Three Hours (Seven Series Book 5)

by Dannika Dark

  “I get that on stage every night.”

  “Maybe so, but does your panther? What I mentioned is what I can offer your animal. What can I offer you? Riches beyond your wildest dreams. To never worry if you’ll have money in three or six hundred years, because this will pay more than the meager wages of an exotic dancer.”

  I leaned forward and drew in a deep breath. “Did you make the same offer to Skye before shoving her into a van?”

  “Do you think I would make such an offer to a cougar? They’re the opening act for the big show. I could have taken you forcibly if I wanted.”

  “No, instead you took my cat.” Anger fueled my veins, but I kept my voice calm.

  “Yes. Precious little thing. Come willingly and fight for me, and I will treat you like a queen. I’ve seen you dance, Naya. You’re quite the specimen.”

  The way he talked reminded me of the stories I’d heard about the way immortals spoke of their Shifter slaves. And here he was, just a human.

  “Will you exchange Skye for me?”

  “No.”

  “And why not?”

  He sighed. “Don’t waste my time with questions.”

  “Then let me speak with her,” I said coolly. “If I can talk to her and know she’s all right, then I’ll agree and come willingly. I’ll fight for you under the terms of your offer. Treat me well, Delgado, for I am a queen. A happy panther is a loyal panther.”

  It sounded as if he were sucking on his teeth. “If you need evidence that your friend is still alive, then I can agree to that. And once you speak with her, you’ll come willingly?”

  “Yes,” I breathed. “She’s a good friend who has a little girl to take care of. Perhaps we can work out another arrangement once I’m your guest.”

  “Then it’s a deal. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a few hours. I need to take care of a few things before I’m able to get to her location. Keep this phone on, and I’ll call you back this evening.”

  “Very well.”

  I hung up in a panic. I had absolutely no intention of going with this man, but if anyone could trace a call, it would be Reno. He had knowledge of modern technology, not to mention connections with some of the savviest men in the Breed world. I called his cell and asked him to hurry down to my room. I didn’t want to raise suspicion by looking for him myself.

  “What’s going on?” he said, cracking the door and poking his head in.

  “Come inside and shut the door,” I said in a low voice.

  His eyes were alert and brimming with concern. Reno locked it behind him and took a few steps in my direction. “Why did you ask me to bring this?” He held up his laptop.

  “I need you to trace a call.”

  ***

  “If the human police can do it, we can do it better,” Reno said before taking Delgado’s number and doing his thing.

  His primary concern was if Delgado switched phones. He knew how to trace his call history, but we needed him to be with Skye in order to rescue her. Worst-case scenario—I’d go willingly with Delgado. Reno said we’d cross that bridge and set it on fire once we got the call, but it was too early for him to come up with a strategy. Delgado didn’t know who the hell he was dealing with. I could be just as manipulative, only in a more subtle way.

  All the babies were engrossed in a movie about unicorns while I helped in the kitchen. Cooking kept my mind focused, and I baked a giant dish of my famous chicken spaghetti. Once everything had come off the stove, Austin called the pack in to eat.

  “Smells delicious,” Lynn said, setting my dish on the table. “You’ll have to give me this recipe.”

  But I wasn’t hungry. I sat at the end of the table and made sure Lola was doing okay. They had found another small chair and put it at the kids’ table, facing the wall. Melody showed her how to play music on her tiny keyboard, and no one complained about the volume. Packs seemed to love everything about having children in their house, even the noise.

  Ben walked around me and briefly touched my shoulders. “Can I get you something else to drink?”

  “I’m fine.”

  I couldn’t help but notice how Wheeler clenched his jaw, and I wondered if those two were in the midst of a family quarrel.

  “Just let me know,” Ben said in a low voice against my ear before walking off.

  “I’ve missed your spaghetti!” Lexi spooned a generous helping onto her plate. “Seems like forever since I’ve had any.”

  Reno received a text message and abruptly left the table. April carried on with Izzy about selling T-shirts for the bakery. They laughed at the idea of women wearing the Sweet Treats logo on their chest, and Ben suggested they have two cookies in strategic locations.

  “I’ve never seen anyone put it away like Will,” Ben said, glaring at William, who was already finishing up his first round. “You put Denver to shame.”

  “Thank God Denver’s at work and didn’t hear you say that,” Lexi commented. “Otherwise, we’d have an eating competition going on and nothing left.”

  “I thought that was every night?” Ben said with a laugh.

  Aside from my dish, they prepared fried chicken, green beans, coleslaw, and hot links. It looked like this pack loved to eat. My kind of men.

  “Naya made the spaghetti casserole,” Lexi said, noting that only a quarter of the dish was eaten. “You guys don’t know what you’re missing.”

  I turned around again and smoothed my hand over Lola’s hair. “How are you feeling, baby? Be sure you eat every bite of your dinner.”

  “I know,” she said. “I like chicken.” Lola held up a drumstick with one side mostly eaten.

  Maizy held a small book in her left hand, reading while eating.

  When I turned around, I gasped. The casserole was now half gone, and when I looked around the table, I discovered why.

  “You’re going to be sick if you eat all that,” I said to Wheeler.

  “Doesn’t sound like you’re very confident in your cooking,” he challenged, tapping his fork against his nose.

  “Oh, I’m confident, darling. No man can resist what I dish out.”

  “And you really dish it,” he murmured.

  “Anything you offer, I’ll happily put in my mouth,” Ben said, reaching for the serving spoon.

  “Shut up,” Wheeler said under his breath.

  Ben smirked and scooped up a forkful, cramming it into his mouth as if in a hurry. “Sometimes there are games you can’t win, so you need to learn how to fold and take the loss.”

  “Speaking of loss, don’t you have a game tonight?” Wheeler kept shoveling my chicken spaghetti in, and my, didn’t that inflate my ego just a tiny bit.

  “Yep. Don’t wait up on me.” Ben rose from his chair and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Except for you,” he whispered as he passed by me.

  No one else heard his remark, and Ben left the room.

  “Naya, you haven’t eaten all day,” Lexi scolded. “Try some of my mom’s coleslaw.”

  “I think I’m going to go lie down. I didn’t get enough rest last night after everything, and the nap earlier wasn’t enough. You go on and enjoy that dish. If you peek in the fridge, you’ll find a dessert I whipped up for later.”

  “Oh my God,” she said with a mouthful of spaghetti. “Is it that green stuff? That’s the best dessert. No one better touch it until I have some.”

  I smiled and waved good night.

  As soon as I reached my room, I kicked off my shoes and tried to ignore the sensation of feeling like a caged animal. I needed to get Misha back, but in my heart, I didn’t know if it was too late. A man like Delgado taking care of a cat? I couldn’t imagine it, but I also didn’t want to imagine what he’d done with her. The only way to keep from crying was to focus on Lola. She needed her mother, and I was going to make that happen. This nightmare had to end. The world is filled with unimaginable evils, but the worst act of evil is turning a blind eye.

  I turned the dimmers on above the bed and crawle
d over the blanket. While the main room was shaped like a rectangle, they had extended the wall using the exact dimensions of the bed, so the only way to get in was to climb onto it from the foot. The lamps in the room were off, immersing the room in darkness. I stared up at the ceiling, trying to allow the dim lights to lull me to sleep.

  No matter how many times I pounded on my pillow, I couldn’t settle my nerves. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at the built-in shelf on the headboard. Someone had filled it with a large selection of romance novels—some of which had significant wear on the spine. Probably April’s collection, which I found amusing since she didn’t go through heat. My guess was that she and Reno used this room as a private getaway.

  A knock sounded at the door. I shivered when the air-conditioning came on and a cold breath of air skated over my arms. Across the room, I heard the squeaky hinge from a door opening, but I couldn’t see anything since the only lights on were the dimmers in my cubbyhole.

  “It’s a little early for beddy-bye, isn’t it?” I heard Wheeler ask.

  “I’m surprised you aren’t hunched over in agony from a spaghetti overdose,” I said with a snort.

  “I’m still hungry.”

  A shiver rolled over me, and when he moved into sight, I flew up and gripped the covers. “I thought you left.”

  Ben smiled and tucked his hands in his pockets. “I had a little time to kill. So how about that drink? They keep it well stocked in here. Whiskey, vodka, even wine coolers. Maybe fried chicken wasn’t what you needed.”

  “Ben, get out.”

  “Whoa,” he said, holding up his hands. “Let’s not get confused as to what’s going on here.”

  I flipped my hair back. “I’m in bed, and you’re uninvited. Which part do you think I’m confused about?”

  “I’m just offering a drink to take the edge off. Maybe another time. Didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers.”

  The door suddenly opened and my chest constricted. If it was Reno coming with news on the trace, this was about to get awkward.

  “And the plot thickens,” a voice said with disdain.

  Even worse, it was Wheeler.

  Ben turned around. “Just on my way out. Did you want to tag-team or something?” When he vanished into the darkness, I heard a struggle. They were throwing punches, and something fell over and broke.

  “Get out of here!” I shouted, standing on my feet. It felt as if I had a spotlight on my white baby-doll nightie.

  “You’re going to regret that,” one of them said, but I couldn’t tell which.

  “Maybe I’ll cut you off,” the other growled. “It’s time you bail your own ass out.”

  “Go fuck yourself, since no one else will.”

  The door slammed and then I had some peace.

  “Hello?” I said.

  A lamp switched on from the right side of the room. Wheeler crouched down and pulled a can of soda from the short fridge. He held it to his face and turned around, maintaining his distance across the room.

  I approached him and pulled the can away. “Here, let me see.”

  Wheeler averted his eyes, and I lightly touched the drop of blood on his cheek. “It’s just a small cut.” I ran a thin towel under the faucet and then pressed it to his upper cheekbone, right below his left eye. Most Shifters wouldn’t shift to heal minor injuries because it angered our animal if they couldn’t stay out. “Hold still for a moment. What did you come in here for?”

  He turned the can of soda in his hand, looking down at it. “I haven’t seen you eat all day. Maybe I don’t want your panther getting hungry.”

  “Oh. For a fleeting moment, I thought maybe you cared.” I stepped closer and peeked beneath the cloth. “Just another minute and it’ll clot.”

  “Why don’t you drink this while you’re waiting?”

  “I’m afraid all those bubbles will give me a headache. Caffeine on an empty stomach will keep me up all night.”

  “It doesn’t have caffeine; it’s the green can.”

  “Read the label,” I said, realizing how tall Wheeler was when I didn’t have my heels on, which put me at eye level with that gorgeous Adam’s apple of his. I was standing against him, and yet I could feel the distance between us. “Well, what does it say?”

  “You read it.”

  “I’m busy with the patient. I’ll have a sip if you tell me it’s caffeine-free.”

  “Never mind.” He set the can behind him on the cabinet.

  I peered beneath the towel and the bleeding had stopped. After tossing it in the sink, I took a step back and looked at him. Something occurred to me that hadn’t before. “You can’t read, can you?”

  “I can read. What do you think I am, an idiot?”

  “No… but neither am I.”

  Wheeler reached for the can and held it out. “It says Dew.”

  “Spin it around and tell me what the tiny letters on the back say.”

  He cracked open the can and put it in my hand. “It says drink me.”

  “Hmm,” was all I replied, turning back to the bed. I sat on the edge and took a small sip before setting the can on the floor by the wall. “Why don’t you get along with your twin?”

  “Brother. Twin is incidental.”

  “Such resentment.”

  Wheeler sniffed and stalked forward, hands tucked beneath his armpits. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Of course I wouldn’t. I’m just a stripper.”

  His eyes flashed up and I caught a glimmer of something in them that looked like regret. “That’s not what I meant. No one understands.”

  “Neither of us seems to have anyone we can confide in. As much as I love Lexi, she’s still so human. She will never grasp the reasoning behind why I’ve kept my animal hidden for so long, and for that reason, I’ve kept a lot more hidden from her. You seem like you have way more bubbling inside than that can of soda. If it’s one thing I’m known for, it’s keeping secrets. After all, I’ve been doing it my entire life, so I understand the importance of privacy. You’d be amazed at some of the things I know about the men in this town.”

  He smirked, and one of his brows sloped down at an awkward angle. “That I don’t doubt. Men seem to lose common sense when their pants are down.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Who said their pants were down? I don’t sleep with my customers. What a travesty most people believe such a thing. Yes, there are girls who do, but dancing is just a job. When I’m not at work, I’m just an ordinary woman.”

  “Ordinary isn’t the word I would have chosen.”

  “Okay then. Sexy,” I purred with a sly grin.

  Wheeler intrigued me, and after the scuffle with Ben, I could no longer resist the urge to learn more about him. Maybe now that he knew about my panther, it made it easier for me to want to open up. But mostly I felt like he had a lot of buried emotions beneath his gruff attitude that no one in the pack seemed to have noticed.

  “Tell me,” I said.

  “Tell you what?”

  “Confide in me and I’ll give you honest advice. I’m proposing a unique opportunity for two people to be completely open with each other without any judgment or fear of it leaving this room.”

  He shook his head, staring at the floor as he paced around. “That’s not a good idea.”

  “Tell me your secrets, Wheeler, and I’ll tell you some of mine.”

  My voice softened, and I realized what I’d longed for. A sense of intimacy during the lonely nights at home when I wanted to complain about my job, my dark secrets, or even my tired feet. I just wanted to have someone there to listen. Strangely enough, Wheeler was the only person I’d ever felt an inexplicable desire to tell all my secrets to, and maybe that’s because he didn’t come across as someone who would feed me a line of bullshit.

  “I’m not a guy who sits around and shares his feelings. This isn’t a daytime talk show.”

  I wasn’t about to let Wheeler win this battle. “Switch off the lamp and crawl into bed
with me.”

  He licked his bottom lip and watched me from behind heavy brows.

  “Fine. Just stand there and grow roots then. And wipe the smug look off your face. I’m not offering anything but conversation.”

  “In bed.”

  “If it makes it easier, I’ll start and you can see how serious I am. You have a wicked tongue, but I can see you’re not the kind of man who spreads gossip. So maybe that’s why I trust you a little more than anyone else. I’m asking you to lie with me because I’m sleepy, and…” My voice softened. “I want to know what it feels like to lie in bed with a man and just talk.”

  Wheeler’s mouth opened as if to say something.

  “That’s right. Men who come to my bed aren’t there to talk. I choose the men I sleep with carefully, but not one has ever stayed the full night. They always have somewhere important they need to be. Maybe a silly part of me envies Lexi when she talks about how she and Austin sit up at night talking for hours until they doze off in the middle of a conversation.”

  Wheeler laughed and turned around. “That sounds about right. I bet I can guess who dozes off first.”

  I patted the bed beside me. “Men look at me as a conversation piece, not someone they can hold a conversation with. Indulge a woman who’s feeling a little down.”

  When he switched off the lamp, I expected him to leave, so I tucked my legs beneath the covers and stared up at the ceiling. The bed sank down when Wheeler sat on the end. I scooted to the right and turned to face the wall on my right, giving him plenty of room. The light above was dim, almost like a nightlight, but brighter.

  He kicked off his shoes and then scooted back. When I peered over my shoulder, he had his fingers laced behind his head, looking up at the ceiling pensively. “I’ve never been in this room until you came,” he said absently.

  “I’d assumed you built it.”

  “Thought you said I couldn’t do anything laborious with my hands?”