Micah's Mate

by Abigail Raines

  “Is it wonderful being one of the Tremblays?” I ask. I feel like a little kid suddenly.

  Michelle smiles like she has a secret and says, “Yes, of course, it is.”

  She whips out her phone and starts texting as she leads me to some sitting room. The place is huge and it’s exactly like I pictured it; old-fashioned and rich and stately. But it doesn’t feel cold either. I hover around some room with a leather chaise and navy blue wallpaper. There’s an oil painting of a duck on the wall. It looks like the kind of place where people are supposed to have tea. It’s got kind of a masculine energy too.

  When Xander Tremblay walks in, I tense up.

  He looks at me and his eyes go wide. I’ve only met Xander Tremblay twice, I think. I’m sure I was forgettable; just his brother’s mate’s buddy. I guess I won’t be as easy to forget now.

  I probably seem as terrified as I am as Xander looks me up and down before he turns to Michelle, “What the hell is going on?”

  They’re going to be so mad at me.

  “Do you know where Micah is?” Michelle asks instead of answering him straight away.

  Xander narrows his eyes and says, “No. At work, I would assume.” He walks up to me and says, “Who are you? What’s going on? I want to know-”

  “Xander,” Michelle snaps. “We need everyone. Aaron should be off work soon. Please get Mason over here.”

  He’s all but ignoring Michelle and says to me, “You’re a wolf. I can smell you. Since when are you a wolf?”

  “Always,” I say in a small voice. “I’m...sorry.”

  Michelle wraps an arm around me. “She’s been in hiding. She has her reasons. And now she needs our help, Xander, please.”

  Xander takes a deep breath and seems to have a quick and silent conversation with himself in the space of a second before saying, “It’s always something, isn’t it?” He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Just once, I wish my brothers could get a mate without a whole bunch of drama.”

  My cheeks are burning. I’m sure they’re practically crimson. “But Micah’s not my...I-I mean....has...has he said…”

  “Everyone knows there’s something with you two,” Xander says. “Much as everybody tries not to tell me anything. To be honest, I can’t tell you how relieved I am about the fact that you’re a shifter. I was waiting for Micah to come tell me he was in love with a human. Christ, what a mess that would’ve been after everything with you two.” He motions to Michelle, who only gives him a wry nod.

  “I don’t think you’re going to be relieved when I explain,” I say, rubbing my forehead.

  Xander only grunts at that and takes out his own phone, presumably to get Mason. Despite the baseline terror that’s making my blood hum, it’s sort of amusing to see the Tremblays assemble on the fly. I think I heard that Mason lives close-by. I imagine him dropping into some underground tunnel and shooting over in a pod like Batman.

  I’m probably vibrating with nervous energy because Xander tells me, “You look like you need to sit down. Let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll make you some tea. My mom just made lemon bars. They’re crazy good.”

  I have to say, I’ve heard a lot of things about Xander Tremblay and I never expected him to offer me tea and lemon bars.

  When Xander is far enough ahead of us, I whisper to Michelle, “I thought he would be scarier.”

  “Me too, honestly,” Michelle whispers back. “I think he’s being good for company.”

  Xander spins around and walks backward in front of us. “I am absolutely being good for company. Besides, we’re all wolves here.” He nods at me. “Right?”

  I am so petrified that I am going to tell him I’m from Hardwidge and that I’ve put his brother in danger and he’s going to bodily throw me from his house. But for a moment, just this moment, we are all wolves here.

  I swallow the lump in my throat and say, “Right.”

  Xander seems to be easing me in or something. He gives me tea and a lemon bar. I nibble as I keep checking my phone to see if Micah has texted. I text him too even though Xander already has. Mason shows up. Him, I’m not afraid of. I’ve heard enough about how Mason is the most chill of the Tremblays. We’re all hanging out in the gigantic Tremblay kitchen with its marble countertops and steel appliances. My eyes are glued to the windows that look out on the endless forest behind the place. I’ve heard there’s a rose garden out there too.

  “What’s going on exactly?” Mason says, drinking from a bottle of sparkling water.

  “Not sure yet,” Xander says, eyeing me. “I guess we’re waiting for the others first. Mason…”

  “Yes?” Mason blinks at him.

  “Do you smell anything different?” Xander looks irritated.

  Mason looks at me and I bite my lip. I think I may have just gotten him in a spot of trouble. “Oh, well...Micah had mentioned…”

  “Of course,” Xander says, rolling his eyes. “I’m always the last to know.”

  “Micah told you?” I say. “What did he say exactly?”

  “He’s been really worried about you,” Mason says. “Not my place to say probably. But he um...Well, you must know he’s your mate. Or at least he says so. He’s crazy about you.”

  I don’t know what my face is doing when Mason says that but Michelle nudges me, smiling. “Of course.”

  I can’t quite handle my own emotions at the moment so I focus on something else. “Has anyone heard from Micah?”

  “No,” Xander says. “Should I be worried, Luna?”

  Everybody’s staring at me. “Yes.”

  “Oh shit.”

  Chapter Fourteen: Micah

  The drive is long and my wolf is furious. Dax and his buddies won’t shut up. They keep going on and on about how I’m a spoiled, rich boy who has no idea what a wolf really is. Apparently these guys have huge chips on their shoulders about the Tremblays in particular. We’re the epitome of the wrong kind of shifters who assimilate too much into the human world.

  To be honest, I’ve never thought about it before. I guess modern shifter culture has a fascination with humanity that we didn’t use to have quite as intensely before. There are rules, sure. No claiming a human as your mate, for example. But our thought was, why not have the best of both worlds? Most of our clan lives the same way, although some packs are more old-fashioned than others, keeping to themselves and not taking jobs with humans. But they don’t judge us for our choices. They certainly wouldn’t kill us. The Hardwidge pack though, they’ve got a whole agenda to make everyone else “see the light” and become proper shifters. They’re like terrorists.

  We’ve been driving for at least an hour now and I still can’t move much. I think I’m starting to get some feeling back in my paws though. That’s good because it’s been hard not to panic as the car goes over bumps and around sharp curves while I’m jostled around in the back. All I can manage to do is growl every once in a while, which only seems to amuse Dax and his men.

  There’s a sense I guess, being a Tremblay, that gives us some feeling of invincibility. It’s the same reason the estate isn’t heavily secured and it’s probably also the reason Mason often doesn’t bother to lock his door. We assume nobody will mess with us. I’m starting to wonder if we’ve gotten cocky. Because being a Tremblay or not, right now I have a goddamn muzzle on my snout.

  Based on where we started and how the car is traveling, I feel like we’re heading up into the mountains behind Quinton. This steep curvy drive sure feels like it. God knows where they’re taking me. If I’m right though, at least it’s not far from town. I’ve lived in Quinton my whole life and I’ve shifted and run around these woods plenty too. My brothers and I used to come up here and camp when we were young. Somehow it felt more adventurous than sticking to the woods behind the estate.

  I feel the car slow and drive down a narrow, rocky road. They’ve likely gone off the main road. There are a lot of old, abandoned properties up here. If you wanted to hide away somewhere and get up to no good, it’
s a decent place to do it. It’s also about an hour from the estate at least. The drive up the mountain was long. They’re not going to be able to track me all the way here.

  The SUV finally stops. There’s a lot of hemming and hawing as the guys get out of the car and I hear them talking outside, though I can’t make out what they’re saying. It feels like forever before the back doors open, though it’s probably been just another twenty minutes. It’s strange how I keep waiting for the next thing to happen like I’m impatient for it when whatever it is can’t be good.

  Dax’s henchmen are trying to load me onto a steel cart, but I’m heavy. They end up having to get up in the car and push me from the back. They roll me over until I drop onto the cart and I can’t break my fall or anything. It’s painful and I fall awkwardly onto the flat, steel slab, my flank hitting the corners. I growl at them. I fantasize about suddenly being able to move and busting right out of these shackles and this muzzle. I’d rip all their throats out.

  “Aw poor, little, rich puppy,” one of the sidekicks says, yanking on my ears. “He’s having a bad day.”

  They roll me out on the cart and when it spins around and heads to a long, low building I realize we’re at the old animal sanctuary that closed down when we were kids. It’s abandoned, decayed, and remote. But what immediately occurs to me is that it also has cages. They push the cart through the rocky, overgrown grass. My tail is hanging off the cart and dragging in the weeds, picking up briars all over the place. That’s going to be a pain in the ass. Literally.

  I’m assaulted by scents. There are a lot of other shifters here; a little chunk of Dax’s pack, I assume. They push me through the half-collapsed double doors of the place. It smells awful and looks like a big warehouse overgrown with weeds and vines. Animals have definitely lived here before. I see glimpses of other shifters, some in human form and some shifted. The wolves run up and snap at me. The humans are hooting and applauding the snared Tremblay. Somebody bites my tail. They throw stuff at me; mud, animals carcasses, bloody innards, excrement. By the time they’ve rolled me through that warehouse and down a long, dark corridor to my “cell” I smell as bad as the building, and I look even worse.

  I was right. They’re taking me to a cage. I have to think this was once just a temporary holding cell for small animals. It might be enough for one person, but not a huge wolf. They roll me in and shove me off the cart onto the hard, cold ground. Dax squats down next to me and leers. He seems really pleased that he can get in my face and I can’t fight back. All I can do is growl and blink sleepily.

  “Do you know why you’re here?” Dax says. “I bet you got no idea.” Dax stands up and says, “Hey Carl, bring me that shock thing!”

  That doesn’t sound good.

  The guys have rolled the cart away and they hurry back. One of them hands Dax something that looks kinda like a taser.

  “Picked this up in Bend,” he says, waving it around. “You know there’s all kinds of weird shit for controlling shifters? If you can find it. I don’t know who’s using it. Hell, maybe it’s for some weird sex stuff. But I bet humans would, once they got a handle on us. And that’ll happen sooner or later with the way you fancy boys assimilate into humanity like you’d rather be human than wolf.”

  You smoke, I want to say. You drive cars. You wear clothes. Isn’t that pretty human?

  I’m guessing he would say that the ends justify the means. And anyway, I think his whole ethos is just an excuse to gain power.

  “I shock you with this,” Dax says, “and you’ll shift back. It’s like a magic trick. Wanna see?”

  No.

  “As much fun as it is to torture this pathetic excuse for a wolf,” Dax says, jabbing my flank with the thing, “I’d like to talk to Micah again. Plus, the human body is so much more fragile than a wolf’s. How about it, sunny boy? In three, two…”

  I hear a click and then a little hum and then I try to scream but I can’t. Pain like I’ve never felt before is coursing through my body. Every muscle spasms as if trying to shove it away; this sharp and engulfing waterfall of torturous pain. I can feel it forcing my form. It’s not making me shift so much as shifting for me and it feels like the most unnatural thing in the world. I shut my eyes and grind my teeth so hard I’m afraid one will split. My head throbs and I’m shaking from it. I know Dax is talking but I have no idea what he’s saying. Gradually the pain begins to die down. I fight not to give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream. I just breathe. I breathe as hard as I can.

  I realize I’m human again, still covered with blood and guts, but now curled up on the floor in my shirt and tie, the muzzle fixed awkwardly around my human mouth. One of the sidekicks has a tranq gun on me as if I was about to try to run in this position. My feet and hands are still bound anyway.

  The men haul me up. They cut my bindings only to chain me to the wall, my hands above my head, my feet shackled at the floor. But I’m still mostly unable to move, so I just have to hang limply and it’s painful on my arms. I can glare at Dax though and I can speak at least.

  “Nice place you have here,” I say.

  “It’ll serve our purposes,” he says, shrugging. “Luna will find it easily enough anyway. Carl, get his phone. What’s your passcode, Tremblay?”

  “Fuck you.” I smile blithely as if none of this bothered me and my muscles weren’t still shaking from that awful shock.

  I’m hanging low enough that I’m at about boot level, so Dax’s little friend is easily able to kick me in the face. Pain explodes along my skull. I think he might have broken my nose or something because it’s gushing blood now.

  “Relax,” Dax says, shrugging. “We’re gonna text Luna and tell her you’re just fine. Wouldn’t you like that? You don’t want her coming down here, do you? Playing rescue the wolfie? That’s for your brothers to do.”

  I agree, but I also have no reason to believe him. Still, if there’s a chance of preventing Luna from going with him...I tell him my access code and Dax takes the phone from Carl, pocketing it. I hope I didn’t just make a terrible mistake.

  “Thanks for that, Tremblay,” Dax says, winking. “That was nice of you. You’re very polite. But I guess you were raised well. All fancy in that giant house of yours, right in the middle of all those humans.”

  “What’s your hangup, man?” I mutter, my voice thick. I think there’s blood in my throat. “You jealous or something?”

  Dax punches me in the face. “See, now that was rude. I’d expect better from you. I think that’s Luna’s influence, is what it is.”

  I can’t help but flinch a little when he mentions Luna’s name. “Oh, where’d the wisecracks go? You don’t have a sense of humor about your little girlfriend, do you?” He cackles at that. “Tremblay, do you know what I’m going to do to that girl when I claim her as my mate?” He whispers in my ear. “Oh, what do you care? She’s just trash from Hardwidge. She thought she could leave us? Go live with the humans in their big, shiny world and forget where she came from? That’s even worse than you assholes pretending you’re not wolves. But I’m gonna remind her of who she really is. Don’t worry, Tremblay. She’s tough. She can take it. And I’m gonna give it to her good. Whether she wants it or not.”

  Even in human form, my wolf comes out. I’m so enraged I growl like a beast and snap at him with my stupid, human mouth. I manage to bite his ear pretty hard and I think I draw blood. I wish I’d have bitten the thing off. Dax backs up and shakes his finger, trying to act like it was nothing. But I see him flinch, holding his ear. Carl retaliates by kicking me in the stomach.

  I can’t think. I can’t think of anything. I’m just shaking with rage at the idea of what Dax would do to Luna; beautiful, wonderful Luna…

  All this was what she was so afraid of me finding out? I want to scream. As if any of this was her fault.

  “My brothers are gonna kill you,” I hiss. “They’re gonna tear into your throat and eat your insides. And I’m gonna laugh.”

  I need t
o shift. I’ve been trying to. I figure it couldn’t hurt, but I’m still a little weak. I think it’s worth trying though when I can fully move again. They’ll probably just shoot me but I might as well go down fighting. The more reasonable part of my brain tells me I’m being an idiot and that I should bide my time.

  As if reading my mind, Dax says, “So, that shocker’ll force a shift but there’s another little toy we picked up.” Carl pulls a little case out of his back pocket and hands it to Dax who takes out a loaded syringe and flicks it with his finger. “This one is a dampener. Keeps you from shifting in here so you can’t make trouble.” He stabs me in the neck with it and I feel a white-hot fluid flooding my veins. It feels like poison. “No more wolf for you.”

  Chapter Fifteen: Luna

  “What do you mean he’s going to force you to be his mate?” Xander demands to know.

  I’ve never seen him angry. He came in hot when I first arrived with Michelle, but it was nothing like this. Aaron and Mason look pissed too, standing there with their arms crossed. We’re all conferring in the library and I don’t know why we’re talking about me when Micah hasn’t shown up yet.

  “He can’t do that,” Mason says calmly. “It’s...atrocious.”

  I almost laugh at that. “I agree,” I say simply. “But doesn’t it..I don’t know, bother you that I’m from Hardwidge?”

  “Obviously you’ve disavowed them,” Xander says, shrugging. “You escaped and with good reason. Of course, we’re going to help you. How could you think otherwise? I might have been talking out of my ass about lone wolves a few days ago, but it’s different when there’s a person in front of me. And you’re family. At least you are now. We’re gonna figure this out.”