Chapter 14

I didn't likeconfrontation or adventure or fairies or the outdoors. I liked baking and relaxing, and I wasn't getting enough time in the kitchen to zen my stressed-out self. So, the next best thing was a nap. Vena knew even though she'd joked about an emergency. Naps were my reset. My escape.

However, this one wasn't as peacefully long as it should have been.

I heard my phone buzz several times as I slowly woke up and made mental bets with myself if it was Vena complaining about MC, Shepard complaining about Cross, or Cross complaining about Shepard. The chance that it was Cross seeing if I was alright was at the top of my mental pool.

Giving up on sleep, I checked.

Vena won. And she obviously hadn't spent the last hour napping like I had.

Vena: I'm going to bitch slap MC into next Tuesday if he comes back. Shepard might be next in line.

Vena: He doesn't have a plan, Ev. No clue where to even look for Anchor.

Vena: Hunting vamps is fine, but how long will it take to get one to talk? It's a waste of time when we already know who has the answer.

Vena: We're kidnapping Sierra today.

I couldn't believe what I was reading.

Me: You are officially insane. We are NOT kidnapping anyone.

Vena: So you're okay with what happened to Gunther happening to Anchor day after day after day just to what? Protect your moral standards.

Me: Don't make me question why we're still friends.

Vena: I'm not being mean. I'm pointing out the truth. What wouldn't you do if it were me, Ev? Why is Anchor any different?

I sat on the edge of my bed and considered her reply. When it came to Vena, there was very little I wouldn't do to save her.

Me: If we do this, we do it my way, not yours.

Vena: I will follow your lead. I promise.

Cross couldn't go to Sierra. At least, not while she was being watched by Shepard's people. And after the way Shepard flew out the window after Cross this morning, I knew it was pointless to ask Shepard if Cross could talk to her. That meant Vena's method was the only option. However, kidnapping Sierra from the compound wouldn't be easy. We'd need help.

MC would do anything to make himself look better in Vena's eyes, but I didn't trust him not to call in an IOU later. That only left one other person as an option.

I switched to the group chat with Vena and Cross.

Me: Vena and I have an idea about how to find Anchor. But it may cause Shepard to dislike you even more.

Cross: I snapped him with his own towel this morning and forced him to return to Vena's parents' home without any clothing. I doubt what you have in mind will be worse than that.

I stared at my phone with a growing smile, recalling that welt on Shepard's ass.

Vena: Cross, you are my new favorite person. I'm hitting the property search now and promise not to stop until I find you something.

Me: Vena and I want to liberate Sierra from Shepard's home so you can question her without interruption regarding her vampire connections. Are you willing?

Cross: When it comes to you, I'm always willing.

Vena's mad cackle echoed through my closed door.

Me: I have a plan on how to get her. We can't bring her to my house, though.

Cross: I know a place. Text me when you have her, and I will provide the address.

Me: Thank you.

Vena: Thank you! *heart emoji* *kiss emoji*

Doc knocked on my door.

"Everly?"

"Come in."

He poked his head in, and his gaze flicked to the phone in my hand.

"I'm glad you're awake. Do I want to know what's going on that she laughed like that?"

I crossed my arms and shook my head like I was disappointed.

"Probably not, but I'm going to tell you anyway because I don't believe in suffering alone. I'm not sure if Shepard explained what happened this morning, but he lost all of his clothes and had to walk into her parents' house completely naked. Vena saw everything."

Doc cringed a little.

"Yep, and she's not going to let it go. Her curiosity is piqued. And since she stayed put while I recharged, I agreed to take a field trip. Any guesses where?"

Doc shook his head slightly, and I could see the dread in his gaze.

"To where all the boy wolves live. Vena wants to know if you're all built like that. For the love of everything holy, Doc, we need to find Anchor soon. He distracted her."

Doc blinked at me.

"You're going there so Vena can…"

"Try to see another naked werewolf?" I finished for him. "Yeah, Shepard should have thought things through before he did what he did. Can you be ready to go in ten?"

Doc looked like I kicked him, and I grinned, not even trying to hide my amusement.

"We'll make it through today together," I said. "Hopefully, I can distract her with visiting Gunther if she veers out of control."

My plan was pretty brilliant if I thought so myself. At no point had I lied. Vena would totally snatch the opportunity to see a naked man if the situation presented itself.

Now, all I needed to do was convince Gunther to be our inside man by appealing to him just like Vena had appealed to me–through his potentially shared experience.

I sent a text to Vena and Cross with the plan, and Vena was ready at the door when it was time to go.

Doc let out an audible sigh as we piled into her car, and Vena took off at breakneck speed.

"They'll still be there even if you go the speed limit," Doc said.

"So, how many wolves stay at the house?" she asked, playing her part. "And are the showers communal, or are they private?"

Doc opened his mouth and then closed it. He then tugged his phone from his pocket and held it to his ear, giving me the just-a-minute sign with his finger.

Vena grinned from ear to ear.

By the time we arrived at the wolf lodge, Doc had been thoroughly harassed and was ready to bolt the moment he walked us inside.

"Let me know when you're ready to leave," he said. "Oh, if you're hungry, just go to the kitchen. It's close to lunchtime. If you want to say hi to Gunther again, he's been hanging out by the patio. There are guards out there that will watch over you."

When we both nodded innocently, suspicion crept into his gaze.

"That all sounds great. But who can I see naked first?" Vena asked.

Doc cleared his throat, mumbled something, then fled.

She chuckled and pulled me along the hallway and out to the patio. Gunther was right where Doc said he would be, and he was glaring at Sierra while she poked along the bushes. Only one guard stood on the patio to watch her.

"Hi, Gunther," I said, taking a seat next to him as if this was a real visit. "How are you doing?"

"I'm pretty much healed." The look in his eyes said it was only his body that had healed. His mind would take much longer.

I reached over to pat his arm, but he shied away from it.

"Uh, sorry," he said. "It's not you."

"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to touch you."

He shook his head. "It's fine. I'm still a little jumpy from the…incident." He muttered a curse about vampires under his breath. While I would never wish what happened to him on anyone, his anger worked perfectly into our plans.

Pulling out my phone, I handed it to him.

"If you add yourself as a contact, I promise to bring you something sweet whenever you need it."

He looked from me to the phone, hesitated, then entered his info. As soon as he handed it back, I sent him a text.

Me: Revenge on the vampires would be pretty sweet, wouldn't it?

Gunther's pocket buzzed. He slipped out his phone and read it.

Gunther: How?

Me: This can't get back to Shepard. OK?

Gunther: Tell me.

Me: I need to get Sierra out of here. I have a way to get answers from her, but Shepard would never agree with my method. Can you help distract her guard while I get her out?

Gunther eyed Sierra. I knew no love was lost between the two of them, not after she'd drugged him and definitely not after learning she'd been working at Blur to collect information for the vampires.

Gunther: If you get busted, do you promise not to tell Shepard of my involvement? I'm already on thin ice with him.

Me: I promise.

Gunther: Deal. How do you want me to help?

Me: Have a "medical emergency." I'll tell the guard I'll keep an eye on Sierra while he takes care of you.

Gunther nodded and pocketed his phone.

I quickly sent a text to Cross, asking for the address. He responded with the information almost immediately.

Vena, who'd been watching over my shoulder, went over to Sierra. I stood and slowly strolled toward them but paused halfway between Sierra and Gunther. When I glanced back at Gunther, he fell from his chair, shaking in convulsions.

"Gunther!" I yelled.

The guard saw Gunther on the ground and ran toward him. Clearly not medically trained, the guard scooped up the flailing wolf.

"Watch her," he said.

I nodded, not believing how well that had played out.

As soon as they disappeared into the building, Vena pounced on Sierra, and I hurried over to help.

"What are you doing?" Sierra demanded.

"Taking you to Master," I whispered.

She snorted. "I don't believe you."

"Why else would we get rid of the guard?" I asked. "You have one second to decide if you want to escape with us or not."

Even with her dislike of us, the promise of an escape was too good to turn down.

We ran as fast as we could around the building, ducking below windows and bolting to the car.

Vena barely waited for our doors to close before gunning the car down the driveway. I hurried to fasten my seatbelt and grabbed our phones to turn off the tracking.

"We're okay," I said once we were on the main road and hidden in traffic. "They won't be able to follow us now. Just in case, though, don't go straight there."

My phone buzzed in my hand almost immediately.

Shepard: I know what you did. Why did you take her, and where are you going? She's dangerous, Everly.

"He's not wrong," Sierra said, reading over my shoulder. "Where are we going?"

"Since you were taken, Juicy, your master's feeding den, was ransacked by Shepard and his people. They've been hunting down the vampires hard since then. Your master met with us at After Curfew a few days ago, but that's under watch now too. So we're headed to his new place," I said.

"I don't believe you. Pull over."

Vena kept driving as I twisted in my seat. "Tall, lean, dark hair, and a fetish for biting his boyfriend. Master likes wearing cat ears and calls his boyfriend ‘Pet.'"

Sierra gave me a sulky look. "He doesn't have a boyfriend." Yet, her pouty tone and how she leaned back into the seat and crossed her arms indicated she knew he did.

No one said anything else for the next thirty minutes until we reached the office building that had obviously been vacant for a while.

"Nice place," Vena said, getting out.

My phone rang yet again. I ignored it and kept walking.

Sierra followed us into the lobby without a peep of resistance. I wasn't expecting Cross's sudden appearance in front of us. His gaze caught Sierra's and held.

"Give me your wrist, Sierra."

She lifted her arm even as she swore at Cross.

My continuously-ringing phone gave me a reason to look away as Cross bit her wrist.

"The faster we get the answers, the better," I said. "Shepard's going to have a mental break if we stay quiet for much longer."

"So don't stay quiet," Cross said. "Show him what we're doing."

"Show him?" Vena asked. "Are you sure you want that? He already hates you."

"What I'm doing is breaking Sierra's enslavement bond like you asked. And Shepard needs to understand that I hold no loyalty to my own kind so he stops chasing me and starts protecting you better. You slipped away from him too easily again."

"If you want him to like you, you might not want to say that within his hearing," I said as I dialed Shepard for a video call.

His face immediately filled my screen. He radiated worry and anger.

"Where are you, Everly?" he said with surprising calm.

"I'm with Sierra, Vena, and Cross." I tapped the screen to change the view, showing the other three.

Vena caught my nod.

"It's your turn, Cross," Vena said. "Tell Sierra to answer all of my questions. Thoroughly and with no lies."

"She will," he said.

"You told us that your old master wanted you to get information on the werewolves at Blur. Why?" Vena asked.

"He never said. He told me what to do, and I obeyed."

"What information did you give him?"

"Who was working and when. How many employees Shepard had on the payroll. Who seemed to be the leader. He wanted evidence of who led. Said he would have a ring that would indicate his status. I never saw a ring on any of them except Gunther one time. Gunther said it was a wedding band."

Shepard frowned as he watched and listened.

"Is that why they took Gunther?" Vena asked.

"Do you think I know? I was already in that shit commune the wolves call home."

"What about Miles? Why did your master tell you to take him?"

"He never said. He told me what to do, and I obeyed."

Annoyance flashed in Vena's expression.

"Tell me everything, Sierra," Cross said softly.

Her lips parted, and any hint of petulance faded from her face, replaced by subjugation. "When he was at my house, I overheard him asking Miles about a book and rings. He saw me and sent me away before I heard anything else."

"What about Anchor? What did your master want with him?"

"Anchor? He's just a wolf. My old master's only interest in them was how many there were."

"Tell us more about your old master," Cross said.

"He can shapeshift into a cat."

My mouth fell open at that revelation.

"That's how he moves during the day," she continued. "The wolves think he's just a vampire's pet cat. He's old. Older than his boyfriend. He likes sharing human men and women with him."

Shepard swore.

"What does he look like when he's a cat?" Cross asked.

"All black."

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"No."

"Good," Cross said. "You will be more cooperative and less confrontational with the werewolves and your coworkers in the future. Now, sleep until Shepard tells you to wake. Do you understand?"

Sierra nodded, lay down, and fell asleep right on the dusty entry tiles.

Cross looked at Vena.

"She truly knows nothing about Anchor. I'm sorry."

Vena nodded in acceptance as Cross' gaze shifted to mine. I saw the tenderness there and recalled how he'd woken me up a few hours ago.

"Where are you?" Shepard asked, reminding me of the trouble I was in.

"We're at the abandoned office building that your men checked last night," Cross said. "Have your men fetch Sierra. I will spend some time with Everly before I return her."

The slow smile Cross gave me as he plucked the phone from my fingers turned my insides to mush. As Shepard swore, Cross tossed the device to Vena. He reeled me into his embrace. His fingers stroked over my back, warming my skin through the thin barrier of my shirt.

"I've done as you've asked. Now will you grant me a favor?" He dipped his head closer to my mouth. "Have lunch with me, Everly. Please."

I heard Shepard's curse cut off mid-way.

Cross chuckled and glanced at Vena. "Well done."

She grinned and lowered the phone. "I don't know why you like poking the wolf so much, but I have to admit it is pretty fun."

Realizing she'd let Shepard see Cross and me at the end, I swatted Cross' chest and scowled at her. "What you both just did is not okay. We're supposed to find ways to help Shepard trust Cross."

"Oh, you are," Cross said. "He listened. It's a start."

I sighed in annoyance. "I'll take a rain check on lunch and do you a bigger favor by running damage control with Shepard."

Cross nodded and kissed my forehead. "Call me if you need anything."

As soon as he was gone, I turned on my tracking and called Shepard.

"There's no need to waste time and resources. I declined lunch, and Cross is gone. Vena and I will load up Sierra and bring her back to the compound. My tracking is back on."

I hung up the phone before he could answer, not ready to hear whatever he had to say. Vena and I had betrayed his trust by taking Sierra and again by showing him how affected I was by Cross. While who I liked was absolutely my business, it was wrong to flaunt my connection with a vampire when Shepard was doing everything in his power to keep the hundreds of thousands of people in the greater D.C. area safe from them.

"Let's go," I said then glanced at Sierra. "We should have had Cross carry her to the car before he left."

Vena nodded. "Especially since he said only Shepard can wake her."

Scanning the area, Vena walked across the room and over to a large dusty box. She flattened it and brought it over.

"Roll her onto it," Vena said.

"Easier said than done," I groaned at the dead weight.

Between the two of us, we rolled Sierra onto the box and dragged it to the car. It took some time though.

"What now?" I asked.

Vena eyed the backseat. "We get her upper body in; then I'll go to the other side. I'll pull, you push."

"Even if we manage this, someone is going to call the cops on us. It looks like we're moving a dead body."

"Then let's hurry."

Groaning and grunting, we stuffed Sierra into the car and were on the road to Shepard's place.

"Ready to go toe to toe with Shepard when we get back, or should we dump Sierra at the door and run?" Vena asked as she drove.

"We only got out of there with Sierra due to the element of surprise. With him waiting for us, we won't get Sierra out of the car before he sees us."

I had been half right. Shepard was standing in front of the door and watching as Vena parked.

Before I could help Vena with Sierra, he had me cornered against the car. He was not happy. Behind the fury in his gaze, I saw his fear.

"You broke Sierra out of my house and met with a vampire," he said, a low growl coming out with every word.

"You weren't getting anywhere with Sierra," I said. "And when will you finally admit Cross isn't like the other vampires? He can be trusted."

"I'll trust him when he's dead."

"If you can't trust Cross, then trust me."

He shook his head slightly. "You stole Sierra from my house after repeatedly refusing to prove you're not under Cross' thrall. Do you really think I should keep trusting you?"

"Yes. That's exactly what you're supposed to do."

Regardless of how right he was, the stubborn set of his jaw pushed me over the edge. We'd had the same argument too many times. If he wasn't going to cave, then I was. Anything for peace.

"I'm tired of this." I pushed him back, well aware that he let me. "You want me to prove it? Fine."

I yanked off my shirt and threw it at his face. He pulled it away, his gaze skimming over my bare shoulders and barely concealed heaving chest as I went for the button on my shorts.

Vena caught my hand. "Let's just take a minute to cool off. You don't need to give the whole place a show."

"Who cares? It's not like I ever plan on coming back here after," I snapped.

She glanced over her shoulder at Shepard. "Everyone thinks Everly is the nice one…until she's not."

She snatched the shirt back from Shepard and said, "If you're smart, drop it and get Sierra out of here."

He quietly obeyed Vena's order, and she slipped the shirt back over my head.

By the time Sierra had been passed off to another wolf, I was covered and seated in the car with Vena blocking Shepard from getting close.

"You both need to back off right now," she said to Shepard. "You are being bullheaded, and Ev is clearly hangry."

Shepard ran a hand through his dark blonde hair, tugging at the ends before sighing. "I'm sorry. Let me take you both to lunch to apologize."

Vena glanced at me. "How about it, Ev?"

I looked away, hating myself for being the unreasonable one at the moment. Because that was the truth of it.

If I suspected Vena of being secretly thralled, I would have stripped searched her already with zero guilt. Yet, Shepard was holding back from forcing the issue because he wanted to respect me. Because he liked me. I knew that. Yet, for all that I was calling him stubborn, I was being just as bad.

"I could eat," I said softly.

Shepard got into the backseat, and Vena hopped behind the wheel.

There was little conversation as Vena drove to a restaurant. I felt Shepard's pensive stare nearly the entire time. So when Shepard opened the door for me at the restaurant, I thanked him. Then I saw where we were.

I shot Vena a look, knowing she'd taken us to one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. She grinned at me and looped her arm through mine.

"Shepard insisted on lunch," she said. "Didn't you, Shepard?"

He gave a nod and followed us inside.

As soon as we were seated and I scanned the menu, all my anger vanished.

"They have bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese." I groaned and barely stopped myself from drooling.

"Do you like those?" Shepard asked.

He'd taken the chair immediately to my right and Vena to my left, leaving the spot across from me open.

Before I could answer Shepard, Cross appeared out of nowhere and sat in the vacant seat. He smiled at Shepard's low, threatening growl.

"Now is not the time to misbehave, my friend," Cross said softly. "The humans are watching. Imagine the fear you'd spread if they became aware of a vampire who could walk in the sun."