Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

Sakkara

When I left the house this morning dressed as Santa Claus, I would’ve told you I felt ridiculous.

But after a few hours walking around town, seeing the way the kids lit up when they saw me, and accepting the greetings from the adults, I’d become used to it. So used to it, that I didn’t even mind sitting up here in this ornate chair—where the hell is this thing kept during the other 364 days of the year?—and waving to people.

Personally, I think my ho-ho-ho was getting pretty good.

I was getting into it, holding my stomach and chuckling jollily, pointing and waving at kids, and tossing candy canes with abandon. When I recognized a kid, I’d call out their name and tell them they were on my “good list,” and their reactions warmed me in a way I hadn’t expected.

They knew I wasn’t the real Santa, but they loved me anyhow .

And I loved them. Every single one of them were my people, the people I cared for and cared about. I was here because of them, and I’d do everything in my power to keep them happy, whether that meant donning a fat suit or arranging compromises about condo rentals.

This is why I was here.

I found myself scanning the crowds, looking for Emmy and Nikki. I knew where they were supposed to be waiting, but I was anxious to see them, so I could wave and ho-ho-ho at them and see their faces light up.

Those two faces I loved so much.

We were approaching Meli’s Bake Shoppe, and I knew my family would be nearby. I suppose I should look for Simbel and Memnon—their bulk would make them stand out in the crowd.

Sure enough, Simbel was easy to pick out because he had Emmy on his shoulders. They were standing toward the back of the crowd—strange, I would’ve thought they’d arrived early enough to let my daughter stand in the front—and Emmy was waving enthusiastically.

I waved back, holding my stomach and ho-ho-hoing as I tossed peppermints. But the whole time, my gaze was sweeping the crowd. Where was Memnon?

More importantly, where was Nikki?

Why wasn’t she with Emmy?

Concerned now, I stood, causing the pickup truck the float was built around to lurch alarmingly. I ignored it, my act forgotten, as I scanned the crowd.

Where is my Mate?

My heart began to pound, and deep in my chest, my Kteer began to growl. There was something wrong, and it could sense it.

I could sense my Mate’s fear.

“Nikki,” I whispered .

Then I saw her, and my heart froze.

Because she was being pulled into an alleyway by a male who was holding her around the chest, a gun jammed into her throat.

Peter .

The bastard had found her.

My roar shook the truck again, and the crowd around us went suddenly silent as I sprang to the roof of the pickup, claws springing free.

Peter had turned, pulling Nikki with him, and they were facing away from the crowd. Thank the old gods for that; if the gun went off, it wouldn’t endanger the crowd…just my Mate.

Still roaring, I launched myself from the roof of the truck, over the heads of the crowd.

Like an old stop-motion film, time slowed down.

I saw Simbel swing Emmy down and throw himself over her.

I saw Peter pull the gun away from Nikki to point at—

Memnon? What was he doing here? And why did he have a gun?

I heard a single shot, then I slammed into the pavement and reached for Peter.

Now that the gun was no longer pointed at Nikki, I felt free to unleash my rage. I grabbed him by the back of the head and threw him toward the brick wall, pulling Nikki from his hold.

Without stopping for a breath, I tossed Nikki toward Memnon, trusting my brother to keep her safe, and spun toward the threat, prepared to put myself between Peter’s gun and the female I loved.

I needn’t have bothered.

The bastard was still stunned by his collision with the brick wall, and I took advantage of that, grabbing him by his throat and lifting him off the ground.

“How dare you ?” I growled. “ How fucking dare you?” I slammed him against the brick wall and heard the gun clatter to the ground. Part of me registered the danger I’d been in up until then, but the rage overwhelmed me. “You come into my town and endanger my Mate?”

He gurgled; his eyes wide in terror.

Not good enough.

I squeezed, my claws drawing blood in four perfect points along the side of his neck. “Eastshore is mine . Nikki is mine . Scum like you will not come here and threaten them, do you understand?” I leaned in close, my anger causing the words to trip over my tusks as I got up in his face. “ You hurt my Mate, and you will pay .”

“Easy, Sakkara.”

I didn’t recognize the words.

“Easy, D’malk .” It wasn’t until Simbel stepped up beside me that I realized he was trying to be soothing. “You can’t kill him.”

“The fuck I can’t. Did you see what he did to Nikki?” This low life not only put a gun to her head, he put burning cigarettes to her skin. “He needs to pay.” I was panting now, struggling to keep my Kteer’s rage in check.

“He will.” Damn Simbel and his calm tone. “But you need to let him breathe.”

I was breathing too fast and couldn’t seem to ease my hold on Peter. “Where’s Emmy?”

“She’s safe,” Simbel said soothingly. “So is Nikki. I need you to let this asshole live because the paperwork is going to be a bitch otherwise.”

He moved into my line of vision, and what I saw from the corner of my eye made me do a double take .

Simbel was holding a gun pointed at Peter’s head…and in his other hand he held a badge.

My rage cooled slightly to confusion, and I finally loosened my hold, allowing Peter to slump to his feet and take a breath. “Simbel?”

He wasn’t looking at me. “NYPD. Peter Papalopodopoulos, you’re under arrest for violating parole, threatening lives, and shooting a cop.”

“Fuck you,” he rasped, his hand dropping to his waistline.

“Another gun,” snapped Simbel in warning, dropping the barrel of his weapon to point at Peter’s shoulder, I assume to incapacitate the bastard.

I decided to remove the threat completely.

I yanked Peter forward, away from the wall, and swung with my other hand. The slap was open-palmed, and I released his neck at the same moment. The force of the blow swung Peter around, and he slammed face-first into the brick wall, then fell backward, unconscious.

“Or you could do that,” muttered Simbel. “Dammit, this is going to take ages to clear up.” While I stood, staring at him in surprise, he slid his gun back under his jacket, then nudged me. “Based on how loudly my brother is cussing, he’s not dead, but how about you call for some medical attention while I get my superiors on the phone?”

With that, he turned back to the gathered crowd and held up his badge. “It’s okay, folks, just a bit out of my jurisdiction. Please tell me someone’s called this in, and the local police are on the way? Emmy, get your butt over here and hug your dad.”

Still in shock, I turned to the other end of the alleyway, where Nikki was crouched over Memnon’s sprawled form. She looked up and met my eyes, and the tear tracks on her cheeks broke my heart .

I’d taken a step toward her—ready to throw myself at her feet and beg forgiveness for not protecting her better—when a small body slammed into me from the side. Without looking, I scooped Emmy up and crushed her to me.

“Are you okay, kitling?” I murmured against her hair.

“Simbel smushed me.”

It was my first smile. “Good. I told him to take care of you. I guess he knew what that meant, being a police officer.”

I could feel her trying to squirm free—likely to gape at Simbel—but I wasn’t going to let her go.

Instead, I stalked toward my Mate.

“How is he?” I managed to rasp as I crouched beside her. I didn’t give her a chance to respond but pulled her into my other arm until I had both of my heartbeats pressed against my chest.

“I’ll live,” grunted Memnon. Both his hands were pressed against his thigh, where blood was seeping. His handgun was on the pavement beside him, and with his jacket gaping open, I could see his badge clipped to his belt.

I dragged my gaze up to his. “ You’re a cop too? Why in all the hells did you let me think you two were longshoremen?”

The other male shrugged. “Easier to stay undercover if you look like we do. Your invitation was handy, and we volunteered to come after Papalopodopoulos. You being Mated to his prey was handy.”

I could feel myself beginning to shake. “Nikki was bait ? You used the woman I love as bait?”

Memnon didn’t seem to care. “Nope, the bastard was coming here one way or the other. This just gave us a reason to stick to her. You’re welcome, by the way. ”

I stood, dragging Nikki and Emmy upright. “She was in danger!” I roared.

“And I got shot,” the other male said with a nonchalant grunt. “Oh, good, here come the paramedics.”

In shock, I allowed myself to be pushed to the side by first Chief Ortiz, then the EMTs, who fussed over Memnon. I couldn’t seem to draw in a full breath, couldn’t seem to make myself quit shaking. I’d come so close to losing Nikki, and—

“Sakkara?” came her small voice. I glanced down to see Nikki had pulled herself away from my chest and was now peering up at me. She looked worried. “Are you okay?”

“Am I— ” I choked, then forced myself to take a breath. “Nikki, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I allowed this to happen.”

“Sakkara…” Her small hand rose and pulled down my beard. It popped off one ear, and she cupped my cheek. Her face was pale, her pupils large, her body still dealing with the effects of the fear I’d allowed her to feel.

“Did you mean it?” she whispered. “When you called me your Mate?”

Pretty sure I quit breathing altogether.

Nikki

“Did you mean it when you called me your Mate?”

I held my breath, staring up into his eyes, and realized he was doing the same. Was that panic I saw? Or fear?

We exhaled together.

“Sakkara,” I prompted for a third time. “I—when you were yelling at Peter, you called me your Mate. Why?”

A flare of green in his eyes, then he glanced toward Emmy, who had rested her head against his shoulder. “Because you are,” he whispered. “I should have said something earlier.”

It’s a knowing .

I swallowed, then pressed my hand harder against his cheek, wanting to make him look back at me. “If I’m your Mate, why are you sending me away?”

Well that worked. He stiffened, snapping his gaze to mine fast enough that Emmy whimpered and pressed her face into his neck.

“I wasn’t sending you away,” he rasped to me.

“You said after the parade today, you’d even help me leave,” I reminded him.

His harsh bark of laughter wasn’t in any way nice. “You were determined to run from Peter—”

“I knew what he was capable of, Sakkara.” I thought I managed to tamp down on my shiver, but from the way his expression shifted to anger, it hadn’t worked. “I couldn’t let him catch me here and put all of you in danger.”

“ I will protect you ,” he growled. “From everything. Always .”

He had.

He had .

In that ridiculous Santa suit, Sakkara had leapt to my rescue, pulling my tormentor off me and punishing him. The St. Nicholas of criminals’ nightmares.

“But you wanted me gone?” I whispered.

He muttered something under his breath, then crushed me against him. “I wanted you safe , dkaar , and you seemed determined to leave. So I asked you to wait until after the parade so I could go with you.”

Smushed against his hard, red-coat-covered chest, I allowed his words to sink in.

He’d been planning on going with me .

He would have given up Eastshore Isle for me?

Slowly, my smile bloomed.

“Mate,” I whispered against his chest.

I would’ve thought there was no way he could’ve heard it, but orcs’ senses were sharper than humans’. I felt him shudder, then felt his lips against the top of my head.

“Mate,” he whispered in response.

And I knew it was the truth.

There is a knowing . When I’d accepted Sakkara as my Mate, I knew we were connected in a way I could not have imagined prior. But he was a part of me, and I was a part of him.

He’d kept me safe. He protected me and Eastshore. He taught me what a strong male should be.

I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect Mate.

“I love you, Sakkara,” I mumbled.

If anything, his hold on me tightened.

And then Emmy lifted her head, looked at both of us, and announced, “Gunna be sick.”

Sakkara dropped me to lift her away from him and stand her on her feet beside the brick wall, just in time for her to throw up.

“Oh, you poor thing,” I soothed, running my hand up and down her spine. “Too much sugar and too much excitement.” The alley was now bustling with people in uniform and curious parade-goers. “It’ll be okay.”

Sakkara’s hand settled on my lower back, and I glanced up at him. Despite his daughter’s distress, he was grinning.

“Are you sure you know what you’re getting into?” he murmured. “Becoming my Mate means getting a vomitous little eight-year-old too.”

“I’m almost nine,” muttered Emmy, and once again, I marveled at how this little girl had allowed me into her small circle of people she would speak to. I pulled her against me, wrapping my arms around her, and melting when I felt her snake her arms around my waist.

Pretty sure she was wiping her mouth against my sweater.

I smiled up at her father. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Well then, Nikki,” he rumbled, bending down to pick us both up. “Welcome to our family.”