24. Odell
TWENTY-FOUR
ODELL
“Your tummy is grumbling.”
“Is that what the noise is?” We were spooning, and Hunter was pressed against my back, his big dick semi hard. “Thought it was your wolf.”
“Very funny.”
“I’m known for my sense of humor, so you’d better get used to it.”
He sucked air in through his teeth. “Are you telling me…” His voice was more high-pitched than usual. “That you’re planning on sticking around?”
I turned and flipped a leg over his hip, pulling him closer. “Do you remember my speech from a few hours ago?”
He rubbed his chin. “The one where you said fuck a lot and talked about numbers?”
“I used the L word. Does that not mean anything to shifters?”
“Odell, Dellie.” He pushed a strand of hair off my brow. “Odellicious.”
That was his secret weapon. Dellie. Only my aunt had ever used that nickname, and it was usually when she wanted me to do something. And my mate had caught on to the trick.
But Odellicious? That was too much. Perhaps. It did make my insides all gooey.
“I L-word you too, but I worry this is too soon.” Hunter traced along my shoulder and distracted me.
“Hunter, did you not declare your undying love for me?”
“Sure, but?—”
“I can’t pretend I’m not experiencing confusion, but the overarching emotion is love, odd as that sounds.” The more I said it, the less weird it was, and it felt just right.
He nibbled my ear. “Not odd to me.”
“Okay, so what were we talking about?” His hand had slid over my hip to my cock.
“I’m lost.” He pulled the covers back.
“Do you need a map?”
He snorted. “Absolutely not.”
A phone rang in his nightstand, and he grunted. How many phones did he have, or was that the one Flint had put in the car and that I’d used last night? No, I’d given that one to Flint. That reminded me of the old red beast at his uncle’s cabin and all the food going to waste. Damn! I missed the beast—the vehicle, not the one in Hunter’s pants, not that he was wearing any, and I did adore his length.
“I should get it. It might be Flint. Or Dad.”
There was an order to shifter life, and while there were downsides, such as everyone in your business, the advantages that came from a close family bond would outweigh those. I hoped.
I peered out the window, wondering if Rudy was outside with binoculars.
Hunter didn’t say much but answered with “Mmmm,” “Ahhh,” and one-word answers like, “Yeah,” “Sure,” “Really?” and “You certain?” Okay, the last one was two words.
The call ended, and he rolled over facing me, but he was masking his emotions because his face was blank.
“Has Stefan spilled all the details?”
“Plenty. The guys who chased us, or the remaining ones, were paid-for-hire goons. They’re long gone. Ranger and our men traced them across the country.”
I almost wanted to go a second round with them. Running over one was accidental, but a second or third would be on purpose.
“And Stefan says he offered Draven a huge payout for the City Hall stunt.”
“He was acting on Stefan’s orders?” His anger had seemed so real.
“Supposedly. Flint says they think he got on a plane and went to who knows where.”
“That’s it?”
“Apparently, it was just Stefan, his hired lackeys, and Draven. Flint and Ranger are convinced there’s no one else.”
“And the seer? If they exist?” It was almost more than my imagination could capture. But shifters were a thing, I’d just had sex with one, so why not someone who predicted fated mates. Maybe the matchmakers of the past—and perhaps present—were seers.
Hunter chewed his bottom lip. “This is the interesting thing. He’s the seer.”
“What? He’s lying. You said he was latent.”
“Mmmm, but sometimes when one ability is forfeited, another takes its place. He would have been born with the skill but honed it as an adult.”
“So Stefan was with Draven when they met Uncle and caught my scent on him.” I had to check with Uncle Stan. It’d be a difficult conversation, as I hadn’t talked to him yet about anything. “We need to confirm the details, Hunter. The seer might still be out there.”
He took a deep breath. “Draven wasn’t in this so much for the money but because Stefan withheld details of his nephew’s fated mate. That was the deal. Marry you and Stefan would reveal who his mate was. Stefan is the seer.
No wonder Draven scuttled off.
“But if Draven had marked me, would that have broken our bond, even if we hadn’t met?”
Hunter explained Draven would never have done anything to jeopardize his own potential mating.
“Stefan felt he had been betrayed by his pack and his late brother. He wanted revenge so badly, but there was no one left to take it out on.” Draven hadn’t been born when Stefan was sent away, besides Draven had a part to play in his scheme.
“Our family, our pack, were the ones who’d brought about the Silverbacks’ demise, so he went after us.”
I let that information sink in. Maybe he was right. We could put the incident in the past and go on with our lives.
“It’s time to end it.”
“Huh?” That was what I’d been thinking. Let it go.
“Stefan.”
“Oh, ohhhh.” I didn’t want to hear that. Yes, I wanted him gone, but dead?
“I have to do it, but Flint and Ranger will be with me.”
Hunter explained that since Stefan didn’t have a wolf, he would be given a choice as to how he would die.
“Do you want to be there?”
I couldn’t watch a man be killed, no matter how much hurt he’d caused. But did that make me a coward because I wasn’t trying to stop it?
“I don’t think I can.” I glanced at Hunter. “Will you think less of me?”
“No. Your thrills came from escaping those thugs and getting Stefan to admit what he’d done, not observing an execution.”
“Okay. But you’ll tell me when it’s over?”
He nodded.
“Am I free to go back to work, visit the cinema, or go shopping?” I wanted to resume my life, or parts of it.
“With bodyguards.”
I enjoyed my independence, but it was too soon to waltz around town. Not that I’d done anything frivolous for a while.
“Your aunt wants to speak to you.”
Ahhh, the realities of life. How much could I tell her? Very little. Some bad guys tried to hurt Hunter, and he happened to bump into me and then we were lumped together, and somehow that was linked to Uncle and his gambling addiction.
“You and she are very close, but for everyone’s protection, no names and no specific details.” He kissed my forehead while his hand resumed its journey under the covers.
“So we had some trouble but it’s okay now kinda thing?” She’d storm over here, demanding I never see Hunter again if I gave her the blow-by-blow description and say I shot a guy, the one who married us. “I’d better not put it off.”
I picked up the phone and walked into the bedroom where I’d slept and called Aunt Louisa.
“Odell!” Her anguished voice tore at my heart.
“I’m fine.” Where to begin and end. The conversation might be short.
“I need you to tell me everything, love.” She coughed, the one I blamed on the crappy apartment with its mold and mildew. “Where are you?”
“At a friend’s house.” If I told her I was with Hunter, she might assume he was holding me prisoner again. “So much has happened, but I’ve learned I’m stronger than I realized.”
She cleared her throat. “I’m so glad. Are you coming home today?”
Was I, and would I? I fudged my answer, putting an answer off for at least twenty-four hours. “Soon. We have to tie up some loose ends.”
“We?”
Damn. Why did I say that?
“You’re not with Hunter, are you? He’s only a small step up from Draven, but we can get the marriage annulled and resume our lives. Perhaps the man who married you could start that process. Stefan.”
If I hadn’t put a bullet in him maybe. I shuddered at the reference to the guy who wanted to kill me.
I turned on the camera to reassure her I was in one piece.
“And what about Uncle?”
“Rudy made an offer that he could stay in a cabin on one of their properties for a while. I’m going to accept that, as I don’t want to be around that old fool.” She coughed again, a wheezing that made me think of sandpaper scraping over a surface.
“That was kind of him.” One less decision to make in the short term.
I turned around so the window was behind me. “That’s a nice view. Your friend must be a gardener.”
“Maybe.”
There was a moment’s silence at the end of the phone, and I rushed on, telling her she couldn’t go back to the apartment.
"But where would I go?” She coughed and spluttered, the awful sound reminding me of fabric being ripped and shredded.
“Let me see what I can do.”
I raced to Hunter who was now dressed and in the kitchen. “I need a huge favor.”
“Anything.”
“Do you have a place where my aunt could live temporarily? Our home is a hovel, and she also needs to see a doctor.”
“Of course. We’re in the real estate business. Give me a minute.” He phoned Ranger and repeated an address in the heart of the city. Louisa was still with Rudy, so Ranger arranged for a car to take her there while escorted by bodyguards.
I leaped into his arms, and he kissed my face, throat, and chest. Any visible flesh was fair game.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. She’ll be there a short time until we can arrange something else.”
“She can stay as long as she likes. It’s fully furnished.”
“What, you can do that?”
He shrugged as if he didn’t understand what I was getting at. “I can. Money, my dear Dellie, doesn’t bring happiness, but it gives you choices. Lots of them, and they can make life easier. So accept the gift.”
“On behalf of Aunt Louisa, I will, I do.” My aunt had agency, and she might be miffed at me for arranging a temporary home without her consent. But for once, I’d ignore any concerns and say thank you.
I phoned her, but she was already on the way to the new place.
“This is so unexpected. Maybe something good did come out of this mess.”
She was referring to the apartment, but she could have been talking about me and Hunter. Not that she was aware of what we were to one another.
“But no bodyguards. I told Rudy, and he passed that along.”
I rested the phone on my chest, hoping she couldn’t hear and explained to Hunter.
“I think it’s okay. Stefan can’t hurt anyone, Draven has vanished and isn’t in the city, the hired hands took off after fumbling the killings.”
I promised my aunt I’d visit her tomorrow and take her to the doctor.
“I’m starving. Any food in this place?” I kept thinking of what we’d left in the cabin and could have cried at the waste.
“I ordered groceries and takeout. They'll be here in fifteen minutes, but I have a secret stash of snacks to keep you going until then.”
“And please tell me how to use that coffee machine. It’s got so many bells and whistles, I need a degree to turn it on.”
He rested his chin on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Planning on making coffee every morning?” He nuzzled my throat.
“No, that's your job, but when you’re not here, I’ll do it.”
So much had happened in a few days. I might need time away from Hunter to sort out my life, but that would be days not weeks or months. But I wasn’t looking forward to telling my aunt. I tore off a nail and got irritated at the jagged edge.
“Do you garden?” I asked, changing the subject
“Is that a euphemism? I could get down and dirty, on my knees, bending over, digging my hands into something soft and kneading it.”
“Hunter?” I pictured me lying on the grass, streaked with dirt, my legs outstretched as he lowered himself on top of me.
“Yeah,” he squeaked. “I could garden. It wouldn’t be a hardship. The opposite.”
“Are you sure you’re talking about plants, soil, and pruning?”
“Pruning?” His face was blank.
“Mmmm. You know. Snip, snip.” I made a cutting motion.
“Oh, the garden out there? With flowers and stuff?”
I giggled, enjoying the sensation of being skin to skin. “I’m going to take a wild leap and say when someone refers to gardening as flowers and stuff, they are not a gardener.”
He tapped my head. “Clever. And you would be right. My dad does most of it. He was probably regaling Louisa with tales of taking the space from a wasteland to what it is today.”
His phone rang, reminding me I needed a new one. He showed me the display. “This is the number you dialed earlier, so it’s your aunt.”
It was. I took it with a huge smile.
“You must come and see the apartment. It’s stunning. I can’t believe it. And you’ll love your bedroom.”
I was already in love with the bedroom I’d slept in and the bedmate I’d woken up beside. “I’ll be there tomorrow.”
Hunter and I made coffee and eggs as his phone vibrated. Each message was from my aunt.
So looking forward to us being a family again . She was talking about a reduced family of two, whereas I was expanding mine.
Can you come today?
I miss you .
What would you like to eat? The kitchen here is fabulous .
Aunt Louisa’s husband had betrayed her, and I, who she looked on as her son, was leaving her alone.
What had Hunter said about money making life easier? Not in this situation.