Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

S kylar called and updated her lieutenant on what had happened at her apartment. Malloy arranged for her to have the rest of the day off and the following one, if she wanted. She assured him she would be in the office the next day. Malloy had sent a team to her apartment.

"I called and put off the architects. What do you say we go buy some furniture for the loft? By then we should be able to get to your clothes." Skylar was unusually quiet, and he took her hand in his, rumbling softly. "It'll be okay, Skylar. You'll catch this bastard and make gold shield. I will open the restaurant; it'll be a smashing success and we'll be the most brilliant couple in the Crescent City."

"Travis, what's our budget for loft furnishings?"

"I have money. Uncle Oliver taught me how to invest when I was still a teenager."

"There's a really cool furniture place that has antiques, upcycled things, hand-painted pieces—all really unique. I think since the space is basically one big room, it needs to be cohesive. And can we have one of those multiple showerhead thingies?"

"We can get whatever your heart desires. Why don't we look at some things for the bath as well, so the architects know how big to make it?"

They spent the next few hours shopping for the loft. Travis was relieved to find that they had similar tastes in both design and color. He took a great deal of pleasure in watching her select the things that were important to her. Skylar couldn't have cared less about the tile for the bath or the vanity, but she was very clear about what she wanted for the shower in terms of both fixtures and size.

"We'll be able to invite our friends to join us," he said, laughing.

"Not really, but it'll be big enough to fuck in comfortably," she said, embarrassing the salesperson.

When the man had turned away, Travis swatted her. "Behave yourself."

She turned to face him. "Well, it's true and you know it." She dropped her voice and leaned into him, "And you were thinking the same thing."

He grinned. His sister, Piper, always said retail therapy could cure a lot of ills. The trick was for the wolf to find the right thing to shop for. Apparently, for Skylar, it was things that created suitable places for her to fuck him, and that was most definitely good news.

As they were headed to shop in one of the stores Skylar had been interested in, her cell phone rang. It was the forensic team, letting her know that if she wanted to, they would let her in to her apartment to get some personal belongings. They warned her the guy had done a number on the interior.

"Ask him if an hour will work," said Travis.

She did and it would.

"Why an hour?" she asked.

"We need to go get a ring."

"Travis don't feel like you have to go through with any of this. My father can be a bit overwhelming, but I can handle him."

"Sky, I'm not the one being coerced; I'm the one doing the coercing. There's a ring I'd like you to see."

He drove them to the jewelers, and they were shown to the back room, where the manager joined them.

"Etienne, this is my fiancée."

"The beautiful daughter to Jean-Michel and Darby Gautier needs no introduction. I believe the ring you liked will be perfect. Let me get it."

The manager left the room.. "Seriously?" she asked Travis. "You've already been ring shopping?"

"I'm Delta Force. We're always prepared."

"That's the motto for the Boy Scouts. I think Delta Force's is something like to ‘Free the Oppressed'."

"But it doesn't apply here, as I have no intention of freeing you. I'm going to do everything in my power to bind you to me, including," he then leaned over and whispered in her ear, "knotting and tying you to me as often as possible. And when did you bother to learn the motto of Delta Force?"

Skylar blushed prettily and then gasped when Etienne returned with the ring: a vintage 2.1 carat diamond in an elaborate and ornate setting of platinum. Travis was beginning to suspect that Skylar might not be as opposed to the idea of being his fated mate as she let on. His father had offered him advice in that regard.

"What if she really doesn't want to be my mate?" he asked his father as they were moving one of the herds of cattle from their winter to their summer pasture.

Cameron Nichols shook his head and grinned. "Let me tell you about fractious she-wolves. They say a lot of things they don't mean."

"You mean they lie?"

"I'm not saying they won't lie if they think they can get away with it, but mostly they'll tell you something that they wish were true. Your mother spent a lot of time denying I was her fated mate and that she loved me. It wasn't true and part of her knew it. She felt like she had something else important to do, and that it was more important than her own needs and desires."

"So how do you know when they're telling the truth?"

"Look for small things—the way she leans into you to share something she doesn't want others to know, or the way she rubs up against you. The way she surrenders so sweetly when she doesn't think anyone is watching."

"Did you ever think that maybe what she was saying was the truth?"

His father grinned. "Not even once. She'll depend on you to hold the line to believe in your destiny even when she shouts to the wind about how wrong you are. She needs to know you never doubt where you are headed. It'll make it easier for her to follow your lead."

"Did you ever doubt?"

"Not even once. From the moment I saw her, I was stunned by the idea of such absolute knowing. But I did know. And the louder she stormed at me, the more sure I was and the more I knew she needed me to be steadfast. So, hold to your course."

After that talk, Travis had begun to see his parents' relationship in a slightly different light. Yes, his father was dominant, but his mother was no shrinking violet. She had a fiery temper and was known to give it full rein, but when she played fiddle, you could often feel the room shrink, seeming to hold just the two of them.

He knew from the moment he became interested in she-wolves that his Skylar was different and was his fated mate. He was grateful he'd known so soon, as it allowed him to create a life that they could easily share. He loved his pack but being the Alpha of Galveston was not his first priority. Skylar was his priority—always had been, always would be.

"I took the liberty of looking Skylar's ring size up and this one was her size. Fate," said Etienne.

"So I keep telling her."

"Can we have a moment?" Skylar asked.

"You don't like it?" asked Etienne.

"Are you kidding? It's gorgeous. I'd just like a moment with Travis."

"But of course," said Etienne, withdrawing.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" she said, not looking at Travis.

Travis held up the ring. "I'm willing for forego the formal bonding ceremony and even marking you, but yes, I want to hear you take your vow to me. I don't care if we do it in front of our parents, but I want to hear it. I want to hear you acknowledge that you know. I, Travis Nichols, declare you, Skylar Gautier, to be my one true fated mate. What say you?"

"Fine."

"Such enthusiasm," he teased.

"Do you want enthusiasm, or do you want to hear what you want to hear?"

"I, Skylar Gautier, recognize you, Travis Nichols, to be my one true fated mate." Travis growled low at her words. Looking up at him, she sighed. "All right. Fated mate and alpha." He placed the ring on her finger. "It really is gorgeous, Travis. Can we afford it?"

He laughed. "My ever-practical mate. Yes, we can afford it."

"Can we go get my things?"

"Yes, sweetheart."

Travis paid for the ring while the other customers ogled it. Once back in his truck, they headed to Skylar's apartment.

The crime scene unit's van was still there, and one of the techs came out to meet them.

"How bad is it?" Skylar asked.

"I'm not psychiatrist, but I'd say the guy's got a lot of rage. I hope you weren't attached to any of your furniture. All of it has been either slashed or smashed. Some of your clothes and personal things are okay, but whoever this is, did a real number on them."

"Sky, do you want me to go in and get everything he didn't destroy?"

"No, I want to see it."

Travis knew she wanted to see if there was anything that she could add to the pattern and profile she was building.

"Are you through in there?" she asked.

"For the most part. Just make a note of anything you take. Then we'll call the crime scene clean-up crew and let you know when it's been restored. I'm sure sorry this happened to you." The tech nodded at them and walked away.

"When's your lease up?" Travis asked.

"End of next month. Why?"

"Let's get everything you want to take. Tomorrow you can let your insurance company and landlord know about the break-in and give notice. You're not ever coming back here."

"Again with the unilateral decisions. What makes you think that's going to work with me?"

"First, I have a ring on your finger and heard you take your vow to me. And second, it's worked so far."

Skylar shook her head and despite herself, she smiled before she headed into what had once been her apartment. She stopped just inside the door and took a deep breath. Travis wrapped his arm around her and rumbled to her in a way only she could hear. She leaned back against him as if to draw from his strength.

"He's really angry," she said quietly.

"I agree. He wanted you to know he knows where you live and is trying to spook you."

"Mission accomplished. If I tell you something, do you promise not to throw it back in my face?"

"Sure."

"I'm kind of glad I'll be staying with an ex-Delta Force guy. Could you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

"Could you start carrying a gun?"

"Not a bad idea. You could always take what you have to Malloy if you don't think your lieutenant will listen to you. My guess is he'd form a task force."

"You're probably right," she said still leaning against him. "But I fear that a task force will let this guy know we're on to him."

"Babe, I think he knows."

"I know," she sighed. "This was never the prettiest apartment, but…"

"It was yours and by violating it, he violated you."

She laughed. "No. All he did by trashing my apartment and my car was remind me what a sick fuckwad he is and make me want to track his sorry ass down and get him put away for the rest of his life."

"There's my good mate," he whispered as he nuzzled her neck. "I love you."

When she inclined her head toward his and brought her hand up to the side of his face to hold him close, he thought his heart might just explode from happiness. He really was absolutely, irrevocably, and madly in love with his fated mate.

"I never said this," she whispered, "but ditto."

She moved out of his arms and picked up a few things the killer hadn't destroyed. Travis went into the kitchen.

"Don't start," she called. "I don't cook."

He laughed. "Good thing your fiancé is a chef."

"Not to mention great in the sack," she called from the bedroom.

It didn't take her long before she walked back out with a roller suitcase and an armful of clothing items on hangers.

"He destroyed most of it. And there's nothing left of any of my club wear."

"It's okay, Skylar. There's a place Piper likes in San Francisco, and one in London that will only sell to Doms."

Skylar grinned. "I have to tell you—Piper, Mariah and I had planned to storm the place and demand equal rights the next time we were all in London."

"The poor guy probably thinks the worst he might ever see is a bunch of brats trying to invade his shop. Little does he know about alpha she-wolves."

They walked back to his truck, and Travis secured everything in the back. He got on his phone and arranged for an escort to meet them before they entered the loft. Malloy had insisted there would be a patrol car outside the building until Travis had the security system upgraded, which would happen over the next few days while they were at Rivière Du Loup.

While they waited for someone to meet them at the apartment, they wandered through a couple of the city's more eclectic furniture stores and were able to buy most of what they needed. Travis managed to fit a tallboy chest of drawers, a buffet that could serve as a dresser, plus two different nightstands and an antique clothes hanger on wheels into the back of his truck. They were getting ready to leave the shop when she spotted an old blanket chest that had been painted and distressed and had a furniture decal that appealed to her. Travis added it to the things in the back of the truck. The rest of what they'd purchased would be delivered tomorrow while Travis met with the architects and Skylar went back to searching for the killer.

H e had planned to follow them around all day, but one of the women on the criminal forensics team caught his eye. She was a petite blonde, with none of the Gautier bitch's luscious curves, but her hair was a similar color. She would do for the evening.