“Shayna?”
Shayna looked over to meet Nadine’s gaze. “Yes?”
“Sometimes, the way Casen spoke, it was strange. I had the feeling that he might be in trouble.”
Shayna nodded slowly. “I think it’s safe to say that all four of them are running from something, or someone, which is why it was so hard to track them down. They are very good at keeping off the radar. The bar isn’t even under their names. Their real names are very carefully hidden on paper, but there is one thing I am very certain of.”
“What’s that?” Briar asked, for the first time speaking since she’d sat down at the table across from Shayna. She raised eyes misting with tears as she grasped the photo of Camila tightly.
“They are related to you. Cousins, I would say. You have family out there.”
“And they need our help,” Brayden said gruffly.
Shayna pushed back her chair, rising to her feet. “I believe so, but won’t know for certain until I get to the small town they are living in and do some more recon.”
“Some of us will go with you,” Knox stated, nodding to Nolan. “Nolan and Noah.”
“I want to go,” Briar said, her amber eyes blazing in determination.
“No,” Shayna cut in, shaking her head. “I work alone.”
“Not this time,” Knox snarled.
“You hired me to do a job. Let me finish it.”
There was no way she was spending hours in a car with Nolan. Not with the way his mate had already clawed the shit out of her.
“You might need help,” Nolan said quietly.
“Look, Shayna, I really am sorry about what happened,” Teine started, but Shayna didn’t let her finish.
“It doesn’t matter. I work alone. I go alone. I’ll let you all know what I find out.”
When Nadine started to hand the picture of Casen back to her, Shayna smiled, shaking her head. “No, I have one already. I made that copy for you.”
“Thank you,” Nadine whispered, as she reached out to trace a finger down Casen’s cheek. Then she looked over at her daughter, sliding the picture over a little toward her. “Look, Athena, it’s your daddy.” Tears filled her eyes, spilling over and down her cheeks as she gasped, “He would have loved you so very much.”
Teine’s eyes widened in shock, and she whispered her sister’s name softly. Shayna knew it was because Nadine hadn’t shown any real interest in the child since she’d been rescued from the hell she endured for so long just a few weeks ago. For her to speak to her daughter about Casen was a big step. The little girl placed a hand on top the photo, patting it a couple of times before a wide smile spread on her lips.
“He will,” Shayna vowed, resting her hand lightly on Athena’s head before pulling away quickly.
“What?” Nadine asked in confusion.
“Her father will love her,” Shayna said. “I will find him, Nadine.” Turning, she walked back to her car, opened the door, and slid inside. She was leaving now. Something was pushing at her to get to the small town where the Channings were currently residing. She didn’t have time to argue with Knox, and luckily, she didn’t have to. He wasn’t her alpha.
Chapter Two
Cannon Channing raked a hand through his hair, swearing darkly as he climbed the steps to the old farmhouse that he and his siblings were currently living in. They’d been there for almost three years now, way longer than they’d stayed anywhere else in the past fifteen years. It wasn’t safe for them to put down roots, but leaving town wasn’t an option. Not until they found Casen. It had been over a year since his brother went missing, and no matter what they did, or where they looked, they just kept hitting dead ends.
Walking through the front door, he stopped dead at the sight in front of him. His younger sister, Camila, sat on the floor in the kitchen, her head bowed, huge sobs tearing from her throat. His chest tightened as concern filled him. Slowly, he moved across the room and squatted down beside her, reaching out to gently stroke a hand over her curls. “Cami, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He hated it when either one of his sisters cried, but with Camila it was even worse. Where Cora normally only shed what he thought of as angry tears, his younger sister had such a tender heart that her sorrow clung to her, making his bear want to push forward and fight all of her demons. They all tended to be more protective of Camila.
Camila sobbed again, shaking her head as she pulled away from him. Swiping at her tears, she rose jerkily to her feet. “Nothing.”
“Cami, talk to me,” he urged quietly, rising slowly. “What has you so upset?” Anger swamped him at the sight of her wide, amber eyes filled with tears. He would tear apart anyone who had hurt his baby sister.
Camila shook her head, swallowing hard as she looked away. “I said it’s nothing.”
He smelled the stench of the lie in the air and knew she did, too. Closing the distance between them, he gently placed a finger under her chin and raised her gaze to meet his. “Who do I need to kill?”
A small giggle escaped, a sob following as she tried to get control of her emotions. Wrapping her arms tightly around her waist, she whispered, “I’m fine, Cannon. I’m just having one of my stupid moments.”
“What stupid moments?” Cora asked as she breezed into the room, making her way to the fridge. After getting a bottle of water, she slammed the door shut, and turned to face them, her eyes taking in the scene. “What’s wrong?”
Camila sighed, biting her lip as she looked at them before finally breaking down and whispering, “I was just thinking about Casen. Wondering where he is.” A sob caught in her throat again as she rasped, “Praying he’s alive and we can find him.”
“We will find him,” Cannon promised, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly. “I promise you, sis, we will find him.”
“But it’s been so long,” Camila said, shaking her head against his chest. “What if we can’t? What if something bad happened?”
“Don’t you dare give up on our brother,” Cora growled, her eyes darkening to a mixture of a deep brown and green color. “He’s out there somewhere, alive, waiting for us. No matter what, we are going to find him!”
Camila pulled from Cannon’s arms, wiping at her tears again before going to the kitchen table and grabbing a stack of books. “I’m going to the library,” she murmured, ignoring him when he said her name, and running out the front door.
Cannon glared at Cora. “Seriously, Cora?”
Cora returned his glare, but he saw the regret in her eyes. “Yes!” she snapped, baring her fangs at him. “Maybe it’s time little sister got some tough love, Cannon. Unless, you’re ready to give up on our brother, too?”
“Hell no,” he snarled back, feeling his own fangs drop. “I will never give up on Casen. But Cami isn’t like us. She’s not as strong.”
“Well, she better figure out how to toughen up,” Cora growled. “Especially, if what I suspect happened to our brother is true.”
Cannon stiffened, his hands going to his hips as he demanded, “What’s that?”
Cora hesitated, a small frown appearing before she sighed softly. “Sit down,” she said, motioning toward one of the chairs.
Cannon growled lowly, not liking the order coming from her mouth. She was his sister, the oldest of them all, but she was not his alpha. Hell, they didn’t even have an alpha. Not really. They’d looked to Casen for advice when he was there, but had never agreed on any of them being alpha after the death of their parents. Maybe they should have. If they had, maybe their lives wouldn’t be in such chaos right now.
“Just sit your ass down,” Cora snapped, pulling out a chair and plopping into it.
Gritting his teeth, Cannon stalked over and yanked one of the chairs out, turning it around and straddling it. Cocking an eyebrow, he waited impatiently for her to begin. When she just stared at him, he said, “Would you just tell me whatever the fuck it is you want to tell me so I can get on with my day? I need to be at The Hide Out in an hour to stock the bar,
and I have to shower first.”
Cora looked at him in silence for a moment before murmuring, “Where did my easy-going brother go? The one who had a smile for anything?”
Cannon shrugged, looking away from her, ashamed of himself. She was right. Even with all they’d been through, he’d always been the one to have a positive outlook on life. This past year had been extremely hard on him, though. Not only was Casen his brother, but he was his twin. His best friend. The one he told all his hopes and dreams to, things he didn’t even share with his sisters. He missed him so damn much. It was killing him not knowing if Casen was alive or dead. In his heart, he knew his brother was alive, but his head liked to fuck with him.
“Look,” Cora said on a sigh, “I’m not trying to take over Casen’s place as alpha.”
“Casen wasn’t our alpha,” Cannon broke in, his eyes going back to her.
“Not officially,” Cora acknowledged, “but we all know that if we had one, it would be him.”
“True,” Cannon agreed, resting his arms on the back of the chair, leaning closer to her. “Look, I know you aren’t trying to come off as a…” he paused, unsure how to continue without offending her.
Cora laughed, her eyes sparkling with humor as she said, “As a bitch? It’s okay, you can say it. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before.”
Cannon felt the corner of his mouth kick up into a small grin. “Your words, not mine.” When her eyes narrowed on him, he let his grin widen. “What’s your point, Cora?”
She watched him closely for a moment, then sighed as she raked a hand through her hair. “The point is, we all went to Casen for advice. He isn’t here right now to give it, Cannon. We need to rely on each other, talk to one another. You’ve changed over the past few months. We all have. We need to get back the closeness we had before. Need to fight for our family. For our brother.”
She was right. He’d been so hung up on finding Casen, drowning in his own rage and sorrow, that he hadn’t stopped to think about how it was affecting the rest of his family. They’d always been so close before, but it was obviously Casen who’d been the glue that held them all together. Since he was gone, they’d drifted apart. Camila lost in her own world — her head stuck in a book when she wasn’t waitressing at The Hide Out. Cora focusing on running the bar, crunching numbers and paying bills. While he spent all his free time trying to find his brother.
Clenching his jaw tightly against the reality that had just slammed into him full force, Cannon reached over, resting a hand on top of hers. Ignoring her gasp of surprise, he said, “I’m sorry, Cora. You’re right. I’ve changed, and not for the best.” Swallowing hard, he admitted, “It’s just so fucking hard not knowing where he is. I have all this pent up anger inside me. I want to find whoever has him and rip them the fuck apart. I need to.”
Cora turned her hand over, lacing her fingers with his as she vowed, “We will, Cannon, but from now on we face this as a team. As family, the way we should have been doing all along.”
Taking a deep breath, he nodded, “Tell me your theory.”
Cora cocked her head to the side, waiting a moment before she said, “You are focusing on the assholes who have been tracking us since they killed our parents, but I don’t think this has anything to do with them.”
Cannon froze, his brow furrowing in confusion. “Why not? They are the only real enemy we have. I’ve looked into everyone else who could remotely have an issue with us, but haven’t managed to dig anything up.”
“Which is why you’ve been stalking Nate Baxter on the days the bar is closed.”
Cannon nodded slowly, admiration for his sister rising. How the hell had she known that? “Yeah.”
“I followed you the last time,” Cora admitted, taking a sip of her water. “It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
“You never said anything.” He realized how stupid the words were the second they left his mouth. Of course, she didn’t say anything. Why would she? Like she’d just pointed out a few minutes ago, they weren’t close anymore. That needed to change. If his mama had taught him anything before her death, it was that family was the most important thing in life. If you didn’t have them, you had nothing.
“I know.”
Sighing, he pulled his hand from hers and stood, going to the fridge to grab a water. “So, tell me your theory.”
“You know all those times Casen left and was gone for days, sometimes a week or more?”
“Yeah.” He knew. It had driven him crazy not knowing where his brother was, and Casen was always tight lipped when he returned.
“He was seeing someone.”
Cannon eyed his sister closely, unsure how to respond. He’d suspected that might be the case, but when he asked Casen, his brother had just shaken his head and walked out.
“I think this has something to do with her.”
Cannon thought about it for a few minutes, turning the idea over in his mind. It made sense. Casen had left to scout out new companies to purchase liquor from for The Hide Out. They’d been buying from the same company for close to a year, but the prices had kept rising until finally they’d had enough. He was gone for two weeks that time, and Cannon knew something was different when he returned. After that, he went several more times to try and find a reputable company with decent prices to buy from, but there was always a reason it didn’t work out. Cannon had questioned him a couple of times, but Casen just shrugged it off.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because, like you, I’ve been following the Baxter family over the past year, staying hidden in the shadows so they don’t see me. I haven’t seen anything to implicate the Baxters in Casen’s disappearance.”
A low growl built in Cannon’s chest at the thought of how much danger his sister had put herself in.
“Oh, stop,” Cora snapped, rising to go throw her water bottle in the trash. “I didn’t do anything you weren’t already doing.” When his growl deepened, she swung around to glare at him with her hands on her hips. “He’s my brother, too, Cannon! I love him and miss him just as much as you do. I want him back, too!”
The growl began to fade at the emotion he saw in her eyes, and slowly Cannon walked over to her and pulled her in his arms. “I’m sorry, sis,” he muttered, and he meant it. He was being an ass. “For everything.”
She held herself stiffly for a moment, before wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him tightly. “Me too.”
Chapter Three
Shayna sat in a dark corner of the bar, sipping on a bottle of beer a human waitress had dropped off just moments before. It was ice cold, with beads of water slipping off it, and it slid smoothly down her throat. She let her gaze wander around the room, surprised to find it packed so early in the evening. Where she lived, things didn’t start hopping until well past dinner time. The Hide Out was obviously the place to be, which was evident by the financial records she’d managed to dig up that morning. After rolling into town the day before, she’d taken the time to survey the area, eat some food, and then crashed for a few hours. The day had been spent gathering more information, and now she was doing what she did best. Stalking the Channings.
“Can I get you anything else?” a timid voice asked, and Shayna glanced over to find one of those Channings standing beside her table. Camila gave her a tentative smile, nodding to her drink. “Are you ready for another one?”
Before Shayna could respond, her original waitress appeared, glaring at Camila. “She’s mine,” she spat out darkly, leaning in closely to Camila, thinking she wouldn’t be overheard. “I’ve already served her once.”
“She’s in my section,” Camila said calmly, giving Shayna a look of apology. The woman knew Shayna heard every word coming out of the human’s mouth, and it embarrassed her, but she didn’t back down. “I’ll serve her from now on.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No,” Shayna cut in, her voice full of ice. “What isn’t fair is you thinking you can cut i
n on someone else’s section.”
“She and her family own the place,” the waitress said flippantly, raking another angry gaze over Camila. “It’s not like she needs the money.”
“Is there a problem here?” a deep voice asked. Shayna froze when the musky, tantalizing scent of the male filled her lungs, causing her nipples to bead up and her pussy to clench. What the hell? “Cami, everything okay?” Oh, God. His voice rolled over her, causing heat to rise on her skin. Skin that begged to be touched by him. Her mate. Cannon Channing. She should have known by her strong reaction to his picture that something was up.
“It’s fine,” the human said, turning her attention to the large man who now stood next to Camila. When she reached over and placed her fingers on his large bicep and purred, “It was just a misunderstanding,” Shayna saw red. She may not want a mate, but he was here, and he was hers. Until she figured out exactly what she was going to do with him, no one else would lay a hand on him.
“No, Cannon, it is not fine,” she snapped, rising from her chair and slamming her beer bottle on the table. She was aware that he was looking at her in surprise, and she noticed the exact moment he breathed in her scent and figured out who she was. Taking a step closer to the waitress, she glared down at her and growled, “Just because she is part owner of this bar doesn’t mean she doesn’t need her own money. And it sure as fuck doesn’t mean that you get to disrespect her in her own establishment. I suggest you get your paws off my man and apologize to his sister before I teach you some manners myself.”
The woman’s eyes widened and she stared at her in shock before slowly pulling her hand away from Cannon. Then she seemed to grow some balls as she placed her hands on her hips, cocked her head to the side, and said haughtily, “Last I heard Cannon didn’t have a woman. And everyone talks to Camila like that. She’s nothing but a fucking doormat.”
Reaching out, Shayna grabbed the bitch by the hair and yanked her close. “I don’t give a flying fuck what you’ve heard. He’s taken. And if I ever hear you talk about Cami like that again, I will shred you. Do you understand?” Shayna knew she was causing a scene, something she normally tended to stay far away from, but she couldn’t seem to rein herself back in. From everything she’d read, Cami was one of the sweetest women you would ever meet. To hear this woman call her a doormat, something her stepfather had always called her mother, enraged her to no end. Just because a person had a sweet disposition and tried to avoid confrontation, it didn’t make them weak. Leaning closer, she growled, “I would suggest you leave now, before Cami shows you just how strong she really is. Because she is not the doormat you seem to think she is. As a matter of fact, there isn’t a weak bone in her body.” The woman’s eyes widened even more as they frantically moved to Camila and then back to her. “Wanna find out?” Shayna drawled softly. The human shook her head in fear, trying to pull away from Shayna’s grasp. Shayna let her go, before casually reaching for her beer. Smiling sweetly at the woman, she said, “Oh, and you’re fired.”
Chasing His Lynx’s Sass (Sass And Growl Book 4) Page 2