I couldn't let that in her mind, even for a minute. I drew away from Hudson, kissed the bobble of his Adam's apple, and went to seek out the others. Gabe was asleep, exhausted from digging. I kissed his forehead. Xavion? I found him taking a shower, but I wrote him a quick note and slid it beneath the door.
Leo brooded over a sandwich in the kitchen. "I understand why you're going. But I wish you wouldn't."
"I wish I didn't have to go, either," I said. "But Hudson gave me the Hummer's keys. At least I'll have that. And it's got some kind of tracking software on it, right? So, if she gets really nuts, you can always just hunt me down that way."
His shoulders relaxed. "It still isn't safe."
"Nothing is."
He sighed and abandoned the sandwich, wrapping an arm around my waist and drawing me into his lap. "Nothing is, but there's a difference between getting rear-ended and running across an interstate tempting fate."
"I'm not-" I tried to argue, but he kissed me. I melted against him, helpless to resist.
When he broke away, he rested his forehead against mine. "We love you, Sadie Faye. Stay safe."
"I love you guys, too," I whispered. "I'll try."
The promise felt so final. Leo let me go, picked up the sandwich, and went back to staring at it. My poor alphas. All they wanted to do was protect me, but I was so busy running into the fire to protect them that they were at a loss.
I couldn't imagine that it was a common thing. Omegas seemed to be there to clean house, take care of the kids, and enjoy a comfortable life with a guardian that cherished them. Alphas got fulfillment out of it, and I was absolutely ruining any chance they had of finding that.
But I hadn't been the one who had called the Meet.
One of the guys had poured salt along the walk to keep it from icing up. I still half-skated down it to the Hummer. With a last, longing look at the house, I composed myself and got in the beast of a vehicle. It started up on the first turn of the key and I stared at it in wonder. My car would've taken four or five times to get going.
"You better get used to it, Sadie," I told myself. "Because your boys are never gonna let you deal with that kind of stuff again."
The drive was a quiet one, taking way too much time and too much effort. I only slid off the road a few times, each one easily corrected. Though I had to admit, I doubted the restaurant would be open. Who went out in messes like the one I was dealing with, if they had a choice?
Yet the restaurant was open, and it was packed. There was a line out the door, deep into the snow, and I had to park two blocks away to find a place that fit the Hummer. I slid the keys into my coat pocket and hurried back toward the front door.
I knew Lillian the moment I saw her. It was in the way she stood, the way she moved, the way she processed what she saw. I realized the subtle difference between what our kind must look like against the humans that moved around us. We were still, quiet, predatory. Our looks were just a little too sharp, our springs a little too tightly wound.
I hadn't expected her to be a nun. The habit was a polite, flowing thing that fit every stereotype most people have about nuns. Still, I thought the black and white was nice if not exactly practical in the snow. She looked a bit like a penguin.
"Lillian?" I asked, clutching my purse with one hand.
She turned to me and smiled, her teeth coming to points. "Sadie, sweetheart. You should have used the valet parking. I'd have paid for it for you."
I held my breath for a moment, got control of myself, and tried not to let her see my knees knocking. She put me off balance. Was she an alpha? An omega? I didn't know. My senses weren't that good, yet. But she had something about her that bothered me deeply, something that just didn't feel right.
Maybe it was just because I didn't like being away from my pack.
"I appreciate the offer, but Hudson and the others really don't mind taking care of what I need. The back of the line's about thirty people thattaways," I said, nodding away from the front door.
Lillian blinked at me, then tossed her head back in a laugh. "Oh, you sweet thing. We don't wait."
And she marched right up to the podium and demanded her reservation. When the server tried to explain that we were twenty minutes late, she cocked her head to the side and I was certain she was about to rip his throat out. The guy gave in, grabbed a couple of menus, and swept us off to our table before Lillian had to get violent.
I followed, silent and trying to gather my thoughts. I hadn't expected this sort of treatment or the fact that she had the power to give it. I'd expected her to be a curt, tough older woman who wanted to tear my head off my shoulders.
We were seated at a window where we
