Chapter Twenty-One

Xavier

“Alright, just keep me posted,” Melanie said into her phone before she ended the call and sat down in the chair he had brought into his office for her. She dropped the phone into her purse before leaning back against the chair. “They don’t have any leads yet, but they will let me know if that changes.”

Xavier only nodded as he began a new search parameter on his computer.

It hadn’t been his intention to bring Melanie back to his place as he didn’t want her involved in all this. That was why he had gone to see her and told her to back off in the first place. However, once the shock of discovering what he was had worn off, she insisted he bring her along and didn’t give him much choice in the matter. She said that, if he didn’t, she’d arrest him for obstruction, and even she seemed to know that his kind would not do well in county lockup.

The whole situation was awkward as hell because they despised each other. Their love for Madelyn was the only thing that was uniting them right now, and he wasn’t going to be the one to make Madelyn choose between them. He knew how important Melanie was to her. So, he’d tolerate the pushy detective for Madelyn’s sake, at least, for now.

“Is any of this even legal?” Melanie asked him pointedly as she stared at the screen from over his shoulder.

“You aren’t here as a cop, remember? You don’t get to sit here and question our methods, nor do you get to use anything you see or hear against us in any way. That was the deal.”

He had already gone over all of this with her before he agreed to bring her here, but he also felt it was necessary to reinforce the issue.

Isabelle and the others Rodrigo had sent were in the living room, coming up with a plan of action for when he found out where Colby was hiding. Despite being told otherwise, they had decided to work together, and Melanie’s presence had them all on edge. He wouldn’t put it past any one of them, especially Isabelle, to kill her if they thought for one moment that she was a threat. This meant he also needed to keep an eye on her so that Madelyn didn’t lose her best friend, another meaningless task that he wanted no part of.

“I am aware, Xavier,” Melanie said. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like this arrangement.”

“What do you know—something we have in common,” he grumbled in response.

After a few moments, she spoke again. “So, I’m guessing that Madelyn knows you are not human.”

“She does.”

“And she agreed to be with you anyway?” The way her voice held a hint of disgust pissed him off.

His jaw clenched in irritation. “Yes, because, unlike you, she’s not a judgmental bitch.”

“Hey, I’m not judging,” she retorted, causing him to snort. “Okay, maybe I am a bit. But I just figured that someone like you would want to be with your own kind. Surely, another shifter could handle your… proclivities a bit better than a mere human can.”

Xavier turned to face her then, his hands balling into fists so tightly that his claws punctured the flesh of his palm. He was really trying to keep his anger and irritation in check, but Melanie wasn’t making it easy. If it were any other time, he wouldn’t mind the questions, especially if it helped her to accept his place in Madelyn’s life. But right now, Madelyn was in danger, and he needed to focus on finding her.

“Madelyn handles my proclivities just fine,” he snapped. “And for your information, there are no female shifters. Even if there were, Madelyn is my fated mate. She’s it for me.”

Melanie’s eyebrow lifted in question. “What the fuck does that mean?”

He debated not telling her as he didn’t owe her a damn thing. He knew how she felt about him, and he wasn’t exactly fond of her either, especially after she had hurt Madelyn so badly. But she was still important to Madelyn, and when he found her, she was going to need Melanie too. Even he could set aside his own pride enough to admit that.

“It means that she’s my soulmate, my wolf’s other half. We have a kind of bond that is impossible to ignore and impossible to break. It’s hard to explain because it’s a shifter thing, but before you even ask, she knows about that too.”

“Well, I’d hope so,” she muttered. “Jesus, that’s a lot to unpack.”

Xavier didn’t respond. He didn’t feel like he needed to. How well Melanie understood what was between him and Madelyn didn’t matter. He had done his part and had told her what she needed to know. At least, that’s what he thought.

“You and Madelyn had sex, didn’t you?”

His head snapped in her direction, his brows furrowed. “How the fuck is that any of your business?”

Melanie pressed her lips together, her hands fidgeting in her lap. The change in her demeanor was a little jarring, even to him. “It’s not,” she replied.

“Alright then.”

“Can… can you just answer the question, Xavier?”

“Yes!” he exclaimed loudly, slamming his fists on the desk. “Okay? Yes, I fucked her. Several times. Is that all you wanted to know, or do you want all the dirty details too?”

“God, no,” she gasped. “I just… When was the last time you spoke to her?”

“Two weeks ago or so, why?”

If he was being honest, he didn’t like the direction the conversation was going. There was something in her voice that told him that she wasn’t asking sheerly out of morbid curiosity. There was a point to her questions.

Melanie nodded, seemingly to herself. “And how did she seem? Did she seem okay?”

“Melanie,” he pressed. “What’s going on?”

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Okay, you know Madelyn was at the clinic when she was taken.”

He nodded impatiently.

“Well, we found her purse at the scene, and there were some… things in it.”

“Okay,” he stated hesitantly. “What kinds of ‘things’?”

“I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you, I mean, this is probably something that you should hear from Madelyn herself,” Melanie muttered quickly. “I just thought that maybe she had said something to you about it since she didn’t say anything to me.”

“Well, she didn’t. So, spit it out.”

He could see how much it hurt her that Madelyn hadn’t said anything to her, but her evasiveness around the whole thing was beginning to put him on edge. Melanie was making it sound like there was something wrong with Madelyn. If that was the case, then finding her was even more dire. Being in the hands of someone like Colby was bad enough for someone in perfect health, and it sounded as though Madelyn wasn’t in perfect health.

He knew that Colby wouldn’t kill her right away. He wanted to use her to get to him, and he couldn’t do that if she were dead. But who knew what the guy was doing to her in the meantime? The thought didn’t sit well with him.

“Melanie!” he snapped, making the frustrating woman before him jump. “What’s wrong with Madelyn?”

“Nothing! Jesus.” When he lifted an eyebrow, she rolled her eyes. “I’m serious, Xavier. Nothing is wrong with her. It’s just, well, she’s pregnant.”

He blinked, his mind coming to a screeching halt. “She’s… what?”

Melanie nodded. “Yeah, I’m guessing that’s why she had Bernie take her to the clinic. The test results, anti-nausea meds, and prenatal vitamins were in her purse. I’m guessing you are the father?”

Blood roared in his ears at the term ‘father’. He never once considered becoming one because what the hell did he have to offer a kid? The ability to teach them how to kill someone swiftly or painfully and get away with it? How to learn everything there was to know about their targets and stalk them from the shadows without being seen? None of that was even remotely conducive to raising a child.

Xavier only had two father figures himself, and neither had been good examples. His birth father was an abusive asshole with a drinking problem, who forced him to watch as he tortured and killed his mother. Rodrigo raised him to be a killer and taught him that emotions were a weakness. There was no way he would make a good father with them being his role models, and he was ashamed to admit it, but the thought terrified him. It was an odd feeling, too, because he wasn’t scared of much.

However, the biggest concern was how Madelyn felt about becoming a mother. They hadn’t been together long enough to have the whole ‘kid’ conversation, and he had planned on waiting until things settled down a bit between them before telling her how he felt about being a father. He wanted her to be able to make a sound decision on the subject.

Because she was a shifter’s fated mate, she was more prone to having rambunctious shifter boys, and raising them was not for the faint of heart. Now, though, it was too late because she was already pregnant. The choice had been made for them.

There were now two lives he was responsible for.

Something on his face must have given away his thoughts because Melanie gasped, causing him to look up at her. “Well, what do you know,” she commented in disbelief. “He has a heart after all.”

His computer went off before he could tell her to go to hell, and both of them leaned closer to the screen.

“What’s that? Did you find something?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s an encrypted video call.”

“Colby?” she asked, her voice hitching.

“Most likely.”

“Well, why aren’t you answering it?” she screeched, jumping up and reaching for the keyboard.

Xavier shoved her hands away instantly, and she was lucky that was all he did. He had already been barely holding it together, and with that new tidbit of information, his restraint was barely there.

“Damn it, Melanie. I have to set up a trace first. Unless you’d rather we not find Madelyn.”

The detective huffed but kept her hands to herself, which was a good thing. He wasn’t going to let anything cause him to miss this chance.

His fingers flew across the keyboard as he set up the trace. It only took him a few seconds, but it felt like a few seconds too many. When it came to finding his mate, every second counted.

Once everything was ready, he took a breath and answered the call.

Colby’s irritating face appeared on the screen in front of him, and an involuntary growl escaped from deep within his chest. It was a cell phone camera, so it wasn’t the best picture, but the guy was smirking as if he didn’t have a care in the world and hadn’t signed his own death warrant by taking Madelyn. At least, the scars on his face seemed to be causing him some pain.

“Where is she, Colby?” he ground out through clenched teeth.

“Well, hello to you too, Xavier,” Colby replied, feigning offense. “Is that how your kind greets an old friend?”

Xavier shot to his feet so quickly that the chair clattered to the ground behind him as he slammed his hands on either side of his keyboard. “Goddamn it, Colby. Don’t fuck with me right now. Where is she?”

Colby rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. “You are no fun. You’ve always been that way too, always wanting to get right down to business.”

The muscles in Xavier’s jaw ticked as his eyes flashed and his claws began to extend. He wasn’t going to be able to contain himself much longer.

“Oh, relax, would you? I got what you want right here.”

He watched as Colby’s arm disappeared off-screen before he pulled a bound and gaged Madelyn into view. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and she was a little dirty, but she seemed to be otherwise unharmed. She was wearing a pair of sweats and the sweatshirt he had given to her the night she was attacked in the parking structure. Her eyes were puffy from crying, though she also seemed reluctant to look at him.

“Why don’t you say hello, Madelyn?” Colby laughed, draping his arm around her shoulders. “He is, after all, why you are here and in this situation.”