"Son?"
Skylar reigned in his wolf and with a mental sigh he changed back into his human form. If there was one thing about his guardian he knew that once he'd decided something there was nothing that could stop him.
"Charles."
Charles' eyebrows raised but he made no comment.
"After my conversation with you a few days ago I took it upon myself to check over your last case. Your need to shut out the details of the case after it's over is a weakness I've allowed you to have and now it has caused your mate harm."
Mate. Aspen.
"What are you talking about?"
Xavier's voice pulled him from remnants of his last case that Skylar thought better left forgotten. It was why he took an extra day or two after each case to pull himself together. Remind himself of who and what he was. Was he really any better than the ones that he executed? Hadn't he felt a moment of satisfaction to see the life drain from their bodies? But it was quickly replaced with remorse. He'd never forget retching after his first kill and every kill thereafter. This was what he was trained for, his guardian ensured that.
"...twin boys. Shawn and Shane McLemore were under the Council's eyes after an incident with their father."
Skylar shook his head to clear the remaining fog and listen to Charles. He had to be on point to get Aspen back.
"What did you say?"
Charles sighed.
"Let's go inside and I'll tell you everything."
The pained expression warned Skylar that he had more than Aspen's abduction to deal with. Skylar and Xavier both growled as they walked through Aspen's house, their new home because it had become clear to Skylar over the past week that there was no way he would make Aspen leave her pride, her family.
Caleb took a seat and for the first time Skylar took a moment from his own grief to look at the people surrounding him. Of course Xavier was beside himself with worry, a worry they both shared. Caleb's eye's held barely restrained anger, his cougar peeking out because his pride member and childhood friend was in unknown danger. Zackary sat his shoulders slumped, the most subdued he'd ever seen the guy. Zackary's eyes connected with Skylar's and he was taken aback at the haunted look in the young male's eyes. The only members of the table that didn't seem to be lost to their despair were Wesley and Daphne, but he'd notice their looks anywhere. Stared at it in the mirror often enough. They were in the zone, one where the safety of a victim depended on their levelheadedness and capabilities to reign in their emotions. So that's exactly what Skylar did. Despite his wolf's unhappiness, Skylar tuned out every memory of his Aspen. The way she smelled, tasted and the way her grey eyes would light up when she smiled. He relegated her kindness, passion, and their baby to the back of his mind.
Xavier's hand found his under the table and Skylar clasped his hand in his. Xavier was like his personal anchor and his wolf calmed somewhat and allowed him the chance to get the turmoil his mind had become under control.
Charles slid some files in front of them, the garish emblem of the modeling and talent agency they used to keep files on their perps a slap in the face. He hated how secretive everything had to be, even though he understood the reasoning. This shifter crime would never grace the television and no other's but those who sat in this room would help he and Xavier find their mate.
He opened the folder and growled. His past case was coming back to haunt him.
"This man is dead."
Charles clapped him on the shoulder.
"Son, that may look like the male you killed, but rest assured his twin is still alive and well and by the look on that young male's face, in possession of your mate," Charles said pointing toward Zackary.
Zackary's cougar asserted itself through his eyes, hard won control keeping him from shifting fully. Training each shifter child managed before age one. Their animal was a part of them, but like the human it wasn't the only part. Unlike the human side of them, it wasn't always in charge.
Zackary met his eyes and nodded. So far the male hadn't said much.
"Now that we've got that covered, I think it's time you understand these two male's past."
"I don't want to understand their past, I want my mate back," Skylar squeezed Xavier's hand tighter, "We want our mate back."
Xavier continued to sift through the file while Skylar and Charles had a stare down.
"Sky, I really do think you're going to want to hear this."
Skylar broke eye contact with Charles and turned his attention to Xavier who stared at a picture. He looked up and passed the picture to Skylar.
The female drew his attention, tawny blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was beautiful, with hair that fell in soft waves that framed her face. She smiled, not a fake smile, but a true smile that lit her eyes with even more loveliness. Skylar looked at the bundle in her hands, the reason she smiled so broadly reached its tiny hand toward the camera and its tiny face sucked the breath out of him. There a baby Skylar lay in the arms of what could only be his mother, because her eyes were his and her hair was his.
"I still feel her loss, even now after thirty years."
Skylar looked up at his guardian. Surely this was a cruel joke, one designed to teach him some sort of lesson. He heard the door close and Xavier stood.
"I think you need to speak with your father alone," Xavier said.
At that moment Skylar knew Xavier knew something, something that he was about to learn about himself. Skylar growled at Xavier and he smiled back at him.
"I was going to tell you, Sky, but then Aspen was taken. We'll get her back," he said then left the dining room.
Charles sighed.
"Tell me," Skylar growled.
"Her name was Shanna and I knew instantly that she was mine, but I had to hold my wolf and myself at bay for six long months to court her properly."
Skylar looked up from the picture and stared at Charles.
"She was human."
Skylar nodded. If Aspen had been human he was certain they'd not be mated by now. He'd be struggling with telling her what he was and what she was to him, to him and Xavier.
"Anyways, Shanna and I had been mated for three years when she told me that she was pregnant. You were born nine months later and I thought nothing could break through the happiness that I felt. Not my job as an agent in the Human/Shifter relations department. Nothing. Then one day I came home and she was gone. You were gone."
Skylar looked down at the picture of his mother and him as a baby then forced himself to flip through the remaining contents of the file--pictures of victims, suspects and information on nothing much in particular.
"What happened?"
"I searched for you two for weeks when a female wolf shifter stumbled up to the Council with you in her arms. She was Austin McLemore's mate and she'd rescued you after hearing you cry at night. She was near death herself and pregnant with twins. Shane and Shawn McLemore and their mother went into another pack after they were born. I was too late to save your mother who'd been tortured and killed."
Skylar looked up and noted the tears flowing from his guardian's eyes. This male was his father.
"Why all the training?"
"I was lost without your mother, wanted to die, but you had lived and I couldn't abandon you to my grief. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I trained you."
And now eighteen years worth of training and the nights when his father had passed out drunk made sense. He'd only gripped onto life for him, because Skylar knew without a doubt that should Aspen or Xavier be killed he wouldn't know how to go on. He had two mates, so he would go on should one live, at least for their sakes, but both—he didn’t want to think about this right now…it was hitting too close to home.
"Why would the council give me their case?"
"No one realized the history between our families because I'd buried the truth so deep. I just wanted to forget, son."
How could this have happened?
"We know now what happened. You have a need
to not know those you're going to execute names. So, you never read the files, not really. Shane and Shawn McLemore were both slated for execution due to their crimes against human females, but you failed to kill Shawn because you didn't realize there were two."
He'd caused this all because he'd not paid attention. And now Aspen would suffer for his mistake.
***
Aspen groaned her whole body making its presence known with aches and pains.
I've been hit by a bus.
She opened her eyes and groaned the simple act sending pain spiraling through her body. She ignored the pain and the pressing need to vomit and sat up taking in her surroundings. Despite her earlier confusion, Aspen knew she'd been taken...her mates shot. She stifled the need to mourn their loss and pressed a hand over her abdomen. She had a son to protect.
Aspen slid from the bed and looked out the window. Where the fuck was she at? She was surrounded by trees, pine, so surely that meant she was still in Pinewood Creek. Hope blossomed but she didn't allow it to grow too much. What if she were wrong?
"You're awake"
Aspen turned to find the same male who'd shot her mates, threatened her child and dared to come into her home. A growl tore from her lips and the change was on her before she could think past ripping his throat out.
"Ah ah ahhh."
It was all she heard before that sharp pain hit her cougar's flank and just like before she settled into a now familiar darkness.
Not a-fucking-gain.
The next time she woke no light poured through the window and no amount of struggling let her loose from the ties that now bound her to a bed. She stopped struggling and strained to hear something. Anything. But there was nothing. Except for the soft chirping of a cricket that she was certain would drive her mad in this prison.
Settling back against the bed she was surprised to drift back to sleep, but her body felt heavy, as though she were in a fog. The drugs still coursed through her system. Tears fell unchecked from the corners of her eyes as she allotted herself time for mourning the loss of Skylar and Xavier.
It was unfair that they'd been taken from her so soon, just when she'd started to trust, started to believe that maybe her mating, though unconventional, would not end like her parents. There would be fights she was sure, disagreements among the three of them, all relationships suffered its little bumps in the overall bliss. But there wouldn't have been hatred, barely disguised loathing and a sense of never escaping, not like her parents. She was sure of that now, but it didn't matter.
Did anything really matter anymore?
She dismissed it at first, thinking her nausea was returning, but when the butterfly feeling returned to her stomach she knew. Her son mattered and come hell or high water she was breaking free of her prison and ripping out the throat of her captor.
Aspen allowed her body to relax, her need for sleep pressing more heavily. She'd battle soon enough.
Chapter 17
"So, what's the motive for stealing a shifter?"
Xavier sighed at the not-so-stupid question posed by Daphne. Then she was there in his face her green eyes sparking like flames.
"What do you know?"
"Daphne, give him-"
"No, they both know something and they're not saying. This is-"
Xavier stood, and even though he outweighed the small redhead by at least a hundred pounds and stood over her at least a foot she stood her ground.
"All I know is what I discovered when I hacked the Council’s website."
Wesley stood and placed a hand on Daphne's shoulder.
"Calm down, Daph, he wouldn't hurt Aspen, not in a million years."
Daphne turned and walked to the couch. They'd all gathered in Caleb's living room and his mind was divided. Between Aspen being taken, this group trying to talk about finding Aspen and Sky finding out the truth, his wolf and his mind couldn't focus.
"I tried to stop them, but he shot me," Zackary said and he buried his face in his hands.
"Skylar and Xavier were also incapacitated, Zackary. Let's get some people out looking for her," Caleb said when Miranda walked into the room with snacks.
"I've already got them looking, Alpha," Zackary said.
Miranda sat beside Zackary and placed her arms around him. "I'll call Essence to come take you home. You'll need to sleep off whatever they shot you with."
Zackary looked up from his hands and shook his head.
"I'm okay, just a little disappointed in myself for not saving her."
Miranda's lips pressed into a thin line.
"It's too late, I've already called her and she'll be here any minute-"
"But-"
"Don't but me Zackary. I said you needed rest and that's exactly what you're going to get. Now, tell Daphne and Wesley everything one more time and be ready to go when Essence gets here."
Zackary opened his mouth but nothing came out, then he looked to Caleb. Caleb held his hands up in an "I surrender."
"You heard your alpha female, Zackary, besides you've already started the hardest part of any search and rescue, the search. Get some rest."
Zackary finally nodded and Daphne motioned for him to join him.
"Now, tell me what you found out," Wesley said.
Xavier turned and told the whole sordid tale. How Skylar's mother, a human, was murdered by a male who fathered twins. About five months ago now, Skylar was given a case for murders that reminisced those that were happening now in Pinewood Creek.
"How did this even happen? How did the Council manage to miss that there were two killers?"
Valid questions really, but Xavier knew the undercurrent was why didn't Skylar pick up on it. He tamped the rage at the bear shifter down and tried to answer.
"Skylar's always found his job difficult. Not the hunting or the solving of cases, but what comes after. The execution. He doesn't think that I know, but each time he executes a shifter he takes at least a week where he wanders, unsure of himself. I honestly thought there would come a day when he didn't come back to me. I thought this last time was it, when he'd found Aspen, but now I know we both gained something irreplaceable."
Wesley frowned. "I'm still not understanding how-"
"I didn't want to know their names, my assignments. I chose not to know their names and in this last case it cost me my mate."
Xavier stood and Skylar walked to him then cupped his face before sealing his lips over Xavier's. Xavier closed his eyes while Skylar took control of the kiss, pressing his tongue into his mouth leaving no place untouched. It was the first time he'd openly in public showed any kind of affection, except to calm him when they'd first arrived. But this wasn't just merely a kiss, but a claiming. And it was a long time coming in Xavier's opinion.
Not one to allow himself to be dominated for long, Xavier cupped Skylar's cheek and deepened the kiss using his teeth to tease Sky's bottom lip. Sky's bottom lip was just a bit fuller than his top lip and begged to be licked, tasted and nipped. Xavier took full advantage and tasted his mate.
He and Sky separated both panting heavily. Their wolves weren't completely calm, but it was as good as it was going to get.
"I'm sorry," Sky whispered.
Even though Xavier knew what Skylar felt sorry for, still he heard himself say, "For what?"
Sky sighed and Xavier gave his jaw a gentle bite. "It doesn't matter, Sky. Let's find our mate."
Skylar nodded and released his hold on Xavier.
Wesley's eyes were large, but he didn't say anything, instead he shook his head and got back to business.
"So, I'm with Daphne. All the vics have been human females. I mean, Charisma hit a little close to home, but why Aspen?"
Caleb turned from his conversation with Miranda.
"Charisma?"
"Yeah, we identified the female as Charisma Shields. She's a hostess and waitress at Havens. I knew she looked familiar, but...anyways, our biggest question is why Aspen."
Skylar ran his hand through his tawn
y hair and sighed. "Because he wants revenge."
Daphne twirled away from Zackary. "Excuse me?"
Skylar looked to the sky as though for guidance and Xavier placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Shawn McLemore had a twin that I executed four to five months ago. He wants revenge and he plans on using Aspen for that. I don't think we have much time. All evidence suggests that he kills the vics within forty-eight hours, but those are usually human. He and his brother liked to injure them somewhat then let them loose in the woods for a chase."
Wesley stood. "But his motives are different in this case."
Daphne gasped. "That's right, before it was about his sadistic love for murder and torture," she swallowed her face paling, "and rape. But this time it's revenge. The other rules almost don't apply. Aspen's a shifter, so she won't go down without a fight."
Xavier growled at the thought of his mate in danger. He didn't want to lose her, but this talking about her as though she were just another victim was starting to get to him. Part of him understood the need for planning, but another, possibly greater part, wanted action. He wanted his mate in his arms.
A knock at the door pulled him somewhat from his thoughts. This could be the news they were waiting on. Essence walked in and smiled at Xavier and Skylar. It never reached her red rimmed eyes.
"Zackary?"
"I'm alright, sis."
Essence nodded and her whole demeanor changed. She walked to Zackary and started looking him over, her questions coming in rapid fire. "Are you dizzy? Did you hit your head? Do you have a headache?"
Zackary clasped her shoulders and stared her into the eye. "I'm fine, sis. Miranda has ordered me to rest."
Essence smiled a real smile and nodded.
"Thank you Miranda." Essence turned to leave and ran into Wesley. She looked up and gasped.
"Mine," Wesley whispered and cupped her cheek.
Essence jerked from his contact and Zackary growled. Caleb placed a hand on Zackary's shoulder and brought the young male's attention from Wesley and Essence's interaction.
"He won't hurt her."
Zackary's nod was stiff, and his whole body tensed ready for action.
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