Chapter 60

Zora POV

"I know we don't know each other," Astra said.

I walked her and Max to the door. Max had already disappeared while Astra lingered.

"That's an understatement," I muttered.

"I know it's too late for me to be your Mom… but I'd love to be your friend. You seem like a fun girl!"

I rubbed my hands together. "Baby steps."

A smile cracked on her face. "Take all the time you need. I may disappear a lot, but I'll make an effort to be there for you."

I nodded. "See you later."

I closed the door and raced to the cellar to tell Dash my plan.

"Dash! Dash!"

He burst out of the cellar and wrapped an arm around my middle, dragging me from the door.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing."

I wrinkled my nose. "What's that smell?"

"Something to help our friend Gabriel talk."

I frowned. "I don't want to know… can we talk in my room?"

"Is that all you want to do?"

Heat rushed to my cheeks. "Uh… yes."

"Fine, let's go." He looked disappointed, but followed me upstairs.

"Is that blood on your knuckles?" I gasped.

"No," he replied quickly.

"Dash!"

He chuckled. "Babe, I'm the Pack Beta. I'm bound to get my hands bloody."

We were outside my bedroom door when he uttered those words.

"Does that bother you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I might get worried, though."

"You don't need to."

"Promise me you'll always come back to me when you go out on your missions," I said, fighting the emotions.

He cupped my cheeks and leaned in to kiss me on the lips.

"I promise. Promise me when I say run and hide, you'll do it."

"Dash, we won't live in this crazy world forever! I have a plan, which was why I grabbed you."

I took his arm and led him into my bedroom. This part of the house had been left untouched. I was thankful. This house felt like it was falling apart. I was dying to save it, though. I wanted to salvage it and create new memories.

We needed to survive in order to do that.

I closed the door behind us. Dash sat on the edge of the bed and took in my bedroom.

"What's on your mind? You're not worried about me pounding your mate, are you?"

I shot him a look. "He's not my mate. You are."

A grin spread on his face. "You're my everything, Zora. Knowing you were with him crushed me."

"It wasn't like that. Though, knowing Rachel was a two-timing bitch was very satisfying."

"Hey, she told me where to find you," Dash argued.

I frowned. "Only because she was jealous!"

Dash chuckled, grabbed my face and pulled me in. He closed his lips on mine and kissed me passionately. He pushed my hair away from my face as his left hand held my waist.

"You're cute when you're jealous," he said against my lips.

"Jealous? Me?"

He chuckled. He pulled away and smiled at me. "What did you want to tell me, Princess?"

"I have a plan to end this-"

A scream grabbed our attention. A crash and a male shout. Dash and I were on our feet quickly.

"Get away from her!" We heard.

"That's Gunner," Dash said.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked.

Dash squeezed my hand. "I think you should wait here."

I grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving. We don't even know what's going on! I know he's a wolf, but he's not invincible. I marched to the window and saw two men dressed in black leather in a standoff with Kaleb and Gunner. My heart dropped to my stomach.

"They have Cassidy!" I screeched.

"Shit," Dash spat. "They're here for Gabriel."

"They can't hurt her. She's pregnant, Dash."

"I know, mate. I need you to cause a distraction. There's a lot of old shit here that you can use."

"What?"

"If you don't want me to lock you up here, then you have to help me."

I nodded. "Okay."

Dash and I carefully walked downstairs. Zelda was by the front door, spying on the altercation.

"There you are," Zelda whispered. "These guys came out of nowhere. What do we do?"

"I'll hit them from the side. I need you two to distract them. Don't get hurt, please," Dash begged.

I nodded. I was terrified for Cassidy. The last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt. How did she end up caught in the middle? Dash went out the back door. Zelda and I stared at each other.

"What do we do?" she hissed.

Dash was right there was a bunch of useless shit out here. Like my Dad's old gardening tools. That wouldn't work. Then it hit me. The tools wouldn't work, but his old tractor might!

"Come on, I have an idea," I said and smiled.

"I don't know if I trust you," Zelda said nervously.

"Don't worry, we won't have to do much."

We rushed into the kitchen and rummaged for keys. However, this part of the house had been touched by the developers, so things were scattered.

"Any luck?" my sister asked.

I opened the drawer under the sink and gasped. "Yes!"

"Let's go. The tractor's in the shed."

My sister and I burst out of the back door. We heard shouting from the front yard. Zelah pushed the wooden shed door open, and I climbed inside. I jammed the keys inside and turned them in the ignition.

"This thing doesn't even work!" Zelda gasped.

"It works. It just needs a little love."

"We don't have time for that!"

I mentally pleaded with the thing to come on. Finally, it sputtered to life.

"Find me a brick or something," I said.

Zelda came back with a muddy rock. I drove the tractor out of the shed and placed the rock on the gas pedal. I jumped out of the car as it drove off without someone to control it.

If that's not a distraction then I don't know what is.