Home is Where the Heart Is (Cloverleah Pack Series Book 15)

by Lisa Oliver

  “Seer talk,” Vassago laughed as he leaned into Adair’s shoulder. “Our seer was just as non-forthcoming. They agree about the demon, too. They can’t tell where Wesley is, only that it’s important that he’s found.”

  “Not to be a downer on this, but I thought most of the important paranormals were already in this pack.” Thomas was making a sandwich for his mate Ivan. “I knew Wesley the best out of all of us, since he’s been here. I didn’t realize he’d changed or been swapped out for a golem or whatever and yeah, I’m going to live with that guilt for the next hundred years, or more. But when you come down to it, Wesley was a half-breed wolf who had serious self-confidence issues because of his human heritage.”

  “His half-human side caused him problems and made him feel he was less than the rest of us and that is what the dark ones capitalized on,” Shawn said quietly, his voice full of enough authority to get the others to listen. “That doesn’t mean his life is any less important than the rest of us. He came willingly when Diablo called for volunteers to work as enforcers to protect this pack. He found a home here, and if he was unhappy, then he kept it to himself. I can’t believe any of us, regardless of the positions we hold in the paranormal world, would consider ourselves that important, we can’t help someone we used to call friend, who we trusted to protect our backs.”

  Shame blanketed the pack members, only Ollie seemingly oblivious.

  “I think some of those feelings might be my fault,” Marius said quietly, squeezing his mate’s hand. “There is a part of me… shit.” He stared up at the clear blue sky. “This is so hard to say…”

  “No mate, it’s not you who has to say it,” Cathair said soothingly. He faced the pack like the Battle Lord he used to be, before coming to Cloverleah and finding his fated mate. “Marius and I have talked about this. How we might feel when we see Wesley again. I’m not going to lie. It’s not going to be easy. Being violated in that way…” Cathair shuddered and it was Marius’ time to soothe.

  “The fact of it all, was that while he might have looked and sounded like Wesley, the thing that tried to come between me and my mate was not Wesley. We need to remember that.” Marius looked at each of his pack mates in turn.

  “It’s not like we haven’t tried to find him,” Josh said. He’d been sitting on Vadim’s lap. “Gods, Seers, and Death himself have tried. We have been looking.”

  “I want him found,” Raff said quickly, and his face went bright red when everyone looked at him. “I didn’t know him very well, but he sounds like someone who needs a pack more than most. But it’s not only that. Don’t you see? This is the same situation as what happened with my home pack, although, okay, not quite the same because we didn’t find my parents turned into golems or something silly like that. But they aren’t dead, and they can’t be found, just like Wesley.”

  “Raff is right,” Dean said, smiling at his friend. “We never found out what happened to his parents or the rest of the red wolves. Personally, I think one of the gods have got them stashed away somewhere to keep them safe, but that’s beside the point. Wesley was, or should I say is one of us. He’s missing, just like Raff’s ex-pack, and maybe when we do find him, we’ll have more of a clue as to what happened to Raff’s parents.”

  “The being hidden aspect is definitely intriguing,” Anton said. The big man barely said anything at pack meetings, even informal ones, but he always listened, which made him worth listening to. “We’ve always known the dark ones have powers most of us can barely comprehend. But to create a ward, and that is what I’m assuming has happened here, but think about it. If a ward has been created that thwarts Death himself, then that’s some powerful mojo.”

  “It’s likely a series of wards,” Fafnir said excitedly, shoving Aelfric’s hand away when Aelfric tried to cover his mouth. “Stop it, I’m talking here.”

  “I swear, if you give another lecture on ward structure, I’m going to smother you in your sleep,” Aelfric mock-glared and then both fae laughed and even Jax’s mouth twitched a bit at the edges.

  “Now listen,” Fafnir said. “What if we’ve got a situation like one of those Russian dolls? You know, the ones where they have smaller dolls inside of bigger dolls and so on. Just imagine what it would be like being able to study wards that have been created into something so complex.”

  “As we’ve already determined it’s most likely Wesley’s being held in the Underworld, as that’s where the dark ones felt more comfortable, there’ll be no studying anything like that in person, not by you two,” Jax warned.

  “It wouldn’t be safe for any of the pack to be down there for any length of time, and the Underworld is a vast place,” Vassago said. “Which is why we need a demon on our side. Someone who knows the place – who knows how to spot differences in the way things are normally down there, and who can translocate between realms, which he’ll need to do to bring Wesley back.”

  “Is there any chance Madison and Sebastian could look for us?” Troy asked. “I mean, Madison is the alpha of the hellhounds, and they are amazing trackers. I’m sure Damien wouldn’t mind if we borrowed them for a bit.”

  “A lot of Hades’ realm is uninhabited,” Nereus said, stretching his legs so his feet rested against Teilo’s thigh. “If you cut the earth down the middle and laid it out flat, the Underworld is bigger than that. Even with the hellhounds, it could take Madison and Sebastian years to check out every corner of that realm. And I don’t think our young Wesley has years for us to find him.”

  “What do you mean? Do you know something?” Kane didn’t mean to sound so sharp, but the way he’d handled the Wesley incident didn’t sit well with him either.

  “If I knew something, you’d know about it,” Nereus said calmly. “But I mean, it makes sense if you think about it. The dark ones have been dead three months now. If Wesley was being held somewhere, then what is he doing for food and water? We only know he’s not dead, because a spirit wouldn’t be hampered by any ward, and Thanatos would be able to sense Wesley’s spirit as he passed. But we have no idea what state Wesley was in when he was captured. If he’s been caged up, and one would assume he had been, then what would that enforced confinement be doing to his wolf?”

  “In the Underworld, Wesley would have no other wolves to call on,” Shawn said. “He’s likely isolated, in a realm he doesn’t understand. The wards the dark ones put up might disintegrate over time now they’re in stasis, but there’s no guarantee they will. He could effectively be buried alive under wards, waiting for someone to come for him.”

  “And he’d imagine we would come,” Matthew said gravely. “There’s a good chance he doesn’t know what happened with Marius and Cathair. He was kidnapped and taken against his will. He’s going to believe, because he’s part of a pack, that someone will search for him.”

  “Please.” Luke had tears streaming down his handsome face. “Kane, Shawn, someone please give the orders for the demon to find him. No one should be left alone, possibly hurt or dying. Kurt, do you know any demons? You know I’d go, but I can’t leave you or Tobias, or Baby Ollie, because he wouldn’t understand, but I can’t bear it, I just can’t stand the thought of that poor man, wolf, dying alone in a big scary unknown world. It’s not right. It’s not fair. Our pack is better than that. Please.”

  “Luke, Luke, it’s okay,” Dean said quickly as Kurt and Tobias wrapped themselves around their sensitive mate. “We just have to find the right demon, isn’t that right guys?”

  “And I know just where to start,” Vassago said firmly.

  “V, babe, you know I love you and all that, but I am not sure Myka is the best choice for this job,” Adair said, biting his bottom lip. “He’s flighty and unpredictable and…”

  “He got in my pants once. Gods, get over it, babe. The only one plowing my ass now is you.” Vassago slapped his mate and then pulled him in for a scorching kiss that caused most of the pack members to avert their eyes.

  “Besides,” Vassago said, after he pulled
back, his lips puffed and nostrils flaring. Adair was in the same state. “Myka comes from a big family. I’m sure he’ll know someone who can do this job for us who won’t make you feel all growly and protective all the time.”

  “Then it’s decided,” Kane said, trying to hide his relief. “Vassago and Adair will contact their demon and get someone to search the Underworld for Wesley.”

  Before it’s too late, was left unsaid, but everyone in the pack felt it, and no one blinked twice when Vassago and Adair disappeared.

  Chapter Five

  Castor stood at the bright blue door to the ranch house. “Not exactly the hell hole prison V was going on about,” he muttered. “It needs a spot of landscaping – some flowers perhaps. A lawn would be nice too.” With a snap of his fingers, a landscaped yard appeared complete with trees and a nice white picket fence. Castor beamed. The place looked so much better now.

  It hadn’t been an easy search. Castor had zapped to every corner of the Underworld in his bid to find a missing wolf of all things. Of all the things his brother could’ve demanded as payment for that damn bet. Nope, Castor wasn’t going to think about that. So embarrassing. But yeah, finding one solitary wolf, under a mix of demon/elf wards, that no one was expected to find, wasn’t a walk in a park.

  But he was here now. It’d taken him a while to realize that looking for what was missing, rather than what was there, would find him a wolf. And now, all he had to do was knock on the door and…

  Castor was in his demon form. That might not be the best first impression to make, especially in this bubble realm. The last thing Castor wanted to deal with was a wolf meltdown. He shifted into his human form, and then, because he liked a laugh, he added a suit and a briefcase and raised his hand to knock on the door. Hey honey, I’m home. Did you miss me?

  But he didn’t even get a chance to knock. The door opened and instead of a wolf, Castor found himself confronted by three little kids who smelled of cheetah. Rug rats? No one told me there’d be rug rats.

  “Who are you?” The middle one demanded.

  Taking a step back, Castor said, “I’m here to rescue Wesley.”

  “Well, you have to rescue us too. We’re stuck here, just the same as he is.” The one on the right informed him.

  “And I hope you brought a fucking beer. I heard Wesley say he could use a fucking beer when Tommy threw up on him. He didn’t think we could hear him, but we did.” The left one nodded.

  “Come on.” The middle one led him into the house. Castor couldn’t believe his eyes. There were kids everywhere. All shifters, and of all types from the smell. A small brown-haired boy was leaning over the couch. As soon as he saw Castor, he gave a chirp and shifted. Castor was now looking at a baby Sloth.

  “It’s okay, Zeke,” one of the cheetah’s said. “He said he’s here to rescue us.”

  Zeke shifted back. “Where there trees out there? I thought I saw trees. I smelled grass and everything.”

  Castor felt a small shaft of pride. “Yeah. You’ve got a garden now, with trees and grass and...” That’s all it took. Zeke tumbled off the couch and ambled to the door followed by the rest of his pack, tribe, herd or whatever Castor could call a group of mismatched shifters.

  “Is it safe to go out?” One of the cheetahs thought to ask.

  “Yes, you can go out, but don’t go out of the yard. The fence is the border.” Castor had a feeling the wolf… Wesley… would be pissed if one of them got lost.

  That was all it took. A stampede for the door almost knocked him over. With the bulk of the kids outside, Castor sniffed the air again, searching for the wolf. Yep there was a wolf and… he sniffed again. Mate? He had a mate? Castor looked at the kids as they ran past, spotting a couple of wolf pups. Oh God… not a kid. Please not a kid. Castor wasn’t up to waiting for his mate to reach adulthood. His balls would be so blue. A fawn loped past him.

  The head cheetah who was still hovering by the door with his brothers yelled, “Don’t go outside the fence, Carrie.”

  She looked back and nodded then ran.

  “Wes is back here with the littlies,” the cheetah informed him.

  A loud wailing made Castor want to take a step back. Then another joined in. It sounded like Naamah on a bad day when his wife found out he did something he shouldn’t, or he wanted to scare someone. Castor had to force his feet to follow the boys down the hallway, thinking to himself that Naamah was actually quieter than what was waiting behind the door the boys stopped in front of. The noise got louder.

  “He’s in there.”

  “We’re going to go play.”

  “Outside.”

  They shifted and ran. Castor didn’t get a chance to yell, “Get back here,” before they cleared the front door. The little buggers were fast. Well, hell, they were cheetahs. Castor inhaled again, making sure. The scent definitely told him his mate was behind the door to the torture chamber. Flinging open the door, Castor held his arms wide and said loudly, “I’m here from Cloverleah to rescue you.” He expected his mate to fall into his arms. After all, that’s what they did, right?

  A very harried looking wolf who smelled of mate shoved a screaming baby in his arms. “Here! This is yours.”

  “But I haven’t known you long enough.”

  Giving him a dirty look, the wolf turned to pick a screaming one year old out of a crib.

  Castor stared at the red screaming baby in his arms, “I’m sure he shouldn’t make that sort of noise. What’s wrong with him?”

  “He’s a she and there’s nothing wrong that a diaper change won’t fix. The stuff is in the corner on the changing table.” And his mate turned his back on him, crooning at another wailing baby. “It’s okay, Tommy. Terry didn’t mean to hit you on the head with a toy. He was just trying out his throwing skills.” His mate gave the third grinning baby hanging on to the side of the crib a filthy look. The baby, probably Terry just grinned wider showing a single tooth.

  Castor tried joggling the baby in his arms. Anything to make her shut up. “Are you okay?” He asked the wolf. After all, this was his mate. It was Castor’s duty to make sure he was okay. That’s what mates did, didn’t they?

  “Do I look okay?”

  Biting his tongue, Castor decided that answering that he looked like all the demons of hell worked him over wasn’t going to win him any points. “Is everything I need over there?”

  “I said what you need is there,” His mate snapped. Okay, not an auspicious beginning to the mating. But the screaming was starting to make his ears hurt. If these kids needed a job, Hades could probably use them in the pits to torture others. Come on, he chided himself. It can’t be that hard to change a diaper. Oh, my fucking gods. Castor tried breathing through his mouth, but that didn’t help. He’d got the diaper open, but oh wow, there was no way anything living could make a smell like that. He tried, because my gods he needed to keep his cool around a clearly stressed mate, but Castor couldn’t help it. It shouldn’t be that hard to change a diaper. But, Castor gagged, and then gagged again and before he could do anything about it, he’d lost his lunch, just missing the now grinning infant.

  His mate took away the diaper from hell, cleaned up his vomit and handed him a glass of water, all without saying anything. By the gods, the silence was blissful. Castor looked at the three in the cribs. Angelic. No one would ever suspect that those angels were ruling demons in disguise.

  A blond boy came into the room. “Wes? We have a yard. And trees. And everyone is out there playing. I can’t get them back in. Who are you?”

  The last was addressed to Castor.

  “Well, I was supposed to rescue Wes. I thought the landscaping was a bit sparse, so I did the yard.”

  The little bear glared at him. “Is it safe?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m going to go watch them. Zeke is hanging from a tree and the triplets are zooming around the yard knocking everyone down that gets in their way.” The bear gave Castor a dirty look as he left the room.<
br />
  His mate had clearly finished tidying up and sagged into a chair. Castor clicked his fingers and handed the stressed wolf a beer.

  “What’s this?”

  “Your fucking beer the terrible trio said you requested.”

  “Shit, I didn’t think they heard that.”

  The oldest toddler sat up and babbled something.

  “I think he’s trying to say shit.” He pointed out as his mate took the beer.

  “I’m not cut out for this.”

  “Well, also I’m your mate.”

  “I know.” The wolf sighed. “I wanted a mate so bad. It’s just… I’m too da…tired to care. How do parents do this?”

  “No clue. I could go ask mine if you want.”

  “Not right now.” A beautiful smile crossed his mate’s face as he took a sip. “Oh, this is so good.”

  Castor coughed to clear his throat. “Sorry about the throwing up.”

  Wesley, because it had to be Wesley waved the beer bottle in Castor’s direction. “I did the same thing the first time. That little sweetheart is hiding a biological weapon somewhere. Oh, gods… I still have to make dinner. This kid thing is never ending.”

  With a flick of his fingers, Castor said, “Taken care of. I take it they like burgers and fries? Done. I added a picnic table to the new yard so they have somewhere to eat.”

  “That works today.”

  Castor watched Wesley as the wolf closed his eyes. For a wolf shifter, Wesley wasn’t overly tall, and he didn’t have much muscle on him, although that could have a lot to do with being underfed. Castor still ached to touch the silky-smooth skin and run his fingers through Wesley’s tangled mop of blond hair.

  “I really am here to rescue you,” he said quietly after a long moment of companionable silence. “Your pack searched everywhere. All the gods were called, even Thanatos himself, so I was told. Everyone was trying to find you, until they realized you had to be in the Underworld. Not wanting to bother Hades, seeing as he’s newly mated and all that, they called on my brother and he called on me. And here I am.”