Slade's Desire (White River Wolves Series, #2) (11 page)

Sari’s eyebrows rose, a look of suspicion in her eyes.  “Like what?”

“I can do things, Sari.  Things you wouldn’t believe.”

“Are you going to tell me how you turn into a glow worm sometimes at night?  Because I already know about that.”

Gypsy looked at Sari in surprise.  “You’ve seen me?”

Sari flushed as she looked away.  “You would leave the house sometimes really late at night.  I have always had trouble sleeping, so I started following you.  I just wanted to see where you went.” 

“You saw me dancing under the moon?” Gypsy guessed softly.

“You were so beautiful,” Sari admitted, a slight apology in her voice.  “I couldn’t seem to stay away.  You would start to sort of glow, getting brighter and brighter, and then you would say things.  It was like you were talking to the moon and stars, and they were responding.”

“Why didn’t you ever ask me about it?”

Sari shrugged, leaning closer and resting her head on Gypsy’s shoulder.  “You didn’t want me to know.  If you did, you would have told me.”

“Not true,” Gypsy said, laying her cheek on the top of Sari’s head.

“No?”

“I always wanted to tell you.  We never kept secrets from each other.  But Mom wouldn’t let me.”  Sighing, Gypsy told her the whole truth.  “People used to think my father was a witch.  He was killed by hunters, and Mom was always afraid that they were hunting us.”

She heard Sari gasp softly, and then she whispered, “I’m so sorry, Gypsy.”  They sat in silence for several minutes before Sari asked, “Do you hate me, Gypsy?  Is that why you don’t come to see me very often?”

“What?” Gypsy pulled away from Sari, and placing a finger under her sister’s chin, she raised her head until their eyes met.  “There was one reason, and one reason only that I never came to see you before, Sari Elizabeth, and it most definitely was not because I hate you.”

“Then why?”  Sari’s chin trembled as she fought back tears.

“Sari, something happened to me when we were rescued, and I lost my memory.  I honestly had no idea who I was, let alone who you were.  I have never ever hated you.  Why would you think that?”

“Because it’s my fault we were taken.  Dad and Mom died, and you were hurt, all because of me.”  Sobs tore from Sari’s throat, tears falling from her eyes. 

“Who told you that?”

“Philip did.  He said he wanted me, so he eliminated anyone he thought would get in his way.  He killed our parents, and then he kept you locked up in that horrible place.  He told me that every time I did something that he didn’t like, he would hurt you.  I always messed up.  I could never make him happy.  I’m so sorry, Gypsy.  Please don’t hate me!” 

Gypsy enfolded the devastated girl into her arms, crooning softly to her.  “I could never hate you, sweetheart.  I love you so much, and none of this was because of you.  Nothing that happened was in any way your fault.  Philip Perez was a sadistic bastard.  An evil, cold-hearted son of a bitch who liked to prey on young girls and feed off the fear of others.  Nothing you could have done would have ever made him happy.”

Gypsy rocked her sister back and forth in her arms for a long time before Sari finally calmed down, her head resting on Gypsy’s chest.  Lightly touching the cast on Gypsy’s left arm, she asked, “Did he do this to you because of me?”

“No,” Gypsy promised, “this had nothing to do with you.  Actually, Philip didn’t break my arm.  Titus did.”

“Titus?” 

“Yes.  He was one of Philip’s henchmen.  He would come down into The Dungeon to torture all of the prisoners.  I was no exception.”  A shiver ran up Gypsy’s spine as she remembered the beatings she had endured at the hands of not only Titus, but the other guards.  There had been so much pain and suffering for so long.  “Titus used to bring me extra food sometimes, which wasn’t saying much.  They did not like to feed us often.  They needed to keep their prisoners weak.”  At Sari’s gasp of dismay, Gypsy placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before continuing.  “One time I tried to feed Trace some of the food he brought me.  Titus found out and punished me severely.  The broken arm was the worst of it, though.  He said I was his.  That he had paid Perez a lot of money for me, so he could do whatever he wanted to me.”

“What?” Sari cried, raising shocked eyes to Gypsy’s.  “He owned you?”

Lifting her chin slightly in defiance, Gypsy said, “He thought he did.  But he was wrong.  No one owns me.”

Sari’s lower lip trembled as she whispered raggedly, “I missed you so much, Gypsy.”

“Me too, my love.  Me too.”

Laying her head back down on Gypsy’s chest, Sari spoke so quietly Gypsy had to strain to hear her.  “They told me I lost my baby.”  As far as Gypsy knew, that was the first time Sari had spoken of the infant she miscarried.  “Philip killed him.  I would have loved him, Gypsy.  I would have loved my baby no matter what.”

“I know, Sari.”  It broke Gypsy’s heart that her sister was suffering, and there was nothing she could do about it.  She should be hanging out with friends right now, talking about boys and what shoes to buy next.  Instead, Sari was hiding in a hospital room, afraid to face the world after walking through the fires of hell. 

Gypsy held her sister as she cried for the loss of her baby.  The poor girl had lost everything.  Her parents, her baby, her home, her innocence.  But she had survived.  She had lived, and no matter what, Gypsy vowed to help her move on and learn to love life again.  After a while, only soft sniffles could be heard.

Trying to take Sari’s mind off of her pain, Gypsy whispered, “I met someone, Sis.”

After a moment of silence, she heard, “Slade?”

“Yes.”  Lowering the hospital bed down slightly, Gypsy settled back against the pillows holding her sister close.  “He’s an enforcer for the White River Wolves here at the compound.”  Sticking to her vow from before to always be honest with Sari from now on, she continued, “He’s my mate.”

“Mate?”

“Kind of like a soul mate, but so much more.”  Sari sighed as she snuggled closer.  “I’m going to tell you some things, Sari.  Things that you have to promise not to tell anyone.  It could put some wonderful people in danger if you do.”

“I promise.”  There was no hesitation in Sari’s voice, only acceptance.  Her little sister had been forced to grow up so fast, and Gypsy hated Philip Perez for it.

“Some of the people of this compound are different,” she began softly.  “They are magical, powerful beings.”

“Like you?”

“Like me, but so much more.  They can do things that I can’t.  They have the ability to shift into wolves, and I even heard something about a bear and a fox.”  She expected shock and denial from Sari, but she got neither. 

“And panthers,” Sari said quietly. 

Gypsy stiffened in surprise.  It was obvious her sister knew about Trace, and there was only one way she could have found out.  “You overheard Philip and his men talking, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Sari agreed, a shiver running through her body.  “They were experimenting with Trace.  Seeing exactly how far they could go before they killed him.  Philip didn’t want him dead, but he told his men to push him to his limits.  I remember one of them said he didn’t understand how Trace could still be alive after everything they’d done to him.”

Tears filled Gypsy’s eyes as she remembered watching each and every one of those torture sessions.  The struggle with life and death had been a daily constant in Trace’s life.  “I do,” she told Sari.  “Trace is strong, and courageous.  He wanted to free us, to get us away from that place.  And he wanted to come to Jade.  Mates will do anything for each other, Sari.  They are the other half of one another’s soul.  Without one, the other loses the will to go on.  Trace had to come home to Jade.  There was no other choice.”

“So that means Slade is the other half of your soul?”

Gypsy took a moment to respond.  Closing her eyes, she pictured Slade; so strong, loyal, and brave.  “Yes,” she replied.  “He is.  I feel it, deep inside.  I know, no matter what, he will always be there for me.  He will always protect me.”

“Even from someone like Philip?  What if someone kidnaps us again?  What if...?”

“Hush,” Gypsy whispered, rubbing her back gently, “Hush, baby.  Heaven forbid that would ever happen.  But, if it did, Slade would hunt to the ends of the earth for us, because I am his, and that’s what mates do.” 

“Do you think maybe I have a mate out there too?”  The soft question was spoken with both trepidation and a hint of hope.  “Do you think someday, someone will want me like that?  Even after what Philip did to me?”

“I know someone is out there who will love you, care for you, and treat you the way you deserve to be treated someday, Sari.  He may be human, he may be other, but I know he is out there.”

“How do you know?”

“I have gifts of my own, remember?”  Tilting Sari’s head up so she could look at her, Gypsy grinned as she leaned down and gently rubbed their noses together.  “Trust me, little sister, your future is very bright and full of joy.  You will get past everything that has happened.  You will move on.  It will take time, but it will happen.  I promise you.”  She would do everything in her power to keep that promise.

Sari’s eyes filled with tears, and one slipped out.  “I hope so.  It is so hard right now, Gypsy.”

Sari laid her head back down, and Gypsy tightened her arms around her.  It was not long before soft snores filled the silence.  After Sari fell asleep, Gypsy continued to hold her close, because she needed that comfort as well.  She needed to know that somebody loved her, and cared for her.  That they needed her, like Sari did.  The minutes stretched into hours, and when she finally glanced toward the window, she was shocked to see that it was pitch black outside.  The clock on the wall read 3am.

Gypsy slipped out of the bed and used the buttons on a remote to lower it down all of the way so Sari would be more comfortable.  Pulling the covers up, she gave her sister one last kiss on her brow before leaving.  Walking down the hall, she paused outside her old room, but knew that was not where she belonged.  Waving to the nurse at the front counter, she left the building.  Lost in thought, Gypsy walked slowly down the front stairs, stopping to look up at the sliver of moon that showed from behind some dark clouds.  She didn’t hear the man behind her until it was too late.  “I’ve missed you,” a terrifying voice from her past said before a hand covered her mouth and she felt a small prick in the side of her neck.

A
fter Gypsy left his apartment, Slade made it outside in time to see her standing in front of the hospital talking with Jade.  She’d turned to look at him, and he had thought maybe she would come back.  When she turned back around and walked up the stairs, he waited just long enough to make sure she made it to the doors, before backing out of sight.  He watched as she looked in his direction one more time, before going into the building.  Fighting the urge to follow her, he cursed beneath his breath and stomped back up to his apartment.  Quickly changing into sweats and a tee-shirt, he grabbed his duffle bag and left again. 

Slade spent the rest of the day in the gym, pounding the piss out of first one of the punching bags hanging in a corner, and then taking on Chase when he showed up.  Both men had a lot of aggression to let out, and once they finished in the gym, they shifted and ran the perimeter of the compound checking for signs of an intruder.  Finding none, Slade finally went back to his apartment, hoping Gypsy had shown up.  When he didn’t see her, he called the hospital and was told she was resting with her sister.  He was not happy, but knowing she was safe, he decided to try and get some sleep himself.  Unfortunately, he was unable to without Gypsy by his side. 

Several hours later, Slade looked at the clock again before slamming his fist into the pillow.  It was early morning, and he had spent the night alone, wide awake.  This was not the way it was supposed to be.  His mate had been in his apartment, in his bed.  He should have kept her there.  Instead, he once again managed to fuck things up and made her run. 

Rolling out of bed, Slade dressed in record time.  He had never thought he would find his mate, and now that he had her, he would be a fool to let her slip away.  Gypsy stirred things in him, things long forgotten.  Instead of fighting them, he was going to grab on tightly and never let go.  Grabbing his coat, Slade left the apartment and practically ran to the hospital.  He needed to see Gypsy now.  He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her how he felt.

Scaling the stairs two at a time, he was through the front doors and down the hallway in an instant.  Stopping at Sari’s door, he glanced around in confusion when he did not see Gypsy with her.  Leaving the girl asleep, he turned and stalked back down the hall to Gypsy’s old room.  Maybe she had decided to stay alone last night.  Opening the door, Slade took in the vacant room.  The sheets on the bed were undisturbed, and there was no sign of anyone being there recently.

Something was not right.  He could feel it.  His mate was gone.  Rushing out of the room, he ran to the front counter.  “Where’s Gypsy?” he demanded loudly.

The nurse at the desk jumped, lifting a frightened gaze to him.  “Gypsy?  I haven’t seen her since she left last night,” she stammered.

“Who did she leave with?” he demanded.

“Slade?” Slade turned to see Jade striding toward him, her green eyes wide with concern.  “What’s going on?” 

“Did Gypsy stay with you last night?” he asked, praying she had.

Slowly, Jade shook her head.  “No.  I left here late in the evening, and she was in with Sari.”

A cold chill ran through him, dark and foreboding, followed by a low, steady growl that began to build deep in his throat.  Unable to control his wolf, he felt his fangs extend and his claws begin to emerge as he growled, “Where is my mate?”

“Get Chase on the phone, now,” Josie ordered as she walked up and threw a clipboard on the counter.  “Slade, you have to calm down.  You are not helping matters.”

His dark eyes going wolf, Slade turned on her.  “My mate is fucking missing!” he roared.  “Don’t tell me to calm down!”