21. Bain
Bain
“This place reeks,” Chase says from my side as we step inside Mickey’s, the bar where Cody said he can sometimes be found.
“Let’s make this quick.” I step forward and start scanning the few patrons.
I hate being away from Cherry, but she has the other three with her, and I didn’t get any bad vibes from the warlocks or the witch. Still, anything could happen, and I loathe being away from her. But if I’m able to get a lead on where that asshole doctor is, it’ll be worth it.
“There,” Chase says through the bond as he turns and heads toward the bar. I follow behind, letting him take the lead. His natural charisma will get us much further than my bluntness… this time.
He jumps up on the stool beside Cody and leans on the bar top. “Do you just hang out in diners and dives all day, or what?” Chase asks, sounding teasing and not accusatory, the way I’d sound.
Cody turns, looking surprised, before his expression turns a bit self-deprecating. “Cold beer and a warm burger, what else could a wolf ask for?” he asks, holding up his beer and taking a swig.
“A mate,” I say, unable to help myself.
“Yeah, well, it’s not in the cards for all of us,” he says, eyeing me before he takes another sip. He seems much more downtrodden than he did the last time we met him.
But as he chugs the rest of his beer and slams it on the counter, he plasters a smile on his face that I can tell is all show. He turns to us, his fingers threading together as he asks. “So, what can I do for you, gentlemen?”
Chase glances around before leaning toward him and lowering his voice. “We’re looking for information on a facility that abducts supernaturals.”
Cody’s eyes spark with fear before he quickly tries to hide it. “Never heard of such a place.”
“You’re lying,” I say, my arms banded around my chest.
Cody gives me an unamused look as Chase explains, “Listen, my mate, she escaped one of these places. We only want to find it so we can destroy it.”
Cody’s eyes bounce between us before he says, “You’ll never find them. They move all the time.”
“That’s why we’re not looking for the facility,” Chase explains. “We’re searching for the doctor.”
“The doctor?” Cody asks, his brows furrowing.
“Dr. J,” Chase says with a nod. “He’s the one who hurt her.”
Cody’s lips tighten before he nods in understanding. “I don’t know anything about him,” he admits, as my heart clenches with pain. I have to find him. “But I know someone who’s been to one of the facilities. He might be able to give you more info.”
“Who?” Chase asks eagerly.
“Finn. He’s a fox shifter.”
“Where can we find him?” I ask impatiently.
“I can give him your number and tell him to call you. I don’t feel right giving you his. I’ve only just met you guys, you understand?” he asks as he pulls out his phone.
“That’s great, thanks,” Chase says. I want to argue that no, that’s not good enough. What if he never calls? But decide to keep my mouth shut and let Chase handle it.
The door to the bar bangs open, and I spin, my body poised to fight the incoming threat. But the man who enters doesn’t look threatening; he looks flustered.
“Is that Dante, the tiger shifter from the sanctuary?” Chase asks as the man rushes in, stopping when his hands slam on the bar top a few steps away from us.
“Dante? You okay?” Cody asks as he steps around us.
“Cody!” He spins to face him, his eyes wide with worry. “Have you seen Zane?”
“Who?”
“Zane! He just moved to town. He’s a panther shifter.”
“I haven’t met him, sorry.”
“Shit,” Dante hisses, pushing his hair back from his face.
“What’s going on? Why you looking for him?”
Dante glances at Cody, then seems to notice us listening and drops his hand, seemingly pulling himself together when he realizes he’s being watched.
“Zane is the new night security guard at the sanctuary. I just need to talk to him before he goes to work tonight, but he’s not at home, and he’s not answering his phone.”
“Do you think something happened to him?” Cody asks in concern.
“Nah, I’m sure he’s fine. I’m just overreacting. I’ll talk to him when he gets to work tonight.” He smacks the bar top before offering us a strained smile and a wave, then turns and leaves.
“That was weird,” Chase says through the bond.
“Definitely,” I agree.
“Alright,” Cody says as he turns to face us. “I got your number. I’ll text you when I hear from Finn.”
“Thanks, man,” Chase says, giving him a slap on the shoulder.
“Don’t mention it.”
I dip my head in thanks and follow Chase outside.
“Do you think it’s safe here?” Chase asks. “In Starfall Haven?”
“No.”
“Care to elaborate?" he asks with a roll of his eyes as we walk quickly down the street, ready to get back to our girl.
“Blaze is here, somewhere,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but after we deal with that dickhead, you think it’ll be safe?”
I press my lips together in a thin line before I finally answer. “Maybe.”
“Maybe we should start patrolling the neighborhood for Blaze’s scent,” he suggests.
“He’s clearly using a scent blocker. I don’t think it will help.”
“You’re probably right. But there must be something we can do to find the guy?”
Something shining in a store window catches my eye, and I stop to look at the window display filled with tech.
“See something you like?” he asks.
“I have an idea.” I yank the door open, and Chase follows me inside as I make my way to the clerk.
“Good afternoon, is there something I can help you with?” the man asks as we approach.
“I need a piece of jewelry that has a tracker in it.”
Chase snorts in amusement, and the man nods as if this isn’t an unusual request. I guess in a town full of supes, you get a lot of protective mates.
“This way,” he says, walking toward a glass counter at the back. He moves around behind it as Chase and I lean over, staring at the various items. Pretty much everything I could imagine is in here.
“Is this for your mate?” The man asks, and I nod.
“These all have trackers in them?” Chase asks.
“Yes. They are made in town, and an app was developed to work with them. Just download it on your phone, sync it to the jewelry, and you’re ready to go!”
“What about that bracelet,” Chase says, pointing to a delicate gold chain. It would look beautiful on her wrist, but I have something else in mind.
“No,” I say before jamming my finger against the glass above the perfect item nestled in the corner. “That one.”
“Did you really need two boxes of cinnamon buns?” Gage asks the twins as they hold an open box between them, devouring an entire one each before we’ve barely stepped onto the street.
“Yes,” they say in unison.
“Cherry?” Chase says, making her turn around to face him and almost face planting. Luckily, my arm around her waist keeps her from falling.
My brows pinch in concern as I glance at Maddox, who’s holding her from her other side.
“Should we be worried?” I ask him privately through the bond.
“No. She’s just not used to walking. Her legs appear a little weak. The more she uses them, the faster she’ll become stable.”
A growl escapes before I can stop it. Luckily, Cherry doesn’t notice; she’s too busy taking a bite of Chase’s cinnamon bun right from his hand. She lets out a long moan that is nothing but erotic, making my dick kick in my pants.
“Good, isn’t it?” Chase asks with a smirk, and she nods.
“If you like those, I can make some for you,” Gage tells her, which only makes her freeze, her panicked eyes widening as she looks at him.
He frowns at her in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“You know how to bake?” she asks, her voice coming out a little higher-pitched than usual.
The twins start to snicker as Chase tells him, “She’s worried you’re going to poison her.”
She gasps, her cheeks turning pink. Then she slaps Chase in the chest as she tells him, “Am not!”
He starts laughing as Hunter closes the box of treats, and I turn her back to face the way we were walking before Chase stopped us to feed her.
Can’t exactly blame him for that. I love feeding her.
I do it every chance I get. My wolf loves it.
Providing a basic need for our mate soothes our frayed edges, calming us.
Cherry stumbles again. I glance down and realize she’s not wearing any shoes. I bend down and scoop her up into my arms.
“Bain!” she says with a squeak, her small hand landing on my chest as she looks at me in surprise. “I need to practice walking.”
“Not down a dirty sidewalk with no shoes on, you don’t,” I tell her as I stomp toward our SUV.
My nose twitches as her scent grows a little stronger. I glance down at her, but she’s just looking ahead, her cheeks pink for some reason.
What I wouldn’t give to know what she’s thinking right now.
Does she like it when I take care of her like this?
Of course she does, my wolf says, rolling his eyes at me. She’s our mate.
My arms tighten around her. My mate. In her human form, in my arms. My cock starts to throb, realizing that nothing is stopping us from cementing the bond anymore.
Not if she has control over her shift now.
I mean, it might not be perfect control, but it was enough.
I’m not sure I can hold myself back any longer.
I need to complete our bond or I might go mad.
I’ve been desperate to knot her and bite that pretty little neck, solidifying what we have.
It will help me sense her feelings and, hopefully, bring her into our pack bond.
And any shifter who comes near her will be able to sense that she’s a bonded wolf and will hopefully back off.
Not that we’d let anyone get close to her.
“Bain, are you okay?” Hunter asks through the bond.
I glance at him, my brows pinched in question, and he points to my hands.
I see my claws starting to push out and take a deep breath, telling my wolf to calm down.
My shifting isn’t in question here and my wolf needs to calm down. Nobody is taking her from us.
I jerk my head in a quick nod as Maddox opens the back door of the SUV. I climb in, keeping Cherry in my lap as everyone else gets seated.
As Gage drives us home, her hand on my chest starts to move higher, until she’s touching some of the hair poking out the top of my shirt. Her fingers scratch through it, and my hips jerk in surprise, enjoying the feeling.
Her scent grows stronger, and Maddox, who’s sitting shirtless beside us, takes a deep inhale, clearly smelling her arousal like I am.
“Fuck, she smells delicious,” Chase says through the bond from the passenger seat, clearly smelling her too.
Her hand slides up to my neck, and my head jerks down to look at her. She bites her lip, her eyes moving to mine. She’s impossible to resist. So I don’t. I lean down as I pull her up, pressing my lips to hers, my body humming in approval.
I’ve only had the chance to kiss her once before now.
Once. That’s completely unacceptable. The fact that she is shifting so often now gives me hope that it’s something I’ll be able to do much more frequently.
And once we’ve bonded, I can’t imagine that would do anything but help her control her shifting even more.
Her lips part, and I take that as an invitation to deepen the kiss. My wide tongue wraps around her much smaller one, and she moans, pressing her body even closer to me, her hand tugging at the back of my neck with need.
I lose all sense of time and space, forgetting where we are and who’s around us. My wolf tells me we’re safe, so I lose myself to her, loving the way her little hands claw at me and the moans that keep leaving her lips, as if she’s just as desperate for me as I am for her.
My cock is so hard, it literally throbs. I can feel my precum leaking out at just the mere thought of her sexy little pussy.
“Bain, we’re home,” Maddox says gently.
Reluctantly, I pull back and glance out the window, seeing we’re parked in the driveway. Not only that, but everyone has already exited the SUV. Just Maddox stands at the car door, gesturing for us to come inside.
I wrap my arms tightly around her as I shuffle us out of the car. She wiggles in my arms, and I glance down at her. She’s pressing her legs together tightly, but I can smell her arousal loud and clear. Her face is flushed and her lips are swollen from our kiss.
A grin of satisfaction pulls at my face, knowing I’m the one who put that look there. And she wants more.
“Maddox,” I say through the bond as he walks beside us. “I can’t wait any longer. I need to complete the bond. Now.”
He looks over at us and takes a moment to study her as we step inside our home. Finally, he nods. “Okay, we’ll do it together.”
His declaration surprises me, but I don’t care. If he needs to seal the bond first because he’s our leader, I don’t care, as long as I’m there and I’m a close second. I’m not sure I could wait much longer than that.
Obviously, hearing our conversation, Gage speaks through the bond. “The twins and I will keep watch, make sure the house is secure.”
“Fuck, no!” Chase hisses back. “I want to bond with her too.”
Gage levels him with a look as I walk past them toward her bedroom. “Chase, we don’t want to overwhelm her. Two knots are a lot to take her first time as it is.”
Shit, he’s right. And I am not small. Probably best to save me for last…
But I grin, knowing there is no way I’m not seizing this opportunity.
Assuming Cherry is up for it, of course.
But by the way she’s still biting her lip as she looks between Maddox’s bare chest and my face, I have a feeling that isn’t an issue.
Besides, she already tried to bite Maddox, so it’s not like we don’t know she wants this.
I tune out the others as I march down the hall with only one thing on my mind.
Making her mine.
I step into the biggest bedroom, the one marked for her, and sit her on the end of the bed, dropping to my knees in front of her. I feel Maddox follow me in and stand beside me as her gaze flicks back and forth between us.
“Bain?” she asks a little nervously when we both continue to stare.
I take a deep breath and reach into my pocket, pulling out the tracker I bought for her. But it’s not just a way to be able to know where she is; it’s also a symbol of how I feel. How we feel.
Pulling my hand up between us, I open my fingers and reveal the piece of jewelry to her.
She gasps, her hand flying to her chest in surprise, her eyes wide and round.
“Cherry,” I say quietly before licking my lips and swallowing the lump in my throat. Why do I feel so nervous all of a sudden?
“Will you be our mate? Will you bond with us?”
Her jaw drops open as she stares down at the ring in my hand. Her eyes start to well up with tears, and when one falls free, rolling down her cheek, I grimace.
Fuck. I messed up. She isn’t ready.