Her Alpha

Chapter Seven

Ezra's POV

Something was wrong. I'd been passed out last night in my room, definitely not dreaming about my mate, when I'd snapped awake suddenly. My breath had been heavy, my heartbeat fast. Fear had slithered down my spine, then slipped into my core as I had realized what was happening.

My mate was in danger.

While I had to shake off grogginess, my wolf was ready to go. His constant snarl echoed through my mind as I thought over the situation. Where could she be? What could be happening in the middle of the night? If someone had gotten into her room, surely an alert would have sounded. Her howl, at the very least. She had to be conscious if my body was reacting so viscerally--I had to be experiencing her emotions, her panic.

I was up and out of bed in a flash, prepared to sniff her out. It could be pointless, but I had to try anyway.

But, as my hand turned the doorknob, my heartrate calmed. My breathing evened. Relief rushed through me without my consent.

She was alright.

My wolf still urged me to go find her, to see for ourselves that she was okay. I hadn't gone, though. Instead, I'd paced in my room for half an hour, my mind spinning over what had just happened. Waking up, feeling her emotions. My knee-jerk reaction to go to her. I was not itching to have a mate right now, but my instincts didn't give a single damn. It was even more ridiculous because she had a bodyguard, that vamp who followed her around all the time. So, if there were an issue, he'd be the one to help her. Not me. No, I should stay right here and mind my own business. Go back to sleep. Move on.

And yet, that half an hour of pacing turned into an hour. Did she have a nightmare? Maybe that was why relief had rushed through her, and me, so abruptly. She'd woken up. That was the most logical explanation.

It didn't feel like the right one, though. Something was wrong.

So here I was, knocking on the door to Beta Taylor's rooms, after a sleepless night of worry. I had plans to meet Lincoln and Smith there for lunch. They hadn't mentioned their sister joining us but, since it was here instead of in my suite or one of the guys', I was hoping she'd make an appearance. I'd been tempted to stop by earlier during breakfast to see if she was there, even though I wasn't invited. I'd even reconsidered the sniffing her out plan. Because apparently I was going fucking crazy.

But something bad had happened last night. There was no longer any doubt in my mind. No sweeping away the concern with ideas like maybe she had a nightmare. As much as I wished I could keep away from her until I was ready to deal with having a mate, that just wasn't how things were turning out. I couldn't ignore her. Not now.

Smith opened the door, giving a small smile and waving me inside. "Hey." Was it just me or did he sound downtrodden? Shit. I knew something bad had happened!

"What's up?" I asked cautiously.

Lincoln sighed dramatically from his seat at the table, where food was already set out--supplies to make some massive sandwiches and bowls of different flavored potato chips. "Our sister is--"

"Linc," Smith cut him off sharply.

Lincoln shrugged, his hands lifting defensively. "He's her mate. We should let him in the loop."

Yeah, I thought. You should let me in the loop.

Smith didn't appear convinced, however. He shook his head. "We should let her talk to him about her problems herself." He eyed me up skeptically. "He didn't seem too into the mate thing yesterday, anyway."