33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Kimble

Hours later, Kimble landed in front of his house. It seemed like every light inside and outside was on, and he absolutely knew his flock had done it on purpose. As much as he wanted to rush in, he paused outside to gather his thoughts.

He’d been forced to kill Lucy’s companion. The man had been vile and while under thrall admitted he would do anything to kill Cora after she humiliated him. Vampires could create strong compulsion using thrall, but it wore off over time. If he’d left the shifter alive, Cora would never be safe.

He’d drained the man dry and left his body out in the desert for the buzzards to eat. A fitting end for a male who admitted he enjoyed hurting humans who couldn’t fight back.

Lucy had been different. She’d stopped crying by the time he landed. She remained passive and quiet as he’d interrogated the male and watched with dead eyes as the life had drained from the man’s body.

After rolling the body down into a dry creek bed, Kimble had turned to her. Lucy’s next words had shocked him.

“I’m ready to die,” she said, watching him with resignation. “Please make it painless. I know you can do that.”

“I promised your brother I wouldn’t kill you,” he reminded her.

“I’m sure you lied,” she said, her head dropping. Her greasy hair fell forward, obscuring her face. “I threatened to kill a member of your flock. I think I wanted to. It didn't matter that she was Pike’s mate, all I could think about was getting money. She made me so angry when she said no and fought back. Humans aren’t supposed to fight back like that.”

He took in her thin appearance and splotchy skin. Most shifters tended toward muscled bodies, but she resembled the unhealthy human models that starved themselves. It wasn’t a natural state for a bear.

Leaning in close, he breathed her in, but smelled nothing unusual. “Why can’t I smell drugs on you?”

Her entire body shuddered as if she was cold. Wrapping her arms around herself, she looked up at him through her hair. “Ash,” she whispered. “It’s called ash. No one can smell it, but it makes you feel invincible. For a while.”

He’d never heard of the drug, but he hadn’t been on speaking terms with the world for over five years. During his life, he’d seen illicit substances rise and fall in popularity and abundance. Ash was only the newest in an unending parade of powders and pills that would cure any illness by creating a new one.

“Do you want to die?” he asked. “If you see death as a mercy, I’ll go to Pike and make a case for ending your life.”

She shook her head. “I want to live, but I’ve destroyed everything.” She laughed humorlessly. “Even now I want more. After everything I did and the people I betrayed, all I can think about is getting more ash. The guy you killed was my dealer. I know he has a packet on him. Probably a dozen. Enough to keep me high for weeks.”

She looked at the lip of the ravine he’d tossed the body into, as if gauging how hard the descent would be if she tried to climb down. Kimble got the feeling she’d mostly dismissed him now that she was sure he wasn’t going to kill her.

Kimble had dealt with addiction before but only as one person among an entire supportive pack. He wasn’t sure how someone without a pack came back from this.

Crouching down, he waited until she looked at him. He pointed southeast. “There is a housing tract fifteen miles that way. ”

She glanced to where he pointed then back at him. “You expect me to walk fifteen miles?”

He nodded his head and then pulled a business card from of his pocket and held it out. She stared at it like it might be a cursed object. “Take it,” he ordered. “If you make it the fifteen miles, you can call for someone to pick you up.”

Her fingers trembled as she accepted the card. “Whose number is this?”

“It’s a main phone line for the Laske Pack. I’m going to warn them that they’re not to get you unless you’re at that housing tract or close to it, understand?”

She clutched the card tightly. “Why would a wolf pack want to help me?”

“Because they are family to me, and Pike is my flock, so he is pack to them,” he explained.

Dropping her gaze to the ground at his feet, she shook her head. “What’s keeping me from taking everything Danno has on him all at once and ending it right here?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Kimble answered, his tone calm and even. Anything he felt regarding her passing would be a second-degree agony felt through Pike, not a direct pain. That made it hard for him to summon much sympathy.

“You should volunteer for a suicide hotline,” she muttered. The sarcasm was the first time she’d shown any emotion beside desolation.

“I’m here to give you options, not hold your hand,” Kimble said. “You can die here in the desert either by overdose or dehydration. You can start walking and find your way to whatever hovel you’ve been living at. Or you can walk and call the number I gave you. I’ll warn you, if you choose the third option, there will be rules and boundaries. You will live on my property, and you’ll do as the pack and I demand. We’ll help you get clean and start your life over again. It will be hard, but in the end, you’ll have a future and your family back. The other two options mean death. One will just take longer than the other.”

Tossing her head back, she looked up at him with a pleading expression but calculation in her eyes. “If you could give me—”

“No,” he said, standing and stepping back so he could shift. “You have your options. ”

Then he reached for the magic that let him turn into his griffin form and took to the air. He heard her crying out and begging for him to come back, but he ignored her.

As he stood staring at his front door, he couldn’t decide which option he hoped she would choose. All of them would cause Pike pain, but would her quick death be easier on him than a long fight with addiction?

Kimble wished there were easy answers. As he gathered the courage to enter his home and explain to the gentlest member of his flock that his sister might be dead by morning, the door swung open to reveal Pike’s hulking silhouette.

“Why are you standing out here?” Pike asked.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Cora said, pushing past Pike to rush at him. Holding out his arms, he let the little human barrel into him and wrap her arms around him in a fierce hug. “It took you a long time. I hope you flew them way the hell out into the east county desert.”

“Not that far,” he murmured to her. “But far enough.”

Pike made a pained sound as he stepped closer. “Is she… was she…”

Seeing one of his flock close to tears was unbearable. He reached out and pulled Pike to him. “She was alive when I left her. I gave her the number to call if she was ready to get clean.”

“Clean?” Pike asked as he pressed close to Kimble.

“She’s been taking something called ash,” Kimble explained.

Pike sagged a little. “That explains so much. It wasn’t her; it was the drugs.” There was pain and relief in his voice.

Cora pulled away from him and grabbed hold of Pike’s shirt. “Come on, let's go inside. I need cuddle time and that blue couch is calling.”

“Cuddling sounds good,” Pike agreed. He hooked an arm around Kimble’s shoulders and pulled him against his side, so they walked together with Cora leading the way.

Relieved to be with his beautiful flock, Kimble fell in step with Pike. “Anything my flock desires is also what I want.”

***

It wasn’t until almost dawn that Kimble’s brand-new phone pinged several times in a row. Cora and Pike were snuggled on either side of him. It had taken several hours, a lot of edging, and an orgasm so powerful it almost made him pass out before Pike was finally able to fall into a restful sleep.

Worried that the phone would wake Pike, Kimble carefully reached across Cora to silence it but was captured by the messages on the screen, the first was from Annette.

We have lucy. We put in the cabin with Stan and Enrico. They'll Help her get settled and keep an eye on her.

The next several were from an unknown number, but he guessed it was Enrico.

Lucy is sleeping right now. Stan volunteered at a rehab for year so he knows what to do. Stan says that by noon tomorrow she's going to be sick as a dog from withdrawal. I would keep Pike away for now.

Annette is going to make sure we have the resources we need to help Lucy. Tell Pike we'll be doing everything we can for her.

Kimble responded to Annette with gratitude and then to Enrico with a warning that he couldn’t control Pike. The best he could do was make sure Pike spoke to Stan before venturing over. Stan responded with a thumbs up emoji.

Perhaps Pike would be content to know Lucy was safe and being looked after. Kimble wasn’t sure if he was happy about this outcome, but it was done, and he couldn’t take it back.

Time would tell if he’d made a wise direction. One thing was certain—if Lucy ever threatened his flock again, not even Pike’s love would save her.