Derek’s grip on Grace tightened and he laid his head down against her. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered.
Grace straightened and stared right into Derek’s eyes. “I think we’ve both been through some shit. Shit, we’re still dealing with even now, but that doesn’t mean we’re not deserving of happiness. You make me happy, Derek, and when all this is over, I want to see where our relationship goes. If you’ll have me?”
Derek’s eyes widened. “If I’ll have you? Are you kidding? You’re the best thing to have happened to me,” he said, then crushed his lips against hers.
Grace’s body trembled as he kissed her slowly, cupping her face and swirling his tongue against hers. When they finally broke apart, she looked at him through heavily lidded eyes.
“I’d love to stay here all day, kissing you, but I need to clean up and take a shower. And then you need to tell me more about why you think the Carnegies are involved with the missing children’s case.”
Grace cleaned up where she’d been sick, while Derek stayed in the living room, studying the map again. Then once the hallway was cleaned, she got into the shower, hoping not only to freshen up but also to clear her whirling head. The mixture of the alcohol, heightened emotions, and Derek’s revelations left her dizzy, and she could hardly make sense of anything. What Grace did know though was that Derek didn’t think she was a monster for causing Will’s accident. She knew she had a long way to go with repairing things with her parents, but felt hopeful once the kids were found, she and Derek could have a future together.
When Grace got out of the shower, dressed and returned to the living room, she discovered Derek had made some food for them both. It was nothing extravagant, just some Ramen noodles with bacon and a fried egg, but it was exactly what she needed right now.
“I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty of cooking for us?” Derek said as he handed her a bowl.
“Are you kidding me? This is fantastic. You can cook for me anytime you want,” Grace replied, shuffling closer to him on the couch and pressing her lips against his.
They ate in silence until both bowls were empty, and then once Grace had cleaned the dinner things away, she asked, “Did you find anything we missed on the map?”
Derek shook his head sadly. “Nothing.”
“There’s got to be something,” Grace said, rising from the couch to begin pacing. She walked backward and forwards across the room, thinking about all the statements she’d gathered from the missing kids’ friends and family, and trying to see if there was anything that linked them together or connected them to a group of wolf-shifter hunters.
When she drew a blank, she got her laptop, turned it on, and sat back on the couch next to Derek.
“You really think the internet has the answers?” he said.
Grace shrugged. “It’s got to be worth a shot. We’ve tried everything else.”
She started typing in different search combinations, starting with each of the missing teens’ names along with “Carnegies.” Then she tried searching for the shifter-hunting family alone. When that only turned up results on the history of Shadowbrook she already knew, she tried more vague terms connected to shifter-hunting and wolves.
“What’s that?” Derek asked, causing Grace to stop her scrolling. He pointed to something on the screen, and she read the title of a forum post:
“Keeping Lenox Pure for Humans Only.”
Not wanting to read the vile prejudice these people spewed, but wondering if it might lead to finding the missing children, Grace clicked on the link. The post was a grotesque call to action, stating that the wolf-shifters of Shadowbrook had invaded their community for too long. It said in light of the fact both Ben and Josh Stokes had taken human mates and Ben had even gotten his mate pregnant with a filthy half-breed, the community needed to act to rid Lenox of the shifters once and for all.
The post went on to encourage anyone willing to join the cause to leave the details below, and someone from the Carnegies would be in touch with them.
Grace read on in horror as she saw that all five of the missing kids had left their names and email addresses for the Carnegies to contact them, stating they wanted to purify Lenox for humans only.
Having read enough, Grace powered down the laptop and closed the lid. Besides her, Derek growled.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she said, touching his arm. He flinched away, but undeterred, Grace reached out for him again. “Derek, don’t. Not everyone thinks like those sick bastards. Many people in town think you and your pack are vital members of the community. I certainly do.”
Derek allowed Grace to touch him then and she pulled him into her arms. “And I’m sure the kids didn’t really mean what they said. They’re young and impressionable.”
Derek stiffened in her arms. “Even teenagers can do terrible things,” he said, and she winced. He quickly realized what he’d said and turned to her, his eyes wide with panic. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I wasn’t talking about you. What happened to your brother was a terrible accident. You never meant to hurt him.”
Grace bowed her head. “Even if I didn’t intend to hurt Will, I still did, and that’s something I’ll always have to live with. I can’t make it right, but maybe we can still save those kids.”
“We have to save them, and stop the Carnegies. I just have no idea how. Just like you with the kids, every lead I’ve had has gone cold. They’re covering their scent and hiding their tracks.”
“Right, but did you see the last message on the forum? It was from a girl named Heather Avery. She said she wants to join the fight, only she hadn’t been reported missing yet. That means she might not have gone to the Carnegies yet, and we can follow her.”
“We don’t even know what she looks like,” Derek insisted.
Grace chuckled. “Do you all live in the stone age up at Shadowbrook? Have you never heard of social media? Heather is fifteen, she’s bound to have an account, with loads of pictures of her and her friends, online somewhere.”
Derek laughed and slapped his forehead as though he couldn’t believe how dense he was being.
Grace opened her laptop and booted it up again, and after a quick search, she found Heather Avery’s profile and uncovered pictures of an athletic fifteen-year-old with short blonde hair and a love of football.
“Okay, now we know what she looks like, all we’ve got to do is wait until school lets out tomorrow, and follow her. With any luck, she’ll lead us right to the Carnegies and the missing kids.”
Derek frowned. “Shouldn’t we call this in?”
Grace’s lips formed a thin line. “This is our case, we deserve to be the ones who solve it. Besides, there’s no guarantee Heather will even meet with the Carnegies tomorrow. If she does, we’ll track them to wherever they’re keeping the kids, and then phone it in.”
Derek contemplated her words and then nodded. “Okay. But as soon as we have a location we contact the police force and my pack and let them help us. This is too much for just the two of us.”
“Sure, that makes sense,” Grace agreed. Knowing they were possibly one step closer to finding the missing kids, Grace felt a weight lift from her chest. Derek was back by her side and didn’t think she was a monster, and they had a lead on the missing teens. Everything was going to be okay. She shuffled closer to him, running her hand down his muscular arm. “Do you want to spend the night?”
Derek stiffened for a moment, and Grace could feel the tension radiating off her. “Not tonight. I need to see the pack and discuss things with them. And I think, until we find the kids, we should slow things down.”
Now it was Grace’s turn to grow tense, and she looked at Derek questioningly. “I want to be with you, I really do, but there’s things about me you still don’t know.”
“So tell me?” Grace suggested.
“Not now. When the kids are safe. After this case is solved, I promise, I’ll tell you everything and then you can decide if
you still want to be with me.” Derek pressed his lips to Grace’s in a kiss that was full of promise, and she knew, no matter what he had to tell her, she’d accept it, accept him. The night they’d spent together, Derek had claimed her, and now Grace realized just how true that was. Derek owned her heart, body, and soul. She never wanted to be without him again.
13
Derek
Derek returned to Shadowbrook to find both Ben and Jason waiting for him anxiously.
“Where have you been?” Ben demanded.
“Hunting the trail of the Carnegies,” he replied, and Ben and Jason’s eyes widened. “I’ll explain everything shortly. This is something the whole pack needs to know.”
With Ben and Jason’s help, Derek called the whole pack together for a meeting, and the gathered together in the fire station’s rec-room to hear that their Alpha had to tell them.
“As many of you know, I’ve been assisting the police department on a missing children’s case,” Derek began. He explained about the weird absence of scent he’d already told Ben about, and how when he returned to the site of Eloise’s murder, he sensed the same thing there, which led him to wonder if the Carnegies were involved in the missing children’s case.
“The Carnegies are our enemy. What do they want with a group of human teenagers?” Kevin called out.
“The Carnegies are inciting the people in town to fight against us. The missing kids aren’t really missing, they went to join the Carnegies.”
“Then why are you still trying to help them?” Gavin asked. “It sounds like the whole town is against us. We should focus on protecting the pack.”
Members of the pack started shouting out in agreement or disagreement with Gavin’s statement, and the room erupted into chaos.
“Silence!” Derek bellowed and everyone fell quiet. “The hostility between our pack and the humans of Lenox needs to end. Yes, there are so vile people in this town who think we don’t belong here. But there are also many who view us as part of the community and would be willing to protect us against the Carnegies. Times are changing. Ben and Josh have taken human mates, and when this is all over, I intend to do the same.”
The park erupted into chaos again, and from the corner of his eye he saw Jason smirking at him, and Ben winked. Ignoring them both, Derek called for silence again.
“That’s enough. It’s this sort of prejudice that allowed the Carnegies to rise up against us in the past and ultimately led to Eloise’s death. It’s time to accept that not all humans are our enemies and that if we show them we want peace, the people of Lenox will welcome us into their community.”
“Hear, hear!” Ben called, leaving the group to join Derek’s side.
Jason did the same, shouting out, “I support our Alpha.”
Many other members of the pack, especially the younger ones who were already more integrated with the humans, came to stand beside Derek. Soon, only a handful of wolves stood opposing him, including Gavin and Kevin.
“Does this mean one of you wishes to challenge me for the position of Alpha?” Derek asked the older men.
He remembered what happened when he’d challenged Ben for the position, and how the former Alpha had almost killed him. He wouldn’t make the same mistake now. If either of these men wished to challenge him, Derek would be ready, and he’d do whatever it took to remain as the Alpha of the Shadowbrook pack.
Gavin and Kevin bowed their heads.
“No, Alpha,” Kevin said.
“I’ll give you one chance,” Gavin said. “But if any of our pack dies at the hands of humans, while you’re our Alpha, I will hold you personally responsible.”
“I understand,” Derek said. “And I’m not going to lie, the Carnegies still pose a threat. I want you to all be on guard and protect your loved ones. Me and Grace Alcott have a lead on where the Carnegies might be, which we’re going to follow up tomorrow. Be on alert, because as soon as I’ve found them, I’ll be contacting you all.”
Once the pack had uttered their agreement to Derek’s orders, the group began to disperse, leaving only Ben and Jason behind.
“You did well there,” Ben said, clapping Derek on the back. “Don’t forget to take your own advice. Protect your mate.”
Derek met the older man’s gaze, “I have every intention of doing so.”
Ben excused himself, stating that he had to return to the apartment over the bookshop to check on his pregnant fiancee, leaving Derek alone with Jason.
“So, you and officer Alcott hey?” Jason asked, nudging his friend in the ribs. Derek rolled his eyes and growled softly, causing Jason to laugh. “She seems good for you. You’ve certainly lightened up some since you two met.”
Derek couldn’t help but agree. Since Grace had come into his life she had filled it with light and happiness. Even after she’d confessed to causing her twin’s accident, he still wanted to be with her. He knew Grace was a good person who’d never meant to hurt Will and was doing all she could to make it right now. He only hoped she’d feel the same way about him when he confessed his own secret. Derek had meant to hurt the man he killed.
Derek struggled to sleep that night and regretted his decision to stay with Grace. He knew he’d rest more easily with her by his side, but he’d done the right thing, no matter how badly his body ached to be with her. He had to tell his pack what was going on, but more importantly, he couldn’t allow himself to be with Grace intimately until she knew the truth about him and chose to be with him despite the fact he was a murderer.
At some point, he drifted off to sleep, and as was happening more frequently of late, he awoke from a nightmare in a cold sweat with his heart pounding.
The dream was similar to the one he’d had when he spent the night with Grace. She’d come to him with open arms, only on the floor between them lay a corpse of a man. Grace looked at it in disgust, then lifted her gaze to Derek, horrified to see blood dripping from his mouth. The corpse rose, calling out “Murderer,” as it always did, and Grace screamed then ran from the room.
Derek shuddered and stared around his bedroom. Would the specter of his past never leave him? Maybe if he confessed to his crime, like Grace had done when she told him about Will’s accident, the dreams would stop plaguing him. But he couldn’t, not yet. They had to focus on tracking Heather Avery, finding the Carnegies and saving the ‘missing’ kids. Derek worried about that, too. When they did find the Carnegies, would the teens of Lenox who’d joined his old enemy turn against him too? Would he be forced to kill not only the Carnegies but these kids as well? He still thought of them as innocents. Even though they’d joined the Carnegies and stated their intention to “purify” the town they hadn’t actually attacked his pack yet. Besides, they were young. Young people made mistakes and condemning the teens now would only prove to the humans the Carnegies were right about his pack. They had to be better. They had to show the town they weren’t just mindless animals, and that meant rescuing the kids and giving them a second chance.
At around eleven-thirty, Grace called him, saying as she was suspended from work, they could begin the stakeout on the school whenever he was ready to. Derek told Ben what was going on, and the older man let Derek end his shift at the fire station early, making him promise to contact the rest of the pack as soon as he and Grace uncovered the Carnegie’s location.
Sliding his phone into his pocket, Derek put on his leather jacket and made his way across town to meet Grace at their usual place - outside the Maple Inn. She was already waiting for him when he arrived, leaning up against the wall and looking gorgeous in dark pants and a dark sweater, with her own leather jacket on over the top. Her copper hair was down, and hanging around her shoulders, the sun catching it and making it glimmer like fire in the light.
For a moment, Derek forgot all about the Carnegies and the missing kids. All he wanted to do was scoop Grace up in his arms and take her back to her apartment so he could claim her with his mouth and tongue, before plunging deep inside her.
“Hey yourself,” Grace said, pushing off from the wall and walking to meet him. She looped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.
Derek gripped her waist, deepening the kiss as his tongue delved into her mouth. When Grace moaned against his lips, he almost lost all self-control.
He broke the embrace and took a step back. “You can’t be kissing me like that, or we’ll never focus enough to stakeout the school.”
Grace giggled and entwined her fingers with his. “Okay, right, focus,” she said. “But when all this is over, I’m taking you back to my place and we’re not leaving, for days.”
Derek growled low in his throat. “I like your way of thinking.”
Grace had brought her car with her, and it was parked in the lot of the Maple Inn. As the school was a little further away, and they didn’t know how long they’d have to track the Carnegies for, they got into the vehicle and drove across town. Grace parked opposite Lenox Memorial High, in a position that she could see the main exit so that they’d spot any students leaving and hopefully be able to find Heather Avery easily.
Together they sat in Grace’s car, watching the school for any sign of activity, while listening to the radio, and eating and drinking the snacks Grace had been thoughtful enough to bring with her.
“I spoke to my mom earlier,” Grace said as they waited.
“Oh yeah?” Derek replied, raising an eyebrow to indicate she should go on.
“She wants me to have therapy for what happened with Will. She said we should all attend as a family too, so we can work through this issue.”
“That’s good. Isn’t it?”
Grace smiled sadly. “It’s good, and I know keeping a secret like that for all those years wasn’t healthy, but part of me wishes she’d never found out. And of course, part of me wishes I’d never done it in the first place.”
Claimed By The Alpha Wolf (Firefighter Wolves Shifters Book 3) Page 8
