A heavy sense of dread washed over her. “Wait here,” she commanded before going to find Dr. Murphey.
Thankfully, it took her two seconds to hunt him down at the nurses’ station.
“Did you release room eight?” she interrupted.
The doctor looked away from the nurse he had been speaking to and frowned. “Eight? No.” He looked around. “Where’s Scott?”
“He’s in room four,” someone at the desk answered.
“As soon as he comes out, I’ll ask…”
Siya didn’t wait for Dr. Murphey to finish his sentence before turning and sprinting back to Vance and Vaughn. She already knew that Scott wouldn’t know where his patient was. Monica had fled and taken Emery with her.
“They’re gone,” Siya told the two cat-shifters.
“Shit,” Vaughn said. “Let’s hit the parking lot.” He looked down at Siya. “Is there another way out?”
She shrugged. “I mean, yes. It’s a hospital.”
“Fuck.”
“But I’m assuming they parked in the ER parking lot, so it’s still your best bet,” she said.
Vaughn snapped his fingers. “Right.”
The three of them walked toward the waiting room as quickly as they could without drawing attention to themselves and briefly updated Ram and Saxon.
The five of them headed toward the parking lot.
Or at least, Siya tried to. She made it as far as the sidewalk out front before someone grabbed her arm and hauled her back.
She already knew who it was.
Turning around, she used her eyes to throw daggers at Ram. “Excuse me.”
“You are not going out there. You could get hurt.”
Siya shook her arm. “Who cares? That young girl is already hurt. And it’s my fault they left.”
Ram’s grip didn’t budge, so she did the only thing she could think of to get a strong vampire who outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds to let her go.
No one was around, so she kneed him in the balls.
“Motherfucker.” Ram’s free hand flew to his crotch, and the one holding her loosened just enough for her to get free.
Siya didn’t wait for Ram to regain his senses. She took off in a direction that the other three hadn’t gone in. Emery had to still be there. Siya hadn’t been in the waiting room that long. Monica would have had to pull out the IVs and help the girl get dressed. They had to still be in the parking lot. They just had to.
She got to the end of a row, meeting up with Vance, but she didn’t see any movement in any of the cars.
“I didn’t find them,” she told the alpha.
“Me neither.”
The sound of heavy breathing startled her, and she spun around to find one angry yellow-eyed vampire zeroing in on her.
He winced every few steps, and when he reached her, he snatched up her hand and leaned close. “You are going to pay for that later.”
Siya raised her eyebrow and looked him up and down. “If you think I’m scared of you, you’re wrong. I know you won’t hurt me.”
“I never said I was going to hurt you. You are going to apologize to my dick and nuts with your mouth.”
She gasped, but Ram twisted them to face the hospital, ignoring her.
“I’m taking her back inside, where she’ll be safe,” he told Vance. “We shouldn’t be out in the open like this.”
A shiver traveled down her spine at the realization they were basically sitting ducks where they stood. She didn’t want to admit it to Ram, but she wanted to go back inside. Or at least, place herself between the cars again. She could hide there if she had to.
“Good idea,” Vance said. “I’ll catch up with—”
Suddenly, as if appearing out of nowhere, a car was headed straight for them, high beams on.
Ram quickly lifted Siya into his arms and bolted out of the way.
As it sped past, she felt the air brush her cheeks. There was no doubt how close it had been to them.
The car didn’t wait to see if it had done any damage. It flew out of the parking lot and turned the first corner, out of sight.
Siya wiggled. “Let me down. We need to check on Vance.”
“Shit.” Ram released her and rushed to the last spot they had seen Vance standing. “Sir,” he called out. “Sir.”
“Over here.” Vance stood up and slapped the dirt off of his shirt and pants.
“Are you okay?” Siya asked when she reached him, the nurse in her taking charge.
The older man winced. “My knee is a little sore, but I will be okay.”
Siya breathed a sigh of relief. She was worried he’d hit his head. Shifter or not, he was not invincible.
Vaughn and Saxon came running over.
“Dad, are you okay?” Vaughn sounded scared.
“Yes, I am fine.”
“He said his knee is causing him pain,” Siya informed Vaughn.
Vaughn slapped a hand over his chest. “Thank God. I was scared shitless for a second.”
Vance cleared his throat, as if embarrassed. “Enough about me. Did anyone get a license plate number, make, model, anything?”
“Minnesota plate, started with a Y. Dark blue or black sedan. But that’s all I got,” Ram said. He looked down at Siya. “What about you?”
She was ashamed that she hadn’t even thought to look, and she simply shook her head.
“It’s something,” Vance said.
“Reid’s going to be busy,” Saxon said.
Speaking of busy, Siya gasped. “Crap, I need to get back inside. I didn’t even tell anyone where I was going.” She met the eyes of all four men in front of her, except for Ram—she just looked in the general area of his face. “I’m sorry I wasn’t much help.” She was going to beat herself up over this for a long time. There were so many things she could have done differently to keep Monica from sneaking Emery out of the hospital. Now, the poor girl still had to suffer. “I highly doubt that Monica will come back, but if she does, I will let you know.”
All four men tilted their heads to the side, as if she had suddenly turned into a shifter herself.
“Siya, you need to come with us,” Ram said. “You’re not going back into that hospital, nor are you going home tonight.”
Five
Chase Hemming reached for the door handle to head downstairs to speak to his alpha when his best friend and roommate stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.
“You heading down?” Ranulf asked.
“Yeah. Do you want me to wait?”
Ranulf lifted a shoulder as he grabbed a pair of jeans out of his dresser. “Whatever. I’ll be down soon after if you don’t want to wait.” His towel dropped, but he didn’t make any move to hide his naked body.
As shifters, they got naked all the time before shifting so as not to ruin all their clothes. He’d seen almost all of his housemates naked, although he always made sure to turn his eyes away from his alpha’s mate. Damien was a levelheaded guy and an excellent alpha, but nobody messed with a shifter’s mate.
Tonight though, seeing Ranulf’s naked ass made Chase think of sex. But not in the way one would think.
Chase and Ranulf had what most people would probably consider a bromance. They were very close and liked to spend most of their time together, to the point where they liked sharing a bedroom. They also liked sharing women. There was a time Chase had wished he were attracted to Ranulf because then his life would be complete. But he didn’t see Ranulf that way, and Ranulf didn’t see him that way.
They’d tried, but the chemistry wasn’t there.
And while they did have solo partners, his best sexual encounters included the two of them fucking the same woman. There was just something about making a female come over and over again with your best friend.
Lately, Ranulf and he had been fucking their housemate and fellow sentinel, Raven. But it had been a few days, which was why he was thinking about sex.
“Have you spoken to Raven
?”
Ranulf was finished dressing at this point. “No,” he said with disappointment.
“She’s getting close. Yet she hasn’t said anything to us.”
“I know.”
Both their phones dinged.
“That’s probably Damien,” Chase said. “We’ll have to talk to Raven after we find out why he called us home so early tonight.”
The two went downstairs and found their alpha in the living room with only Quentin and Hunter.
Chase gave them both a look that said, Do you know what’s going on?
The two shook their heads slightly. They were as clueless as he and Ranulf were.
Damien walked in and began to fill them in on what had happened earlier in the night. Both Chase and Ranulf had experience with Monica. They had attempted to go on a double date—with Ranulf and Raven being a couple and Chase being Monica’s date—but she had figured out that he didn’t like her. She had ended up drugging Raven, Ranulf, and him and ditching them. But they’d had to pretend like they hadn’t known what she had done so as not to make her suspicious, which didn’t really matter since she’d been missing for a week until she turned up tonight.
“Did you send Raven ahead of us?” Ranulf asked.
“No. She’s too close to her heat. She’s leaving for her parents’ in the morning. We can’t risk it.”
Chase’s shoulders relaxed. He hadn’t realized he’d been worried about her until he thought of her going alone, even with the cat-shifters there.
“I didn’t send anyone,” Damien said. “With Kendall out, Zane back with the cats, and me…” Damien smiled. “Well, Payton’s pregnant, and I can’t risk leaving her and our child now.”
Chase blinked in surprise. “Congrats, man.” He was shocked they knew already. Her heat must have just happened when they were away from the house last week.
“Thanks.” Damien beamed. “I know it seems early, but all the signs are there.”
Ranulf slapped their alpha on the shoulder. “We’re happy for you.”
Chase, Quentin, and Hunter nodded in agreement.
“Thanks. But we’re getting off topic. You’re the only four I have left, and that’s why I called you home.”
“Do you need us to get over there?” Quentin asked.
“No. Monica already got away.” Damien filled them in on what he’d been informed of just before they came downstairs. “But, Quentin and Hunter, I want you both to be available to help the cats with this in whatever way they need. Vance understands we’re down sentinels and has agreed to take point on this.”
“And us?” Ranulf asked.
Damien looked at him and Chase. “I’m giving you two the next few days off.”
The two best friends quickly met each other’s eyes before looking back at their alpha.
“What for?” Chase asked.
“You know.” He lifted his chin toward the stairs. “Now, why don’t you go check on Raven?”
With the meeting over, Quentin and Hunter got ready to leave the house again while Chase and Ranulf went upstairs.
When they reached the top, Chase put his hand on Ranulf’s arm. “Are we sure we should be doing this?”
“Is it not what you want?”
At one point, the two of them had joked about this very thing, but now, the reality of it made it much more…real.
Still, even with that, Chase said, “It’s what I want more than anything.”
“Me, too. So, that means we should probably go and talk to her.”
They walked to Raven’s room and knocked lightly on the door.
“Raven?” Ranulf said, but there was silence on the other side.
“Raven?” Chase asked again.
Nothing.
“Open it,” Chase said.
Ranulf carefully turned the knob and slowly pushed open the door. But there was no reason to be cautious. The room was empty.
“What the hell? Did she leave without telling anyone?” Chase asked.
“She must have. Let’s check.”
They went back to find Damien, who was in his office.
“Raven’s not in her room. Did she tell you she was leaving early?” Chase asked.
The alpha frowned. “No. Hold on.” He pulled out his phone from his pocket and looked at it. “She didn’t text or call.” He hit a few buttons, and suddenly, the phone was ringing on speaker.
“This is Raven.”
“Where are you?” Damien asked.
She sighed. “I left early to go to my parents’ house. Since I wasn’t of any use at home, I figured I might as well get settled here.”
“You didn’t tell anyone you were leaving.”
“Sorry. I didn’t think it mattered.”
“Well, it does. You didn’t leave without saying anything because you’re still pissed, aren’t you?”
“No. You were right, Damien. I wouldn’t be of any help to anyone right now.”
His brow furrowed. “That’s good to hear that you understand. Next time, let me know where you are, please. Something could have happened to you.”
Raven barked out a laugh even though the situation wasn’t funny.
“Raven,” Damien said with a tone.
“Yes, I will let you know next time. And, Damien, will you keep me updated on what is going on with Monica?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ll see you in a few days,” Damien said.
Chase looked at Ranulf. Shouldn’t Damien give her the information about what had happened with Monica?
Damien hit End and tossed his phone down on his desk.
“Why didn’t you tell her?” Ranulf asked.
“Because she doesn’t need to worry about this. She needs to get through her heat.” Damien raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you agree?”
“Yes. Yes,” Chase and Ranulf said.
“Okay.” Their alpha laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “What the hell are you two still doing here then?”
Six
Raven’s parents’ house was peacefully quiet or eerily calm, depending on how she looked at it. It was nice that she wouldn’t have to bother anyone with her mating heat, but when she was used to living in a house full of people, the emptiness was kind of lonely. Even her parents weren’t around. They arranged a vacation every six months, so she could use their home when she went through her mating heat, and she knew she was lucky to have such a supportive family.
The first thing she did was check the food situation. They always stocked their refrigerator, freezer, and cupboards with food that was easy to make or heat, knowing that she wouldn’t be in the best shape to cook.
Next, she went to her old bedroom and set her bag down on the bed. Her mom always washed the sheets, so they would be fresh and ready for her even though she didn’t have to. And her dad always brought in the TV from their bedroom, so she would have something to occupy her mind.
Opening up her bag, she started to unpack. She’d brought clothes even though they were usually not used. She grew too hot, and clothing made her feel restricted.
Next, she set out her meds on the nightstand. She always brought sleeping pills, pain meds, and muscle relaxers. If she could bring Propofol and knock herself out for a few days, that would be ideal, but it wasn’t possible.
Hoping a shower would help wash off some of her resentment about not being able to go after Monica, she went to the bathroom. But that was as far as she made it before there was a knock at the front door.
Her parents lived at the end of a cul-de-sac with trees that lined the rear of their backyard. It let her parents shift and run around without anyone seeing them. However, they still lived close to other neighbors, one of whom had been having a party when she pulled up. Raven figured that someone had seen her car and wanted to invite her over. The whole street was way too friendly sometimes.
But when she opened the door, she was surprised to see Ranulf and Chase standing ther
e with a pizza box.
“What are you two doing here?” she asked.
Chase lifted the box. “We brought pizza.”
“I can see that, but why did you come? Shouldn’t you be out, working?”
“Damien told us about Monica but said the cats have it handled. And he told us about you taking off. We came to check on you,” Ranulf explained.
A sliver of disappointment went through her, and she wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe because she didn’t want Chase or Ranulf to feel sorry for her.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I was mad, but I’m okay.” She shrugged. “Life, ya know. Sometimes, it gets in the way.”
Chase nodded. “Good, good. But how about you let us in?”
She stepped back, so they could come inside, and she closed the door. She should have known they wouldn’t leave.
Chase set the pizza down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch like he’d been there before. Ranulf sat down next to him.
“I’ll get you some plates,” Raven said and headed to the kitchen.
“Thanks,” Chase said to her back.
She opted for paper plates, so she didn’t have to worry about dishes, and when she came back, the two wolves both had their feet up and the television on. The couch they were on had two reclining seats with a built-in table in the middle. Her parents had bought it for themselves ages ago, but it looked like it had been built for the two males who had taken over the place.
Raven set the plates on the pizza box. “There you go.”
Ranulf looked up at her as he lowered his seat to grab some food. “Aren’t you going to eat with us?”
She didn’t really want the males to stay, but the pizza did smell good. “One piece.”
She took her own slice and sat down on the adjacent chair. She hoped if she humored them, they would take off soon. She wanted to shower and go to bed, and she didn’t feel like being a hostess right now. These last few hours were the only ones she had left before she felt miserable for the next couple of days.
She gave them a half hour before she interrupted the action movie they’d found to watch. Standing, she said, “I’m going to take a shower and head to bed.”
Forbidden Hunger (Forbidden #8): Siya & Ram Page 3