by Maia Dylan
He had made it very clear over the past couple of months that he wanted a relationship with her, and she had a feeling that on the night Mateo was born, she had triggered the Quickening in him and Noah. Her heart clenched at the thought of the man who had held her when she gave birth but had practically left skid marks on the way out of town he had left so fast.
“Hi,” she said shyly and had to tell herself not to drop her head or try to hide behind a curtain of her hair. It was still something she worked at every day, but Chris was not shy at telling her not to do that.
“Hey, beautiful.” He sauntered over from the door to take a seat on the armchair across from her and placed an envelope on the table. “There was an envelope addressed to you on the café counter, so I thought I’d bring it up to you. How is that little man of yours going today?”
“He’s getting so big!” she gushed, pride filling her at the thought that her baby was thriving. “He’s still waking a couple of times at night, but once he’s fed he goes back to sleep really quick. He’s settled and happy, and when I’m downstairs, he sleeps in that beautiful hammock swing Chase made for him and only makes a ruckus when he’s hungry or needs a change.” Mateo squirmed, which Angel knew meant he had taken his fill. She settled him against his feeding pillow as she tucked herself away, drew down her T-shirt, and then placed a spill cloth on her shoulder.
“May I?” Angel looked up and felt her tummy flutter when she saw the soft look Chris had on his face when he looked at her son. Chris loved Mateo. There was no doubt about that. Whenever he came to see them, and to be fair that was on a very regular basis, Chris would ask to hold or change Mateo as often as possible. Her tummy would flutter in a very girly way whenever he did.
“Sure.” Chris took the spill cloth from her shoulder, making her shiver as his fingers grazed her collarbone, and then placed it over his own shoulder. He bent forward and Angel’s mouth watered at the scent of him, a knee-weakening blend of an expensive woodsy cologne, soap, and man. Yummy, yummy man.
Shaking her head to clear the very inappropriate thoughts she was having, she caught the glint in Chris’s eye as he settled Mateo onto his shoulder and wondered not for the first time if he were actually able to tell what she was thinking. Because honestly that could be embarrassing!
Chris started to walk back and forth with Mateo, gently patting him on the back, murmuring to him so quietly Angel couldn’t actually tell what he was saying. Mateo squirmed a little then let out a loud belch, making them both giggle. As was his usual routine with a full tummy and a clean diaper, Mateo dropped into sleep. Chris kept him on his shoulder, gently rubbing his back.
“Did you see Xanthe today? Any change?” Angel asked nervously. Xanthe had been hurt really bad the night Baxter had decided to take Rowena and had been in a coma ever since. Now ten weeks on and without her condition improving things weren’t looking so good.
“Of course. I popped in to see her at the end of my shift, Rowena had just left. She’s still going to see her every day. She’s not doing any worse and that still leaves us with hope.” Chris was obviously frustrated at that and Angel couldn’t blame him.
“So, how have you been, Angel? You’re not working too hard are you?” Chris watched her intently and Angel suddenly wished she’d taken the time to tidy herself up before sitting down to feed Mateo.
“Not at all! I love what I’m doing and Rowena has been so good to me and Mateo, that I actually feel like I am paying her back somewhat.” She looked down, but at Chris’s slight cough her gaze shot back to his. Goddamn it was so easy to fall back into the same old pattern. Lifting her chin and holding his gaze she continued. “There aren’t too many jobs or bosses in this world that would let you take your baby into the workplace and have their partner outfit that space with a nursery. I get to do what I love to do as a job, and not have to have my baby away from me.”
Chris nodded and cast a small smile.
“I can tell that you like the job, honey.” Angel had to bite back the girly sigh she wanted to give whenever he called her honey. “I just want to make sure you’re not overdoing it. That’s all.”
Chris wandered over to the bassinet set up in the corner of the room and placed Mateo down like a pro. Then he turned and walked back to sit across from her. He sat with his elbows on his knees and stared intently into her eyes. Angel felt her heart kick at the look. She had a feeling she knew what Chris was about to say, and even though she had thought about it a lot, she was still unsure what she was going to say in return.
“So, I’m really hoping that you might not be too tired after a day in the café and might consider heading out to dinner with me.” Chris waited for her answer and if she were not mistaken the cute and usually confident doctor was holding his breath as he waited for her to answer.
Angel wanted to say yes. Well, to be honest she wanted to shout Hell Yes! at the top of her lungs and then preferably throw herself into his arms, but she knew she couldn’t do either. If she were to take Chris up on his offer then it might actually head somewhere permanent, and she couldn’t allow that to happen. Not because she wasn’t attracted to Chris. On the contrary she had enjoyed many a self-pleasured orgasm with thoughts of what he could and would do to her, but there was always a third person in those thoughts and without him, she wasn’t really sure it would work.
“Chris, I—”
“Stop!” Chris sat up and threw out a hand as if stopping traffic. Angel sat back a little startled. “By the look on your face and the tone of your voice I am guessing that you are about to say something I don’t really want to hear.” Chris ran a frustrated hand through his hair and Angel had to fight the urge to go to him and settle his hair back into place.
“Angel, you have to know that you mean something to me.” Chris moved to sit on the table right in front of her, his knees touching hers, and he clasped both her hands in his. “I felt something for you the first time I came here to check on you. I know you felt something for me, too, and I had thought we were working our way into a great relationship, but ever since you’ve had that beautiful baby boy, I’ve felt you pulling away from me. Why?”
Angel took a deep breath, hoping that she could find the right words. “I felt something for you, too, Chris. Stop!” She employed the same tactic as he had to get him to not speak so that she could finish what she needed to tell him. “You know I did, and the way that you talked with me, and helped me to start the journey to getting my confidence back and finding myself again, has meant more to me than you can imagine. But there is more to the attraction that exists between us than just you and me.” Chris’s eyes hardened and she watched a shutter fall down over his features.
Every time she had brought Noah up in the conversation, that shutter had fallen into place. Before the night that Rowena had been kidnapped, the night she had given birth to Mateo, Chris had talked about his brother almost incessantly. It was as if he were trying to tell her everything about the man without ever having met him. Then since the night she gave birth, his name had never even passed Chris’s lips.
“No, Angel, there is only you and me.” Hell, even his tone hardened when the conversation turned to his brother.
“Chris, you have to tell me what happened that night. It’s suddenly like Noah doesn’t exist.”
“Because he doesn’t! Not to me, not anymore!” Chris almost shouted as his eyes flashed blue, signaling that his wolf was close to the surface. Mateo gave a whimper that had them both turning to the bassinet, but after another whimper and a shuffle around, Mateo fell back asleep. Chris briefly closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. “Sorry, Angel.”
He looked so sad and dejected, but still with a strong thread of anger in his expression that Angel felt herself unable to resist comforting him this time. She pulled her hands from his and placed them on his face.
“Chris, you know that I’ve lived around shifters all my life. I have heard what the Quickening feels like for wolf shifters and the humans they are
fated to. I know that is what happened that night Noah was here, but you’re refusing to acknowledge it or to tell me what happened after I left and it is keeping us from moving forward.
“If you had told me three months ago that coming here would mean finding a real home and a job that I adored, working in a town that could come to mean a lot to me, I would have been skeptical, but open to it because of Rowena. But if someone had then told me that I would meet two wolf shifters who would experience the Quickening that indicated I was their fated one, I would have laughed. I had no intention of ever letting a man touch me again, and I was resigned to it just being me and my baby from now on.
“But I did feel something for you from the beginning and Noah from that night, and I am coming to understand and accept that I am the fated one…for you both.” Chris’s face became pinched and she could clearly read the hurt on his face.
“Angel.” Chris’s tone was still hard, and Angel’s hands dropped from his face as he sat back. “That man is no longer a part of my life let alone going to be part of my future. You have to accept that and if you can’t then perhaps we should just let the whole thing drop. At least for now.”
That hurt. Oh God, that hurt.
Chris could actually walk away from her and from the sounds of things do it quite easily. Where the very thought of him walking out of her life ripped her in two. Jesus, they had never even shared so much as a kiss, but she felt more connected to him than anyone else in this world, and he talked about walking away.
Her pain at his words must have been clear on her face because he went to reach for her, but Angel stood up from her chair and crossed the room, standing with her back to him. She wanted some space, she needed to think, and having him so close, filling her senses was not allowing her to do that.
“Perhaps you’re right, Chris.” Angel heard her voice tremble and fought to harden it. “Perhaps stepping back from this would be best.” Thankful that she sounded normal now, she turned back to him and saw that he had not moved. His arm was still reaching out toward her and his face clearly said that he regretted what he had said. But the problem was, he had said it and there were no do-overs in real life.
“Angel, I—”
“No, it’s okay. It’s probably for the best.” Angel crossed her arms over her chest and let her hair fall over her face, wanting to hide the pain she knew would still be clearly evident there.
Chris sighed and she kept her gaze on the floor. As stupid as it sounded, she actually felt like her heart was breaking, but that would have meant that her heart was involved already, which surely couldn’t be the case.
“Angel, look at me, honey.” For a few seconds she refused, but then heard Rowena’s voice in her head telling her to hold her head high, so she lifted her gaze to his. “I’m so sorry for saying that. The last thing I want to do is walk away from you. You’re right. The Quickening did hit both Noah and I that night, but there are things between him and I that we may never be able to resolve, but they are between him and I.” Chris stood up and the envelope he had brought up fell to the floor.
He stooped down to pick it up and then brought it over to her. He didn’t come too close, just enough to hold the envelope out to her. “I’ll come back tomorrow and we can talk more, okay?” His eyes pleaded with her to agree, and she didn’t have it in her to say no. She nodded as she reached out to take the envelope, but couldn’t pull it out of Chris’s hand as he held it tight.
“Say the words out loud, Angel,” Chris spoke softly. “Tell me that I can come back and that I haven’t fucked anything up beyond any hope of repair.”
Angel felt herself drowning in his beautiful chocolate-brown eyes. She had a feeling that if things did work out for her, Chris, and even Noah if they could work past their problems that they would be able to get her to agree to anything just by staring at her intently.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Angel whispered.
Chris’s face spilt into a huge relieved smile and he nodded as he let go of the envelope.
“Tomorrow,” he promised, smile still in place and Angel couldn’t help smiling back. Then he turned and walked back to the stairs that led down to the shop, leaving Angel standing there holding the envelope and swamped with emotions.
Shaking her head to clear it a little, she took a deep breath and looked down at the envelope in her hand. It was odd that someone would leave her a message and not just give it to her. Her name was scrawled in pen on the front, the handwriting harsh and masculine. Frowning, she slid her finger beneath the sealed edge and opened the envelope. She pulled out a piece of paper that had been folded inside the envelope and when she saw what was on it she dropped it and screamed.
* * * *
Chris muttered curses directed at his stupid, dumbass, bigoted brother who didn’t know the best thing in his life when he held her in his arms, the dumb fuck, as he made his way back to the café kitchen. He gave a small wave to Melissa, Angel’s helper in the café, as he passed through, heading for the back door.
His hand was on the doorknob when he heard a terrified scream come from upstairs. Moving with every ounce of his preternatural speed, Chris sprinted for the stairs even as he felt her terror slamming into him down their fledgling mating bond.
“Chris! What the fuck just happened to Angel!” Noah’s voice came down their link, filled with fear and laced with desperation. Chris didn’t let the shock of it slow him down in the least as he flew up the stairs, his heart pounding, his only thought to get to Angel as quick as possible.
“Angel!” Chris yelled as he ran into the room and slid to a halt. Angel was standing beside the bassinet, holding a crying and very unhappy baby in her arms, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at a piece of paper that was lying on the floor near to where he had left her, tears streaming down her cheeks unchecked.
“Chris! Goddamn it I know you can fucking hear me! What the hell has happened to Angel. I heard her scream and I sure as hell caught her terror.” Noah was shouting down their link, and Chris tried to shut it off so he could concentrate. “Fuck no, little brother,” Noah snarled as he wrestled the link from Chris and left it wide open. “Don’t you dare try to shut me out! Now, tell me what the fuck has happened!” Fucking more dominant than him, asshole!
“Noah,” Chris sent back on a snarl. “If you will just give me a fucking minute to find out, I’ll fucking tell you!” Chris ignored Noah’s growling impatience and strode across the room to pull Angel and Mateo into his arms, his heart lifting at the rightness of the move and the feeling.
“Angel, honey?” Chris felt her trembling and tightened his arms slightly around her. “What happened?” He looked over at the top of the stairs where Rowena had just stepped into the room and had what sounded like at least five people running up behind her. He sent her a shake of his head, not wanting to overwhelm Angel too much.
Rowena hesitated, and then she looked at the woman in his arms and must have noticed how Angel had basically folded herself and Mateo into his chest, burrowing into him. She nodded and turned to speak quietly to the people behind her, and then they were alone again.
“Honey?” he asked softly when she didn’t say anything just continued to tremble in his arms. Mateo was starting to wail so Chris lifted his arm to rub Mateo’s back like he knew he liked it. They stayed like that for a while as Mateo quietened and Angel managed to get her trembling under control.
When he sensed that she was more in control of her fear, he walked her over and helped her to sit in the armchair she had been in when she fed Mateo. Kneeling down in front of her so he could look her in the eye, her expression had every protective instinct in his body leaping to the fore and his wolf prowling to get lose.
She was terrified. Something or someone had made his mate terrified and that was un-fucking-acceptable. She had a glazed look in her eye that had him worried and he was about to call for Rowena when he remembered the piece of paper on the floor near where she had stood.
Walking over to it, he reached down and picked it up. It had folded in on itself again, and he unfolded it then stared in horror at what he saw. There was a collage of images on the single sheet of paper, some of her and Mateo in different places in the shop downstairs and even at Country Blue. His anger became almost uncontrollable rage at the images of Angel in the bathroom of the upstairs apartment, naked. Some fucker had invaded her privacy.
But what drove his horror and fear to outweigh his rage was what was written in what looked like dried blood across the images. “If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies.”
“Ty, Trent,” Chris called for his alphas.
“Chris! What the fuck is going on!” Ty’s voice came back, his tone filled with concern.
“Noah has been yelling that something has happened to Angel and that we needed to get to where she is,” Trent’s worried voice followed his brothers. “What’s happened, Chris? What do you need?”
“Can you come to Rowena’s bookshop? Someone has threatened my mate.” At the words Chris felt his fear basically evaporate under the heat of his rage. Someone had threatened Angel and Mateo. His mate and his goddamn pup, biology be damned.
“On our way,” Ty shot back and Chris felt calmer that they were coming and knew that they would do everything in their power to protect his family. And that was what Angel and Mateo were, they were his family and that meant he would do everything in his power to protect them. He placed the folded hideous abomination of a letter in his back pocket, not wanting Angel to even have to look at it again. Then he turned back to where she sat and pulled her up into his arms then sat back down with her and Mateo in his lap.
“Noah,” Chris heard his wolf in his own voice.
“About fucking time, Chris,” Noah’s wolf could be heard, too.
“Someone is threatening my mate and my pup. I need your help to protect what’s mine.” Despite the fact that Chris knew logically bringing Noah in to help was the best thing to do, it still hurt his pride to have to ask him for help. Looking down at the woman and baby in his arms he knew that in the grand scheme of things, his pride didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except keeping them safe.