by L. P. Maxa
Nothing at all.
Chapter Three
Baze
“Your mate? Did we know you had a mate? How is that even—”
“I didn’t answer your questions in the truck on the way over here, I’m sure as fuck not going to answer them on our walk up the damn driveway.” Baze’s heart was pounding out of his chest, his pulse going a mile a minute. He hadn’t seen or heard from Pen in almost ten years. And now she was here, in Haxton, broken and bleeding on his packmate’s couch. Talk about a total mind fuck.
Linc opened the door before Baze’s hand could even reach for the knob. He strode past his friend, not even sparing him a glance. He had one thing on his brain, and one thing only.
Penelope.
The room faded away, the people, the sounds. All of it. He stood over the only girl he’d ever loved, watching her sleep. He took in the cut on her forehead, the bruise around her right eye, the scratches on her arms and legs. His fists clenched at his sides, his jaw working in rhythm to his pulse. He wanted to murder whoever did this to her. He wanted to find them, set them in front of a mirror, and make them watch as he tore them limb from limb, drawing out the process as long as possible.
“Baze. Man, who is she?” Linc was standing beside him, but far enough back that he didn’t earn himself the full force of the growl building in Baze’s throat.
She was his everything, she was his forever and his greatest regret. “She’s my mate.”
“I so fucking told you,” Madden whisper-yelled to her mate.
Baze ignored her; he ignored everyone. He knew that Linc’s mind was reeling, he knew that Jace’s jaw was on the floor. He also knew that there was a strange man standing in the kitchen taking all this in. But the only thing that mattered was her.
The girl he’d let slip through his fingers.
The girl he’d never stopped dreaming about.
He knelt beside her, brushing a blonde strand off her face. Her hair was still soft like silk. And he still ached to touch her. To kiss her lips and run his fingers along her skin. He wanted her to open her eyes; he wanted to see the honeycomb color that had made him call her bumblebee.
He wanted to be eighteen again; only this time, he wanted to never let her go.
He cleared any emotion from his throat, got to his feet, and turned to face his pack. “Tell me how you found her.”
“I found her, she was in the middle of the street.” The man in the kitchen stepped forward, pointing out toward the road. “She was lying on her side, curled up.”
That must be man-bun, Madden’s friend from Spain. “Did she say anything to you?”
“Yes. She said, ‘Basssssss.’”
“Bass?” Baze turned to Linc.
“He means Baze. When she came to after we laid her down, she clearly said Baze.” Linc cut his eyes to man-bun. “His accent is thick as fuck.”
“I am standing right here.” Man-bun put his hands on his hips, looking like a Greek god out of a Hollywood blockbuster. “She smelled of shifter, male. And her sleep was so sound—”
Baze’s snarl cut him off, the sound echoing around the small house and making everyone stay quiet. “Madden, is she okay?”
“Yeah, her vitals are good. She doesn’t need stitches that I can tell. There is a chance she has a concussion, but her pupils responded normally.” She held up her first aid kit. “I wanted to clean her up, but Linc said I should wait until you got here.”
“I thought maybe you or Jace could recognize the smell on her. You know, in case…”
“In case this was my father’s doing?” Jace sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. He’d bulked up a lot over the last week. Torturing a full-grown man built muscle faster than the gym apparently. “Of course it’s my father’s doing. Why else would Baze’s long-lost mate be tossed in front of his best friend’s house?”
“He knows we have Ox.” Linc shook his head, rubbing his eyes with his palms.
Jace edged past Baze. “I’m sure he’s known we have Ox from the moment we locked him in that warehouse.” He dropped down next to the still-sleeping girl and leaned in. “He fucking knows everything. He knows our next move before we do.”
Baze closed his eyes, trying to get his emotions under control. He knew that Jace wasn’t a threat, and he knew that Jace trying to catch a scent was what needed to happen. But he was having a real fucking hard time letting an un-bonded male shifter get that close to Pen.
“Okay, you can look now, I’m done.”
Baze cut his eyes to Jace, who was now standing next to him again. “Anything?”
“Yeah, my father,” he scoffed. “The fucker wanted us to know it too.” He pointed at the couch. “It’s like he rubbed her in his cologne before he had her dropped off here.”
Linc went to the large bay window that faced the street, drawing the blinds and closing them tight. Then he bolted the front door. “They know we’re all here. They know we have Ox. They know things about us that even we don’t fucking know.” He gestured to Penelope. “I had no damn clue you had a mate. How is that even possible? How can you two be separated? How does Franklin fucking know about her? Dammit.” Linc threw his hands in the air and then stalked off to the kitchen, shoving past Man-bun with more force than necessary.
“Why are you here?” Jace’s eyes followed Linc’s dramatic exit, stopping on the only soul who wasn’t pack. “Seems pretty convenient that you show up just in time to carry in this chick.”
Man-bun held up his hands. “I am not involved with this.” He looked over at Madden. “I emailed her that we were in the states months ago.”
“You did what?” Linc’s head poked out of the kitchen, his gaze on his mate. “You knew he was coming?”
“No.” Madden sent man-bun a withering look. “No, I didn’t know Matias was coming here. He said they were visiting the states, but that they wouldn’t have time to make it all the way to Colorado.”
“I make time.” Matias smiled big. “I needed to check on my chica. And it’s a good thing I did, no? Mated, and in the middle of a big, uh, what do you say here? Cluster fuck?”
“Cluster fuck is pretty accurate.” Linc came back into the room and sat down in one of the two chairs, taking a pull from his beer. It was barely nine a.m., but Baze wasn’t about to give Linc shit for it. “Should we wait for the rest of the pack to get here? Or do you want to start explaining how in the holy hell you have a mate that we’ve never heard about?”
Baze sat down with his back against the couch where Penelope was resting. He hung his head for a minute, trying to buy himself some time. He’d never told anyone what happened all those years ago. It was his cross to bear, and he’d done his best to make sure that no one else suffered his consequences.
But the enemy had brought his past to their front door, and there was no use denying anything now.
Chapter Four
Baze
Ten Years Ago
“It’s your birthday, I wanted to do something special for you.” Penelope winked at him as she opened the door of the only tattoo parlor in town. She strode in like she owned the place, asking for some chick named Pearl. She must have known well enough that Baze would see red if some male inked her virgin skin. The closer he’d edged to eighteen, the stronger his shifter instincts had kicked in where Pen was concerned. His jealousy was becoming a problem, and the urge to claim her was all consuming. But he’d made it; he’d made it to his eighteenth birthday.
He followed her back into a room the size of a postage stamp, taking in the hand-drawn artwork on the walls and the sterile scent from the floor. “How is you getting a tattoo a gift for my birthday, bumblebee?” He already had a gift in mind, and it was one that she would love as much as he would.
“Because you’re getting one too silly.” She kissed his cheek loudly.
Baze raised his eyebrows, playfully swatting at her tight behind. “Oh I am?”
“Mmm-hmm.” Penelope handed a wad of cash to Pearl, and then shut the
door behind her, throwing the lock in place. “I’m going to tattoo you myself.” She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, then she removed his shirt.
“You’re joking, right?”
She shook her head, a wicked little smirk on her face. “I’ve been coming here all week, Pearl taught me everything I need to know to do your small tattoo and to help you do mine.” She put a piece of transfer paper over his pec, smoothing it into place and then pulling it away. “It’s the word Claimed in Hebrew.”
“Pen…” His heart swelled, growing so large that he could feel its beat down to his toes. He didn’t know what else to say; emotion was clogging his throat.
“I know you want to wait, and I get it.” She guided him onto a short black stool, standing over him with the tattoo gun poised. “But this way, I can claim you and you can claim me.” She kissed the end of his nose. “These marks will do until you can really make me yours.”
He watched her in the mirror as she inked his chest. He had wanted to wait, he’d wanted their first time, her first time…to be their claiming. Which was why he kept putting her off, kept holding back. But tonight he was planning on surprising her, taking her somewhere special and making her his.
At midnight, he would turn eighteen. And right after that, he’d claim Penelope the right way. The way he’d wanted to since the day they’d met. Sixteen and foolishly in lust. Over the months that lust had turned into infatuation, then into love.
She was his whole fucking world, and tonight he’d prove it to her.
After they were mated, there was nothing anyone could do to keep them apart.
Chapter Five
Baze
“How can she be your mate? How can you be apart? Shouldn’t you be crazy or…oh. Is that why you’re such an asshole all the time? I mean, it makes since if—”
“Shut the fuck up, Linc.” Baze sent his best friend his usual side-eye.
“That right there, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.” Linc folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the couch cushions. “Always with the surly attitude.”
The house was now filled to the brim; his whole pack was surrounding him. Linc had forced Matias out of the house, telling him to go get a hotel room in town. And then Corey had handed him her credit card and asked for three cheeseburgers. Penelope was still sleeping peacefully, healing her body the best way she could. Baze wanted her to wake up, but in the same instant, he didn’t. He was scared of her. Scared of how she’d react. Scared of how he would. Ten years was a really long fucking time.
“We were sixteen when we met. She walked into my AP algebra class and my heart stopped beating. I’d seen her around school. We’d grown up hanging out with the same people. But something about that day was different. It was like she was glowing from the inside or something.” Baze glanced back, smiling at her and remembering the young girl he’d fallen for. “After our first date I knew she was meant to be mine.”
“Shifters can’t claim someone until they’re eighteen.” Corey was looking at Dom. “Right?” Corey probably knew the most about shifters of any of the girls, because she asked the most questions. Some said nosy…some said informed.
“Right.” Baze nodded absentmindedly. “She begged me to all the time; she wanted to test the rule. And I wanted to wait. I wanted our first time to be our bonding.” He’d been wrong, and he’d been stupid. He should have given in. He should have tested that rule every day of their relationship.
Maybe Pen had been right; maybe they could have bonded sooner. If they had, they’d still be together. She wouldn’t be healing right now, trying to recover from whatever Franklin had done to her to get back at him.
Baze worked hard to unclench his jaw. He was so tense, so angry. He’d find who did this. He’d find who hurt his girl.
“So how does it work? Being so far apart? Have you been seeing her secretly or something?” Keller was leaning against the wall in front of Linc and Madden’s bedroom, Molly lounging on the floor at his feet.
“No.” Baze worked to swallow. “I haven’t seen her in ten years.”
“But, then how—”
He cut off Riley’s question with a glare. “We never got to complete the mating.”
Chapter Six
Baze
Ten Years Ago
“Okay, bumblebee, you got to have your fun and torture me with needles.” Baze took her hand, spinning her around in the parking lot before opening the door to his truck and helping her inside. “Now it’s my turn.” He nipped at her ear as he whispered those words.
He’d been waiting for this night for what felt like his whole life. Which wasn’t far from the truth. There was one person put on this universe for him, and Penelope was that girl. He’d known it for two years now and it was finally the time to make it official.
“What are we doing next? My curfew is in thirty minutes.”
Baze smiled, winking as he glanced her way. “Well, Pen, tonight we are blowing off your curfew.”
She let out a playful gasp. “Baze Carter, you are such a bad boy.” She rolled her window down and put her hand out into the night air.
Baze turned up the radio, knowing one of her favorite songs was playing. Everything about tonight was perfect; the universe was on his side. The air was warm, but not stifling. The sky was clear, and where they were going they’d see all the stars the sky had to offer. He’d waited; he was going to make everything so perfect for her. Perfect the way his girl deserved.
“Are we going to the field behind my house?” She turned to him, his favorite wicked smile on her beautiful face.
“It was the first place I kissed you. Remember?”
“You were so scared of not getting me home by curfew that we had our first date in the bed of your truck. We ate under stars, within view of my house.” She reached for his hand. “And then we danced in the dark and you kissed me.”
Back when they’d first started dating, Baze thought if he acted right and minded his manners, Pen’s father would come around. He’d hoped, but he’d been naïve. The longer they were together, the more it seemed that her dad hated him. So tonight, he’d claim her. And then they would walk into her house, past curfew, and tell her parents to fuck off.
“That’s right.” He pulled into the open field, killing the lights on his truck before they could shine across the acres into the windows of her home. “And in three minutes, I’ll be eighteen.” He turned to her, taking in how absolutely beautiful she looked in the glow of the dashboard. “It’s time, bumblebee, it’s time to make you mine.”
Her smile built until her whole face lit up. “Really?”
“Really.”
She launched herself at him, and he caught her easily. He climbed out of the truck, her legs wrapped around his waist. He’d prepared for his, he’d planned. He opened his tailgate, working only by muscle memory. Her mouth was on his, and one of his hands was still holding her ass. He sat her in the bed of the truck, climbing in between her legs and pushing her until she was lying down.
There were stars above and a pile of blankets under them. The only sounds were Pen’s breathy whimpers and the crickets singing in the dark.
Baze kissed down her toned stomach and across her slender hips, working the button on her shorts. He slid them off and trailed kisses on her legs, reveling in the sweet flowery scent of her skin.
“No foreplay.”
He looked up, meeting her wicked little smile, one eyebrow raised in question. “Oh really?”
“We’ve had two years of that.” She grabbed his shirt and pulled him up her half-naked body. “Tonight, make me yours.” Her hands went to work on removing his jeans and her mouth stayed on his.
He couldn’t believe it was finally time. He’d wondered his whole life if the universe would send him a mate. He’d always assumed he’d be older, more settled in life. But the moment he saw Penelope that fine fall day, he knew. They might be young, but they were so fu
cking in love. And really, what else mattered beyond that? The universe wanted them to be together, had willed it so; there was nothing that could keep them apart now.
Penelope cried out when he slid inside her tight channel, working past her barrier. He pulled back once he was buried as far as he could go, meeting her heated gaze. “You okay, bumblebee?” She nodded, her nails digging into the skin on his back. “Don’t close your eyes.”
She smiled. “I won’t, I prom—”
“Get the hell off my daughter, you sick piece of trash.” Baze was pulled backward and tossed onto the ground. “Penelope. Get dressed. Now.” Pen’s father was standing in front of her, shielding the view of her from the two other men currently holding Baze on the dirt.
“Dad, no! Let him go. Please, stop.” Penelope was crying, he could hear the tears in her voice. “Just let him go, please don’t hurt him.”
Baze was beyond murderous; for the first time in his life he wanted to kill. It was taking both men to hold him back. “Stop, let me go.” He was growling into the darkness. “Pen, baby, hold on, okay?” He struggled and tried like hell to get free, but it was no use. “Pen.”
The men had turned him now; he couldn’t even see her. But he could feel her moving farther and farther away from him. He felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest. “Pen.”
“Baze. I’m sorry, Baze, please, I’m so sorry.” Her voice was getting softer and softer, like she was fading into the night.
“Pen!”
One of the men punched him in the gut, making him fall back to his knees. The second one grabbed him by the hair, pulling and holding him still while his friend beat him until he could no longer see anything besides blood.
“Penelope is gone, you’ll never fucking see her again. Don’t try to find her, you won’t walk away next time.”
