Chapter 5
FIVE
Reyes
“Any news?” I ask Pyrce, peeking over my shoulder to make sure I’m not waking up my mate.
“Still no sign of her.” He sighs. “We’ve shared her photo around town. The guys are all out looking for her. We have people watching the cult day and night.”
“Where could she be?” I mutter.
“I don’t know. There are no signs that anyone has come or gone in the last few days, so she must still be there. Unless they took her to another location before we rescued Taylor. She could be in one of the houses, in a room with no windows, which will make it harder to find her.”
“Keep me updated,” I tell him.
“Of course. Talk to you later.”
We hang up, and I sit next to Taylor on the bed.
I slept next to her last night, on top of the covers, and it was the best night of my life.
I woke up an hour ago, and I’ve been watching her sleep ever since.
I called Pyrce because I know that once my mate wakes up, the first thing she’ll want to know is if there’s any news on her sister.
I hate that I’ll have to disappoint her again.
We could go to the cult. Kick down all the doors until we find Landry and bring her home to our mate, my wolf says, standing on guard inside me, his eyes locked on our mate.
We can’t leave our mate alone. She wouldn’t be able to call for help if she needed something, I remind him.
Leave her with one of the Alphas to protect.
Maybe… I’ll offer her that today.
I’m nervous about leaving Taylor after our talk yesterday. She was quiet or asleep for the rest of the day, which put me on edge. I wanted to know what she was thinking, but I got the impression she needed time to process everything.
We still need to tell her about the mating heat, my wolf reminds me. The full moon is coming up tomorrow.
I know. I’ll tell her today.
Taylor stirs, and I smile as she blinks her eyes open and meets my gaze.
“Morning, mate,” I say softly.
She stretches, sighing happily.
That sound has my wolf and me relaxing. She’s safe here. She’s happy to see me.
“How are you feeling? Do you need more medicine?”
She shakes her head.
“Your throat isn’t hurting?”
She shakes her head again, and I pass her phone to her before she can look for it.
“I talked to Pyrce this morning. They looked for your sister last night but didn’t find her. They think she’s in a room without windows.”
She sighs, looking sad and scared now.
“We’re watching the cult. They haven’t seen anyone come or go in the last few days, so she has to be there. Did you see where they took her?”
I wait as she types, my eyes roaming over her as her fingers fly across the screen.
They separated us as soon as we got there. I went into that house, and she went the other way, but I didn’t see where.
“That’s okay. We’ll find her. Did you hear them talking about her when you were there?”
No, they never said anything to me except to eat and to stop screaming.
“Okay, I’ll tell the others. We’ll keep looking for her. If you want, I can leave you with someone safe and go there myself. I’ll kick in every door until I find her and bring her home to you.”
Taylor looks terrified. Don’t leave me.
“It would only be for a few hours.”
She sits up, gripping my shirt with one hand and typing with the other. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want you to get hurt.
She cares about us, my wolf howls.
I smile gently. “I’ll be safe. I’m a wolf, mate. Shifters have heightened healing properties. I’ll be okay.”
She looks dubious, so I pull her into my lap and rub my hand up and down her back.
“You can think about it,” I assure her. “If you want me to go, all you have to do is ask, mate. I’ll do anything for you.”
Taylor lays her head on my chest, and my heart lodges in my throat. She types on her phone, and I wait patiently until she shows me the screen.
Thank you. You’ve done so much for me. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.
“You don’t owe me a thing, mate.”
She smiles up at me, and I gather her closer in my arms.
“Come on. I’ll make you breakfast, and we can talk. It would be nice to learn more about you.” I stand, lifting my mate easily in my arms.
She’s still wearing my clothes from yesterday, and I’m sure she’d like a shower and a change of clothes, but she slept for so long and barely ate anything yesterday. I need to fix that first. Need to feed her before I let her out of my sight for any amount of time.
I carry her into the kitchen and settle her on a stool before I pull open the fridge. “Want some Jell-O? Or a popsicle? Or Christian said that oatmeal or eggs would be okay.”
Jell-O, please.
I pass her two containers of Jell-O and grab the eggs out of the fridge. “Do you want something to drink?”
Maybe a cup of tea?
“Sure thing. Which kind?”
Jasmine Green, please.
Setting the kettle on the stove, I grab a mug and a tea bag. I make us scrambled eggs while she eats her Jell-O, and she smiles when I set her plate and cup of tea down in front of her.
Thank you.
“Of course.”
I turn in my seat to face her more as we both dig in. “I forgot to mention something yesterday when I told you about shifters and fated mates.”
She looks at me, chewing her bite of eggs.
“Shifters also have this thing called the mating heat. Each month, on the night of the full moon, we experience the mating heat.” I reach out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s hard to explain. It’s like this intense need to mate, to… be together.”
She grabs her phone. You mean sex?
My cock hardens in my pants, and I clear my throat. “Yeah. Sex. I’ll also bite you our first time. Right here.” I brush my finger over the base of her neck, feeling her pulse race beneath my fingertip.
She sucks in a shaky breath at my touch.
“Shifters bite their mates to claim them,” I say, my voice deepening. “After that, everyone will know you’re taken, that you’re mine. But only when you’re ready, Taylor. We won’t do anything until you’re ready.”
She studies me for a moment, then nods once. I watch as she grabs her tea and takes a drink.
“How’s your throat?”
She gives me a thumbs-up and stands to clear the dishes.
I stop her. “I’ve got it. You just rest.”
I want to help. I’m not used to being so idle or having someone wait on me.
“I want you to get used to it, mate. You always took care of yourself and your sister. Something tells me you took care of your mom most of the time, too. But you have me now. It’s my job to take care of you.”
I can take care of myself.
“I know you can. You’ve been doing it for a long time. You don’t have to do it all alone anymore, though.”
She takes a deep breath, grabs the mug from my hand, and turns toward the sink. I smile at her back, loving her stubborn, independent streak.
I join her at the sink and pick up the dish soap to wash the dishes. “What did you like to do back in Orlando?”
We went to the beach when we had the time.
Landry and I would swim, find seashells, and sunbathe on the sand.
We never had much money for things like the mall or amusement parks.
We used to go thrifting when we could. I worked a lot, and between that and school, there wasn’t much time for anything else.
“We can put in a pool here,” I offer. “Or go on vacation to the beach. Once Landry is back.”
Her eyes light up. I’ve always wanted a pool! We had one at our last apartment, but it was never cleaned, so we couldn’t use it.
“Well, I’ll let you pick out whichever one you want, and I’ll clean it.”
She smiles, grabbing the plate I just washed and drying it.
“What did you do for work?”
This and that. Lots of odd jobs like yard work and babysitting. I worked at a diner for a bit, was a cashier at the corner store, and did some dog walking when I had the time.
“Wow, how did you have time for school?”
She shrugs. I made it work.
I hate that she’s had such a hard life. I wish I’d found her sooner and saved her from all that, maybe even prevented her and Landry from being taken.
My wolf paws at me, and I assure him that she’s here with us now and we’ll take care of her. She’ll never have to work again if she doesn’t want to.
My phone rings. I dry my hands and step into the living room to answer it. I can still see my mate at the sink, and I shake my head when she takes over washing the dishes.
“Hello?”
“We found her,” Pyrce says.
“Where?” I bark.
“She’s at the cult. One of the guys saw them moving her. I think they’re getting nervous. I’m sure they know we’ve been scoping them out at night.”
“Do we know which building she was taken to?” I ask as Taylor turns to stare at me.
“Yeah, and we have guys there watching for any signs of movement. We’ll be meeting at headquarters in a few minutes to come up with a plan for tonight.”
“Great. Listen, I’ll call you back,” I tell him.
“Sounds good.”
We hang up, and I return to the kitchen.
“They found her,” I announce.
Taylor’s whole face lights up. She looks so happy and relieved by the news. My wolf and I are on edge, knowing we’re going in tonight. By tomorrow morning, the sisters will be reunited, or I swear to God I’ll go onto the cult’s land and tear apart every house until I find Landry.
“They’re making a plan to rescue her. They’ll go in tonight.”
Taylor wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. I hug her back and kiss the top of her head.
“We’ll get her, mate. She’ll be okay,” I whisper.
We stand like that for a while. My wolf is happy, but all I can think about is keeping my promise. If something happens to Landry during the rescue, I don’t know what Taylor will do.