My Mate (The Alpha Shifter Collection #23)

Chapter Ten

Three Days Later

“Is there a reason we’re prowling the forest?” Dex asked.

“One of Newman’s kids said he saw a body out near the lake. We’re coming to check it out.”

“Newman’s kids? Aren’t they like ten years old? Why didn’t they come and check it out or something?”

Klaus sighed. “I guess it freaked them out. Not many kids have seen a body.”

Dex frowned. “But it would have to be one of the wolves. We don’t have hunters coming through here.”

“True, unless Lucinda’s shield has been affected, but I doubt that because it would have happened long before now.”

He agreed with his father. In the last eighteen years, not even a single traveling human had broached this forest. From what Lucinda had told him, humans tend to get an uneasy feeling when they’re close, and try to avoid the forest at all costs.

Dex didn’t understand how the magic worked, only that it did, and he wasn’t going to be the one arguing about it.

They made their way to the lake, and he couldn’t help but think about Casey. She’d been so excited the past couple of days, as she’d been enjoying rare glimpses of her wolf. She asked him not to say anything to their parents, and he promised he wouldn’t. He was nervous about it.

In Lucinda’s shared vision, at no point was it even hinted that Casey would know her wolf. Did this mean the future had already been changed? What had altered their path? He had no way of knowing anything, but he had promised himself a visit to Lucinda’s to try and make sense of what is going on.

“Do you think it is a dead body?”

“Nah, probably a rabbit.”

“The size of a body?”

“Or a deer. We still get them from time to time.”

They made their way down to the lake and Dex began to look, trying to figure out where the Newman kids would have been standing to witness a dead body. He glanced around, and at first he didn’t see anything, but then he spotted it.

“Or maybe they really did see a dead body,” Dex said. He started to rush, especially as he saw who it was lying on the ground. “Shit, Dad, it’s Lucinda. She’s cut up pretty bad.”

His father was already there, picking her up in his arms, and they took off, not going back to her home but in the direction of his father’s.

Dex stayed by his side. He couldn’t sense a pulse or a heartbeat. Lucinda was freezing cold to the touch. He didn’t know how the cold affected witches. If it even could affect them.

“Dad, what is going on?” Dex asked.

Klaus didn’t say a word, and much to Dex’s surprise, his mother was already waiting at the front door.

“The spare bedroom is made,” his mom said.

Klaus took the stairs two at a time, and they walked into the warm spare bedroom. They had at least two spare bedrooms in their home. Dex knew it had always been in the hope of strengthening their family, but it had never happened.

Now he knew the price that had to be paid.

Was this a price Lucinda had to pay for making magic?

“What happened?” his mother asked.

“I don’t know, but I’d say from the scars, a wolf attacked her,” Klaus said.

“A wolf? Dad, no one in the pack would dare attack her. It’s just not possible.”

“Not possible, and yet, look at her, son,” Klaus said.

His mother was already cleaning the wounds, and the water was red with blood. “She’s so cold. I need to get more blankets. Dex, please, dear,” his mother said.

Dex nodded and went to the linen closet to get some blankets. He looked for the thickest, which were hard to find, seeing as they mostly ran hot and rarely ever got cold.

He made his way back to the bedroom, and then realized his mother had sent him away so she could talk to his father without him there.

“Someone nearly killed her, Klaus. If her coven hears about this—”

“Honey, her coven doesn’t give a shit that she even exists. She left them, remember?”

“I remember, but even still. A coven will do anything to cause conflict. You know this.”

He sensed his father’s anger. “Oh, I know this. I also know those wounds on her cannot come from anything or anyone but a wolf. One of the pack did this.”

“But who?”

“I have no idea,” Klaus said. “Maybe whoever is going to try to kill Dex could be responsible.”

Dex pushed open the door and looked from his father to his mother.

“The blankets.”

“But we don’t have a clue who that is. Even Casey couldn’t find anyone who is suspect enough to do this,” Dex said.

“Whoever it was, they knew how to hide their scent,” Klaus said. “There were too many of the pack scent, to get a single identifying element.”

He looked toward his mom. “You didn’t have to send me away.”

“Look, I know Lucinda is part of the pack, and we all do what we can to take care of her, but covens can be sneaky, and they may consider this an attack on them.”

“I know what they might consider it,” Klaus said. “But they are not going to know unless Lucinda is the one to tell them.” He ran fingers through his hair.

There was a soft moan and Dex glanced down to see Lucinda had started to move beneath the blanket.

“More,” Lucinda said.

His mother had been so focused on the conversation that she hadn’t put the additional blankets on Lucinda. The witch began to shake, and his father quickly grabbed the blankets and placed them over her body.

“We’ve got you, Lucinda,” he said. “We’ve got you.”

Dex moved closer and Lucinda turned to look at him.

“I know you,” she said.

This wasn’t good.

“Dad?”

“Don’t, son. Don’t panic.” Klaus moved in closer. “Do you know your name?”

Lucinda frowned and then turned toward her mother, who took a step toward her.

“Water?” Lucinda asked.

His mother nodded her head and quickly left the bedroom.

“It’s okay. I promise you, whoever did this is going to pay. I will not let anyone hurt you.” There was a brief pause, and Dex saw his father’s anger. “Again. I will not let anyone hurt you again.”

“Dad, you didn’t do this,” Dex said.

Klaus turned toward him. “I did.”

Dex frowned.

“Anyone who gets hurt on our watch is our fault, son. There is no way out of this blame game. We’re the ones to blame, no one else.”

“You couldn’t have known.” He didn’t want his dad to feel any guilt.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Lucinda gets better,” Klaus said. “That is all I care about and not because of what the coven can do to us. Lucinda is one of us, and whoever did this will pay for it.”

****

Casey stepped out of their new bathroom and glanced toward the bed to see Dex lying on top of the covers.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just trying to figure out who could have tried to kill Lucinda. I get that not everyone likes her, but she’s not a bad person,” Dex said, rubbing at his temples.

“It has to be the person you saw in that premonition,” Casey said, moving toward the bed. She lifted the covers and slid inside.

She knew she didn’t have to wait long before Dex reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close. She loved when he did this.

Their parents had been so happy that they loved the house, and they were more than happy for them to move in. At first, Casey didn’t understand why their parents were so enthused with them leaving the nest, but in the last three days, they had not been able to keep their hands away from one another.

And then she realized their parents knew how they felt. While they lived with their parents, they did show a great deal of restraint but it hadn’t been a lot. Their parents could only give them privacy for so long, and with it getting colder, having sex outside didn’t have much appeal. Their own place was the only solution, and she was thankful their parents had granted it to them.

“Yeah, but none of us know who that could be. Lucinda didn’t even recognize my parents, Casey.”

She felt Dex’s arms tighten around her.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said, hoping to give him something to hold onto.

“You don’t know if it is going to be okay, but thank you.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and she smiled.

“I wasn’t just saying it. I believe it. Lucinda is not going to die.”

“I hope not. She was getting warmer and Mom was making her chicken soup, which is always good.”

Casey nodded. “See, she is in good hands.”

They were silent for several minutes and then Casey frowned. “Where did you say you found her?”

“A spot near the lake.”

“A perfect spot?”

“Only to hide who actually did it,” Dex said. “Dad wouldn’t be able to detect any one scent, and with how cold she was, I’d say she had been out there a few days.”

“But, why would Lucinda have been at the lake?” Casey asked.

She felt Dex tense. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Lucinda rarely leaves her home. How did she end up at the lake?” She turned to look at Dex. “It makes no sense. The only time she comes into town is when she is accompanied by you, your mom, or your dad.”

Dex frowned. “So someone would have had to attack her at her house?” he asked.

“It makes sense.” Casey looked at him and waited.

“You’re not coming,” Dex said.

“What the hell, Dex, are you kidding me?”

“You’re pregnant!”

“And, whoever attacked Lucinda could be responsible for your death. I know there is a risk this may play out like it did in your premonition, but you’re not keeping me out of this, so don’t even try. There is no way I am letting you leave without me.” She grabbed his arm. “We’re in this together. We’re a team.”

She saw that he wanted to argue, but even if he did attempt to leave her behind, he’d only get so far and she’d follow him. There was no way she was leaving him to find a possible suspect on his own.

“Fine. Fine, but any sign of danger, and I’m warning you, you come home right away, do you understand me?” he asked.

“Yes, yes, yes.”

It didn’t take them long to get dressed, and they were out of their new home within a matter of minutes. Dex took her hand, and they walked stealthily toward the forest, and from there, they ran. She had a feeling she was slowing Dex down, but she was not going to let him do this on his own. They were a team.

It didn’t take them long to make it to Lucinda’s house.

“Doesn’t look like anything bad happened,” Dex said as they arrived.

“What do you mean?” Casey asked, inhaling deeply and finding it strange to get so many different smells.

She had never smelled the pack before, and it was woodsy and floral at the same time. There were a lot of smells—vanilla, cinnamon, even a hint of chocolate—and for some reason, she could also smell metal, which was odd. The fact she could smell anything was incredible to her.

“Are you okay?” Dex asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.”

She hadn’t told Dex that she’d been hearing her wolf more often, or the fact that she was starting to feel more like herself, which was an odd sensation for her. Now, she developed a stronger sense of smell. None of this made sense.

At no point did she make any request from Lucinda. She had started to accept that her wolf was not going to be here. She was … dead. Her wolf was never meant to be. She hated to accept it, but she had no choice.

Only now, she was starting to smell things, sense things, and it was hard not to get excited at what it could possibly mean.

They walked up Lucinda’s path, and with the frost and a fresh falling of snow, there were no discernable tracks. Nothing to give them information on who could have come to see Lucinda.

Dex turned the handle on her door, and even Casey frowned. Lucinda was known for her privacy. She always locked her front door as she didn’t want daring kids to just wander into her home and start touching everything. It drove her crazy when they did that.

“She never leaves her door unlocked,” Casey said.

“Which means someone must have taken her,” Dex said.

Casey watched as Dex’s arms transformed into those of a wolf’s, and he placed one hand in front of her, and the other he had ready to attack.

They stepped inside Lucinda’s home, and Casey looked around. It was like any other home. A small sitting room to the left, the dining room to the right.

They walked into the house, and the kitchen was fine, but the part which should be either a study or an office had floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with potions and ingredients. There was a pot in the center, on the table, along with an electrical stove that could plug into the wall.

“Dex, there is nothing out of place,” Casey said.

He moved to the shelves.

“She must have gotten lost, tripped or something, then maybe a rare bear or a dog attacked her.”

“Casey, we don’t have rare bears, and trust me, stray rabid dogs don’t just wander into our zone. They can scent us. Also, someone has been in here,” Dex said. “Lucinda likes to keep the jars facing forward, so she knows each ingredient and each potion. When I came here as a kid, she would tell me it would make her look unprofessional if she had to scramble among her shelves to find what she was looking for. She told me she loved how freaked out people would get when she would go to the right shelf and pick off exactly what she needed.”

He clicked his tongue.

“And these have been messed with.”

Casey didn’t like that feeling of foreboding that suddenly swept over her.

“Dex?” she asked, but before she could say anything an explosion of smoke came to the room and separated her and Dex.

Someone was there, and they were fast.

Casey frowned as her vision, regardless of the smoke, was clear, but in the panic, someone had grabbed Dex and was attempting to force him out of Lucinda’s house. She was not going to allow that.