30. Bray

Chapter thirty

Bray

I get the Harley roaring and get up out onto the road with a hastily screamed message for Benny to deliver to Finn.

When I get to Shane, I skid to a stop, throw a helmet at him, and wait while he climbs up behind me. I’m not panicking. If anything, I feel strangely calm. I know exactly what I have to do.

Shane’s hands wrap around my waist, the weight on the bike shifts, and I know he’s on.

Then I let the bike fucking fly.

I’m not losing him. Locke is my omega, and I’m bonding him as soon as he says okay.

Shane’s comforting weight presses against my back. I’m not used to having someone on my side, but it’s nice. It feels right. Especially knowing it’s him. If there’s anyone I’d want with me in a fight, it would be Shane, Erin, or Finn.

We’re heading up into the mountains, and I know the road like the back of my thumb, which is good because, at the speed I’m doing, we should gain on them.

Except, after an hour, we don’t. I pull over. My confusion has morphed to worry and then to outright fear. There’s only one other reason why we might have not seen them, and it leaves me chilled down to my bones.

“Why are we stopping?” Shane shouts.

“Something’s wrong. We should have caught them. I know these roads, I’m doing dangerous speeds. Shane, we should have caught them.”

Shane hesitates. “If we make the wrong choice, we might lose him forever.”

I know it. I know it so deep it’s vibrating my very bones.

“We go back!” I say confidently.

“What do you think happened?”

I hesitate. “I think they ran off the road.”

Shane’s hand tightens painfully on my hip. “Turn around. We go back.”

I restart the bike and turn us around, heading back at a slower speed. Half an hour later, Shane taps my shoulder and points ahead of us to the left.

I pull over and turn off the bike. Shane gets off first and goes to the side of the road.

“Oh, fuck. Oh, shit. Fuck!” He screams my name, and it chills me.

“Locke!” I cry.

Before I can ask anything, he disappears down the decline. I rush to follow, but pause at the top, taking in the scene. About thirty feet down is Jason’s car.

“Locke.” The word comes out in a whispered plea.

I suddenly explode into movement, throwing myself down the hill until I get to the car. The world seems too bright, too colourful, the sounds too loud. Shane stands up from the driver’s door and before he even speaks, I know what he’s going to say.

“Jason is dead.”

“I don’t care. Where is Locke?” I ask because he’s not in the car. The door is closed, but he’s gone. “LOCKE!”

“We need Finn,” Shane says. “He knows these mountain trails. I only know the areas he mapped out. Finn is the one they call out to go rescue people who are missing. He’s trained,” Shane reminds me.

I get my phone out and slide it to him. I start wandering back and forth, checking for Locke. Maybe he fell out of the car, maybe he escaped. Maybe he crawled off into the forest. Perhaps he’s just out of sight, suffering.

But there is nothing, just an eerie silence. The forest is too thick, it all looks the same. I have no idea what I’m looking for, but I’m vaguely aware that I could be messing up any tracks and any clues to find him.

Shane starts to speak in a low voice. After several minutes, he ends the call and comes over to me. He grips my shoulders and then drags me up against him. I lift my arms and hold on to him.

“I can’t lose him. I know we talked about him leaving, but I can’t. I can’t lose him. Shane, he’s everything. I can’t say goodbye to him.”

“We won’t. He’s probably just making sure Jason can’t take him away. He will be fine,” Shane says confidently.

I tilt my head back and blink when Shane kisses me.

“I didn’t want you to see how messed up I was,” Shane whispers. “Brayson, I didn’t think I was better than you. I didn’t hate you. Nor was I jealous or envious. I was ashamed. I am a washed up author who had one big hit and moved out to the mountains to lick my wounds from my relationship that crashed and burned. It was shame, Brayson. That’s why I kept away.”

I blink up at him. The potent mix of feelings are confusing and distracting.

“I want your bond,” I spit out suddenly.

Shane blinks and dips his head so his lips are against mine when he speaks. “You can have my everything.” The words sink deep inside me, ringing with the rightness of it.

I inhale sharply.

“Now, I’ve told you the truth. There are no more lies between us, so believe me when I say he will be fine. Just breathe, and let’s go up to the road to flag down the cars.”

He holds my hand, and he doesn’t let go. My mind is a whirl of frantic thoughts and horrible memories. I remember the feeling of not being able to find my mother. The realisation she had left me alone, abandoned me, like I was trash.

“Shane?”

“I’m not leaving you, Bray. Never again.”

His words steady me in a way nothing will.

Together, we stand on the side of the road and wait.