16. Shane

Liam fidgeted with his hair,rolled and unrolled his shirt sleeves, and tugged at them in an attempt to smooth out the stubborn creases. Despite his efforts over the past hour, the creases remained stubbornly obvious.

I walked over and gently took his arm, folding his shirt sleeves back up to his elbows. He simply stared down, blinking, his mind seemingly elsewhere. After finishing both sleeves, I cupped his face gently.

"Hey," I said softly. Finally, his eyes focused and returned to me. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

After a long pause, he replied, "No. But I think I have to."

"Alright." Leaning down, I gave his temple a reassuring kiss.

We had already discussed this yesterday, and the day before that. Liam always gave the same unsure answer, but I could see the determination in his eyes.

He wanted to do this, not for his family, but for himself, for us. Who was I to stop him when I would do the same?

I held his wrist and rubbed circles on it, feeling his pulse, which seemed to calm him down a bit. It helped me relax a little, too.

I was nervous myself, but for a completely different reason. I didn't trust this Pierce guy, particularly the idea of Liam being alone with him.

I couldn't shake the image of him from that day at the book fair, lurking behind a building and staring at Liam through a camera.

I regretted not smashing that camera against the wall. Or the sidewalk. But it seemed like he had gotten the message since then, and we hadn't seen him since.

Either way, Liam was right. If he wanted to do this, we might as well get it over and done with.

Not just to placate his family. I didn't want our relationship to serve as a facade for the idea that mages and shifters can effortlessly work together, like his family wanted.

I didn't want us to be just a bodyguard and their client anymore. I wanted us to be... just us.

No more charades. I wanted the world to know that he was mine and I was his.

"Shall we go?" I asked, offering Liam a supportive smile.

We arrived at the Moonglow Inn, the designated location for the interview. While I had heard of the place before, I had never set foot inside.

It was situated on the outskirts of town and was more of a bed and breakfast really. It was one of those quaint establishments with activities like birdwatching in the morning, scone making in the afternoon, and stargazing sessions in the evening.

Definitely not the kind of place where people with motorbikes usually went.

It was no wonder the valet up front just stared at my bike keys dumbfoundedly when I handed them to him.

"Don't you dare put a scratch on her," I warned. Liam gave me a disapproving nudge, though a faint smile played on his lips.

Looking around the lobby, I silently thanked Liam for stopping me from wearing my leather jacket.

Amidst the soft piano music and the chatter of elderly ladies enjoying tea in the corner, as well as the families gathered around a park ranger looking ready to go on a guided nature walk, I realized I would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

"We"re here for Pierce. Tom Pierce," Liam informed the receptionist, who nodded and promptly dialed a number.

After a brief conversation, the clerk looked between me and Liam and replied, "Two guests." He repeated a few "I understands" and eventually put down the phone, taking a deep breath before finally addressing Liam.

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Pierce is only expecting one guest," the clerk said, intentionally avoiding my gaze. I knew this would happen.

It basically meant Pierce only wanted Liam to come up, not me—the guy who almost choked him, a shifter who could rip out his throat if he tried anything funny.

I felt angry and annoyed, but I kept it in check. Liam was nervous enough as it is, but there was no way I would leave him alone with that guy.

Before I could even say anything, Liam spoke up in a tone I'd never heard him use before.

"Please inform Mr. Pierce that he never stipulated that I must come alone. We already agreed to meet at a place of his choosing. If he would like, he can come down and do the interview at the inn's restaurant instead." His voice was calm yet commanding, as he maintained unwavering eye contact with the receptionist.

The receptionist audibly gulped then made another call, his fingers trembling slightly as he repeated what Liam had said.

I leaned down and whispered in Liam's ear, "You were so hot just now."

Liam's ears turned slightly red. I wanted to move even closer, but he nudged me away with his elbow. "Stop that," he said softly.

I sneaked my arm around his waist, and he turned to me, breaking into a small smile. Speaking in a soft voice that only I could hear, he said, "Later."

I chuckled and let him go, leaning back against the counter as he composed himself, putting on his no-nonsense demeanor with the receptionist again.

There was a long pause before the receptionist finally put down the phone and provided us with directions. "Mr. Pierce is expecting you. He is staying in Cottage Number 5. You can follow the signs from the garden."

We followed the path as directed by the receptionist, eventually arriving at a row of small cottages.

They were clearly the higher-end lodgings the inn had, which made me wonder what kind of place Pierce was working for to be able to afford staying here for weeks.

We stopped at the cottage at the end, and I raised my hand to the old-fashioned door knocker. I looked at Liam for confirmation, who nodded, before I rapped on the door.

The door creaked open just a fraction, revealing Pierce peering out at us. "He can't be here," he stated, nodding towards me.

Maybe I slammed his head too hard against the wall when I saw him at the book fair, knocking something loose in there. Because he was crazy if he thought I would ever leave Liam alone with him.

Plus, if he was any good at his job as a writer or paparazzi for some gossip magazine, he would've already known I was hired as Liam's bodyguard.

I put my palm on the door and started to push it in, but Pierce quickly yanked it back and held up a handful of papers in front of us.

Liam grabbed the it before I could, and I looked over his shoulder to read it with him.

"You put a restraining order against me?" I exclaimed, incredulous.

Pierce crossed his arms. "That's right!"

I looked at him closely and noticed he had something thick wrapped around his neck. It looked like some sort of foam or bunched cotton taped together. Was that supposed to be a neck brace?

I let out a low growl, taking delight when he took a step back.

Liam held my arm to stop me from entering the room. "Shane, it"s okay. You can just wait over there," he said, pointing to a bench by the small garden at the center of the cottages.

"No! He has to be at least 100 feet away from me. Go home or something," Pierce exclaimed, placing a hand on his makeshift neck brace, obviously for dramatic effect. Liam merely rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you wait at the restaurant we saw in the lobby?" Liam suggested to me, clearly trying to diffuse the tension. "This shouldn't take more than half an hour," he added pointedly before heading into Pierce"s room.

I knew what he meant: I could return in 30 minutes, expecting Liam to be finished. Or if, for some reason, he wasn't out of Pierce's cottage by then, I was free to break into the room.

But for now, the only thing I could do was wait. I glanced at my watch and began counting down from 30 minutes, then made my way to the restaurant.

As I stared intently at my watch, each tick felt like an eternity. During these past 27 minutes, I tried to distract myself from thoughts of Liam, but the nagging worry for his safety persisted in my mind.

Many times, I just wanted to run back to the cottage and barge in.

But my mate had told me to stay and wait; the last thing I wanted was to be escorted away by security and kicked off the hotel property.

So, I waited. But these last few minutes felt like they stretched on forever.

3, 2, 1.

I stood up so quickly that I hit the table with a loud thud, nearly toppling my coffee. A couple of eyes turned to look at me, but I didn't bother apologizing.

I quickly left the restaurant, making my way back to the path leading to the cottages, aiming to attract as little attention as possible.

Arriving at Pierce's cottage door, I checked my watch again. It had been exactly 30 minutes.

I rang the doorbell, but there was no answer. Frowning, I knocked loudly, but there was still nothing.

I put my ear to the door but couldn"t hear anything. Panic surged through me, and I tried to steady my nerves.

I tried calling Liam's number while banging on the door, but it just kept ringing.

If Liam was still inside, I should be able to hear his phone ring, but there was no sound. I couldn't feel Liam's presence either.

I started ramming the door with my shoulder. After a few more tries, it finally gave way.

Scanning the room, I saw signs of a struggle, but Liam and Pierce were nowhere to be seen.

I closed my eyes. "Think, Shane. Think," I muttered to myself.

My eyes snapped open, and I sprinted as fast as I could to the valet. I handed him my ticket, practically growling at him to get my bike as quickly as possible.

I opened the tracking app on my phone, the same one I had installed on Liam's phone weeks earlier.

Thank goodness I hadn't removed it, and to my relief, I saw that the small icon indicating Liam's phone was moving.

I watched Liam"s icon depart from Fox Haven and head toward the next town over.

Cursing under my breath, I barely noticed the trembling hand that handed me my bike keys. I snatched them up and quickly entered the GPS coordinates to track Liam's signal.

A million thoughts raced through my mind, but right at the top was how stupid I was to leave Liam out of my sight, how I didn't trust my gut instinct not to leave them alone together.

I gripped the bike handles tight. No, I shouldn"t think like this. Not now. I had to get my head straight and get to my mate as soon as possible.

As a precaution, I shot a quick text to Owen, letting him know what happened. His reply came quickly: "Do what you need to."

Owen"s permission didn"t matter much, but it was good to know that my lead alpha had my back in whatever I decided to do to Pierce once I find him.

And Liam... My jaw tensed at the thought of him being hurt. Or worse.

I glanced at the screen again, at the blinking icon indicating Liam's movement.

It felt like his heartbeat—a reassuring sign that he was still alive. With renewed determination, I twisted the throttle, urging my bike to go faster.