Chapter 21 #2
Growing up, I was told my secret had to remain hidden. No one could ever know. Yet, my parents said I should confide in Mase.
Why? What was so different about him? Was it because I was his Dominant?
Or was there something else at work that they knew, but hadn’t bothered to share with me?
Knowing my parents, that was the most likely choice.
Dad had lived a long time, and he knew things most people couldn’t.
Mom wasn’t as old as Dad, but she’d studied all manner of books, and from them gleaned some of the more esoteric knowledge available.
As for me, I was still learning. After seeing my parents’ thirst for knowledge, it set me on my own course.
I wanted to know everything. The only thing getting in the way of that goal was my own wellspring of anger that was constantly seeking a target.
Being around Mase kept that part of me buried.
I never wanted him to be afraid of me. I loved his look of adoration whenever he glanced in my direction.
Where Mase was concerned, I was a simp. I honestly believe that was what scared me the most. Seeing fear or loathing in his eyes would break me.
Mom was right, though. He needed to know. And I would tell him.
Eventually.
Mason
I breathed deep, inhaling the scents of the flowers my Mom had planted. They weren’t used for tea, but they made the yard smell amazing.
“How’s it going?” Kip asked from the doorway.
“Nice.” My voice sounded unusually dreamy even to my own ears. “It feels good out here.”
That was the first time I’d said those words in months.
Our house was once again feeling like a home.
Kip would come in at night, and we’d eat, then go to bed and fuck for a few hours to decompress.
Then we’d shower and curl up in bed and sleep until morning.
The only thing that tossed a wrench into the works was the fact John still had people patrolling around the house.
Sure, they were discreet and I rarely saw them, but I still knew they were there.
That fact wasn’t as comforting as it should have been.
Mom called every couple of hours to check on me. Kip called when he wasn’t busy, usually around lunchtime. We’d talk while he ate, and his moans as he chowed down made me smile.
Wednesday was weed-plucking day. Not the most creative job, sure, but a necessary evil. The knee pad supported me as I pulled them up by the roots, cursing when the little bastard broke off.
A muffled cry broke through my concentration, and I stiffened.
What the fuck?
An overwhelming stench of fear and blood crawled toward me, and my skin erupted into goosebumps.
Move, dammit.
It took everything in me not to scream as I got up and hurried for the house, reaching for my phone. My hand shook as I called Mom’s number.
She answered on the first ring. “What’s wrong?” I could hear panic in her voice.
“I heard something.” I felt stupid because, well, it sounded stupid. “Could you call Kip for me?”
“On it. Get inside and lock the doors.”
“Already on it.” I hung up, then stepped into the house and flicked the safety lock.
And then a body crashed through the window.
He fell in a tangle of limbs, blood oozing from his throat. Bile found its way upward, and I did my best not to puke. The body was one of the guards John had sent. I rushed to his side and knelt. He was alive, but barely. I applied pressure to his neck, hoping to stop the bleeding.
A shadow fell over me, and I dropped to the side, avoiding a baseball bat to the back of my head. I got up quickly, but didn’t see anyone. Besides the body and blood on the floor, I couldn’t smell a thing.
That makes no sense.
My phone rang, and it was Kip’s ringtone. I put it to my ear.
“Someone is in the house,” I croaked.
“I’ll be there in five.” I could hear the rage in his voice. “Get to the bedroom and lock the door, then do the same in the bathroom. We need to slow down whoever it is.”
“Yes, Kip.” I swallowed hard, trying to push down on the rising tide of panic and fear.
“Stay on the phone with me,” he implored.
I heard the whistle before I saw the figure. He just missed me, but shattered a lamp on one of the tables in the living room.
“Mase!” Kip screamed.
I rushed for the bedroom and slammed the door behind me. I did as Kip said and locked it, then shoved a nightstand in front.
Stay away!
I took a deep whiff. All I could smell was the body in the other room.
What the fuck is happening?
Something slammed into the bedroom door, a thunderous crash that echoed through the room. I hurried into the bathroom and shut myself in.
That won’t keep anyone out for long.
I shivered with each passing second. Loud noises, like shattering glass, filtered through from the living room. At least they weren’t banging on it now. I called Kip, but it went straight to voicemail. He’d said five minutes, but it seemed so much longer than that.
Then I heard him calling my name.
“I’m in the bathroom,” I yelled.
A moment later he was rattling the knob. “Are you okay, baby?” he asked, his voice tight.
“Sure, peachy keen,” I snapped back. I unlocked the door and fell into his arms. “They threw someone through our window.” The sight of that body still pierced my brain.
“They took him to the hospital,” Kip told me. “The EMT said he should be okay. Apparently there was a lot of blood, but no real damage.” He crushed me to him. “Are you okay?”
“Scared shitless, but not ready to head for the hills just yet.”
He kissed the top of my head. “John and his people are on the way over.”
“There’s something I don’t understand. Whoever did this? I couldn’t smell them. Do you have any idea how impossible that is? It was like they were a dead zone for any sense beyond my eyes.”
Kip led me into the living room and I stopped when I saw the carnage. Smashed photos of me and Kip, a trashed television, and the dining room table on its side, chairs broken around it.
Absolute devastation.
I tucked my head into Kip’s shoulder, and only then did the tears come.
When did I become so weepy?
It irritated me, because I’d never been like that in the past. Now? I couldn’t seem to hold the tears in.
Someone coughed behind us, and I straightened instantly, wiping my cheeks with my hand. “Yes?” I turned.
One of John’s guards, Mark, stood in the doorway. “We were doing a second pass outside, looking for evidence, and… we found something.” He held out a blood-stained sweatshirt.
My nostrils flared. My senses ignited.
That’s impossible.
Kip grabbed my arm. “Mase? What’s wrong?”
“I can smell someone. Their scent is all over it.”
“Who?”
My throat tightened. “Alpha Donnelly.”