“I think you need to get back here,” Maddox informed his alpha over the phone as he watched some douche circle the building for a fifth time.
Drew had put him in charge of watching the building where Alyssa lived while Drew dealt with a meeting for Master’s Grilling. Since Callum was unavailable, Drew had asked Maddox to step in. In recent months, he’d stepped in whenever Fredrica’s brother was unavailable. As a natural-born beta, he’d readily accepted the role, but what Maddox seemed to appreciate more was the sense of belonging. He’d blown his first impression with so many of the pack members he had worried he wouldn’t be welcomed. But between falling in love with Fredrica and proving that he was worthy of her—not just some playboy obsessed with his own pleasures—he had gone a long way to improving his relationships with her pack members.
“What’s happening?” Drew’s tone was ripe with frustration. The alpha in him wanted to be with his mate, not stuck in some boring meeting.
Maddox understood. The first days with your mate could be rough, especially if the mate gave you any trouble, and Fredrica had given Maddox a hell of a time, quoting his entitled playboy ways as an excuse to make him jump through hoops. He rubbed the back of his neck and cringed. His first meeting with Fredrica had not gone according to plan. Though, when he thought back to those first moments, like the first time she’d given him shit, he wouldn’t change it—or her—for anything.
“Some guy keeps going around the building. Checking it out.” He watched the scruffy, unshaven man glance up at the brick once more before going inside. “Shit, he’s going in.”
Maddox had his seatbelt undone and his door halfway open before Drew’s gruff “Follow him” came through the phone. “I want to know who he is.”
Drew spoke to someone who must have been in the room with him, but Maddox didn’t register whatever business they were conducting. Focused on the door, his stride ate the pavement in the parking lot.
Once at the door, he pulled to an abrupt halt as he watched the blond man stepping into the elevator. Unsure whether to charge in and cause a conflict with a potentially innocent stranger, he paused too long. The elevator closed as Maddox caught his first whiff of the stranger’s scent.
“Fuck!” Ripping open the door, he raced across the lobby and repeatedly hit the call button for the elevator. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“What?” Drew’s growl was not a pleasant sound and was sure to grow even more hostile.
Maddox scanned the area, spotted a door marked with an image of stairs, and started toward them. He’d been watching in case she made another attempt to flee. He hadn’t been expecting an intruder. “What floor is she on?”
“Six. What the fuck is happening, Maddox? Tell me now.”
“He’s a shifter.” Maddox rounded a bend and continued up the stairs, taking them two at a time. “I’m on my way to her. Get here. Fast.”
Hanging up the phone, Maddox neglected to tell his alpha that the scent had been laced with arousal. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if Drew crashed, driving at breakneck speeds to get to his female. If someone were going after Fredrica, intending to rape her, Maddox would burn the earth down to get to her.
He came crashing through the stairwell door, his breath coming in pants, as he glanced down the hallway to where Alyssa had emerged in sweats and a tank smudged with paint to meet the blond man. Both spun to look at him.
Taking a deep breath, he straightened. Now how to deal with this problem?
Alyssa turned her frown toward him. “Can I help you?”
“I’m a friend of Drew’s. You need to get back inside. Now.”
The frown deepened and based on how similar the expression was to the one Fredrica wore the first time they’d met, he knew he’d blow another first impression. When her hands landed on her hips, he knew he was about to get it, but he was more concerned with the stray.
The blond straightened, his eyes narrowing, his posture tensing as though he expected a fight. And he’d damn well get one if he thought about any ill will toward Alyssa.
Though the blond was taller, Maddox likely had him beat by a good thirty pounds. He’d win, hands down, unless the bastard had something up his sleeve.
“And who exactly are you?” The blond demanded.
Like fuck he was giving this joker his name. “I’m a friend of her boyfriend.”
“You have a boyfriend? You said you never date.” His head whipped back toward Alyssa, and the hint of anger in his tone didn’t go unnoticed.
Alyssa looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She seemed frozen and stuttered. “I…um…well, he’s not really—”
The blond waved his hand rudely in front of her face. “Hello, Alyssa, you don’t date. You’ve been here, what, not even a month? I saw you in Baltimore.”
Maddox wanted to snap his arm off, especially when he reached out to grab her elbow. “Don’t touch her.” His warning came out between clenched teeth, his wolf barely contained beneath his skin.
The male must have sensed the threat. He dropped his hand and focused on Maddox, his posture lowering into more of a crouch. “Just who the fuck are you?”
“I’m the guy who’s going to break your fucking arm if you try to touch her again. Back. Off.”
“Make me.” The words came out slowly, the challenge clear.
Maddox took a step forward.
“Okay, okay, guys,” Alyssa stepped between them, unwittingly putting herself in danger. “I think this has gotten a little out of hand. I think you should both leave.”
“I agree.” Drew’s voice carried down the hall as the alpha stepped out of the elevator. Thank fuck the cavalry was here.