18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Quinn

I wait until I am certain she is asleep before I attempt to move. I slowly remove my arms and ease back, sitting beside her. She doesn't stir as I place my pillow against her, hoping my scent and warmth will linger. I cover her with the blankets, tucking them around her securely.

I ease off the bed and get dressed.

I'm hoping she won't be too mad when she wakes without me, or, worse, be scared. I never want her to be scared again; that's why I have to do this.

I grab my phone and look at the messages I have heard popping up for twenty minutes.

Bash has a location.

Fucker can't run anymore.

I send texts to Micah, Heath, Bash, Kade, and Cash.

I take one last look at the bed. Even though I can't see her slight form through the wall of blankets, I can hear her steady breathing.

I shut the door, move through the house quickly, and step out on the porch. I close my eyes for a minute to relive the magic of my time with my mate. She gives me everything I want and need. Her beauty in pleasure is implanted in my brain. Her scent covers me, and it satisfies me immensely. I know I need to let it all go in order to do what I need to do. I have to lock the experience away for now and become emotionless again. My bear snarls in my head, not ready to leave our mate, but we both know we have to keep her safe. She isn't until I confront my past and kill the threat to our future.

I open my eyes when I sense Heath and Micah. I wait at the top of the stairs.

"What's going on?" Heath asks.

"Bash has a general location. The phone was left on, probably on purpose," I say.

"What are we waiting for?" Micah asks.

"I was waiting for both of you, but you aren't coming with me," I inform them.

"Why wouldn't we?" Heath narrows his eyes. "Do you not trust us after all?"

"I do trust you. That's why I'm leaving my mate in your care," I snarl. They both rock back. "I want both of you to stay here and guard my mate with your life. You two are the most powerful beings I know. I am trusting you with my life." I point to the front door. "If anything happens to her, I won't go on. She is it for me, and I can't imagine not having her. I will take Kade and Cash with me, but they will hang back. Whoever this is wants me alone. I don't want to scare them off before I can get my hands on them."

The silence is deafening. They stare at me, a million emotions working in their eyes.

"What do you want us to say when she wakes?" Micah asks.

"You tell her that I will be back soon. That everything will be fine."

"I don't think that's going to go over well," he says dryly.

"The important thing is that you don't leave her side," I stress.

"I won't," Micah promises, and then we both look at Heath.

"Heath?" I ask .

"I'm honored," he finally says. "I will protect her with my life and not leave her side," he promises harshly.

"Thank you." I nod at them and slip between them, moving quickly down the stairs. I am well aware I am leaving my mate in the hands of monsters. That is the point. They will release their beasts if anyone tries to take my mate. Sometimes, the monsters are the good guys.

I call Bash as I jog away.

"Are you on the move?" he answers.

"Yes. They aren't that far away." I enter the trees on the other side of the road from my place.

"I'm assuming they are leading you. I had plenty of time to track the phone."

"I know." My eyes scan the path in front of me.

"Are you sure you want to go alone?"

"Yes. Kade and Cash are trailing. They know not to get too close."

"I don't think he is working alone."

"He isn't. We smelled different scents in the apartment and outside."

"And you still want to go alone," he states.

"Yes. Do you have doubts about my fighting ability, vampire?"

"Yes."

"Asshole." I smile slightly.

"I will be around, just in case," he says.

"I know," I say and hang up. I turn off the ringer and send Kade and Cash a message, instructing them to hang back further. I don't smell any unknown shifters yet, but I caught their scent and I don't want them to interfere.

Bash tracked them to an area in the middle of these woods, but they could be anywhere out here so I have to be prepared for anything.

I stop and close my eyes. I let the sounds of nature around me flow through me, letting me know the natural noises. The sun is rising, but the trees are so dense it seems like it's night. I call on the mask I used when I was hunting killers, pushing away every emotion that is tied to who I left at my place. I push away any fear or insecurity. I concentrate on the need to kill the person who's fucking up my life. I merge further within, pulling on every aspect of the bear inside me, depending on his senses and vision.

He is always part of me every minute of the day, a comforting presence, protecting us with his power. Through the minutes of the day, I don't rely on him as much, but I need everything he can give me now.

In Bash's messages, he also informed me that this shifter, or shifters, has killed humans. He pieced together the path they took to get here, and there were many suspicious deaths along the way. The human police are investigating them, trying to find logical explanations for the claw and bite marks. We will have to send a vampire to clean up the mess.

They are also putting our world at risk.

This I also can't ignore.

I blink and open my eyes as I go back in time. I am a killer. I do it well.

Today will be no different.

No matter how difficult some of those kills were, the one today will not be because I have something to protect that means more to me than anything ever has. Back then, I was fighting for shifters and the world we inhabit. We are a secret. A fairytale in books and imaginations. Most humans have no idea of the monsters who walk among them, work beside them, and eat at the next table. I was protecting their piece of mind and preventing the fear that would consume them if they found out how many of us are living with them. Even though we are stronger, have magic within us, and are very hard to kill, they could hold the power in a fight between thousands.

We want to live peacefully in our world. We don't want to have to defend it, but we will if we are forced to .

I am protecting on a different level today. The world could implode, and I wouldn't care if my mate was not in it. I would light the fuse and say fuck the humans if she was taken from me.

I have seen many of my friends find their mates. I sat back and watched the lengths they would go to keep them safe and happy. I felt like an outsider watching their journey. I was happy for all of them, but it didn't affect my life.

I was comfortable alone.

I am not anymore.

I see a flash of fabric miles in front of me through the trees. I stop abruptly and put my back on a tree. I center myself and concentrate.

A lion.

The whisper of his scent is in the air. He's not close enough yet.

I hear the pads of his feet in the earth. He's not wearing shoes but is still in human form. Our scent is stronger in our shifter form. Every one of us has a signature scent. A lion smells different than a bear. All bears have the same underlying smell, but at the same time, we have a touch of something that is our own. Lions are the same as all the other shifter breeds. With just a pull from our nostrils, we know who is who.

This lion is the one who took out his anger on my mate's bedroom.

My claws emerge, digging into the bark.

He will die.

I look around the tree in his direction.

He said he wanted to play hide and seek. He is hiding. The lion wants to toy with me, and I will let him think he is.

I push away and move in his direction. I didn't bring a weapon because I didn't need one. If my claws don't kill him, my teeth tearing into his neck will, or if all of that fails, I will shift. My bear's body is big. And powerful. And determined.

I walk deeper into the dark of the forest. I haven't been this far in this area before. There are thousands of trees in every direction. I hear the tinkle of water somewhere, and the smell of it is clean and draws the wildlife to its depths. This place would normally be a haven for shifters. Humans would be turned off by the darkness that lush and dense trees cause. There would be minimal risk of running into one if you were to shift.

It is easier for me to blend in when I am in bear form, which is hard to believe because of my bulk, but bears are something that humans can explain. It is not as natural to run across a panther, lion, or especially a dragon in the woods.

Unfortunately, coyotes are typical here. Natural ones, and the shifter kind.

No one wants to be in either of their company.

I don't attempt to quiet my steps. He knows I am here. All I can do is be ready for the attack. I refuse to step lightly, hide, or seek aggressively. He has a plan. He started this game, but I will finish it. I just have to wait him out.

I drag my claws over the bark of the trees I pass, marking my trail, but it is also a sign of fearlessness. I don't fear this lion. He stepped into my world, intent on harm. He is the one who should be afraid.

Bears have been labeled as slow, lazy, and weak because of it, but they are wrong. Most shifters are quick to attack and think later. We watch, we gauge the opponent carefully, and plan our attack.

I am a mated bear, whether a bite mark has been made or not, and I am doubly dangerous.

I start to whistle as I walk and feel his anger mix in his scent.

I grin. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," I sing and hear a hiss.

So predictable .

The leaves crunch under my boots. I reach up and grab a leaf, twirling it.

"You wanted me to hide," I say, watching the rotation of the green vegetation. "Yet, you are the one running from me," I taunt.

"You have no clue what's going on," is yelled from in front of me.

"So, why don't you inform me," I say, eating up the distance between us. He stopped.

"I think I will enjoy it more if it's a surprise." I can't see him clearly, but his form is visible now.

"When is the surprise supposed to happen?" I lock onto his fidgeting body. "It is a nice day for a walk, but I'm bored." He doesn't respond. "You damaged my mate's things."

"You're lucky that's all I did to her," he snarls.

"Why?" I glare but quickly clear my expression. No emotions. I have to remind myself every minute.

"Why? Why not?"

He's pissing me off. "How do you know me?"

"I don't."

"You don't? Why are we here then?" His hair is brown and shaggy.

"I told you, it's a surprise."

"Will it be a surprise when I kill you?" My jaw clenches.

"You won't."

"You don't think so?" Fucker.

"You have other things to worry about," he says with a smile in his voice.

"Care to inform me?" I can see him now. He shifts from one foot to the other, obviously excited. He's wearing ripped, dirty jeans.

I have never seen him before.

"Did you leave your mate alone?" he asks with a tilt of his head. I restrain myself from ripping it from his body .

"You have an obsession with my mate," I say dangerously. I am finding it harder to control my emotions.

"I sent a friend to check on her," he says with relish. I stop ten feet from him.

I have a moment of panic but then I remember. "I hope you said goodbye to your friend."

He frowns. "He's going to kill her."

"He can try." He will be a snack for Heath if not for Micah. They will hardly have to lift a finger to kill him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? She's your mate. The bond controls you. Even if you don't like her, it gives you no choice but to protect her. To stay by her side." He paces furiously in front of me, his hands twitching at his sides. "You have to sever the ties abruptly to get away."

Now, it's my turn to be confused. "Why would you want to sever the ties? Are you mated?" I'm curious. I need answers before I kill him.

"No anymore. She was dragging me down." He laughs harshly.

"What the fuck," I whisper. "You left your mate?" He runs his hands through his hair and then bites on his nail.

"You don't know," he screeches. "You don't understand."

"Help me understand. Why are you here, without the mate you apparently have, fucking with me?" I'm over this.

"You'll see."

"Now I'm bored and running out of patience." I take a step, and he jerks. "What's your name?"

"Why? You don't need to know." He backs up a step to every one of mine.

"I like to know the name of the men I kill," I snarl.

"You can't kill me. They aren't here yet," he says, panicking, stumbling backward.

"Who? "

"Just wait," he says, holding his palm out. "Wait."

"When I imagined the man who ripped my mate's clothes, it was nothing like you." I look at him with disgust.

"I…" He stops, looking to his right. "Oh, thank god," he whispers.

I narrow my eyes at him and follow his gaze.

A figure is walking through the trees.

They are moving slowly but steadily.

I tilt my head, the man in front of me forgotten. I should have known he wasn't the man in charge.

This person is.

I take a breath.

What?

My body is flooded with confusion.

I shake my head rapidly, squinting.

No.

How?

Why?

I put my hand to my chest, the blow to my heart harsh in its intensity.

She's twenty feet away.

She smiles manically.

Fifteen feet away.

She brushes her hand down her dress.

Ten feet away.

This is the closest I have been to her since I was seventeen.

Five feet.

"Mom?" I rasp.