Chapter 7
"Where are they?" Franklin strode to Elvin's side as soon as he entered the bar, not paying any attention to the people around them.
"They left shortly after you did." Elvin walked into the dim corner next to the swing door the staff went through to get behind the bar.
"What did they say?"
"Not much. She demanded I hand back her son, but it was as if she could sense he wasn't here. They left shortly after, and the men with her never spoke." Elvin studied his face. "Is he okay?"
Franklin nodded, then shook his head. "He's covered in wounds and bruises, and there are a lot of old and new scars."
A crease formed between Elvin's brows. "He did smell of blood."
"I only saw his arm. I cupped his elbow when I showed him the spare bedroom--"
"The spare? Why didn't you take him to yours?" Elvin wiggled his eyebrows, and Franklin sighed.
"I don't think he's ready for that."
Elvin sobered. "Maybe not."
"I don't know if I'm ready."
"You're so ready, and everyone in your surroundings is so, so ready. Claim him, and then you can stop snarling at people for breathing."
Franklin flashed teeth at him. "It's the whole ghost thing. He says he can only see shifter ghosts." He waited for Elvin to say something, but, for once, he didn't.
"Do you believe in ghosts?" Franklin looked around to make sure no one listened to their conversation.
Elvin scrunched his nose. "I don't know, but I remember Neoma, and I don't see how he could know she worked here. He's what, ten, fifteen years younger than us. There is no way he could've met her when she worked here."
"He calls my office the murder room, says it's where she died. That someone wanted to bet her in a card game."
This time it was Elvin who flashed teeth--human-looking, but still. "They played for her and then killed her?"
"No idea. He said she didn't make any sense. She was agitated, and they often are when they're in a location of past trauma."
Elvin was quiet for a long time, then he shrugged. "I don't know what to believe, to be honest, but psychics can do all kinds of shit. He's a psychic, and if he says his skill is to see the ghosts of shifters, can we say he's wrong?"
Franklin rubbed his neck. "I don't know."
"Does he need to find her body? Is it why he keeps coming here?"
As much as Franklin wanted Axar coming here to be about him, it wasn't. "Maybe. He hasn't said."
"Let's help him. Let's try to figure out what happened to her."
Nodding, Franklin looked out over the crowd. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to head back home. "We're gonna accept ghosts as part of reality?"
Elvin waved a hand. "Whether they're real or not, they are to him."
Right. Fuck. "Okay. Let's try to find out what happened to Neoma."
"I'll ask around. I love a good mystery. You focus on your mate." He patted Franklin's shoulder before heading in behind the bar.
The night crawled, but there were too many patrons for Franklin to be able to leave with a good conscience.
He served drinks, broke up one fight, and called a cab to take a woman home who'd had a bit too much to drink.
There were a few pack members there, and Franklin checked in with them, but left the sleuthing to Elvin.
He was best at it, and Franklin was too distracted to do a good job anyway.
When Chann called for last orders, Franklin started to prepare for closing. Minutes dragged, but when the last customers finally hauled their lazy asses over the threshold, Franklin blew out a breath.
"Go. We'll clean up." Elvin slapped his ass as he passed.
"Are you sure?" He should stay and help, but his feet were already pointing at the door.
"Yes. Go."
Franklin waved and more or less sprinted toward the door. The December air was chilly, but there was no snow yet. He spun the key on his finger before unlocking the car and climbing in.
He might have driven a little faster than he should on the way home, but there was no traffic, so no one noticed.
The moment he stepped out of the car, he could tell something was wrong. Claws formed on his fingers.
They'd been here.
He scented the air. Two scents other than Axar's. The mother and the one who always grabbed him. Was it Axton or Addox? Axton, right? It didn't matter. Franklin would rip their throats out if they'd touched Axar.
He rushed to the front door and growled when he found it unlocked.
Tumbling inside, he ran toward the guest room, but he could tell it was empty before he opened the door.
Pain split his heart in two.
Axar had left him. Had he called his family to come get him? No, he didn't have a phone. Maybe he'd changed his mind. When silence had settled around him, he might have realized he didn't want to be with Franklin.
Agony sliced through his soul.
Then he shook himself. This was not the time to be dramatic. For some reason, he'd left. Maybe Neoma had needed him to do something, and he'd gone with his family to be able to. Franklin had left him without any means to get anywhere after all, and he had no way to contact him.
Maybe he'd be back once he'd checked out whatever it was he needed to check.
* * * *
Elvin narrowed his eyes as he listened to Franklin telling him about coming home to an empty house last night.
"They kidnapped him?"
Franklin stopped breathing. "What?"
Elvin pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. "He can't be in the same room as his mother because she can control him with her voice." He snapped his eyes open. "Can she control us with her voice?"
Franklin slowly shook his head despite not being sure. "I think she tried. She told me to stay away from her son, and I could feel the command wash over me, but I shook it off."
"So she can't control shifters, and he can only see shifters." Elvin waved a hand. "It's irrelevant right now. What I wanted to get to was, could she speak to him through your front door and get him to open it?"
Ice crystals formed in his veins. Could she? He wanted to say yes, but his voice wasn't working, so he nodded.
"But you believed he'd left of his own free will despite scenting her there?" Elvin snorted. "The boy might not have a clue about how matings work, but he came to you, and he left with you to get away from her. I don't think he'd go with her voluntarily."
Franklin couldn't breathe. The entire night and most of the day had passed, and he hadn't searched for Axar. Instead, he'd spent hours feeling sorry for himself while Axar might be trapped in a command he couldn't break. Shit, he was stupid.
"You think he would've stayed if he had a choice?"
Elvin rolled his eyes. "As I said, I don't think he has a clue you're his mate, but he's come running to you every time."
"Because of the ghost."
"When he came yesterday, he said he needed to see you. Had it only been about what the ghost wanted, I could've shown him the murder room."
Franklin blew out a breath. "Are we gonna keep calling the office the murder room?"
Elvin shrugged. "I talked to Boris yesterday. He remembered Neoma, said she'd transferred here from another pack, but only stayed a short while. Not strong when it came to dominance, and he had the feeling she was hiding from someone."
"Did he know what happened to her?"
"No. One day she was here, the next she was gone. Lenox had told everyone she'd moved on."
Franklin groaned. "Great word choice."
Elvin pursed his lips. "Could mean anything, right?"
Franklin rubbed his forehead. He hadn't been able to sleep. "I need to talk to Axar."
"Yeah. Maybe it was good you waited this long--"
"Good?" Franklin hadn't meant to raise his voice, but he'd left his mate when he might be in danger in favor of wallowing in misery. Pathetic.
"Yes, good. They were most likely prepared for you to come running after him, but you didn't."
Franklin winced. What kind of mate didn't come running? He didn't deserve Axar.
Elvin snorted as if he'd plucked Franklin's thoughts from his mind. Maybe he had. They'd been friends for a long time. Living side by side for forty years taught you how to read a person.
"We'll get him back."
"What if he doesn't want to come back?"
Elvin patted his hand. "Then you'll have to woo him. You can be charming when you're not snarling at everyone." He grinned. "First, we need to talk to him."
Franklin nodded.
"Tell Averett we'll be traveling through his territory again."
Groaning didn't help, but he did it anyway. He didn't want to tell Averett anything.
He sent a text.
* * * *