16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Quinn

I have to use every ounce of control to keep my claws from coming out. My bear is growling in my head, ready to kill whoever scared our mate. I shouldn't have allowed her to come upstairs, but I didn't know a cage would be drawn on the door. I didn't know how bad it would be. I never want to be the one to hold her back from doing something she needs to do. I should have. I will live with that regret just like many others.

Cash stops the car in front of my house. "Check the house," I order. He doesn't hesitate. I dial my phone again.

"What's up?" Las answers.

"The bakery was broken into," I say. "It wasn't damaged. The apartment was the target. I need everyone on this. I need everyone to work with me to catch this motherfucker," I snarl. Steph tenses, so I lower my voice, attempting to display some calm that I don't feel. "I brought Steph to my house. Cash will be here patrolling."

"Fuck," Las says, and I hear Breeane in the background.

"I am taking care of her. She is with me. She didn't handle it well, but she will be fine." I grit my teeth but force the words out. "Will you bring Breeane here?"

"Of course, we are leaving now," Las says .

"I need one of you to go to the apartment and look around for anything that could be a clue. Take in any unusual scents," I say. "Kade is waiting there."

"Lucas and Logan will do that, and I'll bring Breeane," he offers.

"Thank you." I sigh. "I need to explain my connection to Heath, and warn you: He will be involved."

"I just have one question: do you trust him?" Las asks.

"He won't do anything to hurt my mate or yours," I answer.

"Alright. I need your address."

"I'll text." I end the call and scroll to Shade's name.

"Yeah," he answers.

"Have you found anything?" I ask harshly.

"I was going to call you soon. I found the store that sold the phone. Of course, they didn't have any information on who it was, it's not something they keep track of with a packaged phone." In other words, it's a burner phone that thousands of people buy. "I am watching the feed from the store right now. I was able to pinpoint the time and date of sale." I don't ask questions about his methods.

"I need to know who it is," I say.

"Something happened?" he asks alertly.

"More messages through text," I say shortly. "A very bloody one on the wall of my building." I don't bring up the apartment.

"Mmm…" I hear the clack of his keyboard. "Escalating."

"Yes."

"Hold on," he says. I grit my teeth. "Got him."

I tighten my grip as Steph tenses. "Tell me." "It's not great quality. The only thing I can tell right now is it's a man. Average height. He's wearing a hat, jeans, and a t-shirt."

"So, about half of the world," I snarl.

"Give me time. I'll clear it up," he says .

"Fine. Call when you have more." I hang up just as Cash jogs down the stairs. He nods. "Steph, the house is safe." I quickly send the address to Las. None of them knew where I lived.

"Okay," she says in a small voice.

I open my door and kick it all the way open. With my hand palming her ass and my other one on the top of her head, I stand.

I stop at the bottom of the steps and let my bear flood my eyes. He can see better through the dark and sense anyone threatening. I slowly climb the stairs when everything is quiet, and all I can smell are the natural animals and the wet ground. I actually prefer to have Steph here in my home. I have the advantage out here. My bear is more comfortable with the area and knows it well.

It pisses me off that the circumstances are what they are, but it motivates me to catch this fucker.

I walk through the door, going directly to the couch. When I sit down, Steph doesn't move.

"Little Cub," I say. "We are in." I wait, but she doesn't respond. "Cash, wait outside. Shut and lock the door behind you," I order. When he does what I said, I try again. "Open your eyes," I say roughly.

"I'm embarrassed," she whispers into my neck.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about." I squeeze her neck. "Steph, anyone would have had the same reaction."

"You wouldn't," she says.

"I was barely holding it together," I confess, and her head pops up.

"What? Really?" She blinks rapidly.

"Really. I have a ball of rage, guilt, and insecurities sitting in my stomach," I snarl.

"Guilt?" She places her palms on my chest. "Insecurities?"

"Little Cub, all this is happening because of me. It's because of something I did. That makes me feel guilty as fuck. What if I can't protect you? What if I leave you alone for five minutes, and he finds a way to reach you? I don't want you to believe him; that I can't keep you safe." I do not like admitting any of this.

"You have done everything to keep me safe. You can't control whoever this is," she says. "This is what he is doing, not you."

"Logically, I know. It's the emotions that are fucking with me," I grimace.

"Quinn," she sighs. "You are so strong, but it's alright to feel those things, even though you are wrong."

"I'm wrong?" I lift an eyebrow, and she smiles slightly.

"Yes." Her smile grows.

"My mate would know best," I concede. I tuck her hair behind her ear. "Do you feel better?"

"I lost it. I thought I could handle it, but when I saw the drawing. . ." She shakes her head. "It brought it all back. I hate that it did."

"It's understandable. It was traumatic. It hasn't been that long ago. Whoever this is knows too much. We have to find them." As much as I want her all to myself, I need help. "Breeane will be here soon."

"I heard." She frowns.

"You aren't happy about it?"

"It's not that," she hesitates.

"Tell me."

"I don't want you to worry that I need her and not you."

"I would never think that. I know you need me, but she is your best friend. She was there through the worst time of your life. She is a comfort you need. I am determined to give you what you need." I cup her face. "You need friends. I will never keep you from them."

"Thank you. Thank you for getting me through that."

"You don't need to thank me. It was my privilege." I pull her close and kiss her softly. "After you speak to Breeane, you need to get some sleep. "

"I'm not tired," she says quickly.

"My closet is too small, baby." My mind races, hoping to find a way to make her feel safe enough to sleep in my bed.

"I don't need a closet," she denies. "I'll sleep when I'm tired."

"I need to continue searching while you are with Breeane. My home is about to be invaded," I grumble.

"I'm sorry." She drags her fingers over my beard.

I realize I am willing to have the whole fucking town in my home to keep her.

"What is he doing?" Heath asks as he walks around the corner of the house.

"Building a bed," Micah answers.

"Why?" Heath asks.

"Don't know." Micah is stretched out on the ground on his side, his head resting on his palm. When he arrived, he grabbed a beer from the fridge and followed me outside.

I left Steph inside with Breeane. I decided on a plan to make her feel at home. Las watched Micah curiously as he sat in the grass beside him.

Lucas and Logan arrived after I started my project but they haven't said much. Whatever information they have can wait until I am done.

"It's the middle of the night," Heath continues .

"And?" Micah asks.

Steph hasn't slept. Breeane got her to eat, but she refused to sleep.

"How do you know him?" Lucas asks.

"That is his story to tell," Heath says.

"Did you deliberately leave out the fact that you knew him when you had our mate taken?" Lucas asks snidely.

"Are we going to have a problem?" Heath asks.

"No problem," Logan says. "We leave it in the past. We trust Quinn."

They are pissing me off. Arguing while I took the bark off of a tree that I cut down myself while Micah drank a beer.

"You could help," I snap, glancing up toward the group.

"Could," Micah replies.

"Jesus," Heath snarls, waking over. "What do you need me to do?" Logan and his brothers look at each other; their surprise is evident. Heath notices. "What?" he barks.

"We didn't think you were the type of person to offer help," Lucas says.

"You know nothing about me," Heath says as he removes his suit jacket.

"You can't be upset," Logan says. "We met under extreme circumstances, and both of you pretended not to know each other."

Heath looks at me. "I wasn't going to say anything until Quinn gave permission." He picks up an ax. "Tell me what to do."

I take five minutes to explain what I want to be done and watch him get started before turning to the group of men scattered over my yard. Three huge lion shifters and one deadly vampire. How did I land in this place? The lions have been very calm about the man working beside me being here. If I had been in their place, I don't think I would be able to be in the same space .

"Micah and Heath are family," I start softly. The echo of the ax grinds to a halt briefly, and then Heath resumes. "We haven't been in touch for years. They were a big part of my life for twelve years. I was the one that left. I was running from the demons that lived inside of me. Did you hear what we did?" I ask.

"Vaguely," Logan answers.

"Bash isn't very good at group text," Lucas says.

I fight a grin. "Any man who killed shifters, their own kind, for years, no matter the need, would have those demons. The three of us handled the result of that in different ways." I look at each of them in turn. "We did what had to be done. Heath may use methods in the life he built that you don't agree with, some I don't agree with, but we shouldn't judge." I turn to Heath. "I did judge for too long. You are lucky they are sitting here and not fucking you up for using Breeane. You have to show them respect for their restraint." Heath nods.

"I may not contribute much to this community that started with the panthers and rapidly expanded, but I know they accept all kinds. I hope you can accept Heath. He may piss many of you off, and he may not stick around, but I would take it as a personal favor. My mate is everything that's good and lovely. She needs this place. She needs people around her that will love her. I will do whatever I have to to make that happen." I move back to the log. "I need all of us to work together to catch this fucker."

"Of course we will help," Las says.

"We've all done stupid shit," Lucas says. "I can't say much, I fought for the asshole."

"We will put it in the past," Logan says.

Heath clears his throat, looking down at the blade gripped in his hand. "Thank you."

"Are you going to tell us what kind of shifter you are?" Lucas asks .

"Don't push your luck, lion," Heath says, but a smirk forms on his lips.

"Hey, what about me? You didn't ask for anyone to accept me," Micah glares.

"You've already been accepted," I say. "Bash and Ryker would kill anyone who didn't. Plus, the dragons are fond of you, too."

"Very true," he muses.

I shake my head. I tune out the conversation and work side by side with a man I never thought would step foot in this town. I think about the last kill. The day they were late, and I took a claw to the eye. In that second, I thought maybe I deserved the loss of my vision. I remember the war cry Heath let out when he saw it. His beast burst out of his body. He very rarely shifts, afraid of the consequences. I had only seen it a handful of times before that day, and I understood his fear of being out of control.

He finished the man. He continued to attack minutes after he was already dead. I wonder if he thought it scared me, and that's why I left.

Once this is over, I need to have a long talk with him. We both have been hiding for too long.

The project is taking shape. I will have to take it in the house piece by piece. I stand back, thinking it's not perfect, but it will work.

"Your phone is going off," Micah says.

I throw down my tools and walk to the porch. I left it there, unconcerned about missing a call since Steph is here with me. As I lift it, a message flashes.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"Fucker," I growl.

"It's him?" Heath asks.

"Yes, he wants to know if I want to play a game," I snarl, replying to him and saying, "Yeah, motherfucker, let's play." I push send and wait .

"Shit," Micah says. "Have you ever replied before?"

"No."

They leave their spots and walk over. The phone is silent.

"It would be odd if it were that easy," Heath says. "He's not going to tell you where he is."

"He wants to make me suffer. He wants me without my mate. He knows I will do anything to protect her." I keep my focus on the phone. "Call Bash. If I can keep the asshole talking on the same phone, he can find his location," I say quickly to Micah.

"On it," he replies, stepping away after glancing at the number being used.

"It would be great if it did work," Heath says. "We've been going through the list. It's too extensive. We have been wading through any family members, but they are scattered. We only have a few completed."

"Who would hold a grudge for this damn long?" Logan says.

"Someone who isn't in their right mind," I mumble. My phone buzzes. "Let's play hide and seek." The guys read over my shoulder.

"Let me guess, you are the one hiding,"

"Well, I know where you are…I always know." Who the fuck is this? If they have been tracking me, they hid well. I haven't smelled any unusual scent.

"Bash is tracking now. He says it's a burner phone, so it might take some time," Micah informs us.

"It will. By then, the phone will be thrown away," I guess. "But we should have a general area," I state, typing.

"Why don't we cut the shit? You come to me."

"What's the fun in that?"

"Aren't you eager to have your revenge?"

"I like to prolong the pleasure."

"He's cocky as fuck," Lucas says .

"When should we start to play?" I ask.

"Soon…."

"How about now?" I ask but receive no response. "Fuck, I hope that was enough for Bash."

"The shifters you killed," Las starts. "They were all bad?"

"Yes," I confirm. "We did our research. They were all out of control in some way; most were killers. They killed humans or their families, or they raped and tortured. We made sure they were alone when we took them out. We didn't want unsuspecting family members in the house or in the direct area. If they did have family, they didn't know what they were doing to the innocent." I slip my phone into my pocket. He's done communication for now.

"We also had to kill shifters who were out of their mind. They went too long in this world with no family or mate. Mostly vampires," Micah says.

"Jesus, that's depressing," Lucas says.

"Yes, it was." I rub my forehead. "Imagine looking into the eyes of a shifter or vampire of your world and taking off their head. Their only crime is succumbing to loneliness and desperation to feel anything. They turn to wreaking havoc on the human world."

"Shit," Logan whispers.

"He's done playing for now. We wait for Bash." I walk back to the wood piled over the grass, Heath following me. I'm surprised that the rest of them join us.

"Let us help," Las says.

I nod.

My priority is to make my mate comfortable and safe.

Then I'll play a game.