Chapter 10
Catching the delicious scent of his mate as his computer room door opened, Zane inhaled deeply and swiveled his chair, smiling at David. “How’s Sofia?”
Shutting the door behind him, David said, “Mom’s fine. She’s been spending a lot of time with your mother, helping her with her physical therapy. Colton says my mom’s a natural at it because she always gets Hope to do a little bit more each day.”
Pulling David down on his lap, Zane nuzzled his mate’s mating scar before giving it a kiss. “I owe Sofia a lot…first she gave me you and now she’s giving my mother back to me.”
Giving Zane a nip on his earlobe, David smiled. “I think it’s doing a lot for my mom…gives her a sense of purpose…and I know she loves it when the pups come to visit Hope. I think Mom schedules her visits to coincide with it.”
“Do you think your mom’s unhappy we won’t have any pups to make her a grandma?” asked Zane.
“I don’t really know…she hasn’t said anything about it.”
“What about you?” asked Zane. “I know we can’t have any ourselves, but we could adopt…like Cody and Dylon…or use surrogacy.”
“No…I’d rather adopt,” David said. “When I escaped from the High Priestess, I met so many homeless kids, way younger than me, struggling to survive each day. Whenever I could I shared food with them, since at least I had some money, but it also meant I ran out sooner. It’s one of the reasons I ended up outside of Morgan’s place, sleeping in a garbage pile, hoping it would keep me from freezing to death. ”
“Why were they homeless?” asked Zane. “Did their parents die?”
“Sometimes, but others were like me, unwanted and running away because they were unhappy.”
“Adopting is fine with me,” Zane murmured against his mate’s neck, giving him a soft kiss.
Every time he thought about what his mate went through, Zane’s wolf would pace, pressing to be set free, seeking revenge against those who caused so much pain to his sweet David.
“Whenever you want pups, just let me know.”
“I will, but I can’t see it anytime soon. I still have so much to learn about my duties.”
“How’s Adam doing?”
“Oh, my, I’d be lost without him and his lessons. My first appointment is next month…that’s when Steel said the building would be finished, and Adam has explained everything I should know about what’ll be discussed. Now, I’m reading up on all the legal stuff that may come up.”
“Great,” Zane said, “so are you feeling more confident about making decisions about all these requests?”
“Yes…by heaps,” David said, smiling. “Now, did you find out anything about your mom’s friend?”
“Yup, Jackson, Cody and Dylon are on their way down,” Zane said, just as the computer room door opened. Reaching over, he picked up three sets of documents and, giving them to his mate, said, “Hand these out to our guests, okay?”
Grinning, David hopped off Zane’s lap. After everyone had a copy, he took a seat next to his mate, murmuring, “Should I leave? ”
Shaking his head, Zane then turned to Jackson. “The first page is a photo of Willow Thatcher taken less than a month ago by a man who was stalking her…”
“One of Josiah’s men?” asked Jackson.
“I don’t believe so,” Zane said. “The picture of the stalker is on the next page…Dylon, have you ever seen him?”
After studying the man, Dylon replied, “No, he wasn’t one of Josiah’s enforcers. Of course, he could have been hired after I left.”
“Who is he?” asked Cody.
“Someone who offers his services on the dark web,” Zane said.
“Illegal services?” asked Jackson.
“Yep,” replied Zane. “He was hired to kidnap Willow.”
“By Josiah?” asked Dylon.
“Nope,” said Zane. “Take a look at the next document. It’s a copy of the man’s bank account and deposits made within the last three months…
see the one for fifty thousand dollars?” He waited a few seconds so everyone could find it, before continuing.
“It came from someone who calls himself the ‘Collector’ because he collects rare shifters. The next page contains copies of his ads, seeking information about different ones.”
“What do you mean ‘collects them’?” asked Jackson.
“He collects them…buying, kidnapping…whatever it takes to add them to his collection,” Zane explained.
“So, he wanted Willow…why?” Dylon asked, obviously puzzled. “She’s a tiger shifter. They aren’t rare.”
“Right,” Zane agreed, “there are plenty of those around, but Willow isn’t just a tiger shifter. She’s as rare as they come, because she’s a Bali Tiger Shifter, the last one in the world.”
“Holy fuck!” exclaimed Dylon. “I wonder if the High Council knows this?”
“Not according to their records,” Zane replied. “From what they have on file, Willow Thatcher died six years ago.”
Jackson looked at Zane skeptically. “That doesn’t make any sense.” Holding up the page with Willow’s picture on it, he pointed at the image, “Are you sure this person is Mom’s friend and not the dead one listed in the High Council’s records?”
“I am,” Zane said. “I don’t know why they’ve listed her as deceased, but Willow Thatcher is very much alive.
” Turning back to his computer, he clicked on a program, and then, waving toward the big TV on the opposite wall said, “This video is from the New York City police surveillance cameras. It shows Willow and what happened to her. It appears there are at least two men involved…the one following her and the driver of the cab she got into.” When the video ended, Zane said, “Willow was taken by her stalker and her current location is unknown.”
“And you’re sure it wasn’t Josiah?” asked Jackson.
“Absolutely,” Zane answered, “for two reasons. One, I intercepted an email sent by the kidnapper giving the time for the handover of Willow…and two, Josiah has a meeting set up with our cousins’ uncle the day after tomorrow.”
“Wait,” Dylon said, “so Josiah doesn’t know that Willow’s been kidnapped? ”
“No,” replied Zane, “he doesn’t even know about Willow, or that Mom’s alive, or that they witnessed the massacre. Our cousins’ uncle just said he had some information that Josiah might be very interested in.”
“Fucking uncles!” exclaimed Cody.
“No shit!” Zane said.
“Are you going to talk to Hunter about his uncle?” asked Dylon.
“Yeah,” Jackson replied, “but, first, we need to find Willow before she’s handed over to the Collector. Have you been able to trace where the cab went?”
“Working on it,” said Zane, “I should have that shortly.”
“Dylon…” Jackson said.
“Already on it,” Dylon interrupted. “Steel has a plane standing by.”
“Who’s going with you?” asked Jackson.
“It will be a small team…me, Cody, and Zane,” Dylon replied.
“Zane, are you okay leaving David with me?” asked Jackson.
“Just a minute,” Zane said, holding up one finger. “Babe, what do you want to do? Stay here or come with me?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather stay here,” David said, quickly adding, “unless you need me…then, of course, I’ll go.”
“I’d rather you stay here,” Zane said, smiling, “not because I don’t want you with me, but because it’s safer for you here where there’s a small army of enforcers to protect you. ”
“Just make sure you come back to me,” David murmured.
“I will…promise,” Zane said, crossing his heart, then, turning to Jackson, added, “Take care of my mate, okay?”
“Absolutely,” Jackson said, turning to Cody. “And that goes for Jake and Jessica too, so I don’t want you to worry.”
Rolling his eyes, Cody replied, “Sorry, bro, worry is part of parenthood.”
“I know, but trust me, they’ll be safe with me,” Jackson said, before asking Zane, “one other thing…this ‘Collector’…he’s a danger to everyone in this pack. Do you know where the rare shifters he ‘acquires’ are? And, more importantly, do you know who he is?”
Shaking his head, Zane said, “No, that’s going to take more time because he’s taken extraordinary steps to keep his identity and location a secret.”
“Fine, after you guys get Willow, I want you to make it a top priority to find this motherfucker,” Jackson ordered.
Nodding, Zane said, “I figured you’d say that…I’m already running a search for more info on him.”
Standing, Jackson said, “Be safe, guys…and if you need any more help once you’re in New York, let me know.”
~/~/~/~/~
Sitting on his bed in the sparsely furnished hotel room, Carson stared at the phone in his hand, wondering why he just didn’t dial Remy’s number and tell him what happened to Henri.
Sighing, he knew why—and so did his wolf.
Since making his first call and hearing Remy’s voice on the answering machine, not only had his body reacted, but his wolf became unstrung when Carson wouldn’t shift.
Not one to act rashly, Carson needed absolute proof Remy was his mate—the Fated Mate he was sure the Fates were never going to give him—before acquiescing to his wolf.
Just because I got a hard-on doesn’t mean Remy’s my mate .
The only way I can know for sure, is by scent …
and that won’t happen until tomorrow . Until then, Carson refused to think about the possibility, just in case it turned out to be a false alarm.
It was better that way—to avoid another disappointment about finding his mate.
The chances of me coming to France and finding my mate is so slim, I wouldn’t even bet on it, no matter what odds Zane gave me.
Snorting at the ridiculousness of his thought, Carson decided to put the question about Remy aside for now.
Dialing Remy’s number again, he waited for an answer.
~/~/~/~/~
Hearing his cell phone ring, Remy tore his gaze away from the article he found online about the mating habits of wolf shifters, groaning when he saw who was calling.
No way was he going to answer until he found out how a wolf shifter could tell who their mate was and, even after hours of research, he’d come up empty-handed.
Remy’s head began to throb as the minutes ticked by and he became more confused.
As far as he could determine—which was a guess at best—a wolf shifter could only know his mate if they met in person; however, another article claimed that just hearing their mate’s voice was enough to make the connection.
So, Remy refused to answer his phone; until he knew for sure how wolf shifters recognized their fated mates, he wasn’t going to risk it.
When the ringing stopped, Remy sighed in relief.
For now, he was safe from the mating hormones of an alpha wolf shifter.
Frowning slightly at that thought, he wondered why he referred to his mate as an alpha and not a beta or omega wolf shifter—and what difference would that make in the wolf world when it came to claiming a mate.
Oh shit, more research to do. One thing, though, was abundantly clear: as he watched the action unfold in Henri’s hospital room, Carson Blackwood was clearly in charge—even over Artur’s son.
Glancing at the time, Remy swore to himself.
It was near his brothers’ bedtime. If he didn’t hurry, his brothers would be bathed and in bed by the time he arrived home.
And it would be just another event in a long string of them where Remy would’ve let down his brothers.
After shutting down his computer, he slipped his phone into his pocket before leaving his office.
Hurrying down the stairs, he realized just how late it was. The wine tasting room was dark.
Feeling his way along the wall until he reached the door leading to the cobblestone courtyard, Remy unlocked it and then made sure it was locked behind him.
Snorting at his action, he knew it wouldn’t stop any magic user, especially one using black magic.
Looking up at the nighttime sky, Remy sought out the two stars that were his parents—at least that’s what he’d told his brothers—sending his love to them, as he did every night, before hurrying home.
~/~/~/~/~
After shifting back, Willow used the bathroom, to wash off her kidnappers’ blood.
Then dressing, she searched the apartment, looking for anything that could offer a clue as to why she’d been targeted.
There were several possibilities, but she needed more information before knowing for certain.
Finding nothing—not even her purse or phone—she removed the men’s wallets from their pockets, hoping there was enough cash in them to get her to a safe location.
Luck was on her side; more than $1,500 between them.
Pocketing their wallets along with their driver’s licenses, Willow looked through the peephole in the front door and, seeing the hallway deserted, slipped out.
Making her way down to the street, she kept her head down to avoid contact with anyone who might be living in the building.
Once on the sidewalk, Willow looked around and recognized the neighborhood where she’d been held.
Heading north, her mind quickly sorted through the possible places in the city where she’d be safe, immediately ruling out where she’d been living.
Somehow her stalkers/kidnappers had found her and until she knew who was behind the attack, she couldn’t risk going back there to pick up her clothes, credit cards and passports.
So, until she could get replacements, her options for fleeing the country were slim to none.
She hurried along, her thoughts focusing on her current situation, grateful she’d survived this latest attempt on her life.
Being on the run again wasn’t really a surprise; her stay in the Big Apple was longer than most other places she’d lived.
Nevertheless, she was sure going to miss the New Yorkers and the energy they generated.
But this was no time for regrets over a place she’d come to love.
Not when there were immediate needs—buying a new throw-away phone, a laptop and finding some place to sleep.