Silent Zephyr (Blackwood Pack #15)

Chapter 1

Theodore stared at the man standing on the front porch, unable to believe he was real.

Sure it must be an apparition, his mind went back to the events leading up to the dark times spent in Arald’s prison and the belief his family had forsaken him.

It had taken him a long time to make peace with his parents’ actions, but it was gone when he heard his name spoken by his cousin.

Memories of their times together immediately filled his mind and brought back all the anguish of his parents’ betrayal.

Suddenly, it was all too much for him to process, and his knees buckled before darkness claimed him.

It took a second before Ollie realized his cousin had fainted.

“Oh shit!” he muttered, catching Theo before he hit the floor.

Laying him down gently, he took off his jacket and bunched it up, shoving it under Theo’s head.

Checking his cousin’s pulse, Ollie was relieved to find it strong, but before he could do anything else, he felt himself being hauled up by the back of his shirt as an ear-splitting roar filled his ears.

“What the fuck did you do to him?” Smokey bellowed, grabbing the visiting Ghost bear and violently shaking him.

Running in from the kitchen after hearing Smokey’s voice, Dakota found Theo on the floor, unconscious.

Kneeling down next to him, he searched for injuries, but finding none, he returned his gaze to Theo’s face and brushed away a shock of hair that had fallen over his eyes.

“Theo…Theo…” he whispered gently, “wake up…please.” Glancing up, he spied Norm, who was approaching them, and shouted, “Get Mac!”

Changing directions, Norm headed for the stairs leading to the hospital. Even though it was late, he knew Mac would still be there, and as he descended the steps, he began screaming for the doctor even before he reached the bottom.

“What did you do to my mate?” roared Smokey, continuing to shake Ollie.

“Stop…please,” Ollie cried out, begging Smokey to stop shaking him.

Ignoring the two bears, Dakota turned his attention back to Theo, worried now at the stillness of his body. Realizing they needed more information if they were going to help him, he looked up at Smokey and said, “Stop…so he can tell us what happened.”

Smokey reluctantly quit shaking Ollie but kept a tight grip on the back of his shirt. “Talk…why is my mate unconscious?” he growled.

Even though the assault had stopped, Ollie’s brain felt it was still bouncing off the sides of his skull and it took a moment before he regained control of it. Glancing down at the man kneeling next to Theo, he said, “I don’t know for sure, but I think he fainted.”

Dakota frowned. “Fainted? Why?”

“I think seeing me surprised him…although I’m not sure why,” Ollie murmured, staring at his cousin.

Before Dakota could respond, Mac—followed by Norm—strode into the room and skidded to a stop next to Theo.

Falling to his knees, Mac carefully but quickly examined his patient, relieved to find strong vitals and no distress to the cub he was carrying.

Opening up his medical bag, he retrieved a vial of smelling salts and held it under Theo’s nose.

Within a few seconds, he was relieved to see Theo’s eyes flutter open and focus on him. “Hey there…you okay?” Mac murmured.

Nodding, Theo whispered, “I think so.” Then, moving his hand down to his belly, he asked, “Is my cub okay?”

“He’s fine,” Mac replied. Hearing Norm’s scream about Theo’s fall had filled his body with fear and triggered an adrenalin rush that had fueled his dash to his patient.

But now, satisfied that no harm had come to the cub, Mac rocked back on his heels and noticed a delicious scent enveloping him.

Confused, he looked up at the men gathered around Theo and suddenly locked eyes with one of them, whom he suddenly realized was his Fated Mate.

Inhaling deeply, Mac’s cock hardened as the need to claim filled his body. “Who are you?” he asked in a whisper.

Shifting his eyes, Theo looked at the man Mac was staring at. “Oh, my god…Ollie, is that really you?”

“Ollie?” gasped Norm. “Your cousin?”

Forcing his eyes away from the man who was his mate, Oliver gazed at Theo. “I am…and I have been searching for you.”

Grinning, Mac stood and held out his hand. “Oliver,” he murmured, loving how it sounded on his tongue. “I’m Mac Evans, your…”

“My mate…I know,” Oliver said. “But can we put a pin in that for a moment?” Then, with a jerk of his thumb toward Smokey, he added, “My cousin’s mate thinks Theo needs some more care.”

“Oh…right,” Mac muttered, kneeling back down. “Theo, are you dizzy?”

“No,” Theo muttered. Then, looking up at Smokey, he asked, “Babe, can you help me up?”

Releasing Ollie and pushing him aside, Smokey bent down and scooped Theo up into his arms. “Are you really okay?” he murmured to his mate.

Nodding, Theo said, “You can put me down now.”

Rising, Norm glanced at Smokey, and seeing worry lingering in his eyes, said, “Not yet…we want Mac to do an ultrasound to make sure everything is all right with our cub.”

“I fell?” Theo’s voice squeaked in alarm.

“No, you didn’t,” Ollie interjected. “I caught you before you hit the floor.”

“That’s good to know,” said Mac, “but I agree with Smokey and Norm that a thorough examination will put everyone’s mind at ease.”

Looking first at Smokey, and then at Norm, Theo knew his insistence that it wasn’t necessary would sway neither of them so, rolling his eyes, he muttered, “Okay…but first I want to talk to Ollie.”

“He can come with us,” Smokey replied, “but the ultrasound comes first.”

“Fine…Ollie can help…he’s a nurse,” Theo replied, smiling at Mac.

“Perfect.” Grinning at the unexpected news, Mac picked up his medical bag and reached out, taking Ollie’s hand.

Pulling him to his side, he murmured into his ear, “I’m so happy to have finally found you, my Fated Mate.

” Then, after receiving a nod from Ollie, ushered him downstairs to the hospital, all the while marveling at the fact that his dream had finally come true.

The only thing he saw that might be a problem was his brother Mason’s reaction when Mac told him Ollie was a bear.

However, he knew his twin would have his back—especially since he was mated to both a dragon and a tiger.

~/~/~/~/~

It had been a long day, and all Groose wanted was to take a shower and climb into bed.

They had finally neutralized the major threats facing the Blackwood Pack, and for now, at least, things were quiet.

After leaving a skeleton crew of enforcers on duty, he headed for his suite in the new building built especially for all the Pack’s enforcers.

Entering the lobby, Groose walked to the elevator that would take him to the top floor.

Normally, he avoided using the steel box, preferring to take the stairs, but not tonight.

Ever since Jackson had discovered that his uncle Josiah had escaped from the High Council enforcers, he and his men had put in long hours and had logged little sleep.

After days of high alert, it was finally a relief to stand down.

His Alpha had ordered a week off for all the enforcers, so tomorrow he would create a rotation schedule.

After pushing the elevator button, Groose slumped against the opposite wall, waiting for it to arrive.

“Groose, is that you?” The voice came from the control room next to the elevator.

“Yeah, Tito, what do you need?” asked Groose, trying to keep his exhaustion out of his voice.

“Can you come here for a moment? There’s something I think you should see on the security feed.”

Sighing quietly, Groose pushed off the wall, ignoring the beep of the elevator door opening.

Walking into the control room, he headed over to where Tito was sitting in front of a bank of screens, reviewing earlier video feeds from cameras posted at various locations on the surrounding pack land.

Groose carefully checked the monitors but found nothing unusual.

Glancing down at Tito, he asked, “What’s the problem? ”

“Here…” Tito murmured, hitting a key on his keyboard and pointing to the camera feed from the front gate.

Leaning down slightly, Groose watched as a man tried to slip through the bars of the gate but was unsuccessful. “I don’t see…”

“Just keep watching.”

Doing as Tito suggested, Groose saw the man look up at the camera before walking back over to the gate and then disappearing.

“Where the hell did he go?” he muttered, sitting down next to Tito.

Pulling the keyboard over to him, Groose rewound the video and played it again, muttering at it.

Quickly switching from the front gate camera to the feeds from multiple cameras covering the driveway, he could see no evidence of the man getting inside the gate.

“What do you make of that?” Tito asked. “Do ya think the guy is a magic user who wanted to talk to Remy? And if so, why didn’t he just buzz us?”

“Don’t know,” Groose muttered, busy searching the logs for any sign that they might have missed an alarm alerting them to the man’s presence on Blackwood Pack’s land. When he found no evidence that the man had intruded, he sighed in relief.

Sliding the keyboard back to Tito, Groose said, “Alert the men on duty to an attempted illegal entry through the front gate and send two men to the gate to check for tracks showing which way the man went after leaving. And monitor all the exterior wall cameras tonight just in case he tries to scale one of them…and call me if he does.”

“I don’t think there’ll be any tracks,” Tito muttered.

Raising his eyebrow, Groose asked, “Why not?”

Shaking his head, Tito replied, “Because he fucking disappeared…you saw him vanish, too.”

“I did, but I also know electronics are not foolproof so I want you to run a full diagnostics check on each camera to make sure they’re working properly.”

“That’ll take me all night,” Tito replied.

“Get Neal in here to help you,” Groose ordered before leaving the control room. Tomorrow he’d check the front gate camera himself, but for now, his bed was calling to him.

~/~/~/~/~

The mere touch of his mate’s hand ignited a fiery heat that surged up Ollie’s arm and filled his body.

Stunned by the ferociousness of it, he could only give a nod to Mac’s whispered words of happiness.

Now, tagging along with his mate, Ollie tried to put all the pieces together that he had learned from the moment Theodore had opened the front door.

Even though his source had told him his cousin lived with the Blackwood Pack, he’d had his doubts.

A Ghost bear living in a wolf pack was hard to accept, but the disappearance of his cousin’s entire family was even harder.

So, Ollie had decided to find his aunt and uncle first. But when he found them chained up in the loathsome Alpha’s cellar with no evidence that his cousin was with them, Ollie had no choice at that point except to head to the Blackwood Pack. .

When he finally arrived at the locked gates of the Blackwood Pack, Ollie’s concern for his cousin had heightened; he feared Theo was being held captive.

So he broke his own rule and used his power to get inside the gate.

Thinking back at his decision, he realized he’d taken an enormous risk, but luckily for him, it seemed no one had seen him use it.

So consumed was he with his thoughts, it took a moment before Ollie realized everyone had stopped inside a room.

Glancing quickly around, he saw an ultrasound machine alongside the examination table, and remembered why his mate had taken him there.

Catching his cousin’s eyes, he grinned and asked, “So, you’re pregnant, huh? ”

“Yup,” Theo smiled. “Want to see my cub?”

“Absolutely!” Ollie exclaimed. “When is it due?”

“Mac thinks in five months,” Theo replied, lying back on the table. Pulling his shirt up, he ran his hand lovingly over the small bulge. Then, looking up at his mates, he said, “I want Ollie to do the ultrasound.”

“I don’t know about that…” Smokey muttered, frowning.

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Mac said, turning on the machine before moving out of the way. “Here, Oliver…it’s all ready for you.”

Before Ollie could squirt the warm gel on his cousin’s belly, he heard a menacing growl from the bear, who was responsible for nearly shaking him senseless.

Unwilling to anger Theodore’s mate again, he slowly set the bottle down and took a step back from the exam table.

Looking over his shoulder at Mac, he murmured, “I think you’d better do it. ”

“No…Theo wants you to do it, and a pregnant Omega always gets what he wants,” Mac replied. Turning his head, he glared at Smokey and said, “Isn’t that right, Smokey?”

Norm grabbed Smokey’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly, then murmured, “Ollie’s family…and you can’t growl at him or it’ll upset our mate.”

“Pooh Bear’s right,” Theo agreed, reaching for Smokey’s other hand. “Ollie always took care of me when we were younger, and I know he’ll do the same for our cub.”

“And need I remind you,” said Mac, keeping his voice quiet, but giving Smokey a dirty look, “that Jackson forbids any aggression in the hospital.”

“Please…” Theo murmured, smiling softly up at Smokey. “I really want Ollie to see his new cousin.”

Sighing heavily, Smokey knew when the battle was lost. Turning to Ollie, he nodded for him to go ahead.

Ollie glanced at Mac and, after getting a nod, he picked up the gel and squirted it on his cousin’s belly. Then placing the transducer on Theo’s bulge, he moved it slowly while watching the screen. Pleased with what he saw, he glanced at Mac and asked, “Do you want me to snap a few pictures?”

“Sure…and take some measurements as well. It’ll be helpful to compare them to the previous ones to see how fast the cub is growing.”

Nodding, Ollie did as his mate instructed and within ten minutes, had everything they needed. Then, setting the transducer down, he grabbed a towel and wiped the gel off his cousin’s belly. “There…good to go.”

“The baby’s all right?” asked Norm.

Mac handed one picture to Norm. “Healthy and growing…see for yourself.”

“Let me see,” Theo said, sitting up. Studying the picture, he grinned before passing it to Smokey. “Look at how big our cub has gotten.”

As he stared at the photo of their cub, Smokey’s expression softened. Turning to Mac, he asked, “How long before…”

“Maybe four months,” Mac said. “According to these latest measurements, your cub is growing faster than I thought he would.”

“Congratulations, Cousin,” Ollie said.

“Thanks, but now we need to talk,” Theo said, hopping off the table.