“I would tell her,” Marcun told him.
“I just finished speaking to Crista. She sounded upset.”
“What did she say?”
“That she was tired. Her mom had a bad day.”
“No wonder she’s tired. She’s got to deal with a lot. As well as earning a living, she’s got her mom to take care of, and her dickhead boss.”
He stiffened. “Her boss is a dickhead because he wants her to find a way to get his client in?”
Eden immediately took a step back. “Umm, yep. That’s what I mean. I have to go. I’m pregnant. I need to lie down.”
“Freeze,” he thundered.
“You will not raise your voice to my mate,” Marcun told him.
Eden sighed and turned around. “You raise your voice to me all the time.”
“Not while you are pregnant.”
She just shook her head. “I can’t tell you Nax. I promised Crista I wouldn’t.”
“If it is something that affects Crista, I need to know. I am her mate.”
“He is right, Eden,” Marcun added. “If it was something that affected you I would not be happy if I was not told.”
“I know, but I can’t just go around revealing secrets. And he’s not even in town so it’s not like he’s near her or anything.”
“What. Is. It?” His heart beat frantically and he just knew he would not like what she was going to say.
“He’s an asshole, all right?”
“What do you mean?” He needed her to tell him it all.
“He told Crista that unless she secured this house for his clients she was either fired or…”
“Or?” Marcun prompted with a frown.
Eden grimaced. “You are not going to like this.”
He already did not like this.
“Or she could do him some favors to keep her job. In fact, he suggested that in order to sell more houses she could give out lots of favors to clients as well.”
“What sort of favors?” he asked.
“Like running errands or something?” Marcun asked.
“Like blow jobs.” Eden’s face was bright red. “Jesus, I can’t believe I had to say that.”
Nax’s eyes widened, his body went still and then fury flooded him. His wings ripped through his shirt, his control shot.
“He wanted her to do WHAT?”
His packmates came running from different areas of the house. Marcun even pushed Eden behind him.
“What is going on?” Ioin asked. “Nax, your wings.”
He turned his glare on his pack leader. Then he made a low, growling noise. All of his packmates tensed, watching him.
“My mate. Mine.”
“No one is trying to take your mate,” Marcun told him.
“He dared.”
Eden peeked around Marcun’s shoulder. “She’s trying to find a new job. She doesn’t want to stay there. And remember, he’s not in town.”
It was the only thing stopping him from tracking him down and tearing him in two.
“Oh crap, you told him about her boss?” Frankie asked.
“It kind of just came out,” Eden replied. “I didn’t know he would freak out this much. What is he going to do?”
“Find her.” He moved towards the door.
Find her.
Mate her.
Mine.
Protect.
In the back of his mind he knew he was losing focus; his control was shot. His inner voice screamed that he shouldn’t be going outside like this. But that part of his brain wasn’t in control right now.
Crista.
Mate.
Mine.
“Nax. Wait.” Ioin’s commanding voice filled the hallway.
Nax froze. He couldn’t ignore that voice. Not even in this state. But he didn’t turn around.
“Is she in immediate danger?”
“No,” he gritted out.
“Then you cannot go to her like this.”
He swung around. “Mine.”
Ioin nodded. “Yours. No one will take her.”
“He wanted her.”
“But she didn’t want him, Nax,” Frankie told him. “She hates him. She would never go near him.”
He clenched his hand into fists. “Unacceptable.”
“Yep,” Frankie agreed. “But she has it handled. You storming over there like this.” She waved her hand up and down. “All you’re gonna do is scare her half to death. You have to play this smart, man. You don’t want to lose her because you’re acting like a crazy person. Plus, you know, there’s the whole wings thing.”
He breathed deeply. The instinct was still there. But that other part of his brain was making more of a headway. He threw his head back and roared.
“Old bat’s gonna love that,” Frankie muttered when he was finished.
“Should have told me.”
“Not our story to tell,” she replied.
“We urged her to tell you,” Eden added. “But she said she had to handle it. And that she was looking for a new job. If he was here we would have told you.”
“You kept something from him about his mate?” Ioin asked.
Frankie shot him a look. “She told us something in confidence. She wasn’t in immediate danger. We go blurting out everything she tells us, she won’t trust us.”
Ioin frowned at her. “This does not sound like something minor. Not to cause him to react like this.”
He tried to pull his wings back. His shirt was wrecked, in tatters. A little like his mind right now.
“She told you. Not me.” And he did not like that. Not at all.
“She needs to trust you,” Eden told him. “Crista isn’t used to accepting help. She’s got a lot going on and she is overwhelmed. She told us because she was relaxed and she’d had a few drinks. I don’t think she opens up easily. She’ll come to you about this stuff if you prove she can trust you.”
“My life was much simpler before humans,” he muttered, then stormed past them all and into his garage.
He needed time and space to bring himself back under control. He did not trust himself around Crista right now. He might be too tempted just to pick her up in his arms, fly her someplace quiet, and keep her there, naked, until she accepted her fate as his mate.
But apparently, that would be kidnapping. Urgh, human rules.
12
Crista walked up to her apartment door and pulled out her key. Her head was pounding and her stomach rumbled. Today hadn’t been a good day.
She hadn’t heard from Pervert Pete all day, and even though she didn’t want to feel this way, she found herself worried about him. But that wasn’t what made her day so completely miserable.
It was the fact she hadn’t heard from Nax. Had she done something wrong? It was only a day, she told herself. So what if she had seen or talked to him every day since that horrid date with Marc. He was busy.
Too busy to call?
You’re being too needy. You could have called him. Only, each time she’d picked up the phone, she’d hesitated. She’d thought that maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep some distance between them. That perhaps this was a good way to back off and have a breather. Things had become intense in a short space of time.
Maybe he’d realized that getting involved with her wasn’t a good option. Here he was, gorgeous, single, living in a huge house; he didn’t need her shit in his life. He’d probably wised up and figured out that he’d never have all of her.
She let out a deep breath. “Jesus, Crista, it’s been twenty-four hours since you heard from him and you’ve already got him running for the hills.”
She grabbed her key out of her bag and went to open the door, only to realize it was already open. Her heart started racing, panic filling her.
Please be there. Please be there.
She pushed the door open and stepped inside. No noise. No TV blasting, no sound of her mom humming some tune. She quickly ran over to the bedroom, opened the door. Not asleep.
“Mom! Mom!”
Oh God. Oh God.
She moved to the bathroom door, knocked on it once then opened it.
No. No.
She raced out of her apartment and to the apartment across the hall where Mrs. Johnson lived. She banged on the door.
Please be there. Please be there.
But she knew she wouldn’t be. Mrs. J never took her mom to her place. Said she couldn’t look after her as well there. That she was worried mom would get confused and agitated. She couldn’t blame her for that.
The older woman opened the door. Her face was streaked with tears, her usually tidy gray hair had pieces sticking out of her normal bun as though she’d been running her hands through it.
“Oh, Crista.”
“What is it? What’s the matter?”
“My daughter has had an accident. I need to get to Cincinnati. Help take care of my grandbabies.”
“I’m so sorry. Is she going to be okay?”
“The doctors are hopeful she will be. But she’s in surgery at the moment.”
“Mrs. J. I hate to ask when you’ve had a shock, but have you seen Mom?”
The other woman’s eyes opened wide. “She’s missing?”
“Yes. Have you been in to see her?”
“Yes, of course. I only got the phone call an hour ago when I was getting her something to eat for dinner. She’d finished eating and I was just tidying up and then I got the call and rushed over. And I…” Her eyes went even wider. “Oh, Crista, maybe I forgot to lock the door.”
The other woman looked so distraught that Crista reached out and clasped hold of her shoulder. “It’s all right. It’s fine. I’ll find her.”
“I’ll help you.”
“No. No, you have enough to do.”
“But Crista, you’ll need help.”
“I have help I can call on. I’ll be fine. Call me if you need anything.”
She raced back into her apartment, grabbed her handbag, and pulled out her cell phone. She hesitated for a moment. He hadn’t called. What if he didn’t want to hear from her?
Call me. Straight away. Understood?
Her fingers shook as she found his name in her contacts list. It was relatively small since this was her personal phone. What was the worst that could happen? He could say no? Or come and help her out of pity? That would suck more. But right now she’d take what help she could.
“Crista.”
His voice sounded a little hoarse. Off.
“Nax, Mom’s missing.”
“What?” Now, he sounded more alert. Had he been sleeping?”
“Mrs. Johnson forgot to lock the door and when I got home she was missing. I’m going to go look for her. You...you told me to call you?”
This was it. The moment when she found out if he’d really meant it all.
“I will be there soon. Wait for me.”
“I can’t wait for you. I have to get out there.”
“Wait for me,” he growled.
“No. If you have time to help me look that would be great. Call me on my phone when you’re close.”
“Crista, wait or you won’t be sitting for a week once I find you.”
She froze. What the hell?
“Don’t threaten me, Nax Clacka.”
“No threat. Promise. I will be there soon. Wait.” And then the bastard hung up on her.
He didn’t mean it. And even if he did mean it, she wasn’t letting that happen. She didn’t care that her body was kind of intrigued by the idea. That she could imagine going over those wide thighs with her ass bare…stop it! This wasn’t the time. She felt guilty as hell for even thinking about that when Mom was out there, wandering the streets alone. Jesus, what if Killer and his gang were out there and they found her?
No, it was early still. Surely, she would be all right. She glanced down at her watch, blanching as she realized it was ten already.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Nax could threaten whatever the hell he liked. She wasn’t waiting for him to get here. She moved into the bedroom and grabbed her sneakers, pulling her uncomfortable, cheap high heels off and pulling on some sweat pants and sneakers. She grabbed a jacket and drew it over her shirt, then she went back to her handbag and dragged out the bottle of pepper spray she’d bought the other day. She tucked it and her cell phone into her pocket then zipped it up.
Okay, she was as prepared as she’d ever be. Nax would call her when he arrived and found she was gone. And then later, they could deal with his little threat. And by deal, she meant she’d be telling him exactly what a Neanderthal asshole she thought he was.
Maybe. Probably. Definitely.
Uh-huh.
For now, there was only one thing she cared about and that was finding her mom. And quick.
* * *
Nax banged on the door again, growling when there was no reply.
“She is not there,” Tecan stated the obvious.
Yes. He had figured that out. And he was beyond angry. Anything could happen to her out there, did she not understand that? She was alone, unarmed, in the dark. He drew back his fist and pounded it against the door, hearing it crack.
“Breaking her door will not help,” Ioin added calmly. “We need to find her. And her mom.”
“Call her,” Brogan told him.
Right. Call her. He was not thinking clearly if Brogan had to tell him to do that. He pulled his phone out and rang her.
“Nax?”
“Where. Are. You.”
“I don’t know. I’ve been up and down every damn street and I can’t find her anywhere. Where is she?”
There was a note of hysteria to her voice. He needed to calm her down.
“Crista. Listen to me.”
“I can’t find her. What if something’s happened to her? What if someone has hurt her? Oh God. Oh God.”
“Crista.” He made his voice firm. Sharp. He needed her to focus. And as much as he would like to reassure her that everything would be fine, he did not have the time for that. “You need to focus.”
“Focus?”
“Crista. Location. Now.”
He could hear her ragged breathing. “Location.”
“Where are you?” It was all he could do not to roar the words. But if he wanted her to stay controlled he had to do the same. Around him, his packmates had gathered, all of them watchful. He walked his way down the hall and down the stairs. Sacaren, Marcun, and their mates had remained at the house, even though they’d all wanted to come.
He looked up and down the dark streets. He did not like the area his mate lived in. It smelled of urine and alcohol and damp.
“I-I don’t know.” Her voice stuttered on a sob and he clenched down on the phone until he felt it bend slightly. Control. Control.
“Find a street sign.”
“Right. Right. Oh, Nax, what if something has happened to her?”
“Crista. No time for tears.” He hated being this harsh with her but knew it was necessary. It was ironic considering he usually didn’t worry much about what others thought or felt. Well, more so now than before he had lived with human females. But soothing someone, that had not ever been on his radar. He was not certain how to be gentle with a female’s feelings.
He shook off those thoughts.
“I’m on Chester Street. Not far from the park.”
“Stay there. I will find you.”
“Nax—”
“Stay. There.”
By the stars if she moved this time… He ended the call and brought up a map, pinpointing her location. Then he turned to his pack. “Ioin, go east. Tecan, west. Brogan, north. Keep in contact.”
They all nodded. Ioin didn’t even balk at him giving the orders. He knew this was Nax’s op. He raced towards where his mate was standing, alone, in the dark and just hoped that this time she did what he told her.
* * *
She couldn’t stay still. She knew she should. But she just had this feeling if she did something ba
d would happen. So she continued to head down the street. She heard a scream as she reached the corner and took off, racing towards the sound.
That had been a woman’s scream. And even if it wasn’t her mother, well, she wasn’t going to stand around without taking a look.
“No! No! Want to go home!”
Her heart thudded in her ears so loudly she could hardly hear. That was her mom. And she sounded terrified. She reached the entrance to a dark alleyway but couldn’t see anything.
She pulled back and quickly sent a message off to Nax, praying he got here quickly. Then she moved quietly down the alley, sticking to the shadows. The moon was stuck behind a cloud and the street lights didn’t reach back far so it took a while for her eyes to adjust.
“You’ll get to go home soon, old lady,” a rough voice told her mother. “Because Killer got unfinished business with that bitch daughter of yours.”
Fuck. Fuck. Killer had her mom. What should she do? Wait for Nax. Yeah, he would take care of Killer.
Her mother cried out in pain. She saw the white of her mom’s gown. There was the glow of light. A cigarette? Then her mother let out a cry as the light disappeared.
And she knew she couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
“Let her go!” she called out.
The moon drifted out and provided enough light for her to make out two figures. Her mom was cowered back against the wall of the alley. Killer had hold of one arm. He turned, pulling her mom in front of him like a human shield.
Fucking asshole.
She stepped out from behind the dumpster where she’d been hiding.
“Let my mom go.”
“And isn’t this good luck? Cunt comes to Killer. Killer been waiting to get his hands on you again, bitch. Been watching you. Killer couldn’t fucking believe his luck when he saw your old lady running around the streets. What the fuck is wrong with her? She simple?”
“She’s not simple. She has dementia. She gets confused.” And right now she was making little whimpering noises that were breaking Crista’s heart. She took another step forward. “Let her go.”
“Come closer, bitch,” Killer said in a low voice.
She moved forward more. “Mom, it’s okay. Everything will be all right.”
Nax Page 14