by Cree Storm
"It was more than just romantic. It was magical, and although I'm sorry you all were worried, I will never be sorry for those hours we spent in mating bliss," Zen replied forcefully.
Zen turned back to his mate, placing a couple fingers under Pascal's chin, Zen slowly lifted his little man's face until his watery, red rimmed eyes met Zen's own. "Sweet pea, we did nothing wrong. I know that everyone was worried, and for that all we can do is apologize. However, I don't want you regretting those hours we shared. They were magical and will always be the best time in my life. I want that for you, too, baby."
Sniffling, Pascal murmured, "They are, but―"
"Do not say another word, mate. You see, to me, the second you say the words but or however, it negates everything you said before. Now, all we can do is explain where we were and apologize for any trouble they went through because of it. However, we do not regret the time we had," Zen softly said.
Pascal nodded. "You're right. The thing is, I need to go to Ollie. He and I―our bond is really tight. We spent so much time together, just he and I, and everyone may have been worried, Zen, but Ollie would have been crazed. Remember, I told you what happened to Nelson and how we just got him back? I don't regret a moment we shared. I just wish it wouldn't have caused anyone I love and care for pain."
"Then we'll go and talk to him together," Zen replied quietly.
Shaking his head, Pascal said, "No, I have to go and talk to him by myself, Zen. Ollie is a proud man and he will be showing feelings he doesn't want anyone else to see. Let me talk to him and you can work with Jagger to contact the others. I'll meet you back here in an hour or so."
"Ollie was dragged home a couple of hours ago. Dain has ordered him to get some well needed food and sleep. When we call Dain, I'll have him give one of Ollie's guards a call to let you in."
"Guards? He's like five feet tall and a hundred pounds soaking wet. Why would he need guards?" Zen asked in confusion.
Pascal sighed, "Trust me, no matter how many guards Dain has on him, if Ollie wants out he will get out. I really need to go."
Not liking the idea of his mate out there without him, Zen was reluctant to let him go alone. "Sweet pea, I would feel better if you weren't alone."
Pascal wiggled until Zen reluctantly set him down. "Zen, I have been taking care of myself a long time. I'll be fine. You go with Jagger and get everything settled with the others. I won't be long."
"Okay, sweet pea, but call me when you get there or if you need me for anything at all,” Zen replied, still sounding uneasy.
Pascal turned and pointed across the street. "Look, Day is up the street. I'll have him walk with me to the house."
Zen looked to where Pascal was pointing and felt a little better. Leaning down, Zen kissed Pascal, whispering, "Okay, just don't forget to call me when you get to the house."
Jagger cleared his throat. "Zen, we need to go make those calls."
Turning, Zen walked back into the club, feeling the loss of his mate gripping his heart with each step he took.
CHAPTER 15
Pascal took off in the direction he had seen Day, hoping to catch up to the large dragon shifter. He may have told Zen he would be okay on his own, but with everything that had been happening lately in Maddox and Crystal, Pascal was actually nervous.
Looking left then right, Pascal sighed when he saw no sign of Day anywhere. "Dang it Day, I really could have used your help."
Sighing heavily, Pascal started making his way to his house. Damn, with as much walking as he had done in his life, he shouldn't feel as if this couple of blocks were instead miles.
The normally busy town seemed almost deserted. "Where the hell is everyone?"
Just as Pascal was passing the alley that would take him to his street, someone grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth and lifting Pascal from the ground. Pascal tried to kick the person with the heal of his feet as his muffled screams fell short of gaining any attention.
"Stop screaming or I'll break your fucking ribs. It won't kill you, but it will hurt like a bitch," A low gravelly voice said close to his ear.
Pascal stopped screaming but kept trying to wiggle out of his hold. The man's hand over his mouth slipped enough for Pascal to open his mouth and bite down as hard as he could on the man's finger. The crunch of bone, taste of blood, and sounds of the kidnapper's screams were all Pascal remembered as he was dropped to the alley floor. Running as fast as he could, shouting for help, Pascal hid and did his best to shift slowly, before the kidnapper could find him.
Now he was hiding under the dirty dumpster, the smells of urine and rotting food assaulting his nose, making Pascal want to throw up.
"Come out, little fox. You can't hide from me and there is no one around to help you," the evil creep taunted.
Pascal looked left then right as the man's words got closer to his hiding spot.
"Imagine my surprise, sent to obtain a son, only to find the pot of gold wasn't in a stupid child, but in a bit of a man who happens to be a Santorini fox smelling of the child I was seeking. People will pay top dollar for just a drop of your blood. Now, don't make this harder on yourself. Just come out and you don't have to be hurt."
Pascal could see the man's black leather Louis Vuitton's almost at his nose.
Suddenly, the large metal trash bin was picked up and tossed as if it were made of feathers instead of hard heavy steal. Pascal made a squeal sound and took off as fast as his tiny legs would take him. The kidnapper caught up to him in no time lifting Pascal once more. However, a dangerous snarling, familiar voice had Pascal feeling as relieved as one could, still being held by an evil nasty man.
"Let the fox go, or I'll kill you where you stand," Day said in that menacing, take no shit tone you hear in movies.
The man turned to Day and Pascal could see his friend standing there, holding a samurai sword. "Let the fox go, or die!"
"Stay out of this. He is mine, I found him first," The vile man snarled.
"Actually, that's not true. I found him way before you did. Now, let him go!" Day snarled.
Something about Day was off. Pascal couldn't figure out what until Day walked further into the light and the large jagged scar running down his right cheek caught Pascal's attention. Gasping, why had Day not healed? It had been weeks. Wait, Pascal had seen Day just a few days ago and he didn't have the scar anymore. None of this made any sense. However, Pascal had to focus on other things. Like getting the fuck away from this alley as fast as he could.
Pascal realized the kidnapper had lowered him slightly, and Pascal's legs were dangling in the air. Twisting and wiggling, the man did what Pascal thought he would and drew him a little closer. Close enough for Pascal to bring the heal of his foot back and land on the soft tiny nuggets under the man's even smaller cock.
"Oomph!" The man grunted, once again dropping Pascal.
Pascal scrambled and bit into the man's calf as hard as he could, as Day screamed, "Run, Pascal!"
Pascal didn't look back as he took off as fast as his little Santorini Fox legs would allow him to. Leaping onto a street light and climbing to the top, Pascal then leapt from one light to the next until he saw the club. All Pascal wanted to do was make it to his mate.
Shaking and crying, Pascal missed the next light by mere inches. Digging his large claws into the metal, Pascal slid and then fell to the ground half way down, hearing as well as feeling the bone in his left leg snap and his head smack the ground with a loud thud. Fear, pain, and the need to get to Zen had Pascal's adrenaline pumping making it difficult but still able to slide to the club doors.
Being so small and having a broken leg made it impossible for Pascal to open the doors to get through, so Pascal did the only thing he could, he let out his Santorini fox distress call. Street lights and windows shattered for nearly two blocks. The door opened and men rushed out into the parking lot.
The smell of his mate had him whimpering and reaching for his saving grace. Zen gasped and the last thing Pasc
al heard was his mate calling his name before everything went black.
* * * *
Zen and Jagger had just finished calling everyone to let them know that he and Pascal were alive and safe. Dain and his mates were on their way to the club now to meet with Zen, and Destrain was expected to join them. He didn't know what kind of trouble he and his mate faced, but he would not allow any harm to come to Pascal, no matter what these men thought they might try to do to him. Pascal had only tried to make their mating special and he shouldn't be punished for that.
When the glass shattered in the office, Zen had thought the club was under attack again. Rushing out into the club, men were racing out through the doors, guns and swords drawn, ready for action. Zen saw a small crowd in a circle. Using his seven feet, three hundred pounds to his advantage, Zen pushed through and felt terror and grief hit him like a ton of bricks. His little mate laid on the asphalt, bleeding, broken, and whimpering at his feet.
Pascal's little paw reached out and then fell lifelessly to the ground. Screaming his mate’s name, Zen bent and gingerly picked his little man up, thankful when he gave a soft whimper.
"Blake, call Logan and get him here now! Caza, take three men and guard this club! No one," Jagger turned to Caza with a deadly serious look, hissing, "I mean no one is to enter this club without my explicit permission. Zen take Pascal into my office."
Zen rushed into the club and didn't stop until he was inside Jagger's office. Gently placing Pascal on the large couch, Zen knelt holding his mate’s hand. He still hadn’t shifted into his human form, and Zen could see how his little fox's leg was twisted at an odd angle. "What happened to you, my sweet pea? Who did this to you?"
The door burst open and Zen turned letting out a loud trumpet sound of warning, he was ready to shift and defend his mate no matter what.
Logan backed up a step. "Whoa there, big guy. I'm just here to help Pascal."
Zen backed down, and turned his tear-filled eyes back onto his mate, rasping, "Please save him."
Logan rushed in, calling, "Sut, get me an IV out of my bag and get it ready."
Lightly running his hand over Pascal's body Logan stopped when he touched the side of Pascal's head. Gently pulling back, Logan's hand was covered in blood, making Zen's stomach churn and his breath stop. His little mate had to be dying with all the blood loss.
Pulling a flashlight from his shirt pocket, Logan lifted Pascal's eye lids and waved the light left to right, then sighed heavily.
"Please, tell me you can save him. I can't survive without my little fox. Please, Logan, tell me he's going to live," Zen begged, not caring who heard him.
Logan took the needle Sut handed him, and quickly inserted it into his mate's tiny little fox arm. "He has a concussion and a badly broken leg, Zen."
Pascal whimpered and Zen quickly dropped back to the floor beside Logan, taking Pascal's tiny paw in his hand. "It's okay, sweet pea, I'm here. I've got you. Don't move, little one."
Pascal's eyes slowly opened and Zen could feel the vibration of him readying to shift begin. Logan shouted, "No! Don't shift yet, Pascal. Your leg is badly broken and I need to reset it. It's best if I do it while you're still in your animal form. You might shift and sever an artery, otherwise."
Pascal whimpered and a little tear dripped from his eye. Zen used his large hand to wipe it away, then leaned down and kissed his mate’s furry forehead, whispering, "I've got you, sweet pea. Just please do as Logan says."
"Sut, I need you to hold his other leg. Zen keep his upper half gripped as tightly as you can. This is going to hurt like a mother fucker," Logan warned, yanking before he even finished speaking.
Pascal let out a loud wailing scream and then Logan tugged again.
Ollie came flying into the office screaming, "What the fuck are you doing! Get away from my brother!"
Jagger grabbed Ollie and picked him up off the floor. ""Ollie, calm yourself, Logan is fixing your brother, not attacking him."
"Shift Pascal!" Logan yelled still holding the Santorini fox's leg.
Pascal didn't shift, hell he wasn't even fucking moving. "What's wrong with him? Why is he not shifting?"
"Shit! With the blood loss and pain from resetting his leg, the poor guy is wiped. He needs to shift, Zen. It's the only way his leg will hold and not separate," Logan replied worriedly.
Ollie shouted, "Let me go to my brother. I can give him a boost to help him so he can shift. Jagger, damn it, let me go!"
Jagger released Ollie. Ollie raced over to Pascal, whispering, "I got you bro, just hold on a second."
Ollie looked to everyone around them. “You all need to step back out into the hall. If he shifts too fast with you so close, we’ll be scraping you off the walls for months and I am not cleaning that up.”
Ollie turned his attention back to Pas as everyone did as he said. He gently gripped Pascal's fuzzy ears, whispering, "You are always finding trouble, you know that? Ever since we were kids. Remember that time we were practically starving to death and you saw the dying blueberry bush. You went up to it without looking, and did your green thumb magic. Oh, those blueberries were large and juicy, but so was the skunk that had taken up residency behind it." Ollie gave a watery laugh, rasping, "It took us weeks to get the stink off us."
Ollie kept petting Pascal's ears, then ran his hand gently down his brother's face and onto Pascal's chest. "Or how about the time we were living in that damn cave overlooking Crystal. Remember when those kids showed up and started making out. They forgot to put on the parking brake and started to roll forward. You jumped in front of the car, scaring the shit out of the kids. Then you pushed the car back, scaring the hell out of those fucking kids so much that the one kid pulled his BB gun out on your ass and started shooting. I told you to get to the cave, but you ran for the trees, getting ten BBs to the ass. It took us almost the entire night to pull them out because of all your screaming and shouting."
Pascal slowly transformed rasping, "That was you, asshole."
Ollie smiled wide, as he looked at his brother, whispering back, "So it was. Hey there, bro, how you feeling?"
Pascal licked his dry lips saying, "Thirsty."
Zen was suddenly back and dropped down beside them as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Thank you all so much. Thank you for bringing my heart and soul back to me."
Pascal lifted his hand, cupping Zen's cheek, "I love you, Zen."
Logan pushed something into the IV, saying, "Pascal, I'm going to give you something for the pain. It's a concoction I came up with years ago for shifters. It's going to make you sleep for a bit, but it won't hurt you."
Pascal gave a short laugh, then moaned, rasping, "I wouldn't know if it did, I hurt like hell now."
Pascal's eyes began to close as the sound of footsteps had Zen turning. Rhys and Day rushed in with Dain and his mates behind them.
Dain pushed his way to Pascal. "Who did this, Pascal? Tell me who hurt you and I'll kill them myself."
Zen could see his mate struggling to open his eyes once more and turning to answer Dain. A funny look came over his face that Zen couldn't quite decipher.
"Pascal, who did this to you?" Dain asked urgently once more.
"Day―" Pascal whispered before closing his eyes and falling into a deep drug induced sleep.
CHAPTER 16
"I'm telling you I don't know what the hell he is talking about! I would never hurt Pascal!" Day shouted as Dain, Kerrick, and Jagger held Zen back.
"He said your fucking name! What did you do to my mate?" Zen shouted trying to get loose from the men holding him back.
Rhys stepped in front of Day, snapping, "I don't give a shit what he says, Day has been with me all day. There's no way he ever got near Pascal even if he wanted to and he doesn't, so back the fuck up off my mate."
Day drew his mate close so Rhys' back met his chest, kissed the top of his head, whispering, "Thank you, baby."
Rhys turned around, wrapping his arms around Day's neck, softly saying
, "You know I'll always have your back, babe." Turning, Rhys looked Zen square in the eyes, snapping, "And I do mean that pun intended."
"Okay everyone, calm down. Zen, sit down near Pascal and stop all this fuss," Destrain stated walking into Jagger's office.
Destrain looked around at all the angry and concerned faces, then turned to Jagger. "What's going on here, and what happened to Pascal? I thought you told me both he and Zen were home and safe? Does that look safe to you, Jagger?"
"Sire, they were when I called. Pascal left to go talk to his brother when he must have been attacked. He was in shifted form when he returned to the club, battered and bloody. Logan fixed him up and Ollie assisted his brother shifting back. When he was awake and Dain asked who had done this to him, the only name he said was Day's."
"Uncle Destrain, my mate didn't touch Pascal!" Rhys shouted snuggling closer to Day.
Destrain held up his hand, asking, "And he said nothing else?"
Shaking his head, Jagger replied, "No sire, he was given a drug for the pain and fell asleep before anyone could ask any further questions."
Nodding, Destrain turned to Zen. "And how is your mate now, Zen?"
"He was in a great deal of pain until Logan gave him something for it," Zen replied, softly carding his fingers through Pascal's hair.
"Logan, what is Pascal's prognosis?" Destrain asked.
"His leg was broken in two places. I reset the break and had him shift. It should have mended the bone. It's going to be sore for a few days, but he will be okay. He also had a concussion, however that should also have healed with his shift. Right now, he just needs plenty of rest and some good old fashion pampering and TLC to finish healing," Logan replied.
"You think you're up for that, Zen?" Destrain asked.
"Absolutely, sir," Zen quickly replied.
Nodding, Destrain went to Jagger's desk. "Contact your mate and tell him to come to your office. Please let him know this is council business."
"Yes, sire," Jagger replied, pulling out his phone.