I couldn’t decide whether the distraction was helpful or harmful, but with the same stubbornness I addressed to my mates, I sat up late nights and wrote those papers. I read textbooks until my eyes were so red Tris worried and Gigi made poultices. Education was important to me, and I never wanted to lose sight of that. Therefore, one beautiful cold morning, I was on my way to the library bright and early. As much as I loved my grandmother’s cooking and her company, as much as I adored lounging in bed with Tris until I only had ten minutes to get to class, neither of them created an atmosphere conducive to studying. Rather, they fussed over me so much, I couldn’t think.
Christie, come taste this soup. Does it need anything? She’d made the soup my whole life and my mom’s and probably her mom made it before her. She knew the recipe.
Don’t get up now, Christie. It’s raining out. Wouldn’t you rather stay home and watch a movie? Hell yes, I’d rather stay home, keep dry, and watch a movie.
But…no I was trudging through the rain, hugging my laptop inside my jacket because I forgot my umbrella, and planning on four hours of uninterrupted study in the library before my afternoon class. Not many others were running around campus at this early hour in a downpour, and I took it as a good sign I’d be able to find a secluded and quiet nook in the stacks somewhere.
Head down against the pouring rain, wishing I hadn’t been so absent-minded I’d donned my new leather boots that were probably getting ruined, I nearly bumped into a guy in a blue poncho. I apologized, and he muttered something before stepping aside. But he unexpectedly turned and trotted off in the opposite direction, shoes slipping a little on the pavement.
Weird.
A moment later, I was racing up the library steps, thunder and lightning encouraging me to rush. At least I didn’t have to leave for a while. Storms this heavy rarely lasted as long as the four hours I planned to stay. I could do five if I needed to and just skip lunch. I had a granola bar or maybe five or six in my laptop bag. I was always tossing one in there in case I got hungry and didn’t have time to take a break, and I almost never ate one.
Reaching the door of the old stone building, I happened to glance behind me and caught a glimpse of bright-blue plastic as the wearer disappeared behind a van parked at the curb. Same guy? Or maybe just a similar poncho. Probably one of those in a pouch you kept stuffed in a pocket in rainy season.
Shrugging off my contemplation, I headed inside and waved at the lady at the check-in desk. Wendi was off today, and I had a feeling if her guys had any say at all, she’d be giving up her little part-time job as they liked to call it—mostly because that was what it was—before she got much more pregnant. Her classes were starting into the pre-med stage and though she was hella smart, she had pack responsibilities as well, and a person could only burn the candle at so many ends before it melted out in the middle—or something.
But not me. No babies on the way here, and I could only dream of being so busy with my mates. Or having them in the same room except when times were desperate. I carefully wiped my feet on the provided mat at the foot of the slippery marble stairs to the stacks. Up there were many tables and chairs as well as couches, many in quiet corners, and I had one in mind. As I reached the top landing, I looked down and spotted another bright-blue poncho and its wearer headed in the door. Had he been coming this way the whole time? Because I’d really started to believe it was the same person.
And when he started up the stairs, I got scared. I’ll admit it. I was in the same age range as the kidnapped girls. Was he following me? This guy had not been headed for the library until after I bumped into him. I scooted behind a pillar and watched him climb to the top of the steps then pause and look around. I wished Dean was here. Even though he was not a shifter, not pack, he was a great and supportive friend and classmate. He’d gone from a crush on me to one on another pack member, Sierra…and it wasn’t likely to happen, but at least he had good taste.
Then he started off to the left, so, once he was far enough away, I went to the right. Far right. I tried not to let it worry me, to convince myself it was all in my mind, but when I saw the same guy, poncho now off but over his arm, I gave up and fled. Right after using my phone to take a quick snap of his face.
I had no real reason to think I was being followed. He hadn’t said a word to me and, in fact, when I reached the bottom of the stairs, far too unnerved to study, he was seated at a table with a book open in front of him.
Just another student, but I left anyway. I went to the donut shop and bought a dozen.
Ate every one and had too much of a stomach ache to go to my afternoon class. Life was not going as planned at all.
Chapter Seventeen
Tris
Christie asked how high every time Samson said jump. I knew she was my mate. We were mated in every way possible, but still, she ran to him every time he called. And he was taking advantage of her pack loyalty. He knew I wasn’t allowed onto pack lands and, while he had looked the other way the few times I’d barged my way in, it was only a matter of time before he asserted his place in the pack and made sure I never went there again.
He was breaking my mate apart and though I didn’t hate him for what he did so long ago, breaking her heart was warrant for hatred to grow inside me.
Christie walked in the door and plopped into the first chair near the entrance, letting her bookbag flop to the floor like a dead fish. I’d just gotten in from work but was glad for time alone with her. I didn’t mind Gigi—in fact, she was the grandmother I thought everyone needed in their lives—but Christie and I were newly mated, and I craved the time alone with her, and not just in the bedroom.
“Everything okay?” I asked, spoonful of peanut butter poised right at my mouth.
My mate looked positively green around the edges and had both hands on top of her stomach. She was wearing a pair of tight dark-washed jeans with one of those sweaters that hung down one arm, revealing her shoulder and the lace intricacies of her black bra underneath.
Every time I saw her, it was like the first time.
“I got a little stressed at school and decided death by donuts was the way to fix it.”
I snorted at her description. I mean, who hasn’t taken out their stress on fried dough? I certainly had.
“Well, there are other ways to handle stress that are a lot more fun and don’t give you a raging stomachache. I just want to volunteer for the position for the next time you need to cut loose.”
She laughed, throwing back her head, but then groaned. “Ugh, everything hurts. Also, there was chocolate milk involved.”
“Let’s get you into bed. We can watch something funny, and you can let the fried dough settle in your gut.”
My gorgeous mate nodded but didn’t make a move to get up. I put the spoon in the kitchen then crossed the room, only one thing on my mind—getting her to bed.
“What are you doing?” she giggle-asked as I picked her up honeymoon-style and carried her toward the bed. I laid her down gently once we got there and unzipped her long, black leather boots one at a time, trying to be seductive about it, and probably failing.
“You are the best,” she said in an already sleepy voice. She unbuttoned her jeans but made no attempt to actually take them off.
“I know. I am. Are you wanting these off? No funny business now. I’m not that kind of guy. Jeez, Christie.” I pulled off her jeans then kissed her from her feet to her thighs but stopped before I wanted to. She was not feeling well, and my wolf demanded I make sure she was okay. My hormones were officially overridden.
“You are that kind of guy, and I swear once this sugar high has passed, I intend to take advantage of you. In the meantime, find us a movie, my mate. I’m so…blah…”
She tucked herself under the covers, and when I sank down beside her, she lay across my chest, putting her fingers underneath my shirt. Contact was so important for wolves, and my mate touched me any chance she got.
Our mating was only half of what
fate had in the cards, but I couldn’t help but be a little jealous now and then.
Samson should get his head out of his ass. Christie was everything, and I couldn’t imagine letting anything stand in the way of being with her every second I possibly could. Pack. Oaths. Pride. None of it would stand between me and this gem at my side.
A soft snore came from her mouth before I’d found a movie to watch. She nestled into my embrace and put her hand on top of my chest underneath my shirt.
I thought about going to Samson myself and demanding he end her pain, but that would only make him build his wall higher.
He needed to give this up and fast. My father had been a brute who cared about nothing but pack hierarchy and pride, his own egotistical ways.
If Samson wasn’t careful, he was going to be the same. I could already see my father’s tendencies growing in my brother, and it scared me, not just for Christie, but for him. I would always love my brother no matter how much he put pack before family.
The reason I’d joined the Navy was to end the constant rivalry my father put my twin and me through. If he’d been willing to listen to a word I said at the time, he’d know. I think he believed it was rebellion, and it was, but not in a negative way. If our father had his way, we’d have ended up in a challenge to the death. What kind of alpha behaved that way?
I hated to think of it, but it was true. Did Samson know?
“I love you,” Christie whispered as she slept, and I hugged her tight.
“I love you,” I told her and put on a movie I’d seen a thousand times, just to pass the time.
A text message came in on her phone. She’d put it on the nightstand, and I reached to get it. It was Samson asking her to come see him again under the guise of a pack meeting. Fuck. Jealousy raged inside me, quelling any tender or even civil feelings toward my brother. Once she saw this message, she would jump out of here, sick or not, stressed or not, just because he’d called.
My thumb hovered above the buttons, wanting to hit the Delete so she would stay here with me and I could pretend she was satisfied and content having me as a mate.
I really had to get over myself. My need for my mate to be truly happy trumped the green monster inside me, and I woke her up a few minutes later with a kiss to her pouty lips.
“What is it?” She was so goddamned sexy when she first woke up. ’That was why it was always so hard to let her go.
“Samson texted. Pack meeting.”
I couldn’t do it. It would’ve been so easy to delete the text and make him wait for once, but I wouldn’t do that to her. Not only would she be hurt, but it would feel like I was betraying her trust.
“Okay. I’m getting up.”
She practically flew out of bed and put her clothes on. I picked up a book and pretended to be occupied.
“Tris?” Her voice was not much more than a whisper.
“Yeah?”
“It’s a pack meeting. I have to go.”
I nodded. “Christie, you and I both know it’s more than that. There’s no reason to say anything else. Go get your man…well, your other man.”
I sounded pathetic.
“I’ve never hidden the fact you were both my mates.” She paused at the side of the bed and put her hand on mine.
“I know. But I hate the way he strings you along. And I miss you when you’re gone. I’m fine. Just go. He needs you.”
She blew out a long breath. “The pack needs me.”
“I love you. I’ll be here when you get back.”
“I love you.” She bent down and gave me probably the longest, deepest, sexiest kiss we’d ever shared. “Save the thought. I’ll be home soon. Where in the hell is Gigi?”
“At the thrift store. She left a note.”
“I have to stop and get her. Samson wants her there, too.” She grabbed her phone and started to leave.
“Christie?” I shouted, and she came back.
“What?”
“It’s going to be okay. All of this. Trust me.”
Chapter Eighteen
Christie
I found Gigi at the thrift store in the book section and practically had to drag her out of there to get her to the meeting on time. She had her nose tucked into a Fabio romance and had a cart full of them when I interrupted. She gave me a verbal lashing for stopping her from reading her stories, but when I told her about the meeting, Fabio and all his wind-blown-hair lovers were forgotten and she told them goodbye.
“What’s the rush?” she asked as I tapped my foot, waiting for her to get into the car. “That jerk of a man has made you wait all this time and you just rush over there when he makes a peep. Well, not this old girl. He can wait a little.” She grumbled on the entire ride about entitled alphas and egos and kicking Samson in his balls. Then she told me a story about how one of her mates was considering challenging another nearby alpha simply because he wanted their land. She nipped the stupid notion in the bud immediately. By the time we got to the pack lands, tears were coming down my face, not from sadness but from laughing too hard.
“Let’s see what the trouble is this time.” We got out, and Gigi took my arm and made me walk slowly, knowing Samson was watching us through the window in his office. She could walk as fast as any young person, but could also do the old-lady shuffle when it suited her. When we finally got to the front door, she stopped me, tugging on my arm. “You know Tris is hurting, right? He misses you, and this is also affecting him. You’re his mate. When you hurt, he hurts. I know it’s hard when one your mates is being stubborn, but Tris is there, steady as a rock for you. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak.”
I nodded, remembering the tense conversation from before. “I know. But I won’t give up on Samson, Gigi.”
She patted my hand then raised it to her mouth to kiss it. “No one is asking you to. Just make sure there’s some balance, okay? Don’t lose your other mate in pursuit of the second one.”
“It isn’t so simple,” I told her, aching for them both. “He also misses his brother. They both do even if they won’t admit it. Their pain is there all the time.”
When we got upstairs, Samson was perched on the front of his desk, tapping those fingers. The others were seated and standing around the office. Not a full-pack meeting. They’d never fit inside his office, just the betas, elders…the leadership. Except Wendi. I hoped she was feeling well. Her mates were there. I wanted to ask if she was okay, but Samson was giving me serious side-eye already.
“Took you long enough,” he grumbled.
“I could say the same for you.” Gigi snickered beside me then raised her hand for a high-five. Samson was not impressed.
“I called you here because Christie and I found a clue yesterday. Does anyone recognize this?” He held up the necklace we’d found the day before. The pendant glimmered with the sun coming in through the windows. Samson walked around the room, giving everyone a closer look despite our enhanced shifter sight.
Gigi gave me a look but didn’t say anything. A first.
“What did Virginia’s parents say?” I asked since he’d forgotten to give me any info after he’d visited them. “Had they seen it? They saw her wearing it, right?”
“They said she came home with it after a trip to the city. Some older woman gave it to her, and she wore it every day. As if she was afraid to take it off.”
“That’s because Opal gave it to her. She marked the young girl for the taking.”
I whipped my head to Gigi so fast I almost broke my own neck. “What?”
Samson stopped dead in his tracks and whirled on Gigi. “Who is Opal, and what do you mean marked? Gigi, please explain. We need to know as much as you do.”
“Impossible, but I will tell you what I can. That necklace isn’t just a necklace. It’s the symbol of the Crystal Lake pack. Their leader is Opal, but I thought she had long gone. You have read the histories, right, Samson?”
Samson’s face lost all its color. “Not really. My fat
her said they were useless.”
Gigi scoffed. “Of course, he would. I guess it’s up to me to get you up to speed, then. Opal was thrown out of this pack when I was a girl. She was half-witch and, before she left, she claimed she would curse this pack and return vengeance on it one day. She used her hands to burn this symbol into one of the trees. I’m sure it’s still here somewhere.”
“Wait!” Brandon stood and rifled through the papers on Samson’s desk until he came up with a picture. “I knew I had seen this. I knew it. We took this weeks ago. Didn’t think anything of it at the time. We were just taking pictures with Moss’ new camera, but we thought enough of it to show the alpha.”
I took the photo from Brandon’s hands, and sure enough, it was the exact symbol as the necklace. The symbol was burned into the bark.
“There are fresh burns here,” Gigi pointed out, taking the picture and putting on her tiny glasses. “She’s back. These fresh burns means she has returned and is ready to claim what she thinks belongs to her. I really thought she was gone forever. I guess revenge never dies.”
Samson took the picture from Gigi and scrubbed at his forehead, about to rub it raw. I wished I could soothe him somehow, but that was out of the question, especially since we were surrounded in this room.
“Where is she? How do I find her? What does she look like? Wherever she is, Virginia must be. And the others.” Samson was up in arms. His face had gone red, the color rushing back in, and I flinched at the waves of rage coming from him. “We’ll get search parties organized and leave right this minute.” He was frantic for information and his voice rose with every word.
“She’s like a ghost. You think you’re the first to try and find her?” Gigi said.
He kicked at his desk while the others grumbled amongst themselves. “So what are we supposed to do? Just wait here while she collects our females? Just let her take all of them?”
Tether: A Shifter of Consequence Tale (Shifters of Consequence Book 6) Page 6