The Alphas' Legacy (Alpha Eyes: Book 3)

Chapter 22

Zoey

I slowly opened my eyes and took a moment to gain my bearings. Thankfully it didn't take long for the memories to come back. Little snippets of images and words filtered into my still-waking-up brain, piecing together into a complete overview of the last big event in my life.

Yes, we're still in the bunker, my wolf confirmed for me. Yes, Van slept on the bed with you. And yes, he's out in the other room pacing like a caged animal.

You're making me so excited to go out there and face him, I groaned.

Well, you're going to have to at some point.

I pulled the pillow over my head and held it there. Now that I wasn't freaking out about Jax potentially finding me, I had a moment to face reality.

Van's team had acted fast. Van knew the situation early, and he'd rushed me to safety as soon as he found out. There was no hesitation on his part: he took me to the bunker with no regard as to what it might be like to be locked in there with me for hours on end. Once we were there, he'd taken the time to calm and reassure me. He hadn't needed to--there were plenty of other things he could have been thinking about—but he made sure I was okay before anything else.

He's still pacing, my wolf informed me. I think he's worried about you.

I think he's worried about anything but me, I countered.

You won't know until you go out there.

Because I'd eventually have to leave the room anyway, I tossed the pillow to the side and sat up. What if Van was worried about me? What would that mean? Would that mean anything?

"Just go out there, Zoey," I sighed, swinging my feet to the floor. "What's the worst that could happen?"

I ran my fingers through my hair as I shuffled to the door. Van had seen me at all hours of the day, so it didn't matter how sleep-ruffled I looked. He'd have to pardon my lack of effort.

I slowly opened the door and peeked into the main room. Van was shuffling towards me, head down and seemingly focused on the floor. My wolf hadn't lied when she'd said he was pacing. From the way his jaw twitched, he was deep in thought about something. Had the spy gotten away? Was he still out there? My mind went to the worst case scenario.

Van paused a yard or two away from me. His gaze snapped up and landed on my face. Some of the tension seemed to seep out of his shoulders.

"You're awake."

He sounds relieved, my wolf whispered.

"Yeah," I confirmed with Van, ignoring my wolf.

"How are you feeling? You okay?"

I hugged my middle and shrugged. "Do you mean physically or mentally?"

He took a step closer. "Let's start with physically. You sleep all right?"

I nodded. "Surprisingly yes. Normally, anything involving Midnight would make me too wound up to sleep. But, I seemed to sleep just fine."

"And mentally?" He took another step forward, now close enough to touch if we both reached out.

"I'm not freaking out at the moment," I allowed. "But I also don't know what's going on out there. Is the spy gone?"

Now it was Van's turn to nod. "He sneaked out an hour ago. There's a woodsy section of our border that wasn't covered well by patrol. We changed the patrol route, so no one else will get in that way."