Chapter Two
Grayson
I look at a teary-eyed Vi and feel like a bastard. “I have to do this.”
“No, you don’t,” she says. “You want to do it. You want her.”
She’s owed the truth. “Yes, I want her.”
She looks pained. “Thank you for your honesty, but tell me…if Fee had never come along, would you have chosen me?”
I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already am. “We had a good thing, Vi.”
She closes her eyes and nods. “I’ll get my things.”
She heads to the lift, and I turn my back on her, relief loosening the knots in my shoulders. Fuck, I’ve been dreading this moment since the day I laid eyes on Fee in the club that first time. A feisty woman I thought was human putting my Loup in their place. There’d been a spark even then. I’d known that my time with Vi was limited, because when I’d stood toe to toe with Fee, I’d felt the need to claim. Something I’d never felt with Vi, something I hadn’t felt with anyone. I’d known back then I’d have to hurt Vi one day soon.
Dean catches my eye from across the room. He nods slightly to let me know I’m doing the right thing. That this is the best move for the pack. Thing is, it’s also what I want.
I want Fee, and she’s on her way to me right now, and Vi turning up today is just bad timing. I look to the main entrance. Fee will be walking through those doors any moment.
“Vi knew this day might come,” Dean says, joining me in the kitchen. He pours himself a mug of coffee and then tops up mine. “You’re making the right choice.”
I give him a wry smile. “There is no choice, Dean.”
Dean tucks in his chin. “Yeah. You and Fee were made for each other. Her wolf and yours…it’s fate.”
My lip curls. “Tell that to the fucking cosmos.”
“I don’t understand how Hunter can be her fated mate.”
“I don’t understand it either.” My brother is dark and wicked, and Fee…Fee is neither of those things. “Hunter will claim her because he can. Because he believes she belongs to him, and Hunter doesn’t share.”
“Fee’s in love with the Dominus,” Dean says, as if reading my mind.
Jealousy stirs in my veins, but I tamp it down.
Dean is watching me, narrow-eyed. “How will you handle that?”
I swig from my cup, allowing the green-eyed beast to calm the fuck down. I know Fee. I know what she needs and what she wants, and I know what I need to give her to make her happy, and that…That fucking matters to me.
“I don’t own her. She’s a Dominus as well as an alpha Loup, and if I have to share her heart, then I will.”
Dean nods and sips his coffee. “You may not be fated mates, but your wolves have an affinity to each other, and you’re a damn better match for her than Hunter.”
I know this. Have known it for a while now, and given time, I’ll prove it to Fee. I glance at my watch. “Where is she? She should be here by now.”
“You’re nervous.”
“I’m the fucking alpha. I don’t get nervous.” I take a gulp of my coffee; it’s dark and sweet, just the way I like it. “Where the fuck is she?”
The lift returns with Vi just as my phone buzzes. Fee? I look at the caller ID. “Azazel?”
Dean’s brows shoot up. “You think the big guy has convinced her otherwise?”
“Azazel won’t do that. He wants to keep Fee away from Hunter.” I answer the call. “Hello?”
“Grayson, Fee’s been kidnapped,” Azazel says bluntly.
I freeze, my brain trying to decide if I’ve heard him right.
“I interrogated the taxi driver,” Azazel continues quickly. “He got a call from dispatch telling him he had a fugitive in his cab and ordering him to a location where he was told the police would intercept. When they got there, he says the fugitive tried to attack him, so he bolted. I asked him if he saw anyone in the vicinity. He gave me a description of a man he passed on his dash away from the taxi. Dark hair, dark eyes, tanned skin. Movie star looks.”
“Hunter.”
“It has to be. Mal and I are on the way to Eldrick’s now. Maybe he can give us a clue as to where Hunter might have taken her.”
Hunter has Fee, and I can feel the vein in my temple throbbing. “How long till the heat?”
“Less than a week,” Azazel says.
Fuck. “Listen, Eldrick isn’t what he seems. We acquired a new recruit at the culling, an ex-member of the Rising Pack. It turns out Eldrick plans to take over all of Necro and push the other packs out. He has Hunter working for him, and they’ve garnered support from rogue packs all over the country. He’s building an army. I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to undo some of his work, but Azazel…If Hunter has Fee, I don’t think Eldrick is innocent in it.”
“Dammit, of course…Fee mated to Hunter will give Eldrick’s pack power.”
“Yes. Enough to put his plan into motion. If Hunter completes the mating with Fee, then Necro as we know it will come to an end.”
Azazel curses.
“Play it safe. Don’t let on you know, and get permission to search Rising Pack territory. I’ll get my Loup on the ground now. I need something with her scent on it.”
A female voice pipes up in the background.
“Cora will drop something off,” Azazel says. “I’ll call you in a bit.”
He hangs up.
“What the hell?” Dean says. He’s heard it all with his Loup hearing. “I’ll get a search mobilized as soon as we have Fee’s scent.”
I sense my Loup around me stop what they’re doing, ears pricking up as they’re alerted to my shift in mood. I take measured breaths to rein in the panic and rage.
Hunter has Fee.
Hunter has my mate.
Fuck, where did that surge of possessiveness come from?
“Grayson?” Vi places a hand on my shoulder. “Is everything okay?”
“Hunter’s taken Fee.” My tone is even, businesslike. I’m impressed with my self-control.
“What?” She visibly pales. “Are you sure it’s him? I mean, it could be Dread or…Or those hooded figures?”
“Azazel confirmed it. He’s off to speak to Eldrick now. We’ll find them.”
I marvel at the confidence in my tone even as my heart is battering against my ribs, and my body aches to tear out of the house and into the streets to hunt for Fee.
Dean tuts. “I don’t understand how Hunter could know Fee was headed here to mate with you.” His brows pinch together. “How did he even know where she was?”
He was probably stalking her.
“I want to help,” Vi says. “Whatever you need.”
Guilt claws at me. She’s a good woman, an honorable woman. “Thank you, Vi. Really.”
She smiles. “Fee’s a friend. I care about her.”
“Do you?” a female voice demands.
Cora stands in the doorway, clutching an item of clothing.
She saunters in, and the Loup standing about the place close in on her, as if drawn to her. There’s an energy beating off her. Power, rage, and indignation. I can taste it.