Col: His Destined Mate

by Georgette St. Clair

  Jordy even got to cut off small pieces of the male, using the very blade that was holstered into the scabbard on his belt. For some reason, she took special glee in picking out five small spots on his chest with the point of the blade. Micah was in on whatever the joke was, which was another way Cadmus was shut out. From his own recruit. In his own damn root cellar.

  And there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

  Once the screaming stopped, Micah and Jordy gave each other a high five, seemingly forgetting Cadmus’ presence. Or just not caring. It was one thing coming from Micah, but from this insignificant creature that he had been cultivating as a minion? Insufferable!

  And then it got worse.

  The vein in Cadmus’s forehead almost popped off his head, when Jordy started feeding Micah’s fascination with the Faire. She was bragging about how she could let him in through the staff entrance.

  Cadmus stopped his mouth from curling up into a sneer. What was so special about going in through a back entrance? Or why would anyone with any modicum of good taste want to go at all?

  But apparently Micah was impressed with Jordy’s access, in a way that made Cadmus’ objections seem…like that of someone from an older, outdated generation. Someone who just didn’t get it. Someone who was…irrelevant.

  He had to nip that air of collusion that was rapidly forming between the two of them in the bud, and fast.

  The only good thing that came from the dreadful long night was Micah’s regretful announcement that he had booked an early morning flight, and would have to leave directly for the airport very soon.

  Apparently he had known all along that he would be leaving, but preferred to keep Cadmus….squirming. If Cadmus didn’t hate Micah so much, he would feel actual admiration.

  Micah offered to drive Jordy back to the Faire on his way to the airport, and the two of them left, chattering about topics that were as foreign to Cadmus as Quantum Physics or even basic hygiene would be to Billy Bob.

  At least the vile suckup would be capable of getting rid of the car that Jordy’s victim drove. He was good for selling, bartering, or just plain disappearing body parts and material goods.

  Cadmus tossed the uneaten travesty masquerading as a club sandwich into the garbage. Later on that evening, he would re-energize the tracking pendulum with the power of the moonlight, and resume the search for the man-wolf. In the meantime, he would go upstairs and get some much needed sleep.

  He checked that the ringer of his phone was still off, as it had been from the beginning of the ritual, and left it on the kitchen table. Now that he had made the decision to go to bed, a wave of exhaustion hit him with the force of a tsunami. He trudged up the stairs, visualizing Micah’s face on each tread, pressing his weight into each step.

  Each step that took him away from the table in the kitchen, where his phone was lighting up. A call was coming through.

  Caller unknown.

  After a moment it stopped, and no message was left.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lily could still feel the lingering impression of last night’s kiss on her lips. She wanted more.

  No, she needed more, with an intensity that frightened her. She would find a way to be alone with Col, even if she had to be obvious about it. Something about him made her feel brazen and bold.

  She was fizzing with anticipation as she strode through Simon’s front door, only to come crashing back to earth when she saw the look on his face.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t call you in time to cancel,” Simon pushed his lock of hair back. She followed him from the foyer into the living room. Miller was there too. No Col. “It’s been a bit hectic the last hour. We found out that there’s a search going for a hiker that’s been reported missing.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible!”

  “The boys are out looking for him,” Simon said.

  Miller added, “I’ve been talking with my buddies on the force and rangers from the nearby parks. The hiker’s not been registered at any of those parks, so it could be that he’s wandered off around here.”

  “It’s great that the five are out looking for him,” Lily said. “Do they have special skill or training for these types of searches?” Miller and Simon exchanged looks, and she was reminded that she really didn’t know all that much about their backgrounds. Especially Col’s.

  “I’m sorry—you don’t have to tell me if this is part of the information that has to remain confidential.”

  “They’re, uh, they have unique skill sets.” Simon said.

  Miller quickly added. “Plus they’re a lot more familiar with these territories than most of the people who are in the search parties, if not all.”

  Lily nodded. That made sense.

  And not knowing about Col’s background in detail was a much needed layer of insulation between them, to whatever was taking shape. It kept them from getting closer, more in the area of a temporary fling and less of a chance that it could be something permanent.

  If only she could believe that.

  “I really don’t want you to feel like you have to turn around and leave,” Simon said. “Would you like to stay for a little while? I can make you something to eat.”

  She looked at his face, and thought of how he really did open his home, and his life to her. How this had all started because she had wanted to help him, that day he looked in need of rescue at the Staff Caff. The answer was easy.

  “Of course,” she answered.

  “I’ll go rustle up some food for you,” Miller offered. That gave Lily an idea.

  “Actually, would you mind terribly if I used your kitchen?” She giggled at the surprise in their eyes. Simon and Miller exchanged quizzical looks.

  “Of course you can!” Simon said. “I didn’t make it clear before, but you’re more than welcome to make yourself at home.”

  “Awesome!” Lily said, all the possibilities going through her mind.

  “Let me know what you need, if we don’t have it already in the pantry,” Miller said. “It’s pretty well stocked though, on a regular basis.”

  “I don’t even ask how he does it,” Simon smiled.

  “Yeah, that’s on a need to know basis,” Miller replied, with mock seriousness.

  “Would you both join me, that is, if you’re free?”

  Simon’s surprise and delight at being asked showed, and Miller’s eyes twinkled. “Of course!” They both answered, and followed Lily into the kitchen.

  About ninety minutes later, they were pulling sheets of golden brown chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. Simon had industrial equipment that Lily had only dreamed of, and based on his clumsy but endearing attempts to follow her instructions, he had never used them before. And true to Miller’s word, the pantry had almost everything that Lily could possibly have wanted.

  They had even baked a sheet of shortbread cookies, already cooling, and almond crackle cookies, made with specialty flour that she had always wanted to try. She had always loved baking, and this was a golden opportunity to indulge in a way that she never thought she would be able to.

  Lily made enough to bring back to her kids at the Staff Childcare Center later, but she kept envisioning Col’s reaction when he would bite into what Miller had assured her would be his very first chocolate chip cookie, let alone freshly baked.

  He had laughed when Lily proclaimed it positively criminal.

  “We used to have a full staff, including a chef, on the premises.” Miller said. That explained why there were ingredients that had never been used, even though they kept getting restocked. Lily wasn’t going to ask what had happened to the staff, especially as she bet it had something to do with the young men now living with Simon, and their refugee status.

  Lily caught Simon biting into a chocolate chip cookie, and playfully smacked his arm.

  “Mmm,” Simon moaned, his mouth filled with melting chocolatey goodness. “Would you stay and live here forever, Katie?”

  For a second, Lily wished she co
uld. Especially when Miller echoed the offer.

  “You’ve done so much in a short time, Katie. I know the boys think the world of you too, and if they didn’t before, they’ll be wrapped around your finger after they’ve tasted these cookies!” Miller was tucking into the almond crackle cookies.

  “To make up for tonight’s missing the boys, why don’t we all have lunch tomorrow on the grounds at the Faire?” Simon said, with his mouth full. “I was bringing them anyway, to have them start adding to the Security presence there.”

  Lily arched an eyebrow. “Is there a special need for them there?”

  Simon smacked his lips with the last morsel of the chocolate chip cookie, reaching for a shortbread. “No, not at all. It’s just that security’s the best fit for them, job-wise at the Faire, and it was always the plan to integrate them there. Your help has made it possible for that to be sooner rather than later.”

  That made sense. It’s not like she could see Barric serving portions of hot food at the Staff Caff, Merek glowering at the kids at the Staff Childcare Center, Tybalt working alongside Jordy in Ops, or Aylwyn working alongside Rika and creating more HR nightmares for her with his flippant answers to the people who came in. And as for Col….all she could think about was that he would be there at the Faire when she was.

  “Lunch would be great. A reprise of how we met, in the Staff Caff?”

  Simon shook his head. “No, actually I was thinking in the Royal Court of Food area.”

  She knew it. It was where there were food vendors offering up medieval themed food, some that she heard were based on authentic recipes from centuries ago. It was one of the major attractions of the Faire, large, and crowded with attendees and the employees who didn’t have access to the Staff Caff.

  Simon continued. “I also thought of something else that might help with continuing to assimilate them, based on our baking together just now.”

  “Really?” Lily couldn’t imagine, but she did notice that Simon was now a lot more comfortable around her than he was when she had first shown up.

  “How would you feel about going on fake dinner dates with them, one at a time?”

  The almond crackle cookie she had been nibbling on suddenly felt like glue in her mouth.

  “You don’t mean romantic dates, of course.” Miller added quickly.

  “Oh no, not at all.” Simon said, and a little tinge of pink appeared in his cheeks. It was endearing. “I meant to have dinner with each one, so they would know how to behave in a restaurant. In case they did go on a date. But not with Katie. Of course not.” He was babbling with the return of the nerves.

  Lily placed one hand on his arm, and noticed that it actually soothed him, rather than amplify his nervousness. Progress! And if that happened after one baking session alone with just him and Miller, then it made logical sense to spend that kind of time with each of the boys. With Col.

  She shook off the thought. He couldn’t be the first one. Maybe not even the second. Or third. It had to be a fake date, and somehow she knew that would be difficult to remember with him.

  “It’s a great idea, Simon.” Lily said. His face immediately lit up.

  “You think so?”

  “I agree,” Miller said. “And if I could suggest who to start with—” Please don’t say Col. Please don’t say Col. “—How about Aylwyn?”

  Lily was flooded with relief. Aylwyn would be the perfect first “date”. He was already halfway assimilated—in some cases, so much so that he’d need a little readjusting—and Lily felt the most comfortable with him, as if he were the baby brother that she had to watch out for. Even though he was twice her size. Somehow Miller had intuited that. He saw a lot more than he let on.

  Simon pulled his head back, eyebrows raised high. “Aylwyn? Why Aylwyn?”

  “He’d be the most open to this idea.” Miller explained. “He’d make a good trial run, and we can make whatever adjustments are needed, if they’re needed.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” Simon said. “Is that ok by you, Katie?”

  “Oh, absolutely,” Lily said, when she really meant Omigod, Miller thank you so much!

  “Cool. We’ll get started with Aylwyn then.” Simon said, and turned to reach for another chocolate chip cookie, his back to Lily.

  They were racing through the woods, full bore on four legs, their keen night vision and even keener sense of smell trained on finding any traces of the missing hiker, any signs of his being injured or unconscious and unable to call for help.

  Under the moonlight, in their fur-covered forms, their bodies were free to ripple with power, their strong muscles propelling them through with a unified purpose. The telepathic link was flowing throughout all five and keeping them in sync.

  Theoretically.

  What the fuck, Col! Barric’s thought rumbled through the link.

  Shit! I didn’t mean to send— Col scrambled to apologize, while his body was still hurtling through the woods at the speed of one of Simon’s smaller vehicles.

  Merek’s thought chimed in. At least give us more entertaining thoughts for hours on end than how comely her face is, or how her eyes warm your soul.

  Aylwyn started to send an image, and Col couldn’t stop himself from leaping towards the blond wolf at high speed, his fangs bared and a growl ripping out of him.

  ENOUGH! The Vixar’s thought lashed through their minds, as Aylwyn deftly dodged Col, and the auburn wolf regained his footing when his lunge didn’t connect.

  The four wolves all circled Col, who was still snarling, eyes intent on the blond wolf who looked to all the world as if he were grinning.

  A wave of energy emanated out of the Vixar, and surrounded Col’s auburn wolf, shimmering around it, the molecules shifting. Col’s human form stood in the center.

  Tybalt shifted into human form, and the other three followed suit. The Vixar’s eyes were steely, and fixed on Col.

  “You will return to the house immediately,” Tybalt ordered. “Stay there until we are back from our search.”

  “As you say, so shall it be, Vixar.” Col crossed his arms, thumped his chest, but Tybalt and the others had already shifted back to wolf form and run off.

  To complete the mission that he was hindering.

  In wolf form, their telepathic link was dependent on the strength of the War-Pack, or if one had an especial facility, as they had discovered Barric to have. Or if the thoughts were so concentrated that they were as if their minds were shouting.

  As they had just discovered Col to have.

  And the thoughts had been concentrated on her.

  It had been his greatest fear, that his out-of-control senses would become that liability for the War-Pack, so much of a burden that the Vixar had to literally order him to leave.

  He shifted back into his wolf form in order to make the trip back to the house, alone with his thoughts of self-recrimination, castigating himself each minute until the backyard of the house was finally in view.

  He came to a stop, and shifted into human form in order to enter the house. Despite everything, he still had a glimmer of hope that she would be there. A glimpse of her that would be a balm to the burning frustration he felt right now, at his lack of ability to control his own thoughts.

  It was no less than he deserved, then, to find out that she had left just minutes before his arrival.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The missing hiker was somehow connected, Simon thought. It was just too much of a coincidence that Col had been abducted, and now an athletically fit man, roughly the same age as Col, give or take a few centuries, was gone without a trace. The likelihood that an accident had befallen him in the woods was extremely low. The wolves had been able to search where few humans were able to, and their sense of smell was superb – if he was out there, Simon believed that they would have found him.

  The group didn’t explain why Col had come back earlier than the others, and Col was unsurprisingly tight-lipped about it as well. Simon was under the im
pression it had something to do with the telepathy that they shared in wolf form, which fascinated him, but it wasn’t important for him to worry about at this point. He had his own mysteries to solve. Chief among them was if there was a connection between what had happened to Col with the anomalies that his trusted head of Ops was reporting.

  For that reason, they were now at the HR office, where Rika was helping process everything they needed to have official access everywhere, and unlimited credit with the vendors on site. He only hoped that Katie’s instructions on etiquette would stick, as the boys were let loose with their credit on the food vendors and Staff Caff.

  He made a mental note to have Katie spend some time with them about when it was appropriate to use the electronic card keys to enter, and especially when it was important to knock first.

  Otherwise Rika would be inundated with more HR complaints.

  Looking at his efficient, but overworked HR Director, he realized once again how fortunate he was with the people he entrusted with so much responsibility. Rika was indispensable, as was Puma, and of course Miller. He couldn’t imagine handling any of this —the five large males who were crowding the too-cramped office—without the older man who had become like a father to him.

  And now Katie was fast joining that rarified group. He was looking forward to that lunch with her in the Royal Court of Food.

  If only he had the guts to ask if he could have one of the fake dates with her. She made him feel that it was possible that one day he could have a real date, with someone who appreciated him for him. Someone perhaps like Katie.

  Cadmus glowered at his reflection in the mirror. His expertly coiffed salt and pepper hair, the exact look of which was carefully crafted by a stylist once a month, was now crammed into something that Jordy called a “dad cap.” He shuddered with revulsion at the similarities that emerged between Jordy and Micah. He would have to carefully hide his thoughts, as he needed to win her back. His own recruit, his own weapon.

  At least Jordy had brought him a decent breakfast when she showed up this morning. The wrapper was still on the kitchen table, with only crumbs remaining. It hadn’t been half bad, the egg sandwich she had gotten from some place she had referred to as the Staff Caff. Or equally nonsensical syllables.