“That’s a good girl.”
Judge took in the young girl lying on the ground. She was dirty, cold, and more importantly still bleeding. Her injuries were extensive, then, not allowing her young shifter blood to heal them fully.
Bringing his wrist up to his mouth, he called his beast partly forward. Slicing his skin with his descended fang, he brought it to Katie’s mouth. He pushed his blood as well as his power past her lips.
“Come on, poppet. Drink for me,” he urged.
What few people outside of the shifter community knew about the power an alpha’s blood carried was that it had the ability to heal. As a rule, alphas generally kept their blood for their pride or pack members alone. Though few had the amount of power Judge held within his blood. While some of it had come with age and experience, most had been gifted to him by the Gods themselves. As Katie’s alpha, Judge knew that his blood would heal her fully.
Soon enough, Katie was sitting. With a little encouragement and a promise that it was safe, Katie was squeezing her way out of the cave. Once again the boulders brandished their own form of retribution, slicing into his skin, but his worry lay elsewhere. The now fully healed six-year-old began to shake, likely going into shock from her ordeal.
Pulling her into his arms, he allowed her to absorb his body heat. “Let’s get you home. Your mom and dad are so worried about you.”
With a whimper, she snuggled into his body, her arms clinging to his neck. Heading back to the road, he thought about the motives behind the attempted kidnapping. He’d heard rumors that young shifters had disappeared in California, but nothing this close to home. Until now. His gut told him it had something to do with her immature shifting ability.
“Andrew, I think it’s time to call the alpha of the Yosemite bear clan who lost a couple of teenagers last year,” Judge said as he continued his journey toward his awaiting pride. “What’s his name again?”
“Damon Taylor. He has a reputation. He’s a hard but fair alpha.” Andrew smiled. “You two should get on well.”
“I’ll make contact with him as soon as I get back to the house,” Judge replied, trying to hide his disappointment.
He wouldn’t be back by his mate’s side as soon as he had thought after all. With her sister in the hospital, at least she couldn’t get into too much trouble in his absence.
Chapter Five
Charli couldn’t believe where she currently sat. As she absorbed the sounds of chips falling and slot machines ringing, she thought about what had brought her here. Only an hour ago she’d heard from Judge, confirming what she already knew—Katie had been found. The call coincided with Emily being wheeled into her hospital room. The poor thing was exhausted after the extensive amount of tests she’d been subjected to and had fallen straight to sleep. Now Charli was in the one place she had spent the afternoon deciding to avoid.
In Judge’s absence, Charli had spent the time thinking about how she was going to handle this situation with him. She couldn’t deny her attraction to the man. But who in their right mind wouldn’t be drawn to him? He was gorgeous. What surprised her was the amount of comfort she’d gained from Judge’s presence at the hospital.
For the last two years, Charli had been raising and caring for Emily alone. She had no support or anyone to lean on in times of stress and worry. She’d never felt a lack of ability when it came to being the sole caregiver of Emily, but something was missing. With Judge’s touch and comfort came the answer. Someone to share not only the worries but the joys as well that came with having Emily in her life.
In Charli’s time of need, Judge had been there to support and comfort her. He’d taken on the responsibility of finding out answers and ensuring Emily received the best possible care. He hadn’t even hesitated when he heard her being referred to as Charli’s daughter. Sure he’d been surprised, but who wouldn’t be after being led to believe she was her little sister.
Charli was at a loss as to what to do. She had no desire to place Judge or anyone else in danger. Hell she couldn’t even guarantee that Las Vegas would be their permanent home. She and Emily had been able to remain hidden for the last two years. That hadn’t stopped Charli from psychically keeping an eye on things back home. Their absence hadn’t deterred the man at all. In fact it had only increased his ire, if what she saw was to be believed.
So for someone who had yet to decide how she was going to protect Judge from the dangers of her past, what was she doing sitting in the bar inside the casino in his hotel? Just like every other time Emily had been in the hospital, Charli found herself in one of the many casinos Las Vegas had to offer, gambling.
“May I buy you a drink?” a man asked from behind her. He wasn’t the first to offer. She just hoped he would be the last.
“No, thank you,” she replied politely. She kept her gaze on the drink in her hand, refusing to acknowledge the man any further. If only he could take the hint.
“Oh come on,” he urged, sitting on the empty stool beside her. “You’ve almost finished that one, and it’s not nice to drink alone.”
He edged closer, his aftershave almost suffocating in its intensity. His hand moved to her arm. She inched away. But still that didn’t deter him. She didn’t need to be psychic to know she was in way over her head. This man wasn’t going to take no for an answer and she had no idea or experience in how to remove herself from the situation.
“I do believe the lady has expressed her opinion on keeping your company,” came a deep, gravelly voice from behind her.
The man looked toward the voice and scoffed, “What are you, her father?”
“No, I’m a man who understands what it means when a woman says no,” Chaos replied, his intense stare aimed at the man. He didn’t look her way until the man had finally moved off of the stool and on to his next target. “Are you okay?”
“I am now, thanks to you,” she replied, pointedly looking at the stool. Once he accepted her unspoken invitation and sat down, she added, “Thank you, Chaos. I really didn’t know what I was going to do to get rid of him.”
He bowed his massive head. “At your service, sweetpea. Though I’m surprised Judge allowed you down here by yourself.”
“He got called away on a pride emergency,” she explained. “I thought he would have told you guys.”
“He probably did, but I’ve been holed up in the kitchen most of the afternoon.” Chaos accepted what looked like a whiskey from the bartender. “We have a wedding here this weekend and the bride’s mother is driving me crazy with constant menu changes.”
“I’m sorry you’re having a hard time of it,” she sympathized.
Silence followed as they quietly sipped their drinks. While she appreciated Chaos’s help, something else was calling to her, attempting to pull her away from the secure presence of Chaos. It was a need that had driven her to come to the casino in the first place, and now it was urging her to move deeper into the darkness and do its bidding.
Chaos caught her looking over her shoulder and asked, “Are you here to do a little gambling?”
Sweat broke out above her upper lip as the need took over. Without looking at the man beside her, she replied, “Yes.”
“Come then, sweetpea, I’ll join you.” Chaos stood and threw enough money on the counter to cover both of their drinks. Her body wouldn’t allow her to do anything but follow. “Where do you want to start?”
Her hand tightened on her bag, which held her chips. Her other hand shook the closer she came to the blackjack table. “How about here?”
As she sat down, she noticed the shocked look on the dealer’s face. He seemed to want to protest about something but a not-too-subtle shake from Chaos’s head silenced him.
“Is there a problem with this table?” she asked.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Chaos apologized. “Before we knew who you were, your picture was shown to every single person who works the tables, especially blackjack and roulette since they seemed to be your favorite. They
were to allow you to play, but send up a warning of your presence to Judge. Since discovering your significance, Judge has spent the last week searching for you. Apparently he was lapse in revoking your banned status.”
“Oh,” she said, unsure what to say. Though she still looked over her shoulder, wondering if security was about to encroach on her gambling session.
“Don’t worry. No one would dare bother you while I’m here. Then tomorrow I will correct the error.”
“Thank you, Chaos.” She put her chips on the table. It was then that she noticed Chaos didn’t have any. “Did you want to share some of my chips?”
“No,” he replied, smiling. “I keep my gambling for the kitchen. I take many chances with my dishes and haven’t lost yet, thanks to Lady Luck. Where she gifts you with luck at the tables, she gifts it to me in the kitchen. But I’ll stay and keep you company.”
“Thank you, Chaos,” she said, almost laughing at the amount of times she had thanked him. “But you do realize Lady Luck has little to do with my winning.”
“You believe it all to be your psychic ability?”
“Of course it is.”
“But it is my understanding that fate only provides a psychic what she wishes you to see. Is that not correct?” he asked. She nodded her reply. “Then don’t you think that maybe Lady Luck had a hand in your visions, allowing you to see what you need to do to win?”
“I never thought of it that way,” she said pensively. “Don’t you mind that I’m technically cheating to beat your casino out of money?”
“Firstly, as Judge’s mate you would be denied nothing from any of his brothers.” His comment had her cheeks heating. “And secondly, you have only ever walked away with around two thousand dollars each time. We can make that back many times over in one night. The question is, why stop at two thousand?”
They had entered uncomfortable territory for Charli. Her guilt at winning the money through cheating now warred with her need to gamble. Usually that undesirable emotion swamped her when she was converting her takings into cash. Up until that time the need ruled her, but never enough to see her winnings surpass her self-appointed limit of $2,000. She had no need for the money, just the need to take on the game of probability and win.
Knowing Chaos waited for her response, she kept it as uninformative as she could. “Let’s just say, I refuse to allow the thrill I gain from winning to turn to greed.”
“Spoken like a true mate of one of the Four Horsemen,” came Chaos’s muttered reply.
Before she could question whether he meant the same Four Horsemen she had learned about in Sunday school, he nodded to the dealer and the cards were dealt. As soon as her hand touched the cards, she was lost to the game.
Chapter Six
Judge was one pissed off man. He had somehow lost his mate again. He’d been gone for two days and was in desperate need to feel Charli’s soothing presence beside him. But she was nowhere to be seen. Now both man and beast were fuming.
His beast had been restless the whole time he’d been dealing with the situation of someone stealing young female shifters. Unlike the usual enjoyment he felt while spending time with the pride, this time he had felt nothing but on edge. Yes, someone was trying to steal his pride’s cubs right out from under his nose. But it wasn’t the first time, and he very much doubted it would be the last.
The power shifters held within their blood would be sought after if the world’s human population knew of their existence. And it would seem that someone had already been exposed to the power and coveted it for themselves.
With his pride on guard and orders issued, Judge rushed back to the city. He was itching to be back by his mate’s side. The closer he drove to the city, the calmer his mountain lion became. That was, until he discovered Charli wasn’t in Emily’s room at the hospital.
So now he sought his brothers’ help. The guards who had been driving Charli wherever she wished to go reported that they dropped her off at the hotel. And it wasn’t the first time they had done such a thing. While he hoped it was to be closer to him, Judge was enough of a realist to know she was probably checking up on Nikki. Now that he’d found her, there would be no more hiding. From him, at least. She could continue her friendship with Nikki without fear of discovery by him. That was where he hoped to find her now.
To his surprise he found Viper at the bar in the casino. An odd place for him to be, considering each venue within the hotel had a table reserved especially for the owners. Still that didn’t deter him from his mission.
“Have you seen Charli?” he asked. “She wasn’t at the hospital, so I passed by her apartment and received no answer. I was hoping that she may be here somewhere. Maybe with Nikki.”
“Oh she’s here all right!” came Viper’s reply. His chin jutted out slightly, while his gaze hadn’t moved from the casino floor.
Following his brother’s line of sight, he found her. Making a move in her direction, his progress was halted by Viper’s hand on his arm.
“What the fuck, Viper! Get your hands off me.”
“Not yet. I think we need to see what she does.”
“We know what she’s fucking going to do, play for a while, win most of the hands, and walk out of here with about two grand,” he stated forcefully.
“Do you deny her the money?” Viper challenged. Judge wouldn’t have been able to hold back the hiss if his life depended on it. “I didn’t think so. But Chaos has a theory about why she does it.”
“For the money.”
“No, he thinks she might have a gambling problem.”
“It’s only a problem for her if she loses.”
“Look, I can only tell you what Chaos has shared with me. He ran into her the other night here. He got the feeling that she didn’t just want to go into the casino, but it was a need that she had no control of.”
“Then why does she always walk away with such a small amount of money?”
“That’s what he’s trying to get to the bottom of.”
“Okay, then why are you here and not him?”
“He wants to know what she feels throughout the night,” Viper explained.
The fae’s ability to read people’s emotions far outclassed even Judge’s and Devil’s sense of smell. He didn’t need to be anywhere near a person to know exactly which emotions they were feeling because their aura spoke to him rather than their scent. “He suspects like most addicts, Charli experiences guilt. Though hers comes after winning rather than losing.”
After considering what Viper had to say, and acknowledging he had wondered why she hit the casinos, especially after seeing her healthy bank accounts, Judge took the stool beside his brother and ordered a whiskey. His gaze never left his mate. She appeared relaxed, outwardly enjoying the card game she was playing.
So he followed suit and relaxed. For the first time, Judge was able to really appreciate his mate’s stunning looks. Long, black hair flowed down her back. Her fringe hung over her eyes, teasing her admirers with small glimpses of her violet eyes. Her round face fit well with her luscious body. She was curved in all the right places, ensuring she would fit perfectly into his body.
She tried to hide behind drab-colored clothing, and now that he knew a little of her past, he understood why. But didn’t she realize there was no hiding her perfection? Her natural beauty made her stand out, negating the effect of the use of boring clothes as camouflage. While he admired his own mate, he asked after Viper’s.
“How’s Nikki?”
“She’s doing well. Devil is up there at the moment because the girls insisted they see each other. So far the only thing I’ve heard from Devil is that our women can talk about anything,” Viper said, holding up his phone indicating another SMS had arrived. On a laugh, he added, “Devil has decided that Gabby and the babies are safe with Nikki, and he’s on his way down. Typical Devil, he doesn’t trust your mate yet.”
“I found out a little more about her that might answer some of his questions. It
might even endear her to Devil, considering her story has many similarities to Gabby’s.”
“How so?”
“I’ll explain when Devil gets here. I’ll fill Chaos in later.”
“Fill me in on what?” Devil asked, coming up behind them. He had, as usual, avoided the crowds of people by coming through the kitchen and back rooms. “And how’s the pride and the little girl?”
“They’re holding their own,” Judge replied before realizing he hadn’t spoken to them except sending a message that he would be away on pride business. “How did you know?”
“Your little thief told Chaos,” Devil stated, glaring in Charli’s direction.
“She’s my mate, Devil, and she deserves to be treated as such.” Judge glared at his brother.
“A mate who is currently ripping us off!” Devil retaliated.
“Please, you alone used to throw more than two grand on hookers a night,” Judge pointed out. “And yet you sit here denying my mate what she, Gabby, and Nikki are entitled to by just merely existing. If that’s how you really feel, I would rather you remain as far away from Charli as possible. Her life is hard enough without you adding to it, vampire.”
Judge threw back his whiskey, savoring the burn as it traveled down his throat. He needed another. Maybe the bottle. He couldn’t believe his brother’s attitude toward Charli. Hadn’t he learned his lesson with Gabby?
When they had first met, Devil was under the impression that she was a call girl. Her own father sent her into Devil’s lair in order to use her body to clear the man’s debt. Her perfume had masked her scent, denying Devil the knowledge that she was his mate. He took her virginity that night, before dismissing her like a piece of trash.
He had judged Gabby by what he saw and was told and nearly paid the price by chasing away his mate. If that wasn’t bad enough, he and Viper had come close to losing both of their mates at the hands of a local crime boss. Then Nikki again to her ex-boyfriend. Still he couldn’t seem to see how precious Charli was to Judge.
Mated to War Page 4
