access I need to kiss the side of her neck.

She gasps and shivers making me growl and move closer to her until I have her trapped between me and the seat behind her. I had planned on simply running my nose along her neck so that she would have enough of my scent to keep the other Alphas away but the way she's shifting against me...

It's calling to a primal side of me and a little scent marking isn't enough. Without overthinking I open my mouth and bite down on her skin. She jerks into me and whimpers but the bite is superficial. I haven't bonded her, but it will leave a noticeable claiming that should be enough to keep anyone from sniffing around her.

"Ezra...wha-" She starts to say as I force myself to step back from her.

"I didn't break the skin, but it's to protect you while we're inside. No Alpha will go near you with that mark on you." I explain.

She slides a hand over her neck feeling what I have left there and nods. "Okay."

"Let's go inside," I say taking her hand and pulling her away from the open door.

I slam it shut and lock the car before leading her to where the others are waiting in front of the building. We walk over and the guys spot the mark right away.

"Shit Z, you might as well finish with the bonding. You okay sweetheart?" Sawyer asks looking over the mark I left.

"I'm fine," Elise says softly.

I loosen my grip on her so that she can walk in with one of the other guys but she tightens her hold on me and when I glance over at her she is looking at me with a look of pure lust. Her eyes are dilated but she seems to be stopping her scent from being noticeable. I don't know how but with the way she is looking at me it should be flowing powerfully around us. How is that possible? Yet another mystery about her will have to explore at a later time.

"Let's go." Weston bits out and I look over to see him storming towards the front door.

He throws it open so hard that if it wasn't bulletproof it would have shattered. Archer gives Elise one last sad look before he turns and follows Weston. Sawyer gives me a sharp look before taking off after them leaving me with a sharp feeling of guilt.

I should have stopped myself from going so far, but I also feel a sense of pride to have our girl wearing my mark even a temporary one. Reminding myself that I did it for her protection is enough to ebb some of the guilt and I can turn to her with a semblance of a smile on my face.

"Come, love, there is a lot to see."