CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

RICHARD

It was hours later, in the waning afternoon, when the two of them left the house to go for a run together as wolves. After sex, it felt right to shift together, to let their wolves enjoy each other's company as their two human sides had.

But Richard's stomach began to growl, and Justin insisted they eat first. Richard didn't protest. He'd been running on coffee and junk food from gas station minimarkets on the long drive. Justin made up a plate of crackers, meats, and cheeses—from the farm's creamery, of course—for Richard to snack on while Justin made grilled cheese sandwiches with cheddar made right here.

The grilled cheese sandwiches turned out to be surprisingly satisfying, with lots of butter on crispy bread and the melted heaven of good cheddar between the slices. His compliments clearly pleased Justin. It was also the first time Justin had ever cooked for him. Before this, they had eaten at restaurants or their meals were prepared by the palace chefs. But this meal meant more to him than those others.

After the meal, they set off toward the low hills beyond the fence where Justin told him there were trails to walk. They brought bear spray because Justin insisted quite adamantly. Richard agreed although he didn't know how they'd bring the canister along after they shifted into their wolves. He brought Heath's phone as well, since it was already in his jacket pocket.

They took the Springer Spaniel named Pepper along on the hike. Pepper had been Justin's constant hiking partner, but apparently, she was also a bear provocateur, hence the bear spray. When Justin told him the story of the bear encounter, it raised the hair on the back of Richard's neck. He had to bite his tongue on chastising Justin for facing off with a bear when he was carrying their child. But it had only happened because Richard hadn't been here to protect his mate.

After sex and a big meal, neither of them ended up feeling like shifting for a run. Instead, they followed the trail through barren aspen, birch, and beech trees while Pepper ran on ahead, then came sprinting back, her tail wagging madly. It was cold out, but they had heavy winter coats, and the air smelled fresh and clean. He didn't catch any hint of bear along the path, only squirrels and white-tailed deer, dogs, and a faint trace-scent of Justin. They walked side by side, holding hands.

Justin brushed a stray lock of hair back from his eyes and glanced at Richard shyly. "Even after…well, after what we did in my bed, I'm having a hard time believing you're here. That you're real."

"I'm real," Richard answered gravely.

"I know. My wolf knows it too. I guess those dreams really messed with my brain because I keep expecting to wake up." He gave a little laugh and shook his head. "I can't imagine what comes next. I try to, but my mind becomes a blank wall of panic."

"As long as we're together, we'll be all right. I promise you."

Justin squeezed his hand. "It lifts my heart to hear you say that."

"Do you…would you ever consider going back there? To Altaden?"

"Not without you. So it is out of the question."

"But you'd be a far better king than your father. You can't tell me that you don't have regrets—"

Richard stopped and turned Justin to face him, holding his shoulders and looking deep into his eyes. "Put it out of your mind, my mate. I can't return to Altaden. You would never be safe from my father, and neither would our child. Even if that were not the case, my father does not take defiance lightly. After this, he will make Gregory heir to the throne. My only path to becoming the alpha king would be to kill my father and seize the kingdom. That would make me no better than him, even if it were possible. Worse than that, you would never see me the same way again. I won't have that."

A dismayed cry escaped Justin's throat. His eyes filled with tears. "I didn't mean to make you think of killing your own father."

"I know." Richard pulled him close.

Justin clutched to him desperately. His voice was muffled by his face pressed against Richard's chest. "I feel like I only ruin things. I want to make your life better, but I only seem to make it worse."

"You're wrong. I love you, Justin. I love our unborn daughter. Stop feeling guilty and listen to what I'm saying. The two of you matter more to me than anything else in the world. You have given my life new meaning."

Justin hugged him tighter, his face still pressed against Richard's chest. Richard could feel his mate's heart beating fast. The air was cold. The trees were barren of leaves. The sun was slowly curving a low path toward the horizon. But together like this, they were warm.

Justin finally stirred to peer up at him with glistening eyes. "There's still so much to decide. I feel so overwhelmed. I mean, where will we live? I'm going to need a hospital."

"You will have a hospital, I promise you. My mate is not giving birth in the back of a car somewhere. We'll find a safe place for us no matter how far we must go."

"When you tell me those things…I believe you."

"Good." If only Richard could take all the fear, stress, and worry from his mate's shoulders and put it on his own, he would do so in a heartbeat.

"So when do we leave?" Justin asked, dropping his gaze to the frozen ground.

"Soon. Probably tomorrow. I don't want to endanger your aunt any longer than I must. I owe her much for taking you in. It's a debt I won't be able to repay for a long time."

Justin shot him a hard-to-read look. "She's my aunt. She helped raise me as a troubled teen. Of course she'd take me in. She's family."

Family… Justin spoke the word as if any fool could understand and accept the concept—as if it were that simple. Richard's heart yearned to have the same. He swore he'd make a family with that kind of love and support. With Justin, his mate, and all their children. Even if Richard lost the name Hargreave forever, things would still change with him. He would be a worthy father. That was his solemn vow and one he would never break.

"You're right," Richard finally managed to reply in a hoarse voice. "She is family."

Justin's gaze was as keen as if he'd read Richard's heart and everything carved upon it. "I wish my dad had met you. He would've loved you."

Richard leaned in and kissed Justin. It was a sweet kiss, a loving one filled with gratitude and hope.

They continued their slow walk, maintaining an easy pace for Justin's sake. Eventually, they came to a clearing and a bench carved out of a fallen log. They sat and admired the view on the downward slope while Pepper scurried around, sniffing at the base of trees or digging in the fallen leaves.

Richard put his arm around Justin. Justin laid his head on Richard's shoulder. They didn't talk. It was enough to be together.

The afternoon was fading when they made their way along the trail back to the house. They were on the last leg of the path when Heath's smartphone began to ring.

A bolt of dread shot through Richard at the sound of the ringtone chime. He pulled the phone out, his heart lurching inside him. The display showed the incoming phone number but no name and no other information.

"Who is it?" Justin had picked up on Richard's alarmed scent because he sounded wary.

"I don't know. This is Heath's phone. There's no name, only a Massachusetts number."

"Are you going to answer it?"

"I think I need to. It might be Heath or Sara." It could be spam or a scam, too, or someone calling for Heath. That had happened once already.

Justin nodded and glanced at Pepper. The dog kept scrambling down the path and then turning to sprint back to them, her tail wagging madly. Justin blew out a long breath of air, the cloud of steam billowing around his beautiful face.

"She must be hungry. I'll head back to the house before Pepper loses it." He smiled. "If it is Heath or Sara, tell them I say ‘hi' and miss them."

"I will," he solemnly replied and watched for a second as Justin continued down the sloping path. Justin looked small and delicate, swallowed by that bulky winter coat. Except for his belly, that was. It looked as if their daughter was going to be a sizable baby. He idly wondered how badly Justin would curse him in the delivery room for it, or was that a cliché?

He returned his attention to the smartphone playing its ringtone and vibrating in his hand. He hit the green button on the screen to answer the call, wondering if he was making a mistake.

"Yes?" He was wise enough not to answer with his name.

"Richard. This is Heath."

He didn't know whether to feel relieved at the sound of his friend's voice or alarmed. He decided on alarmed. Heath's few words dripped with tension.

"What's wrong?"

"Where to start? Did you reach Justin? Is he okay?"

"I got here earlier today. Justin's fine. So is my daughter."

Heath let out a sigh of relief. "A princess, eh? Looks like I lost the bet with Sara. Congratulations, my friend."

"Thank you. Now tell me what's going on."

"Listen to me carefully. Wherever you are, you need to leave. Now."

The air was cold, but that temperature was nothing compared to feeling his blood freeze in his veins with those few simple words.

"What kind of threat am I looking at here?" he demanded.

"Spymaster Mathias Irvena and three other agents are on their way to Wisconsin. I don't know how close they are. But they know about Justin, and they know about the farm."

Richard's alpha wolf pushed to the forefront of his mind, demanding he shift and get ready to rip and tear through any enemy foolish enough to threaten his mate. At the same time, he felt as though he'd just been kicked in the balls. He was supposed to have more time than this. The reporter promised he would hold back the story.

"I couldn't call until I got hold of a burner phone," Heath continued. "Sara's phone is compromised. She found out the spymaster left Altaden last night on a private flight for Green Bay. Now they're freezing her out in intelligence."

Richard fought to remain calm even though his thoughts were racing and his heart pounding. "How did they find out?"

"I'd say it started around the time Crown Prince Richard Hargreave stood up his betrothed, vanished from the palace, and all hell broke loose," Heath said. "They saw through the false trails we planted quickly enough. It's even all over the news. Mostly wrong, but the shit has definitely hit the fan, my friend."

"Damn it." He'd been counting on having more time. "How bad?"

"Bad. They immediately came after me, but I was able to stave them off when everything was still up in the air. The spymaster still put a tail on me, the bastard. Waiting for me to lead them to you. I had to ditch the tail before I could even contact you."

"You said they know about Justin and the farm. Do they know about my daughter?"

"Yeah, Richard. They know."

Again, it felt as if the cold air he was breathing spread through his entire body like a layer of frost, freezing him from the inside out. "How? Did the reporter release the story?"

"They found everything out from the reporter. But no, he didn't publish his story. From what I know, he's in prison right now, in isolation and regretting life."

He never should've trusted a reporter. Luke Brown had been brazen to the point of arrogance with all his ideals, believing he couldn't be touched and that truth would somehow protect him. The king would show him differently, and Richard couldn't help but feel sorry for the man even after all the problems he'd caused.

"When did they take him?"

"Not long after you missed meeting Prince Rainier at the airport. It all came unraveled faster than I expected. No, that's not true. I knew it was going to be a shitstorm. I was arrogant or stupid enough to believe I could buy you some time, stay at the edges, and not get burned."

"The cameras," Richard said tersely. "They saw everything on the security camera footage."

"And the gatehouse log books. And eyewitnesses. He left a trail a mile wide in fluorescent colors and stinking like a skunk. We weren't much better."

"Shit." They'd had no options, reacting on the fly as they had. He'd been willingly na?ve to hope for anything more than a brief head start.

"My feelings exactly. That bastard reporter did it to himself, but we're all paying the price. It was arrogant as hell to show up at the palace looking for you. I would've turned him away, except I was afraid he'd immediately publish what he had. We should've locked him up somewhere."

"No. That's what my father does. We're better than that."

"That's cold comfort now. Hell, Richard, I'm sorry."

"Don't start that, my friend. I don't blame you for any of this. I owe you everything."

"Especially for the car." Heath paused, and in the silence over the line, Richard could hear his own heart thudding, thudding, a dull punch inside his chest.

"So the reporter talked, and now the damage is done." Richard felt both pity and anger at Luke Brown. Richard wouldn't be back with his mate right now if the reporter hadn't come to him, but Luke's reckless behavior cost Richard any slim advantage he might've had. "We need to keep pushing forward. You need to get Sara and leave the palace—"

"Way ahead of you, Your Worship. We're in Sara's car and heading west like wolves out of Hell."

"Thank the Goddess." He actually felt a little weak with relief. Visions of the two of them locked in cells were all too easy to imagine.

"Yeah. Right now, I'm not ruling out divine intervention. I made my tail last night and didn't dare go back to the palace. I ditched the tail and was lying low, keeping my head down, while Sara put out some feelers. She found out the reporter gave Justin up, and you, me, his knowledge of the majinette plot, basically the whole enchilada. They sent agents to our place. We saw them on our security cameras—the app on her phone—but we were already hiding out across the river in Charlestown. We hightailed it after that. Cerasa's holy tits, it was close."

Guilt gnawed at him with shark teeth. He had been so focused on finding Justin and his child that he hadn't given enough thought to the sacrifices his friends had made. The car. The cash. And now, as Heath and Sara's roles became clear, they were targets of the throne. A target of Richard's father.

His anger escaped its leash, and he snarled a curse. He could picture his father in his mind's eye. That arrogant sneer. Those angry eyes. Merciless. A stranger on a throne, even though their scents held the connection of the blood in their veins.

"I'll leave with Justin right away," he said. "What will you do now?"

"Alaska. Meet us there. We cashed out our accounts before they locked them down, so we have some operating capital. We hook up in Anchorage, pool our resources, and go from there. When's the baby due?"

"Justin told me May."

"Good. That gives us some time. We meet up in Anchorage and head to Canada together. I hope you like hockey, eh?"

He grunted. "You're already throwing around Canadian clichés? Very classy, Heath."

"I'll tattoo their flag on my ass after your daughter is safely born in one of their hospitals and your father can't touch us. Listen, destroy my phone after this call. They're going to track it if they aren't already."

"How will we meet up in Anchorage? We'll have no way to contact each other."

"There's a bar called Yukon Cheechako in what passes for downtown. Go there a week from now. Hang out for happy hour. I'll meet you there. That gives me some time to make this bloody drive all the way across the continent. Stick around for a few days in case we miss each other or get delayed. After that, we'll decide on our next move."

"Is this going to work?" He asked it bluntly, not wanting a sugarcoated answer. He needed to protect Justin and their daughter. He couldn't afford another mistake. He'd made too many already.

"You mean, will your father's goons be able to track us down in another country? I don't know. Sara's the most brilliant person I know. With her connections, she might be able to get us fake papers and all of that. Or maybe her connections are burned now. I don't have the answers."

"I understand."

"Don't give up hope. Maybe you can start a new pack in Canada. Or hold court in exile. Or maybe we turn our backs on all of that forever and stay with our mates. There are worse things than being loved."

Richard smiled. "Did you ask Sara to marry you again?"

"Yeah. She said ‘maybe.'"

"That's better than no. She loves you, you dumb bastard. You two are meant to be together."

Heath grunted. "Put in a good word for me when we see you again."

"Count on it."

They both fell into a weighty silence, understanding and years of friendship binding them across the connection. He felt as if he wanted to say a thousand things, but every word lodged in his throat, choking him. They were too important to say over the phone.

Heath's voice was gruff with emotion. "Tell Justin that we're looking forward to seeing him again."

"That will make him happy."

"Good. And destroy that phone. Especially the SIM card. And only pay with cash. Stick with cheap motels. Avoid cameras. Keep your head down."

"I will."

"We've talked long enough, Your Worship," Heath said wryly. "Now get your ass in my car pronto and start putting miles on those tires. I'll see you two lovebirds in Anchorage."

"I don't know what to say." Richard's voice caught with emotion so powerful it was painful. "I can never repay you."

"Buy me a beer in Anchorage," Heath said and disconnected.

With a smile but a heavy heart, Richard disconnected the call. Then he smashed the phone into a tree until the back popped off. He pulled out the SIM card and crushed it. Now it was junk. No pinging cell towers could reveal his location. But now he had no way to contact Heath again or even call the police.

He needed to get to Justin, grab what they could, and get the hell out of here. Anchorage was a long way away, but he couldn't escape the feeling that the noose was drawing tighter. The sated happiness he'd felt after making love with Justin had evaporated into nothing. Now he only felt a grinding fear spitting sparks inside his mind, screeching a warning that he was running out of time.

Except he already had run out of time. Because as Richard started down the trail again, a rifle shot rang out. The crack was sharp and loud enough to make him flinch.

He began to run as fast as he could, nearly out of his mind with worry and praying he wasn't too late.