by Mason Sabre
“I’ll give your bitch a call,” Trevor said, his eyes bright with loathing. “See if she wants to come and pick you up, after …”
“You haven’t told her,” Cade said, slurring his words as he fought to stay focused. He didn’t care what he said to his father now. Didn’t care who heard. This was over. He’d leave and break free of Society. Even if that meant going stray. “You won’t. She might decide she doesn’t want to mate with me and then all your plans are screwed.”
Trevor’s blow was so fast that Cade had no time to react, no time to tense. His fist rammed into Cade’s gut. “You think you’re untouchable?”
Cade buckled at the waist, grabbing onto the rail just before the door to his father’s basement. He retched. He’d not eaten all day. Not eaten since his hunt with Phoenix, but his stomach wasn’t listening, and it clenched painfully, bringing up ugly tasting bile that flooded his mouth. He threw up everything he could drag from his insides and it landed warm and wet, against his bare feet.
Trevor stepped around it, reaching for Cade’s hair and fisting it in one hand. He snapped Cade’s head in his direction, so close that his father’s breath slid across his skin. “I don’t need to touch you. You forget. The little half-breed and your pathetic kitten are enough for me.”
Chapter 16
Natalie
Natalie sat in her car down the lane just a little way from the sight of the MacDonald residence. She was a bundle of nerves and even on the drive over, she’d had to slow twice before she ran herself off the road. She’d almost had to sit down when Trevor had called and told her he had Cade, and he needed picking up. She’d tried to ask Trevor, why, what was wrong, but he hadn’t said. Just told her to come. Cade would be waiting, and the tone in his voice had been enough to set her teeth on edge.
She wasn’t afraid of Trevor. She didn’t know him. But he was the alpha to their pack, powerful, strong. A wolf didn’t make it to that position if they were weak or soft.
Ten minutes had passed by as she sat in the car. Ten long minutes. She didn’t know what she was actually afraid of … no. That was a lie. She did. She was afraid of answers and words off Cade that he would tell her it was over. Why else would he have gone out all night and now she was summoned to his parents’ home?
She traced back what she had done. What had caused Cade to leave the house last night? No matter what, this was her fault, and she had to face that. She couldn’t shake off the image of his expression … the fact he had needed to leave. Just the sight of it made her want to throw up. It was a cloak she wore, thick and choking her. There was a fight in her mind so fraught with emotions she had almost called to him to come back. But she could feel the desperation and realised that it wasn’t her feeling those things, it was him. No wonder he had wanted to run, but when he hadn’t come home …
She had promised him, silently, that if he came back, if he was okay, she wouldn’t push him anymore. She’d been the one to do that. She had gone to him … almost forced him. Put him at a disadvantage when his wolf was the most vulnerable.
It had almost broken her heart when Kara had asked if they had sealed the deal yet, with that joking manner. She’d laughed, shrugging it off and making it like they had and that it had been his choice, but what was she supposed to have said? That she had cornered him?
No wonder he ran away.
Sighing, she started the engine again and drove the last few yards to his parents’ home. There were many cars there. Pack members’ cars. Cars she recognised, and some she didn’t. The scents around her were wolf. Rich, thick, a sense of home washed over her when she stepped out onto the gravel and took in a deep calming breath. Whatever this was … whatever happened next, she would take responsibility for it.
Most of the wolves she would probably recognise on sight, but many of them, she knew their scent. Knew them from the pack runs they had. These were her people … her family … her pack, whatever this was, she hadn’t done anything enough to lose that. Just Cade …
That thought had her almost ready to turn tail and go home. She could hide there. Wait, delay it. Pretend that nothing was wrong.
Too late.
The front door to the house opened almost a full minute after she had knocked. Kathleen opened the door, all the sounds of the house rushed out to greet her. She was so much like Cade. The same expressions, the same flick of her eyebrow as she gave a questioning gaze. Even the gentleness had been passed down to him, although his was much stronger somehow, if that were at all possible. She gave a smile when she saw Natalie.
“Trevor called me. He said Cade was here.” She hated the way her voice sounded nervous. She swallowed and took a second.
“Yes.” Kathleen stepped back to let Natalie enter the house. Natalie couldn’t help the boiling pit inside her, as not even Kathleen offered her a smile. “He’s out back. Come in and I’ll get him for you.”
“Thank you.”
It didn’t matter how many times she went to their house; the sight of it gave a sense of awe. It was so big, and right then, filled with the scents of familiar wolves. She could hear their muffled words coming off from a side room. Trevor was probably busy in an important meeting. Her gaze roamed over the polished floors and all the way to the magnificent walls. It was almost like the house forgot it was supposed to be a home and had become more of a place to see–a museum. Every crevice was dust free. Every surface held purposely placed pictures and figurines that just added to the pristine feel. This wasn’t just a house, this was a work of art. This was Kathleen’s expression.
Kathleen led her to a sitting room at the back of the house. Natalie had been there and already seen that the rooms at the front of the house were reserved for meetings and Society business, but the rooms toward the back were kept for that of the family. Mostly, Kathleen lived and worked there. She kept herself quiet. She was a timid woman. It often shocked Natalie to realise that.
The sitting room had large doors at the back wall that led out into the gardens. There was a decking with chairs, but beyond that there were trees and land. She tried to picture Cade here as a boy. Going out there and shifting, learning to find his paws.
“Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?” Kathleen said, breaking Natalie’s thoughts as she moved an upturned book from the chair and offered the seat to Natalie.
“We can get something at home,” Cade said from the doorway, startling both women. Kathleen put her hands down and gave a slow nod of agreement, but Natalie’s eyes went wide seeing Cade. Her heart jackhammered in her chest and almost knocked her to the ground. Her knees went weak at the sight of him. Not in love or lust or desire, no, her heart broke, her eyes couldn’t quite process what they were seeing, and her wolf reared up with a protective roar inside.
“Oh my god.” She stared at him, unable to move right then for fear she would fall and not get up. Her legs shook, her entire being tensed at the sight. His face was bruised and swollen. His jaw oddly shaped where his body had formed a bump to heal. “What happened?”
Cade limped into the room, and it was hard to tell which leg it was that was hurting him. She went to him, hands out, ready to take his weight, but he put a hand up to stop her. “I’m fine,” he said with a gruffness that told her it was a lie.
Need burned inside her. The need to help him, care for him. He was hers, and he was hurt, but she did as he asked and didn’t move. This was his father’s house, and he was the alpha’s son.
He didn’t look at her as he came into the room; he kept his gaze lowered. Natalie put a hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp. His feet were dark with dried blood. It had soaked into the bottom of his jeans. Deep angry welts surrounded his ankles and wrists. Someone had bound him in silver. Then she saw his throat. Anger flared. His skin was dark red with bruises.
“Cade?” She asked, daring to take a step.
“I got it.” He brushed past her to go to his mother and Natalie bit back the sting of rejection. It was stupid. This was his mother.
He hobbled to her, and the way he moved clearly said he was in tremendous pain, but he didn’t stop. He kissed his mother’s cheek. “I’m sorry.”
She patted his back affectionately, blinking away what Natalie thought was tears. “You know you shouldn’t—”
“I’ll be fine.”
Kathleen nodded and didn’t finish whatever it was she had been about to say. Instead, she squeezed his arm and then Cade turned and went back to leave the room.
“I’ll get him home,” Natalie said to his mother. “I’ll make sure he is okay.”
Kathleen only nodded. Her eyes were liquid blue, a current of deep sadness ran through them as she watched her son struggle out of the room. It made Natalie want to go to her … want to put her arms around her and tell her it would all be okay. If this was her own mother, she would have walked over to her and embraced her, but this was Kathleen MacDonald, alpha female of the wolf pack. She was power and strength, and to offer her comfort would be to say she was weak. Natalie swallowed hard, tore her gaze away and forced herself out of the room.
Cade was already at the car when she got outside. He had walked across the gravelled path, leaving behind slightly bloodied footprints. “Where are your shoes?”
“I lost them,” he said, his voice hoarse. He stood with his back rigid, his expression set in a hard line.
Who had done this to him? Just the sight of him standing there and his pain in the air made her want to hurt someone. Her wolf rose to the surface, but this was different to what she was used to feeling with her sisters. This was stronger, dominant, a strong piece of herself rose inside and came out to protect her mate.
She unlocked the car door. “Do you need me to help you?”
“No.” He shook his head and with that male stubbornness, he got himself into the car, still not looking at her. He didn’t even raise his gaze to her or anyone it would seem.
He stayed quiet the entire drive home. His eyes focused outside as he watched the passing scenery. He was lost … shut down. She wanted to reach for him. To grab hold of him and pull him back from wherever it was his mind had taken him to.
When she parked the car outside the house, she rested her hand on top of his, because the need to touch him and hold him close grew ever so strong. But he didn’t even move. “Cade?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, and then he snatched his hand away, reached over and opened the door. He was out before she had the chance to protest and she watched him as he walked to the house, limping as he went. He walked like he was walking across hot coals. Fury burned inside her, but settled to that burning guilt in her gut.
I’m sorry, too. If she had never pushed him … never made him do things he wasn’t ready for. He wouldn’t have had to leave. He would have stayed home last night, locked in his room and working. She’d make this up to him.
When they got to the house, he sat at the kitchen table, and put his head in his hands; his fingers peeked through his soft light brown hair and he rested on his elbows.
Natalie lingered behind him, her fingers just over his back. She wanted to touch him, to feel him, to mesh their wolves together in such a fundamental way that it would heal, not just his physical wounds, but the ones that had him bowed in front of her.
She leaned down over him and pressed her face into his hair. “I’m sorry." She slid her hands down his back, snaked them all the way to his sides, across his ribs and around to the taught muscle of his chest. She was about to settle against him and let her wolf a little loose inside when the sweet scent of something … someone else caught her. It shocked her so much that she jerked back as if the scent alone had hit her. A shaky pause. Cade didn’t react to her movement. “I’ll get some water to clean you up. Silver?” Her voice teetered on the edge of trembling and she stayed behind him for a second.
Cade only nodded in response to her question, and he didn’t move when she went to their medicine cabinet. Minutes later she was back with water, cloths, creams, bandages and a renewed sense of denial that made it possible for her to go to him and not up the stairs to pack her bags.
She pulled the chair up next to him and angled it so she could face him. “Give me your hand.”
He did. He placed his hand in hers, but at the same time, he met her gaze and any anger that wanted to bubble inside her, vanished. There was sadness in his eyes, deep, raw, feral sadness that was so far into him, she wasn’t so sure he knew the extent at which she could see it. She stroked her thumb along his skin, her wolf needing to comfort him. Her heart almost broke at the way he was watching her.
“I’ll be gentle.” She held his wrist over the bowl and squeezed water from the cloth over it to wash away the blood. The wolf in her wanted to touch him, to soothe him, but she was aware enough of Cade and how he was to know he wouldn’t have welcomed that touch. He was wolf, but he was also alpha material.
She let her gaze drop to the work at hand, rinsing and pouring to clear the blood from his wounds so she could see what she was dealing with. It didn’t take long for the water to turn red, and she had to change it twice before she got down to the wounds. The washing left behind raw, open grooved welts that criss-crossed over his wrists.
“Oh, God.” She raised her eyes to meet his. “Who did this?”
When both of his wrists were clear, she couldn’t help herself and ran her fingers along the undersides of his arms. She couldn't imagine anyone being able to overpower the masculine strength of him. Even now, as she cleaned his wounds, the raw power that came from him was like electricity buzzing across her skin.
“My father,” Cade said, his voice thick with hate.
She went ice cold. “Your father …” She couldn’t comprehend it. Trevor was a mean man, but he was still a father. She had seen Trevor deal with out of line pack members … when he exerted his power over the lesser wolves and put them in their places, but this … “Why?” she said, her voice almost a whisper, her question simple, but anger flashed across Cade’s handsome features, bringing out the blue even more in his eyes.
It was so hard to imagine that a father would do this to his own son. No matter the son’s age. But then, maybe her own images of a father were locked in with that of her dad. He had been a loving man, kind. He’d been plagued by his demons, fought with them almost every second of his life, but he had never laid a hand on her, or her sisters. If they were ever in the wrong as children, just the look of disappointment was enough to make them sorry. “It’s my fault, isn’t it? I called your dad,” she said when he hadn’t answered.
She’d been so worried where he was that she didn’t know who to call. She only had Phoenix and his father’s numbers. She didn’t know who else to ask if they had seen him … didn’t know where else he might go.
Guilt choked her, rocked her to the very core. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean–”
He paused a moment, blinking long and hard and then he shook his head and reached for her. “It wasn’t your fault.”
She stared at him and searched his face. “How can you say it isn’t my fault … were you not at your father’s?”
Another pause. This one was long and heavy. It created a twist in her gut.
“No,” he said. One simple word, enough to dig into her heart and make her soul cower in the corner when her mind latched onto that. She went to pull away, and even though it must have hurt him, he grabbed for her hand, holding it in his and wrapping his fingers around it.
She could smell it. Smell the scents that weren’t meant to be there. She had scented them before, but her mind hadn’t wanted to think … didn’t want to ask questions in case she didn’t like the answers. Now, sitting with him holding her. The fear created an odd melting sensation in the pit of her stomach. “You were with Gemma?”
He nodded.
“All night?”
He didn’t need to answer that. His expression said it all. She blinked. Shock rooting her to the spot. The surge of jealousy was wholly new, but then, she’d never let anyone in close. Sh
e’d always assumed that her life would be spent caring for her sister and her mother.
“Why?” she asked, again, this time her voice shaking. She didn’t want him to answer, but she had to know. “Did you … Did you sleep together?”
Her breath caught the moment her question left her mouth and her head went light when he shook his head.
“No,” he said. “But that is why. My father thinks …”
“But you didn’t? You didn’t have sex with her last night?”
“No.” Cade took his hands from hers and pushed back his seat, leaving her sitting there. “I’m sorry I’m not giving you what you need,” he said when he came to a stop by the counter. “You deserve better than me.”
Chapter 17
Henry
So many sounds all at once. So many acute noises trying to infiltrate the corners of Henry’s hearing, pushing against every audio sensory part of his brain. He clenched his jaw painfully tight, pulling the ache deeper into his bones … his joints. It was like every bone in his body was ready to snap. Water lapped around him, cold, seeping into his clothes, washing against his skin. He tried to move, but found his body as heavy as if his very skin was waterlogged. Deep snores rumbled around him, echoing, pulling at the other side of his hearing for his attention. Someone was in a deep raspy slumber and didn't care about him being there. But then, his name … a word on the wind floating around him. Something in the shadows, calling to him. Forceful, repeating, penetrating his soul until he woke from it.
“Henry,” she said, again. He could hear her. He could even point to where she was located, but he couldn't lift his hand to care, or even bother to answer. Her words floated away from him like a leaf caught on the breeze. He didn’t need to catch it. Didn’t care to. “Henry … for Christ’s sake. Wake up.”
