Midnight Orchids

by Angel Nyx

  “I’m beginning to see that. I’ve been thinking about what you said, about going back to school. I’ve decided to look into it. I really would love to be a teacher and…it’s time I stop letting the past control me.”

  “That’s the spirit. Whatever you need, you just say the word, girl, and it’s yours. We’ll help you out every way we can.”

  “Thanks, Eme.” She wrinkled her nose at the time. “I need to be getting dressed for work. Remy’s bringing his replacement into the club tonight. Are you coming in or are you letting Lily handle running it tonight?”

  “I’ll be in later. Caine and I are taking little Miss Hailey shopping and then out to dinner. She is so excited about starting preschool tomorrow.”

  “That little girl is absolutely adorable and it’s easy to see she has you two wrapped around her little finger.”

  “That she does.” Emelise laughed. “I’ll catch you later at the club.”

  “Oh, are we still on for lunch tomorrow, me, you, Lily, and Shelli?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it. You girls can help me get over my little girl growing up,” she replied and sniffled as if she was crying.

  Kylie laughed. “Just wait until your twins are ready to go off to school. “

  “Girl, bite your tongue!”

  Kylie snickered and went to get ready for work. She was looking forward to seeing Remy even if it was his last night working at the club.

  Remy

  Remy had a few things to take care of and as a result, he was a bit later getting to the club than he’d planned. He’d wanted to give Caleb ample time to get a feel for the place before the doors opened, but that wasn’t going to happen. As he approached, he watched Caleb push off the wall where he was leaning.

  “Yo, took you long enough to get here. What the hell did you do, walk from the bayou?”

  Remy flipped him off with a chuckle. “Had some work to finish up first. You’ll be workin’ da VIP Lounge. While it’s important you keep an eye on ever’one, I especially want you to keep an eye on my mate, make sure no one threatens her.”

  “Your mate? Well, hell, Remy, congratulations. Is there a specific reason you think someone might threaten her?”

  “She has an ex dat liked to hit women. She gets a little skittish sometimes.”

  “Fuck. Tell me you beat his ass?”

  “He’s not from here, but if he ever gets stupid and shows his face around here, beatin’ his ass isn’t da only ting I’ll do to him.” The growl that trickled out of Remy would make even the bravest of men shiver.

  “Don’t worry, dude, I’ll keep an eye on her for you.”

  They headed inside and Remy led him up to the VIP Lounge and over to the bar where Kylie was making sure she had everything she needed for the night. He couldn’t help but stop and stare at Kylie for a moment. He gave himself a mental shake and approached her. The club was opening in five minutes and he wanted to be sure she knew who Caleb was. “Evenin’, Kitten. Dis is Caleb Parker. He’ll be takin’ over as bouncer, startin’ tonight.”

  Kylie paused in setting up the bar, long enough to nod at him. “Nice to meet you.” She tilted her head a little before she looked at Remy. “Why am I not surprised your replacement is a shifter? Are you part of the Ghostpoint Pack?” she asked Caleb.

  “Nah. Not yet, anyway. I just moved back here from Houston. Until Remy and I talked yesterday, I didn’t even know there was a Pack in New Orleans. Last I knew, the Pard controlled the entire city.”

  “Oh. Huh. So how do you know Remy if you’re from Houston?”

  “Remy and I were Frat brothers at Tulane. I grew up in Houston but came here to get a degree in psychology. Funny thing is, once I got out and started working as a psychologist, I realized I wasn’t happy,” Caleb told her. “I switched gears and ended up working for a security firm in Houston. When I decided to come back to New Orleans, I hit Remy up for old time’s sake. I moved back about a week ago.”

  “Security? Do you work for Ghostpoint Security, then?” Kylie countered.

  “Naw, I don’t even know what that is. I’ve heard a lot about this club. It’s fast becoming an A-lister hotspot. When Remy contacted me about the job as a bouncer here, hell yes, I jumped at the opportunity. I gotta tell ya, I was pretty damn surprised to find out New Orleans was recently split up between the Pard and a Pack.”

  “It was a bit of a surprise to me, too. I mean, most shifter groups don’t have territory that is so close together,” Kylie said with a slight nod.

  “Caleb’s hopin’ Declan let’s him stay a lone wolf,” Remy interjected.

  Lily had just come up the stairs and must have overheard his comment because she arched a brow. “Fat chance of that happening. You know, Dec, he’s just as stubborn as Caine. Would Caine let a leopard shifter stay in the city without being part of the Pard?”

  Remy snorted. “Hell no.”

  “That’s pretty much how it is with Declan, too.” She turned her attention to the wolf. “I’m Lily, Alpha female of the Ghostpoint Pack and manager of Scarlet Flux. Emelise will be in later.”

  “Caleb Parker.” When she offered her hand he shook it. “Yeah, I kinda got that vibe about the Pack’s Alpha from things Remy said. Can’t say as I’ve never really been part of a pack so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes.”

  “As long as you’re not a complete asshole, you’ll be fine.” Lily turned her attention to Kylie. “Got everything you need before we open?”

  “Yeah, I was just making sure of that before you showed up.”

  “Good. Then I’m going to go down and open the doors.”

  “Showtime.” Kylie winked and made last-minute checks before customers started coming in.

  Remy spent part of the night getting Caleb acquainted with the staff and worked with him on the VIP list. They had names and photos of many who had open invitations to the VIP lounge, but there were many A-Listers who just came in if they happened to be in the city. Those celebrities weren’t on any lists but only an idiot would think they were banned from the VIP lounge.

  By the time the night was over, Remy was confident Caleb would be able to both handle the job and keep an eye out for trouble where his mate was concerned.

  Ezra

  Ezra Strickland had a plan. He’d grown up in a large Pard in New Jersey, where the likelihood of moving up the ladder of hierarchy would be difficult, at best. That was why, as soon as he hit eighteen, he left New Jersey. He found a smaller Pard in Maine, near the US and Canadian border. He stood a better chance of making it to lieutenant there.

  The first time he saw Kylie Bishop he wanted her. His desire for her wasn’t just because she was the daughter of one of the lieutenants. She was gorgeous and he knew, with her on his arm, he’d be the envy of every unattached male in the Pard. He knew he had to be smooth about it, though. Her father was damn protective of her, so he turned on the charm. He swept her off her feet. It wasn’t until they were together that he discovered she had a stubborn streak. She wasn’t quite as submissive as he’d hoped she was.

  After her father died in a freak accident during a snowstorm, he moved her in with him and took control of her wild, stubborn nature. She was one of those women who needed a strong man to break them and mold them into something better. It took a few years, but she finally learned her place. Or so he thought.

  He woke up after he’d had to discipline her to find her gone. The little bitch took his fucking car and all the cash in his wallet and left. When he got his hands on her, she was going to regret it. He reported his car stolen, figuring she was at a hotel and she’d be found in no time.

  He hadn’t planned on her ditching his car once she got to Van Buren. When he got the call from the police telling him where his car was, he’d flown into a rage. A fucking Greyhound station. Lucky for him, the guy working behind the counter recognized Kylie when Ezra showed him her photo. She’d hopped a bus to Philly. Finding her had become his sole priority, his sole obsession.

>   The drive to Philly seemed to take forever. He knew he was hot on her trail; with any luck he would find her at the bus station and they’d be on their way home. He couldn’t wait to get her back to the house. He was going to make her regret ever thinking about leaving him.

  By the time he reached Philadelphia, Ezra had a story in place for why he was searching for Kylie. He knew just the right amount of concern to put into his voice to convince even the greatest skeptic that he was genuine.

  He found a place to park and headed into the bus station. Unlike the one in Van Buren, this station was quite large. He asked a number of employees about Kylie before he finally had a bit of luck. “Excuse me, Miss. I’m hoping you can help me. I was told you were on duty last night when the bus from Van Buren came in. I’m looking for a young woman who was reported to be on that bus. Her family reported her missing and an eyewitness saw her getting on a bus bound to Philly. The young woman is, well, truthfully, she’s a bit unstable and she is off her meds. I was wondering if perhaps you’ve seen her?” He showed the woman a photo and let her study it for several minutes.

  “I may have seen her. There was a woman who looks a lot like this, except her hair was black instead of red. She seemed really nervous. She kept looking over her shoulder like she thought she was being followed.”

  “I should have suspected she’d change her hair color. She’s a paranoid schizophrenic. This isn’t the first time she’s changed her hair color. The last time she was off her meds she went blonde. Do you by any chance remember what bus she took? It’s imperative I find her before she hurts herself.”

  “I don’t, not off the top of my head. She wanted the first bus leaving the station. If you give me a minute I can pull that information up.”

  Ezra nodded and waited.

  “Here it is. She took a bus headed to St. Louis. There are multiple stops before the bus reaches its final destination, though, so I cannot guarantee you she stayed on the bus. ”

  He wanted to growl in frustration and anger but held it in. “Could you print me the bus schedule? I’ll have to check each stop to be sure she didn’t get off the bus and change destinations.” When the woman hesitated he pressed a little more. “Please. If anything happens to her, her family will be very distraught. They’ve offered a reward to anyone who helps them get her back home safely.”

  She hesitated a moment longer. “Well, I suppose there’s no harm in it and if it will help her family to find her before something happens to her…” She sent the route to the printer and handed him the sheets of paper. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you. You have no idea how much I, and her family, appreciate this.” With the route in hand, he quickly left. The woman would be waiting a long time for any ‘reward’ to come her way. Women were just so fucking gullible.

  The drive from Philly to St. Louis was tedious, with having to check each and every stop between the two just to make sure Kylie didn’t change busses, but once he arrived, Ezra got to work asking every person who worked at the bus station if they recognized the young woman in the photo. He repeated his spiel about her having a mental illness and needing her medication. He kept to the story he’d told in Philly just to cover his own ass.

  Just as it started to look like he’d struck out, he found himself lucky once again. After asking half a dozen employees, one of the male agents remembered seeing her.

  “Oh yeah, I remember her. She’s a looker. She’s got a mental illness, you say? That explains why she was so jumpy. I thought maybe it was drugs, ya know?”

  Ezra had to bite back a growl at the guy calling her a ‘looker’. “Paranoid schizophrenia. It mimics the symptoms of withdrawal. Do you happen to remember where she was headed?”

  “Yeah. I thought it was a little odd, ya know? She asked for a seat on the first bus leaving the station. She got the last seat on a bus headed to New Orleans. I remember thinking that if she’d been a couple weeks earlier, she could have enjoyed Mardi Gras.”

  “New Orleans. Thanks. You wouldn’t by any chance be able to print off all the stops on that route, would you? I need to make sure she didn’t get off the bus somewhere between here and there.”

  “Well, I’m not really supposed to do this but you seem like a sincere sort. Just keep it on the down low, yeah?”

  Ezra nodded. “Oh, yeah, sure. On the down low.” He was grinning like the cat that ate the canary when he left the bus station in St. Louis. He was that much closer to finding Kylie and taking her home where she belonged.

  Three weeks. It had been three weeks since Kylie walked out with all the cash in his wallet. It had taken him a lot longer to make the trip from St. Louis than he’d expected because a couple of times he’d had to wait a few days before he could question the person on duty when Kylie’s bus had come through an area. Each time he gave them the same story, and each time he was told she got off to stretch her legs, but she was always back on the bus when it left.

  Now that he’d reached New Orleans, he was finding it harder to track her down. He hit up several of the shelters with no luck. He tried the story at each shelter but not a single person said they’d seen her. He was a little suspicious of the woman he’d spoken to at the Salvation Army’s shelter, though. Something about the way she looked at him when he showed her the photo and claimed Kylie had mental issues and was off her medication had his hackles up. The woman knew something, but he couldn’t very well force her to tell him anything.

  Was it fate that put him on that street at that exact moment when Kylie stepped into a cafe with three other women? Maybe it was. His eyes narrowed as he watched her with them. She was laughing and having fun. The little bitch was acting like she didn’t have a care in the world, like she was a free woman who could do whatever she wanted. His hands itched to get hold of her and he balled them into fists. He had to think fast. He needed his car. It was parked two blocks over and he headed to it as quickly as he could without bringing too much attention to himself.

  Ezra found a parking spot closer to the cafe. He flipped the child safety lock on the passenger door, then moved to stand near the door of the cafe and waited.

  Kylie

  Things were starting to look up for her. Kylie sat at the table in the café, that had become a favorite place for Emelise and Lily to get together, and looked at the women she was having lunch with. For the first time in years she had girlfriends. They were laughing, talking, and just enjoying themselves.

  “Emile is still pouting over you leaving, Lily. It’s comical. Don’t get me wrong, he likes the girl you trained to take over from you, and I was more than happy to start taking on more managerial duties at the shop, but you’d think you stole his firstborn kid or something, the way he’s acting.” Shelli, one of Lily’s former coworkers and close friends, snickered and popped a piece of shrimp in her mouth.

  Lily laughed. “Emile always did have a flare for the dramatic. I’ll have to stop in to see him sometime soon.”

  “Please do.” Shelli turned her attention to Kylie. “So how are you liking New Orleans, Kylie?”

  “It’s…different. Hot. Very hot, compared to Maine, but if I’m completely honest, it already feels like home.”

  Lily nodded at her comment. “That’s what happens when you find good friends and people who treat you like family. I felt the same way after I decided to put down roots here and met Remy and the rest of the Pard. They became the family I’d been missing for two years. Now that I have Declan and the Pack, I’m even happier.”

  “Speaking of your mate, did you tell him about the new bouncer for the VIP lounge?” Kylie arched a brow at the other woman.

  “Yeah. He’s not feeling the whole lone wolf thing. Whether Caleb likes it or not, he’s about to find himself part of a Pack.”

  “He said Remy warned him that might happen.”

  “Speaking of Remy, how are things between you two, Kylie? You seemed a lot more relaxed last night.”

  “They’re good. I took your advice, yours and
Emelise’s, and I’m giving him a real chance.” Kylie saw the look Lily gave her and groaned. “And you were right. He’s nothing like Ezra. Go ahead and gloat; Emelise could use the company.”

  Eme threw a napkin at her. “I am not gloating! Okay, maybe I am, just a little.”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s the pregnancy hormones, I swear. She wasn’t quite this bad before she got pregnant.”

  Emelise stuck her tongue out at her best friend. “You just wait until it’s your turn to have babies.”

  “I can’t wait. I’m totally envious of you, Eme.”

  Emelise smiled warmly at her. “I know, but your time is coming.” She moved to get up. “I need to hit the little girl’s room before we leave.”

  Before they headed out the door, they couldn’t help teasing her about her need to pee so often. Kylie was the last one out the door and was turning to follow Emelise toward her car when a hand suddenly grabbed her arm in a bruising grip.

  “You thought you could steal from me and leave me, you little bitch? You belong to me.”

  Kylie’s bag fell to the ground with a clatter that had Emelise, Lily, and Shelli all turning toward her.

  “Hey! Get your hand off her!” Emelise started forward when Kylie shook her head.

  “H-how did y-you f-find m-me?” Kylie’s voice barely came out above a whisper.

  “It wasn’t easy, but now that I have, we’re going home. Say goodbye to these bitches, because you’ll never see them again.”

  Lily narrowed her eyes at the guy who had hold of Kylie’s arm. “You must be the bastard Kylie told us about, the one who needs his dick cut off and his ass reamed with it. You might want to let her go because her mate will do worse than that to you when he gets hold of you.”