“Quinn, I’m not sure I understand.” Keeping secrets was bad, but this wasn’t a secret Lachlan needed to know, and it wasn’t Garrett’s business to spread. He was sure Lachlan would understand.
“I’m a warrior, and death follows on my heels every day. Why would I want to bring a newly turned vampire into my life just to watch him possibly die?”
Understandable, but something wasn’t adding up. “That’s true, but what if he doesn’t die? What if centuries pass and you finally decide to tell him. Then what?” Garrett let out a bitter chuckle. “I’m not sure about you, but I’d be pissed at the man who made me suffer without my mate for that long. And if I were you it’d kill me to watch the man I love fall in love with someone else. Because over the years I’ve learned that two people don’t have to be mates to fall in love and you can’t keep Trevor locked away from the rest of the world. It’s bound to happen one day.”
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“I know this already!” Quinn shouted. His voice was loud enough to carry to the men standing outside. Lachlan, Leo, and Trevor turned toward them, and Garrett just waved at them.
“I don’t mean to upset you, Quinn, but I don’t want to see you suffer when you don’t need to. That’s not fair to either of you.”
Garrett watched as Trevor waved back, all his attention on Quinn.
Trevor beamed a bright smile at Quinn, and Garrett heard the big man let out airy sigh.
“I agree, but I’m not sure I can undo what has been done.” Quinn swiped a hand under his eyes then turned away from the window.
Fuck!
Garrett didn’t know what kind of deal Quinn made, but he prayed the man found a way out of it. “My father always taught me to start at the beginning and go from there. Whoever created this magic is the key to undoing the spell. You just have to use your resources in locating them. You have access to all sorts of intel at your fingertips.
I’m sure Ben would help you.”
“As more time passes, I’m starting to think that’s what needs to be done but not yet. I want Trevor to be safe for as long as I can keep him that way.” Quinn shuffled his feet nervously. “Plus I’m not ready for him to hate me as much as I know he will for keeping this from him. But I had to do what was best for me back then, and hopefully one day Trevor will see it that way.”
With that Quinn turned and strode away. Garrett watched him go, and a feeling of pity for the other man filled his gut. That had to be a lonely existence Quinn lived. Garrett could see the benefits of not having a mate, no one to worry about or care about and no one to worry or care about you in case you didn’t come home from a mission. It was both selfish and selfless all at once.
“Hey, baby, you all right?”
Garrett looked away from the direction Quinn had left in and turned to greet his mate. God, he loved Lachlan more than anything else in the whole fucking world and felt fortunate he’d never have to go through what Quinn had chosen to.
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“Yep.” He pecked Lachlan on the lips. “Let’s go check back in with Ben and Miles and see if they heard back from the council yet.”
As they walked away, Garrett chanced a glance out the window one more time. He saw Trevor roughhousing with Leo in the yard. A pang of loss for what Trevor didn’t even know he was missing punched Garrett in the heart. Maybe one day Quinn would pull his head out of his ass and claim what was his.
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“Nothing?” Lachlan asked.
“Not a thing,” Ben answered back.
Lachlan didn’t know what to do now. He’d put a lot of faith in the council having answers to what Damon had said.
“My dad said we should up patrols and if you or any one of your pack members come in contact with Damon again that we should try and convince him to come to the warrior compound.”
“I don’t want him hurt, Ben.” Lachlan had seen the fear and desperation in Damon’s eyes, and call him crazy, but Lachlan didn’t think Damon was the mastermind behind the goings-on with Rhett or Lacy’s murder.
“He won’t be, jeez.” Ben rolled his eyes. “Damon is like Astrid and an anomaly in our world, we can’t willingly kill him. We need to get answers, and, Lachlan, I take you at your word that Damon’s an innocent. I trust you.”
Lachlan nodded his head in thanks. He didn’t owe shit to Damon, but something about the guy tugged at his heart strings.
“So that’s it?” Garrett stood up and began to pace the floor. “We just wait for another attack against my people?”
“There isn’t anything else we can do right now, Garrett,” Ben answered. “We have nothing to go on, and the only witness you have didn’t get a look at her attackers. I’m sorry but we have to wait until they make themselves known again.”
“Fuck,” Garrett growled.
“Thanks, Ben. We understand that there isn’t much you or the council can do. These dark warriors have us by the short hairs, and
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there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it.” Lachlan needed to be the voice of reason for his mate. Garrett was upset, but Ben had a point.
They had no clues to go on.
“No thanks necessary, Lachlan. Just keep us informed, and if you need any of the warriors to come help keep watch, just let me know.
Don’t hesitate to ask for help.”
Lachlan stood and shook Ben’s hand. Garrett walked over and did the same. They left Ben’s office with the promise to stay in touch.
Lachlan entwined his and Garrett’s fingers and left out the front door to head home.
Home.
A smile spread across Lachlan’s face. It’d been so long since he’d had a real home. Yes he had a home with the warriors but they moved around constantly, and with Garrett there was only one house, not several to live between and even if there were, Lachlan wouldn’t care. As long as he had Garrett, he’d live or move anywhere just to be near his mate, always.
The sky had started to turn pink, and the sun would be down soon.
Autumn had settled in on the Midwest, and with the time change it began to get dark by six o’clock. Lachlan hadn’t realized they spent that much time at the warrior compound. They’d be home just in time to eat dinner with the pack.
“Are you worried, Lachlan?” Garrett asked as he pulled his car into the drive.
“Why? Will it change the inevitable?” Lachlan climbed out of the truck and followed alongside his mate to the front door.
“No, but I don’t want you to be stressed out or anything.”
“Really? And what about you? I can practically hear your heart pounding in your chest. I know you’re worried about me and the safety of the pack, but I’m your mate. We’re equals.” Lachlan bumped shoulders with Garrett. “I’m in this mess with you.”
When they reached the front door, Garrett tugged on Lachlan’s hand, and Lachlan fell into his mate. “And I wouldn’t want it any other way, mate.”
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Lachlan felt like a kid with his first crush whenever he was near his mate. His heart melted at the sight of Garrett’s sexy grin. Lachlan considered that grin to be Garrett’s special grin that he only used for Lachlan.
Staring into Garrett’s striking blue eyes, Lachlan could swear he saw his forever in the welcoming blue depths. The tan skin of his mate’s face glowed with happiness, and Lachlan loved knowing he did that for his mate. He put that look of utter ease on Garrett’s face.
“I love you,” Lachlan purred as he rubbed his nose against Garrett’s.
“Me, too, babe. Me, too.”
Lachlan opened the door and stepped inside. The house was dark and quiet. After what happened at the moon run, Lachlan wasn’t surprised by the absence of people. Lacy was a well-liked woman and her loss was felt throughout the entire pack. Lachlan had only known the wolf for a short time, but she had a smile that would bring most men to their knees. She reminded him a lot of Clara, sweet and innocent, and always with a kind word for others.
“Lachlan, I’m going to go to my office for a bit and check in with Wes.” He locked his arms around Lachlan’s waist. “If you need anything”—Garrett nipped at Lachlan’s lips and a small gasp left his throat—“and I mean anything, just give a shout.”
“Will do, my love. Now go and get some work done or do whatever it is that alphas do.” Lachlan swatted Garrett’s ass as his mate passed him by.
Left alone, Lachlan went to the kitchen to find something to eat.
His stomach rumbled loudly, letting him know it agreed with Lachlan’s decision. As he walked down the hallway toward the kitchen, bright-yellow light lit the entryway. Lachlan eased around the corner, shouting out a hello to whoever might be in there. He didn’t want to spook anyone.
In the corner with his knees pulled up to his chest sat Toby. He sat staring down at his half-eaten sandwich. The way the young man
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watched it made Lachlan think the damn thing might be readying for an attack.
Lachlan hated how fearful the man had become, but he had every reason to be like this. Being raped and beaten took its toll on a person.
Nothing so horrible had ever happened to Lachlan, but he detested that any person had to suffer such a horrendous act.
“Hey, Toby,” Lachlan said softly as he walked closer to the man.
“Everything okay?”
Toby jerked when the floor creaked under Lachlan’s feet. Lachlan stopped in his tracks, not moving a muscle. He didn’t want to scare Toby off. He wanted to help the man heal and try to get some sense of normalcy back in his young life.
“Oh, hi, Lachlan.” Toby scooted farther back into his chair, still clenching his legs in a death grip. “I’m fine.”
“Where’s your brother?” Lachlan pulled the chair across from Toby out, doing his best to look as nonthreatening as possible.
“He went to the bathroom. I’m sure he’ll be back any minute,”
Toby’s words were spoken so softly Lachlan had to strain to hear him.
As if on cue Aaron came running back in. “Toby, sorry it took so long. Now let’s finish our din…” Aaron stopped talking when he noticed Lachlan sitting at the table. “Lachlan, didn’t see you there.
Did everything go okay after we left the compound?”
Lachlan informed Aaron of the details of their conversation with Ben and what the council had to say. Not much to share but he wanted his friend to know what was going on. After a few more minutes of idle chitchat Aaron excused himself and Toby. He put their dishes away and gave one last wave to Lachlan then left the kitchen.
“I wish I could take away his pain,” Lachlan whispered to himself after a few minutes of sitting alone in the kitchen. If Astrid’s fairy magic had the ability, Lachlan would ask his friend to take away the horrible memories that plagued Toby’s life.
“Lachlan,” a gravel voice said from the direction of the back door.
Lachlan turned his head, trying to see who it belonged to. “Help me.”
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Lachlan jumped to his feet and ran to the door. He skidded to a stop when he saw a very bloody Damon lying on the floor. Blood smeared against the wall in dark streaks. “What the hell happened to you?”
Damon’s body and clothes were soaked through with blood.
Lachlan had to swallow down the vomit that threatened to shoot out his mouth. Damon’s scalp had been ripped from his skull. White bone shone bright against the bloody chunks of flesh that hung loose around his head. It looked like Damon had just walked off the set of a horror movie. It was that grotesque. Lachlan had seen some terrible and disturbing things in his time as a warrior, but never something quite like this.
Lachlan snatched up one of the hand towels hanging over the stove door and went to his knees beside Damon. “Who did this?” He tried to stop the flow of blood but it was no use. The deep-red liquid seeped out with every beat of Damon’s heart.
Damon tried to laugh, but it came out more as a wheeze as he choked on blood. “I told you they would know.”
“Oh my god.” Blood soaked through the towel and dripped to the bright-white tile floor. “We need help.” Lachlan pulled Damon’s upper body into his lap and yelled as loud as he could. “Garrett!” The sound echoed in the once-peaceful and -quiet kitchen.
“Lachlan.” Garrett came running into the kitchen and did a double take at Lachlan and the battered Damon in his arms. “What the fuck happened? Who is this?”
“This is Damon.” Lachlan looked down at Damon. “Who did this to you?”
“My mother.” Damon’s body started to shake from shock.
Paranormals healed fast, but Damon looked sickly and underfed, and that could cause his healing abilities to take longer.
“Your mother did this to you?” Garrett knelt down and picked Damon up off the floor. “Sweet fucking Jesus. Who would do this to their own child?”
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Lachlan ran to the cabinets and grabbed several more towels and followed Garrett as he carried a trembling Damon to the front seating area and laid him on the couch.
“Yo, Garrett, I smell blood. What’s going on?” Wes came running through the entryway. “Holy fuck. What happened to him?”
“He’s been scalped,” Lachlan answered. He removed the blood-soaked towel and applied another, pushing down firmly on the wound. Damon yelped in pain, but they needed to stop the bleeding.
“Damon, look at me.” Garrett placed a finger under Damon’s chin and turned him gently to face him. “Do you know who I am?” Damon gave a jerky nod. “Then you know I won’t let anything happen to you.
But I need you tell us what happened.”
“What’s all the yelling about?” Aaron asked as he came into the room.
“Aaron, come help me.” Lachlan waved for Aaron to come closer to him. “Hold the towels in place. I need to call Ben.”
Aaron moved without question and covered his hands on Damon’s head. Lachlan pulled out his cell and punched in Ben’s number.
“What do you want? Didn’t you just leave?” Ben teased.
“Damon’s here and he’s been hurt real bad,” Lachlan said breathlessly. “Get here as soon as you can.” He hung up not waiting for Ben’s reply.