by Fel Fern
Rising on tip-toes, he felt Asher wrap a hand around his waist, tugging him close. Dan stole a kiss from his mate, glad Asher took over, turning the kiss hot and rough. He curled his toes as Asher set him down, pupils blazing gold with want.
Someone cleared their throat. Embarrassed to see Raul standing there, he hurried behind the desk.
“I’ll be okay here. I’ll figure out which file goes where, sort through the mail, and answer the phone,” he said.
“Aren’t you a busy little bee?” Raul asked, but he knew the other man was teasing. “I think we still have the contact info of the last part-timer somewhere on the address book. Any questions, you can ring the guy up or the others?”
“Hey, I’ll manage on my own. You guys do your work,” he said.
Raul nodded. Asher lingered by his desk.
“If you have any questions,” Asher began, but he interrupted his mate.
“Don’t be a worry-wart. I’ll be fine on my own, baby. I mean, I’m probably rusty after spending five years in a cage, but I’m doing much better.”
Asher stared at him for a couple of seconds, and he wondered if he said something wrong.
“Asher?” he prodded.
Asher shook his head. “The fact you can joke about that shows how far you’ve come in such a short time. I’m damn proud of you.”
“It’s all thanks to you and even your friends,” Dan admitted. “If you didn’t take a chance on me, I would have probably remained a cat, my human consciousness eroding day-by-day.”
It was the truth. If Asher didn’t chase after him when he stole that sandwich, the human side of him would have probably faded away. God, now that he had something to lose, he valued living again. Dan didn’t think that was a bad thing, because finding his mate was the greatest gift of all.
Sometimes, the outside world still overwhelmed him. Dan still preferred quiet and less crowded places, but he could handle simple conversations now, could walk into a shop and not have a panic attack.
“No, you did most of the work. I better go, or I’ll spend the entire day here.”
“Don’t let me keep you,” he teased lightly.
Asher chuckled, that deep distinctive laugh melting his bones instantly. “I prefer to spend the rest of the day, doing nothing with you.”
“Stop flirting and get to work, mister.”
Asher bent over the messy desk and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before heading to his office. Finally alone, he looked at the work ahead of him. It was a mess, but a manageable one. Plus, it gave him something to do. Before Chris, he remembered he liked being organized, efficient.
He spent most of the morning answering queries and organizing the paperwork according to cases. They had a few drawers in the back, but the file system was messed up, too. This, Dan realized, calmed him.
Near lunchtime, the phone rang again. Dan stood up carefully from the papers he stacked to answer it. It amazed him the number of strange queries they received, from simple lost and find cases, to investigative work. Cheating cases were, unsurprisingly, the most popular.
“Hello,” he answered.
“I want to ask the rates about the PIs,” the caller asked. “Can I come down personally to talk to one of them? I’m around the neighborhood and can drop down during lunch.”
Jax and Raul headed out earlier, he knew, and it was Winter’s day off, leaving Asher. He recalled Asher mentioning a lunch appointment, though.
“No one would be in the office during lunchtime,” he informed the potential customer. “Can you come back around three?”
“Gotcha, thanks.”
The guy put the phone down. Sensing his mate was nearby, he looked up to see Asher on his way to the meeting. Asher made a face.
“I planned on having lunch with you,” Asher grumbled.
“We can do that next time.”
Asher hesitated. “Will you be all right on your own? Jax will be returning in half an hour.”
He scoffed. “Asher, I can perfectly manage for thirty minutes. Besides, Tom says he’s dropping by to leave an extra set of clothes for Raul. We might have lunch, too.”
Asher furrowed his brows. “Text me?”
He rolled his eyes, but knowing his mate worried, he agreed. “All right.”
Chapter Nine
“Heh, thanks for the seduction tips,” Dan told Tom as he entered the office. Tom waved him good-bye from the car window before driving off.
After Dan escaped from Chris’s crutches, he never expected to gain a mate, let alone friends he now considered family. His own family, he didn’t bother reaching out to. Dan had no idea what kind of lies Chris fed them, whether they’d betray him to Chris.
His parents weren’t all that bad. He grew up in his clan, knowing his role as an Omega cat shifter was to give a dominant shifter natural-born babies. Shifters were either born or made through the bite of an Alpha, but a natural-born shifter always came out stronger as opposed to those who were changed through the bite. Hence, children were precious to their kind.
He grew up alongside the other Omegas in his clan, knowing his role. His family was normal, although his parents were traditionalists. He’d been fine with his role as the domestic half of the relationship, never questioned the ways of his clan.
Chris treated him no better than a slave, but Asher saw him as an equal. Although he loved it when Asher dominated him in the bedroom, outside of it, they made decisions together and Asher valued his opinion. His wolf even did the silliest things to make him smile, like going out of his way to get his favorite brand of ice cream, or surprising him with tiny gifts randomly.
In intimate settings, Asher was a generous lover. Although he didn’t have much experience when it came to sex, he’d been taught by his clan teachers that an Omega submitted freely, gave but didn’t expect to receive.
It was backward thinking that led to producing arrogant dominant males like Chris, who thought their mates existed nothing more than to be their plaything.
“Excuse me, are you Dan?” asked a voice, interrupting his thoughts.
He blushed, realizing in the process of thinking, he’d merely been standing on the doorway. Cautiously, his animal studied the thin, balding human in his forties sitting on one of the couches of the waiting room. Harmless, he told himself, merely a potential customer, but his cat insisted something was not quite right with the guy.
Stop it, he told himself.
During his first few days adapting to being a human again, he’d been spooked by the tiniest things, such as the doorbell ringing from the other unit or even sounds of the street below. Not everything in the world was out to get him, he knew that, and besides, Dan was a lot stronger now. Different.
Asher offered to teach him self-defense lessons, something he wouldn’t consider in the past. He and the other Omegas in his clan had been taught to solely rely on their powerful mates for protection. In effect, that would render him helpless. He and the others were so coddled, trained to expect certain things, to act in a certain way that when fate threw him in an unexpected situation, he didn’t know what to do.
He spent days in the cage Chris put him in, wondering if had all been a dream—even foolishly thought that someday, he’d wake up and laugh it off with his family.
Naive, he realized. Once this storm blew over, no matter how long it took, he’d march up to his family, his clan, tell them about his experiences, prove to them that kind of thinking had to go.
Focus on the present, he reminded. Don’t let the future overwhelm you.
Asher pointed out he had a tendency to easily get lost in thought, probably a by-product of his captivity.
“Mr. Denver?” he finally said, reading the name on the business card the human in front of him handed over.
Mr. Denver gripped the arm chair of the couch a little too tightly, but his expression remained cordial. “I wanted to enquire about your services.”
He took out his phone and saw the message from Jax telling
him Jax was on his way back to the office. “One of our PI’s will be back in fifteen to twenties minutes. Would you like to walk around first? You can leave your number with me, and I’ll text you when he’s here.”
“I can wait. Maybe you can help me with my request.” Mr. Denver walked up to him.
Once again, a tingling sensation went down his spine. His cat didn’t like this human who tried his best not to act nervous, but the closer Mr. Denver came, the more he could scent the guy’s fear.
Maybe he really needs help, don’t judge him yet. Besides, I can handle one human.
He tensed when Mr. Denver stuck a hand inside the pockets of his coat, relaxing when he saw it was only a sheaf of paper. No, he realized, they were photos of a smiling blond girl in a white dress.
“I’m looking for my lost daughter,” the man began.
He relaxed, realizing the poor man probably went to them because the police couldn’t help. The man began to tell him about his daughter’s disappearance five years ago. Realizing he could do this, talk to the guy until Jax returned, he gently interrupted Mr. Denver’s narrative. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Yes, coffee, please. Do you think one of your PIs can help me?” the guy asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, they’ll have to give you the answer, but it’s a pretty old case. Then again, shifters have an amazing sense of smell and Jax’s ex-police. He’s worked with a lot of missing person cases,” he explained, turning his back on Mr. Denver to walk to their coffee machine.
It was a miracle the machine still worked. He poured himself a glass first, winced at the taste. Maybe he ought to make a fresh pot. “Sorry, the coffee will be ready in ten minutes.”
“I can’t wait that long,” whispered a voice to his ear, breath warm.
He spun, eyes wide, glimpsing Mr. Denver holding out something in the air, something with a fine, thin blade. A syringe. Panicked, he flung it away, only to feel a second one, piercing the side of his neck.
“Sorry, but he threatened to kill my wife if I don’t bring you to him.”
Whatever it was inside the syringe, he already began to feel the effects. He stumbled on his feet, crashed into the human, who caught him. His vision swirled. Dan tried to open his mouth, to scream, but who would hear him?
Ugly and old memories rose to the surface. It felt exactly like this that night when Chris drugged his food. A wave of helplessness filled him. He began to shut down, but he fought to remain awake. The last thing he wanted was to wake up in familiar surroundings, the cold bars of his cage digging against his back and the dark. So alone, so isolated.
“No,” he whispered, but even words were hard to form on his lips.
Not alone, he realized, managing to touch the pulsing mate mark on his neck. Before he blacked out, he thought of how he lay against Asher’s chest that morning, their limbs all tangled, making it seem like he didn’t know where Asher’s body started and where his ended.
Mate. Mine.
He held Asher’s handsome profile in his mind as his body hit the floor. He was distinctively aware of Mr. Denver grunting, hauling him by the pits.
This time, he thought, he refused to let despair and desperation drag him down, because he was no longer alone. He had allies, friends, and a mate who loved him with every breath the way he did.
I never got the chance to say those three words, but I will soon.
Save me, Asher, before Chris finishes the job and breaks me.
* * * *
Through the mating bond that psychically connected Asher to Dan, he sensed a sudden riot of emotions. Dan’s fear went through him like a shot of adrenaline.
“Sorry, but I need to cut this meeting short,” he told his client. Asher normally didn’t leave his clients hanging, but this was more important. Dan’s terror was like a living thing, snapping his wolf into alertness and triggering all of his proactive instincts. “I promise to give you an update about your missing husband as soon as possible. I have your number.”
Mrs. Grady looked surprised but nodded. He slid out of the booth.
“Whatever it is, I hope it turns out fine,” Mrs. Grady called from behind him.
He barely heard her, mind focused on that sudden call for help. Asher took out his phone, dialed Dan’s number. When his mate didn’t pick up, he tried the office. Nothing, as well. Jax picked up on the third ring.
“I’m five minutes from the office. Did something happen?”
He swore under his breath. Asher reached his car now, but he couldn’t remember where he put his keys. His wolf hovered on the surface, volatile as an angry storm. It would be easier to track and hunt in animal form, effortless to sink claws and teeth to the tender places of the asshole who thought his mate easy prey.
Chris Roman was a walking dead man. Who else could be after his sweet, amazing mate?
Fuck, he shouldn’t have left Dan alone, but if he hovered too much, he might stifle Dan. The last thing he wanted was to clip Dan’s wings, right after Dan finally managed to get free.
“Asher, you still there? I’m at the office now, looks like there’s a struggle. I’m going to see if there were any witnesses. Asher.” Jax’s voice turned serious.
Part of him wanted to blame Jax, although there was no reason for it. If Jax returned a little earlier, Dan would still be safe. He tried to think past his anger, but it was hard. All dominant shifter males had tempers, but when it came to Dan, his possessiveness went over the top.
He had to face the horrible truth.
Asher failed his mate, but damn if he would let this happen again.
“Asher, you with me? We need to put our heads together if we want to save your mate.” Jax’s quiet voice broke his moment of self-doubt.
Questioning and berating himself for his mistakes wouldn’t help Dan in the present.
“I’m here,” he said, voice rough. Asher, by some miracle, managed to get his key and into his car. He placed the phone against his ear and drove for the office. “What did you find?”
“Dan wrote an appointment with a Mr. Denver on the memo pad by the desk. You know any Mr. Denver?”
“No.” He gritted his teeth, frustrated.
“Can you feel Dan through the mate mark?”
He reached for the mark, alarmed he felt nothing but emptiness. Asher nearly hit another car, but thankfully managed to swerve at the last second.
“Asher?”
Jax was still on the phone. Asher stopped the car for a moment, breathing hard, before picking it up again. Jax still hadn’t disconnected. “I can’t feel him,” he whispered. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know a lot about mating marks, I put you on speaker just now, here’s Raul. I’ve updated him and Winter about the situation.”
Relieved he had friends, brothers he could rely on in an emergency, he spoke to Raul.
“Do you feel anything on Dan’s end? Any sign he’s alive?” Raul asked.
He refused to think about the worst-case scenario, killed the urge to tell Raul off and did as Raul asked. It was faint, but he did feel Dan’s life force flickering on the other side.
“He’s alive,” he replied.
“Good, try to send some soothing energy toward his animal. Dan’s cat must be panicked by now. Meet us back at the office. By then, we’ll have some answers.”
Trusting his friends, Asher drove to them. No matter what it took, he was going to retrieve his cat by the need of the day.
Chapter Ten
“All we have from the witness across the street, Mr. Lee, is a glimpse of the first few numbers of a plate number and a rusty green Toyota sighted at the time of Dan’s kidnapping,” Jax told Asher.
The lack of information didn’t help Asher’s mood one bit. His wolf paced inside of him, ready to break out any moment. He leashed back his temper, although he knew it wouldn’t be long before he cracked. The thought of Dan being held somewhere dark and cramped infuriated him. This shouldn’t have happened in the first p
lace.
“Hey,” Jax said, touching his shoulder.
He realized it was only the two of them still standing in the reception area. Winter and Raul had left sometime during the conversation he hadn’t really been paying attention to, the message clear. They didn’t have enough information to go around with. Raul tried his contact at the police station, but had no leads.
“It’s going to be all right.” Jax’s reassurance meant nothing.
He snarled. “What do you know?”
He instantly regretted his words. Asher said them without thinking, forgetting for a moment his friend did know what it was like to have his mate ripped from his arms. In Jax’s case, it had been too late, cancer took his mate away. But it wasn’t too late for Asher. He had a feeling a man like Chris Roman wouldn’t want to kill Dan instantly, not when he could still wring more screams out of his mate.
Asher silently seethed, but he knew he’d be of no help to Dan this way. He breathed in and out, to see Jax watching him carefully. Props to his friend for being the better man, for not showing claws or punching him in the face even though Asher deserved it.
“Sorry,” he finally said.
“Don’t worry about it. I get it. If my mate’s in danger, I’ll do anything in my power to get him back.”
Asher nodded, rubbing his temples, calming his wolf down at the thought of having Dan back in his arms, his to spoil, cherish, and claim. “I can feel him through the mate bond, still alive. He’s fighting in his own way. Dan’s not the sort to give up easily.”
Plenty of men would have cracked under a monster but not Dan. Chris Roman might have chipped slowly at Dan’s defenses, but Dan held, even though in the end, Dan considered giving up his human half to live the rest of his life as a cat.
Asher didn’t believe in second chances before, in destiny bringing two people together, but if Dan approached him, let alone trust him, they’d never get to where they were now. He and Dan discussed Dan’s choices at length. Maybe Dan needed to live in the skin of his cat to survive long enough for Asher to find him, help him heal.
