Truth

by Maggie Walsh

  “Yes, my love. I need to feel you inside me,” Bass moaned. He had been nervous the first time he had allowed Storm to enter him. But since then, he wanted to feel Storm inside him more and more. The feeling of his mate sliding into him was delicious. Even the slight sting felt good. Bass started to step back slowly, bringing Storm with him. He didn’t release Storm’s shaft and Storm never stopped sawing his finger into Bass’s hole. The backs of Bass’s legs hit the bed and he slowly lowered to the bed, as Storm followed him down.

  Storm reclaimed Bass’s lips and thrust his tongue deep into Bass’s mouth. He reached a hand up and grabbed the lube from under the pillow. Bass ran his hand up and down Storm’s muscled back.

  “Beautiful,” came a soft voice said from across the room. Storm and Bass both jumped at the sound of Noah’s voice. Storm moved off of Bass and stood up and Bass sat up. They both stared at Noah in surprise.

  Bass jumped up off the bed and ran to where Noah was. He fell to his knees in front of Noah’s cage and reached a hand out to touch him, but it went through Noah. “Noah, baby, where are you? We can’t find you,” Bass said sadly.

  Storm knelt down next to Bass and gave Noah a sad smile. “We have been looking everywhere for you, little one. Is there anything you can tell us to help us find you?”

  “Raffy,” Noah whispered.

  Storm and Bass tilted their heads in confusion. “What’s a Raffy?” Storm asked.

  “Friend,” Noah answered. “Help.”

  “Raffy is your friend who helped you?” Bass asked.

  Noah shook his head. “Raffy...help.”

  “Raffy needs help?” Bass asked.

  Noah nodded at him. “Hurt.”

  “Raffy’s hurt? Are you hurt, baby?” Bass asked with concern.

  Noah dropped his head and looked at the floor. He started to twist his fingers together nervously in his lap.

  “Noah, have they hurt you, little one?” Storm asked.

  Noah’s head dropped lower. He nodded slightly and sobbed.

  “I’m gonna kill them slowly when I find them. I will make them suffer for hurting you,” Bass said through clenched teeth.

  Noah looked up at him with tears in his eyes as he shook his head no. “Danger.”

  “I can’t just sit here and do nothing because there may be danger. You need help, your friend needs help. I will find you, Noah, if it takes me forever, I will find you,” Bass said with conviction.

  Noah gave him a small smile that melted Bass’s heart. He needed to find his mate. This beautiful little creature needed to be here with them, and not in his astral form. “I will find you, baby.”

  Noah tilted his head and gave him a small smile. “Safe.”

  “I know you want to keep us safe, little one, but we want to keep you safe, too,” Storm said as he reached a hand out to cup Noah’s face, but it went through Noah.

  Noah looked between them for a moment, then said, “Cars.”

  Storm sighed because he couldn’t understand Noah. Bass stared at Noah, trying to figure out what he meant.

  “Many cars,” Noah said in frustration.

  “Many cars? Like a lot of cars driving by?” Bass asked and Noah started to nod his head excitedly.

  “Okay, good. That’s good, Noah. Is there anything else?” Bass asked.

  “Mate’s safe?” Noah said as a question.

  “Yes, baby, we’re safe. But we want to make you safe, too. Don’t worry about us. Storm is leader of the Winthrope Pride, and I am an enforcer. We can take care of ourselves,” Bass said.

  “Master...mean,” Noah said scared.

  “This Master is mean? That’s okay, baby, I’m not afraid of him,” Bass said with a smile.

  “Mate’s...brave,” Noah said proudly with his head held high. He suddenly jumped in fear and looked over his shoulder. He looked back at them with terror in his eyes. “Christoph.” Then Noah disappeared.

  “Damn it!” Bass slammed his fist on the floor. He hunched over in distress and tried to slow his breathing.

  Storm wrapped his arm around Bass’s shoulders and pulled him against his body. “It’s okay, Beauty. We’ll find him. He gave us a little more information. We’ll find him.”

  “But will it be too late? Who is this Master? And who is Christoph?” Bass sounded defeated.

  “Well, we’re both up. How about we go take a shower, get dressed, and get some food into you? Then we’ll go out to the vineyards that are close to heavy traffic areas. In the meantime, call the Prince and give him Christoph’s name. Maybe that will help in his search,” Storm said soothingly.

  Bass turned his head to look at his mate and gave him a sad smile. “Such a smart mate I have. That sounds like a great plan. I’m sorry we didn’t get to finish loving on each other.”

  Storm smiled at him and gently kissed his forehead. “We have our whole lives to love on each other. Hopefully soon, we’ll also have our Noah to love on, too.”

  * * * *

  Noah jumped awake as he felt his cage being shaken roughly. He sat up quickly, eyes wide open in fear as he looked around to see what was happening. His eyes met with Christoph standing in front of his cage. Christoph must have been shaking his cage to wake him. He seemed to always have trouble waking after traveling in his astral form. He was very aware of what was happening around him, both in his astral form and his body, when he traveled in astral projection. He remembered speaking with his mates, but he also remembered Christoph coming to him, trying to wake him. He remembered the fear in him when he was speaking to his mates and saw Christoph enter the dungeon. He was afraid that Christoph could see his mates and hurt them. Then he remembered that Christoph couldn’t, but was afraid that Christoph would figure out what he was doing.

  “Wake up, hole. What is wrong with you? Are you sick?” Christoph sneered at him in disgust. Noah slowly shook his head. “You were sleeping so solid, I thought you were dead.” Noah didn’t know how to answer him, so he just remained quiet and kept his eyes on his sadistic captor. “Let’s get moving, the doc is here and your Master wants you to give him more of your blood.” Christoph stood up straight and unlocked Noah’s cage. He opened the door and stepped back, waiting for Noah to exit.

  But Noah didn’t want to go to the doctor, he was a bad man, too. He always tied Noah down to the cold metal table and then touched him, everywhere. He would put things into Noah’s body. Cold, hard things that looked like cocks, and each time he would put bigger and bigger ones inside Noah. Some of them made Noah feel like he would split in half. Then the doctor would force himself into Noah’s mouth and make him gag. He couldn’t breathe when that happened and that seemed to please the doctor. Then when he was finished with Noah after a few hours, he would then examine him and take blood from him. Then the doctor would put a needle in his arm and put a strange red water into Noah’s veins. The last time the doctor was here and did this, Noah couldn’t take his dream walk to his mates. He knew it was astral projection, but he liked to think of it as dream walking.

  Every night for three weeks he tried to dream walk to his mates, but nothing happened, until tonight. Maybe it had something to do with the strange red water the doctor put in his veins? He would be taken to the doctor once a week, and the doctor would always hurt him, and then take his blood, but he only gave Noah the red water every three weeks. Maybe that was why he couldn’t use his fae magic? Maybe it was the red water.

  “Let’s go, hole, you don’t want to keep the doc waiting. Or maybe you do?” Christoph leaned into Noah’s cage and grabbed his arm. He pulled Noah from the cage and started to drag him across the room. “Is that it, hole? You like what the doc does to you? Are you a pain slut? The longer you keep the doc waiting, the more pain he gives you. Maybe I should give you more pain before I use your hole, too. Would you like that, hole?” Christoph laughed and then opened the door to the lab where the doc was waiting. He turned to look at them when he heard them, and his eyes were full of evil as he lustfully looked at No
ah. Noah shuddered inside.

  Chapter 4

  They spent the day searching the vineyards that were close to areas of heavy traffic, but found nothing. It was getting dark and reluctantly Bass let Storm talk him into going home. He didn’t want to go home. He wanted to keep looking for Noah. They were close, he could feel it. Something told him that Noah was at the one vineyard they visited today. The whole time they were there, he got this weird feeling of great pain and sorrow. At one point he thought he could even smell Gabriel. That was when he knew he needed to listen to his mate and get some rest. Storm was right, he was no good to Noah if he couldn’t think straight. He needed to rest, then he would go back to that vineyard tomorrow. Something was definitely off there.

  “Beauty, please try to eat something,” Storm said softly as he caressed Bass’s hand. Bass looked up from staring at the plate of food in front of him. He gave Storm a strained smile and put a fork full of food in his mouth. “That’s better,” Storm said and smiled at him.

  “Didn’t you feel it, Storm? There was something off at that place,” Bass questioned.

  Storm paused for a moment, then drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Yes, I felt it.”

  Bass smiled, looking at Storm with hope. “I don’t know what it was, but it was making my wolf crazy. I think that’s where Noah is.” Bass took another bite of his food.

  “Beauty, I know you want to find Noah, and so do I,” Storm said slowly, carefully. “But do you think maybe you’re mistaken? I did feel something was weird at that place, but I didn’t get the feeling that something bad or evil was happening. I don’t know what the strange feeling was, but I did feel strange. Like something was missing.”

  Bass was upset by Storm’s words. He felt like his mate was just patronizing him. He looked deeply at his mate and saw the truth. With Bass’s gift of being able to look inside someone and see what they have seen, to feel what they have felt, he knew his mate was lying to him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He shook his head. “You’re lying. You didn’t feel anything strange there. You’re just telling me what you think I want to hear, so that I’ll eat.” Bass opened his eyes and stared at his mate with anger. “You promised you wouldn’t lie to me or hide things from me, but you’re doing it now,” Bass said angrily.

  “Be reasonable, Beauty. You’re walking around snapping at everyone. You’re not eating, you’re not sleeping. And now you’re talking about feeling a place is evil. I’m sorry, Beauty, but you’re starting to sound a little crazy.” Storm’s voice rose in frustration. Bass just stared at him like he killed the wolf’s dog. Storm started to get uncomfortable when Bass just continued to look at him without saying a word. Finally, Bass looked away from him. He gently put his fork down, then picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. He put the napkin on the table, then slowly pushed his chair back and stood up. Bass gave Storm one last look and then turned and left the room.

  Storm sighed heavily. “Damn it.”

  * * * *

  Bass walked into their bedroom and closed and locked the door. He knew he should have stayed and confronted his mate about what he saw, but he couldn’t. He knew he was being childish, but he couldn’t find it in him to care right now. What he saw in his mate rocked his world. He couldn’t believe he gave up his former life and moved clear across the country for a man who had very little respect for him. Storm didn’t love him. He only said the words because it’s what he thought Bass wanted to hear. He saw that his mate did that a lot. He never used his gift on Storm before tonight. He never thought he had to. He trusted him. After Bass returned and found Storm almost lost to the mating heat, he believed Storm when he saw how upset he was. He believed that Storm was upset by what was happening, by Bass having to get fucked for the first time in so long like he did. But he wasn’t. He was at the time, but it was because of the mating heat. It was messing with Storm’s head, with his emotions.

  Storm said that he enjoyed switching, but that has never happened. Every time they fucked or made love, Bass was always on the bottom. Storm had never even given him a blow job. Bass has given Storm plenty of blow jobs. And a lot of the time Storm would leave him hanging. After Bass sucked Storm off, Storm would kiss his head quick and say he had to go because of pride business, but he would take care of Bass in bed later that night. But then when the time came, he just fucked Bass.

  He saw in Storm’s memories that the man didn’t give blow jobs. He thought that was beneath a leader. And there was no way he was going to kiss Bass after he sucked Storm off because he didn’t want to taste the cum on Bass’s mouth. He said he liked to switch, but his thoughts told Bass that Storm didn’t want to unless Bass pushed. Because a leader should never submit. He only told Bass he liked it so that Bass would feel better about letting Storm take him. He said it just so he could claim his mate.

  Then what he saw next really blew his mind. Storm was excited about having Noah as their other mate because then Bass could fuck Noah and he wouldn’t pester Storm about it. Pester him? Bass never brought it up once since he returned to Napa. Storm was excited that he would finally have a mate who would be small and petite, that he could toss around and who would submit to him, not only in the bedroom.

  He didn’t know what to do. He wanted both his mates, but after what he saw in Storm, he wanted nothing to do with the man. Storm didn’t even think he was worthy to hold the title of enforcer. He was a leader’s mate and there was no way he could protect himself, let alone anyone else. When he saw Noah for the first time he knew he wanted him. He wanted to hold him, to protect him. He wanted to love him and share his life with him, but now he just wanted to go home. He still wanted to find Noah and rescue him. No one deserved to live like Noah was, and he was Bass’s mate, too. But Storm wanted Noah more than he wanted Bass. He had people looking for Noah twenty-four hours a day and didn’t tell Bass. Why? It made no sense.

  He needed to find Noah, and then he would leave. He wouldn’t have to worry about Storm’s mating heat. He would have Noah and he could help Storm through the heat. But after what Bass had seen inside Storm today, he was done. Storm wasn’t who or what he thought he was. He wasn’t going to live this life. He would walk away from both his mates, go back to the Angel Pack and forget about them. He would go on with his life. Maybe he could find someone, someday that would love him and treat him like he deserved. He wiped the tears from his eyes.

  Bass grabbed his suitcase and filled it with his clothes. Then he went into the bathroom and gathered his personal items and shoved them into his case. He picked up the phone to call Seth to see what other rooms were open, but then hung up. Seth was loyal to Storm. He would notify his leader right away and Bass would have to deal with that. He just couldn’t right now. He was too tired, both physically and mentally. He needed to sleep. He needed to escape this hell, at least for a little while. He grabbed his case and walked to the door. He opened it and looked down the hall.

  No one was there. He stepped out and made his way down the hall, then turned left, then right, then left again, damn this place was big. Not as big as his old Alpha house, but big. He went to the furthest room he could find from Storm’s. Because it was Storm’s room, not theirs. It had never been theirs. It was a room full of lies and deceit.

  He opened the door slowly and peaked in. It was a nice room. Not as big as Storm’s, but as big as his old room back home. He stepped in and closed and locked the door. He placed his case on the floor next to the bed, then kicked off his shoes and pulled the covers back. He climbed in and pulled the covers up and over his head. He lay on his side and curled into a ball and let the tears come. Storm just proved to him that he didn’t love him or care. He never came to talk to him. He didn’t chase after him and try to make things right. Bass sobbed even harder. He always thought he was a good judge of character, but he wasn’t. Storm sure fooled him. What else did he believe he was good at but wasn’t? Was his whole life a lie? He was a fool, and a worthless one at that. Maybe Storm was
right. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to be an enforcer. Maybe everyone had lied to him all these years. He was supposed to protect Jesse, his Alpha’s mate, but he couldn’t even do that.

  Jesse was attacked and almost killed under Bass’s watch. He was supposed to watch over Jesse and keep him safe. But Thomas, his pack brother, had attacked Jesse viciously, and he didn’t even know it until Jesse didn’t return from getting his stuff from his dressing room at the club. He couldn’t even smell that Thomas had been there. When he and Lexi walked into the dressing room and found Jesse barely alive, Bass thought he would die, too. He liked his Alpha mate. He was a nice man, a sweet man. Bass failed to protect one little human. How could he protect anyone else? Noah would be better off without him. Bass couldn’t protect him. He was worthless. He would find Noah and bring him here to Storm where he belonged, then Bass would leave. He wasn’t sure where he would go. He would figure it out later. He couldn’t go back home. He wasn’t an enforcer and he couldn’t protect anything, so what was the point. He would disappear where no one could find him.

  * * * *

  Storm slowly opened their bedroom door and peered inside. It was dark but he could still see that his Beauty wasn’t there. He stepped into the room and looked around, but Beauty was nowhere to be found. The bathroom door was open and the light was off, so Bass wasn’t in there. Where could he be? I thought I gave him enough time to pull himself together. He didn’t mean to hurt Bass’s feelings, but he didn’t feel what Bass felt when they went to that vineyard. He tried to lie and tell Bass that he did, so it would ease his beautiful mate’s mind, but Bass knew he was lying. Yes, he broke his promise to not lie to Bass again, but he did it to ease his tired mate. He was going to speak with him and tell him the truth in the morning after Bass got some sleep and his mind was clearer.