Savage Fate (Den of Shadows #5)

Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

Saint’s nostrils flared, and his irises glowed as he attempted to keep his control with Fane snarling at him. “We were only talking.”

“You don’t need to touch her to talk, Grimstone.”

Murmurs rippled through the room, and I could practically smell the confusion from some of the shifters.

“Why are you so jealous, Maverick?” A vicious grin curved Saint’s mouth. “You shouldn’t have anything to be worried about, right?”

Did Saint have a death wish?

As fury erupted through Fane, Wrath and Logan rushed to his sides and gripped his arms before he could attack.

“You’re the one who should be worried.” Fane struggled in the high demons’ hold, but if he really wanted to get out, he could.

Avery grabbed his alpha’s arm and pulled him back. “Not a smart idea, man,” he muttered.

“Not smart at all.” I clenched my jaw and glared at Saint. “Why are you provoking him?”

He shrugged. “I can’t always be the bigger person in this, Tate. I’m a male wolf, and you’re my?—”

“Finish that sentence, and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.” The threat curling around Fane’s words was enough to make a grown man wet himself.

“What the hell is going on?” Ari asked. “Is there something I need to know?”

Ephraim jerked his chin toward the door and motioned for Silver Ridge’s alpha to follow him. “Let’s talk in your office.”

Perfect. Now everyone would discover the latest drama in my life.

“Come on, big guy.” Logan drew Fane toward the other door and farther from Saint. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Fane finally broke eye contact with Saint and found me. “I’m going to kill him if I don’t leave.”

“And I’m guessing you don’t want me to come.”

The demon shifter didn’t need to say it out loud or in my head.

I tossed my hands in the air. “Go calm down. I’ll find you if you’re not back at Silver Ridge in two hours. And not in my incorporeal form.”

Once Fane vanished from the room, I spun and marched through the same door without sparing Saint another glance. He was an idiot for provoking Fane, and I didn’t currently have the control to tell him as much without adding a little violence.

So instead of punching the young alpha, I meandered through the house to regain my composure. It didn’t take me long to end up in the room where I discovered who my parents really were. I kneeled and ran my fingers over the claw marks gouged into the wooden floor, memories of that night crashing through my mind.

Anton’s nursery—my nursery—still smelled like blood even though someone had cleaned it. The remnants of the fight between Barric and me lingered. The wooden rocking chair was gone, demolished, and several shelves were missing.

The picture of Tamara that had fallen from the wall and shattered had been reframed and hung back with care.

Barric sure as hell hadn’t done that.

A presence entered the vicinity, and I turned as Valeria leaned against the doorjamb, a crimson shawl around her shoulders. Her silver braid was so bright against the rich material the strands seemed to glow.

“I cleaned up as best I could.” She motioned to the floor, where rust-colored splotches stained the wooden planks. “I couldn’t get all the blood out, though.”

I stood and awkwardly shoved my hands into my pockets. Was I supposed to thank her?

Valeria moved away from the door and strolled toward the wall where the picture of my mother hung. “I had this fixed too.”

A long stretch of silence passed while I tried to find something, anything, to say. “Does my mother have any relatives?” I couldn’t give two shits about Barric’s side of the family.

“Yes, but none in Silver Ridge.” Valeria wandered toward the crib. “She came from a pack up north.”

“Is her family in The Collective?” The bitterness in my voice was evident. Tamara had only wanted to save me from the group because I was her daughter.

“Not all of them,” Valeria admitted.

So Barric hadn’t been the one to bring my mother into The Collective. Her family was part of it too.

“Your mother was a good woman.”

How could someone be considered good and a racist?

Valeria sighed and rested her hands on top of the crib railing. “She grew up in The Collective and didn’t have much of a choice, especially when her fated turned out to be Barric. Her love for him blinded her.”

“So what changed?”

A sad smile curved her lips. “You came along, and Tamara finally woke up.”

Barric hated me for turning his mate against him, but he was the one who killed her.

“She loved you so much, Tatum.”

I averted my gaze to the bloodstains on the ground. “I’m sure she did.” I was also sure she thought hiding me with humans was her best option, but my childhood had seriously screwed me up.

Valeria moved to a dresser, pulling open a drawer. “Would you like to look at a photo album?”

My entire body tensed at the thought of facing happy memories of my mother, father, and family. I’d rather stick my finger in a socket than peruse Barric’s joyful moments.

The old female shifter felt the tension and halted with a black photo album in her hands. As she studied me, another somber smile pulled at her lips. “Perhaps another time. When you’re ready.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready,” I muttered.

“These are just of your mother. No Barric.” Valeria set the album back in the drawer. “How about I get some pictures of Tamara and send them to you in Mohan Wilds? You can look at them whenever you want.”

I opened my mouth to protest when a tingle zipped down my spine.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Saint loitered in the hallway. “Ari and Olivia are looking for you, Valeria.”

She closed the drawer and smiled. “Thank you, Saint.” As she crossed the room, she scrutinized the two of us and then vanished into the hall.

Did she sense that he was my fated mate?

Saint’s brows furrowed as he stepped inside, analyzing the nursery. “Why does it smell like your blood in here?”

I propped my hands on my hips. “You didn’t have to push Fane so much back there.”

He groaned and rubbed his temples. “Again, I can’t always control my emotions, Tate. I am an alpha and a male wolf. There’s only so much I can take.”

“You wanted to piss him off. In fact, I’m pretty sure you enjoyed it.”

“Maybe just a little.” He held his thumb and index finger together.

“You won’t feel that way when he rips your throat out next time.” I grabbed a stuffed animal from the crib and tossed it at him.

He caught it, of course, and set it on a shelf. “He won’t kill me.”

A laugh burst out of my mouth. “Actually, he will. He has even less control than you.”

Saint stepped farther into the room until he was barely a foot from me, his humor fading. “I’m sorry I upset you. I’m trying to deal with this as best I can.” He reached forward and let his fingers graze my cheekbone, sparks flickering. “Just please be a little patient with me. That’s all I ask.”

My heart gave a hard thump at his touch.

“I’ll try.”

When I moved back, his hand fell away. And then the room began to lose focus.

Oh shit.

A vision was coming.

But as the nursery vanished and the rowdy atmosphere of a bar appeared, I realized it wasn’t a vision. My consciousness left my physical form and found Fane.

Fire instantly swept through my bloodstream as a leopard shifter leaned against the bar next to him, her cleavage practically in his face. He glowered at her but didn’t tell her to back off.

She smile seductively and then sucked on her bottom lip, probably imaging that mouth on him.

Fury wrapped me like a second skin.

Over my dead body.

If she touched him, the world would be less one leopard shifter.

When I returned to the nursery, I stumbled back, and Saint caught my arm.

“You okay, Tate?” he asked, concern twisting around his words. “Did you just leave your body again?”

My lips thinned into a tight line. “Yeah. And I need to go find Fane.”

As I marched into Lunar Souls, I found Fane sitting at the bar alone. That raven-haired skank must have left.

I cracked my knuckles. Too bad because I’d really wanted to give her a black eye. Maybe two.

Fane’s shoulders tensed when he sensed me, but he didn’t turn around as I sat down. He just stared at his nearly empty drink.

After a full minute passed and he still didn’t speak, I leaned toward him. “Are you just going to ignore me now?”

He gave a humorless laugh. “Do you have any idea of how impossible that is?”

“You’re doing a pretty good job of it right now.” I snatched his drink and slid it to my other side.

Fane finally turned and sent a dark glare my way. “Give that back, Teague.”

“Not until you talk to me. We haven’t even discussed this whole fated mate thing.”

“What’s there to say?” The veins and tendons in his hand popped as he curled it into a fist on the bar. “Saint is your fated, and there’s nothing either of us can do about it.”

Those words sent goose bumps over my flesh. “I don’t care what Saint is. It doesn’t change the fact that you’ve already claimed me. And no fated mate bond can compete with what we have.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

My eyes narrowed. “This link between us formed the moment you bit me and has pushed us together despite how hard we fought it. We were able to speak into each other’s minds almost from the beginning, and let’s not forget this weird out-of-body thing we can do. All of that seems much more potent than some lame fated mate bond that just popped into existence.”

“You may think that now, but just wait.” He reached past me and snatched the drink even as I tried to push it farther away. He was too fast. “Now that the bond has presented itself, you’ll start to feel things for Saint.”

I crossed my arms and flicked my hair over my shoulder. “What a load of bullshit. I’ve talked to Saint plenty, and I don’t feel a thing.”

“So nothing strange happened with you two while you were alone at the house last night?”

Of course he had to go back to that.

“Why would you even think that?”

Fane arched a skeptical eyebrow. “You told him about the Infernal Sol and that Barric has it.”

I chewed on my bottom lip as my gaze fell to the bar, studying the claw marks carved into the glossy wood. “He won’t tell anyone. He promised.”

Those mismatched orbs—currently as hard as gemstones—drilled into me, his whole form vibrating with pent-up rage. “It’s already starting.” His mouth curved into a disgusted leer. “The bond has forced you to spill secrets to your fated mate, and he, of course, is willing to keep them from his own pack just because you asked.”

“Nothing is starting, Maverick.” My tone, while fury laced each syllable, still couldn’t match his. “And he’s not my anything. You are my mate, at least you’re supposed to be, but you’re being a prick right now.”

“Sorry I’m not your perfect, dutiful mate.” He downed the rest of his drink and then gave a savage smile. “You have Saint for that. I’m sure he’ll be everything you need in a mate and more. He’ll give you anything you want and do anything you ask. In fact, why don’t you go find him and tell him I hurt your feelings so he can comfort you?”

A flood of pain and rage filled my veins, and it took every ounce of control I had not to slap the shit out of him. He flinched from the flare of emotions in the bond.

“You’re an asshole.” The words burst out, and just as unshed tears blurred the bar, I hopped off the stool and stormed toward the back where the restrooms were.

I barely shut the door when it swung open and Fane barged in, his nostrils flaring and irises glowing. “You’re not getting away that easily.”