“You shouldn’t be driving,” Miles told him when he got out of his truck.
“Had somewhere to be. I figured walking would have upset people more.”
The enforcer couldn’t argue with him there.
“I take it Owen wants to have that talk now? I really could use a night of sleep before I go into everything.” His body was ready to collapse it was so tired. He had barely slept while he was at the sanctuary. His guard had been on full alert for weeks.
“This isn’t about Owen,” Miles said not bothering to get up from the swing. Vince hobbled over to the other side and took the seat next to him. “I wanted to ask if you had seen any other shifters while you were there. Specifically, a woman.”
“Your wife?”
He nodded but didn’t look at Vince.
“As far as I know, I was the only shifter there. But, I hadn’t seen all the wolves. I was in the hospital for the first week, then a solitary pen until I was healed enough and assessed. My pack only consisted of two other females, both of which were regular wolves.”
Miles nodded again but his face had gone hard as he stared out at the darkness. “Okay. Thanks.” He stood and walked off the porch and down to his car.
“Miles.”
The man stopped but didn’t turn. “Yeah?”
“Give me some time to heal and then I’ll help you find her.”
His head dropped a few inches as his shoulders heaved with a shuttering breath. “Thank you.”
Vince waited for him to drive off before going inside. In his pocket, he had put the little container holding the few doses of pain relievers Lee had given him. Vince didn’t bother to look around or contemplate about how he had thought he’d never be here again. None of those thoughts and feelings he had back at the sanctuary mattered much right now. He tapped out two pills from the container and washed them down with a glass of water. It was fifteen minutes later when he was face down in bed that he began to felt the tendrils of numbness reach out and blanket the pain. In seconds, he was asleep.
Chapter Seventeen
Chuck was faithfully behind the bar when Owen arrived. He nodded to the hallway by the steps leading upstairs. Chuck met him a moment later with a rag that he was using to wipe his hands off.
“I heard that you took a group out this afternoon. Bring back anything interesting?”
Owen laughed. This man always was a step ahead of everyone. “We found Vince. He just wanted to go home and not be paraded in front of the pack.”
“That’s some good news,” Chuck said with a grin. “Some damn good news.”
“You can spread the word if you like. Just try to keep them from calling or visiting the man while he recovers.”
Chuck snapped to get Zach’s attention then waved his finger through the air in a circle. “A round on the house.” His announcement was met with cheers. “You going up to see your girl?”
Owen looked up the stairs. He hadn’t heard from Mira in a few hours. He wasn’t worried about her but ever since her mom came to visit she had been pulling back. Odds are she didn’t even know it was happening and with Vince missing, he had other things to deal with. He needed to show his support for her and make it clear that pulling away wasn’t an option.
“Yeah, she been down here at all?”
Chuck shook his head. “No. I saw her come in this morning. She was preoccupied and didn’t hear me when I said hello. Something has got her all twisted up.”
“Yeah, I think I know what it is.”
“Chuck!” Zach yelled from the bar.
“Hold on,” he yelled back. “I got to go.”
Owen started up the stairs when he heard Chuck make the announcement.
“It seems our alpha and visiting enforcer have found Vince.” Cheers and claps echoed off the walls. Owen smiled. “I’m thinking this deserves a toast in honor of his safe return.”
The sounds of the bar dissipated as he climbed another set of steps to the top floor. Owen gave two taps with his knuckle to the door then turned the knob, but it was locked. He frowned as he twisted and pushed. Mira never locked her door when she was in unless she was sleeping. He pulled out his phone and checked. It was just turning ten now. Mira was a bit of a night owl. She had at least another four hours in her.
He rapped on the door again. “Rabbit.”
There was no answer.
Now he was beginning to worry.
Owen pulled out his keys and found the one for her room. With the soft click of the lock, he pushed the door open. The room was dark, her curtains had been pulled closed so not even the light of the moon could peek through. He moved toward the bathroom and flicked on the light instantly illuminating her room. He found Mira on the bed huddled under her blankets. There was something so sad about the ways she was lying with her body curled into itself, that every instinct he had pushed him into slipping off his shoes and sliding in behind her. Owen pulled her close and held her. She rolled in her sleep and into his chest.
An hour went by like that. Over that time she had relaxed some, her legs stretched out and her hands had unfisted. Owen laid small kisses on her head and brushed his hand up and down her back. He felt the moment she woke, her even breathing becoming more alert, but she didn’t move for another few minutes.
“What are you doing here?” she said in a scratchy voice.
“I wanted to see you.”
Her body melted onto his. She searched and found his hand, weaving her fingers with his. “So what did you and the boys do today?”
“Nothing much. Went for a ride, broke Vince out of a cage, got some dinner. You know, the normal stuff.”
Her head tipped up so he could see her face in the bathroom light. He didn’t see the smile she gave him for the news, Owen was too focused on the slight swelling around her eyes. His face fell as he brushed his thumb over her cheek where he was sure a tear had once been.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” was her automatic response.
That was not an answer and Owen waited wordlessly until he got a real one.
Mira’s hand fisted his shirt just a little. Trying to sound nonchalant she said, “I went looking for something of my own today.”
His chest stiffened. “Did you find what you were looking for?” he asked cautiously.
She propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. She was paler than he had ever seen her. There was no smile or expression of any kind on her face. Slowly her head nodded up and down and her lips pressed together and her brows crinkled in an effort to hold back what she was feeling. He caught sight of a sheen of tears threatening to fall and pulled her back down into his chest.
“This changes nothing,” he said into her hair as he comforted her. “You are still Mira, still my Rabbit.”
“But how do you know?” she asked in a cracked voice.
“Because the wolf has always been there. Knowing she is there doesn’t change that.”
She nodded her head against his chest.
They didn’t say much else. Owen was afraid that his excitement for what just happened would show. She couldn’t handle that right now. Mira, his Rabbit, was usually so unphased by things. It took a lot to break her down like this and he knew she was scared. Acceptance would come with time, something that they had plenty of.
Mira wiggled beside him and rolled onto her back. She sighed. A moment later she moved again, this time crawling over him. He grabbed hold of her legs as she straddled him and kept her locked into place.
“Um…I need to use the bathroom,” she said still trying to free her legs.
“Ok, but you need to pay the toll first.”
Mira stopped moving. “The toll?”
He wanted to show her that nothing had changed between them with this news. “Yep. To climb over me will cost you one kiss.”
In the soft light of the bathroom, he could see her smirk. “Just one? That’s a light toll. I guess I can pay up.” Mira leaned over him, her hands splayed
out on his chest and brushed her lips against his. The next touch was deeper and the one after that even more so. He lifted his hands from her thighs and raked them through her hair. Mira twisted and her weight was suddenly absent from his body. Standing triumphantly beside him, her hair a nest of knots and her clothing disheveled, Mira grinned.
“Sneaky,” he said with a smile of his own.
Mira ran off to the bathroom and enveloped him in darkness as the door closed. Owen found his phone on the bedside table and checked his messages. All of them were people just asking about Vince. He didn’t reply. It was almost midnight and they would find out more in the morning.
The door opened and once again light flooded the room. Mira had combed her hair and washed her face while she was in there.
“How’s Vince?” she asked coming to sit next to him on the bed.
“He’s fine. A little beat up but he’ll heal.”
“That’s good.”
He grabbed her hand brought it to his lips to kiss. “I had a thought. You can say no but then I won’t have nearly as much fun. In fact, it will be utterly boring if you refuse.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Well, now I don’t feel pressured at all.”
“Good, I didn’t want you to.” He winked. “I’ve been contacting the alphas in New England. We are going to get together and talk about the Canidae problem.”
Mira nodded. “I remember you mentioning something about that.”
“Come with me. Please,” he said kissing her hand again. “It’s going to take a few days at least and I just don’t think I can go that long without you around.”
She frowned. “Are you sure it would be ok for me to attend?”
“I don’t see why not. You are pack after all.”
Mira blinked a few times and then smiled a little. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“So that’s a yes?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
Owen yanked her hand and pulled her down on top of him. “Good.”
*****
“Where are we going?” Lee asked hesitantly as Vince drove out of her neighborhood.
Three times that day she had contacted him to cancel. Each time his response was “I’ll see you at six.” She had planned on not bothering to get ready. When he showed up she’d be in sweats and dirty hair. It would serve him right since she had already canceled. But when she played it out in her head, Vince wouldn’t bat an eye at her appearance and would whisk her out to some nice restaurant where she would look like a woman he pulled off the street and invited to dinner. So she showered and dressed, and re-dressed twice more. Then she canceled again and when he said he was leaving in a few minutes to pick her up, she took a shot of whiskey and sucked it up.
Lee looked over to find him grinning at her. “You’ll see.”
She should have taken another shot before she left.
“You look beautiful,” he said and Lee turned her head toward the window. Compliments weren’t easy for her to accept.
Vince drove out of Andora and Lee found that it was easier to breathe outside of the town limits. She even smiled a little.
“How are you feeling?” He looked much better. A full night of rest with the pack bond open and streaming had done wonders to his appearance.
“Like a new man, all thanks to you.”
Again with the compliments. She wouldn’t survive the night if he kept it up.
“Lee.” He had put his hand over top of hers. It wasn’t that they had never touched before, she had touched him plenty of times in the last twenty-four hours. But they had never touched in a way that wasn’t medical. This was personal.
“Relax,” he said easily. “It’s just dinner and some conversation. Nothing we haven’t done a million times together on-line.”
He was right. This wasn’t anything new for them. The face to face part was but even that wasn’t new. Lee smiled and settled into her seat. Vince kept his hand on hers and curled his fingers so he was holding her hand.
The restaurant was another ten minutes down the road. In that time, she had twisted her hand around and linked her fingers with his. He had turned on the radio and hummed along. She had been caught staring at him. And he had squeezed her hand, silently telling her that he liked when she looked at him.
It was a little Mexican place far from Andora where no one knew them. Lee had ordered enchiladas while Vince ordered one of every taco variety they offered. Her watermelon margarita had her loosening up and soon they were laughing and talking like they did on-line. It was amazing how once the threat of being known was gone, she could just be herself. Lee hadn’t laughed so hard in years. He kept telling her stories of growing up in his old pack. Vince had a sister but it was his horde of cousins who kept his life interesting. When he was a toddler, his sister Elise and cousin Kendra adopted him and kept him as their doll. They would dress him up and paint his toes. He, of course, had thought this was great fun since they were paying attention to him but years later when pictures of him in a frilly yellow dress and matching heels would surface, compliments of his cousins Charlie and Denver, he would find that their attention had not been worth it.
“Why did you leave?” she asked. “You miss them. I can hear it in your voice.”
“I do. I miss all of them but I needed to make my own way. Living in that pack I was too easily lost. I needed out, at least for a little while.”
“How did you end up here?” Lee had finished off the last of her margarita and silently refused a refill when the waitress caught sight of her glass. She didn’t need the liquid confidence anymore.
Vince leaned back in his seat with a smile. “Elise and Jenny were college roommates. When I told her what I planned on doing she wasn’t happy. To put her mind at ease I agreed to come here where Jenny could watch over me. Not to mention Sam, he may be human but he’s still family.”
Lee’s eyes had all but bulged from her head. “You knew Jenny?”
He shook his head with a laugh. “Everyone is always surprised when they find out I knew her. I’ve been part of this pack for a few years now, you know. Jenny is the one who convinced Owen to let me in.”
“I had no idea.” At one point Lee and Jenny had been best friends. Tyson hadn’t been the only one to lose her that day. She hadn’t realized Jenny’s reach until just now. “Why did you stay so hidden those first few years? People forget you were part of the pack back then because they never saw you.”
“Still figuring out how to live on my own,” he said with a shrug. “It was new to me and I liked the seclusion. It was Jenny who got me out of hiding.” The smile fell from his face as he thought about it. Lee had also subdued. It was still too soon for many of them to talk about her.
Lee reached across the table and placed her hand on his. When he looked up, surprised, she smiled in an attempt to have him continue. “What did she do?”
“It’s not exactly date approved conversation,” he warned.
Well, that sounded ominous. “It’s ok.”
He sighed, turned his hand around and linked his fingers with hers so she couldn't pull away no matter what he said next. “Jenny had a thing for me. It was just a crush and I never returned the feelings but she tried pretty hard to get me to go out with her. But she was my sister’s friend and that is just a big fat no in the book of “How to be a Good Brother.” I was harsh the last time I turned her down, probably too harsh. It’s my fault she went running to Jack.”
“Vince…”
“No, it is. She knew I thought the guy to be scum. Jenny was trying to get back at me for turning her down and thought that seeing her with him would aggravate me.”
“Which it did,” Lee supplied.
“Of course it did! He was an asshole. She deserved better but by the time I got off my high horse and went to talk to her, she was already in too deep with him. She had lost weight and was more tired than I had ever seen her before, and I remember her during finals in college. She was scared. We didn’t end up talking that
day. I just comforted her in silence as I waited for her to tell me what was wrong and how I could fix it. She never told me. But when Jack got to her place I saw the fear in her eyes.”
Lee squeezed his hand when he tried to move it. He looked down and smirked. “I waited too long to go to Tyson. He was off with another pack as acting enforcer and I waited till he got back. Just because I knew Jenny didn’t mean I knew Tyson. I talked myself out of calling him because I wasn’t sure how to be the guy Tyson had only met once or twice telling him that his sister was fearful of her boyfriend.”
Lee knew the signs of guilt and self-pity. She knew what he was feeling right now. “It’s not your fault,” she said. “We all saw it back then. She tried telling each of us she was close to but never got the words out. I did the same thing as you and waited to tell him till he got back. I should have told Owen at the very least but we were in a good place and I didn’t want to ruin that at the time.”
“I hate to admit that being the only one who didn’t do anything does make me feel better.”
Jenny’s fate was a tragedy but no one person was at fault. “It was up to Jenny to tell someone she needed help. All we could do was assume what was going on.”
They sat in relative silence for a moment. Their hands still linked and Vince was stroking the back of hers with his thumb. The restaurant had cleared out. There were a few people at the bar but they were the only ones in their corner.
“Do you want to go for a walk?” Vince asked as she had let her mind and eyes drift around the room. When she looked back he was watching her intently, probably had been for some time.
“Yeah, sure.”
Vince pulled a few bills from his wallet and left them on the table. He stood and offered a hand to Lee. She took it with no hesitation and never let go of it. It was such a natural gesture to wrap her hand around his.
They left the restaurant and Vince directed her down the street to a small park. They strolled and looked in the windows of the closed shops. Lee had never stopped in this town, there were dozens of them all around the area, each one just like Andora.
On the Edge (Adirondack Pack Book 3) Page 14