by Dannika Dark
Lexi approached Denver. “I’ll take her upstairs. You can shower and get some sleep. I know you have to work tonight.”
He angled away from her slightly. “Time for me to dip into some of that vacation. We’re going to her room, and I’m hooking up some video games to her TV.”
“I don’t have a TV,” Maizy said.
“You will in about ten minutes.” Denver hiked up the stairs and disappeared out of sight.
Lexi leaned over the back of Austin’s chair and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Mom said she’s on her way home to take over.”
He kissed the back of her neck and sniffed audibly. “Maybe you should run upstairs and take a shower. We’ll be done here in a minute.”
“I thought you liked me stinky,” she said, her voice sweetening.
“Mmm, then wait for me in bed. Why don’t you shift and let your wolf out for a while? I’ll bring up some chocolate pudding.”
Lexi nibbled on his ear. “I want two cups.”
Austin’s eyes hooded and he murmured something in her ear. I just loved the heat between those two.
She stood up and stretched her back. “The next time anyone needs to go to the doctor, leave Denver at home. When they handed him the clipboard to fill out information, he whirled it through the open window and they almost called security on him. Needless to say, he didn’t like the waiting-room situation. Especially when a drunk stumbled in, not wearing pants, and sang three patriotic songs.”
Wheeler chuckled. “Sad I missed that.”
Lexi put her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s nothing compared to when we were in the room and they gave her the shot. The nurse asked Denver to leave, and you can imagine his response to that. When he pulled out the needle, I should have known things weren’t going to end well. You know how they give the shot in the rear? Well, as soon as the male nurse began lifting her shirt, Denver threw him across the room.”
“Jesus,” Austin breathed, rubbing his face.
“After that, they did call security. I thought he was going to shift in that room, so I forced him to leave and wait outside before he got himself arrested. I hope someday I can laugh about it, but right now I just need a nap.” She waved a hand and walked up each step as if she were scaling a mountain.
Prince returned to his chair. “That’s quite a woman.”
Austin nodded proudly in agreement. “I’m a fortunate man. They don’t make ’em like her.”
I shivered when my hair tickled the back of my neck.
Wheeler scooted down and widened his legs. “Maybe we need to think of a plan B in case Delgado doesn’t come after us right away.”
Prince chuckled and rubbed his brown eye. “He’s human. He’ll do something soon. Like milk, humans have a short expiration date, so they don’t waste time plotting their revenge. They are impulsive creatures.”
Wheeler’s phone rang and he lifted his hips, pulling it out. After a quick glance, he abruptly stood up and excused himself from the room.
“Do you know where he might be holding the others?” I asked Prince.
“Not in the city,” he said. “It’s much too risky, and if they escaped, they’d have a better chance of getting away. These men prefer to keep their fighters in a rural area, miles from any large population. I presume if he owns a place in the country, it’s not listed under his name. Do we know whether he owns these Shifters, or is he simply selling them to a third party for profit?”
I shook my head. “Does it matter? Savage men like him should be punished—and quickly.”
“Agreed.”
Austin steepled his fingers in front of his face, resting his elbows on his knees. “He’s going to replace those two, you know. Maybe you should call some of your friends at work and give them a heads-up.”
I lowered my eyes. “I doubt they’ll want to speak to me after the show I put on. People don’t trust panthers.”
Wheeler rushed into the room, out of breath. “I need to head out,” he said to Austin.
“You know the rules,” Austin reminded him. “Take someone with you.”
“I’ll join you,” I offered.
“No, you stay.” His eyes flashed up to Austin. “Ben took off before you laid down the rules. He’s still got something to do, so he asked me to meet up with him and then head back home.”
Austin slid his jaw to the side, looking at him pensively. “There and back.”
I turned my head toward Wheeler standing behind me. He briefly lifted one of my curls and let it slip through his fingers. It seemed like such a peculiar gesture that I kept watching him as he walked to the door and lifted his keys from a nail positioned above the letter W.
“Be careful,” Austin said.
As Wheeler opened the door, he glanced at me over his shoulder. I’m not sure why that left my panther unsettled, but she paced feverishly.
Chapter 19
When Wheeler received a phone call from Ben, he knew he’d gone back to Club Sin to play another game with higher stakes. What Wheeler wasn’t prepared for was Delgado on the other end of the line.
“When I got wind one of my girls was a panther, I needed proof,” Delgado said. “I’m not a man who believes hearsay, so I ordered one of my men to make her shift onstage to get a better look. That would get her fired, and no one would notice if she went missing. I’ve had my sights on acquiring a panther for a long time.”
“What do you want?” Wheeler said tersely from the hall outside the kitchen.
Delgado sucked in long and satisfied breath, adding a hint of amusement to his voice. “Before Naya’s dance, I was playing a game of poker with a Shifter. Funny, I sat there staring at your brother and couldn’t believe it. The same face of a man I’d watched fight off a panther with his bare hands when I was in my twenties. You see, I’m not a stranger in your world. I’ve been in it for a long time, working my way up and learning where the fast money is. Sometimes I lied and said I was a Relic; no one could tell. After acquiring a few clubs, I got all the protection I needed. In my early days, I used to bet on the panther pits. That’s where the big money was.”
Wheeler’s stomach turned when he realized where this was going.
“You were legendary,” Delgado said with admiration. “The stakes were always higher when you fought in human form, so you can thank yourself for lending a hand in my wealth. I sat there staring at your brother for a long time—I’ll never forget that face. After a little conversation, he mentioned that he had a twin. Your reputation precedes you, Mr. Cole.”
“Where’s Ben?”
“Let’s make this quick and to the point. I’m quite curious if your identical twin would be as savage as you once were in a match, but I’d prefer to have a sure thing. Either way I’ll have someone to fill a sudden vacancy for the panther. Make a choice: you or your brother. One of you is going to be my bitch, so who will it be? Ticktock, Mr. Cole. Ticktock.”
Wheeler closed his eyes in a moment of déjà vu. “Where?”
Maybe after all he’d been through, he should have cut his losses with Ben. But saving Ben was the last thread of humanity he had left in him. How could his brothers ever trust him if they found out he had left Ben to rot? How could he live with himself? So Wheeler scribbled down the address and willingly gave up his freedom for his brother’s life.
During the drive, he thought about the floral smell of Naya’s perfume when she was sitting beside him on the sofa. She hadn’t noticed he’d been stroking the soft curls of her hair with his outstretched arm. Wheeler had contemplated putting his claim on her openly, although he wasn’t sure what repercussions that would bring. Would his pack accept a panther? They’d brought humans into the house, but this was different. Claiming Naya was a bigger gamble than any of Ben’s poker games, because Wheeler was gambling with his heart.
After walking out the front door, he realized that he’d never see Naya again. He wondered if they’d search for him—wondered what Ben would tell them. Would rumors leak
about what he was involved in? Would Delgado place his lifeless body on Austin’s doorstep?
Jesus. He’d never be able to escape his past.
When Wheeler arrived at the location, Delgado stayed true to his word and released Ben. It surprised Wheeler that Delgado wasn’t considering pitting the two brothers against each other in a cage, but then again, maybe his satisfaction would be gained in sending Ben to break the news to the pack.
Ben didn’t even make eye contact, but Wheeler could see the shame on his face. They had beaten him, but not severely. He kept his eyes low to the ground and walked with a steady gait to Wheeler’s Camaro and drove away.
Not a thanks, a hug, a sorry, or even a good-bye.
Wheeler had never felt more gutted.
Did he even have it in him anymore to kill for the sake of survival? What the hell was worth living for?
Naya. He laughed to himself. She had forgiven his past, but she’d never accept him for repeating history. Then again, maybe her attraction to him was only physical. If so, she might end up looking to Ben for comfort.
Hell, the bastard would probably offer her consoling words before sticking his tongue down her throat.
Wheeler stared at the shackle on his right arm covering the tattoo wrapped around his wrist. They’d stripped him out of his shirt and had taken his belt and shoes, leaving him in just a pair of jeans. Wheeler thought about how easily he could use his jeans to strangle a guard who got too close. He spent a lot of time working out that plan in his head.
Delgado had mentioned he used his partner’s property to house the fighters. Delgado made his money by organizing the events as well as putting in his own fighters. Wheeler knew right away that he was dealing with a novice. Delgado focused on the animal more than the person, whereas most ringleaders didn’t kidnap strippers. Rogues were the preferred choice because they had the right kind of temperament for fighting.
Wheeler had no clue where the hell he was because they had blindfolded him during the drive. His room looked like a prison cell, minus the sink and bed. The only luxury provided was a toilet, which was a step up from the bucket his previous owner had made him use all those years ago. That guy used to keep the guards in line by placing them on “bucket duty” as punishment. That left an attractive vulnerability. Whenever guards entered a cell, there were all kinds of opportunities for escape. Unfortunately, his new cell had modern plumbing, so they’d probably only enter when taking him to a fight.
Bastards.
“Is someone thirsty?” A guard taunted him in a cockney accent. He looked like a filthy bum—the blackest stubble on his face that Wheeler had ever seen, and a pudgy nose. “Here you are. This one’s on me.” He reached in and swung his arm, holding a metal cup, sending a stream of water onto Wheeler’s pants.
Wheeler remained seated with his back against the wall and his knees bent. The worst thing to do was engage with the guards. Deep down, they knew they were inferior, so it was commonplace for them to rile up the fighters—especially the new ones. Wheeler just sat back and assessed the guard’s stupidity.
“Your raw meat is on the way, you disgusting pig.”
Most guards weren’t predators. They were deer, horses, or even the occasional bovine. Cows weren’t as common, because in the dark ages of their history, they’d been milked and eaten by the poorer Breeds.
Owners only fed the animals—not the humans. So unless you liked chewing on raw meat, you had to shift. They did it as a means to get the animal used to being caged and shackled. Wheeler respected his wolf too much to let him feel like a worthless piece of shit, so he’d learned to eat raw meat in those times.
Wheeler could hear the others stirring in their cells, but he kept to himself. In the end, it just made it harder to kill someone you were on friendly terms with.
A concrete wall stretched along the hall, and he sat there for a long time staring at a crack that ran from the floor right to the center.
Wheeler had a lot in common with that wall.
***
Shortly after Austin walked Prince out to his car, I tiptoed upstairs to check on the baby. I’d always called Maizy the baby because that’s just how I looked at children of any age. Innocence is fleeting. I set a jelly sandwich on the small white table next to her bed.
“How are you feeling, chickypoo?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“Horrible,” she admitted. “Denny wanted to play games, but my head hurts.”
“Do you think you can eat some of this?”
She looked at my plate apprehensively. “I had some soup earlier and now my stomach hurts.”
I laughed. “Well, if Denver cooked it, then it’s no wonder.”
She giggled weakly and rolled to her side. “I hate being sick.”
I glanced around at her room at all the signs of a young girl outgrowing her childhood staring back at me. Dolls stuffed in a box near the closet, and a mixture of her past and present in the form of jewelry, stuffed animals, nail polish, and a poster of a boy band. Someone had hung up her small wand on a nail by the window, and it glittered in the sunlight like nothing I’d ever seen. In those particles of light, I thought I could hear a little girl’s dreams and laughter. I was beginning to see the young woman she would soon become and finally understood Lexi’s sorrow of watching someone she loved fade away.
“How’s Misha?” she asked. “I haven’t seen her in a long time.”
I brushed a wisp of hair away from her face. “She’s fine, baby. You go back to sleep.”
After kissing her cheek, I stepped over Denver, who was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed in the midst of a nap. I strolled down the hall and glanced in some of the rooms. Lynn hadn’t returned home from her client meeting but had called to check on Maizy and see if they wanted her to bring something for dinner. Austin didn’t like the idea of Lynn being out alone, so he called her client and asked the woman to keep Lynn there until William showed up to drive her home.
I turned the corner on the left, just past the game room, down another hallway. The rooms on the right must have overlooked the front of the house. Lexi had told me that when they first moved in, she wanted the room with the balcony. But when the mosquitoes had found their way inside, she switched to a room in the other hall.
So many rooms for a growing pack. All doors were closed with the exception of one. When I flipped on the light, I realized it must have been Wheeler’s room. His wallet was still on his desk, open and showing his fake human identification.
Something just didn’t feel right.
I smoothed my finger over his laptop and then opened one of the drawers. The tips of my fingers touched a cloth case and I recognized the feel of a pair of reading glasses.
“Hey, what are you doing in here?” Lexi asked in a sleepy voice. “I passed by and saw the light on in the hall.”
I quickly shut the drawer and gave her a dazzling smile. “The door was open. I was being my nosy self, snooping like you know I love to do.”
“Well, Wheeler will kill you if he finds out you were in here. He doesn’t like anyone in his space.”
I assessed his meager living quarters. So humble and dreary. A black chair and dark wood flooring just made the room appear drab and depressing. “What could he possibly have to hide in here?” I asked. “Sex toys?”
“No, that’s Reno’s room,” she said with a chuckle. “You have a dirty mind. Let’s go downstairs and make some lunch. I’m more mentally exhausted than anything, so there’s no way I can lie in bed and stare at the ceiling for two hours. I’ll feel better if I move around the house and do something productive.”
“What about the bakery?” I asked, stepping into the hall as she closed the door.
“The great part about being the boss is I have staff. The only thing I need to do is come up with the recipes and prep the day before. But Izzy caught on quickly, so between her and Trevor, they always have a handle on things.”
“So Izzy’s at the store today?”
<
br /> “Her and two other girls. Jericho’s going to stay up there all day to give a hand. God help us all.”
“I’m sure he’s good with his hands,” I purred.
“Izzy’s a hard worker, and that’s why I made her the manager. She really keeps things moving and the staff on point.”
“Hot tamale. You crack that whip, girl! Did they take their baby with them?”
“No, she’s in the bedroom.”
My brows arched. “Is she okay in there by herself?”
“Melody loves her alone time and spends hours playing with dolls and dressing up. Since Maizy’s sick, I’m going to give her another hour and then bring her downstairs. She likes to entertain herself, and that’s not always a good thing. One time she found a bottle of Izzy’s nail polish and decided to give Jericho’s guitar a makeover.” Lexi rocked on her heels, her brown hair swishing in front of her face. “So what’s going on with you and Wheeler?”
“What makes you think anything is going on?”
She lowered her chin a fraction. “Let’s just say that something at the breakfast table this morning tipped me off.”
“Let me fill you in on a little secret, girly. Have you ever been to a mechanic?”
“Yeah.”
“Most of those men are covered in grease and sweat. Would you want to hug one of them in your finest clothes?”
“Uh, that’s a negative.”
“Beneath all that grime is a man, and yet all you care about is getting dirty. Sometimes we’re more concerned with some of that grime rubbing off on us and how that would make us look to others than doing what’s right.”
“Naya, I love you, but you make the worst analogies. What does a greasy mechanic have to do with Wheeler?”
“You probably think less of him because he’s covered in tattoos.”
Her brows arched. “Have you seen that massive dragon on his back? Who does that? Obviously a man with issues, and Wheeler has a file drawer full of them. It’s not that I dislike Wheeler; he’s grown on me, but it’s taken a while. Ben is just easier to get along with.”