Chapter 31
Cat
My car rolled up to the compound’s front gate. To get inside, you either had to have a code or be buzzed in through an intercom system.
Hitting the button, the scratchy voice on the other side said, “What’s up beautiful? You one of the new dancers come to party?”
I didn’t recognize the voice, so it wasn’t a surprise he didn’t recognize my face from the camera that was pointed directly at me.
“Um, no,” I answered after an embarrassed pause, “I’m here to see, Ace.”
“Ace? What business do you have with him? But more importantly, can I interest you in a drink after you finish up with him?” The invisible, teasing voice inquired.
“I’m his mate, Cat,” I answered, red faced, not sure what else to say. After all, friend, or even girlfriend, sounded way too casual for what we had.
Several curse words were issued before the man collected himself. “No shit! Sorry about that, sweetheart. And if you don’t mind, please don’t tell him I said that thing about us getting a drink later. Ace will break me into tiny pieces if he finds out I talked to his mate that way.”
I smiled to myself despite my heavy heart. “It’ll be just between us,” I promised. Besides, I didn’t even know who I was talking to. His secret was safe with me.
“You’re a real one,” the disembodied voice returned, before triggering the gate, allowing me to drive directly up to the compound.
When I got out, Ace and several of his brothers were pouring out of the front door of the clubhouse. I didn’t even have a chance to speak before my mate was crushing me in his strong arms.
Smelling my hair, Ace tucked my head against his chest and began to purr. It was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard and instantly calmed my jangled nerves.
“Where have you been?” he uttered quietly. The thud-thud of his heart beating under my ear calmed me as we held one another.
Inhaling his scent, I snuggled against him, my words muffled against his vest when I said, “About to make a very stupid decision when I suddenly came to my senses and drove to the compound instead.”
That statement caught his attention. Pulling back, his beautiful grey eyes searched mine. “Explain.”
The demand was brief but effective. “Can we go inside so we can discuss this? It’s bad.”
My response did nothing in the way of alleviating his distress.
“Tell me now,” Ace pressed, not in the mood for my cryptic comments.
He was right. There wasn’t enough time to keep this a secret. He would need to tell his brothers as soon as possible so that they could find Anna before it was too late.
“Kane abducted Anna,” I divulged, beginning to shake as I unloaded all the terrible details of what had happened.
For his part, Ace did not interrupt. He listened and quietly absorbed every detail of my story.
When I got to the part about ditching Ringo and driving to the location Kane had given me, his chest expanded with rage.
He didn’t say anything, though I could tell he really wanted to.
After I was done talking, he kissed me fast and hard.
“We’ll find Anna,” Ace vowed, placing my hand over his heart. “As surely as I love you, Cat, I’ll find your best friend.”
Tears sprang to my eyes and began to threaten to spill over. “You love me?”
I knew he’d lusted after me. That much was obvious. But love? I hadn’t known that. Nor did I realize how much I’d needed to hear it. Especially after everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
“Of course I love you, Cat. You’re kind, smart, beautiful, and passionate: everything I’ve ever wanted in a mate.”
That did the trick. The tears spilled over the rims of my reddening eyes as I quickly swiped them away.
“I love you, too, Ace. I’m not sure when that happened, since you’ve been a total pain in my ass since we met,” the men behind me sniggered then, which made me believe they were listening to this whole exchange, “but I do.”
My pronouncement made his grey eyes sharpen with both lust and masculine pride. Remembering that time was of the essence though, he held me close for another brief moment before reluctantly releasing me and going into problem solving mode.
“Come inside. We need to discuss how we’re going to get Anna back,” he told me, gently tucking me under his arm and drawing me toward the front door of the clubhouse.
“Ace, I can’t lose her. She’s my best friend and she doesn’t deserve what happened to her, what is happening to her.
Kane’s a fucking monster for dragging her into this.
We have to get her back. Especially after what he told me about his club brother’s disturbing predilections. Do you know what a wendigo is?”
I shuddered from head to toe when I recalled Kane’s description of what this monster wanted to do to Anna. My words caused everyone to come to a sudden halt before moving at double time into the clubhouse meeting room.
My mate nodded as he squeezed me tight. “OK. Yes, I know, babe. But he’s not going to get away with it. We’re going to stop him and get Anna back. Trust me and the pack. We’ll find her, Cat. I promise.”
“Stop pouting,” the man in the backseat snapped at Ace.
I had to suppress a smile, because my mate was, indeed, pouting.
Ace shot his brother, his actual blood-brother, a withering glare. “I’m not pouting. I’m just not happy with our plan.”
Ace’s younger brother, Cage, rolled his eyes heavenward. “We know. You’ve only told us about it a hundred times already!”
“Let’s see how you feel one day when you have a mate who’s being put in harm’s way, pup. How quickly you’ll be willing to offer her up as bait to a psychopath like Kane.”
Cage snorted. “I don’t want a mate. I prefer my sexual encounters to be numerous and varied, thank you very much.”
I chuckled at the brash, young man. Although a few inches shorter than Ace, he was still big, like all the rest of the pack members.
And, like the rest of the pack, he definitely enjoyed his sexual freedom, something I’d experienced firsthand when he’d been hitting on me while monitoring the gate earlier today.
Though the younger man shared the same beautiful grey eyes as his older brother, Cage was fair haired and not as muscular. At only nineteen years old, he hadn’t filled out completely yet and was still more on the gangly side of youth that made him exceptionally lean.
“And don’t think we aren’t going to talk about you coming on to my mate earlier today,” Ace said gruffly then. “You’re getting a thrashing for your disrespect as soon as we get home.”
Frustrated, Cage tossed his hands into the air. “I didn’t know she was your mate until she told me who she was, bro. You can’t blame me for that. I’ve been in an entirely different country for the last month. I’ve kind of been out of the loop about what’s been going on around here.”
“Whose fault is that?” Ace groused, turning down a side road and parking near an overhang of trees that would hide my beater vehicle from view.
“You could have called and checked in with the pack at least once when your plane landed in Oslo. Hell, you could have just sent a single word text like ‘here’. But did you? No. Per usual, that’s too much trouble for you, bro. ”
“Sorry, Mom. I didn’t realize you were so worried about me. Next time I’m away, I’ll make sure to Facetime you every evening so we can wish each other a good night with sweet dreams.” Cage made a kissy face, replete with noises, to drive home his ridiculous point.
In response, Ace delivered a one finger solute. “Prick! You’re so lucky Domino held me back from beating your ass for the way you disrespected Cat.”
“I would have been even luckier if Blitz hadn’t tattled on me in the first place,” Cage muttered like a moody teenager.
I hid my smile, trying not to enjoy their back-and-forth banter as much as I was. If we weren’t on our way to rescue my best friend from life-threatening danger, I wouldn’t have wanted this family reunion to end at all.
Putting my car in park, Ace turned to me then, his face now deadly serious. “You know you don’t have to do this, Cat. We can find another way.”
There was no other way. We’d all already tried to come up with one and failed. “I want to do this. Anna needs me to do this.”
The truth was, I was scared shitless, but I’d meant what I’d said: Anna needed me. That meant I was going into the lion’s den, scared or not, to retrieve her.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to go in alone. I was taking my pack with me, so to speak. We also had a secret weapon Los Lobos would never expect. A tiny witch named Kierston with a can-do spirit and a kick-ass attitude.
“I’ll be fine. I know the plan. I trust you, Ace. Now I need you to trust me,” I admonished, with more confidence than I actually felt.
Ace frowned but nodded. “We won’t be far. If things go wrong—”
“I’ll put out the wolf-APB faster than you can blink,” I promised, before leaning in for a good-luck kiss. “Now get out of my car before anyone sees you.”
After Ace had kissed me goodbye, he and his brother had gracefully disappeared into the woods.
The plan was for me to drive the rest of the way to the location alone.
The men were going to hoof it over on foot to meet up with Kierston, Mad Dog, Domino, Blitz and Gunner.
As soon as we found out where Anna was being kept, the cavalry was going to ride in and save the day.
Of course, I’m sure Kane might be anticipating a double-cross. That’s where Kierston came in. The witch had a few powerful tricks up her magical sleeves that were going to help with subduing the leader of Los Lobos and any other wares that might be with him.
My body started to shake as soon as I pulled up to the address Kane had provided. Gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white, I counted to ten, took a deep breath, then unbuckled my seat belt.
It was showtime.