Bec Adams by A Guardian's Awakening [Shy River Pack 3] Page A

either. Her world was upside down already, and right at this moment it felt like nothing would ever be okay again.
    “I need to call my…my friend.” God, she needed some normalcy, something ordinary and humanly mundane.
    Both Gavin and Kade tightened their grip on her as Hensen leaned over and touched her face gently.
    “It’s okay, Maggie. We’ve got you. You can call as soon as we’re finished here,” he said in a deep soothing voice as he wrapped his massive arms around all three of them. “The alpha just needs to talk to Gavin first.”
    She shook her head. She needed Gavin. He was an anchor to the real world. He was human. He wasn’t going anywhere without her.
    “It’s okay, Maggie, you’re coming, too. Whatever the hell is going on it’s clear that we need to stick together.”
    “Th–thanks,” she said as Hensen leaned over to brush a kiss to her forehead. “W–What was that thing?”
    She could sense that he really didn’t want to answer that question, but she was a little surprised to hear a growl from low in her own throat when Hensen looked at Gavin as if asking for help on how to avoid the question.
    “Hey,” Gavin said, squeezing her slightly in his embrace. “None of that. Hensen is only trying to protect you. You’ve had enough shocks for one day.”
    “But I need to know,” she said pathetically. Somehow she was flashing back to the early days of her mother’s illness when her mom had tried to keep the horrifying details to herself. It had been twice as devastating once Maggie had found out. She’d wasted so much time she could have spent with her mother in those early days. She had no intention of making a similar mistake with her mates.
    Hensen smiled and leaned over to press a kiss to her lips. Tears started to flow at the emotions she could sense from him. He was frightened for all three of his mates, and despite his calm exterior his need to lock them away and keep them safe was nearly overwhelming his control.
    She wasn’t certain how she understood any of that, but she absolutely knew in her heart that it was the truth.
    “I’m okay,” she whispered as Hensen finally broke the kiss. “I just need to be with my mates.”
    He smiled, touched her cheek, and then moved back so that Kade could kiss her, too. His touch was brief but comforting, his smile reassuring. A moment later Gavin turned her face into his chest, his arms tightening around her as several men she didn’t know carried the now unconscious creature from the room. Strangely, she felt like she could see it anyway.
    “Maybe we should relocate to my place,” Kade said quietly.
    “I’d rather take my family home,” Hensen said in a frustrated tone, obviously wanting to get them all as far away from Dry Creek pack lands as he could, “but I’m guessing the alpha will want us to stay close while we figure out what the hell is going on.”
    “Unfortunately,” Kade said as he stepped away, “that would be my guess, too.”
    “The wolf followed us here,” Gavin said calmly, even though Maggie could feel the tension in his muscles, “so traveling by car didn’t throw it off the scent.”
    “ That was the wolf that attacked Maggie?” Hensen asked, sounding as surprised as Maggie felt. The creature they’d carried out of here hadn’t looked anything like the wolf she remembered.
    “It was when it came through the door, but as it approached the bed it moved onto two legs and changed into whatever you want to call that thing they just carried out of here.”
    “It was in wolf form when it came into the cabin?” an unfamiliar voice asked. Maggie turned to see a very big man—hell, probably bigger than Hensen—step into what suddenly felt like a very tiny room.
    “Gavin, this is the alpha.”
    The man leaned over and shook hands with Gavin, apparently unaffected by the fact that they were both naked. Maggie stayed pressed against him, unwilling to share anymore of herself with a stranger just now.