Raven had her back to them but didn’t turn around or say anything when they entered. It looked like she was dishing up their food, but it still seemed odd.
“Your dad’s neighbor took the hedge trimmer. I told him he could use it for a few days,” Ranulf informed her.
“Thank you,” she said, keeping her back to them.
When she did turn around, she had a completely fake smile on her face as she slid the food across to both of them.
It gave Ranulf weird Stepford Wife vibes.
She sat down with them and picked at her food, which was also odd. It had been some time since she’d last eaten, and they’d had a lot of sex.
Maybe she was worried.
“We didn’t hurt him, Raven,” Ranulf offered.
“We didn’t even warn him away from you,” Chase said.
This only made her seem more upset.
“No one is going to suspect anything,” Ranulf said. “You don’t have to worry that your parents will be found out.”
She glanced up at him but didn’t meet his eyes. “That’s good.” She turned back to her food and basically stuffed it all in her mouth.
“Wow. Slow down,” Chase said, reaching out his hand to her. “It’s okay. Everything is good.”
Raven jumped up from her seat before he could, and Chase gave Ranulf a what the hell is going on look.
“What’s wrong?” Ranulf asked.
Raven didn’t answer. She went to the sink, rinsed her plate off, and stuck it in the dishwasher. But once she closed the lid, he noticed her brace her shoulders. Whatever she was about to say, it wasn’t going to be good.
She slowly pivoted on her heel. “I think…” She closed her eyes momentarily. “I think that you guys need to—”
She didn’t get to finish because she fell forward onto the counter and cried out in pain. Her scent exploded all over the room.
The next wave of her heat was here.
Ranulf and Chase scrambled off their stools, both of them kicking off their pants as fast as they could.
Ranulf reached her first and pulled her shorts down to her knees.
“Ready?” he asked.
She didn’t respond at first, but as another contraction hit her, she nodded, and Ranulf pushed himself inside her sweet, silky heat.
Eighteen
Siya finished combing her wet hair and exited the bathroom. On her way to the main room, she walked by Ram’s bedroom. He was on his phone, and his computer was open.
He didn’t notice her, and she didn’t try to get his attention because what she really wanted to do was talk to Demi. She did notice that the makeshift bed she had lain on last night was now a pile of folded items in the corner of the room before she continued on past.
“Hey, Siya,” Demi said with a smile when Siya walked out of the hallway. Demi was in the kitchen, cutting what appeared to be a fresh loaf of bread.
“Don’t hey me.” Siya narrowed her eyes and tried to sound mad, but it was hard to be angry with her best friend. “You were supposed to protect me. Not put me in bed with Ram.” She walked over and took a stool at the counter.
Demi put her knife down. “I am so sorry. Saxon came home early, and I was still next door, finding you that bedding. He moved you without asking me first. And when I went to check on you, I thought about waking you up, but you were sleeping so soundly. I didn’t have the heart.” She stuck out her lower lip. “Do you hate me?”
“No.” Siya snagged a piece of bread from the cutting board. “I am a little mad at your mate though.”
Demi put her hand to her chest. “Whew. I was worried.”
She laughed. “You’re not at all concerned that I am upset with Saxon?”
Demi picked up her knife and shrugged. “Eh. He can take care of himself.”
Siya scanned the kitchen and living room for signs of other life. She noticed they were the only two in the room, but that didn’t mean others weren’t in the house. She didn’t want anyone to eavesdrop when she told Demi what had happened last night. She also had a question for her friend.
“Where is Saxon? And everybody else?”
“Um…let’s see. Most are working, but Reid is in his room on his computer, like always. Saxon is sleeping.” A glint shone in her eye. “He’s a tired boy after this morning.”
Siya snorted.
“And Ram’s in his room, I assume,” Demi finished. “Why? Did you need something?”
“I just wanted to talk to you alone.”
Demi grinned. “Ooh. Let me put this bread away, and then we can grab coffee and go outside to sit on the porch.”
“Works for me.” Siya really needed that coffee.
A few minutes later, they stepped outside with their mugs and sat down.
Demi took a drink of her coffee, watching Siya over her cup. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Can you smell when I’m fertile or when I’m on my period? Stuff like that?”
Demi blinked a couple of times. “That is not what I thought you were going to ask me.”
“I like to surprise you sometimes,” Siya joked. “We can’t have our relationship getting stale.”
Demi laughed. “True, true.” She took another drink. “To answer your question, yes, I can tell those things. I guess I kind of thought you knew because I would sometimes say stuff to you about it.”
“I thought you were just noticing how much of a bitch I was before my period.”
Demi laughed again. “You are not now and never have been a bitch.”
Siya lifted her mug. “Cheers to that.”
“Why are you wondering this?” Demi asked.
“I probably don’t need to tell you this since you have a super sniffer, but Ram and I had sex last night.”
Demi’s eyes widened.
“You didn’t know?”
“Okay, first, I am only half-shifter, so my nose isn’t that good. It’s nothing compared to Saxon’s and the other shifters’. It’s not even as good as the vampires’. And when I said I can smell when your hormones fluctuate, I mean, you, as in you, Siya. Not as in all people. I need to be physically close to someone to notice those things, whereas Saxon knows I’m in heat before we’re in the same room together. Part of that is because I’m his mate, but it’s also because his sense of smell is amazing. And two, you just got out of the shower. You smell like body wash and shampoo.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense.”
Demi wiggled her eyebrows and leaned close. “But tell me…was it good?”
Siya stuck her nose in the air and took a sip of her coffee with her pinkie out. “My dear, I do not kiss and tell.”
“Bullshit.”
Siya laughed. “Yes, it was good. Not that I would expect anything less from Ram.”
“I knew it.”
“You’d better not let your mate hear you talk like that, or he’s going to be jealous.”
“Saxon?” Demi asked sarcastically. “Are we talking about the same individual? Surely, you must be speaking of some less contemporary male.”
“I know it’s not very modern of me, but I love how possessive he is of you.” Siya shivered. “It’s so sexy.”
Demi cocked her head. “Hey now. That possessiveness goes both ways.”
“Noted.”
“But why did you ask about the hormone stuff?” Demi asked, moving on. She knew that Siya didn’t really want her man.
“Oh yeah. I brought up birth control, and Ram said we didn’t need to worry about it. That he can smell if I’m ovulating. I wasn’t sure if it was true or not. Or if it was the vampire equivalent to I’ll pull out. You’ll be fine.” Siya held up her hand. “Not that I think Ram is like that, but I didn’t know if he’d overestimated his skills.”
“Nah, it’s true.” Demi looked off into the distance. “Can you imagine all the unwanted pregnancies that could be prevented if humans had a better sense of smell?” She wrinkled her nose. “Mother Nature really fucked that up, didn’t
she?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“So, what does this mean for you and Ram?”
Siya rubbed her head. “Nothing, I’m sure. I don’t know if I want it to mean anything. When I think about it, my head hurts.”
“Are you going to sleep with him again?”
“Sleep with who?”
Both women jumped in their seats and turned to see Saxon standing in the doorway in only a pair of shorts. Siya hadn’t even heard it open, and while she would never try to steal her friend’s man, she wasn’t blind, so she obviously noticed how attractive he was without a shirt.
“Never you mind,” Demi said teasingly.
Saxon walked outside and over to his mate. He easily lifted her off her seat and sat down with Demi on his lap. Once she was cuddled up to him, he took her mug and drank out of it.
Siya tried not to sigh at how cute they were together.
“Demi was referring to Ram.” Siya narrowed her eyes. “Thanks for putting me in bed with him yesterday.”
“You’re welcome.”
“That was sarcasm. I didn’t mean it.”
Saxon shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. You two are going to end up together anyway.”
“That’s a pretty big assumption.”
“Saxon’s good at that though,” Demi pointed out. “He knew that Phoenix and Dante were going to be mates before they were.”
“Hmm,” Siya said doubtfully. “No offense, Saxon, but you didn’t see you and Demi together until it smacked you in the face.”
Demi’s mouth dropped open like she couldn’t believe Siya had said that.
Saxon tugged Demi closer and pointed a finger at Siya. “I like you, human. I can see why Demi keeps you around.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Saxon laughed and nuzzled Demi’s neck.
He must have said something because Demi smacked his arm. “Not right now.”
Siya raised her brow at her friend.
Demi shook her head. “You don’t want to know.”
Siya was about to signal to Demi that she could tell her more later, after Saxon wasn’t around, when they heard a sound coming from the main house.
Vance walked out the back door and headed in their direction.
Saxon gently moved Demi off his lap and stood.
“Morning, Saxon. Morning, ladies,” Vance said.
“Something we can help you with?” Saxon asked.
“Reid called. He asked me to come over.”
Nineteen
Ram heard commotion in the main room, so he closed his computer and left his room.
He immediately sought out Siya to make sure she was okay. Even though she was his responsibility to protect, he sensed that she needed some time without him in her space. He used his blood connection with her to make sure she wasn’t in any danger and left her alone.
Once he confirmed that Siya was safe and okay, his eyes turned to Reid.
“Reid,” Saxon yelled, and the redheaded shifter came out of his room.
“What’s the news?” Vance asked Reid as Ram went over to Siya and stood behind her.
“Monica called and quit the after-school program. She didn’t use her own phone, but I got the number, and I was able to track the location of where she is.” Reid grinned at the announcement of his news and handed a piece of paper to Vance. “It’s an apartment building, so I can’t pinpoint which apartment, but it’s a start.”
“We need to get over there—now,” Saxon said.
“Reid, I need you to call everyone who isn’t here and send them to this address.”
“I can go,” Saxon said.
“I need you to stay here with Ram,” Vance said. “No point in having someone else come home and you leaving.”
“Understood.” Saxon looked disappointed, but he didn’t argue.
“I need to take care of some things in my office,” Vance said. “Keep me updated on any changes.”
“Will do,” Reid said, and then Vance said good-bye.
Once the alpha was gone, Demi walked over to Saxon and wrapped her hand around his arm. “Are you bored, being here?”
He looked at her and smiled. “When you’re around, never. But I would like to find that bitch and her brother.”
“Same. At least you’ll have a chance if they don’t find her today,” Demi said.
“Brother?” Siya asked. “I feel like I’m missing something.”
“What do you know about Monica?” Ram asked.
“Just what was told to me at the hospital.”
“Basically,” Reid chimed in, “Monica Dahl was recruiting girls from an after-school program to be sex workers for her. A wolf-shifter teen went missing, and that’s how Damien and the wolf-shifter sentinels were brought in. Around the same time, it was also discovered that there was an illegal fighting ring going on. What we all didn’t know was that the two males who ran the fighting ring were Monica’s brothers. We found out when one of them died.”
Siya gasped.
“Wayne Dahl was killed the night before Raven, a wolf-shifter sentinel, rescued two teens from the after-school program. We’re pretty sure it’s all connected because Wayne died at the site of a fight. There haven’t been any fights since that night, and Monica disappeared. No one has seen her or Frank, the other brother, since then.”
“How do you know all this?” Ram asked. He didn’t even have all these details.
“It’s my job,” Reid said.
That made sense.
“Anyway, Monica had taken time off from the after-school program, but as of today, she quit.”
“My guess is, it’s because she was sighted at the hospital. She knows we’re onto her for sure now,” Ram said.
Siya shivered. “I hope they find her.”
Ram frowned. He understood where Siya was coming from, but if that happened, she would just leave and return home. He didn’t want that.
“I don’t want to sit around here and wait all day to hear something,” Saxon said.
“You could take Siya and me somewhere,” Demi said. “We haven’t gone shopping in ages.”
“Absolutely not,” Ram said a little too firmly.
All eyes turned to him.
“I can’t go outside.”
“You went outside yesterday,” Demi pointed out.
“Which is why I shouldn’t do it again.”
“What if we went to a movie?” Demi said. “It’s dark in there. We could pick you up and drop you off at the doors.” She put her head on Saxon’s shoulder. “Please tell Ram he needs to go to the movies.”
“I’m not his boss,” Saxon said at the same time Ram said, “He’s not my boss.”
Siya put her hands up. “It’s fine. We’ll stay here. No need to take an unnecessary risk.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she sighed. “But is there somewhere I can go and be alone?”
Not only did she appear distressed, but he could also sense it in her blood, so before Ram could think about it, he opened his mouth and said, “Fine. We can go to a movie.”
Saxon narrowed his eyes at Ram. “Speak for yourself.”
Demi pumped her fist in the air and yelled, “Yes.”
Ram looked at Saxon. “Too late. If I’m going, you’re going.”
The movie ended up being not that bad. The females had taken pity on Ram and Saxon and picked a comedy they all could enjoy. It had helped pass the time because when they got home, there still wasn’t any news about the Monica search.
But unfortunately for Ram, being outside two days in a row meant he needed to feed. Siya’s blood had been like a little treat to him last night, but he needed something stronger. He needed vampire blood.
Once they were back, he excused himself, went to his room, and closed the door. He pulled out his cell and called a friend.
“Hello?”
“Bianca? It’s Ram.”
“Hey you.”
“Hey.”
“You need me to come over?”
&n
bsp; “Yeah.”
“Tonight?”
He didn’t want to be demanding, but he feared that if Siya’s life was in danger, he wouldn’t be much use to her or her safety until after he fed. “If that works for you?”
If she said no, he had other friends he could call, but Bianca was usually his go-to person. They’d known each other since they were little, and he trusted her.
“I can be there right after dark. How does that sound?”
“Perfect.”
“See you then.”
Feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Ram left his room and joined the others.
Twenty
Ram had been acting weird since they’d gotten back from the movie. He had gone to his room and shut the door as soon as they walked in, and after he’d come back out, he had been keeping his distance from her. Yet he hardly let her out of his sight.
He was overly worried about her being hurt by Monica but unconcerned with the fact that he was practically acting like they hadn’t slept together last night.
And people think women are confusing.
It was feeling like the night he’d rejected her again, but this time, it was worse because they’d done more than kiss.
Siya tried to ignore Ram and his brooding, instead focusing her attention on Demi, but as soon as the sun set, Ram got up from his seat and started pacing.
At first, she thought that it was because he was worried that none of the sentinels had checked in, but when they finally reported that there’d been no sign of Monica or her brother, he didn’t let up.
“Why don’t they keep looking?” Siya asked.
“Because they went on every floor, asking questions and digging around for information. They covered every inch of that place. It’s one thing to do it during the day, but it’s another to do it at night. That’s when the police are more likely to get called for suspicious activity,” Saxon explained. “Besides, there wasn’t anywhere else to check. She wasn’t there.”
“Did they knock on every door?” Siya asked.
Saxon looked at her like she was nuts. “No. Again, the police would have been called.”
Forbidden Hunger (Forbidden #8): Siya & Ram Page 9