Chapter 36

**Weston**


“This is bull shit!” I yell and throw my fist at the nearest wall.

I can feel my skin break but I ignore it.

“Man you need to chill out,” Sawyer says but he sounds just as pissed as I am

Lead after lead has led us fucking nowhere. Months and we still haven’t found the fuckers who hurt our girl!

“How can I chill out when those fuckers could show up and take her away again!” I yell and I feel an intense ache in my chest at the thought of losing Elise. “I need to go home.”

I turn away from Sawyer and Ezra. They call out to me but I have one thing on my mind. I don’t wait for them to climb in the car with me. They can ride back with some of the other guys for all I care. I need to hold Elise more than breathing right now.

I can’t wait. I pull up her number on the car’s speaker system.

“Hey West! Everything okay?” Her sweet voice settles me a little but it’s not enough.

“Yeah, I just needed to hear your voice,” I say.

“Oh. What’s wrong?” She always knows when one of us is off.

It’s amazing actually.

“We still haven’t found anything. I’m sorry.” I feel that ache again.

“West, you guys have been searching for months. Maybe we should just let it go. There haven’t been any more sightings of Kane either. He might have moved on. I don’t like how this hunt is messing with you guys.” Her words sound pleasing but I can’t let this go.

I want to kill the bastards who hurt her and I won’t let it go until I get the chance.

“We can’t let it go,” I say honestly.

We never lie to her.

She sighs. “What can I do? There has to be something. Maybe I can-“

“No! We are not using you as bait Elise. We don’t know what can happen and we can’t lose you. It would destroy us.” My words are firm.

“But-“

“No Elise.” I don’t want to use my Alpha role on her but this is non-negotiable.

“Okay.” Her words are soft and defeated.

I don’t like her sounding so sad but I can’t lose her.

“I’m on my way home. I need to hold you.” I tell her and I swear I can hear her smile.

“I’ll be here.” She says and I smile a little.

Only she can make me smile like a fool.

“What have you been up to today?” She is also the only one I like saying more than a few words to.

I always want to hear about her day or anything for that matter. Her voice soothes me like nothing else.

“I was able to pull Archer away for a while to work out some of his frustration.” Even though she’s talking about a heated moment between them, she still sounds so innocent.

She doesn’t have a sultry sound as some other women do and she still gets flushed with shyness sometimes. It’s cute.

“I see. Did he tire you out?” I ask and she lets out a shy laugh.

“No. I never really…get tired of that.” I smirk.

Like I said…cute.

“I’ll come and hang out with you then.” I need to do more than hang out with her but I don’t want her to get embarrassed over the phone.

“Okay.” She says softly.

She is so different than I expected an Omega to be. She never asks for anything other than basic needs. Even when she wanted to set a studio up in the backyard it took some pressure from us to get her to admit it. We could see her standing at the sliding doors and a small frown on her face.

“Have you eaten today?” I ask next.

“A muffin earlier that Archer made a couple of days ago,” I growl lowly.

“That isn’t much sweetheart.” I wish she would take better care of herself.

She has had trouble eating. The life she lived before coming to us messed with her digestion according to Liddy. It makes her feel sick when she eats too much of certain foods. We had to switch her to a plant-based diet because of it but she doesn’t eat enough to get enough calories. So Archer has been making these dense muffins to help her keep a healthy weight.

“I know. But I couldn’t stomach much else.” She admits.

“How about I bring you one of those smoothie things you like.” I’m not sure what the thing is called but she loves them.

“An açaí bowl?” Her voice is laced with amusement and I smile again.

“Yeah that. Can I get one for you?” I’ll get it anyway.

“Sure! That sounds good. Thanks, West.”

“Anything for you.” And I mean every word.

I would do anything for her.

Once we end the call I make a quick stop at the smoothie place my girl loves. Thankfully they have a drive-thru because I need to get home as soon as possible. There isn’t anyone else in line thank god so I get her fruit bowl thing and rush home. I throw the front door open and Archer nearly jumps out of his skin.

He’s coming out of the kitchen and staring wide yes at home, but I don’t stop to talk to him. I take the stairs two at a time until I reach the nest. Elise is sitting on the bed watching something on the TV but when she sees me her face lights up. She’s off the bed quickly and wraps her tiny arms around my neck. A sense of relief runs through me at the feel of her in my arms.

“Hey, you.” She whispers in my ear and I hold her a little tighter.

“Hey,” I say pulling back from her and taking in every detail of her face. “You’re beautiful you know that?”

Her face turns slightly pink and she gives me small smile. “You aren’t too bad yourself.”

“I got you your fruit bowl thing.” I set her down and hold the bag out to her.

She claps and does a little happy dance before taking the bag and heading back to bed. I love seeing her excited to eat. She hops onto the bed and pulls the bowl out. The top is off quickly and she puts a spoon full of the stuff in her mouth. Her eyes fall shut and she lets out a very sexy moan.

She’s fucking killing me.

“Be careful with those sounds sweetheart,” I growl.

Her eyes snap open and she blushes again.

Damn, I’m gone for this girl.

“Sorry. I guess I was more hungry than I realized.” She takes another bite but doesn’t make a sound this time.

I walk over and kick my shoes off before climbing onto the bed. She waits until I’m leaning against the wall before moving to sit between my legs. I move her so that she’s leaning against my chest and hum in satisfaction. She sighs when I lean down and run my nose along her neck. Her scent is subtle and there is a hint of Archer’s sent there but I don’t care. We’ve gotten used to picking up each other's scent on her and she tries hard to wash it off but none of us care.

It’s to be expected in a pack.

We stay quiet while she eats and I breathe her in several times to calm myself. We don’t always push her to satisfy our sexual needs. Sometimes moments like this are just as good.

“You’re especially growly today.” She teases and I chuckle.

“Bad day,” I say but I won’t go into detail right now.

I just want this for a little while longer.

“Where are the others?”

“I ditched them.” That gets a laugh out of her.

“You’re terrible.” Maybe I am but I don’t give a damn.

She finishes her smoothie bowl and I take the empty bowl and set it on the side table. I wrap my arms around her and give her a gentle squeeze. She cuddles further into me and I feel her breath slow. I move her to glance at her face and find her sleeping.

“She’s been worried about us.” Archer’s voice has me looking up at the door.

He’s leaning in the doorway and watching our girl with a look of adoration on his face. We all look at her the same way.

“I know,” I say with a sigh.

“I’m not sure what more we can do right now. I don’t want her to worry so much either.” He admits moving in to sit on the end of the bed.

“She told me that we should let it go, but I’m not sure if I can,” I admit.

He nods. “I want to give her closure but I don’t want to hurt her by giving her a reason to worry.”

I nod in agreement.

“Maybe we should do something to take her mind off it all.” He offers and I perk up at the idea. “We never took out time to enjoy the period after the bond. It just sort of happened and we jumped right into the work of finding out who hurt her. She deserves something more.”

“What do you have in mind?” I ask because I’m not great at coming up with that sort of thing.

“I was thinking Hawaii.” He hands me his tablet.

He has it open to a website with a giant hotel surrounded by lots of smaller buildings and a bunch of other stuff.

“Looks cool,” I say with a shrug.

I’ve never been to a place like it before. I’ve never actually gone on vacation. In fact, I don’t think any of us have.

“Have you told her?”

“Not yet but I’m sure she’ll love it.” He says proudly.

His eyes move to look at Elise and he reaches out to brush her cheek. Our youngest pack member has finally found someone to care about and he’s changed a lot. He’s more confident now and it’s nice to see.

“I’m going to let the other guys know. They just texted to say they’ll be here soon.” He leans down and kisses Elise on the head and leaves us alone.