Chapter 2
Chapter Two
“In all my long existence, nothing has tested my control like the scent of my mate’s need. I’m like a dehydrated man, and she is an overflowing glass of water. But she’s so damn stubborn that I’m still over here parched as hell.” ~ Gage
Gage had never enjoyed waiting. He especially hated it when the waiting was for news that made his mate look like she might unravel at any second.
He stood in Nox’s office, arms crossed, jaw tight, trying to look like he wasn’t about to snap the legs off the desk just to have something to do.
The room was all dark wood and clean lines, the windows open to the late-morning light, but the energy was tight and suffocating.
Justice lounged on the edge of a battered leather chair, flipping a pen between his fingers.
Nox stood behind the desk, radiating alpha calm that was about as real as a three-dollar bill.
Gage could feel Katy on the other side of the house—her anxiety a low ache in the back of his mind, her scent clinging to his clothes, her worry for Maddie like a storm cloud shadowing every thought.
It was more than just empathy. The bond he shared with Katy was a live wire, and right now, it was burning him alive.
He ached to go to her, to haul her into his arms and bury his face in her neck, to touch and claim and reassure until the only thing left in her was the need for him, and the only thing left in him was the taste of her skin.
It was primal and raw, and it was taking everything he had to keep it on a leash.
He didn’t know Maddie well. They’d been around each other a handful of times under stressful situations, but she wasn’t his friend—she was Katy’s.
That was enough. If Katy hurt, he hurt. And right now, he’d do anything to erase the fear in her eyes, even if it meant tearing KOS apart with his bare hands.
“So let me get this straight,” Justice drawled, voice just a hair too casual. “Roan and Maddie fly out, send a check-in as they’re boarding, and then poof. Nothing.”
Gage shot him a look. “You want to repeat it a third time, or maybe you need a diagram?”
Justice grinned, unbothered. “Just making sure I’ve got the facts. You know I’m a details man.”
Nox cut him a look, which for most would mean shut up before I rip out your tongue. Justice just grinned wider.
Nox turned his attention to Gage. “I’ve put out feelers. Lyric, the Silk shaman, claims she hasn’t seen or heard from them. Says if they’d arrived, she’d know.” He folded his arms, gaze sharp. “But the Pride’s plane landed in Silk territory. That’s confirmed.”
“Could they have been intercepted before they reached the house?” Gage asked, already running through possibilities. The Kingdom of Silk was known for being insular, secretive, and more than a little weird about outsiders.
Nox’s lip curled. “If they were, Lyric’s either lying or doesn’t know her own kingdom as well as she thinks.”
Justice tapped the arm of the chair with the pen. “Or someone’s working around her. We still don’t know all the players that were involved with Azure.”
Gage’s wolf bristled at that. The beta wasn’t wrong. For all they knew, KOS had been a cohort with Azure and his insane voodoo priestess.
“Kingdom of Chaos was working around her,” Gage reminded them.
“If Kingdom of Silk was doing the same, then their own territory in California isn’t very far from KOC in Las Vegas.
It would be easy for them to transport females such a short distance.
” Gage wanted to snarl at the idea of kingdoms working together to hurt innocent women.
“Nico is looking into Wolfgang and Tallula’s dealings with Azure,” Nox said. “Crowley, has informed me that Nico will be calling a meeting of the shaman council soon. He’s been attempting to gather evidence.”
Gage wondered where the Kingdom of Fangs shaman had been.
He was nearly as anti-social as himself.
“Is anyone doing an investigation into the other kingdoms?” he asked Nox as he fought the need to pace like a caged animal.
Standing here chit-chatting felt unproductive, even though he knew that wasn’t true.
They couldn’t just go out into kingdoms without a plan.
Normally, Gage wasn’t impulsive, but his mind and his wolf were so focused on Katy that he was beginning to feel out of control.
He couldn’t stand seeing her this anxious, couldn’t stand the tightness in her smile every time she tried to pretend she wasn’t worried sick.
He wanted to fix it. Wanted to fix her. Wanted to fix all of it, right now, with his own two hands and a snarl. But he couldn’t. Not yet.
And if he thought that was bad, the animal that lived inside him was worse.
His wolf howled for his mate. For her touch.
For her skin. For her need, which had lit something inside him that was so fierce and consuming it scared him.
Every time he brushed against her, every time she looked at him like he was the only thing that could ground her, it took everything in him not to drag her off somewhere private and lose himself in her until neither of them could think straight.
He was holding the leash, but it was fraying.
Nox’s phone buzzed. He picked it up, scowling at the screen. “Taras and Callon are ready for the video call.”
“I didn’t know we were having a video call,” Gage grumbled.
Nox bared his teeth at him. “Now you do.”
Justice let out a low whistle. “You two are going to have to reign in your wolves, or I’m going to be explaining to both your mates why you both look like you’ve been run through a blender.”
Gage didn’t verbally admit that the beta was right, mostly because he couldn’t stand him.
So instead, he stepped closer to the desk as Nox hit the connect button.
The screen flickered to life, revealing Taras’s feline features—bored, elegant, and just a little too pretty for Gage’s taste.
Beside him was Callon, the son of the prime and mate of Katy’s other best friend, Lola.
He was all sharp lines with predatory stillness.
“Dire Wolf,” Callon greeted, voice like gravel. “Nox. Justice.” His gaze scanned over them, then settled back on Gage. “Any news?”
“We were hoping you had something new,” Nox said.
Taras shook his head. “Other than what I texted you earlier, there’s been nothing. I’ve reached out to Lyric again, but she swears she never saw Roan or the human.”
Callon’s eyes narrowed. “If Roan chose to take Maddie to the Kingdom of Silk first, that means he must trust Lyric. And I trust our shaman. If she says they didn’t arrive, I believe her. But that means someone’s hiding something—or someone got to them before they reached her.”
Justice muttered, “Damn arachnids have always been sneaky. They’re not much different from snakes in the grass.” He paused. “Except for the legs, obviously.”
Nox stared at his beta. “You done?”
“Sorry,” Justice shrugged. “Just thinking out loud.”
Gage ignored him, focusing on Taras. “You got anyone on the ground?”
Taras shook his head. “Not yet. Since you all visited them, they’ve been a tad testy with anyone being in their territory.
We need to be diplomatic. But we’ve got eyes on the borders.
No sign of them leaving, with females or otherwise.
I just can’t imagine any kingdom harming or attempting to harm a shaman, not to mention a new one. ”
Nox leaned forward, voice all alpha command. “If someone’s moving against the shamans, it’s a bigger cluster than even Azure. We need to figure this out before any other shamans go missing.”
A door banged in the background, and Lola barreled into the office, her face flushed causing her two-toned skin to appear even more stark than usual, and her eyes were wild.
“Any news?” she demanded, barely glancing at the males in the room with her, before zeroing in on Gage.
“Tell me you’ve heard something. Please. ”
Gage felt a pang for her—mostly because he recognized the raw, desperate worry in her eyes.
It was the same look Katy had worn all morning, the one that made him want to tear the world apart just to see her smile again.
“You know Katy would have contacted you immediately if there was. There’s been nothing, Lola. But we’re working on it.”
She cursed, running both hands through her hair.
“We shouldn’t have sent them on their own.
I mean, that’s like basic travel rules. A buddy system.
And considering we really don’t have a clue who’s friend or foe, Roan should have had back-up with him.
Not that I’m telling any of you seasoned warriors, who are eons older than me, how to do your jobs.
I mean, I wouldn’t do—okay that’s not true at all.
I totally would simply because this is Maddie.
She puts up a good front but underneath all that pomp and bluster is a soft-hearted woman who honestly believes in world peace and crap.
Of all the people in our chick posse, she shouldn’t be the one in this situation.
” She paused, her hands, which had been flailing about as she ranted, dropped to her sides.
“Wow,” Justice muttered. “I wonder if Callon has found her off switch yet?”
“I mean,” she continued as Justice said, “Guess not.”
Lola’s voice cracked as she spoke, “What if—?”
“Don’t,” Gage said, more harshly than he meant.
He softened his tone, knowing Katy would expect him to show some compassion, even if it didn’t come naturally.
He was trying, for her. “Judging by the way Maddie stands up to your kingdom’s shaman, she’s tougher than you realize.
And Roan’s not the type to go down easy.
They’ll find a way to survive until we find them or until they can get back to us. ”
Callon’s voice came through the speakers, steady and cool. “We’re not giving up. We’ll keep digging. But if you hear anything—anything at all—you let us know.”
Nox nodded. “Our kingdoms are now tied together.” He glanced at Gage and then looked back at the prime. “Katy is basically Lola’s sister and each is mated to one of our members. There can be no feuds between us. Not if we want to keep our females happy and safe.”
Gage didn’t let the shock he felt show on his face. Nox and he had always had a rough relationship, but in that moment, the alpha gained Gage’s respect.
Taras’s eyes softened just a bit as he glanced at his son’s mate, then looked back to Nox. “I agree.”
The call ended, the screen going dark. For a long moment, no one spoke.
Nox cleared his throat. “We’ll double the patrols on the Silk border and pass on the news to the pack that Kingdom of Claws is more than just an ally.
They are an extension of our battle arm, just as we are an extension of theirs.
Justice, get word to the scouts—anything out of the ordinary comes straight to me. ”
Justice saluted, his usual cocky grin gone. “On it.”
“I’m assuming you want to stay with your mate,” Nox said after Justice left. “Considering what she’s been through, and what she’s now going through with her friend missing.”
Gage knew that Nox needed him to track. He was the best in their pack, but the alpha was also empathetic when it came to a male needing to care for his female.
Being an alpha was never something Gage wanted to be.
Having to make those difficult decisions that could cause pain to his pack members, even if it was out of necessity, was not on his bucket list.
“I need to speak with her before I make any decisions,” he said, glancing at the door as if she was going to walk in at any moment.
“I have a feeling Nico will be contacting us because of what Zeena told us about the Kingdom of Chaos, so we have that to deal with as well. I won’t have Katy going off without me to deal with that shitshow. ”
“Understood,” Nox nodded. “Just, if you could, keep me posted. And know that if you decide to join the hunt in California, Katy will be safe here. I know she is yours, Gage, but that doesn’t make her any less one of mine.”
As he headed for the office door, Gage’s thoughts were a tangled snarl of frustration and want.
Every cell in his body screamed for Katy, for the comfort of her skin and the warmth of her mouth and the way her nails dug into his shoulders when she finally let herself go.
There was so much that needed to be done, but he could feel her need for him, and right now, he needed her just as badly.
The only thing holding him back was the hope that when he got Maddie back for her, she’d not be split in her attention.
Gage would have her all to himself, and he could finally let himself give in to the need that was clawing him raw from the inside out.
But for now, all he could do was wait. And for a wolf—especially one with a mate who burned as hot as Katy—waiting was its own kind of exquisite torture.