Cynful

Chapter Twenty

She watched Julian stalk out of the break room and out through the curtain at the front of the shop. “What is he doing?”

“Checking things out, I’d assume.” Micah leaned back against the break table and sighed. “Look, as much as I’d like to get my hands on my dad and kick his ass again, if he’s somewhere with a rifle we won’t get to him before he can take us out. Let me guess. You’ve been playing bait?”

“Yup.” She leaned against the doorjamb. She might not go chasing after her mate, but hell if she was going to cower in the room. “Do you have any idea why your dad would go after Glory and I? If he’s after Tabby, why not just shoot at her?”

“He’s a vindictive son of a bitch. To tell you the truth, I’ve been waiting for him to come after me all this time.” Micah shrugged. “How close are you to Tabby?”

“We’re family.” Cyn shot him a glance. “You’re kidding me. That’s why?”

Micah nodded. “He’ll want her to hurt before he kills her.”

She stared at him, appalled. “He’s done this before.”

“And I found out, took his Pack from him, and Outcast him for it.”

“Why didn’t anyone stop him?”

His answering grin was sour. “He was Alpha. No one was strong enough to stop him. Hell, I’m not sure his Beta wasn’t in on it, but without proof I couldn’t Outcast him. I constantly have to watch him, make sure he isn’t stirring up shit. The Omega was kept constantly drugged, and is just now getting over it with intensive therapy. He’ll never be who he was before he became my dad’s Omega. They broke him. The only thing I can do for him is keep the old Beta away from him, just in case. And the Marshall was a sadistic son of a bitch who died shortly after I Outcast my dad. He challenged me for the Pack and lost.”

“Wow. Makes me glad I’m not a Wolf.”

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t. Being a Tiger sounds really good some days. No Pack politics, just big-ass teeth and a pissy attitude.” He stood and made his way to the door. “He’s been gone a long time.”

“The front of the shop isn’t that big.”

His brows rose. “Want to check things out?”

“Hell yes.” Cyn pulled aside the curtain and stepped into the main part of the shop. “Julian?”

Julian turned from the front door where he was speaking to one of the cops. “Get back in the break room, Cyn.”

“Did they get him?”

Julian shook his head. “No. They’re following his trail now.” He gestured toward the curtain. “Now get your ass back there, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Yes, it is. It’s a very fine ass. Now keep it behind the curtain.”

Micah snorted a laugh as he followed Cyn back into the break room. “Is he always like that?”

“Nope. He’s having an off day. Usually he’s much worse.” Cyn stared around the break room, restless to be doing something, anything. Fuck, she’d inventory stock if it meant she got to move. “I’m heading in the back for a bit. Let Jules know where I am.” There were no windows back there so Super Bear couldn’t get upset over it.

“Are you sure it’s safe?”

Great. Just what I need. Another over-protective Alpha male. She was the Kodiak. She should be the one out front risking her hide, not Jules. “I think so. There are no windows, and the back door is locked.”

“Maybe I should go back with you.”

Cyn stared at the stubborn set of Micah’s jaw. Nothing she said would dissuade him. “Follow me.” She shook her finger at him as she led him into the stock room. “But I’m putting your ass to work.”

“Fine by me. I’m feeling a little antsy anyway.” He lifted a box off the nearest shelf and peered inside. “I hate sitting and waiting. I’d rather be out and doing.”

“Ditto. I’m supposed to be a sitting duck, but sometimes I wish I was the one duck hunting.”

Micah chuckled. “I know what you mean.” He placed the box back on the shelf and followed Cyn further into the back room. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Cyn shrugged. “That depends on the question.”

“Does Tabby’s mate treat her well?”

Cyn stared at Micah and started laughing.

“What? It’s a legitimate question.”

“Tabby’s mate is an overprotective Grizzly Bear who adores everything about her. Even the fact that she calls him sugar.”

Micah paled. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Look, I’d leave her one last message and let her decide if she wants to talk to you again. Because if you don’t stop phone stalking her you’re going to get your ass chewed off.”

“Got it.” He rubbed his face wearily. “Nothing is like I thought it was.”

“Tabby had a rough time of it after she was exiled, but she’s finally got her life together. You’re not taking that away from her.”

“I don’t want to. I just want her to understand that she’s got options. Her parents want to speak with her too.”

Cyn frowned and started counting the crimson ink. She’d have to order more soon. “Her parents didn’t say a word when she was kicked out of the Pack.”

“That’s not entirely true. After she left, they tried to find her. Like, almost immediately. They hired a private detective when they realized she wasn’t nearby. But they never found her.”

“Because she spent eight years as a Wolf.” Cyn shook her head. “What would they have done if they found her?”

“Run with her. They wanted to chase after her that night, but the Alpha set some of his men to guard them, to keep them from following her. They’ve hated him from that day forward. Hell, they’re my most vocal supporters, all because I promised I’d bring Tabby home to them.”

Shit. Tabby needed to hear about this. If what Micah was saying was true then Tabby’s parents deserved to repair their relationship with her. “I’ll talk to her.”

She hadn’t realized how tense he was until that moment, when he practically slumped against the shelving. “I’d appreciate that. Even if she never speaks to them again, at least they’d all have closure. I think both sides need that.” He tilted his head, listening. “It’s pretty quiet out there.”

She kicked the shelf, frustrated beyond belief. “He got away again, didn’t he?”

“Probably.” Micah winced and grabbed his shoulder. “Do you think your Julian could finish healing this?”

Cyn rolled her eyes. Like hell she was letting Julian heal anything bigger than a wounded gnat. “I’ll do it.”

He frowned. “I forgot you’re a Bear like him.”

She snorted out a laugh as she placed her hands over his wound. “Trust me. No one is like Julian.” She began concentrating on his wound, calling on Bear to help her out.

Micah frowned. “Cyn?”

“Hmm?” She needed to focus. This healing crap was harder than she thought.

“Do you smell deer?”

Julian thanked the nice officer for telling him that the fucking asshole had gotten away from them. Really. He’d been right there, shooting at Cyn, and they’d lost him?

And they called themselves shifters. He bet a monkey with pneumonia could have sniffed the guy out, but no. He had to get Deputy Fife and Gomer Pyle. He hoped they were able to find they’re fucking patrol car. After all, it was two whole cars down from the front of the shop.

Maybe he wasn’t being fair, but enough was enough. Cyn was done. He wasn’t going to allow her to play bait any longer. He was grabbing her ass and heading for the mountains, where he and Alex could take care of the girls while the Wolves played Marco Polo with the rogue. Let Dennis Boyd be the hunted for once. All he’d find was a couple of Grizzlies eager for a new chew toy.

“Cyn?” He stepped into the break room but it was empty. A cold shiver worked its way down his spine. “Cyn!”

He sniffed the air, then dashed toward the back room, following her spicy sweet scent. He tripped over something and landed flat on his stomach, his legs tangled in—

“Ugh.” Micah sat up, rubbing the back of his head. “Shit.”

Julian hauled himself to his feet. “Where’s Cyn?”

“Huh?” Micah winced and pulled his hand away. His fingers were coated in blood. “Oh no.”

Julian closed his eyes and tried to beat back the panic that threatened to engulf him. “Your dad.”

“I think so.”

“How could you not smell him?” Julian was screaming. What was wrong with everyone’s noses?

Micah froze. “Fuck. He’s masking his scent. He used to hunt deer all the time. He’s adept at killing his body odor. He owns a whole bunch of hunting clothes with activated carbon in the lining and deer musk spray.”

Jules took a deep breath and pulled out his phone. “Gabe, he got her.”

A string of curses was broken by the sound of Gabe’s cruiser, its sirens shattering the quiet night. “Stay put, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Bullshit. He’d heard stay one too many times. He wasn’t a fucking dog. “I’ll be out back. If they didn’t go through the front, there’s only one other exit.” An exit he was currently running for.

“Julian, damn it. Sit tight. If anything happens to you Cyn will kill me.”

“He’s going to kill her. I’ve seen it.” Julian burst through the back door, sniffing like an addict after a coke dealer. Cyn’s scent pulled him to the right, mingled with blood. His mate was hurt, and once again he hadn’t been there.

More curses poured from the Hunter. “I’m almost there.”

“She’s bleeding. I’m following the scent.” He skidded in the gravel parking lot, muttering a few curses of his own as he realized Boyd had dragged her into a dark alley.

“I’m heading to the back of the shop. Don’t do anything stupid, Julian.”

Was Gabe kidding? Everything that could possibly go wrong already had. Murphy fucking owed him. “I’m following them down the alley.”

“For fuck’s sake, listen to me. I need you to stop for a minute and concentrate. Cyn is your mate. You should be able to sense exactly where she is.”

That was news to him. Then again, he’d never had a mate before. Could every mate sense their other half? “I’ll give it a try.” He stopped, the scent of old Chinese food, rotting cabbage and dog shit almost overwhelming the scent of Cyn’s blood. He closed his eyes and prayed Dennis Boyd wasn’t doubling back. If he was, Julian would be a sitting duck. He reached out to his Bear, praying his mate wasn’t far away. If Boyd got her into a car, it would be all up to Gabe and the shifter cops.

Julian reached out for Cyn’s spirit, following the connection they had as mates. The connection was solid and thick, a brightly lit trail on a dark night, steady and strong. Without thought he was moving, following that radiant path. Gabe was right. It was like he had been following a shadowy figure in the dark, and now he could finally see where he was going. He didn’t even bother switching his vision to his Bear’s. He didn’t need the extra low-light vision. That bright trail would take him straight to his mate.

“Got anything for me?” Julian was startled to realize how close Gabe had gotten to him without his knowledge. The Hunter was right next to him, matching him stride for stride. His dark blue eyes had shifted into his Puma’s gold, allowing him to see better in the dim light of the alleyway.

Julian responded with a terse nod. “Follow me.” Cyn was close and still alive. Either Boyd was holding a gun on her or she was unconscious, because his fiery mate would be struggling, fighting for her life. There was no sound except for their footfalls.

The trail was brightening; they were close to where Boyd had taken Cyn.

“I’m not telling you where she is.” He almost stumbled at the sound of Cyn’s defiant voice. The sound of a meaty thud was followed by a string of Spanish curses.

Julian began ripping off his clothing, preparing for the shift. He didn’t care where any of it landed.

Boyd was about to find out what a pissed off Spirit Bear could really do.