“I’m sure there’s an explanation for it,” Thomas said, his phone already in his hand.
Kameron nodded. Maybe Ellie wasn’t feeling well and Zach had asked someone to shimmer him to the hospital. Maybe he had gone to see his friends at the mansion, or even here in Gillham.
There could be a dozen explanations for the fact that he was missing. But Kameron and his wolf knew better. They could feel that this wasn’t something light, that the reason why Zach wasn’t in his bed was serious.
“Nick is coming. I’m going to go around the house again and check for scents.”
Kameron nodded. He wasn’t sure he could do much more right then, and he knew it wasn’t good. He was the Alpha, he shouldn’t be brought down by something like this. He had to be the strength of the pack, and he should be the one in charge, not Thomas.
Kameron shook himself and headed for his office. Zach’s scent was heavy in the air, but the man had been in the house for hours, so it was normal.
His office’s door was still open after they had checked it, but Kameron didn’t remember leaving it that way when he had left the night before. Maybe Zach had been in there. He also didn’t remember leaving the light on the desk on.
Nearing his desk, Kameron searched for clues that someone had been there, and he found it.
The drawers were open and someone had searched them. He couldn’t tell if they had found what they needed, but he could try to scent whoever had done it.
Walking back to the door, he took a deep breath. The combined scent of him and Zach assaulted his nose, sending a pang of longing and pain shooting through him.
He pushed it away and tried to concentrate. Zach’s scent was heavier close to the door, but it lightened as he neared the desk again. The fact that it was still present was normal since they had both been there earlier, but it told Kameron that his mate hadn’t actually come into the office after that.
There was another scent, though, but Kameron was finding it impossible to pinpoint whose it was because it was hidden under an artificial smell. That scent was heavy and clung to the air, overpowering the basic scent of the person who had worn it and making it impossible to identify who it was.
Someone else had been in the house.
That didn’t explain what had happened to Zach, though. Maybe he had decided that Kameron wasn’t worth it, wasn’t worth the hard work it would take as Alpha mate. Zach had run once before, so it didn’t really surprise Kameron that he had ran again.
“You smell it?”
Kameron jumped a bit. He had been so concentrated that he hadn’t heard Thomas behind him. “Yeah.”
“You think whoever it was took Zach?”
“I don’t know. It’s a possibility, but there are no signs of struggle anywhere in the house.” That was another clue that Zach had probably left on his own accord. The fact that someone had been in the house probably had nothing to do with his departure.
“We’ll find him,” Thomas said, squeezing Kameron’s shoulder before exiting the room. Kameron wasn’t sure he wanted to find Zach, though, not if his mate had left him once again.
Chapter Five
Zach had no idea where they were, and it didn’t help him make escape plans one bit. Tom had driven the car for a while before stopping at a motel, just before dawn. How he had managed to get Zach into the room he’d rented without someone seeing them was anyone’s guess, but then it had been fairly early, and he hadn’t been able to scream.
Tom had dumped him on one of the beds before going out again, and he had yet to return. He had left Zach bound, his mouth still covered by the scarf, and while he had been trying to free himself, his only result had been causing himself pain he really didn’t need to feel at the moment. He wasn’t completely healed yet, and it hindered his admittedly feeble attempts to escape.
The fact that the scarf still smelled of Kameron also didn’t help. It just made Zach long for his mate and wonder if he was ever going to see him again. Zach would give anything for that, never mind for the chance to mate with the man he had known was his for seven years, finally.
Now that he might never have the chance to make Kameron his, Zach couldn’t help but dwell on the choices he had made in his short life and think about how it could have been. What if he had talked to Kameron once he had turned eighteen? What if he had stopped taking the pills and let Kameron know they were mates? What if he hadn’t run two months ago? What if he had talked to Kameron instead of trying to do everything on his own?
Those thoughts weren’t helping Zach freeing himself, but he didn’t think he would be able to anyway, and he didn’t have anything else to do while he waited for Tom to come back and decide what he was going to do with him. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long, because the wait seemed almost worse than what could happen. Almost.
Zach looked up when the door opened, and sure enough, Tom was back, his face seemingly frozen in a scowl. It wasn’t new. Every time Zach saw the man, he was either scowling or sneering, as if he didn’t have anything good in his life, which was probably true since Kameron had taken over the pack.
Tom stomped around the room for a while, leaving a paper bag that smelled oh-so-good to Zach on the nightstand. He hadn’t eaten in what seemed like a lifetime, and he sure hoped Tom would feed him. He needed his strength.
Finally, Tom moved to him and took the scarf out of Zach’s mouth. Zach sputtered as he tried to get his mouth to salivate again. Kameron’s scent was still on his skin, in his mouth, and while he was sorry for it to fade, he needed to drink something. “Water?” he croaked, hoping Tom would take pity on him.
Tom scowled again, but he did take a bottle of water from the paper bag. He hesitated, but clearly, he didn’t trust Zach not to bolt if he removed the ties around Zach’s wrists and ankles, so he uncorked the bottle and held it to Zach’s mouth.
Water spilled from it and slid down Zach’s chin and neck, but it didn’t matter. The water felt like heaven in his dry mouth, and he drank as much as he could before Tom moved away and closed it.
“What are you going to do with me?”
Tom sneered. “I’m going to use you any way I can.”
Zach would have been afraid of what exactly Tom meant if he hadn’t known the man was as homophobic as they came. There was no way he would touch Zach in a sexual way, so at least he didn’t have to fear rape. “What do you mean?”
“I’m sure the labs will find a way to use you.”
Zach’s breath hitched. “But we found Glass. The company doesn’t exist anymore.” He wasn’t sure of that. It wasn’t like he knew much, but he did know that Glass was in the council’s jail. He didn’t know what the council was going to do with him and what would happen to the company, though, but he had hoped it meant the labs would disappear.
“Are you really that stupid? Do you think the man hadn’t thought about the eventuality that something happened to him?”
Honestly, Zach hadn’t thought even once about Glass in the last months, but it scared him that right when they thought things would finally be over, they might not be. “What is he going to do?”
“Do I look stupid to you?”
Tom stepped toward Zach and Zach couldn’t help his reaction. He cringed, trying to bundle into a fetal position to protect the vulnerable areas of his body. Tom looked disgusted, but at least he didn’t touch him. He never had, to be honest.
Stan and Bud had been more than happy to beat Zach up, but while Tom had known about it, he had never taken part in the beatings. It was weird to think he might have at least a tiny bit of conscience, but then the reason was probably that he didn’t want to dirty himself with beating a gay man.
“I need money to get out of here, and I’m going to sell you to get it.”
That didn’t bode well for Zach. He had been through hell with Stan, but the labs would make that look like a walk in the park. He had to find a way out of the room and hope someone was looking for him. Kame
ron surely was, right?
“Kameron will find me.”
“Why should he even look for you? It wouldn’t be the first time you left him without saying anything.”
Zach stopped breathing, the beat of his heart too loud in his ears. Kameron wouldn’t believe he had left, right? He knew Zach had tried to do what was best for everyone the first time and that he hadn’t wanted to leave. “He knows I wouldn’t leave a second time.”
“Does he? When he goes home, he’ll only see that you’re missing and that there are no signs of struggle. I made sure of that.”
“He’ll scent you.”
Tom tsked. “He would have, if I hadn’t taken care of covering my scent. It’s incredible what humans can do when they want to, you know? They have this very useful spray that covers natural scents, and I just happen to have one.”
Zach wanted to think Tom was wrong, but he wasn’t sure he was. Things were still rocky between Kameron and him, and since they weren’t bonded yet, Kameron couldn’t know what Zach was feeling and that he hadn’t wanted to get away. He couldn’t let Tom see he was winning, though, so he held his chin up and said, “Even if Kameron doesn’t look for me, someone else will.”
“Oh yeah? Who? Your sister?”
Zach tightened his fists in anger. “My sister, my friends. I talked with some of them only hours ago, and they know I’m not going anywhere.”
This time it looked as if Tom was a little less sure about what he was saying, and it made Zach feel a bit smug. He had managed to crack the evil shell of the man in front of him, and it hopefully would help him find a way out this situation. “Yeah, well, they’ll have to find you anyway, and you’ll be long gone when they realize what happened. Don’t get your hopes up, fairy. You’re not going anywhere.”
Zach was terrified, he was hurt, he was longing for home, but he wouldn’t give up. He was going to win this.
* * * *
“What the fuck are you doing?”
Kameron raised his head at the sound of the door slamming open and hitting the wall and wasn’t surprised to see Derick standing there, his eyes shooting daggers at him. “It looks pretty obvious to me. I’m working.”
Derick narrowed his eyes. “Don’t fuck with me, Kam. You know what I’m talking about. Why aren’t you looking for Zach?”
“It’s none of your business what I do or not, and you better remember that, Derick. You might not be part of the pack anymore, but I’m still an Alpha, and you should show me respect.”
The growl that rose from Derick’s throat was impressive, as was his attitude. Kameron didn’t know the man had it in him to confront him like that. “I’ll show you respect when you deserve it. Someone took your mate and you’re not even bothering to look for him! Why should I respect you?”
Kameron tightened his fists in anger before rising from his chair. “Derick, I’m warning you. If you talk to me like that again...”
Derick opened his mouth, but a hand slapped on it and stopped the stream of words he had been about to spit out. Kameron was relieved. He liked Derick, and the last thing he wanted was to have to punish him for being disrespectful toward an Alpha.
Kameron watched as Derick sputtered behind his mate’s hand, his eyes flaming in anger. He knew why the couple was there, of course, and he was going to have to remember to talk to Duncan. It wouldn’t do to have his men running to the pride when they had a problem with the decisions he made.
Once Nate was sure Derick wouldn’t blurt out something that could have him get hurt, he let his hand fall and turned to Kameron. “You know why we’re here.”
Kameron nodded. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Duncan called you and told you Zach left again.”
“He didn’t leave, you idiot!”
Kameron’s head snapped toward the obnoxious wolf shifter. He snarled at Derick, making sure to show his teeth, but to his surprise, Derick didn’t even look afraid.
“Oh, stop the drama and listen to me, will you? Zach didn’t leave on his own, not this time. I talked to him yesterday, and he told me he was happy to be finally home. Do you really think he would leave you again, after all he’s been through? Do you think he would leave Ellie after what he has already done for her? Because if you do, then you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought you were, and you don’t deserve him!”
Kameron chose to ignore Derick’s insults. He felt he deserved them anyway, and getting into a fight with Derick wouldn’t solve anything. “Look, I came home this morning and he wasn’t there. There were no signs of struggle, no signs someone had took him. It wouldn’t be the first time he left without saying anything to anyone. Why should this time be different?”
Derick looked at Kameron as if he couldn’t really believe what he was hearing. “Are you deaf? Did you hear what I just told you?”
“I think you should calm down, babe,” Nate said in a soothing voice. Too bad it didn’t seem to work on Derick.
“Calm down? Calm down?” he shrieked. “Are you listening to him, Nate?”
“I am, but if he doesn’t want to do anything, we can’t force him to.”
“But Zach is his mate! How can... why? Why, Kam? I know you, you’re not like this. You would be the first to look for any pack member who disappears, let alone your mate.” Derick’s eyes were pleading for Kameron to answer him, to do something to help, but Kameron wasn’t sure he had the strength to do anything.
He sat back down and leaned his elbows on his desk, covering his face with his hands. “I won’t be able to stand it if I find him and he doesn’t want to come back. I can’t do this, not again.”
Kameron startled a bit when he felt an arm around his shoulders, but he didn’t look up. The scent was enough to tell Kameron it was Derick who was trying to comfort him. “Zach told me you talked yesterday.”
Kameron nodded, finally letting his hands fall on his desk. He knew he should have been ashamed to show how vulnerable he was feeling to anyone, but he couldn’t seem to care. He felt as if his heart had been wrenched from his chest and torn to pieces. He wasn’t sure he even cared about being Alpha anymore.
“He didn’t leave you this time, Kam, believe me. We talked yesterday, and I hadn’t heard Zach sound that happy in a long time. I know he wants to finish the bond, to mate with you, and he wouldn’t have done anything to endanger that. He wants you, and he wouldn’t leave Ellie, not with the baby coming in a few months. Someone took him, I’m sure of that.”
“It makes sense, especially since Tom got away,” Nate added.
Kameron looked at the jaguar shifter. “Do you have spies in the pack by any chance?” It was said with no heat, and the little smirk on Kameron’s face obviously was enough to tell Nate he was joking, or at least trying to.
“Nope. We don’t need spies when we have Duncan.”
Kameron chuckled. That was true. Duncan had a tendency to blurt out just about anything that passed through his mind, at least to people he trusted.
“Try to get over the fact that you’re scared Zach left you, because he didn’t,” Derick said with a last squeeze on Kameron’s shoulders. He then moved back to his mate, and Nate wrapped his arm around Derick’s waist, kissing his cheek. “So, Tom escaped. How did he know you were going to look for him? Who can he go to?”
“We have no idea. Nick thinks he went over to Stan’s and found out Zach and Ellie were gone. With our scents there, it wasn’t hard for him to guess what had happened.”
“Why did he come back and take Zach? He could have just run and no one would have caught him.”
Kameron hesitated, but he knew he could trust the men in front of him. “We found a strange scent here in the office. It wasn’t natural, like someone had wanted to be sure we wouldn’t be able to identify who was here.”
“Tom was obviously looking for something in your office. It’s not a big jump to think that Zach surprised him and Tom decided to take him with him. Zach was wounded, so
it wouldn’t have been hard to get him without too many struggles,” Derick pointed out, and Kameron felt sick to his stomach. Was that what had happened? Had Zach fought, even if there hadn’t been any sings of it?
Had he really thought Zach had left him again? Kameron wanted to kick his own ass. Even if Zach had left on his own, Kameron should have looked for him. He should have made sure Zach was fine.
If anything had happened to him, Kameron didn’t know what he would do. He just knew it would be his fault, because he hadn’t done anything to help Zach.
“Any idea of where we start looking for them?” Nate asked.
“From what I know of the pack and the inner circle members, they mostly kept to themselves, but Tom could have friends out of the pack.”
Derick snorted. “Friends? I don’t think that man ever had friends, more like minions.”
“Anyone he would go to?”
Kameron shook his head. “I don’t know, but Nick might.” He reached for his phone, hoping his Beta would be able to help them, because if he couldn’t, he didn’t know what he was going to do. Losing Zach wasn’t an option.
* * * *
They were back in the car, and Tom’s happy face was scaring Zach more than anything he had ever seen in his short life. It was downright creepy, to be honest. Not only because Tom was usually the last person one could expect to see smile, but because it meant that his plans were going well, and that meant Zach was doomed.
Tom had let him use the bathroom, but that was all. Zach hadn’t eaten much the day before, and it felt as if his stomach was trying to eat itself by the time they had finally left the motel. Tom had dumped him in the back seat, still tied up, and there had been nothing Zach could do. His wounds still hurt, and his present situation wasn’t helping his healing. He had even tried to shift, hoping it would be enough to get out of the cords that held his wrists together, but they had still been too tight.
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