by Shea Phoenix
“I’m sorry to interrupt a family breakfast,” Gavin offered cheerfully with a wide grin, then turned his attention to me and held his hand out. “I’m Gavin and you must be Finn Goldschmidt.”
I took his hand to shake, “Hi.” He would be a great peer mediator, his confidence and contagious cheer put you at ease immediately.
“This is Eli Stone, our investigator, and Ramsey Rowe, our lawyer.”
Ramsey smiled. “It’s an honor to meet our second’s chosen mate.” He took a seat.
I smiled. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too.”
The other one, Eli was more reserved and proper, “Welcome to our pack, Mr. Goldschmidt. Call me Eli and let me know if I can do anything for you.”
“Please, call me Finn. And same here, if you need anything.” I smiled and sat down, and listened.
“The panthers deny any involvement,” Eli sighed. “I don’t trust them, but every pack member was accounted for, none injured or worse- which would be impossible so soon after what Nate did to one of them. The human description doesn’t match any of them either. I have a few leads from their cousin packs, but chasing them down will take some time and travel.”
“Do it,” Gavin answered, then focused on Ramsey.
Ramsey cleared his throat, “As you know, I’ve been working with the priests and priestesses of the packs, to figure out the prophecy. It might be the reason omegas are missing, they’re trying to find the ones in the prophecy. I managed to stop them arguing for a few moments while I told them about what happened to Nate and Finn. They argued some more, but now they want to examine Finn to see if he fits the scripture for the True Mate. If Finn agrees, I’ll have to negotiate who gets to ask what questions and that will take weeks. They love to argue more than I do, and they do it for free. “
All eyes were on me for a second, “Sure,” I told Ramsey.
“Finn is excellent at conflict resolution.” Seth beamed. “He could help you stop the bickering too.”
Nate growled at the idea, but didn’t protest.
Ramsey spoke after an uncomfortable silence, “I was going to try voodoo, but if you’re willing, Finn I’d love some help.”
“Sure. As long as Nate comes with me.”
8
Gavin never mentioned that Ramsey was working on the True mate with the other packs. He knew as well as I did that the True mate was meant for our alpha, for Gavin. I couldn’t share Finn with anyone, not even Gavin. Not even if it meant world peace, joy and happiness to all… I couldn’t do it.
I wouldn’t do it.
The only alternative was for me to challenge Gavin for alpha. I would have to do it if those jerks and Ramsey told us Finn was the one.
That was what I was growling at. That and me not claiming Finn when I had the chance.
Finn had amazed me once again at offering to go, then insisting I went too. Not knowing it meant I would have to be there, watching if they did select him as the true mate. But if that happened, then I already made my choice.
I was happy for Finn, happy that he was valuable and useful to the pack now, not just me. He was a treasure. I wanted to share my mate’s mind with them, show everyone how wonderful he was. But because I still hadn’t made sure I would never share his body- even though he made it pretty clear that’s what he wanted too- I might have messed everything up.
The way he admitted his jealousy was so sexy, and he was the only one who didn’t know what that meant. He was my mate, and I was his. He felt it, but the words were so important. Gavin left without talking to me, that was for the best because I might not have been able to control myself.
I knew he was going back to his beach house and Dillon, but I knew Dillon wasn’t his mate, and he knew it too. I hoped he wasn’t rash enough to pretend Dillon was his true mate. There was no way he could fool the council- he couldn’t even fool me, there was no way he could fool himself and all the other packs too.
All I wanted was to take Finn in my arms and forget about all of this, to claim him and be selfish and go away with him and leave the pack behind if that’s what it took. But I couldn’t do that.
I gave the list of omegas that Finn had written down to Eli, and he took it silently. Knowing as well as I did what the meeting had meant for me and Finn.
When we were alone, inside my bedroom- our bedroom- I pulled Finn in for a kiss, hot and wet and sexy, and like it was the last one we ever had. The groan I heard in his throat didn’t make it easy to release him, or the bedroom, sleepy look in his eyes.
“Let’s go get you some clothes at your place. Who knows how long we’ll be staying there.” I ran my finger tenderly along his jaw because I couldn’t help myself. Then forced myself to let go of him and lead him to the car to start our journey.
Finn was so excited to see Slate again, it was adorable. When we got to their apartment I warned him to stay behind me while I scented for shifters. Not being able to smell any was confusing. I thought Eli would have got the word out to guard Slate, those other pack members that Gavin promised me. I couldn’t scent anything in the air.
When we entered the apartment, there was no sign of any shifters inside either. I let Finn run off upstairs calling after Slate and I looked around the place. It was warm and cozy- just like Finn. Then I found a note.
I stared at the words until they sunk in, until they made sense:
* * *
We have the omega, the blue one… Trade us the other one, the golden one and he lives… Call the blue omegas phone when you’re ready to make a trade
* * *
I thought about tearing it up, but Finn came running down the stairs with a concerned look on his face before I could decide.
“He’s not here. Not even in his little book igloo where I left him. He’d never leave without an armful of Gavin’s books to keep him company- what’s that?” He said, snatching the note from my hands.
I watched his eyes grow wide as he read the words, and I thought he would break apart.
“This is my fault- both our fault. We have to save him,” he said fearlessly.
It was me who might break at the thought of anything happening to Finn. My heart thumped loudly and I thought of all the things that might happen to him.
“We can’t risk you,” I yelled.
“Nate, listen to me, I don’t want to be traded, but I need to help Slate. And you need to let me and help me. This is our fault. If I had just thought of him instead of-”
“No!” I growled. No, No, No!
“Yes!” Finn growled right back at me.
He would be right if he was anyone but my mate. And the possible true mate. Slate wasn’t my treasure, he wasn’t this golden miracle that I tasted, that I loved, he wasn't my fate and my mate.
“Finn, you’re too valuable. To me and the pack.”
“Slate is too valuable to me not to go after him.”
“You don’t understand,” I pleaded.
“Yes, I do. Either help me do this or…Seth and Jay and Ramsey and Gavin will help me- and whoever else wants to.”
“Be reasonable.” I couldn’t let him put himself in any danger.
“No. If it was me missing, Slate would do anything to help me. He saved me once, I have to save him this time.”
My heart sped up in my chest. “I’m not letting you put yourself in danger.”
“I’m not going to be in danger, you’ll be there. I’m not going to do anything stupid to get either of us hurt. This will give you a chance to stop this once and for all.”
“Finn, if anything happens to you—”
“Nate, stop. Nothing is going to happen to me, because you will make sure of it.
I growled, deep and lonely- I wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of this and my wolf knew it too.
“Nate, I love you. I want you to know in case...”
I tried to get Seth and Jay to talk Finn out of it, but it back fired on me. Gavin had sent Caden Cameron along too, apparently Gavin was going to tr
y to fool himself into thinking Dillon was his mate. I had enough to worry about without that on my plate, so I pushed all of that to the side along with my distrust of Caden, he was another body for the moment, and we needed all the bodies we could get.
The four of us waited while Finn called Slate’s phone and we followed, staying close, yet far enough to not be scented. All I could think about was punishing Finn’s superb ass for doing this to me. I had to be able to make him pay for putting himself through danger and making me sit by helpless.
That was my only hope.
9
Nate understood why I had to do this, but he didn’t like it, neither did his wolf, which howled and howled. Seth and Jay both had to hold him back while I made the phone call to whoever had Slate. Caden was helping me while they held Nate and his wolf back.
Seth had the idea to mask my scent with his own. I wore his clothes as well as a perfume meant to hide my scent. Nate and Jay both, as well as Seth were fine-tuned into Seth’s scent, plus him being pregnant might fool the panthers into thinking I was, and so already taken and useless for whatever they wanted with me. That was the plan anyway.
I have to admit, the sickness in my stomach made me feel like I was pregnant. I had no choice except to pretend to be brave for Slate, but all this scared the hell out of me deep down. I figured everyone could scent that too.
When I heard the car pull up, my stomach attacked me again. Thankfully Nate and Seth and Jay and Caden were all far enough away not to notice I had second thoughts. There wasn’t going to be any stopping Nate if he knew how worried I was now.
The same man that Nate and I met here, in front of my apartment the other day was back, with the two panthers. The panthers had some sort of a saddle for me to ride in. It seemed like a waste with the car they drove over here, but I wasn’t in a place to argue. At least I knew Nate could outrun them even if they weren’t in a car.
I walked over to the harness and got in. The human looked me over, then sniffed at me, recoiling back. The fear probably. Good, I didn’t want to make this any more fun for them than it was for me.
When I was steady, the human growled and the two panthers shot off like a pair of bullets.
When we finally slowed down I was brought inside a grungy brick building, the bricks were cracked and a dull red, with tall grass surrounding it. The big cats never slowed enough for me to get out, they ran through the doors and down a hallway, not stopping until I was face to face with Slate.
His eyes grew large, and he threw his arms around me. “Are you okay?” I asked. He looked fine physically, but the youthful spark in his eyes that was so familiar seemed to have grown old.
“I’m not sure if I should be happy or sad to see you,” he half cried, half laughed. Then the heavy door slid shut behind us. “Sad unless you brought dynamite.” He added as I turned towards the door.
“No dynamite. Though it might still go bang!” Slate was sweet as always. He complained about not having his books, that was all. Not the abduction, not the imprisonment. Just the lack of his Gavin Ross books. “Can’t you recite them by heart by now anyway?”
“Only some parts. Want to hear?”
“Not now.” I pounded my fist on the door. “You’re supposed to let him go. That was the deal.” There was no answer except for the echoing of the metal door.
“You made a deal? The bad guy never honors a deal Finn, they always double-cross. Always. Everyone knows that. It’s not just a shifter thing either. It’s literally in every movie and book and fairy tale and --”
“Slate, I get it. It was dumb for me to come rescue you. I should have stayed in bed with my mate.”
“You’re mated?”
“Focus Slate. Who brought you here? Was it panthers?”
“No. It was a wolf.”
“That’s impossible.” I told him.
“No, just unlikely,” it was Caden Cameron. “As unlikely as you being the true mate, but we need to be sure.”
The panthers were behind him. “A deal is a deal. Nate, Seth and Jay get Slate, I get you.”
“But why me?”
“Because it hasn’t been any of the others I’ve taken. Because it’s time. That’s all you need to know. Now, do I need to do this the hard way or the easy way? I’ll take you both if you delay. Nate will be busy a while longer but we literally don’t have all day.”
“A deal is a deal.” I agreed, hoping to hell Nate and Seth and Jay showed up soon.
10
I was restless, my wolf was ready to go rush in after Finn, but I knew I couldn’t do that. Caden was going make his way in at the front entrance to distract them while the three of us would go around and find the back way in. Except I decided to follow Caden instead. I wanted to be the first to see Finn, to let him know everything was going to be all right.
A panther stood guard outside the door and there was no sign of Caden. I waited as long as possible before charging forward.
It was too quiet. I concentrated on calming my wolf but sometimes you needed to trust it. Especially when it had been growling at Caden all day.
I followed Finn’s scent down the hall.
I heard his soft voice speaking with Caden. I scented his fear. Caden held a gun at Finn as he attempted to get in the panther harness again.
I saw the gun point at Finn’s chest and the pure rage surged inside me. I didn't wait to remove my clothes, my wolf came out as I shifted out of my skin. The only thought consuming me was to destroy Caden, the person holding a gun on my mate, my pregnant mate. I growled and launched myself at him. He flinched at my growl and spun away, hiding behind a panther, whose neck got in the way of my jaws, I twisted towards Caden, my paw knocked the gun away, but only after it flashed gold. I ripped through the panther, and my wolf turned towards Caden running off with the sole remaining panther. Thoughts of Finn overrode any revenge.
I ran over to Finn, being held by another omega.
I noticed blood covering Finn’s chest and my heart stopped. There was a bullet hole in his perfect shoulder, right in the place where I should have marked him.
I gathered him up off the ground, taking him from Slate.
My wolf whined inside, afraid and sad in his animal pain. But I didn’t have time for that. Finn was hurt, but he was going to be alright. If he wasn’t then I would spend the rest of my short life following Caden to the ends of the earth.
11
I opened my eyes and winced at the pain in my shoulder. It was bandaged up, then I noticed I was in Nate’s bed again. Exactly where I wanted to be. I woke up with so much happiness that I could barely contain it, and there was Nate, to share it with.
I smiled at the sight of my mate. I loved him.
“How are you?” His voice was hoarse.
“I’m happy that you’re right here.”
“Finn…I—”
I watched him swallow.
“I almost lost you.” His voice broke. “I love you.”
I smiled and pulled him down for a soft kiss. “I love you so much sometimes I think I’m going crazy.”
I grinned, and he hugged me tightly.
12
I pulled Finn in for a kiss.
He began to remove his clothes, and it was almost impossible to stop him, but I couldn’t confuse this with sex. “Finn, sit down, we need to talk.” He looked at me warily. “Those weren’t the right words. Talk about becoming my mate, about me claiming you. Forever.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve always been sure. But you might be the true mate, and the true mate can only belong to Gavin, our alpha.”
“Then I’m not the true mate. I know it in my bones that you’re the only one for me. Didn’t you just say that you’re sure, that you’ve always been sure? If we’re both sure, then there’s nothing that anybody else can say to make that not true. I’m your true mate and you’re mine. Besides, Slate is the one obsessed with Gavin. If I was a betting man, that’s where I’d put my money.”
He was right, and just like that joy filled me. I have the smartest most wonderful mate. It wasn’t possible that he was anybody’s but mine. “You make it so beautifully simple. You’re right. It can’t be otherwise. Once I bite you, you’re mine and no one else’s forever. “
“And you’re mine and no one else’s?”
“Of course. The bite won’t hurt very long. You should have new healing powers like the rest of us do. Just like Seth and Jay.”
“I want that. I want you. I’m scared it’ll hurt, but I’m more scared you made the wrong choice.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Then yes. Claim me.”
I walked over and slipped his shirt-my shirt- off of him, up over his chest and arms. I nipped and licked every inch of his warm skin, knowing it all was mine. I licked the curve of his shoulder, and he shuddered. I bit down and broke the skin, holding his body still.
I scooted down the bed again, kissing hard and sucking his chest, then his belly and abs, then all the way down to his hip, avoiding his cock for now.
“Not fair,” Finn breathed out, his voice broken with pleasure and fingers curling into my shoulders.
I kissed along his inner thigh, all the way to just under his balls, then nosed them aside and licked my way down.
“Oh..”
I licked a long, slow trail down to the tight little hole that was pulsing with anticipation.
Finn whimpered, and I my tongue swirled around the sensitive nerve endings, flicking rapidly back and forth across the outside.
Finn was mumbling incoherently, and I loved to hear every damn sound I was responsible for.
I circled my tongue around the hole a few more times, then pressed my tongue inside just enough to give him the hot, wet, incredibly erotic sensation. I licked a few more times, then licked all the way up to his balls, paying them the attention they deserved, then tracing back down with the tip of my tongue to tease his hole some more, licking harder and stroking Finn’s cock lightly with my other pal. Then, I used my fingers to slide deep into Finn and rub his already-swollen prostate.
