Chapter Nine
Scott
Leaving George… was difficult when he worried for his safety after what he had revealed. The problem was, to do the research he wanted, he needed his blissful one’s real name. He chewed over this dilemma to distract him from the ache under his breastbone that came with his departure.
You don’t need to work, his demon huffed for the fifth time.
I do! I made a commitment to Dakata.
He left and is flouncing around the forest with his blissful one, he doesn’t care.
Flouncing! Dakata hasn’t flounced a day in his life. And he has to be in the forest with Silas because Silas does not cope well being away from his tree, as you well know.
Whatever! Our bear needs us to protect him.
You weren’t saying that when you thought I was insulting his bearhood! Now, can you give me a minute's peace so I can work to figure out my next steps?
Thankfully, the loud snort was followed by silence as Scott tapped at the laptop on his knee. He answered the endless supply of e-mails that came with his job fast and efficiently.
When the car pulled up outside of Dakata’s building, Scott realized he’d promised to get pillows for his apartment to make it more comfortable for George.
We need more than pillows to make your apartment seem less like a doctor’s sterile waiting room.
Excuse me! Our apartment is beautiful.
Maybe, but it’s not as cozy as our bear's home. That big fur throw rubbing against my skin…
The damn fanning demon was back. How did I end up with you?
Lucky, I guess. Anyway. We need lots of similar things to what George has.
Scott wanted to argue, only that would be useless when he wanted George to feel at home in his place. He ran through everything he had seen at George’s home. Pulling up one of the main superstores, he started adding stuff to his basket.
Lost in what he was doing, he never considered where he was or that he hadn’t bothered to get out of the car until the driver interrupted him.
“Sir, we’re here.”
“Yes. Thank you.” Blushing, he finished what he was doing. Paying for what was in his cart after adding his address and paying extra for same day delivery. He then sent an email to the concierge of his apartment block to advise to expect the delivery, only then did he close his laptop and put it away.
He nodded his thanks and exited the car, going into the building, his thoughts switched to work. Up on the top floor, he’d barely set his bag down on his desk when Luka, Dakata’s brother, who had also recently started working for Dakata, appeared. As tall and wide as Dakata, his dark hair was cut short, accentuating a strong jawline. He was attractive, but in a more understated way than his brothers and sister.
“Have you seen Christa?” he asked without preamble, tugging at the black silk tie he wore with his crisp, white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing tattoos.
Scott glanced at the office door that Luka had just come out of. “She’s not here?” He checked his watch and ran through what appointments she had for the day in his head. “She has nothing in her diary until two pm.” Christa, though flighty at times, was usually at work by now.
“No, she skipped out of an important meeting last evening. I’ve tried calling her but all I’m getting is her voice messaging system. When did you last see her?”
Scott hesitated, recalling Christa’s behavior when they had gone to the forest. “She came with me yesterday to the forest—”
“What, Christa willingly went into a forest? Why? Is she with Dakata?”
The questions were fired at Scott without Luka giving him a chance to answer.
“Did they have a planned meeting about the latest band we’ve signed? Or was it about the venue issues we’re having in Paris?”
He continued on, so Scott ran through his own list of things that he needed to do while waiting out Luka.
“Are you listening to me?” Luka snapped, his demon flaring in his eyes.
“Christa willingly went into the forest. I don’t know why. No, she was not with Dakata, that I am aware of. Dakata has agreed to the terms for the new signing, and I have sent the contracts out. Paris, Merihem, is dealing with.” He met Luka’s gaze, unfazed. “I think that was everything. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a list of my own to get through.”
Luka looked him up and down, frowning. “There’s something different about you.” His nose wrinkled as he stepped closer. “You smell different.” His eyes widened when they dropped to the collar of his shirt.
“I have a blissful one.” His demon danced around at how those words sounded.
Luka gasped, running a hand through his hair. “You, too.” He looked around like someone might jump on him any second. “Fuck, it’s like a contagion. Spreading!”
He took a step back from Scott, who rolled his eyes.
“Yes, well, it’s a wonderful thing to find the other half of your soul,” he murmured, recalling how gorgeous his bear looked naked, sweaty, and covered in cum after they had claimed each other. There was no feeling like it in the world. The connection he’d never felt with his family, he had discovered with George. A family who would quickly find out that Scott had a blissful one with how demons gossiped.
He would need to ring them, and that filled him with dread at what they might want. Luka, moving further away from him, snapped Scott out of his thoughts.
Back were the wide eyes. “Whatever, I just need to speak to Christa. If she turns up, tell her it’s urgent.” On that he stalked off, heading down the corridor to where he had an office, only once looking back with a strange expression Scott didn’t bother to try to interpret. His mind had already shifted gears back to George and the need to find out who the paramedic was.
He sat at his desk and made a point of checking that he’d dealt with all of his work-related things first because he took his job seriously. George would get that, right?
Our bear will have other things to worry about, like how anal retentive you are over everything being in the right place, his demon said sarcastically.
Scott took a deep breath, counted to ten, then replied, order is not a bad thing!
He opened up a search bar on his computer and made a purposeful effort to block his demon. He had some contacts, because of his family, in shady places, Scott had no call to use them before. For George, he would cross the line he’d drawn when he’d left the demon realm.
Two calls, and he had the information he needed on the paramedic and could search to see if he had any worrying connections to shifters who dealt in sperm. An hour later, Scott sat back, frowning at the screen. From his searches, the paramedic didn’t appear to have anything to hide. He’d been on the job for three weeks and had trained for the last three years to be able to deliver emergency care.
Staring at the screen at the innocuous human, Scott had two options: believe everything he had found or go and find the guy and question him in person . By his family’s standard, that meant intimidation and threats to glean the truth.
That wasn’t something Scott had ever done, but for his blissful one, he was willing to change that if it meant protecting him from his father. He didn’t sigh, though it was a close call when he thought about how George wasn’t really George, and he didn’t trust Scott with the truth.
If he dwelled too hard on that, he knew he would spiral back into past behaviors of believing he wasn’t good enough, and with that came the crushing urge to control everything in his vicinity. He’d already seen how George reacted to his fastidiousness.
He shut down his computer, checked the time, went into Christa’s office to leave her a message, then collected his laptop and headed for the door.
Back in the car minutes later, he gave the paramedics' address to the driver. He wasn’t sure if he was going off on a wild goose chase, but Scott needed to know why the fool had injected George to prevent him from shifting. If he needed to scare him to find out, then so be it.
He fiddled with his laptop, checking things to distract him when his cell phone rang. One look at the screen and he cursed. How the hell had they found out so fast?
“Hello, Mother,” he murmured, accepting the call, expecting some hysteria.
“Don’t you ‘hello mother’ me, I’ve heard nothing from you for weeks. Your brother’s birthday dinner arrangements were emailed to you two weeks ago, and I’ve had no response as to whether you will attend alone.”
There was no question of him not attending, despite whether Scott had other plans, but that was his family. That she hadn’t mentioned George had to mean Luka had not spilled the beans to anyone yet. Demons were notoriously bad for keeping anything to themselves.
Was this the perfect opportunity for George to meet all his family? He shuddered at the thought, but he’d never attend a family function and not take his blissful one. Someone he was proud to be with. Giving George the impression he might somehow be embarrassed to be seen with him would never do. “I work a lot of hours, Mother. Being responsible about my job takes priority over dinner arrangements, regardless of what it's for.” He knew even saying it would make no odds, but he continued to try.
“So, you’re coming alone, again. ”
“No, I will have a plus one—”
“Miracles will never cease. Good, it will even up the table arrangement. Don’t be late.” She was gone before he could respond.
He groaned and considered sending a message to explain who George was to him, then decided against it. In-person was always best with his family. Always.
The car slowed, and he stowed his phone and computer. “We’re here, sir.”
Scott placed his laptop bag down. “Can you please wait? I won’t be long.” Or he hoped he wouldn’t be, especially with how his demon gave a devilish laugh, cracking his knuckles.