Chapter Four
“Are you sure you don’t want a bag?” Casey asked, glancing at the six boxes of donuts and two boxes of coffee Vaughn had just purchased.
Casey was a petite and anxious human who only seemed to be at peace when baking. Vaughn didn’t know the guy’s story and had never asked since he didn’t believe in prying into people’s lives. He already had enough chaos dealing with his pack.
“Thanks, but I can manage carrying these to the parking lot,” he replied, giving the bakery owner a friendly wink before sliding the boxes off the counter and into his arms. Casey hooked one handle from the coffee boxes onto each hand.
“But I’d appreciate it if you could place a jelly donut on top so I can try eating it on my way to my truck. ”
Casey smiled and placed a jelly donut on top of the boxes, nudging it close to Vaughn’s mouth. “I don’t see how you guys eat all these and still stay in shape.”
Shifter DNA. Plus Vaughn ran in his wolf form whenever he could. “Good genetics.”
“Enjoy your breakfast.” Casey quickly moved to open the door for him just as Vaughn’s Bluetooth rang.
“Could you press the button for me?” He leaned slightly so Casey could reach it. “Thanks, hon.”
The smell of cinnamon and roasted beans had his mouth watering, and he couldn’t wait to get home and chill with a donut and cup of liquid heaven.
“I got six dozen donuts and two boxes of coffee,” Vaughn said as he exited Swirls and Pearls bakery.
“Swear,” Wade said through Vaughn’s Bluetooth. “You better not devour an entire box on your own. These greedy bastards will demolish those donuts before you make it halfway through the door.”
Vaughn chuckled. “I asked you to ride with me. But baby Wade was still cuddled in his blankie, crying about putting his wittle feet on the cold floor. You’re lucky. I was able to snatch the last container of milk in the bakery for your baba.”
“Fuck you,” Wade snorted. “I’ll meet you at the door when you get here.”
“Mates get first choice, asshole. Remind those animals or Zeppelin might pick his teeth with their bones.”
Vaughn took a bite of the donut perched on top of the boxes. No hands required. The jelly filling was delicious, with just enough powdered sugar to make him look as if he was rabid.
“I’ll make sure Preston and Jalen are first in line.”
“See you in a few.” Only Vaughn’s mouth was full, so it sounded like he’d said, “She ya imma fu.”
“You’re eating the donuts!” Wade snarled.
After swallowing, Vaughn licked his lips. “Should’ve gotten your ass out of bed. If I’m the one to fetch them, I get to eat as many as I want.”
He hung up, even though Wade was still bellyaching. That would teach him to get out of bed the next time Vaughn made a donut and coffee run.
Not that they needed coffee. The pack house had two coffee machines and plenty of grounds. But it never hurt to support the local businesses in town.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Vaughn felt a prickle race along his body.
In the early-morning hour, as the sun began to creep over the horizon, something, or someone, was watching him.
He attempted to re-dial Wade, but the shifting coffee forced Vaughn to use both hands.
There was no telling who it might be. Vaughn had a list a mile long of people or “others” he’d pissed off in his two and a half centuries of living.
It could be anyone from a soul-sucking demon to his own mother, who would happily end him. He seemed to gather enemies like others collected stamps or vintage baseball cards.
Did anyone still collect stamps?
The thought made him feel ancient, even though he appeared to be a human in his late twenties.
As soon as he entered the parking lot, that prickly feeling grew stronger. He looked around at the dark corners that the morning light hadn’t yet reached.
Vaughn muttered a curse when he realized his keys were stuck in the front pocket of his jeans. Good going, genius. He was really hoping not to waste six dozen donuts, but if whoever was watching made an appearance, he might not have any other choice.
Fortunately, he managed to place the boxes precariously on the hood of his truck, using the coffee boxes to prevent them from sliding off and hitting the ground. With his arms free, Vaughn fished out his keys and phone. Just as he was about to call Wade, he sensed someone behind him.
* * * *
Swirls and Pearls bakery came into view. Morning sunlight glinted off the bakery’s windows, casting long shadows across the asphalt. Chase pulled his SUV into the lot, parking beside Vaughn’s truck.
“Well, that’s not concerning at all,” Wade muttered, already unbuckling his seatbelt.
Chase cut the engine and stepped out, scanning the quiet parking lot.
Vaughn would never abandon perfectly good donuts, especially after making such a big deal about fetching them.
The coffee containers sat untouched beside the pastry boxes, their cardboard sides dampening with condensation in the morning air.
Wade’s thoughts settled along the same lines Chase had.
“This ain’t like him,” Wade muttered beside him. “Vaughn wouldn’t just leave donuts unattended. That’s practically sacrilege.”
“Maybe he just went back inside for napkins or something,” Chase offered, though he didn’t believe it himself.
He circled the vehicle, looking for any sign of struggle but found nothing out of place except the abandoned breakfast. He pulled out his phone and dialed Vaughn’s number, listening as it rang directly to voicemail.
“Vaughn?” Chase called out, his voice echoing between the surrounding buildings. No response.
Wade frowned, tapping the hood of Vaughn’s truck. “Maybe he went back inside like you said.”
“Worth checking.”
The bell above the bakery door jingled as they entered. Casey looked up from behind the counter. Flour dusted his apron and cheeks.
“Back for more already?” the baker asked with a smile that faded when he saw their expressions.
“Have you seen Vaughn?” Chase asked. “He was just here, right?”
Casey nodded, wiping his hands on his apron. “Left about twenty minutes ago with all those boxes. Helped him out the door myself.”
“And he didn’t come back in?”
“Nope. Is everything okay?”
Chase exchanged a glance with Wade. “Probably fine. Thanks, Casey.”
Back outside, Chase pulled out his phone again, this time calling Zeppelin.
“We’ve got a situation,” he said when the alpha answered. “Vaughn’s missing.”
“Did you just say Vaughn’s missing?” It sounded like sheets rustling in the background, and Chase heard Preston saying, “S’too early.”
“Go back to sleep, sunshine,” Zeppelin murmured.
Chase gripped his phone a little tighter as he thought about Jalen waking up next to him, hair rumpled, groggy, and making Chase feel like the luckiest wolf on the planet.
He wanted it all with his mate, the closeness, the private laughs, and soft touches that said “I love you” in every graze of fingers and tender looks.
“His truck’s still here. Food’s on the hood. No Vaughn.” Chase cleared his throat around the tight knot. “You might want to get down here.”
“On my way.”
Leaning against the truck, Chase closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, sorting through the complex tapestry of scents. Fried dough, sugar, coffee, motor oil, Vaughn’s familiar pine-and-cedar scent, but nothing unusual hit his nostrils.
“People don’t just vanish,” Chase countered, though, in their world, that wasn’t entirely true. People could absolutely vanish—especially when supernatural forces were involved.
The bakery parking lot wasn’t large, but there were enough shadows and corners to hide things from casual view. He sniffed again, focusing harder, but he detected the same scents.
Wade rejoined him, frustration evident in the tight set of his jaw. “Nothing around back. No scent trail, no signs of a fight.”
“Same here.” Chase frowned, scanning the parking lot again. “It doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t just leave.”
“Maybe he saw someone he knew? Went for a walk?” Wade suggested, though his tone made it clear he was grasping at straws.
“With six dozen donuts sitting out?” Chase shook his head. “Not a chance.”
Zeppelin’s Jeep pulled into the lot, parking beside Chase’s SUV. Their alpha climbed out, face grim as he pocketed his keys and approached.
“Tell me everything,” he said, glancing around.
Chase quickly filled him in on what little they knew while Zeppelin listened intently.
“No security cameras,” Wade noted, pointing to the empty brackets above the bakery’s entrance. “Casey said they’ve been broken for months.”
“Of course they have,” Chase sighed. Just their luck. “Town needs to get its shit together with surveillance.” He ran a hand through his hair. First a vampire stalking his mate, now Vaughn disappearing without a trace. The universe seemed determined to test his patience this week.
Something caught Chase’s eye. A glint of metal in the corner of the lot where the building cast a deep shadow. He moved toward it, crouching down to find Vaughn’s key ring half hidden beneath a crumpled fast food wrapper.
The keyring included his truck fob, house key, and a small silver wolf charm Quinn had given him as a joke last Christmas.
Chase picked them up, a chill running through him that had nothing to do with the morning air. “Found his keys,” he called to the others, holding them up.
Zeppelin and Wade joined him, staring at the dark corner of the lot. The morning sun hadn’t yet reached this spot, leaving it in murky darkness despite the brightening day.
“He wouldn’t drop these,” Wade said, stating the obvious. “Not voluntarily.”
“And not this far from his truck,” Chase added, looking back at the vehicle parked nearly thirty feet away.
“Right at the edge of a shadow,” Zeppelin observed, his voice dropping lower. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Demons?” Wade asked.
“Maybe.” Zeppelin’s jaw tightened. “But why take Vaughn? He hasn’t pissed off any demons lately... that I know of.”
Chase snorted. “It’s Vaughn. He pisses off everyone eventually.”
“Only explanation that fits.” Zeppelin took the keys from Chase, turning them over in his hand. “No signs of struggle, no scent trail, keys dropped in a shadowed area.”
Demons used the shadows to travel between realms. If a demon had taken Vaughn, that didn’t necessarily mean he ended up in the demon realm. He could be anywhere. Trying to find him would be like trying to track a single drop of ink through a river at midnight.
Zeppelin pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Panahasi, see if he knows anything about this or knows anyone who can help us find him.”
“He’ll be okay,” Wade said, as if reading Chase’s thoughts. “Vaughn’s too annoying to kidnap. Even demons would get tired of his shit and send him back.”
Chase managed a tight smile. “Let’s hope so.”
While Zeppelin stepped away to make the call, Chase and Wade gathered the abandoned breakfast from Vaughn’s truck. No sense letting perfectly good donuts go to waste, especially when they might need the energy later. Besides, Vaughn would be pissed if they left the treats to get stale.
“This is fucked up,” Wade said quietly, balancing three boxes of donuts. “First your mate gets targeted by a vampire, now Vaughn disappears. What’s next?”
“Don’t ask,” Chase warned. “The universe might take it as a challenge.”
They loaded everything into Chase’s SUV then rejoined Zeppelin, who’d just finished his call.
Welcome to Crimson Hollow, where even picking up breakfast can get you kidnapped by interdimensional beings. Maybe that should be on the welcome sign.
By the time they returned, Zeppelin was finishing his call, his expression unreadable.
“Panahasi’s not answering. I left a message,” Zeppelin said, pocketing his phone.
“So what now?” Wade asked.
“We wait,” Zeppelin replied. “We don’t have much choice.
But I want everyone to reach out to their contacts, see if they’ve heard anything or seen Vaughn.
We’re not going to just throw up a prayer and kick back.
We work this the best we can with no lead, no clues, and two boxes of coffee to keep us wired up enough to chase smoke in the wind. ”
Chase nodded, though waiting had never been his strong suit. He thought of Jalen back at the pack house, blissfully unaware that the supernatural threats in his new reality extended beyond vampires.
“I’ll drive Vaughn’s truck back,” Wade offered, taking the keys from Zeppelin.
* * * *
After briefing the pack and setting up patrols, Chase finally made his way to the kitchen for a much-needed break. Everyone wanted to go to war, to rip apart whoever had taken Vaughn, but first they had to figure out who’d taken him.
The sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks.
Jalen stood at the counter, swaying slightly as he constructed what appeared to be the strangest sandwich Chase had ever seen—peanut butter smeared thickly on graham crackers with marshmallows squished in the middle.
His mate swayed again, catching himself against the counter. The knife in his hand wobbled as he attempted to spread more peanut butter.
“Then I told him,” Jalen said, “I told him that his aura was purple. Like really purple. And he got sooo mad!” He giggled like what he’d said was the funniest thing ever.
Chase blinked, wondering if he’d missed the first part of the conversation or if Jalen had been holding an entire conversation in his head before vocalizing the peculiar conclusion. Quinn and Preston were in the kitchen as well, both sitting the table, looking just as confused as Chase felt.
“That sandwich looks... interesting,” Chase commented, gently taking the knife from Jalen’s unresisting fingers before he could add more peanut butter to the already overflowing concoction.
Jalen turned, his movements oddly fluid and delayed, like he was moving through water. “ Heyyy , Chase.” He’d said the name like it mattered, and something unraveled beneath Chase’s ribs.
“Hey,” Chase said, trying to sound casual while he tried to figure out what was going on with his mate.
Jalen’s smile hit Chase like sunlight, and suddenly he couldn’t stop blinking.
“I made a sandwich. Want one? ‘S amazing.” Without waiting for an answer, Jalen lifted his creation to his mouth, taking an enormous bite that left peanut butter smeared across his upper lip and cheek. His eyes closed in apparent bliss as he chewed.
“Oh my god,” he mumbled around his mouthful. “This is amazing. You guys have to try this. It’s like... it’s like childhood and adulthood had a baby in my mouf.”
Quinn snorted into his coffee, while Preston was watching with a mixture of amusement and concern.
Jalen nodded enthusiastically to... someone. “It’s the perfect balance of sweet and salty and crunchy and soft.”
“How’s your morning been?” Chase asked, realizing just now his mate was stoned out of his mind. His pupils were dilated, and Jalen had a slight delay in his reactions. The signs were unmistakable.
“Gooood,” Jalen drawled, dragging out the word. “Really, really good. Preston showed me the garden. Did you know you guys have a garden? With plants and stuff?”
“The garden, huh?” What was his mate talking about? Chase had been on patrol early this morning. He would’ve seen a sudden pop-up garden.
He glanced at Preston.
Zeppelin’s mate took a sip of his juice then slowly twisted his hand until his thumb was pointed toward the back door. “The weeds bordering the woods.”
“Yep!” Jalen took a massive bite of his glop, getting marshmallow on his nose in the process. “S’beautiful. All these... colors. And smells. So many smells.”
Preston mouthed, “Edibles?” with raised eyebrows.
Chase shrugged slightly. He’d just met Jalen last night and knew practically nothing about him.
Still, Chase couldn’t bring himself to be upset.
This was Jalen’s way of coping with the insanity that had been thrust upon him.
Finding out about vampires, shifters, and now potentially demons, all while being told he was cosmically bound to a man he barely knew?
If some edibles helped him process, who was Chase to judge?
“How’s the sandwich?” he asked instead of confronting the obvious.
“Comfort food,” Jalen explained seriously, as if imparting great wisdom. “My mom used to make these when I was sad. But I’m not sad now. I feel”—he waved his hands vaguely—“floaty.”
Chase bit back a smile despite his concern. Floaty indeed. His mate’s eyes were glassy, his coordination shot, and he was making childhood comfort food with the focus of a brain surgeon. Classic signs of being absolutely baked.
“You should try one,” Jalen said, taking another bite of his sandwich. Marshmallow and peanut butter squished out the sides, and he closed his eyes in bliss.
“Maybe later,” Chase said, moving to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. He placed it in front of Jalen. “Drink this. You’ll thank me later.”
Jalen accepted the water with exaggerated gratitude. “You’re so thoughtful. Has anyone ever told you that? So thoughtful. And tall. Really tall.”