Hideout

T W E N T Y E I G H T

A/n: I have decided to change the story a bit. I am now going to make my updates shorter in order to update more often and get through the storyline. Due to my schedule, full updates are very difficult with this story. This is a better compromise for us both; as author and reader. Thanks for understanding. 

CHAPTER 

TWENTY EIGHT

A D E L A I D E 

When the door burst open an hour before Leo normally took his lunch, I knew I was in trouble.

"Adelaide? Come down here please," Leo directed. His voice was tense and I could practically hear his teeth grinding.

Oh, lord. He knew. Harrison must have called him almost immediately after he hung up on me. Leo was obviously straining to keep himself calm, but I knew he would lose it very soon unless I was able to explain myself quickly.

I pulled a blanket around myself as I stood from the bed, tiptoeing in the direction that I heard his voice. Part of me battled with whether I should explain immediately what happened or try to calm him down first. Instead, I said:

"You-you're home early!" I gushed.

Leo stood at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed over his chest with his jaw tightened. "Adelaide."

"I made cookies," I tried again. "Let's talk over milk and cookies-"

"What were you thinking?"

I groaned in frustration, plopping on my rear end on the staircase. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just... No one was listening to me so I wanted to take matters into my own hands. I have a gut feeling about this, you have to understand."

Leo ran his hands through his hair, which already looked messy like he had been doing it the whole way home. "You could have started a war this morning."

"Someone else started war as soon as they hurt those two-"

"Harrison is my number one suspect, Adelaide. But the whole point of strategy is to get the upper hand. You sold us out and now Harrison is building up his forces. He is evaluating all of his pack members and will most likely weed out the ones who are my informants. He is suspicious and on guard. Most importantly, he is already vengeful towards the two of us and now he has reason to react," Leo explained.

I could hear Harrison's words taunting me. Who will take your side? "He said you wouldn't listen to me," I mumbled.

"That man's priority is making our relationship hell because he lost you. By accusing him of murder, you allow him to wriggle into our lives more. Possibly by war, possibly by sending the Elders to strip me of my title," Leo hissed, now sitting directly next to me. "Why, Adelaide?"

"I had somewhat of a plan. I was going to do it in a way that wasn't so accusatory... but he just started saying things and I lost control-"

Like the possessive, protective Alpha male he was, Leo sat up straight and put a hand on the back of my head, making me look at him. "What did he say to you?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. You're right. Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear? I should have kept my nose out of it."

"No, you should have trusted me. Trusted that I would look into it." His fingers wove into my hair, massaging my scalp as he lowered his face to mine. Our foreheads pressed together. "Now, tell me. What did he say to you?"

I scoffed. "He just kept calling me his mate. He called me 'his angel' and then told me that I was betraying you by talking to him like I was." Pausing, I reviewed the conversation in my head. A chill ran down my spine. "He laughed when I asked him if he did it. Then he said, 'Maybe I did have that boy and girl ripped apart. Perhaps I didn't.' It just feels so messed up. It gave me the creeps and I lost control of the conversation."

The man visibly bristled upon hearing that Harrison referred to me as his mate and used a petname for me. "That lowlife. He is married and has a pup on the way."

"That's what I said!"

Leo wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his side with a deep exhale. "I know I sounded very dismissive when you told me your thoughts about Harrison. And I'm sorry about that. But can we agree in the future that you have more faith in me?"

I nodded slowly. "The thought of it was driving me crazy."

"I know. I admire you for advocating for yourself and the two lives we lost, but we just have to be cautious and strategic in order to truly help them. Does that make sense?"

Bobbing my head, I let myself lean into his embrace. "He at least knows something, if he wasn't directly involved."

"I know, gorgeous. I know." He kissed my hair gently. We sat in silence for several minutes before Leo straightened up. "Did I hear something about cookies?"

Without another word, I nodded and bounced to my feet. "Yeah. I was hoping it would make you less mad at me."

Leo snickered, following after me as I guided him towards the kitchen. The smell of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies wafted towards us and I would have dove straight into the pile of warm dessert if the man hadn't wrapped his arms around me from behind and buried his face in my throat, inhaling the scent of his mark on me. "My docile little housewife cooking for me," he groaned.

"Call me that again and this docile little housewife will cut your balls off in the middle of the night," I threatened, but kept my voice sweet and soft.

He chuckled in my ear. "Speaking of night... I want to go on a run tonight. Just you and I."

I inhaled sharply, turning in his arms to give him a bewildered look while he started walking me towards the kitchen island. "Is that a good idea?"

The alpha shrugged. "I have security doubled on the perimeter. No one will be able to get in, plus we will stay far from any borders. We both need to run out some of this nervous energy before our thoughts eat us from the inside out."

Images of the bodies flashed through my mind and I found myself squeezing my eyes tightly, as if I could squish them from my psyche. "We'll be safe, Addie. You'll be safe. I won't let anything happen to you."

"That's what everyone always says before something bad happens," I insisted.

Leo reached behind me, stealing a cookie from the plate. "I know. But I mean it this time." He split the cookie in half, passed me the larger piece, and said the most cheesy yet admittedly heartwarming thing anyone has ever said to me. "I protect myself. And you, Adelaide, are my better half."