by Tami Lund
A human and a Cupid who tended to puke at the slightest hint of violence or blood. She desperately hoped they would see neither today, even as she felt far too confident that was exactly what was about to happen.
Rachel and Adora stood side-by-side and watched while Jeannine strained and grunted, trying to get the rusted hinges of the church’s back door to open. Adora grasped Rachel’s hand and squeezed, silently offering support. For about half a second, she considered telling Rachel to run, but she knew it would be foolish. As a shifter, even at her advanced age, Jeannine was far faster, far stronger, far more powerful than Rachel could ever be.
Or maybe not. Jeannine was still struggling with the door, and appeared exhausted by the effort. If they had any chance at all to get away, it was this moment.
“Run,” she whispered to Rachel, who, bless her heart, didn’t even hesitate. She turned away from the church and rushed down the crumbling stone steps and across the parking lot. Adora’s wings sprouted from her back and she flew along next to the human woman.
There wasn’t much in the way of cover in the area, which was surrounded by plowed fields and small clusters of trees. The road was the most logical escape. Hopefully they could flag down a passing motorist. “That way,” she called out, pointing at the pothole-laden entrance to the church parking lot.
Hearing a great snarl from behind them, Adora risked a glance over her shoulder just as a lean wolf leaped, catching them both at the shoulders and sending them crashing to the ground. Both women cried out as hands and knees scraped gravel and asphalt. Rachel rolled over onto her back and the wolf pinned her at the shoulders, staring down at her and baring its rather large and sharp teeth. A gob of saliva dripped from the wolf’s mouth, and Rachel turned her head just in time to avoid it splattering on her nose.
“Get off her,” Adora cried out, lunging at the wolf, pressing her shoulder into its side and pushing it off balance. A moment later, a woman stood before them, dusting off the front of her T-shirt and looking utterly calm, as if this was a perfectly normal process of events.
“Shay?”
Chapter 12
“WHERE the hell are they?”
It was at least the tenth time Matt asked the question, and just like all the other times, Josh had no answer. They weren’t at the farmer’s market. He was pretty sure they hadn’t even gone to the farmer’s market. A trip to Jeannine’s home proved fruitless as well.
“They could not possibly have disappeared off the face of the earth,” Matt grumbled as he and Josh strode up the front walk leading to Steve Zebree’s home.
“They aren’t here,” Josh said unnecessarily a few moments later. Matt peered in through the front window. Something about the scene felt…off. He saw a soda can sitting on the coffee table in the living room, as well as a bowl half-full of popcorn and a plate with a partially eaten piece of toast on it.
“I want to look inside,” Matt said suddenly, and he turned and headed around the side of the house to the back door, where they were less likely to be seen breaking and entering.
While Josh stood watch, Matt kicked in the door, and they both slipped inside.
“I smell fear,” Josh said as they walked around the house.
“And nervous energy,” Matt agreed as he headed down the hall toward the bedrooms. A moment later, he was back in the living room.
“It looks like they’ve gone on a trip. There are clothes thrown on most of the beds. Big empty areas in the closets. I’m guessing they kept suitcases stored there before. Toothbrushes missing from the bathrooms.”
“They left in a hurry, too,” Josh said, waving at the uneaten food on the coffee table.
“I don’t like this,” Matt said, giving his cousin an uneasy look. His phone vibrated and he whipped it out of his pocket, irrationally hoping it would be Adora, who didn’t even own a damn cell phone.
It was his brother, Nick.
“Yeah?”
“Matt, Jonas is gone.”
“Define gone.”
“We got into an argument this morning, over this girl he’s been seeing.”
“Courtney.”
“Yeah, her. He’s been too damn obsessed with her, and he’s only fourteen. I just want him to slow it down a little, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Matt definitely knew.
“He got pissed off and stormed out of the house. He’s been gone for hours and he won’t answer his phone. He knows the rules. Not answering the phone means no freedom. I don’t think he’d risk not seeing this girl unless something was wrong.”
“Any idea where he might have gone?” Matt dreaded the answer he already knew his brother would give.
“To Courtney’s house, I imagine.”
Grimly, he informed his brother that Courtney’s family was gone, and it appeared they left in a hurry.
“Matt.”
Matt turned at the sound of his name. Josh stood in the doorway to the kitchen, holding a cell phone in his hand. Matt recognized that phone.
“Shit.”
“What?” Nick demanded.
“I think they took Jonas with them.”
* * * *
They headed toward the west side of the state. It was the only lead they had, and that lead was nothing but Matt’s gut feeling. They’d enlisted Brendon to go with them, as he was the best tracker in the pack and his skills would undoubtedly come in handy. Nick was with them too, even though Matt tried to talk him out of going.
“Are you kidding?” Nick replied. “You’re lucky Ash isn’t with us, too. This is my son we’re talking about.”
His son, Josh’s mate, Matt’s mate, and a housekeeper whose family had no idea where she’d gone off to. Shay’s family, too. All disappeared off the radar.
On a hunch, he’d tried calling Shay’s phone, but his call had been dumped straight into voicemail. Either her phone was off or she was screening her calls.
None of it added up, at least not to anything good.
“Why did they take Jonas?” Nick wanted to know.
“My guess is he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They probably didn’t want him running home and telling you about their hasty exit.”
Nick wiped a hand over his face. “Damn it. All because I was being too frigging strict with him.”
“You weren’t being too strict,” Matt said as he pressed harder on the gas pedal. It was Josh’s truck, but he tended to drive like he had a death wish when he was stressed, so Matt had insisted on taking the wheel. “I’d do the same thing if I were in your position. Especially considering what happened to me when I was fifteen.”
“We have to deal with that when we get back,” Josh reminded him.
“Yeah,” Matt said grimly. “Especially since I recently mated with Adora.”
“You mated with the hot little Cupid?” Brendon piped up from the backseat. “Cool.”
“Not cool,” Josh corrected. “He’s already mated to a shifter.”
Brendon snorted. “Polygamist.”
“I don’t want to be mated to her. I want to be mated to Adora.”
“You should have followed the damn rules,” Josh snapped. “You should have gone to my father when it first happened.”
“Are you kidding me? He would’ve officially declared us mates.”
Josh shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t have. It happens more often than you think. Adolescents and their raging hormones. My dad was a big fan of love matches, and he knew younglings are rarely smart enough to get it right at that age.”
“So he would have nullified it?” Would it really have been so simple? All these years, he’d avoided trying to find a mate, never even considering the option. Told himself he was happy being single, indulging in one-night stands, never letting anyone in. All because of a stupid mistake he made as a teenager. And it could have been corrected almost as soon as it happened?
“Probably.”
Matt gave his brot
her a solid glare. Nick lifted his hands in a defensive motion. “I had no idea. I thought I was doing what was right.”
“Fine.” Matt glanced at Josh. “Nullify it now.”
“It’s a hell of a lot more complicated now,” Josh said. “Especially considering she claims to want it now.”
“She wants it?” Shit. Apparently Adora was better at her job than even she believed.
“Apparently. She came to me, wanted to talk about it. But then the school called and said her son was sick, so she took off before we finished the conversation. I figure she’ll be back when he’s feeling better.”
“What about Adora?”
“Whatever you did with Adora is null, given you and Kat are already mates. That just becomes an affair. And will probably piss off your mate.”
“She isn’t my mate,” Matt said, a growl reverberating through his chest.
Josh flexed his fists. “Let’s just find our women and Jonas. Then we’ll figure out this mess.”
They headed northwest, toward the area where Josh knew Shay’s pack to be located. They pulled off the interstate at rest areas, at an outlet mall, to see if they could pick up any scents indicating they were on the right path. Each time, Brendon returned to the truck with a grim look on his face.
They finally stopped to fill up at a gas station in a rural area comprised of little more than harvested fields and small copses of trees. A convenience store and small diner were attached to the gas station. The lot was full of parked vehicles, the diner full of people eating lunch.
Matt filled the gas tank while Josh and Nick wandered inside to get something to snack on and Brendon slipped out of sight to do a little tracking work. He was back at Matt’s side a few moments later.
“They’re here.”
Matt’s head whipped from side to side. “Adora?”
Brendon shook his head. “Jonas and the Zebree family. Eating in the diner,” he said with a nod in that direction. When Matt released his hold on the gas pump, Brendon grabbed his arm.
“Don’t. I think we should wait and follow them. Hopefully they’ll lead us to the others.”
“Is Jonas—”
“Hurt? No. He doesn’t look happy, but neither is he injured, from what I could tell.”
Even as relief flooded his system that his nephew was unscathed, every fiber of his being screamed at him to act—now. He didn’t want to wait. They’d waited too long already. Adora and Rachel and Jeannine had been gone for hours. They could be dead.
They could be dead.
“You need to chill,” Brendon said. “Your eyes are glowing.”
Josh and Nick walked up to the truck and gave Matt dual concerned looks.
“The Zebree family is here,” Brendon explained, while Matt took several deep breaths and tried to calm his overwrought emotions.
“Brendon says Jonas isn’t hurt,” he added for his brother’s benefit.
Nick’s face was one of stark relief.
“What are we waiting for?” Josh demanded as he scanned the area, looking for his quarry.
“I say we wait,” Brendon insisted. “Follow them. They may lead us to Rachel and Matt’s Cupid.”
Josh hesitated. Matt knew he was thinking the same thing he was. He finally blew out a frustrated sigh.
“Brendon’s right. We should wait.”
It wasn’t easy. Nor did it work out quite the way they planned.
After Matt topped off the gas tank, he pulled the truck around to the side of the building, and they settled in to wait for the Zebree family to finish their meal. When the group of shifters walked out of the diner and headed toward the parking lot, every man in the truck tensed with anticipation. Nick and Matt both sucked in a breath when they saw Jonas walking along next to Courtney.
He really was okay.
Then Jonas began gesturing toward the convenience store and he and Steve Zebree appeared to be having an argument.
“He wants a candy bar,” Nick said as he watched the scene. “The kid thinks no meal is complete without dessert. If they didn’t have dessert in the restaurant, he’s trying to convince them to go buy something sweet at the convenience store.” He shook his head at his son’s notions.
Then Steve Zebree cuffed the kid upside the head and Nick lost all semblance of control. He was out of the truck before anyone could stop him, and then a wolf raced across the parking lot, lunging at Steve Zebree, who maintained enough sense of control not to shift in front of the gathering of human witnesses in the vicinity.
The wolf crashed into him, sending Steve flying several feet before he fell to the ground on his back. The wolf leaped on top of him and swiped at him as his mate grabbed the children and pulled them out of harm’s way.
“That’s my dad,” Jonas called as he struggled to get out of Sandra Zebree’s grip.
A group of humans clustered around the man and wolf struggling on the ground together. One man had a shotgun in his hand and he yelled at the others to get out of his way so he could shoot the wolf. Matt stepped in front of the guy.
“Don’t you dare shoot my dog.”
“That’s no dog!”
“Haven’t you ever seen a husky before?”
“Well that husky is trying to kill that man,” the human blustered.
“Did you miss the part where that man hit my nephew a minute ago?” Matt retorted.
The human swung his gaze from Matt to the duo scuffling on the ground and then to Jonas, who was still trying to get away from Sandra. Josh and Brendon took the opportunity to seize control of the situation. Josh grabbed Nick by the scruff of the neck and hauled him off Steve, while Brendon grabbed Zebree, dragged him to his feet and held his arms behind his back.
“What the hell’s going on here?” the human with the gun demanded.
“Family squabble,” Josh said easily as he turned away, dismissing the man, his hand still firmly gripping Nick’s fur.
“We got it under control,” Matt said. “Come on, buddy,” he said to Jonas, who looked so relieved Matt was half afraid he was about to start crying.
Sandra did not let him go. “Give me my mate.”
Matt’s gaze shifted to the human witnesses still milling about. “Why don’t we have this conversation in private?” he suggested.
She hesitated and then nodded curtly, and still gripping Jonas’s arm, she followed them around the side of the building, her children trailing behind her.
Brendon stood watch, ensuring no humans came too close, while the rest had their heated conversation behind the truck.
“Let my mate go,” Sandra insisted. Matt could tell she had no intention of letting Jonas go until her mate was released safely into her care.
Josh gave in first, and as Steve stumbled across the short distance to his mate, she let go of Jonas’s arm and rushed to meet him part way. Jonas hurried over and dropped to his knees next to his dad, who had not yet shifted out of wolf form. He wrapped his arms around the wolf’s neck and buried his face in his fur, while the animal furiously tried to lick him.
“Where are they, Sandra?” Matt asked. Sandra had grown up in his pack, and had met Steve while vacationing with her family on the west side of the state. When they decided to mate, Steve was the one who chose to leave his pack and join hers. Unfortunately, it appeared he’d brought his pack’s outlook on human-shifter relations with him.
Sandra shook her head mutely as she clung to her bleeding, injured mate.
“Where are they?” he asked again, and he took a step toward her.
She continued to shake her head, all but dragging her mate as she backed away from Matt. He reached out, intending to stop them, when Josh grabbed his shoulder.
“Hear that? The sirens? The human authorities are on their way. We need to go.”
“You’re going to let them leave?”
Josh stared down Sandra as he said, “They’ll be dealt with. But first, I have to find my mate.”
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Sandra’s eyes widened and she stumbled, but she did not loosen her grip on her mate. “I can’t,” she said, and then she hurried around the side of the building and disappeared from sight. Courtney’s brother chased after them, but Courtney hesitated.
“It’s Aunt Shay,” she blurted, looking at Matt.
“What is?”
“She’s going to do something to the pack master’s mate. She doesn’t like that she’s human.”
“She’s not even part of our pack,” Matt said.
“What’s she planning?” Josh demanded.
She shook her head, tears spilling onto her cheeks. “I don’t know. I swear, I don’t. There are meetings. Her pack. I’ve never been. Even Mom and Dad don’t go. But Aunt Shay—she talks about them whenever she visits.”
Fear coursed through Matt’s veins. The kind of numbing fear one experiences when something important is out of their control.
“What else do you know?”
“Nothing,” Courtney said again. “I told you, I don’t go to the meetings. Everything’s over here, near this pack, and we don’t visit much. I’ve just overheard Aunt Shay and Dad talking, that’s all.”
Josh and Matt exchanged a look.
Courtney waved her hand in an arc. “We’re real close to the pack here. Just keep going down that road there.” She pointed at the two-lane road running in front of the gas station, indicated they should head west. “Most of the pack lives down there. That’s all I know, I swear!”
“Courtney!” Her mother’s voice was a high-pitched screech.
Courtney wavered, her gaze falling onto Jonas, who was still clinging to his father as if he never intended to let the wolf go. She glanced over her shoulder. “I-I have to go. I’m sorry. I-I hope you find her. The pack master’s mate, I mean.” With one last longing look in Jonas’s direction, she bolted, disappearing around the corner of the gas station and out of sight.
Josh cut off the round of cursing that ensued. “Get in. Let’s go. Before we’re too late.” They clambered into the truck. He waited until they’d pulled out of the gas station parking lot, and then Nick shifted back to human form and hugged his son fiercely.
