by Jessie Lynn
Rachel stopped gathering her clothes to look at him. She was gauging her options. Finally, she decided she would have to deal with the slime touching her one more time to make sure he didn't get distracted and fuck everything up. She plastered on another fake smile. "Sure baby you know I love fucking you." She said to him as she crawled back on his disgusting bed.
"That's right come on up here and suck my dick before I let you ride me cowgirl."
CHAPTER 21
Ava was dead tired by the time she got home Saturday night. It was after nine and she literally had to drag herself in the door. Marie was on the couch with a beer and pizza on the coffee table. As soon as Ava closed and locked the door, she had a huge smile on her face. She got up and started heading to the kitchen as she talked to Ava.
"Hey baby girl. Sit down grab a slice and I'll get you a glass of wine." Marie called from the kitchen. "I rented us a couple of movies." She came back into the living room and continued. "I figured we could have a nice quiet evening chillin. We don't have to watch both if you don't want to. How does that sound?"
Ava took the glass from Marie as she sat back down on the couch. "That sounds great, although I can pretty much guarantee I won't make it through both."
"No biggie." Marie said as she hit play and they settled down to enjoy their pizza.
Rafe watched his Ava go inside her condo. It took everything he had not to go to her the moment he saw her. She didn't look good at all. Ed had said she was looking tired and that she had lost a little weight. Yeah he was so understating it. She had lost a lot of weight! And she had dark circles under her eyes. She looked like she hadn't slept or eaten in days. Which was probably pretty accurate judging by the dreams he'd been having of hers. Rafe looked over at Ed.
"You are the master of understatement asshole." Rafe said.
Ed had insisted on coming with Rafe. They all agreed that Rafe shouldn't watch over Ava by himself. They all knew he wouldn't be able to stay back and just watch her. Yeah they were right about that one. Dom was not happy at all about Ed going with Rafe, so in the end they decided Michael would accompany them. Probably a good idea cause Rafe wanted to kill the goat for probably the millionth time in a week. The only saving grace in all this was it was only a matter of hours before he had his Ava with him safe at Lair.
Rafe had wanted to go as soon as the sun had set just enough he could walk outside and not go up in flames. Yeah, they wouldn't let him do that either. Probably for the best on that one too. He needed to be firing on all cylinders tomorrow night for Ava.
"So far so good." Ed said. They were sitting in the exact spot the stalker vampire had been when she had been watching the girls the night before. Ed had been able to locate it fairly quickly. He had to admit it was the perfect spot to observe your prey. They were on the roof of the building facing Marie and Ava's. The complex the girls had chosen was a cute little place. Way too homey for Ed's liking, but it was cute for two single girls.
It was a gated community, not that a gate could keep out a demon, and two vamps, but it kept out most of the human nasties. So right on. There was an open court yard the front doors looked out to. It had a cute little fountain and pretty plants. He guessed it was very peaceful. Ed didn't do peaceful either, but whatever. So sitting here on this roof, you could see who came and went perfectly. Turns out you could also see into the huge window they had into their living room. That is when Marie opened the blinds. Apparently Ava didn't like having the blinds open, cause she shut them pretty much as soon as she walked in the damn door.
The girls were currently watching a movie, and Ed was getting kinda bored just sitting here. "Look I'm gonna go scope out the area, make sure there's nothing sneaking up on us." He told Rafe and Michael.
Rafe never even took his eyes off the window to answer him. "Yeah sure you go do that."
Ed looked over Rafe's head at Michael. Michael just shrugged and grinned at him. "Riiiigght. Kay you have fun trying to burn a hole through the blinds to get a peek at Ava. Michael you keep him up here and not bursting through their door. Um Kay?"
Michael laughed at how obsessed Rafe was. "Yeah I got him, get outta here and make yourself useful fire eater.
"Holy shit! Mark this night on your calendars folks Michael said more than two words to someone." Ed said grabbing his heart.
"Hate to tell ya this Ed, but it's you he doesn't talk to. He has whole conversations with me." Rafe said to him.
Michael just gave Ed an evil grin and flipped him off.
"Damn dude that's harsh. And here I thought we were starting to be besties." Ed got up and flashed down to the ground.
Rachel and Carl were heading toward Ava and Marie's condo when Carl grabbed her arm to stop her. Rachel turned around and hissed at him.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Hush. The fire eater is heading this way come on."
Carl started pulling Rachel in the opposite direction. He knew the demon couldn't smell as good as a werewolf, but he wasn't taking the chance he could sense them. Carl pulled them into a storage closet far enough away from the path the demon was heading down. Thankfully, they were down wind so he could smell when the demon passed them.
"He's passed us." Carl whispered to Rachel.
"Are you sure?" She asked him. When he nodded, she said. "What the hell is he doing here?"
"I don't know, but I bet it has something to do with Rafe's mate."
"That had better not be the reason."
They left the closet and headed toward the girls' condo. They were almost in the court yard, when Carl stopped Rachel again. "Shit" He exclaimed. "Rafe and Michael are on the roof across the way. They'll see us the minute we get in the open."
"Fuck! You have got to be kidding me." Rachel said more than pissed now.
Michael felt a presence he hadn't felt in years. "No way it couldn't be."
"What? What's wrong?" Rafe asked.
"Stay here. Watch the door, I'll be right back." He got up to leave when Rafe grabbed his arm.
"What is it?" He asked again.
"I think I know someone that's here that I haven't seen in a long time. She probably lives here, I'm sure it's nothing. Just gonna go say hi real quick."
After a second Rafe nodded and let him go. "You run into trouble, let me know."
"Yep I got this." Michael threw over his shoulder as he went to the other side of the roof to jump down.
Michael hit the ground without making a sound and started heading around the side of the building to where he was sure Rachel was. Hell, he wasn't even sure if it was her. He thought she was dead. Her family had been heading to Europe the last he'd seen her. Their plane went down as it was trying to land. There had been some kind of mechanical failure. No one had survived the crash. He knew for sure, he'd gone to see it himself. He'd looked through the debris and found the locket he'd given her right before she'd left. He'd asked the responders where they had found it, and they'd shown him her seat. It had a burn stain the size of a petite body on it.
He'd been devastated. He knew he should have told her how he felt about her. He should have made her stay with him, but she'd been so young and he had nothing to give her at the time. He had no honor, no family, not even a proper house for her to live comfortably in. So in the end he'd let her go thinking he was doing what was right for her. He was wrong. He came around behind where he thought she was. He stopped cold in his tracks. She wasn't alone, she was with a werewolf, and his scent was all over her. As soon as he'd stopped, she turned around and he about hit his knees.
"Rachel!" Michael breathed her name like a prayer.
Rachel's heart stopped. No, he shouldn't be here, he couldn't be here. She saw in his eyes that he knew she'd been with the disgusting wolf she'd been using. He was devastated. Well too bad. He shouldn't have put her on that plane with her parents if he cared about her that much. She gave him an evil smile.
"Hello Michael, it's been a very long time." she said to him
"I
thought you were dead." Michael said still unable to believe she was real.
Rachel laughed a bitter laugh at that. "Well you were obviously wrong, weren’t you?"
"You two know each other?" Carl asked not liking the sparks going off between his girl and that fucking League.
"Oh yes. We go way back don't we Michael?" Rachel said.
"Rachel, baby, what are you doing here. With him." Michael added pointing at Carl.
"Well isn't it obvious Michael? Shall I spell it out for you? First I've been fucking him, but you already knew that didn't you."
Michael started shaking his head. "No. Fuck no baby. Why?"
"Why, Michael? Why; because you didn't even try to keep me here. I'm not your baby and never have been. You made that abundantly clear when you put me on that plane with my parents. Claiming you were doing what was best for me. Wrong! You were doing what was best for you!" She said pointing at the vampire who had stolen her young innocent heart so long ago and then tore it to shreds when he rejected her. "You never wanted me. You never cared about me. You didn't want to be weighted down with a mate, so you rejected me."
Michael came toward her and stopped when he felt the barrel of her gun in his chest. He looked down then back up into her incredible green eyes. Eyes he saw every day in his dreams. Eyes that were now haunted, when they used to sparkle with laughter. She'd grown up. She was still so petite, but now she had a woman’s curves. She was breath taking. She had always been gorgeous, but she hadn't yet filled out completely the last time he'd seen her. He'd always known though. From the moment he'd realized she was growing into the woman she was meant to be, he'd thought she was stunning.
"I never rejected you Rach. I was desperate to have you, but we both know I couldn't back then. You were too young for what I needed of you."
"No!" She shouted at him
"Yes baby. I died when I heard your plane crashed. I went straight there praying to the Fates I hadn't lost you." He pulled out the locket he'd given her from under his shirt and saw her eyes widen, tears filling them. "That’s right love. I dug through that wreckage looking for any sign of you. This is all I found. They showed me the seat they'd found it by." He had to stop the memory was so painful. Shaking his head, he continued. "It looked like you had burned in that seat. I died that night Rachel. Right there in that seat, I died with you."
Rachel was shaking her head. She was shaking all over from the tears running down her face. She had completely forgotten about Carl until he lunged at Michael and snapped her back into reality. Rachel saw them hit the ground and start swinging at each other. Carl was yelling and growling at Michael as he fought him. She heard the demon come running up behind them. She couldn't let him see her. She took off running for her car in the opposite direction. She didn't care what they did to Carl; she had to get away from them. She had to get away from Michael.
Michael saw the wolf lunge at him from the corner of his eye. He turned in time to brace himself full on just as the wolf tackled him to the ground. Michael didn't have time to block the first two punches that hit him in the jaw and split his lip. Getting in the game, he bared his fangs at the piece of shit who dared to touch his Rachel. He threw the mutt off him and immediately launched to his feet going after him. The wolf was just stumbling to his feet pulling out a gun. Michael just smiled at that. That piece of shit wouldn’t help the pathetic coward.
"What's wrong flea bag can't fight like a real were so you take the cowards way out? If you think that gun will stop me from killing you, then you’re dead wrong." Michael said to Carl pacing around him looking for an in.
"I know I can kill you leach. I just don't want to have to touch your kind."
"Funny you had no problem touching Rachel. Hate to tell you this, but she is my kind. She’s mine period."
Michael watched the mutt come at him again and this time he was ready for the asshole. He was going to enjoy ripping him apart piece by piece. He thought about that sack of shit touching his Rachel and his sight went red. He had no doubt his eyes were glowing bright yellow. He was going to take out all the pain he’d felt from the loss of his Rachel on this fleabag that dared to touch her.
Carl growled at the ass hole that thought he was going to take away his girl and went after him again. He hit the vampire on the side of his head with the gun and was about to shoot him in the face when he felt a sharp stab go through his rib cage. Carl looked down and saw a knife sticking out of his side.
Ed ran up just in time to see the werewolf go after Michael. Shit! He started toward them when the two split up and the wolf came away with a knife in the side of his rib.
"Well alrighty then vampire. Guess you don't need me after all." Ed said to Michael. "I see you found the wolf who lied to me about you guys looking for me."
Michael snapped his head up. Pointing at the ass wipe he now had pinned to the ground, he said.
"This is the one you talked to?" Seeing Ed shake his head yes he said. "Shit! Where's Rafe?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Ed said "Don't know, you tell me. I left him with you remember.”
Michael pulled out his phone and called Rafe. Rafe picked up on the first ring.
"Yeah."
"Get down here right now. We're by the parking garages."
"On my way."
After he hung up with Rafe, Michael turned to Ed and asked
"Did you see anyone else?"
"Nope. Did you?"
Michael didn't answer him. He really didn't want to believe Rachel was involved with the piece of shit lying on the ground. He needed answers before he started making assumptions. They needed to get the mutt back to Lair and have Dom make him talk. Michael didn't want to hand the guy over. He wanted to rip the fucker to shreds for touching Rachel, but he knew once Dom found out they'd found him, the alpha would insist on dealing with the traitor.
Rafe came running up to find Ed, Michael and the werewolf who'd started shit with him at the Meat Locker the other night.
"What the hell is this?" He asked them seeing the guy had a knife stuck in his rib.
"This my fine fellow is the idiot that lied to me about you and Dom looking for me." Ed told him.
Rafe's head snapped up. "Ava!" he started to turn when Ed grabbed his arm.
"Is fine. I'll go double check." Ed flashed to the girls staying between worlds. They were curled up on the couch watching some chick flick. He flashed back to Rafe and Michael. "They're fine; nice and cozy watching their movie. Let's get this ass hole back and see what he has to say."
"I don't want to leave Ava alone. We still don't know who or where the vampire is watching her."
"We'll have Nate and Ethan come watch the apartment while we deal with the stray dog. When it starts to get light, Sloan and I will come back to relieve them. Kay?"
Rafe wanted to argue. He didn't want to leave now that he knew where his mate was, but he needed answers and he needed to be there when they made the wolf talk.
"Fine."
Ava was starting to doze and they hadn't even made it halfway through the first movie. She sat up and stretched.
"Marie, I'm sorry, I can't stay awake any longer. I'm going to bed."
Marie sat up and paused the movie. "Yeah sure go get some rest sweetie; I'll see ya in the morning."
"Kay sweet dreams." Ava said heading for the stairs.
"You too baby girl."
Ava went straight to her room, put on her pajamas and crawled into bed. She was thinking about the dream she'd had the night before and was hoping she would have another one like that. Too bad it turned into the nightmare instead.
CHAPTER 22
They had tortured Carl severely. He'd passed out on them several times, and they still didn't get anything out of him other than he'd lied to Ed. They all knew he was working with some vampire, but he never told them who or why. Dominic would have been proud of his wolf, had he not have had to be the one to interrogate him about crimes committed against his own pack. Hell fucking yes Rafe and
his enforcers were a part of his pack whether they liked it or not. Dom had been furious when they brought Carl back to Lair. He almost killed Carl as soon as he was told. His better judgment won out and he'd interrogated him.
"He will tell us nothing. I'm tired of dealing with him." Dom said. Then walked up to the chair they had Carl chained to and broke his neck.
"Well that was fun, but completely unproductive kiddies." Ethan said.
"For once I agree with Ethan. We're no closer to figuring out why Rafe and his mate are being targeted than we were two days ago." Marcus said.
Rafe looked at the clock. It was six in the evening. Soon his beautiful would be here.
"It doesn't matter as much now. Ava will be here in a few hours. Sloan and Ed are following them here to make sure nothing happens to them on their way. Once she's here we can protect her."
"Have you thought about when she decides to go home?" Marcus asked.
Rafe looked up at him. "She'll already be home Marcus. She's staying with me."
"Right and you’re just going waltz right up to her and tell her she belongs to you as you throw her over your shoulder."
"And take her straight to bed." Rafe finished. "Hell yes."
"Sure that worked out great for you last time didn't it?" Marcus said to him.
"Marcus does have a point old friend." Dom said coming back into the living room. He'd taken Carl's body down to his pack members to dispose of.
"Fine someone tell me a better idea." Rafe demanded. He looked around at them. "Please don't everyone speak at once. Look I'm going to get ready to go. I have to go feed then shower before Ava gets here."
Rafe headed to his room to get ready to deal with what was left of the sun. He wanted to be back and showered again before his beautiful got here. Lair on a Sunday wasn't some place he wanted to leave her alone for long. Hell, who was he kidding? He didn't want to leave her alone at all, and Lair was the last place on whatever night it was that he would ever let her venture alone.