Once Upon a Shifter (72 page)

"Have you had any luck finding any," she started, and he raised an eyebrow, warning her that she needed to be careful with her words and thoughts, "werewolves? I'm sure Jessica realizes by now that Dana isn't coming back. She has to be planning her next move."

He knew her question wasn't about the rogue werewolves, but about finding an Alpha wolf she could bond with in order to save them all from the moonrising wolf living inside her. "We've been looking. I'm sorry. None have turned up yet."

She nodded as she averted her anxious eyes from him, and he didn't know if the tightness he was feeling in his chest stemmed from the fact that finding another wolf for her to be with was the only way to save them or that she appeared saddened that they hadn't found one yet.

Neither option made him want to dance or sing.

Actually, he was almost certain he couldn't live through either one of them. He'd only read about broken hearts, but just the thought of living in this world without Mena felt like something was crushing his soul.

Raising a hand, he brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers as he looked into her beautiful green eyes. "Remember what I promised you, Mena. Don't worry about anything. I'll take care of it."

Her eyes shimmered with emotion. "I want to believe that—"

"Then believe it. Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let it."

"You can't predict the future, so don't make promises you're not sure you can keep."

He sighed as he pulled her to him. "Not everyone will be happy when this is over, but I swear that you will be. That I can promise."

She pulled away and looked up at him. "But how can you be so sure?"

He couldn't tell her without the wolf in her knowing that they weren't talking about Jessica and the rogue wolves, but he was convinced they would find at least one Alpha who would come. "Just trust me." Lifting her chin with a finger, he forced her to look him in the eye. "Do you trust me, Mena?"

She gave him a slight nod. "More than I've ever trusted anyone."

"Okay then."

The elevator doors opened and he grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss before leading them toward the suite.

Chapter 48

Mena

Roel opened the hotel room door with a huge smile on his face. I'm not going to lie, I smiled, too, especially after I got a look at the jeans he was wearing.

He pointed to his head where the bruises were just barely visible now. "Sorry about the almost concussion, Mena. Jaxon jumped to conclusions."

"I hope that kiss was worth all our pain," I said, and nudged him in the arm as I walked into the room. "I had to run to the bathroom, feigning sickness, to keep Alex from seeing me flop around on the floor like a fish out of water."

Heath laughed. "He probably thinks you were having morning sickness. The guy is probably sweating more now than he would have if you'd just told him the truth."

I raised an eyebrow. "Not that it's any of your business, but he uses protection." My eyes slammed shut when I realized how that must have sounded to Phoenix; of course he knew the wolf and Alex had sex, because everyone linked with us pretty much knew everything that everyone did, but it wasn't something we'd talked about.

When I opened my eyes, Brad was grinning at me. "Alex may, but does Phoenix?"

I blushed, remembering that Phoenix and I had had sex right before we came up to the room. I opened my mouth to say that vampires couldn't have children—Phoenix had never bothered with contraceptives the two times we'd been together—and then I recalled the story he'd told me about his father being a vampire and I blanched. My heart began to pound in my chest at the thought that I might be pregnant. There was no way I could bring a child into this world full of vampires, werewolves and danger. How could I have been so stupid?

"Relax, Mena," Roel said. "Your heart is about to beat out of your chest. Female shifters can't get pregnant, neither can female vampires."

I let out a heavy breath that I hadn't been aware I was holding in, and lifted my gaze to look at Phoenix. His face was void of any emotion. I needed to change the topic of conversation. He only wore that mask when he didn't want me to know what he was thinking.

"Phoenix, Mena, I am so sorry about what happened—" Jaxon started, but Phoenix held up a hand to stop him.

"We didn't come here to bitch at the two of you for being stupid. I hope you both know how serious that could have turned out and will think twice before acting in the future. Mena and I came here to make sure Lea was all right."

Lea looked up at him in surprise, and then her attention moved to me. "I'm fine. You needn't have come all the way over here for me—"

"Lea," I started, "you are important to us. We care about you."

She smiled shyly. "Thank you. I—" she paused when her voice cracked, and then she cleared her throat and swallowed before continuing on, "—Thank you."

Phoenix went to her. "I never expected you to give up everything, Lea. I apologize for not making that clear when you started working for me."

"You're okay with her dating a werewolf that is linked to us?" Jaxon said, aghast.

Phoenix shrugged. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? I don't think Roel is a bad guy or I wouldn't have chosen him to be one of Mena's protectors. Besides, I'm not her father; I'm her employer."

"Because, well… because we can't kill him when he breaks her heart—which he will, by the way. The guy has more commitment issues than you do."

Phoenix's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he pulled me to his side, and then I laughed when he leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Yeah, because I clearly have commitment issues."

Jaxon rolled his eyes, and huffed as he grabbed his leather jacket. "I'm out. Roel can stay with his girlfriend."

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Lea said. "We just kissed once, Jaxon. Why are you being a dick?"

"You can be if you wanna be," Roel said with a playful smirk.

Lea blushed, and shook her head. "The kiss was nice, Roel, but too much is going on. I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend right now."

"Does that mean I have to stop kissing you?" Roel took a step closer to her and brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. "Because I definitely want to kiss you again," he whispered.

Jaxon's face flamed red.

"Isn't it obvious?" Heath said, and laughed. "He's jealous."

Jaxon froze with his hand on the door handle, and after a moment he turned around to glare at everyone in the room. "I'm not jealous of anything that mutt has," he spat, and then jerked the door open and stormed out.

Lea covered her face with her hands and fell into a chair. Phoenix stood there, looking at her like he wasn't sure what to do. I knelt by her side, wrapping my arms around her in a gentle embrace.

"This is all my fault," she said.

"Shhh…" I said. "No, it is not. Men are pigs."

She laughed a little through the sniffling.

"Has he ever shown you any interest, Lea?" Roel said, and she looked up at him then, shook her head.

"No, he's just always been protective of me. He has never touched or kissed me or even acted like he wanted to. He's just always sort of taken care of me, you know, like a big brother."

"Maybe the reason he never tried anything was because he thought I wouldn't approve," Phoenix said.

"Or maybe he didn't see her as someone he liked until someone else took an interest," Brad suggested.

"I don't mind staying here with her," Roel said. "I brought a binder with me. I can do what I need to do from here."

"No," Lea said as she stood. "I'm going back home where I'm needed. I'm going stir-crazy in that bedroom."

"Aren't you worried about the other vampires trying to hurt you?" Phoenix said.

Her brow furrowed. "I cut Santino's head off, Phoenix. Why would I be afraid of any of your vampires?"

He chuckled in response. "And that's why I hired you." He draped an arm over her shoulders as we headed toward the door. "Let's go home."

"Oh, wait! I have to get our things."

"I'll get them," Roel said. "You can ride with me. I doubt there's room in the Corvette, if that's what Phoenix brought."

Lea smiled. "Thank you."

He winked at her then ran to the bathroom to gather her and Jaxon's belongings.

v''''v

Mena

We rode back to Alex's apartment mostly in silence.

Something was nagging at me. I'd had a lot of bad gut feelings lately, but this somehow seemed different. Maybe I was just overwhelmed by everything going on. My wolf usually handled that for me, but maybe she was feeling a little overwhelmed, too.

I knew Phoenix wanted to ask me to stay with him tonight, and I also knew the reason he hadn't yet was because he already knew what my answer would be: I can't; Alex thinks I'm in a monogamous relationship with him.

For now, we had to play by the wolf's rules or everything would fall apart.

Being around Phoenix and the others I was linked to made it more difficult not to think or ask about their progress of finding salvation. I couldn't even allow my mind to wonder what might happen if Phoenix's promises fell short of the mark. Or worse yet, if for some miracle everything worked out according to his plan.

I hadn't missed that look of agony in his eyes after I'd asked if he'd found any wolves. It was clear he didn't anticipate us being together much longer, no matter the outcome. His last promise confused me. If that was the case, how could he promise that I would be happy? I refused to dwell on it. It just brought up other questions I didn't have answers to, and I wasn't supposed to be thinking about any of it.

Phoenix, Jaxon, Roel, Brad and Heath would solve this impossible Rubik's Cube of a problem. If I died, they would, too. I had to trust them.

"Why would we die, Mena?"
the wolf said through my thoughts, and it was the first time I'd sensed her since before I had left Alex's apartment. I wondered what she did or where she went when she wasn't filling my head full of her opinions.

"If Jessica or any of the rogue wolves kill any of us, we're all dead. You know that,"
I said, hoping she bought the half lie.
"We have no idea where they are. They could be watching me. I have hopes that they don't know about the nexus spell; since you murdered Dana, I don't figure they have that information yet."

"You mean, since we murdered Dana? I'm quite positive that you were there and cheering me on as I ripped her apart."

I sighed, and felt Phoenix's eyes on me, but he only squeezed my hand in response. I suppose he knew I was talking with my wolf, and that it wouldn't do any good to interrupt. There was no common ground between him and my wolf; I just happened to be stuck in the middle.
"I'm not a murderer."

She laughed.
"Neither am I. I only do what is necessary to keep myself alive and my pack safe."

"You don't even know your pack. You would if you weren't hell-bent on making a human your Beta. What do you think he's going to do and say when he finds out the truth about us?"
I had asked the question before, but I had never really gotten a straight answer.
"If you try to turn him without his consent, he'll hate you."

"Please, dear Mena. It's only been a few days and the man is practically in love with me. He may be upset for a while, but he'll eventually come around after he sees all that he will lose by leaving."

"There is more to a man's heart than what is between your legs—my legs, I mean."

She laughed.
"Oh, I'm offering a whole lot more than that—"

"Mena…" Phoenix said, and there was a sliver of panic in his tone. I looked up in alarm, and my heart damn near jumped up into my throat.

Blue lights. Red lights. So many of them. And they were at the apartment complex.

My heart was racing so fast, and it wasn't only my anxiety I felt as Phoenix stopped the car and I threw open the passenger door; the wolf in me was quickly losing her shit and making it more difficult for me to run or see or breathe. Phoenix caught my arm and steadied me on my feet. Bless him.

"Calm down,"
I said.
"We don't know that anything happened to him. There are at least twenty apartments in this complex. If you don't want those paramedics over there to think something is wrong with me and strap me down on a stretcher, you're gonna have to work with me here!"

After taking in several deep breaths, I bounded up the stairs of the complex two at a time. I met an officer halfway up as he was coming down, but I didn't make eye contact; I didn't want him to try and stop me, but, more than anything, I didn't want to see the grave look in his eyes that I was sure was there.

Two other officers and a paramedic were chatting and blocking the open door of Alex's apartment with their bodies when I arrived at the top.

First one, then the other two, glanced at me, startled, but only one of the policemen spoke. "Can I help you, miss?"

I must have looked frazzled by the looks on their faces. My wolf didn't wait for me to catch my breath. My mouth opened and words flew out. "Yes. I live here. Is Alex okay?"

All three men gave me confused expressions, and the one who had spoken before, talked again. "Detective Rhodes doesn't have a girlfriend." His eyes widened a fraction. "Hey, aren't you Marc Hoke's wife?"

"Widow," Phoenix said softly from beside me.

The paramedic coolly covered up his chuckle with a cough, and then tapped his chest with his fist a few times.

Ignoring his banter, I tried to look into the apartment. Every light I could see was on, but I couldn't see Alex in the sea of brunette and blond hair. Why were there so many people?