Blinded

by E. M. Leya

  "Even if I could see and lived here for years, I'd want your arm around me." I let him lead me inside. I inhaled the smell of sausage and bacon, my mouth watering. It sounded like the place was nearly empty as I tried to focus on the scent of the humans around. Somewhere near was a bear shifter, but I quickly ignored that scent and focused on the others. I smelled Bridger's friend almost instantly. He wasn't too far from where we were. I tried to remember his name, but couldn't. There were four other scents, all females, but none of them matched the scent from the attack. "Nothing." I sighed.

  "We won't give up." Bayne stepped forward so we could order.

  "Hey, you're Bridger's friend, aren't you?" The scent of his friend got closer. "I don't know if you remember meeting at his house, but I'm Jared."

  I turned toward the voice and smiled. "I remember. Nice to see you again." I bit my lip, thinking how odd it sounded when I had two patches over my eyes.

  "I heard about Bridger getting killed in an accident. I'm so sorry about that. Were you with him? Is that what happened to your face?" Jared asked.

  I nodded, wondering what story Bridger's family was telling people. "Thanks, I'm going to miss him. He was a good friend." I didn't answer the other question, unsure how to lie. I didn't want to say something wrong and mess things up.

  "Mary is devastated. She won't leave her house since she found out." Jared sighed. "I've been over there a couple of times and she won't even see me."

  "Do you have her number? I'd like to at least call and leave a message for her. Maybe let her know some of the stuff Bridger said about her. It might help to hear how much he loved her." I was lying my ass off. Bridger didn't love her, but he liked her a hell of a lot. I just wanted to be able to get her scent too, even though I was pretty confident the scents at the attack site were male.

  "Sure, let me write it down for you. I'm sure she'd like that. Maybe you can talk her into giving me a call too? I'm dating her best friend, and even she can't get her to talk." Jared sighed.

  "Sure, I'll do what I can." I was pretty sure if her friends couldn't get through to her, I wouldn't be able to either.

  "I got the number." Bayne rubbed his palm over the back of my shirt. "What did you want to eat?"

  "Whatever you get, it's on me," Jared offered.

  "Wow, thanks, you didn't have to do that. I'll just have a number two with a coffee." I tried to direct my face toward where I thought Jared was. "I'll do what I can for Mary, but grief can be hard. She hardly knows me. We only met once. I'm not sure she'll talk to me, but I'll try," I promised.

  "Thanks, and again, I'm sorry. I know you two were tight. He talked about you all the time," Jared told me.

  "Thanks." I didn't know what else to say. "I'll be around. I decided to move here, so I'll keep in touch."

  "That's great. Glad you're staying. If you need a job, we're always hiring." Jared laughed.

  "Thanks, but I'm not sure how my eyes will heal. Until then, I'm just laying low." I reached for Bayne's hand.

  "You sure we can't pay for this?" Bayne asked.

  "Nope, you're good. It's a thank you for trying to get Mary to open up," Jared said. "Enjoy your breakfast."

  "Thanks." I was relieved when Bayne turned us away from the counter and led us to a booth to sit down.

  "Anything?" Bayne asked as he seemed to be moving the food around in front of me.

  "No, nothing at all." I sighed. "I was hoping it would be this easy, but I should have known better."

  "Where else did you two go around town?"

  "He took us to a bakery where Mary worked. It was on the main road, I think. Then had to stop by the store for his mom, but I think we went there last night. Um, we stopped by some gaming store to pick up a new game he wanted to try. I don't remember where that was. Then we went to the bar and a few of his friends' houses over the next few hours."

  "Okay, I know the bakery and the gaming store. We can go pick up a new game or something for the pack house. Those guys are always playing something or other. Then later we can hit the bakery. I'll give Kurt a call and we can hit the bar later tonight."

  "That's a lot of time for us to stay dressed." I lowered my voice as I grinned.

  "Damn right it is, but think how good it will be when we finally get back home." Bayne's hand covered mine. "Sandwich is in front of you, hash brown to the left, and coffee to the right."

  "Thanks." I gave his hand a squeeze before reaching for my food.

  "So, was the relationship with Mary that serious?" Bayne asked.

  "I didn't think so, but I only got Bridger's side of things. He didn't do serious very often. It was all about the sex to him. I mean he treated his partners good enough. Was loyal and never cheated, but he wasn't someone to let his heart get involved. He liked the company, and he loved the pleasure."

  "Well, it sounds like it was more for Mary. Maybe that was the problem."

  I took a sip of my coffee before answering. "It could be, but that wouldn't explain how she would know about wolves. I just can't see Bridger telling anyone. I don't see him losing control. I saw him work. He was in complete control."

  A wave of jealousy shot through the link I shared with Bayne.

  I smiled. "We shared submissives, we had sex in the same room, but the two of us were never together." I reached over, offering my hand to Bayne. When he took it, I gave it a squeeze. "Even if we had been, everything in my past failed to matter the moment I caught your scent and found my mate. You are the only one for me. Now and forever. There's no need for jealousy. My past is forgotten. It's only you now. Use our link and see for yourself. I belong to you completely."

  Bayne sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't feel that way. It's just hard to think about you with others. I'm sure it's the same for you to think of me with anyone. I don't doubt us. I don't worry I'll ever lose you to someone, but I hate that any other person has ever touched what is mine."

  "I love you." I sent a wave of love through our link.

  "I love you, too." Bayne released my hand. "Okay, enough of that. I will learn to control this somehow. It's just so new, so raw."

  "For both of us." I finished off my hash brown. "We'll get through it together. We're not the first to go through this."

  "All of it together," Bayne told me.

  "You ready?" I asked, hating I couldn't see if he was done.

  "Yeah, we can take the coffee with us." Bayne stood.

  I stood beside him, holding my coffee in one hand as I linked my arm through his. We had a busy day ahead, but hopefully, we'd figure out who was attacking wolves, or at least be one step closer to finding out. I looked forward to having this over with so Bayne and I could get on with our lives and put this all behind us.

  CHAPTER TEN

  BAYNE

  I smiled as I pulled Brett up from his chair. "If you'll excuse us, we're going to dance." I grinned at Kurt and Josh as a wave of shock hit me from my mate.

  "Dance?" Brett's voice cracked.

  "Yep. I want to hold you in my arms." I weaved him through the chairs and tables to the dance floor.

  "I'm not sure this is smart. I wasn't a good dancer before I lost my sight, but now, you could lose your toes at the least." He wrapped his arms around me as I drew him closer.

  "I'll be careful of my toes." I held on to him as a slow song played. "I just needed some time alone with my mate."

  "You only had to ask." He relaxed in my arms.

  "I was afraid you'd say no." I rested my head against his cheek. "How are you feeling?"

  "Good, but frustrated we got no leads today."

  "Just means we keep looking. We won't give up." I moved slowly, feeling his nervousness.

  "I'll be glad when this is over, and we won't have to get out of bed for anything."

  "Me too, though I plan on sleeping in tomorrow. There's not much else we can do other than walk around town and try to catch the scent. Hopefully, Kurt will have news tomorrow about the memorial." I brushed my lips over his ear. "It does
n't matter what we are doing as long as we're together."

  "I know. I just feel like we have so much distracting us right now." Brett released a long sigh. "This has been good though. I've enjoyed getting to know Josh and Kurt better. I think I'll ask if I can join his pack later this week. I know he'll need time to call a pack meeting for it."

  "He will, but the pack is good. If he calls, they will be there unless they have a good reason. He doesn't call many meetings, so they know when he does it's important." I guessed Kurt would also want to update the pack on what was going on. He'd sent a warning out for anyone hunting or running to be safe, but he'd want to give more details in person.

  "I'll ask him when we get back to the table. Are you about ready to call it a night?" Brett asked.

  "Tired?" I pressed my hand to the small of his back, enjoying holding him tightly against my chest as we swayed to the music.

  "Yeah. I'm actually exhausted. I don't know what's going on. Since the attack, I feel like I'm drained, but haven't done anything to get that way. I mean, today shouldn't have worn me out. I'm used to doing a lot more than this and feeling fine." Brett leaned against me a little harder.

  "Maybe we should talk to Cohen tomorrow. Have him do another physical. For all I know it could be our mating, but then you'd think I'd be tired as well." I kissed his cheek. "Hopefully, it's nothing more than stress. God knows you've had your fair share the last few days." The song ended, and I pulled back. "Let's go say goodnight." I took his arm in mine.

  "Thanks." He smiled.

  I led him back to the table and let him sit before I took a seat beside him. "I think we're about to call it a night."

  "Actually, first, I was hoping to talk to Kurt," Brett said.

  "Sure, what's up?" Kurt looked at him as he had his arm around Josh's shoulder.

  "I'd like to join your pack this week sometime if that's possible. I don't want to wait. The sooner I break ties with my old one, the sooner I can really start my life here. Plus, I think it will help my parents be more comfortable with me being here. Maybe even help them decide to come here as well." Brett caressed his fingers over my thigh.

  "Of course. We can do it Friday night. I've already planned on a pack meeting that night to address the attacks. Everyone should be there. I'm excited you've chosen to join us. You'll be a welcome addition to the pack." Kurt looked genuinely happy.

  "Hey, you're a teacher too, right?" Josh asked.

  "Yeah, but that was before I was blind." Brett reached up and gently touched one of the eye patches.

  "Won't matter. You can still teach if you want to. I was talking to Carrie Briggs the other night. She suggested that several of the pack's youth needed tutoring. It's something you could do from the pack house, you could have someone assist you if you needed, but this would really help." Josh glanced at Kurt. "She also mentioned two jobs coming open next fall for teachers at the school. I don't know if you'd be comfortable working there, but it's an option."

  Brett bit his lip, a wave of uncertainty coming from him.

  "Why don't we wait and see what happens with finding a donor first? I'm sure it would be a much easier decision if you have your sight back." I gripped his hand under the table.

  "Of course." Kurt smiled.

  "As for the tutoring, I'd like that. I'd need someone there to keep an eye on the students and read things for me, but I think I could still write and show them how to work problems and figure things out. I wouldn't mind that, as long as it's at the pack house where I know there are others around," Brett said. "If we don't find a donor, or this surgery doesn't work, then I'll need to learn braille and look into other options, but I'm still holding onto hope that surgery will be a success if we find a donor." Brett smiled at me. "It would give me something to do besides sit around and feel helpless."

  "You're hardly helpless." I frowned.

  "I know that, but there really isn't much I can do alone. If I can at least feel like I'm doing something useful, it will help. Besides, it would give you a chance to get back to your life and stop having to babysit me." Brett gave my leg a squeeze. "Before you say anything. I know you aren't babysitting me, but it's hard to need someone to help me get around. I know you have things to do. As much as I hate the thought of us spending any time apart, we're going to have to. It's the only way I'm going to learn how to deal with being blind. I need prepare for the chance we won't get a donor or surgery won't be successful."

  I wanted to object, but I knew that it was what needed to happen. I couldn't protect Brett and do everything for him. He had to adapt and learn, or he'd never be happy. "Doesn't mean I have to like it." I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

  "I'll talk to Carrie and we can go from there. I should be able to let you know more by Friday when you do the pack ceremony," Josh told him.

  I felt a wave of shock come through my link with Brett, then a second later, I smelled it too. I gripped his hand. "Kurt, the scent, I smell it. The person is close. It's not very strong, but I can smell it."

  Brett stood.

  "Easy, we should go slow. Let's walk around the bar once and see if we can trace it. We need to be careful. If the person knows about us, he knows who you are." I gripped his hand again and stood beside him. "Let's head toward the bathrooms."

  "No, it's stronger toward the front." Brett tugged me.

  I had no choice but to lead him toward the front doors, slowly moving through crowds, pausing to smell what or who was around us. He was right. The smell did get stronger as we headed for the door. "They're outside." I pulled him closer as we walked out.

  "To the right." Brett turned and started to walk, but stumbled on a small step.

  "Easy, I smell it." I moved so he didn't trip as we headed toward the parking lot.

  We got to the center of the lot and stopped, the smell strong, but not moving from close to where we were.

  "Do you see anyone?" Brett asked.

  "No, no one. Whoever it was had to have gotten into a car and left." I glanced around, not surprised to see Kurt and Josh headed our way.

  "Lose them?" Kurt asked.

  "I think so. Can you smell it?" I hoped he could tell better than I could where exactly the scent was strongest. I looked around the parking lot, taking in the trucks and cars parked on either side of us.

  "Yeah, I smell it, but you're right. It ends right here. The car wasn't parked in a stall. It's like someone picked him up. It's male for sure, human. Faint scent of marijuana. It's mixed with several other scents. My guess is someone picked up a small group. Let's head inside. I think Bruce has cameras out here. We might see something." Kurt turned, leading us back in.

  Once there, we all waited as Kurt talked to the bar owner. Bruce was a pack member, and I was sure would do whatever he could to help us find whoever was attacking wolves. It took only a few whispered words for Bruce to gesture for us all to follow him into his office in the back.

  I led Brett, careful of the chairs and other things in our path. He was tense and quiet, and through our link, I sensed a mix of anger and fear. There was nothing I could do to help him other than be by his side. I understood his fear. This was someone who had nearly killed him, had killed one of his friends. Nothing I said or did would reassure him that he was safe. Only when the person was brought to justice would he be able to really move on with his life without fear of being attacked again.

  Bruce shut the door, giving us privacy before moving to the large desk with a computer monitor on it. "I have two cameras outside, but it will depend on where the vehicle was located as to what kind of view we can get of the people getting into it. I focus mostly on the front of the building and the back, near the delivery doors." His fingers worked over the keyboard. "Here's the last twenty minutes of the first camera that focuses on the front." He hit play.

  We all stood around the desk watching as a couple cars came and went. "So far there are just a few cars coming and going. Look like single occupants. Not who we are looking for," I told Brett since he
couldn't see.

  "Look." Josh pointed as three men walked out. They were in the shadows and it was impossible to make out their faces from where they were, but hopefully, if one of them was the guy we wanted, then he would have to move to get to the place he'd been picked up.

  "It can't be those guys." Kurt shook his head. "We would have caught the scent stronger in here. They came from inside the bar. There's no way whoever this was came in and we didn't notice."

  Brett nodded. "The scent was faint when I first caught it. It could have easily carried in an air vent or through the front doors. It wasn't strong enough for whoever it was to be in here for any amount of time. We'd have noticed."

  I stared at the screen, praying for a break.

  About five minutes later, a two-door car pulled up and parked right where we had traced the scent to. It stopped, and two men got out, allowing the three men who'd just left the bar to get into the back seat before the other two men got back in the front and the car pulled off.

  "That has to be him. One of those men in the front seat. Can you play it back?" I asked.

  "What did you see?" Brett gripped my arm.

  "Two men got out of a car, let the three we'd talked about before get in, then all five men drove off. We had to have caught the scent when he got out to let the others in," I explained.

  "Can you get a plate number?" Brett asked.

  "Rewind it for us, Bruce. Can you screenshot the image or enhance it much?" Kurt asked.

  "It's not the best software, but I think I can get a better shot." Bruce played around with it for a minute, finally getting a bit closer. "Looks like a red Ford Taurus. The plate is Montana XLZ 4… I can't make out the rest of it."

  "That's okay. With the car description and partial plate, we should be able to come up with something. I'll get the information to Stephen at the DMV tomorrow and have him look it up. Does anyone recognize any of the men?" Kurt looked up at us all.

  "I wish I could see since I'm the one who knows the scent." Brett sighed.