16. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

T hey changed hotel rooms four times in two weeks, slowly making their way toward Wingspan, where the Dragon Skull clubhouse was. The goal was to keep moving away from Davorion and the city, but to do so without drawing attention to themselves, switching cars about as often as they switched hotel rooms.

Mitchell drove, following the directions Seryn had told him about. He held Seryn's hand between the seats as they headed down the highway. He'd have to let go in six miles according to the sign that told him how far away Wingspan was.

Six miles and he'd get to see his little brother for the first time in months. Six miles and he'd never be away from Jude for that long again.

"Did you tell Daruss when we're arriving?" What he was really asking was if Jude knew when he'd get there. He knew his little brother better than he knew anyone else. Jude would drive himself crazy waiting for Mitchell if he knew. It was better if Daruss either didn't tell him at all or waited until right before they arrived. It would save Jude a lot of turmoil.

"I told him." Seryn's visions had been manageable since their talk, but that was mostly because Mitchell hadn't let him out of his sight for over ten minutes at a time.

Seryn hadn't needed blood again. Spending every day and night together for two solid weeks had made them closer than Mitchell would have expected. It was more than Mitchell could have hoped for. He was more than ready to bond.

Mitchell lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of Seryn's.

Seryn gave him a shy smile. He reserved it just for Mitchell.

Mitchell had learned Seryn expressed himself the most through his smiles. He'd never met a person able to use the upturn of his lips to say so much. From 'fuck you' to 'I love you' and everything in between, Seryn's smile said a lot. It was quickly becoming Mitchell's favorite thing about Seryn.

The shy smile meant he wanted to be Mitchell's boy. He wanted all the kisses and cuddles, and then he wanted some more afterward. But he didn't know if he could ask for it.

"Ask me, sweetheart."

Seryn sighed. "You'll want to stay at Daruss's house, right?"

"Jude will be there. Why?" And Mitchell didn't really have anywhere else to go, anyway. He needed to fix the problem of the guns he'd stolen for Terrell. That was what got him into trouble in the first place. After months, he still hadn't solved the issue.

"Can I stay with you? Todd and the doctor can stay at my house or wherever. But I want to be with you." Seryn met Mitchell's gaze from under his lashes.

"How big is your house? Hopefully bigger than a hotel room." Todd huffed in the backseat. When Mitchell looked at him through the rearview mirror, Todd had his arms crossed over his chest and he glared at Evan. It was Todd's standard response to Evan and one that was getting very old. After two weeks of being stuck in a hotel room together, Mitchell expected them to have resolved some of their issues, but all it did was make it worse.

"I also would like a separation from Todd." Evan said it in such a resigned way. It was clear he didn't really want to be separated so much as needed a reprieve from the hostility.

Todd sucked in a breath, as if something about Evan's statement surprised him. And then he turned away. Mitchell couldn't see his face through the rearview mirror anymore.

"I'll just go home then." As if refereeing between the two idiots in the backseat would change anything. And no way would Seryn spend a single night away from him.

"We'll stay together. Regardless of where we sleep." Mitchell addressed the two in the backseat. "You two better fix your shit once and for all."

Evan was the one who answered. "I think we've established that there is no fixing it. It's best if we went our separate ways."

"That'll be hard to do, considering you'll both need to start your life over again with the Dragon Skulls. You'll need their protection. The Dragon Skulls are a family, which means you guys are family, too. Daruss won't like the tension between you. He'll make you clean it up." Seryn hadn't said so many words at one time to them before, which said a lot about the seriousness of the situation.

"So, if we're under a motorcycle gang's protection, it means we're also under their control. That's what you're saying?" Evan might be a cheater and that made him stupid because Todd was a great guy who had loved him at one point, but it was the only thing that did. He was a pretty preceptive person.

"There are rules." Seryn's tone might have been neutral, as if he were talking about the weather, but Mitchell could see the arguing between them got to him.

"And one has to do with butting into our relationship?"

"We don't have a relationship, Evan," Todd bit out.

Seryn turned in the seat. He gave Evan that empty smile. "One has to do with creating upheaval amongst a bunch of high-strung shifters. Do you want to know what happens when Daruss gets mad? Because you'll find out if you create problems."

Seryn turned back around, satisfied with whatever nonverbal response he'd gotten. He was sure Evan and Todd probably had wide eyes.

"This one time we were breaking up a sex trafficking ring at this house in Bensonville. We rounded up four of the traffickers and took them outside. I went with Daruss to look for victims. We found one guy tied and naked. He was lying on the floor, bruised and bloodied. Daruss took one look at him, told Izzy to untie him and then had me follow him outside." Seryn chuckled as if the memory was funny. "Daruss toyed with them for four hours, cutting them and talking shit, before finally giving the kill order."

Mitchell rolled his eyes and shook his head. Not that he doubted the truth behind the story. He lived on the streets long enough to know all of it was true. But it was like scared straight in the car. The poor innocent guys in the back seat were getting a crash course on how violent and volatile some motorcycle gangs could be.

Todd cleared his throat, but it was Evan who asked the question. "Where did he cut them?"

"Oh, Daruss didn't cut them. He had me do it."

"I think you've properly scared them, sweetheart." Mitchell took the next exit. "Which way do I turn off the exit?"

"Left." Seryn said it as he chuckled.

Mitchell turned and then started down the road a bit before addressing Todd and Evan. "Seryn's point is that you won't be around the same type of people. It's important to shut your mouth and pay attention. You'll figure out who to avoid and who will protect you. Seryn and I have your back."

Seryn's phone buzzed from where it sat in the cupholder beside them. He skimmed the message and then set the phone down. "It's three miles up on the right. You'll know it when you see it."

Because Jude was standing outside, probably bawling his eyes out already. Yeah, Seryn didn't need to tell Mitchell that.

Mitchell's chest ached to the point of pain. He had to tell himself not to punch the gas pedal to get there faster. And it was a good thing he forced himself to drive respectably because Jude was in the middle of the road, waiting for him.

At first, Jude was nothing more than a shape in the distance. Mitchell still knew it was him. Someone closed the distance to him. The other person was a thin, smaller person.

Raylee, maybe, pulled at Jude's hand. Jude shook his head. As Mitchell drove closer, he noticed the Dragon Skull's leader standing in the yard with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. He spoke and Raylee let Jude's hand go and went to Daruss instead.

Mitchell pulled over onto the side of the road when he grew close enough. "Give me a minute, sweetheart."

"Of course." Seryn leaned forward, giving him a kiss in reassurance. Or maybe it was support. It did both for Mitchell.

Mitchell had just gotten the door open when Jude was standing there with tears in his eyes and his face red, as if he'd been crying for a while.

As soon as Mitchell pulled his brother into a hug, it was as though he could breathe again. He didn't know how Jude's absence stole the air from his lungs for so long and he still walked around as if he'd been alive the whole time.

"I thought about you every day," Mitchell whispered. Jude was the only thing that kept him alive in that hellhole.

"I was so worried. I knew you were in trouble. You would never stay gone that long."

"You're right. I wouldn't have on purpose." Mitchell pulled away but held Jude by the shoulders. "Let me look at you."

Mitchell took in everything. The way Jude seemed to glow with happiness and how his clothing fit differently, as if they were of better quality. Or maybe it was because he seemed to have gained a little more muscle in his arms and chest. "You look good. You're taking care of yourself."

Jude nodded. "I work out now. Daruss, Raylee, and I do it together every morning. We have a gym in the basement."

That surprised Mitchell because he'd been trying to get Jude to workout with him for a while. But Jude made excuses.

Jude wiped his eyes. "I know what you're going to say."

Mitchell raised his eyebrows and grinned. "Really? What?"

"Daruss gives me incentive."

"Incentive."

"Don't ask a lot of questions. You don't want to know the details. All I'm saying is I'll run on that stupid treadmill till my feet fall off, if it means getting rewarded by Daddy." Jude wiggled his eyebrows and chuckled when Mitchell exaggerated his fake disgust. "I said you didn't want to know the details."

"You warned me." Mitchell pulled Jude into another hug. "Not that I meant for you to fall for the Skulls leader, but I'm glad he's treating you well. And that other one, Raylee? Tell me about him."

"He's not like us." Jude meant Raylee led a sheltered life. Right up to the point he met Daruss and Jude, he'd been innocent. "Daruss and I make sure none of the bad shit touches him."

"How's that going?"

"We had a mishap with Terrell." Jude averted his gaze to the ground. "I had to kill to keep Raylee safe. But then Daruss and the Skulls rescued us. Daddy…I mean, Daruss keeps us both sheltered now."

"Are you sure it was a one and done, Jude?" Mitchell hadn't ever wanted Jude to do something like killing. He'd done an okay job of keeping Jude from having to experience some things. Even though Mitchell couldn't keep the streets from getting to Jude, he'd been successful sometimes. Making a deal with a devil like Terrell was the biggest mistake he'd ever made.

"He's sure." Daruss didn't have to raise his voice much to be heard. The distance should have given them privacy, but it didn't. "Get out of the road now. A car is coming."

They were in a rural setting with Daruss's house sitting off the road and the neighbors at a distance. To say the traffic was minimal was putting it mildly.

"Yes, Daddy." Jude smiled when he said it and then grabbed Mitchell's hand, pulling him along.

Mitchell untangled their fingers. "I'm going to move the car, little brother."

Jude nodded and went to Daruss and Raylee. Daruss wrapped his arm around Jude and whispered to him. Whatever he said, Jude nodded and smiled up at Daruss. His expression was one of pure adoration. Raylee seemed to wiggle his way in there, too. Jude pulled him close. It was then that Mitchell understood the dynamics of the relationship.

Mitchell got behind the wheel and took Seryn's hand again, smiling at him. "Thanks for giving me some privacy."

"Of course." Seryn's smile was genuine.

Todd scooted forward. "That's your brother? I pictured someone…tall with muscles everywhere. Like you."

"He takes after our mother." Mitchell pulled the car onto the road and then into the driveway. "Jude doesn't remember her because he was two years old when she died. But I do. She was blonde and blue eyed just like him. And he has her face." Every time he looked at Jude, he saw her. That alone would have kept her memory alive, but when Jude was a kid, he loved to hear stories about her and Dad. At some points in his life, when he'd been at his lowest, those stories held him up.

"Would you tell me about your parents sometime?" Seryn met his gaze over the hood of the car after he exited.

"I'd love that, sweetheart." Mitchell rounded the hood and pulled Seryn into him, wanting him close.

"It seemed like you and your brother are really close," Todd said as he followed them across the driveway.

"After our dad died, it was just him and I. He's six years younger than me, so he's more like my kid than my brother."

"Old man," Jude said as they closed the distance. Jude smirked.

"Little shit." Mitchell winked at Jude.

Jude's gaze landed on Seryn and didn't leave. He said nothing, but Mitchell could tell he wanted to.

It was Daruss who spoke, and he directed the conversation to Mitchell. "Are you feeling better?"

"Good as new." Which wasn't entirely true, but Mitchell didn't know Daruss well. While he trusted Daruss with Jude, Mitchell didn't know where he stood with Daruss or the Dragon Skulls. He had a feeling he was about to find out.

"Let's go inside. We'll talk there." Daruss let Jude and Raylee go ahead of him. They held hands as they went inside.

Mitchell leaned into Seryn. "Is this going to go well?"

"For Daruss's sake, it better go in your favor." Seryn spoke in the same smooth voice he always had, but he meant it as a promise. He'd kill the leader of the Dragon Skulls if necessary. The only problem was Daruss was also Jude's mate.

For everyone's sake, Mitchell had to do some smooth talking, especially regarding those guns he stole for Terrell because if he didn't, it would be a problem for everyone.