CHAPTER FOUR
R owen was dumbfounded and shocked by the interaction with the Hadden soldier Dumas. He had gotten under his skin in a matter of seconds and left him feeling ridiculous and ill-prepared. The cloaking enchantment he used kept him shielded from Dumas even after he stupidly allowed himself to be caught in his cat form. Unfortunately, Dumas was not shielded from Rowen, and the minute the big guy got close, Rowen knew who he was and what his growing interest in the man was really about.
His cat wanted to go crazy on the man, but luckily, he had control and was able to hold him back and cover it with a look of contempt. He hated being so rude to him, but it was the only way to remain hidden. His cat was out of the bag, but at least Dumas, the big scary Hadden guard, did not know the entire truth. What a fucking mess he was in.
Rowen moved to the edge of the roof and looked down at the parking area and at Dumas. He was on his phone, probably letting his superiors know about Rowen's identity. He watched him for several minutes and then stepped back when Dumas looked up at him. This was his mate, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Dumas was a significant player in the paranormal world, and the Hadden Coven, no doubt, and having a stray cat as a mate was unlikely to be acceptable.
It was better this way to keep his true identity secret. Dumas would know he was a cat shifter, but he would not know that Rowen Dalhousie was his mate. What an unfortunate kick in the head that was. The ridicule and disdain would be brutal, and Rowen had no time for painful rejections.
“Det. Dalhousie.” He was brought out of his wonderings by the address and turned to see that the building manager stood behind him. “You asked to speak with me?” He prompted. Rowen was surprised that the man had followed him to the roof.
"Yes." He responded and walked over to stand in front of him. "Your name is Cal Grainger, the building manager?" he asked, and the man nodded. The moment the man looked into Rowen's eyes, he felt something off-putting. The man was decently dressed, and his hygiene was adequate. There was nothing obvious about him that should be causing such a reaction with Rowen's cat. For some reason, his cat was mentally hissing at this man.
He wasn't one to disregard his cat's intuition, but he needed to get this interview over with, so he pushed the warnings aside. This idiot wasn't a threat to him even if he was a bit of a creep according to his cat.
“I have all the victim’s rental information in my apartment. I keep a file on everyone who lives here. Come with me and I’ll show you everything I have.” He said and then turned toward the door that led to the elevator.
"I prefer the stairs." Rowen didn't want to be in a confined space with this man. He moved to the stairwell and Grainger followed visibly annoyed. Rowen knew the apartment number of the building manager so went straight there and waited for Grainger to open the door. When he did, Rowen accepted that his cat's apprehension about the man was spot on.
Grainger rushed Rowen, knocking him down and into the room, and attempted to hit him with something. Two others appeared and tried to slam the door closed, but Rowen fought to keep it open. They continued to pull him further into the room while pummeling him with their fists and feet.
Rowen was being overpowered until suddenly someone burst through the door, knocking it off its hinges, and charged into the room. Rowen fell back to his knees but was abruptly grabbed and righted back onto his feet by two large hands that belonged to his mate, who was looking particularly outraged. This man was sorely pissed. It was a fearful expression, but Rowen knew at that moment that he was safe and Dumas would not let anything happen to him.
Dumas finished his call to Josef and had a sudden feeling of letting someone down. It rushed over him and it brought with it a sinking feeling that had him turning back and looking at the rundown old tenement building. Panic and turmoil were touching him, and the source was inside the building.
He didn’t hesitate his instincts were always sharp and correct. The feelings led him to the first floor and the chaos he encountered was so much more than he had bargained for. Det. Dalhousie was fighting off three men and not successfully. The building manager was attacking him with a bat while the other two were attempting to drag him into the apartment.
So many things came rushing at Dumas the second he burst through that door. The first and most important was the fact that the cat shifter, Det. Rowen Dalhousie was his mate. For whatever reason, that fact had been hidden from him on the roof but now it was coming at Dumas like a freight train. The Detective was bleeding, and the scent was turning him inside out with desperation and rage bubbling up from the depth of his core.
He pushed the bleeding man behind him and tore the bat out of the manager's hands. He tried to turn and run, but Dumas was not someone you could run from. He took hold of him by the throat midflight and choked him unconscious in a matter of seconds. The other two froze, then turned and melted into the air. The stench of evil, sour magic filled the room.
Dumas crouched over his mate protecting him from any danger that might still remain. “Stay down.” He barked when Rowen attempted to move. The manager was out, unconscious on the floor and the others had disappeared. Dumas stood up and gave the room a once over before turning to Rowen who was now standing behind him.
The blood on Rowen's face brought a pain to Dumas that he'd never experienced before; it was part panic and part rage. He'd never felt so rattled in his life. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it to the wound on the side of Rowen's face. He captured his gaze and held it in a steely, accusatory embrace.
He knew he was being intense, but he could not help the fierce indignation he was feeling. Why did he hide himself from him? The look in Rowen's eyes told him he already knew the truth, and that realization was the most painful of all.
“Thank you for helping me.” Rowen spoke watchfully. He reached up and touched Dumas’ wrist tentatively. Dumas maintained his heated stare looking for whatever else the Detective might be hiding.
“You’re welcome, Detective." Dumas could not control the ice that formed in his words.
“Rowen, my name is Rowen.” He stated, putting his hand around Dumas' wrist and holding him tightly. Was he seeking contact or control?
“I know your name.” Dumas’ words were tight and biting as was his expression. He saw the way Rowen recoiled silently, and sadness entered his eyes. Their exchange was shrouded in a sense of betrayal. “When did you know?” He stated sharply. He still held the handkerchief to Rowen’s wound and the blood continued to stir the wildness in him that was hard to contain.
"On the roof, I recognized you when you found me on the roof." He was being honest, at least.
“Why did you hide?” Dumas was grilling him he needed answers, and he needed to understand why his mate would deny him. He closed his eyes on the pain of that thought forcing back the heartache welling up in his soul.
"I'm a stray, and we hide from everyone. Our cloak is a natural enchantment, so larger, meaner shifters and paranormals, in general, do not recognize us. I wasn't hiding from you." He grimaced and shook his head. "I was hiding from you, but not in that respect. I didn't know who you were until you got close enough for me to scent you. My cat reacted to your presence, but I managed to suppress it."
"You're not pleased with Fate's choice." This was getting harder and more personal by the second, and Dumas was suffering the overwhelming urge to turn and walk away.
Rowen shook his head vigorously, denying that statement. "I don't know what you are, but you are a player of significance in the paranormal world. You are also a Hadden soldier, someone connected and influential in this city. I am a stray, a shifter of no particular importance, making a name for himself in the world of humans. I was afraid you would reject me and disavow our connection." His eyes closed, and he dropped his head.
“I knew there was something special about you even as I found you irritating and self-absorbed. I could not stop thinking about you. I researched you and your past, and your attraction was undeniable." Dumas took the handkerchief away and the wound had stopped bleeding. He leaned forward and pulled Rowen to him placing a kiss to the now healed injury.
He lifted Rowen's face up to him and looked him in the eyes, gauging his feelings and seeing apprehension still present, as well as anticipation. He was interested but still fearful of being hurt. "I am a hellhound." The shock was apparent, but the interest spiked considerably, which was a very good sign.
"I've never met a hellhound before," Rowen stated while his eyes traveled Dumas' face over and over. "You're quite magnificent." That brought a soft smile to Dumas' otherwise hard features.
“Come with me.” Dumas took him by the arm and led him out of the apartment just as the two vampire soldiers arrived. Dumas told them to clean the apartment and wait for one of Michael’s men to instruct them further in regard to the building manager, Cal Grainger. He put in another call to Josef and let him know the status of the case and included the fact that Det. Rowen Dalhousie was his mate.
Rowen was still in shock after having been nearly killed by those three and then being rescued by his mate. It was definitely overwhelming, and he worried that Dumas was still under the impression that Rowen had deliberately hidden his identity because he thought Dumas was unsuitable as a mate. God almighty, that was so far from the truth, but how would he be able to convince him otherwise?
Dumas was a handsome bastard from top to toe he was every inch sexy as hell. Never in his life had he met anyone with this level of intoxicating magnetism and to think that such a man was his mate was unbelievable. They were still tip toeing around each other and Rowen had not a clue where he was being taken but he was game for whatever Dumas was planning. Trust appeared to be a side affect of finding your mate.
Dumas spoke with his superior and arranged for someone to deal with the issue in the manager’s apartment. Rowen believed he really should be calling his Sargeant and getting a team to the location but he couldn’t bring himself to actually do it.
The scene needed to be prepared for human viewing with everything supernatural removed. For all his big talk earlier, Rowen would never jeopardize the secret that every paranormal held dear. Right now, his priority was his mate, and then he would figure out what he was doing with the case.
They were in the parking lot of the tenement and walking very briskly towards a black SUV that looked both commanding and intimidating. This was a company car it screamed dark, vampire business.
“Where are you taking me?” He wasn’t going to refuse to go, he just wanted to know where and he hoped it wasn’t anywhere near the Coven building. Rowen wasn’t mentally prepared to enter a buzzing hive of vampires.
Dumas opened the passenger side door for Rowen, and he got in and buckled up. “We’re going to my place.” He said and closed the door. Once he was seated behind the wheel and had started the vehicle Rowen asked again.
“Are you taking me to the Hadden Center?”
“No, I have an apartment at the Hadden Center for times when I need to stay there, but I live in an apartment downtown in the Wexler building. I like my privacy, and it's nearly three thousand square feet. I like a lot of room." He glanced over at Rowen, probably gauging his reaction, but Rowen simply nodded.
Rowen knew the Wexler building; it was old money, so securing an apartment there would have taken considerable clout and money. His mate was so damn out of his league that it was beginning to look very unlikely that Dumas the hellhound would settle for a stray long-term. They entered the Wexler building underground parking, and Dumas parked and turned off the engine.
"Make whatever calls you need to make." Dumas suddenly spoke, breaking the heavy silence. "You're staying the night with me."
“I won’t make any calls until the issue with Cal Grainger is resolved. Whatever I report must match the scene or should I say the scene that Master Hadden constructs.” Rowen responded slowly and calmly quietly weighed and measured his current situation.
Dumas smiled and it was not like the others there was no derision or distrust it was a smile that reached out to him. Dumas exited the vehicle and waited for Rowen who did not hesitate and met him at the rear of the vehicle and Dumas took his hand. He didn’t waver or ask permission he took his hand in a proprietary manner and Rowen was not bothered by it. The move consoled and reassured his cat who was currently purring softly in Rowen’s throat.
He was smitten from the get go and it was going to be difficult for Rowen to keep him from acting up. His stray cat had a thing for large, dangerously handsome men. Dumas held his hand and did not release until they entered his apartment which spanned a good portion of the twelfth floor.
Dumas hit the lights, and the place glowed in a soft light. He watched him move about the big room and then go off to the left and another light came on. Rowen stepped into the room and saw that Dumas had gone into the kitchen. The place was high end and decked out with a taste toward the sophisticated. It made Rowen’s small eight hundred square foot apartment look like a closet and not a particularly nice closet.
He came from the kitchen and walked toward Rowen with two drinks and it looked like whiskey probably very good whiskey. He handed one of them to Rowen.
“I can’t drink on duty.” He said automatically.
"You're not on duty," Dumas stated very clearly, and Rowen agreed and took the drink since he was probably going to need it. Dumas then took his coat and tossed it in a chair, led him over to a large leather sofa, and sat him down. Instead of sitting beside him, Dumas sat on the coffee table directly in front of him, effectively pinning him to the spot with a thigh on either side.
Rowen suddenly felt nervous and out of his depth. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face. He never gave his looks much thought since he wasn't looking for anything, and his job was his life. Now Rowen looked up at this amazing specimen of a man and wished he'd at least done something with his hair and maybe plucked his eyebrows.
"I'm going to claim you tonight unless you refuse me. Do you refuse me, Rowen?" Dumas was not one to beat around the bush. Rowen sat there and maintained that steely gaze while his mind raced to put together a proper response. He was shocked by the sudden proposal but also consoled by it. It would seem that Dumas did indeed have long-term in mind.
"I do not refuse you, Dumas. I would never refuse you, but are you sure this is what you want?" He raised his arms and pointed absently at himself. "I'm a stray, a rogue stray who is trying to make it in the human world. You have prominence and position. I am a lowly detective in the police department. They call me a go-getter with promise, but I'm only as good as my last success, which is something I will be chasing for the entirety of my career."
“Do you like what you do?” Dumas asked and took his hands in his.
“Yes, I like solving crime. I like bringing people the justice they deserve. I like my job.” Rowen answered thoughtfully.
“I don’t care what you do as long as you are happy doing it. I also have no issue with you being a cat shifter or a stray, as you call it." Dumas held his hands tighter, and Rowen loved the feeling of being cherished.
"I have been on this earth for many years. I was once the guard to a very despicable man. I lived for the day that he would be defeated and I would be free, and now I serve an honorable Bard and a good Master. I have a home I like in a city that I like, and now I have been gifted my mate. Life is wonderous and expectant, and I plan to live and enjoy every minute of it and every minute of you." Dumas slipped his hand behind Rowen's neck and pulled him in for a gentle kiss.