When he’d moved to the Bay a month ago, as a celebration of them all being together again, the entire family had gone to dinner at the restaurant there. Excellent steaks but filled with snobs.

Vampires stayed at swish hotels.

He snarled.

He snarled again, turned, and ran swiftly back toward where he’d leaped out of his clothes, thinking he in no way trusted those vampires did not mean harm to him or his mate. He’d met nine supernatural beings and every one of them had meant him or Delilah harm.

And he’d left her to put up a fucking door and go run.

He needed to, that couldn’t be denied. He always needed to run, but when something was troubling him, he needed it more.

But even though he’d trained his brothers, their skill levels exceptionally high, their sparring partner him so they would in no way be intimidated by the kind of speed, strength, and agility his kind had—in fact, they’d all built defensive tactics that were highly successful, as demonstrated last night—it was his responsibility to look after Delilah.

And he’d left her hours ago to put up a door and then run as wolf.

It was late. Running had calmed the urge to claim his mate, so at least that was a positive.

But now it was time to get home to her.

He got to his clothes, leaped to man, put them on, forged through the woods to his bike, and jumped on.

He rode into the city and he did it with his senses open, taking in mostly human and animal, food, trash, and excrement, but no vampires or wolves.

He saw nor sensed eyes on him as he closed in on the restaurant. Not from cars. Not from buildings. Not from roofs.

They had to know he had the ability to do this, so he wondered if them retreating so completely was their way of making him trust them.

Trust them straight into an ambush.

He knew Chen was in the alley as he parked his bike. His brother moved out of the shadows as he swung off.

“All clear,” Chen said softly.

“Yeah,” Abel replied.

“You okay?” Chen asked.

“Yeah,” Abel lied.

Chen stared at him through the dim lights of the alley before he nodded and asked, “You want vigilance?”

He was asking if Abel wanted Chen to keep his eye on the alley.

Abel shook his head. “We don’t fight alone, brother. Go inside. Get some sleep.”

Chen looked to the ground and headed to the back door of the restaurant.

Abel followed him.

Chen called, “’Night, Ma,” as he headed up the stairs to her apartment.

“Goodnight, son,” she called back from her office.

Abel headed directly there to see her exactly as she was the night before.

“It’s late,” she stated, not softly, her tone was sharp and annoyed.