by Sydney Addae
“Scared? I don’t think so. And it just seems he’s rushing this. Almost like he’s on a schedule, or something. Plus…” She glanced at Vanessa who stood in her fiancé’s arms, kissing him.
Ethan’s beast howled in anger at the sight. “Plus what?”
“Nothing. She asked a lot of questions about you, so you may have a shot but you’ll need to move fast. He’s rushing her to the altar and she’s not the type to break a vow.”
Pleased with that characteristic, Ethan nodded. “She asked about me?”
“She asked about your ponytail.”
Chapter 11
Ethan paced the living room floor to calm down. Earlier, Alpha Jayden had gotten involved and spoke directly to his beast, ordering him to remain at the house to guard Callum while Shyla talked to Vanessa. Although Ethan couldn’t mind speak with the bitch, Shyla informed Alpha Jayden that Vanessa was interested in Ethan even though she didn’t realize it yet. From what Alpha explained, that was the beginning of the mating heat.
Humans and their courting games, he thought. Why couldn’t she just see they were destined for each other and be done with it. He ran his hand through his hair, scraping his scalp.
“Ethan?”
“Yeah?” Changing the directions of thoughts, he headed toward the back room and walked in. Lying across the bed, entangled in sheets, Callum watched him approach.
“What happened?” His voice sounded scratchy.
“Not sure yet. Edwin took the food to La Patron’s compound for testing. Alpha Jayden thinks you were given some kind of drug that knocked you out.”
Callum struggled to sit up and dropped back on the bed. “What was in it? I’m like a week old pup.”
Concerned, Ethan poured a glass of water into the glass on the night stand, picked up the small bottle of pills and handed them to Callum.
“No. I don’t do drugs in any form.” Callum turned his face away.
“Too late, they already gave you something and left these for you.” He nodded toward the bottle.
“I don’t want it.” Callum morphed into his beast and released a long, mournful howl. His side heaved and quivered.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Ethan shook his head while replacing both the pills and the glass to the nightstand. “Whatever they gave you affected your beast more than your human side. La Patron’s specifically said you shouldn’t shift.”
Callum returned to human with a scream of pain. His body shook and his teeth chattered until he clenched his jaw tight.
Ethan watched the pup in silence, wishing he could help. This happened on his watch and no one knew what Callum ingested or if he’d been singled out because he was Alpha’s son.
“Fuck,” Callum yelled as he curled into a fetal position. “What the hell happened? I must’ve eaten something, but damn. It fucked up my beast, he’s in serious pain. How can I help him?”
Ethan picked up the glass of water and bottle of pills and held them forward. He waited until Callum looked up at him.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. Edwin brought it when he came. It’s from Matt, he works at La Patron’s compound. You’re supposed to take two of these.”
“Maybe in a few minutes, I don’t think I can move right now.”
“I’ll leave them right here.” Once again he placed them on the nightstand.
“Thanks. What time are we leaving?”
“In the morning. I’m staying here, got a few things to take care of.” Ethan turned to the side, stuffed his hands into his pockets as he thought of Vanessa.
“Yeah? Like what? Need help?”
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck and then faced Callum. “Probably, but I think in the end the only one who can do this is me. Besides, Alpha Jayden wants you home so you can get checked out. He’ll be here in the morning.”
Callum groaned and covered his eyes with the back of his hand as he rolled onto his back. “So he did tell me that, I wasn’t sure, thought I dreamed it.” He peered at Ethan. “Don’t judge me by the stuff that happened on this trip, first getting jumped by the rebels, then the hostage thing, and then the food poisoning.” He sighed. “Even though it makes me look incompetent, I’m not.”
“I know,” Ethan said, understanding the pup’s embarrassment.
“Good. Thanks.” He sat up slowly, took two pills and drank the entire glass of water. When he replaced the glass he looked up at Ethan. “What things are left to handle? More rebels?”
“No, at least not that I’m aware of.” Ethan didn’t want to discuss Vanessa. Thinking about her hurt and he had to wait until morning to see her.
Callum stared at him. “What is it then?”
“It’s… it’s more of a personal matter.” Ethan dropped his hand to the side and sat in the wingback chair near the door.
“With the bitch from the last night?”
“Huh?” Callum hadn’t met Vanessa.
“The one who gave you the note. You’re hooking up with her? She was at the restaurant, right? You talked to her? What’s her name?”
Ethan chuckled at the light of interest in Callum’s eyes. “Shyla. Yes, she was at the restaurant, no, we’re not hooking up.” He sat forward, dropped his elbows to his thighs and met Callum’s gaze. “Shyla was at the restaurant with Vanessa, my mate. I’m —”
“Whoa. Back up. Did you say mate?”
“Yes.”
Callum shook his head. “You tell me this after I take those pills, did you know they’d make me drowsy?”
Ethan’s spirits lightened. “No. Edwin told me to give you two when you woke up and not to allow you to shift. Maybe that accelerated things.” He leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. “You should rest.”
“Not until you tell me what happened. How’d you meet your mate? Where? At the restaurant or afterward?” He yawned. “I’m not going to sleep until you give me the deets.”
“Deets?”
Callum yawned again. “Details. How’d you find her? What’s she like? Is she a part of Garrett Pack? Was she at the meeting?”
“I didn’t find her; she must’ve entered the restaurant after we did because I didn’t notice her right away. She was with Shyla.”
Callum placed his arms beneath his head. “The other voice, Shyla was with someone, right?”
“Yes, Vanessa. When I heard her voice, I knew.” He shrugged and looked at his fingers. His chest tightened in remembrance of the sound and how it brought chills to his body.
“But…” Callum yawned again. “What pack is she with?”
Ethan glanced at the pup, noticed the struggle between sleep and staying awake. “None that I know of.”
“None?”
“That I know of.”
“Does dad know?”
Ethan nodded.
“Of course he knows, that’s…you’re staying. I’m staying too. Talk about it later,” Callum said.
“Get some rest,” Ethan said, watching Callum fall asleep. His phone beeped. Hoping Alpha Jayden gave Shyla his number, he answered before the second ring.
“Wow, I didn’t think you’d answer, but I’m glad you did,” Dohosan, his brother said.
Standing, Ethan left Callum’s room, entered his bedroom across the hall and closed the door.
“Ethan?”
“Yes, I’m here. Since you insist on talking on the phone, I had to move someplace private.” He sat in the chair, prepared to say no to whatever his brother wanted.
“Great. Kitchi is here and we just wanted to touch bases about the Booger dance. Did you get my message?”
“Yes I sent a reply. I don’t want to do it.” There was some background noise while his two brothers talked to each other.
“I told Dohosan you wouldn’t do it, but he’s always thinking you care more about family and our pack than you do,” Kitchi said, taking the phone from Dohosan. “Chogan wants you to come get a cleansing. He’s been seeing darkness around you in visions, and says something lif
e changing is headed your way and you’ll need the cleansing to help get through it.”
Ethan shook his head. “He wants me to come back on pack lands after making sure I left?”
“Seriously? I tell you bad things are coming and that’s what you say? Hell, you should be thanking him for getting you out of here. At least you got to see the world, got out of this place. All that traveling, becoming a super soldier once La Patron allowed full-bloods to join the human armies,” Kitchi said.
“No grudge, more surprised than anything.” Ethan never believed Chogan inherited the Shaman’s gift, and took the position as Pack Shaman out of anger instead of a desire to help others. If only he’d been allowed to finish his training with Shaman Lu… then what? He’d be Shaman? Stuck in Oklahoma? What about meeting La Patron or Alpha Jayden or Damian? More importantly would he have met his mate? The Goddess moved in ways he couldn’t comprehend and would stop trying, right after he understood about his mate and her fiancé.
“You’re still a part of our pack, so there must be a connection, otherwise he wouldn’t know trouble’s coming your way, right?”
Ethan wondered if the darkness Chogan saw had anything to do with the visions he’d had lately or his mate. “True. I’m in Northern Maryland on an assignment right now, tell him I’ll come as soon as I get a break.”
“I think you need to come tomorrow,” Kitchi said in a hard tone.
“Can’t do that, I’m working.” Ethan waited a beat. “I’ll come as soon as I get a chance.” He stressed the second part of the sentence.
Kitchi swore. “Why are you being so stubborn? If you explain to your Alpha that your Shaman needs to see you he’ll relieve you. I know you don’t think much of Chogan but I’ve never seen him this hyped.”
“Hyped?” Ethan couldn’t imagine the short man moving in any speed other than slow.
“That may be the wrong word. Concerned. Worried. Definitely concerned about you and whatever’s coming your way.” For a few moments neither spoke. “If you won’t come here, be careful. Okay?”
“Yes, you got my word on that.” Ethan debated whether or not to share the news of his mating with his brothers. In the end he decided against it.
“Good. Despite our differences I don’t want anything to happen to you, I don’t want to lose any more pack.”
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. “I came across my mate yesterday.”
Silence.
“Mate?” Kitchi’s voice dropped. “You found your mate?”
“Technically I didn’t find her since I wasn’t looking, more like I bumped into her in a restaurant.”
“That’s great news, congratulations. That’s more important than coming here. As soon as you get a chance bring her so she can meet the pack,” Kitchi said in an excited tone.
“That might be difficult.” Ethan cleared his throat. “She’s human. Most likely a breeder like La Patroness.”
“Did you say human? A human breeder?” Kitchi asked, the happy tone from before gone.
“Yes.” Ethan knew his brother harbored ill feelings toward humans from the suffering Native Americans suffered beneath their heavy hand. But he hadn’t chosen his mate, there was nothing he could do.
“Well that explains the darkness,” Kitchi muttered.
“There’s nothing dark about my mate,” Ethan snapped.
“Human,” Kitchi said as if Ethan hadn’t spoken. “You must be cursed.”
“What?” Ethan yelled.
“Think about it,” Kitchi said. “Humans killed our people, stole our land, or have you forgotten the trail of tears?”
Ethan ran his palm over his face. “Not again, Kit. We’re not going there.”
“Once you let one in, they multiply, like cockroaches, destroying the land, and everything in it,” Kitchi said in a low growl.
“Get over it already,” Ethan said. “None of that has anything to do with her, so just stop it. I don’t want the history lesson, I lived through it. You know how mates work, why are you giving me such a hard time?”
A few moments later, Kitchi released a long sigh. “Yeah, I know, but I don’t like it.”
“Me neither, but I’m not walking away from her.”
“Could you?”
“I just said I wasn’t,” Ethan snapped. The conversations with this brother normally ended on a heated note and he didn’t feel up to it this time.
“I know, I know,” Kitchi said. “But if you wanted to? Could you walk away?”
“If I could I would.” Ethan paused, took a deep breath. “She’s getting married soon.”
“What?” Kitchi yelled. “You’re shitting me.” And then he laughed. It wasn’t the kind of laugh from sharing a good joke, more like laughing at someone who couldn’t laugh at themselves. Ethan waited until he stopped to answer.
“Nope, wish I was,” Ethan said, realizing this was the longest he and his brother talked in a long time.
Kitchi’s voice sobered. “That’s fucked. What’re you going to do?”
“I’m not sure how, but I plan to collect my mate and bond with her, set up my den and have a dozen pups.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.” Kitchi paused. “If you need me or Dohosan, we’re there. I’ll tell Chogan you’re on assignment and will come as soon as you can. Since mam and sire passed, things have been different between us, that changes today. Our den is strong and united, deal?”
Ethan’s brow rose and his mouth almost dropped open. “So you don’t blame me for them dying anymore?”
Silence.
“About that. I don’t think I ever really believed you had anything to do with them dying the night they were coming to see you. They wanted to go and nothing would’ve stopped them. So no, I don’t blame you and I apologize for the years I acted like an ass.”
Ethan closed his eyes and swallowed hard several times. “It hurt when you accused me of murdering them. I’d lost my parents and to hear you blame me, cut worse than any blade.”
“I was scared, not ready to step into Sire’s shoes, sitting on the council, becoming responsible for the den. I’d never been good in school so I didn’t think I could learn what I needed to know. Lots of self-doubts and loathing. Instead of seeing what I was doing to you, I focused on me and that was wrong. I never should’ve lashed out at you like that. I hope one day you can forgive me.”
“We were all hurting and needed each other,” Ethan said, remembering the time of his parents’ death. He’d just returned to the States from a long deployment in the Middle East and his parents were coming to see him before he shipped out again. On the way a drunk driver rammed into their vehicle sending both cars over the side of the road down a rocky ravine. All the pieces of their bodies were never found.
“That’s true.”
Ethan inhaled. Could he forgive his brother? Yes. How long would total forgiveness take? That he didn’t know.
Chapter 12
Vanessa locked up after Jim left, poured a large glass of Moscato and headed to her bedroom. She looked at the rumpled bed, the pillow still indented from his head, and leaned against the door frame.
Since dinner the sinking feeling in her gut had grown worse with each minute. She hadn’t been able to finish her favorite shrimp and lobster meal. Worse, she and Jim had their first real fight.
She’d never shared what happened in Newark with anyone, not everything anyway. Those memories were locked away for good, until today. What was it about Shayla’s friend that reminded her of the horror of those 48 hours she’d been blindfolded, tied to a bed, and examined like a lab specimen. Her stomach clenched at the memory and the shame.
One of the teachers from her previous school had won a weekend vacation at an exclusive villa near the Jersey Shore. She and three other teachers went along. At first everything seemed okay, until the second day when she woke in a different place. That’s when she entered hell.
Vanessa’s body shook as locked away memories slid unchecked from their cages. The fo
rgotten stale scent of that room rose and choked her. Bending forward, she held her stomach as she crumpled to the floor.
Taking deep breaths, her chest shuddered as she fought to keep the darkness at bay and lost. Ghosts of poking and prodding of her most private parts rushed over her. Her arms ached from the needle pinpricks as they took her blood. Hushed discussions about her body being unique hovered above her head, which made no sense what-so-ever. When they removed the blindfold the overhead bright light made it impossible to see faces clearly, but she remembered seeing people walking around her in silence. The swagger, or smooth movement, was like Ethan’s or vice versa.
The other teachers had reported her missing and never understood how or why she’d been taken. Her former principal wrote her up for missing two days without calling in. He didn’t believe her story and stopped shy of calling her a liar to her face. The rest of that school year had been plagued with nightmares of being taken from home or work. She constantly looked over her shoulder, afraid of shadows. As soon as the school year was over she gave up her apartment and left town. Eventually, after a six-month sabbatical, she’d seen teaching job postings in this area and applied after she arrived.
God she was so confused. How could she explain the fear that gripped her when she watched Ethan move? She couldn’t. Not without telling all of it and she wasn’t ready to share that with Jim. Not yet. Now, in the space of hours she was scared, again. Had they found her? If so, why didn’t she let Jim stay? That would’ve been the smart thing to do. But the idea of him touching her… she couldn’t. Inhaling deeply, she heaved off the floor and went to her bed, avoiding the side where he’d lain minutes before.
It had been torture. Everyplace his hand touched felt like ants crawling on her skin. The first time she’d jumped, surprising them both. Was this how life would be with them? Jim wanted to stay, make love tonight and breakfast in bed tomorrow. But she couldn’t. The very idea of him touching her made her stomach clench and head hurt. She’d seen the surprise in his eyes and then hurt when she told him they’d get together tomorrow.