Chapter 20 - Declan
I had gone to the office, hoping I could bury myself in work so I wouldn’t have to think about the argument, or the fact that Mira was probably packing at that very moment. But Mira interrupted my thoughts in everything I tried to do. Frustration and guilt mixed inside me.
It was honestly a relief when Jackson and the other Gold Wolves walked in. At least then I might get something that would properly distract me.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“We wanted to see what you wanted to do about Harrison,” Jackson said.
So much for not thinking about Mira.
“Hell if I know,” I grunted, slumping back in my chair as I scowled. “Doesn’t really matter, anyway, considering Mira’s leaving.”
When there was nothing but silence, I glanced up from my desk. All the other wolves were staring at me. Jackson looked as though he had been slapped while the others all gaped at me with varyingly stupefied expressions. It would have been comical were I not in such a foul mood.
“What?” Will asked.
“She’s leaving,” I said. “Probably packing her bags right now.” Glancing over at Jackson, I saw something like frustration or maybe hurt on his features. He glanced to the door, and I could sense he was tempted to leave this minute and rush to the house to see her. I didn’t blame him. She had left without warning once before. But he stayed put.
“Why?” Trent said. “Is it Dani again?”
I opened my mouth, then paused. I debated lying, which would make my life easier, and would reduce the amount of questions I would have to answer. But that didn’t feel fair to Mira. She had been good with Dani. Definitely the best I had ever seen when it came to curbing her shenanigans. Saying she couldn’t cut it seemed almost cruel.
“No,” I said. “We got into a fight about the Harrison situation. It escalated. She said she wasn’t going to stick around. I told her that was fine by me and that she should start packing. Then I left.”
Saying it out loud made it feel absurd, like I’d been a petulant kid.
A resounding silence followed the statement. Glancing up, I saw all the other shifters staring at me with incredulity. Jackson looked angry, even.
“What?” I asked.
“You told her to leave?” Chris asked. “After everything she did for you?”
“She doesn’t want my help, then I don’t need to give it,” I said stubbornly.
“For crying out loud, she saved Dani from a bear,” Will said. “If that doesn’t give her some leniency points, I don’t know what would.”
Trent nodded. “She’s a great gal,” he said. “You shouldn’t let her get away like that.”
“Trent’s sugarcoating it,” Nolan interjected. “What he should be saying is you’re a dumbass for even considering letting her go.”
“Watch it,” I snarled.
“You’re our alpha,” Nolan said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to call you a dumbass when you’re being a dumbass.”
“Mira belongs here,” Jackson said. “This is her home.” He gave me a meaningful look. “And I’m not just saying that because I’m her brother. There are other reasons she should be staying.”
The others nodded, staring at me expectantly. I had no idea what the hell they were talking about, so I said, “I don’t follow.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Jackson growled, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. When he opened his eyes again, he stared at me as though I was the world’s biggest idiot. “You two are crazy about each other. You didn’t just offer to be her mate because she needed help, and she didn’t just agree to it out of convenience or necessity. And you aren’t able to keep your eyes off her whenever you’re in the same room.”
“Do all of you think that?” I asked, glancing between the group.
“No shit,” Chris grunted. “It’s pretty obvious.”
I glanced at Jackson, raising an eyebrow. “And you don’t want to tear me to shreds?”
Jackson shrugged. “You guys work well together. I wouldn’t want her with anyone else.”
“You really think?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t be saying it if I didn’t,” Jackson said.
I went silent, but I knew they were telling the truth. The overprotective instincts I felt toward Mira and that need to help her was more than just helping out an old acquaintance or trying to make up for past mistakes. I wouldn’t do what I had done for just anyone. But I did it for Mira.
Because I loved her.
As soon as I thought it, I knew it was the truth. I was in love with Mira. That was why I had gone to all this trouble for her, and why I had been so angry at her when she had refused my help.
And the problem was that I hadn’t been able to tell her any of this.
I couldn’t let her get away.
I stood, head still spinning with a hundred different things I should tell Mira. “I’ve got to go,” I finally said.
“Thank God, the man sees sense,” Nolan said.
I didn’t respond, because I was already out the door.
I ran to the house, trying to collect my thoughts and figure out exactly what I was going to tell Mira to convince her to stay. But just the fact that I had finally been able to admit how I felt had put a new spring in my step. I hurried, not wanting to waste any time as I drove up the mountain.
I knew something was wrong when I walked up to the front door. I hadn’t locked it when I had stormed out; I hadn’t even considered it. The door was still closed, but as I neared it, I caught the scents of several unfamiliar shifters.
I slowed, my wolf growling as he sensed danger. His claws flexed as he paced restlessly, something agitating him. Immediately, I went on high alert. My own fingers lengthened to claws, and I crept forward, ears pricked for any sign of danger as I reached out to grab the handle.
The door swung open, unlocked. That shouldn’t have unnerved me as much as it did, but my hairs stood on end. Or maybe it was the unnatural stillness that radiated from the house, the type of quiet that only came from emptiness.
The stench of the unfamiliar shifters wafted through the air. It was stale, but they’d unmistakably been inside the house. Someone had broken in. And Mira’s scent was also stale.
I tried to tell myself I was imagining it, even as I knew my wolf’s instincts weren’t wrong. Something was off.
Still, it wasn’t until I reached the kitchen that all my fears were confirmed. Someone had knocked the table back, and one of the chairs had toppled over. There was torn clothing from where someone had shifted. Items on the island had been knocked to the side, some falling onto the floor. Two bowls of half-finished ice cream sat on the table. The ice cream had melted into a soup.
I fumbled with my phone as I pulled it out, immediately calling Mira’s number. A soft buzzing filled the air, something vibrating. My stomach plummeted as I followed the sound to the table where a phone rested where it had fallen to the ground. Slowly, already knowing what I would find, I picked it up.
Mira’s phone buzzed in my hand, the name Declan blazing across the screen. I hung up my phone, and the buzzing stopped. The screen flashed with a missed call notification before going black again.
“Dani?” I yelled. “Mira?”
Frantically, I raced through the house, checking anywhere they might be. But after tearing the entire house apart, I had to admit the truth.
They were missing.
Rage boiled through me, and my wolf snarled in anger, thrashing and bristling inside me. We both knew what had happened. Harrison had gotten to her. To them both. And I was going to tear him to shreds for that.
My phone rang. I jerked it out of my pocket and saw an unknown number. Normally, I wouldn’t answer, but these weren’t normal circumstances.
“Hello?” I growled.
“Are you willing to talk now?” Harrison drawled.
“Give them back,” I snarled, clutching the phone with white-knuckled fingers. It was a miracle I didn’t crush it. “Hand them over now, and I won’t tear you to shreds.”
“That doesn’t seem particularly fair,” Harrison said almost conversationally. “Especially after all the trouble I went through to get them here. You need to make me a better offer.”
The smug tone in his voice made my fingers curl into fists. I willed myself to get a grip on the anger threatening to consume me.
“Harrison, you’re making a huge mistake.”
“You can bluster all you want,” he jeered. “But we both know it’s all talk. After all, you’re not going to risk me hurting either of them.”
I stayed silent, knowing he was right.
Harrison continued, “Face it. You lost. I have all the cards.”
I snarled. The truth was, he did have all the cards, and we both knew it. But that didn’t mean I had lost.
“But you know what? Since I’m such a stand-up guy, I’ll make you an offer.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, already knowing I wasn’t going to like it.
“I’ll give you Dani back unharmed,” he said. “And I get to keep Mira, with your word as alpha you won’t come after her.”
The offer was so absurd that at first, I thought I had misheard him. Then, as the words sank in more fully, rage boiled over. He was using my daughter as leverage to get to Mira. And he thought I was going to just let him get what he wanted.
“Go to hell,” I hissed. “You absolute bastard.”
“I get that this is a bit of a shock,” Harrison said. “I’m sure you need some time to think it over and come to your senses. So I’ll give you three days to make up your mind.”
“You’ve made a big mistake. Give them back now, and I won’t come after you.”
He laughed. “That’s a hollow threat. This is the one offer I’m going to give you. You have three days.”
Before I could respond, he hung up. It took all my willpower not to throw the phone across the room.
I had promised Mira I would protect her from Harrison. I had failed because I was an arrogant ass with too much pride to explain how I felt for her. If I had been there, then none of this would have happened.
One thing was certain: I wasn’t going to let him take Mira, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him keep Dani hostage, either. I was going to rescue both of them. I may have failed to protect Mira, but I wouldn’t fail again. I would make sure they both got back safe or die trying.
I raced back to Town Hall, hoping that everyone would still be there. I found them sitting in the break room. They all jumped when I barged in, each of them alert.
“Harrison took Mira and Dani,” I growled.
There was a brief pause as all the Gold Wolves stared at me in incredulity. “What?” Jackson said, fury dripping from the word.
“He kidnapped them. Because I wasn’t there to protect her. Because I was an ass and got into a fight with her.”
“They were probably waiting until you were gone to do it,” Will said. “It’s not your fault.”
“I knew she was in danger. I should have had a guard on her at all times.” I paced back and forth, running my fingers through my hair as I bristled with rage.
“Knowing Mira, she wouldn’t have gone for that, anyway,” Jackson said.
“And Dani would have run off out of spite,” Nolan added.
I snarled. What the hell was I doing standing here? My wolf hated waiting. He wanted to charge out and find the fucker now. It took all my rational thinking to remind him that we couldn’t run into the situation without a plan, no matter how much we wanted to. We needed a plan. We didn’t even know where they were keeping her and Dani.
I rounded on Chris and Will. “You two were the ones who were keeping an eye on her old pack and leading the investigation. If he was going to hold Mira and Dani somewhere in the pack, where would he go?”
Chris and Will looked at each other. “I don’t think he would hold her in town,” Will said. “Not after he pitted the town against her. He would wait until she agreed to marry him, at which point he would reintroduce her to the pack and they would welcome her, no questions asked.”
“Well, I’m sure they’d have questions, but none of them would ask,” Chris muttered.
My teeth gnashed. “Where would he take them?”
Scratching his chin, Chris said, “He has a second home, a cabin somewhat out of the pack boundaries. He might have taken her there.”
Will nodded. “That makes sense,” he agreed. Glancing back at me, he said, “I would bet good money that’s where she is.”
“Then what the hell are we doing here?” Jackson demanded, echoing my own thoughts. “I’m not letting that creep keep my sister any longer.”