22. Micah

Micah was smiling when he left the house. He noticed that he smiled a lot these days and it had everything to do with Lucy.

He sat in his truck for a few minutes before he went into his office.

"I may as well face the facts. I'm in love with her. Conner was right all along. Lucy is my fated mate. Tonight, I'll tell her how much she means to me and ask her to go through the mating ceremony with me after the kids are born."

A huge weight lifted off his shoulders as he said the words. It was as though speaking the truth let him suddenly let go of the conflict that had been tormenting his soul.

He had been so enamored with Angie that he thought that he would never find love after she married Noah. Now, he realized that the love he felt for her was born of friendship and knowing her practically all of his life. There hadn't been any stomach flutters, heart tugs, or chemistry that he felt with Lucy.

Micah's lighthearted mood faltered when he saw Martha's face. She looked at him, briefly closed her eyes, and shook her head.

Martha pointed to his office and said quietly, "Your father's in there, waiting on you. He is in one of his moods."

He looked at the front door and thought about leaving, letting his father stew in the office all day. However, that would leave Martha to take the brunt of Gavin's foul mood and nasty attitude. There was no way that he could do that to her.

Sucking in a huge breath of air to prepare himself for the clash.

"Where have you been?" Gavin demanded when Micah walked in.

"Taking care of my business."

"I was playing golf at the country club yesterday afternoon. George wanted to know who the woman was living in your house and why," Gavin said.

"George is free to come ask me himself if he really wants to know," Micah said. "However, the last time I checked, George does not pay my bills. What I do or who lives in my house is not his business."

"I told him that she was just hired help. He mentioned that Lucy looked pregnant and everyone was saying that the baby was yours. I told him that she was pregnant and the babies were yours," Gavin said. "A look of pure disgust came over his face."

"Not a me problem," Micah said.

"You are making a laughing stock out of yourself, and you are ruining your professional and personal reputation. If you don't make that whore move out of your house, and take her bastard children with her, you will end up losing everything that you've worked so hard for," Gavin said.

"No one, but you, cares who lives in my house with me. The people who care about me support my decision. And before you say anything else about Lucy, you should know that she's my fated mate, and I'm going to ask her to go through the mating ceremony with me. If you choose not to be a part of our lives, that's on you. As a matter of fact, we are all better off without you being in our lives."

"How dare you?" he asked. "I'm trying to help you and protect you. I'm not going to sit around and watch you ruin your life."

"I'm a thirty-five-year-old man. I built this company from the ground up without any kind of help from you. I'm quite capable of taking care of myself and my life."

"Be that as it may, I'm still your father and it's still my job to take care of you and help you with your problems," Gavin said quietly and left.

Micah called Ronnie and said, "Dad was just here. He's likely going to try to talk to Lucy again. Can you make sure that he doesn't get in the house?"

"Absolutely," Ronnie said.

Rubbing his temples, Micah tried to figure out what in the world his father might plan on doing. He'd already tried bribing Lucy. Caroline tried poisoning her. Between the two of them, they'd put the household on full alert.

His watch beeped at him. Sighing heavily, Micah grabbed his briefcase.

"Martha, I have a meeting with Peter Holmes. I'll be back as quick as I can."

Peter was a large, jovial man with a perpetual red face and no hair.

"Micah, great to see you," he said, reaching out to shake Micah's hand.

"You, too, Peter," Micah replied.

"I understand that congratulations are in order," Peter said. "Word is that you're going to be a father."

"I am," Micah said. "Lucy and I are having twins. We're pretty excited. How did you know?"

"Your father was talking about at the golf course yesterday," Peter said. "It's obvious that he's less than enthused right now, but he'll feel better about it after the babies are born."

He's never going to go near my children,Micah thought.

Plastering on a smile, he said, "I'm sure. That's the way it always works. Let's talk about that land you were looking at."

"It's been around for a while, hasn't it?" Peter asked.

"It has."

"I've heard that it was cursed by one of the Apache tribes from the area when the land was being stolen from them," Peter said. "Anyone who tried to do anything with the land would suffer."

"That's the legend," Micah said.

"Do you believe in the curse?" Peter asked.

"Well, to be honest, there have been several people who have suffered misfortunes when they've tried to build on the land. You might be able to break the curse."

Peter pursed his lips and steepled his fingers. "Do you have the environmental tests and other schematics?"

Micah pulled the paperwork out of his briefcase and pushed them to Peter.

The man rubbed his bald head and said, "I take it the reason for the price is that you've been sitting on the land for a while."

"Yep. It's priced to sell."

"I could get at least forty to eighty houses on this land and still have room for a playground, pool, and tennis court," Peter said. "I could make quite a bit."

"Yes," Micah said.

"Can I keep these reports?"

"Of course," Micah said.

"Let me think it over. I don't necessarily believe in curses and the like, but there has still been enough bad luck associated with the area to give me pause."

"Take your time."

Micah smiled as he drove back to the office. He was sure that Peter's business sense and the potential to earn a lot of money from the land would override any fears he had about the curse.

Suddenly, the satisfaction of the pending sale was overshadowed by a feeling of dread.

Micah, please help me. Micah, I need you.

He could hear the words in his mind as clearly as if she had been sitting next to him in the truck. Micah pulled a quick U-turn and headed back to the mansion, ignoring the honking cars and middle fingers thrown his way.

Micah called Lucy's phone.

"Hello. You've reached Lucy's voice message box. I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave your name and number, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

Frustrated and terrified, Micah punched the button to end the call and dialed Michelle's number.

"Hello," Michelle said.

"There's something wrong. Where's Lucy? She didn't answer her phone."

"She went to the gazebo. Let me check."

Micah heard Michelle's footsteps as she ran toward the gazebo.

"All her stuff is here, but she's gone," Michelle said frantically. "It looks like there were several people here by the creek. A single drop of blood is on the ground. It's fresh."

"On my way," Micah said.

Micah, please help me.

The haunting plea echoed in his mind again.

Micah called Conner. "There is something wrong. Lucy is missing from the house but all her stuff is there. Michelle says it looks like there were people there and she saw a spot of fresh blood. I can hear her calling for help telepathically."

"I'm on my way. I'll call Zac, Ian, who is the pack's beta, and Sean. We'll meet you at the house."

Micah's heart thundered and fear gripped his soul in an icy fist. He would be destroyed if anything happened to Lucy or the babies.

He and Michelle ran back to the area. There were actually a couple drops of blood on the ground. Conner, Zac, Ian, who was the pack's beta, and Sean ran up a minute later.

"It smells like three of them," Ian said.

"I think so, too," Zac agreed. "One of these scents, I think, is Mason Richardson. He just got out of prison for manslaughter."

"Lucy's is here," Micah said.

They followed the scents until they ended.

"They must have driven her somewhere," Sean said. "I think I know where. There is a cave that Mason likes to go to when he is drinking and drugging."

"Let's go," Zac said.

Zac, Ian, and Sean rode in Sean's truck with Micah and Conner close on their tail. They drove up an old logging road and stopped when they saw an old, rusty truck ahead of them.

"The door has primer on it and the hood is rusted. This is Mason's truck," Sean said.

The five men undressed and followed the scent to the cave. They saw the ropes that had been used to tie Lucy and the remnants of her clothes.

"She was here."

Micah, please help me.

It sounded as though the words were being screamed in his ear.

They ran down the mountain, following Lucy's scent. Soon, they could hear the sounds of wolves growling and a bear roaring in pain.

The five wolves ran as fast as they could toward the sounds. Micah's stomach clenched when he saw a bear lying on the ground, curled up. A wolf bit her back. Micah leaped at the wolf and knocked him off of the bear who lay motionless on the ground.

Micah grabbed the wolf by the back of the neck and ripped out a huge chunk. He grabbed the other wolf again and slammed him to the ground. Micah made sure that he didn't get up again.

Sean, Zac, and Ian had taken care of the other wolves, who were lying still and bleeding on the ground.

Micah shifted to human form. "Lucy. Baby, can you hear me? I'm here."

She laid still.

He searched for a pulse. "She's still alive. Let's get her back to the truck."

Micah carefully picked her up and walked back to the truck as fast as he could. They all dressed, and Micah sat in the back seat of his truck holding her while Conner drove down the mountain to the hospital as fast as he could.

"You're okay, baby. Hold on. We're going to get you help. You've got to hold on for me," Micah said, over and over again. His whole body was shaking, and he felt as though his entire body was being ripped apart.

Zac had called the hospital and the pack doctor and had him meet them there. The nurses were waiting for them with a gurney. Micah carefully put her on the gurney and watched in anguish as she was whisked away.

Micah called Vera and told her, "Three wolves have almost killed Lucy. We're at the hospital. I don't know anything." Ten minutes later, Ronnie, Michelle, Vera, Jade, and Flora flooded the waiting room, holding hands, terrified of the news that was coming.

Finally, the doctor came out. "She's barely hanging on. I don't know whether she or the babies are going to survive at this point. We'll do the best we can."

Micah's whole world shattered around him.