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Chapter Fourteen

"Who the hell is Kendra?" Wreck repeated to himself for at least the tenth time.

He frowned down at his last text message to Timber asking that very question, but it wasn't going through.

Had she blocked him?

Kendra. He had never known a Kendra in his entire life. His mind turned her odd texts over and over. He'd tried to call her, but it wasn't even ringing. It wasn't going to voicemail, either.

"What's wrong with you?" Silver asked from where she was working on the landscaping in her front yard as he strode for his house.

"Nothing," he gritted out.

"Wreck—"

"I said nothing! Fuck!"

"Dude," Owen ground out. "Careful with how you talk to her."

Wreck ticked his head to the side, closed his eyes, and puffed out a steadying sigh. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "Silver, you're a girl, right?"

"Uuuh, last time I checked I had a vagina, yes," she said sarcastically.

"Forget it," he rumbled, and headed for his house.

"Why?" she called after him.

"Look, if I ask you questions, I don't want a lot of return questions, okay? Just give me advice and leave me alone."

Silver had frozen, squatted down, potted plant in her grasp. Her eyebrows arched up. "I can do that."

Wreck paced back to her, running his hand through his hair. "If a woman gets mad at a man, and she blocks him on the phone, is it okay for him to go to her house? I mean, if she clearly doesn't want to talk to him, but he's pretty sure there's been some kind of misunderstanding?"

"Oh! I can answer this one!" Owen said from their front porch, raising his hand like he was in grade school.

"Not you!" Wreck barked out.

"Can I ask one question?" Silver murmured carefully.

"Yes."

"What kind of misunderstanding is it?"

Wreck chewed on the side of his lip, then opened up the text thread and handed Silver his phone.

She read in silence for a minute, and then she said, "Ooooh. She thinks you're cheating. You motherfucker, are you cheating on her?"

"No!"

"Then who is Kendra?"

"Hell if I know! I don't know what she's talking about. And cheating? Who am I going to cheat with, Silver? You know how a mating bond works. You made one with that dipshit!" he said, gesturing to Owen.

"Hey," Owen groused.

"My animal burned my freaking handprint onto her arm. I don't even see other women anymore. I only see her. And why are you making that face?" he demanded, snatching the phone from Silver's hand.

"What face?"

"That mushy face! Stop it. It's weird."

"Can I say the answer now?" Owen asked.

"Sure," Wreck ground out, exasperated.

"You go to her house for this one, man. You tell her what you just told us. You don't let her carry around whatever she's thinking. Go put it right."

Silver was typing something into her phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Texting your mate, but it looks like I'm blocked too." She stood and crossed her arms over her chest, her frown deepening. "I bet she's got all the Fastlanders blocked. She does not want us sticking up for you." Silver narrowed her eyes at him. "Where would she get this idea?"

"I don't know. She had a client. She was supposed to be in an appointment with her when she texted me. Maybe the client didn't show?"

"Do you know the client's name?"

He shook his head. "Timber is professional about that stuff. She doesn't say anything personal about her clients."

"Go to her house."

"Well," he uttered. "What if I already did, but she wasn't there? What if I waited an hour, but she didn't show?"

"Is she usually home by now?" Owen asked.

Wreck nodded. "Should I be worried?"

"Yeah—"

"Owen!" Silver said, trying to shush him.

"Well, you girls are crazy sometimes!"

Silver's eyes blazed gold. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"You're…" Owen looked uncertain. "Sometimes crazy. Just sometimes ."

Silver lifted her chin higher into the air and stalked toward him. "Take it back."

Owen jumped the porch railing and walked backward, hands out. "You're being unreasonable."

"I'm unreasonable now? Keep it up, Owen." Silver's voice had a gritty quality to it now, and she was pulling her shirt off. "Say it again."

"I think she wants you to take back that she's crazy," Wreck advised.

"Fine!" Owen said, his voice echoing through the yard. "You aren't sometimes crazy." He turned and bolted for the woods. He yelled over his shoulder, "You're all-the-time crazy!"

Her lioness ripped out of Silver and she went bolting after Owen, whose boar exploded from him at the edge of the woods.

Wreck would care more about his safety if he didn't know how fast Owen was in his boar form. Silver wouldn't catch him. And if she did, it would be because Owen wanted her to. He'd probably bone her in the woods somewhere.

Wreck rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. They hadn't really been helpful, except Silver validating what he thought. Timber was thinking he cheated on her with some chick named Kendra.

He wasn't even angry with her for accusing him. She hadn't been yelling at him or cussing him out. She'd been calm, and just stepped back. He was worried about her. He didn't know why she thought this, but she was a smart woman with a good head on her shoulders. It was a misunderstanding, but he hated that she was hurting right now, thinking something about him that wasn't true.

His protective instincts were up, and now his skin was heating up.

Calm down and think.

He exhaled slowly, hands on his hips as he stared at his truck. Maybe she was at a bar? Hell, he didn't know what girls did when they were hurt. He just knew what guys would do, and a bar was the fix. Maybe she went to a friend's house? Or…her sister. Maybe she went up to the hospital to see Sasha.

He strode for his truck, all loaded down with the supplies he'd bought this morning to repair his house. He unloaded it quickly just to pull some weight off his truck, so he could get to her faster.

He hopped into the truck and sped down the road.

He was going to fix it. Whatever had happened, and whatever had convinced her he would hurt her like that, he was going to fix it and take that insecurity away from her.

She should know how he felt. He'd been trying to show her, but maybe he wasn't good at saying the words she needed to hear.

Timber was everything.

She should know she was everything.

The trip to the hospital was the longest of his life. He had no idea where Sasha lived, so he was hoping she was on-shift. Maybe he should stop by Timber's house again? It was getting darker out, the sun was setting over the mountains. No, just go check in and see if she's with Sasha.

Sasha had hung out with them a couple times already, so he recognized her car in the parking lot. He took a quick look around all three lots, but he didn't see Timber's. Crap.

Sasha would probably know what was happening though, right? Maybe? He didn't fuckin' know. Did girls talk about this kind of stuff? Shit, maybe Sasha would think he was crazy.

Well, you know what? He was! He was a freaking phoenix shifter, last of his kind, who had bonded to a human, so yeah, he was fucking crazy. He felt so much right now, just thinking his mate thought he was looking at other women.

He parked by Sasha's car, and strode up to the hospital. His skin was burning. God, usually he didn't feel the heat this much, but he felt raw and open. He just wanted to see Timber, and hug her, and put her little heart at ease, and then maybe she could conjure the green flames that would cool off his skin.

Inside and down a few hallways, he had to sneak in past a locked door to get to the section of the hospital Timber had said Sasha worked in. The doctor that accidentally let him in with his ID badge yelled, "Hey! Stop right there."

But Wreck didn't care. He turned as the man began following, and told him calmly, "I wouldn't."

Whatever he saw in Wreck's face, it made the doctor halt immediately. "I'm calling security."

"You can. I'm not here for any bad reasons. I'm looking for my sister-in-law to check on my wife."

He didn't know where that lie had come from, but it didn't feel like a lie, and that part drew him up.

"Oh." The doctor frowned. "Who are you looking for? Maybe I can help."

"Sasha? Her sister is Timber. I can't find her."

"She's just down the hall," he said, pointing.

"You can follow me if you want," Wreck offered, trying to avoid security. Security would cause Wreck's animal to get defensive, and this hospital didn't need that.

"I'll just make sure you get to her."

The doctor followed at a distance, but Wreck found Sasha easily. She was standing at a counter, dressed in purple scrubs, talking to another nurse. When she looked over, the smile immediately faded from her face. "This motherfucker."

Yep, she'd talked to Timber.

He held his hands out. "I didn't do anything."

"Yeah? Who's your little girlfriend?"

"I don't freaking know! I'm not cheating on Timber. She texted about some Kendra, but I don't know a Kendra—"

"Save it—"

"I love her!"

Sasha froze.

"Sasha, I've never loved a woman before, but I'm telling you, I would die before I hurt your sister. I love her. I don't know a Kendra. I don't know any woman who could pull me away from your sister. They don't exist. Nothing exists but her."

A frown knitted Sasha's eyebrows. She looked at the coworker she'd been talking to, and murmured softly, "Excuse me for a minute. Can you check on room ten-ten?"

"Sure," her coworker said.

Sasha set her clipboard down and strode for him, waving off the doctor that was still watching them. "She said her client came in and admitted she was dating you."

"Okay," Wreck said, baffled. "And her client was named Kendra? Did she say anything else?"

"She wants to leave town for a few days. Get away from everything."

"Shhhit," he drawled out. "Where is she going? I can fix this, and answer any questions she has. I'm an open book. She blocked me, and I don't know where she went."

Sasha looked around. When she looked back at him, worry filled her eyes. "Well, I was supposed to talk to her on my break, but she didn't pick up. We were supposed to plan a sister-vacation, away from you and away from Laramie, but I called her five times and texted. No response. Did you check her house?"

"Waited there for an hour. She didn't go home. Her scent at the front door is old."

Sasha puffed air out of her cheeks. "I can go with you to find her. Give me a minute."

Sasha bustled off, pulling her phone from her pocket as she did. She immediately started typing into it. He bet she was trying to connect with Timber again.

Was he being too much? Was he supposed to give her space? He didn't know. He'd never done this before, had never cared enough to fix something. But…her not picking up Sasha's expected calls?

Something deep inside of him knew something was off.

He didn't know why he did it, but he texted the Fastlanders group chat. If anyone hears from Timber, can you let me know? Send.

What's going on? Is she okay? Gunner's immediate response garnered a little more respect from Wreck.

Silver's fingers must've been flying, because she was the one to respond next. Long story short, Timber thinks he is cheating on her. HE'S NOT. Something made her think that. My instincts are up. Wreck, I'm still trying to get through, but I'm still blocked. Hallie, Sloane, and Corey are all blocked too. I checked.

So am I. Owen.

And me. Ace.

Yep, me too. Captain.

Well, kudos to the Fastlanders for dropping whatever they were doing for this. Wreck appreciated it more than they could know.

Misunderstanding, but I'm trying to fix it. Send. It wasn't in his nature to explain anything about his life, but they were being kind, and attentive toward his mate.

Keep us updated please. Gunner.

Will do. Send. And Wreck meant it. He would update them because they cared for the woman he cared for, and that made him like them more.

Sasha jogged toward him and gestured for him to go. "I'm covered. I'll follow you to her house. I have a key to get in. I'll be able to tell if she packed clothes and left already."

He'd thought the drive to the hospital was the longest drive of his life, but he'd been wrong. It was this one—him speeding down the main roads of Laramie, trying to get to Timber's house as soon as he could.

Maybe she would be there, and he could catch her before she left town.

When his headlights flashed over her home, his heart sank. Her truck wasn't here, just like when he'd been here before.

Sasha parked on the street and ran for the front door. "I've called her ten times, and she's not picking up. No response to my texts, either. Doesn't matter how mad she is, she never ignores my calls. Never." The panic in Sasha's voice made his temperature go up exponentially.

He jogged behind her, waited for her to use her spare key and shove the door open. It smelled strange. There was something he didn't recognize. Some one.

"The door lock is messed up," Sasha said, voice full of panic. "Look!"

He moved past her, and took one look at the scratched-up lock before he kicked the door in. He flipped the lights on, and when he inhaled, a low rumble escaped him. Someone had been in here, and it wasn't Timber. Sasha ran to the kitchen table, and read the note that had been left there.

She turned the letter toward him. "This says she's left without me. She's already on the road, heading to some cabin near Rawlins."

"Okay, that's where we start looking then."

Sasha was staring down at the note with horror filling her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know where to start looking." She lifted her worried gaze to his, and then said something that made his entire world stand still. "Wreck," Sasha whispered. "This isn't Timber's handwriting."

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