Chapter 14
All things considered, Ben thought, the dinner had gone okay. His parents had gotten a little emotional, sure, but that was to be expected. He started carrying McKenzie”s gifts inside while Delilah sang the baby to sleep. He looked around. There wasn”t enough space in the living room for all of this stuff. And he knew there wasn”t enough space in Chase’s old room. Grinning wickedly, he started carrying the things into Doug”s room. He looked at the space with an appraising eye. Yes, if he got rid of Doug”s bed, there would be room for the crib in here. He could set up a rocking chair over there in the corner, and then when McKenzie fussed, Delilah could rock her.
He was just about to start dismantling his brother’s bed when he realized he was being absolutely crazy. Delilah and the baby were not staying. This was a temporary thing.
But he was getting so damn used to having them around.
There was space in Doug’s room for the new gifts, anyway. He brought them in, careful not to thump against the wall and distress McKenzie.
When he was done bringing the baby’s gifts inside, he took out his calendar and made a slash mark over the day.
It felt like cheating, though. This was something he would”ve wanted to do anyway.
In the other room, Delilah was singing to McKenzie. He recognized the tune to ”You are My Sunshine,” and he felt something tighten in his chest.
Because that”s what they were—rays of sunshine in this dark, dark house.
His phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket, expecting to see his parents’ phone number. Instead, it was the alpha.
“Ben here,” he said.
“I need you at my house as soon as possible to discuss the rogue,” she said.
“On my way.” He hung up and left a note for Delilah, who was still in Chase’s room.
It didn’t take him long to reach Marlana’s, but once he pulled in, he saw Fraze’s old Mustang in the drive. Shit. He’d been excited before, eager to discuss a plan to deal with the rogue. Now his gut was full of heavy dread.
Marlana greeted him when he entered her office. Fraze and Gracie barely looked his way. A scar marred one of Gracie’s cheeks, souvenir from a fight with the Rock Creek Clan, when she’d been an enemy of all shifters. When her alliance had changed, Ben hadn’t believed her.
“We’ll continue to follow him,” Marlana said, her voice as icy cool as her eyes. “Unfortunately, we can”t have anybody from the pride approach him. I don’t want to scare him off. And we need to know what he”s up to. I’m not taking one single chance that he’s after the baby.”
Ben nodded. He wouldn’t take McKenzie’s safety for granted, either.
She continued, ”After this thing with the vampires, I”m not taking any chances with anything.”
He flicked his gaze over to Gracie. Her pale face remained stoic at the mention of the vampires, so Ben quickly looked away again. Somehow, he had to tell her he was sorry for before. He had to tell her he was changing.
”Gracie and Fraze,” Marlana said, ”I asked you here because we”re still really short on Guardians. I”d like you to help Ben monitor this rogue shifter. I”ll have Ben watching during the day as much as he can, and you two alternating nights or working together—whichever works best for you.”
”Of course, Marlana, we’ll help,” Gracie said.
”I wish we had more people to spare,” Marlana said. “But the fact is, we don”t. I don”t expect twenty-four-hour surveillance with three people. That”s just impossible. Luckily, I don”t think the rogue poses much of a flight risk as long as we don”t alert him to the fact we’re watching him. So we’ll just do the best we can until we can spare more Guardians.”
Ben clenched his fists. Marlana’s course of action wasn”t ideal, but it was better than nothing.
Marlana said, ”All right, you three. I”m going to bed.”
Ben got up and bolted downstairs, then he burst through the front door and into the cool evening air. But instead of getting into his truck, he walked over to Fraze’s car. There, he waited.
He didn”t have to wait long.
Fraze and Gracie came out holding hands. Ben wondered what that would be like, to touch someone so casually. He’d tried that with Delilah this morning, and she’d retreated quickly into the bathroom. Her cheek had been so soft, so warm. He shoved away the thought.
Fraze spoke first. ”What.”
He didn”t say it like a question, and the single syllable was laced with loathing.
”I wanted to talk to you.” Ben took a step toward them.
”We don”t want to talk to you,” Fraze said.
Ben met Gracie”s dark eyes. ”There’s something I need to say,” he said. ”To Gracie, to both of you.”
Fraze sighed. ”Look, all we want from you right now is any information you can share on this rogue. Any idea where he lives? That”ll be our first step to tracking him down.”
”He didn”t drive home today, at least not while I was tailing him,” Ben said, resigned to not getting to speak to these two like he wanted. ”He works at the pawn shop over near that taqueria everybody likes in Maxon.”
”He probably lives in Maxon, then,” Gracie said. ”Although, he could really live anywhere. Some of these towns aren’t too far apart from each other.”
Fraze looked down at her affectionately. ”Well, we have all night. Let”s get started.” They moved past Ben as if he wasn”t there and got into the Mustang. Fraze started the engine and Ben had to step out of the way so his foot wouldn”t get run over. He didn”t think Fraze would need much of an excuse to do it, either.