by Lisa Oliver
It seemed like Cam wanted to look anywhere but at him, and Roger thought about letting Cam’s face go. But he needed the connection that came from Cam’s eyes, even if the boy was a bit uncomfortable.
“Well, I suppose I could get a pair of shorts like the boys here wear,” Cam said. “But with my back like it is…” Cam broke off, the upset showing in his voice this time. Roger took his hand away from Cam’s jaw and let his head fall back onto his chest.
“I don’t want to embarrass you.” Tiny words, muffled by skin, but Roger heard them anyway. Despite everything, Cam was worried about how his appearance would reflect on Roger and damned it all, if that didn’t make Roger’s heart break.
“I don’t think I want you wearing those leather shorts,” Roger said firmly. “At least not in the club, and not for the reasons you think. You’re my mate. The boys that wear shorts are looking for their mate, so they advertise themselves the best way they know how. You could wear them at home if you like, but not here.”
“You don’t want anyone seeing my back, or my skinny body?”
“I don’t want anyone seeing how fucking gorgeous you are and trying to poach you away from me. Pearson frowns on members killing each other. It makes a mess.”
Roger felt his mate’s face muscles move against his shirt and knew the little man was smiling. Well that’s one step in the right direction, he thought.
“So clothes, comfy stuff for around home, and some sexy shorts, because I will like the view, and some club wear for when we come here. Now what else would you like?”
Cam was quiet for a moment, but Roger didn’t rush him. He was fast learning that Cam liked to think about things, and didn’t say anything halfcocked.
“I used to like books, back when I lived at home,” Cam said at last. “I presume I will be staying at home, when you go to work, so if it pleased you, then maybe somehow I could learn a bit more about cooking and stuff. So I could be more useful to you.”
Yep. Sweet. Nice. The perfect submissive response, but Roger got this crazy feeling that Cam would be a lot better off if he could learn new skills, and actually do something that would help increase his confidence. He wasn’t going to get that spending his days at home on his own.
Cam was part of the pack now, an important part, although he didn’t realize it yet. Roger knew that Pearson would want Cam nearby most of the time, and that the pack would benefit from Cam’s presence. It was a subtle thing, but Omegas made pack life a little less testosterone filled and a lot more pleasant. Not to mention there would be times when Cam would be needed by Pearson to sit in on meetings, new pack interviews and things like that.
“What do you know about computers?” He asked, seeing Brutus heading over with two large slices of the fudgy ice-cream cake that Roger had ordered. Thank God. Cam would have one bit of heaven in his night, even if it was from fucking dessert.
“I learned about them when I was at school, but our pack didn’t have them and, well they look a bit technical now.”
“Would you like to learn?” Roger smiled at Brutus, who thankfully didn’t say anything, although the look of devotion in the big man’s eyes when he looked at Cam was going to take some getting used to. Not that his mate noticed in any way.
“I’d be a fast learner,” Cam said, but Roger noticed the boy was distracted. Looking down, he could see Cam was looking at the plates, his head turned slightly from its place on Roger’s chest. Fudgy ice-cream cake was a layered concoction with ice cream, chocolate fudge sauce, some nuts or crackers to add a bit of crunch and solidity to the layers, all topped off with more sauce and lashings of whipped cream. It was decadent, and in Roger’s opinion, the perfect way to introduce Cam to ice-cream.
“I think,” Roger said, taking one of the spoons and scooping up a nice mouthful of cake, “I would like you working with me. But we’ll have that conversation another time. Now open wide, because this my little darling is the very best way to eat ice-cream.”
And when Cam moaned as the cool sweetness, chocolate and whipped cream hit his mouth, it instantly became Roger’s favorite dessert.
Chapter Fifteen
Cam woke up, cocooned in Roger’s body heat. The feeling was so unusual and he felt so warm and cozy, that for a moment he couldn’t work out what had woken him up. He’d never felt so safe, so cossetted, but something, some noise had definitely woken him. Roger’s light snores in his ears indicated that his mate hadn’t heard anything amiss, but…yes, there it was again. Someone was knocking on the apartment door and then Cam heard the rattle as someone tried the door handle.
Before Cam had a chance to react, Roger had sprung out of bed, complete in his naked glory, and rushed to open the door. Roger’s wolf was on alert, even when the man had been sleeping.
“What the fuck do you want?” Roger snarled. Cam could tell by his tone that Roger’s hazel eyes would be glaring at someone, but Cam couldn’t see who because Roger was blocking the doorway. Defending his mate.
“The Alpha wants to see you at his house. Apparently you’re not answering your phone,” a polite voice said. Cam had heard that voice before and he struggled for a moment to think where. Nate. It was Nate. What was that twink doing, delivering messages from the Alpha?
“I’m not answering my phone because I am bonding with my mate, as is allowed by Pearson’s laws. Let him know I will be there in twenty minutes.”
“He said,” and this time that blond head poked around Roger and glared at Cam, the hostility in his eyes evident. “You are to leave your mate here. Something about Donoghue.”
Roger cursed. “Fine. Go. I’ll get dressed and head out.” Slamming the door shut, Roger grabbed his jeans off the floor and a clean shirt from his dresser, slipping them both on, before pulling on his boots. Then he sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Cam’s face, a worried look on his.
“You heard what Nate said little wolf. I have to go and see what Pearson wants. He wouldn’t disturb us unless it was absolutely necessary and keeping you here at the club, with so many other wolves around is a good idea. I’ll be as quick as I can, okay?”
Cam just nodded. He knew from experience that there was no point sharing his concerns with a man like Roger. The moment he heard Nate speak, Cam had got an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, and he had learned in the past to rely on his instincts. Any time something bad was going to happen to him, his stomach tied itself up in knots.This was definitely one of those times. But he kept his mouth shut.
“I’ll ask Brutus to send you up some food. Otherwise you just stay here in bed and keep warm. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Giving Cam a hurried kiss on the forehead, Roger dashed out the door, slamming it behind him, leaving Cam alone for the first time since he’d been rescued. Cam looked around the room. Roger really didn’t keep anything personal in his club suite – just some changes of clothes apparently – and the room was quite bare except for the big bed, a couple of bedside tables and two dressers. Through the door Cam knew there was a small kitchen and a living room area with a couch, a couple of chairs and a television. Nothing that Cam was really interested in.
Cam eyed the dressers thoughtfully. His clothes, that Roger had ordered for him the night before, wouldn’t arrive until later in the day, so he decided to have a shower and put on the clothes he’d had on the night before. Well, the pants at least, he thought with a grin. The shirt had been a mess by the time Roger had gotten to it. All being well Roger would have a spare one somewhere.
Slipping into the bathroom, hoping the heat of the shower would dispel his nerves, Cam got the water running, and after using the toilet, stepped inside, closing the glass door firmly behind him. The cubicle, which was big enough to take at least two men Roger’s size quickly filled with steam and Cam lingered under the water, washing his hair twice before using the conditioner that would always remind him of his mate. The smell was delicious and the way it left his hair feeling so soft, even when wet, made Cam smile. It was suc
h a luxury to be clean.
Cam stayed under the pounding hot water until it started to cool, and his fingers started to wrinkle. Turning off the shower, he pulled back the door and stepped out, reaching for one of the towels Roger had on a heated rail beside the cubicle. He felt a sharp prick on the side of his neck and he turned, brushing something that was stuck in his skin. Too late, he realized that there was someone else in the bathroom with him.
“Gotcha.” Twisted thin lips that he remembered from his nightmares was the last thing Cam saw, before he fell to the floor and the world went black.
/~/~/~/~/
Roger kept his foot flat to the floor as he drove to his Alpha’s home, his gut clenching with every minute he was away from his mate. Clearly something had happened with Cam’s ex-master, and it was likely that Pearson didn’t want to have the discussion anywhere near the club. While that was understandable, and in theory Cam would be perfectly safe in the heart of a wolf pack, Roger couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. He had felt the worry and concern coming from his mate, before he left their rooms, and had put it down to Cam’s reluctance to be on his own. But now…Roger’s wolf was screaming at him that something was wrong and they needed to get back to Cam.
Swerving into the driveway, he wrenched on the brake, jumping out the SUV and hurrying up the driveway. There was no sign of Pearson’s car, or Dante’s bike, but Roger knew they had a large garage around the side of the house. As he stomped up the porch steps he felt a vibration in his pocket. His phone, but? Pulling it out of his pocket, he answered it, his mind going into overdrive. Nate had said Pearson had tried to phone him.
“Where have you taken Cam? He should be in the club. Donoghue’s been spotted in the area.” Pearson’s voice sounded angry over the phone. Roger immediately headed off the porch and back into his vehicle. Clearly the Alpha wasn’t at home and Roger’s feeling of angst increased.
“I’m where you told me I had to be. Do you think I would leave my mate for anyone else but you,” he said, starting the engine with a roar. “At your house, to have a meeting with you, while my mate is tucked up safe in our rooms at the club, just like you suggested.”
“Fucking Hell!” Pearson swore. “Who told you that shit? No, never mind that now. Get your ass back here. Cam’s not in the club and as he’s clearly not with you, then someone has fucking taken him.”
With an anguished yell, Roger floored his vehicle, ignoring traffic lights, barely missing other cars as he wove his way through the morning traffic, desperate to get back to the club. All the while his mind working furiously. Nate was the key to Cam’s disappearance. Fucking Nate. If not him directly, then someone Nate cared about and in the next ten minutes Roger was going to find out what the hell was going on or there was going to blood all over Pearson’s shiny wooden floors.
Screeching to a halt in his parking space, Roger leapt out of his vehicle and turned, almost falling onto a solid chest. Pearson was standing right behind him with Dante firmly by his side. Roger had never seen his Alpha look so angry, not even when his own mate had been threatened. Roger’s wolf didn’t like another more dominant wolf in that type of state, but Roger himself didn’t care. He wanted Cam.
“What happened?” he said, trying to show the respect he was meant to with an Alpha. “I’m sleeping in my bed with my mate in my arms the way things are meant to be and then fucking Nate tries to break into my room. When I confronted him about it he told me he had a message from you, to go to your house, to leave Cam at the club, and that it was about Donoghue.”
“Get real, Roger, I would have rung you if I needed you. Didn’t you check your phone?”
“He said you’d been trying to ring me. I presumed my phone had turned off, so didn’t bother to check. I didn’t charge it last night, and it sounded perfectly plausible because how else would that little asshole know about Donoghue?”
“So Nate gave you the message?” Pearson shared a stern look at Dante, who headed back into the club.
“Yes, didn’t you hear me? Nate. Fucking Nate who apparently loves me and has already shown how he feels about Cam.” Roger was yelling now. He needed to get to his rooms. There had to be something, a scent, something he could follow. Nate wasn’t big enough to move Cam by himself, and even though he was a submissive, Cam would have fought if he could, against another sub at least.
Roger could feel his shift coming over him and he struggled to control himself. He was still in the club parking lot and while it was relatively secure, there was no telling if or when a human might walk by. But his wolf was snarling with rage. Their little mate was in danger and his wolf side had tried to tell him something was wrong from the moment Roger had left his room. Now it could be too late.
“Roger, enough! Stand down!” Pearson’s powerful voice swamped his senses, forcing his wolf to recede. Seconds later Roger felt Pearson’s hand on his nape, calming him, letting him know he was pack and it was okay. But life wasn’t okay. Cam was gone.
“Into the office, now,” Pearson said. “Steel’s already been through your rooms. There three unknown scents there plus Brutus.”
“I asked Brutus to take Cam some food,” Roger said, as the two men strode quickly into the club, heading for the Alpha’s office. “Nate didn’t come into the room, I wouldn’t let him. So I don’t know who the three scents could be.”
“One of them was Nate,” Steel said, as Roger followed Pearson into the office, closing the door behind them both. “Levi knew his scent.” Steel and Levi were sitting on a couple of the chairs, both looking grim. Kyle, Teric, Ace, Devin and Phillip were also in the room.
“I didn’t let him into my room. I didn’t want him anywhere near Cam. The little bastard did enough damage last night,” Roger snarled.
“Which is why Dante’s bringing him in now. Apparently he’s working in the dining room today. I didn’t want any of you enforcers doing it, until we know what is going on,” Pearson said. “In the meantime Brutus has lost a lot of blood and was found unconscious just inside the doorway of your rooms, your room itself is trashed, and Cam is nowhere to be found.”
“Cam wouldn’t have fought,” Roger said sitting down with a thud on the nearest chair. “Not against something that could take Brutus out. He couldn’t, being an Omega.”
“I don’t think he could have anyway. This was found in the bathroom,” Steel said, holding up what looked like a red feathered dart. “From the smell of it, it contained some sort of tranquilizer. Seems Cam was taking a shower, the mirror was still fogged up. He must have finished because the water was turned off, but a towel and this dart was on the floor. There was no sign of a struggle in there.”
“So Brutus must have come into the room while this was going on. We have to talk to him.”
“You can’t,” Pearson said, tugging his hair. It was so unlike the Alpha to get so upset, and Roger felt a twinge when he thought about Michael. “I don’t even know if he’s going to fucking make it. He was so badly scratched up, his skin is torn in multiple places and he’s lost too much blood for the docs to bring him round.”
“But you can talk to this one,” Dante said coming into the office with an evil grin on his handsome face. “From the smell of it, this one likes vampires, and given that Devin is the only one of them in the pack…”
“And I wouldn’t touch that slime ball if he was the last thing with a dick on earth. I’ve never been near him,” Devin growled glaring at Nate who was caught fast in Dante’s grip, a sullen look on his face.
“Then I’m guessing Nate has met one of Donoghue’s friends, or hey, maybe even Donoghue himself.”
Roger went to get up. He wanted to tear the truth out of the sullen sub who was just now, looking around the office and maybe finally realizing how much trouble he was in. But Pearson stopped him, standing up himself, his Alpha power flung at Nate, who crumpled to the point he was only upright because Dante was still holding him.
“What have you done Nate?”
Five words, spoken with so much malice, that Roger’s wolf cringed and from the looks on Ace, Phillip’s and Kyle’s faces, they weren’t feeling much better. Only Teric, the cat shifter, Devin the vampire, and Dante who was of course the Alpha Mate, were unaffected.
“I was saving the pack,” Nate cried out. “I was out for a run last night. I was upset and needed to be alone. This man came up out of nowhere and asked me about any new subs in the club. I was angry and I told him about Master Roger’s mate and he asked me to help him take him away. He threatened me. He said he would kill the pack if I didn’t help him. I knew Master Roger wouldn’t like it, but we would have helped him get through it, and it was for the benefit of the pack.”
“You mean you would have had your hands all over Master Roger, the first chance you had, you slimy piece of self-serving shit,” Pearson said. “You’re lying to me. You stink of vampire spunk. The lies you’re telling are burning my nose. You have one chance, one last chance only to tell me the truth, or I’ll let Roger kill you himself. I know he’s been itching to do it since your pathetic scene in the restaurant last night.”
Nate cast a quick glance at Roger, who was thrumming the arms of his chair with claws instead of finger nails. Every second that passed meant Cam was getting further and further away and Roger was two seconds away from killing Nate and hunting for his mate by himself. Apparently that intention showed on his face because Nate gulped.
“Alan sent me home last night, after the scene in the dining room. He said I had to get my shit together otherwise he would find someone to replace me. I could lose my job. I was upset and…” He trailed off, his eyes firmly on the floor.
“Tell me.” The anger in Pearson’s voice cut through the room like a knife.
“I went to a bar, in town. I met a guy, had some drinks, took him home. I told him what had happened with Master Roger and he asked about Master Roger’s new mate. I told him, and he said he could solve my problem and that all I had to do was get Master Roger out of the way, get him into the club with one of his friends, and no one would ever find the new boy again. No one would have known if Master Brutus hadn’t shown up. Master Roger would have thought that his boy had run back to his old master and that would be the end of it. The boy wasn’t pack. It wasn’t as though I was hurting someone in the pack. Master Roger was supposed to be mine and that skinny runt was in the way.”