by Hettie Ivers
“Why’re you helping me again?” I asked over a huge mouthful of my French dip sandwich.
Raul, my mysterious werelock rescuer, had come to my aid yet again—teleporting into the hotel room shower, no less, to whisk me away from Alcaeus and Kai. Upon conjuring clothing for me, he’d casually offered to take me out to eat—in San Francisco—as if snatching women from showers and grabbing early dinner with them twelve hundred-some miles away was his normal routine.
As if I really had the option of saying no.
How Raul had been able to pinpoint my exact location in order to “rescue me” was troubling indeed. It was a question he hadn’t answered. But we’d started drinking halfway through lunch, and I was hopeful I’d be able to pull it out of him yet.
I was hoping to pull information on Alcaeus out of him as well.
Having finished his sandwich already, Raul had been sitting on the restaurant bench seat next to me looking a bit lost in his own thoughts for the past few minutes. But at my question, that easy surfer grin of his stretched his lips.
“Told you,” he said, snagging one of my fries and dipping it in the leftover glob of mayonnaise on his otherwise empty plate. “I’m your friend.”
I shook my head as he popped the fry in his mouth. “No, you’re not.”
He laughed. “I’m still a scary stranger, then? Two daring, dramatic rescues and you don’t like me yet?”
“Hey,” I whacked his hand hard when he made to grab for another fry. “Get your own, pretty boy.”
“Damn, girl,” he said, chuckling as he made a show of shaking out his “injured” hand. “You know something? I definitely like you, Avery.”
He sounded sincere. And the smile he gave me was neither predatory nor creepy. So far I hadn’t gotten any sexual vibes from him at all, in fact—not even when he’d been pressed up against me in the shower. But judging from the way I’d seen him interact and look at other women in the restaurant, I didn’t think he was gay.
I took a liberal gulp of my Jack and Coke, trying to figure him out. He seemed so laid back and easygoing at present, and yet I sensed a frightening intensity lurking beneath the surface—an emotional darkness inherent to him that he didn’t readily display. He was like a barely restrained Alpha powerhouse trapped in the guise of a flirty, blasé surfer boy playacting at being a werelock.
“I’ll never tell you where my daughter is,” I reiterated for the record, stone-faced. “I’ll die before I tell you,” I stressed, when my first statement caused him to burst out laughing again.
“Duly noted.” He nodded easily in accord, still smiling. He signaled to our waiter before shifting his position in his seat so that he was fully facing me, his arm draped behind me high over the bench seat we shared in the back corner of the restaurant—since both of us had insisted upon keeping our backs to the wall. “If you won’t allow me to directly protect Sloane, will you at least let me protect you?”
The way he continued to casually drop my daughter’s name—as if he knew her somehow—unnerved me. As did the way he’d just invaded my space—even if it wasn’t in a way that felt particularly sexual or threatening. I could tell he was trying to draw me in with his Alpha energy. Make me feel safe.
He was wasting his time. I was immune.
I turned to face him, scooting back in the process to put more distance between us. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
He hummed and bit his lip, his head bobbing slowly up and down, his soft brown eyes holding mine, radiating concern. And frustration. And that strange, hidden pain that seemed so much older than his years should’ve allowed.
“So you could’ve gotten away from Kai and Alcaeus on your own back there, then?”
“Yes,” I answered. Then sighed and muttered, “Eventually.”
He smiled at my admission, and his demeanor shifted once more to his laid-back surfer persona as he mouthed, “You’re welcome.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, fine. Thank you. Thank you for rescuing me, all right? Now how well do you know him? I mean them—Alcaeus and Kai?”
“We go back a ways,” he evaded.
“Here you go,” our server announced as two more Jack and Cokes were placed in front of us on the table.
“Age-old enemies, huh?” I pressed, reaching for my fresh drink.
He shrugged. “Not exactly friends. The last time I faced off with Alcaeus, it took three of the most powerful werelocks in existence to stop him from killing me.”
I nearly choked on the large sip I’d taken. It was all Jack with very little Coke this time. “For serious?” I blurted. “Chaos?”
Raul’s dark brows reached for his hairline. “Chaos?”
My face flushed. “I meant Alcaeus.” Crud, why was I blushing? “It’s just the way I learned to pronounce his name the first time, so that’s how I remember to say it. You know, as in Al plus chaos.” I was rambling.
Raul was looking at me strangely now—like he felt sorry for me.
“Well, that’s a relief,” he said, reaching for his Jack and Coke. “I was afraid it might be some sort of term of endearment you had for him. And I’d hate to think of you as another notch on that old, arrogant bastard’s belt. I know all too well how much pussy that asshole—”
I rammed my fist into his stomach as hard as I could without thinking, prompting him to slosh drink on himself.
Fuck. “I don’t know why I did that,” I said in a rush as his whole body began to quake. I really didn’t. The guy could end me without even laying a finger on my person. And so far he’d only been helpful. What the hell was I thinking?
“I think I’m tipsy … this drink is all Jack …” I ceased my rambled apology when I realized he was shaking with suppressed laughter rather than fury.
I punched him again. “Didn’t your mama ever teach you never to refer to a woman as a notch or pussy?” I scolded.
“Oh, that’s what upset you?” he said with a chuckle. “My apologies. My mom kinda bailed on me when I was eight, so she failed to deliver that lecture.”
Well, that explained a piece of his hidden pain. “How about your dad?”
“Never around. My nagging aunt raised me. Dad came back into the picture later on to ruin my senior year, though.” He threw back what was left of his drink. “Carted me off to Brazil to let me know he was dying and that I would have to take his place as a human slave to the Reinoso werewolf pack for the rest of my life.”
I felt my eyes go wide. This was good intel. “You weren’t born a werewolf either? You changed into a werelock later on? How?”
“It’s a long story,” he evaded once more.
“The best ones usually are. Come on, dish it, surfer boy.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbow atop the table, entering my space again. “Buy me a shot to replace the drink you spilled, and maybe I will.”
“You rescued me wrapped in a shower curtain, remember? I don’t exactly have a purse on me.”
He smirked. “I do remember. I’ll buy. But you have to have a shot with me. And finish your drink. Deal?”
“Are you trying to get me sloppy drunk?”
He shook his head at the ceiling. “Avery, if I wanted to drug and take advantage of you, I’d have done it already. And if I wanted you dead, you’d be dead by now.”
I believed him. “You sure know how to charm a girl.”
“Not trying to charm you. I just want to talk to you. I like you, Avery. And I don’t like many people these days.”
“Let me get this straight … Kai, Alex, and Alex’s sister—who shan’t be named because you’re still butthurt over her rejection—can all teleport like you. But Chaos can’t? Even though he used to be the Alpha of the Reinoso pack?”
“Whoa, I am not butthurt over her still,” he raised his voice in objection. “I’m angry.”
“Anger stems from butthurt,” I pointed out as he tossed back his fourth shot.
“She’s a royal bitch. You won’t like her either.”
“Ha ha. You’re two shots behind, woman.” He jutted his chin at the lineup in front of me.
I tipped one back to appease him. And keep him talking. We’d covered quite a bit of ground about the conflict between the Reinoso and Salvatella packs already, and we’d even touched on some of the prophecy nonsense.
Raul was head Beta of the Salvatella pack, and I got the impression he didn’t get along so well with his pack Alpha, Gabriel Salvatella. In fact, my gut said Raul was probably busy politicking and plotting a coup when he wasn’t busy rescuing me from showers and alley brawls.
When I slammed my empty shot glass back onto the table, it was to find Raul shaking his head at me, a dejected, tired expression on his handsome face.
“You like Alcaeus; admit it.”
His statement caught me off guard. “You’re really keeping score. Sure you’re not trying to get in my pants?”
He looked away, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You’re falling for a man who’s a serious danger to your daughter. I don’t like it.”
Wow. O-kay. “You know, I’m six years older than you, Raul. This big brother act is endearing, but not quite working for me.”
“Good. Because I’d make a terrible big brother.” The eyes he returned to me were sad, despite his smile and jovial tone. “I’d only disappoint you.”
His eyes and our line of conversation reminded me of a time and place I preferred not to dwell on—of people I couldn’t afford to think about anymore. I shook it off and plastered a smile on my face. “Maybe you’re the one in need of a big sister.”
He hissed air through his teeth. “Eesh, I dunno. You gonna nag me to death?”
“It’s the job.”
“Fine. But little bros get a say in who their big sisters date.”
“Pssh! Not where I come from.”
He looked genuinely puzzled. “But they discuss that sort of thing, right?”
“In what universe?” I huffed. “You’re obviously an only child. Look, I’ll admit that I don’t dislike Alcaeus as much as I dislike his friend Kai. But that doesn’t equate to me ‘falling for him,’ okay?”
“Ugh, I knew it. You’ve bumped uglies already, haven’t you?” He made a face. “I knew I smelled him on you.” He groaned and snatched up my remaining shot.
I was happy to see him down it, because I didn’t think I could keep up with him for much longer and retain my wits about me. It was bad news if he could scent Alcaeus on me. Until he’d said it, I’d nearly convinced myself that it was only in my imagination that I’d been scenting Chaos’s lingering aroma since my shower.
“You’re totally his type, too,” Raul said, shaking his head as his eyes gave me a once-over. “On the surface, at least.”
Alcaeus had a type? “Excuse me, but I don’t fall into any type.”
“Not disputing that. I said on the surface. Alcaeus has always been a sucker for a good rescue case. But even that won’t be enough to alter his intentions where your daughter’s life is concerned.”
“Rescue case?” It was the most insulting thing he could’ve said to me. “I am not a rescue case. Just because you crashed my alley fight—which I totally had a handle on, by the way—does not mean—”
“Slow your roll, woman. I know that. But we’re talking about a guy who took in a homeless sixteen-year-old human once—a girl who had been impregnated by a werelock who was an enemy to the Reinoso pack.”
“Chaos did that? When was this?”
“Let’s see”—Raul squinted one eye at the ceiling—“would’ve been early sixties. In sixty-two or three, I think. Sixty-three,” he decided with a nod. “Because Jussara was born in 1964. Lupe was on the run from the baby’s father’s family, the Salvatella pack.”
“Your current pack?”
“One and the same.”
“Why was she on the run?”
“Nahuel Salvatella—the werelock who knocked her up—had tried to claim her as his fated mate. When Lupe’s parents objected, Nahuel killed them. Right in front of her.”
I felt my face crumple in disgust as I deadpanned, “Romantic.”
“Yeah.” Raul rolled his eyes. “That’s a werelock for you—the mating bond can make our kind nuts.”
Yay, me.
“But Lupe wasn’t about to take it lying down and spend the rest of her life mated to her parents’ murderer. She got Nahuel sauced off her daddy’s moonshine, and after Nahuel passed out, she took his head off with a machete.”
“Yes! Boss move, Lupe,” I cheered a little too loudly for our setting. She didn’t sound like such a rescue case to me.
“Long story short, Alcaeus gave Lupe shelter for fifty years at the Reinoso compound in Morumbi. Moved her into his own house and helped her raise her daughter, Jussara.”
Wow. “That was … crazy nice of him.” And now I needed that last shot Raul had just downed. I signaled our server, holding up two fingers and pointing to our empty lineup of glasses.
Raul made a “hmph” sound. “Lupe and her daughter were collateral to the Reinosos. A prized enemy possession and future bargaining chip if they ever needed one.”
“Well, if that’s true, then Chaos sounds more like an opportunist than a sucker for rescue cases.”
“Eh, not quite. Alex, who was Alpha at the time, was the one who viewed them that way and fixed it so that Lupe and Jussara would have to stay permanently—whether they wanted to or not. Alcaeus fancied himself in love with Lupe. But I think he was more in love with the idea of saving her.” He shrugged. “Or maybe just with the idea of being in love.”
I felt a weird pang in my heart.
“I was seventeen when my dad brought me to Brazil to serve the Reinoso family,” he continued. “Lupe was fifty-seven at the time—and aging like a human—and believe me, Alcaeus was still giving her googly eyes, even then.”
Where was my damn shot?
“Word is Lupe and Alcaeus never consummated their relationship; they were only ever close friends. But it wasn’t for lack of trying on Alcaeus’s part. Officially, Lupe was Alcaeus’s housekeeper, but he would always bring in other pack members to do the housework so that she didn’t have to.”
I rubbed my palm against my chest. It was all so terribly sweet. And really upsetting to hear about for some reason.
“Alcaeus went berserk when Lupe was killed during a major blowout confrontation between our packs ten years ago. That’s when he tried to kill me.”
I gasped. “You killed Lupe?”
“No.” He shot me a scowl of utter affront. “Lupe killed herself.”
Alcaeus
“Alex promised me more men. He agreed to it when I agreed to go to Morumbi to visit Milena. I need those soldiers now, Remy. I needed them yesterday. So line up at least eighty of our best and get them ready to go in the next two minutes, because I’m sending Kai to start teleporting them here. Got it?”
“Ah … okay … Would you put Kai on the phone for a sec—”
“Now, Remy! There’s no time.”
“Right. I hear you, Al. But Alex and Milena aren’t back yet, and—”
I hung up the phone and barely restrained myself from crushing it in my palm as I turned and ordered Kai, “Go. Bring back as many as you can at a time.”
“Al, you need to calm down before we do anything else. You’ve already dispatched all of the wolves that we have here in Denver to search for her. We need to think this through and approach it sensibly. She has no scent.”
“She does so! Stop saying that.” I shot a blast of magic that caused the hotel room television console to explode. When that wasn’t enough to calm me, I shot a blast into the uncomfortable, ugly settee in the corner. It was useless anyway.
“Not to anyone but you, she doesn’t,” Kai snapped. “At best, our soldiers might be able to pick up and track your sce
nt on her if she’s still carrying it. But beyond that, all we have are photos of her for them to go on. And we have to face reality: it’s not as if she slipped out the front door on foot and couldn’t have gotten far. We know Raul teleported her, which means she could literally be anywhere on the planet right now.”
I knew he had a point. I just didn’t want to hear it. We had to keep moving. The faster I rounded up more werewolves to search for Avery, the faster I could get out and search for her myself. We couldn’t afford to lose any time. I would be out of my mind until I knew that she was safe.
“She’s still close by. I can feel it. Besides, she’s cunning and resourceful. My mate will find a way to prevent Raul from taking her too far away from me.”
“Al, your ‘mate’ had Raul’s number programmed into her phone—a phone with a tracking device,” Kai said, his voice rising in exasperation. “This could all be part of a trap that Gabriel and Raul set for us—using her as bait. Have you thought about that? You’ve just deployed all of our soldiers throughout the city in search for her, leaving us vulnerable. What if that’s exactly what Gabriel and Raul were hoping we’d do?”
“I don’t care. Let Raul and Weenie Gabe come for me.” I pulled Avery’s phone from my pocket and redialed “Scary Stranger” for the four hundredth time. For the four hundredth time, it went straight to voicemail. I forced my hands to be gentle as I slipped the offensive little black device back into my pocket for safekeeping, when all I wanted to do was grind it to dust between my fingers.
“I will rip that little shit’s throat out when I get my hands on him. I will torture and kill him, Kai,” I seethed as I paced the room. “And Milena is not stopping me, either. She gets no say in this when my mate’s life is on the line.”
“Right.” Kai scrubbed a weary hand over his face. “Look, who among us wouldn’t relish ripping out Raul’s entrails? But the fact is Milena does get a say in her brother’s torture and execution—and not just because she’s the Alpha of our pack and more powerful than the rest of us at this point.”