Chapter 38
It was raining again in Edinburgh and Logan decided to call it an early night.
The stress of the last couple of days had taken its toll on him and all he wanted was some uninterrupted cuddle time with his mate without worrying about what Fionn’s father was going to do next.
After checking with Groose and making sure the security plan was in place for the night, Logan closed the door of their bedroom and headed to Kieran who was waiting naked in bed for him.
Kicking off his shoes, Logan removed the rest of his clothes and crawled into bed.
“Macushla,” Kieran said as he laid his head on Logan’s chest, “Fionn will be okay.”
“I hope so,” Logan answered. “If something happened to him what the hell would I say to Theo and Norman or to Cody who placed him in my care. My brother trusts me to protect him.”
“And you have. Right now he, Theo and Norman are in their suite having a good old fashion gayfest.”
“Gayfest?” asked Logan.
“You know, when gays get together and talk about other sexy guys and sex and food and sex and clothes and sex…a gayfest.”
Grinning at Kieran’s description, Logan felt some of the tension leave his body. “Have you talked about other sexy guys?” Logan growled.
“Of course,” Kieran said, giggling when he heard another growl, “but that was before I found you. I’m sure Fionn is finding that particular part of the gayfest rather one-sided since Theo and Norm only have eyes for each other.”
“I never asked but are Theo and Norm Fated Mates?”
“Yes, but they refuse to admit it. I don’t know why, exactly, but I think it has something to do with what happened to them.”
“You mean when their parents sent them to Arald?”
“Yes, and before that. One day Norman discovered a couple of guys hitting and kicking someone who was down on the ground so he rushed over and started to push the guys away. Since Norm was much bigger, the bullies ran away instead of attacking him. That’s when he scented Theo and knew they were Fated Mates.
Norman told his parents, thinking they’d be happy for him; instead, his parents called Theo’s parents and they were both sent to the Shaman to have their gay spirits exorcised.
When that didn’t work, they were sent to Arald, who told their parents he could make them normal. ”
Logan snorted. “Bullshit…how? By beating and starving them? And who ever said Theo and Norm aren’t normal?”
“Babe, what happened to my friends isn’t unusual. Our history is rife with examples of this happening and that’s why the gods and Fates created me…to stop all the hate in our world.”
“You and a lot of mini-yous,” Logan said, looking at his mate with a wry smile. “How’s squirt doing?”
“Fine…growing like a weed although I’ve never figured out that expression because our squirt isn’t a weed or even a plant for that matter. Did you know my Shaman had me study sayings? Some of them sound funny, like did you ever hear this one: ‘When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers’.”
Chuckling, Logan said, “Nope, can’t say I have.”
“When I first read it, I laughed because I pictured blades of grass saying, ‘Ow, ow, ow, get your big feet off me!’ Then my Shaman asked me what it meant and after I researched it, I found it means when the powerful fight, it’s the weak that get hurt the most. That’s a favorite of mine because it’s happened so many times in our history.
Anyway getting back to our squirt, I can’t wait until I have a baby belly.
My Shaman would be so proud of me. I wish he hadn’t died because he really was the only parent I had and it would be nice if our squirt had a grandfather to spoil him. ”
“I know, babe, I wish my grandparents were still alive also. They were so much fun and spoiled us rotten and they would’ve loved you.”
“Well, the good thing is our squirt will have a bunch of uncles, and Miss L to spoil him, not to mention, Oracle and Maximus.”
“And don’t forget Mystia and Jimmy who’ll be our squirt’s grandparents.”
“That’s right,” Kieran said, beaming at the thought.
“I just thought of how many pups…” He stopped suddenly, then looked up at Logan who was staring at him.
“Babe, did you hear what our spirit just said? Dakota and Slate are in trouble.” Kieran rolled out of bed, grabbed his clothes and got dressed.
Logan snatched his phone from the nightstand and dialed Slate’s number, cursing when it went straight to voicemail.
Sitting at the edge of the bed, he called again and, getting the same answer left a message asking Slate to call him immediately.
Then throwing on his clothes, he called Groose. “We have a problem.”
“On my way,” Groose said before hanging up.
“Babe, call Norman and make sure everything is all right and that Fionn is with them. Tell them not to open the door unless it’s me or Groose.”
“Righto,” Kieran replied.
Logan walked into the living room and called Colton.
“Hello? That you Logan? Is Kieran okay?”
“He’s fine, but Dakota and Slate are in trouble.”
“Be right there,” Colton said.
“Bring Ian with you,” said Logan.
“What about Lizzie and Ian’s parents?” asked Colton.
“I’ll have Groose and his men bring them when they get Theo, Norman and Fionn.”
“Have you called Jackson?” asked Colton.
“I will as soon as I try Slate’s phone again. I’ve called twice, no answer so I left a voice mail.”
“Okay. See you shortly,” Colton said, before hanging up.
Logan turned to Kieran. “Did you get hold of the three boys?”
“They were watching a movie and I told them to stay there. Still no answer from Slate? Did you try Dakota’s phone?”
“Fuck, no,” Logan said, dialing his brother’s number and when no one answered he dialed Slate’s again—this time someone picked up.
“Hello, Slate?” answered Dakota, expecting to hear from his mate.
“Dakota? Where’s Slate?” asked Logan.
“They have Slate!” Dakota said, panicked. “They’re going to kill him!”
“Who’s going to kill him?”
“The men who took him…Logan…you have to help me…oh my gods…why would they do this?”
“Dakota,” Logan said, then louder, “DAKOTA, listen to me. We will get Slate back. Now where are you?”
Dakota practiced a breathing exercise he learned to do. Calming down a bit, he said, “I’m at the Wolf Pack Pub. I don’t know what to do…I better leave…no wait, what if they come back here…maybe I can talk them into releasing Slate…maybe they don’t want to get in trouble with the High Council…”
“Just a minute…” Logan said, muting his phone. Turning to Kieran, he said, “Call Groose and tell him to take some men to the Wolf Pack Pub. Find Dakota and bring him back here…and make it fast. He’s there alone.” Then unmuting his phone Logan said, “Dakota? Still there?”
“Yes…but I need to rescue my mate…Logan, you have to help me. I’m pregnant with our pup and I need Slate to help me when I have it.”
“Dakota, listen to me. Groose will be there shortly. Go with him and he will bring you back here,” ordered Logan.
“Noooo,” Dakota cried, “I have to save my mate! Don’t you get it? He needs me!”
“I promise, we’ll find Slate but I need you here to help me do that. Okay?”
Dakota knew his brother was right—there wasn’t anything he could do here and he needed Logan’s help if they were going to find Slate. “Okay,” Dakota said in a calmer voice. “When will he get here?”
“Kieran is going to stay on my phone with you while I use his phone to call Grosse. Don’t hang up, I’ll be right back.” Logan exchanged phones with Kieran, then headed for the bedroom where Dakota couldn’t hear him.
“Dakota? It’s Kieran. Are you all right?”
“Nooo, Slate is gone, and I need him,” Dakota cried, “What am I going to do?”
Logan shut the bedroom door, then called Groose who answered on the first ring. “Groose, where are you?”
“I’m ten minutes away from the pub. I’ve locked the elevator so no one can get up to your floor and my men are blocking it so no one can use a duplicate key,” said Groose.
“Fine. Dakota is talking to Kieran on my phone. My brother is waiting for you and all I know is some men have Slate and are planning to kill him. Send me a text when you’ve picked up Dakota.
Also, see if you can have him tell you what happened.
He wasn’t very clear and I didn’t want to press him,” said Logan.
“Will do.”
“Thanks. Bye.” Logan ended the call and stared at the phone in his hand. He had to call his twin and it wasn’t going to be a pleasant call. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he dialed Jackson’s number, listening to it ring before his brother answered: “Kieran, where’s Logan?”
Confused for a second, Logan then remembered he was calling from Kieran’s phone. “It’s me. Are you all right?” Logan asked when he heard his brother’s voice.
“Where’s Dakota and Slate?” Jackson asked.
“That’s what I’m calling about. Our spirit told us they were in trouble. I was able to reach Dakota, and Groose is on his way to get him and bring him back here.”
“Where’s Slate?”
“Dakota said some men have him but I don’t know more because he was panicking and wanted to go find Slate by himself. I convinced him to come back to the hotel so I could help him find his mate…wait, why did you ask about Dakota and Slate?”
“Cody and Dylon are on their way to you. Cody had a vision about Dakota and Slate and insisted they leave right away. Cody said his vision foretold a life or death situation.”
Logan’s heart sank. He was hoping it might be an easily solved problem but Cody’s vision changed that.
“Logan, are you there?” asked Jackson when his brother didn’t respond.
“Yeah, did Cody give you details as to what we’re facing?”
“No, we didn’t have much time to talk. Dylon said he’d call when he had more info.”
“Did you know Dakota is pregnant?”
“Yes, but I promised not to say anything.”
“Yeah, well, what a clusterfuck. I have to get back to Dakota…Kieran is keeping him talking right now.”
“Go take care of Dakota, and when you know more, call.”
“Promise. Bye, Jackie.”
“Love you, bro. Bye.”
Logan ended the call. Shit, if Slate dies, what happens to my brother…and their unborn pup? Taking a deep breath, he rose and left the bedroom, unsure of how he was going to save everyone.
Kieran looked at his mate and said, “Groose is there and Dakota is fine…well, I mean he doesn’t have any physical injuries. After telling me that, he said he wanted to talk to Dakota first and would call you back shortly.” Exchanging phones with Logan, Kieran asked, “Did you call the Alpha?”
“Yeah. He already knew something was up. Cody had a vision and he and Dylon are on their way here. According to Jackson, Cody insisted on leaving right away because Slate is in extreme danger and may even die.”
“Do you think Fionn’s father is behind this?” asked Kieran.
“No…maybe…I don’t know. Why would he be? Slate doesn’t have anything to do with Fionn’s hoard. Shit he doesn’t even know he has one. What good is it to kidnap Slate when it won’t get him what he wants?”
“Maybe he knows who Slate is and knows his family is one of the richest shifter families in our world. If he can’t get ahold of Fionn’s hoard, maybe he’s going to demand a ransom for Slate…the same amount he would have gotten if he found Fionn’s hoard.”
“Shit, he’s crazy enough to think Maximus would pay it. My worry is what happens to Dakota and his unborn pup if Slate dies?” Logan said, as he wrapped his arms around Kieran. “Babe, what are we going to do?”
~/~/~/~/~
Fionn sat next to Theo, staring at the TV screen but he wasn’t watching it anymore; he was thinking about the phone call from Kieran.
Something was wrong—he knew it as soon as Kieran told them to stay there until Logan or Groose came to get them.
Without any more information, he could only guess why they were confined to their rooms and all guesses ended at his father’s feet.
My fucking father is at it again! He’ll never stop until I give him my hoard so I’m never going to be safe until he’s dead.
Maybe I should just give it to him so I can be done with looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life…
or will he want me dead even if he has my hoard?
“Fionn, what’s the matter?” asked Theo, hitting the pause button.
“What? Uhhh, nothing, why?” answered Fionn.
“Because you’re snorting fire,” Theo said.
Looking down at the scorch marks on his jeans, he sighed, “Sorry about that. I’m thinking about my father again and he’s pissing me off. Why doesn’t that fucker just leave me alone?”
Theo exchanged glances with Norman, then looked at Fionn.
“When we were locked up, the first year was very tough on me. I couldn’t understand why my parents would do this to me.
I always felt they loved me, so for them to give me to an asshole like Arald was unbelievable.
I was sure they’d come and get me, begging my forgiveness for their mistake, promising it would never happen again.
So each day I’d wake up, chained to the wall, starving, living in filth and my first thought was: ‘Today will be the day, I’ll be free!
’ By nightfall, I was sobbing; they never came.
As the days passed, I finally had to face the reality that my parents didn’t love me and probably never did.
It was the hardest lesson I ever had to learn. ”
“How can you survive that?” Fionn asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Because I found a new family…one that loves me unconditionally and will always protect me. Kieran taught me that and reminded me I had a mate who loves me totally and completely. Now my family is growing. First it was me, Norman and Ki but now you’ve joined, and we’re all a part of the Blackwood Pack, so you’re not alone anymore. ”
“My father’s a dragon, he can kill with his fire.”
“I know, but you won’t understand what I mean till you meet the rest of our pack. Our Alpha has so much power he can force shifters, other than wolves, to obey him.”
“No way!”
“Uh-huh. I saw him do it. Now stop worrying. Ki is going to have a fit when he sees how you wrecked your new jeans.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t tell him,” Fionn said, feeling better after Theo’s talk.
“Wise idea,” Theo said, laughing.