Authors: Shelli Stevens
“I just read about her. Raised some flags with me too. In fact, it had similarities to the murdered human woman case you and I were investigating last week in Seattle.”
“Those were my thoughts exactly. Which was why I wasn’t easily convinced that you could’ve—” Donovan gave a hard shake of his head. “Don’t worry about it actually.”
“Finish your thought.”
“Hell, I don’t want you to stress it, because it was just a murmur going through the agency. But,” he hesitated again, “there’s some speculation that you might be behind the murders.”
Donovan’s words sunk in like a wrecking ball to the chest. Nathan couldn’t breathe, reply, couldn’t do anything but replay those words in his head.
“It’s a farfetched theory, Larson. Someone reported a possible sighting of you in California recently, and it’s just a crazy coincidence that women are turning up dead in the states you would’ve had to travel through.”
Shit. It only got worse. Not only did the P.I.A. think him guilty of killing his fiancée and her pack, but that he was killing women along the west coast.
Donovan scratched the back of his head and gave Nathan a quick look. “Seriously, don’t sweat it. I’m sure you were nowhere near the coast anyway.”
Actually, he had been, but he wasn’t sure he should admit that to Donovan. He’d passed through the exact spot the woman in Cannon Beach was found.
A thought seized him, making him still in his steps. Had his chest go tight and his head pound. All those moments he couldn’t remember in the few days after he’d been injected with the drug. The flashes of occasional rage and feeling completely out of control.
The drug hadn’t left his system right away—he’d known that and fought it as he ran. Hell, there were still moments where he felt its dark finger reaching up to drag him back into that blood thirsty abyss.
He knew without doubt that he’d never killed, let alone met, the woman in Seattle. He and Donovan had investigated her death, but that was the only connection to her.
But the other two… Fuck. What if one of those rages, one of those blackouts, he’d done something completely unforgiveable? What if the lingering effects of the drug had encouraged him to turn into a horrific monster?
Not possible. His mind denied it, but the unease didn’t leave his gut. The victim in Cannon Beach
had
seemed familiar.
“Larson?”
The concern in Donovan’s tone had him pulling away from those dark thoughts.
“I don’t know.” His tone was flat. “I’m pretty sure Jocelyn injected me with something crazy that night we rescued Grace. Both Alicia and I. I controlled it. Her not so much because she slaughtered her entire pack—family included.”
Donovan absorbed the info with a stoicism that was so traditional to him.
“Did she kill Andrew too?” Donovan asked, referencing Jocelyn’s former assistant who’d been guilty of kidnapping a P.I.A. agent and her sister.
“If I trust the images in my head, than yes. I’m pretty sure she did.”
“Trust the images.”
Donovan didn’t understand the power of that drug that bitch had given Nathan.
He shook his head, and couldn’t stop himself from voicing his fear. “You think I could’ve done it? Killed those women?”
“No.” Donovan responded before Larson even finished the question. “Not just no, but hell no. You’re not a murderer, Larson.”
“I killed Alicia.”
“Because she was slaughtering her pack. You said so yourself. You were strong enough to fight through whatever drug you were given and had the clarity to stop her.” Donovan stopped walking and grasped Larson’s shoulder. “I trust you. You’re a damn good alpha. Commander. Friend. You didn’t kill Alicia’s pack any more than you killed those women.”
He appreciated his friend’s faith in him and wished like hell he had more in himself. But there was so much he couldn’t remember. So much about himself that scared him during the past week.
“You guys are fucking incredible for coming down here,” he muttered wearily. “Because you’re right. I’m up a creek.”
“Well, not entirely. It looks like you’ve got some help from an outside source.” Donovan cast him a sidelong look. “Who’s the girl? You kidnap her or something?”
“Pretty much.”
There was a moment’s stunned silence. “Hell, I was kidding, Larson. Are you serious?”
“I was running out of options. I needed a place to stay.”
“So you abducted a woman who looks like she should be teaching second graders art? Nice move.”
“She’s a writer, and her innocent appearance was why I picked her. I figured she’d be an easy target.” Nathan hesitated. “Unfortunately, I’ve now learned her brother is an alpha.”
“I sensed she was a shifter, but her brother’s an alpha? Might’ve fucked yourself over on that one.”
“I thought that initially, but now I don’t know. She seems to want to help me. I can’t explain it, but she believes in my innocence.”
Donovan cleared his throat. “Excuse my directness, but maybe she’s been a little charmed because you’re sleeping with her?”
Awkward
. Nathan considered his response. What had happened between them was no one’s business, and Sage would be mortified to know her sex life was being discussed.
“We’re not—”
“Give me some credit. We sense these things, and trust me, the vibes you guys are giving off aren’t discreet. Sienna and I both picked up on the fact when we came in. You may as well have a text bubble above both your heads that says, ‘Hey, we just fucked.’”
He struggled not to bristle at the crudeness of the term “fucked”. And of course it was obvious to Sienna and Donovan—he’d been stupid to think otherwise.
A few branches cracked in the distance, and he glanced around—waited—but there was no more noise and nothing within view.
“Look. We had a connection. I had a lot of pent-up frustration. You know how we get.”
“I do know. So you slept with her? You think that’s wise?”
Hell, Donovan didn’t even know that Sage had been inexperienced and was asking that question.
“Sex was a mutual decision. It boils down to a physical release, and really it was nothing spectacular.” Okay, that was a big massive lie. “Besides, I figured it couldn’t hurt to help keep her alliance with me.”
“Because her brother is an alpha? Smart. Kind of shitty, but smart.”
“I’m going to agree with shitty.”
The angry, hurt, female voice rang out from behind them. They turned just in time for Donovan to catch the black phone that was flung at his chest.
“You left this in the house and have been getting non-stop calls from
the office
for the last three minutes. I thought you might want to deal with that. You’re welcome.”
Shit. How much had she heard? Nathan replayed the conversation in his head and bit back a roar of fury. Too much. She’d heard way too fucking much.
“Sage—”
“And that whole sleeping together thing that we did?” She rounded on him now and folded her arms across her chest. “Won’t be happening again. I’m sorry it was such an unspectacular event.”
“Sage.”
“Another thing. Let me assure you that my alliance is very much with my brother first and foremost. That never did, and never will, change.
Asshole
.”
Turning on her heel, she ran back toward the house, leaving him and Donovan standing in silence.
“Well.” Donovan spoke first. “She seems like fun.”
Nathan grunted and shook his head, trying to push aside the guilt that was becoming so familiar in his relationship with her.
“She grows on you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tears blurred her eyes as Sage made her way back to her house.
She should’ve left the phone on the entryway table where Warrick had left it. Despite Sienna’s protests that her husband would be fine without it, Sage had chased after the two men to return the item.
After entering the house, she slammed the door behind her and strode toward the kitchen, ignoring Sienna’s startled glance from where she sat on the couch.
“Everything okay? Did you catch up with them?”
“Fine. They’re fine. Can I get you some tea?” Okay, maybe her tone was a little brittle, but Sienna didn’t know her. She didn’t know that was abnormal.
“Actually, do you have any coffee?”
“Sure. I’ll brew us a fresh pot.”
Absently, she went to work preparing the coffee for them.
Stupid. She was being so stupid. Why should it bother her so much to know that Nate had had ulterior motives in sleeping with her? That he hadn’t simply been driven by a blinding desire for her?
Add naïve to the list of adjectives she fell under. This wasn’t one of her books, and Nate would never be her hero. It was like he said. Sex. And for a moment she’d thought she was doing okay compartmentalizing that from her emotions.
She’d been considering having sex for months, when all she’d been able to think about was a cute indie musician named Leaf.
God, she could barely pull up his image in her head now. Behind closed eyes there was only Nathan Larson. Large. Intimidating. A little too dominating from his alpha tendencies. A lot dangerous, and most of all, incredibly attractive.
Well. Whatever happened from this point out, sex wasn’t part of it. Her gut instinct told her Nathan was innocent, and she would keep trying to help him prove it. But as for the sexual side? They were done. She couldn’t risk getting her heart hurt.
Heart and brain were separate entities. She’d do well to remember that.
“Sage?”
Soft footsteps announced Sienna’s arrival. Sage turned to find the blonde entering the kitchen, her brows drawn together with concern.
“I realize I don’t know you very well,” Sienna said softly, “but what I’ve seen so far speaks of a courageous woman who can see beyond the surface.”
“Thank you.” She wasn’t courageous though, far from it.
“Nathan Larson is a strong leader. An incredible man and a longtime friend of Warrick’s, and he’s in a whole lot of trouble right now. If you hadn’t agreed to help him—”
“Well, that wasn’t exactly by choice. He forced me,” she admitted, before grumbling, “Initially at least.”
Sienna’s mouth closed, her lips pursing as she absorbed that information.
“But now you’ve decided to help him. I mean, I’m assuming since you contacted us.”
“I never should’ve contacted you. That was a huge mistake.”
“No. It could be his saving grace. There’s only so much you can do to help him,” Sienna said gently. “We have access to so many more doors that you can’t get through, and Nathan would be flagged if he even tried.”
“I hope you can help him.”
And then I hope he gets the hell out of my life
. Putting everything back to normal. Deadlines. Crushes on silly musicians. All leading up to an arranged mating that her brother was planning.
Only that wasn’t what she wanted. Not at all. She bit her lip hard to avoid the tears that pricked.
“You already have strong feelings for him.”
Sage froze. “Excuse me?”
“Oh crap. I didn’t realize I actually said that aloud. I was just pondering…” Sienna stepped back into her line of vision. “It’s fascinating. I’ve been studying the whole shifter species—trying to understand them more since it’s so new to me still.”
“Yes, I heard about your situation…”
“It’s just that I’ve heard it can be quicker with alphas. The attachment, and that when they find their mate—”
“Whoa. No, it’s not like that,” she said quickly. “Nate is a friend.”
Sienna just arched a brow in blatant dismay.
Flushing, she admitted, “Okay, maybe he’s more than a friend, but we’re certainly not mates. He was intended to mate with someone—”
“That doesn’t mean she was destined to be his true mate if he’d had the right to choose.”
“But he doesn’t have the right. Not really. It’s all arranged for people like us.”
Sienna gave a slight nod. “That’s true, but that doesn’t mean people don’t stray from their intended paths—”
“Even if Nate is technically available again, I’m not.” She drew in a sharp, painful breath. “My brother has arranged for me to mate with his beta.”
“Oh. I see.”
The thick disappointment in Sienna’s words sent a similar dismal emotion through Sage, and she turned, clenching her hands into fists as she went to check the coffee.
The coffee hissed and dripped as it percolated, the pot nearly full now.
“So how did you guys get down here?” Sage asked, trying to keep her voice steady as she changed the subject. “How did you find me so fast?”
“It was actually really easy. We traced your number, got your name and address, and hopped a plane immediately.”
“The agency isn’t going to notice your absence?”
“We don’t work weekends, and tomorrow we’ll both call in and claim food poisoning or something. We plan to be back on Tuesday.”
“Will you be taking Nate with you?”
“It depends. Warrick and I are taking a huge risk by being here right now. We should’ve turned you in. Had you called anyone else…there’s a good chance Nathan would be on his way to the Elders right now.”
“Or dead?”
“Or dead,” Sienna agreed without hesitation.
That visual hurt. Physically hurt her heart and she struggled to breathe through it. Couldn’t quite stop the tiny whimper of fear.
“I still think you seem awfully close to Nathan for having only known him, what, a few days?”
If that
. Sage gave a small shrug.
“We’ve had time to talk.”
And have sex
. “Being housebound together since Thursday night. We haven’t gotten out much, except when I tried to escape.”
Sienna’s eyes rounded. “Escape? Meaning he wasn’t allowing you leave on your own free will?”
“Exactly. I tried a few times, actually, to escape.” Her lips quirked. “He took me a little more seriously the third time when I shot him.”
“You
shot
Nathan? He’s an alpha!” Sienna’s voice rose with disbelief.
“I realize that.”
“Let me understand this. You shot him with a
gun
?”
“With a Glock .40 to be exact.”
“And you’re still
alive
?”