CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Entering his living room the next morning, Tate frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Sitting on the sofa with Bailey, Aspen briefly looked away from the TV and replied, “We wanted to talk with Havana, but we heard you two fucking like bunnies upstairs so figured we’d just wait here.”

“You couldn’t have just called?” he asked.

“That would have been lazy when she’s such a short walk away,” said Bailey. “Love your TV, by the way. It’s way bigger than mine, and the quality of the picture is ace.”

“Yep,” agreed Aspen. “We so need one of these for our movie nights.”

Bailey’s eyes widened. “Ooh, yeah, that would be cool.”

“How did you even get in here?” Tate cut in. “And why didn’t one of my enforcers stop you?” No one got inside unless he invited them in—his cats knew that.

Aspen scratched her cheek. “Yeah, I don’t think they know we’re here. And getting inside was easy—the front door was unlocked.”

His frown deepened. “No, it wasn’t.”

Bailey lifted her shoulders. “How else would we have gotten inside?”

Probably with the skills they’d learned when working for the Movement. Which his cat respected, despite the feline not being too keen on people turning up to his lair uninvited.

God, it was too early in the morning to deal with this. Tate sighed. “I need coffee.”

“There’s some in the pot,” said Bailey.

With a grunt, he headed for the kitchen. Havana descended the stairs mere moments later. She briefly spoke with her girls in the living room, but their voices were too muffled for him to make out the words.

Entering the kitchen, Havana took the mug of coffee he held out. “Thanks.”

Leaning against the counter with a cup in hand, he gently drew her closer so that she stood between his legs. And just like that, his irritation at her friends slipped away. “You’re welcome.” He sipped at his coffee. “Do you want to tell me why Aspen and Bailey are here?”

“Apparently, Dieter turned up at my apartment this morning looking for me.”

Tate felt his face harden. His cat bared a fang. “Is that so?”

“They said he looked like a kicked puppy, so I’m guessing he intended to apologize for how he acted last time he was there.”

“Maybe, but I still don’t like it.” Tate suspected the man still wanted her, which was why he’d told her guards to contact him if Dieter approached her.  “You say he’s your friend, but I don’t think he’s much of one. And yeah, I also don’t like that this guy you once cared for is still in your life—I’ll own that. But I’d set it aside if he was a good friend to you.”

Havana leaned into him. Some women got off on displays of jealousy from their men, but she wasn’t one of them. “I get it. I don’t like that Ashlynn’s around. It also isn’t easy for me to know that you’ve had flings with some of your pride mates, but none of them have tried poaching and—unlike Ashlynn—they’ve all been perfectly civil, so I don’t let it get to me. You don’t need to feel threatened by Dieter’s presence any more than I need to feel threatened by theirs or Ashlynn’s. They’re all just parts of our past. That’s it.”

“In the cases of Dieter and Ashlynn, they’re parts that are trying to intrude on our present. He doesn’t like that you now have me. And I don’t like that he doesn’t like it, because it implies that he might want you for himself.”

“He has a girlfriend. He’s serious about her.”

Tate grunted. “Not serious enough that he could be happy for you when he learned you’d found your mate.”

“Well, the girls seem to think he intended to apologize for how he behaved before.”

“Maybe he does, and maybe he’ll prove me wrong. But I don’t think so.”

She sighed. “Even if he did want me for himself, he wouldn’t do anything about it, given that I now have you.” It would be plain pointless.

“Don’t be so sure of that. There have been many cases where a shifter has found their true mate but chose to forsake them. Koby’s a perfect example. So is Bree, for that matter. Okay, so hers was a psychopath, but it still counts.”

Havana fisted his tee and pinned his gaze with her own. “I wouldn’t forsake you for Dieter or anyone else,” she assured him.

“I know that, babe. Just as you know that you and you alone will always be my choice. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be fine that you have someone in your life who might wish they could come between us.” Just then, Tate’s phone chimed to signal an incoming text message. He whipped out his phone and read it. “Luke says there’s no jaguar by the name of Lola in the local jaguar prides.”

“It doesn’t necessarily mean she’s Gideon’s kin, though, does it? Or even that she’s a loner. I mean, her family could have mated into a wolf pack or bear clan or something. It doesn’t seem likely that she herself had mated into one, considering she was—and may even still be—involved with Enrique.”

“True.” Tate took a sip of his drink. “Hopefully River can find her address. That would help.”

She blew out a breath. “I have to get to work soon. Call or text me if and when you hear from River.”

He kissed her. “Will do, babe.” He smoothed the stray strands of her hair away from her face. “I’ll miss you.”

She smiled. “Of course you will. I’m fucking brilliant.”

He chuckled. “You’re supposed to say you’ll miss me, too.”

“You already know I will.” She chugged back the rest of her coffee. “Now I need to chomp down some cereal so I’m not late for work.”

“Give me one last kiss.”

With a roll of her eyes, she did so.

He hummed and then patted her ass. “Let’s get you fed.”

Stepping out of the deli after lunch, Tate heard his cell ring. He dug it out of his pocket. The muscles in his shoulders bunched. “It’s River,” he told his brother.Tate then answered, “Tell me you have good news.”

“Wish I could,” River grumbled. “I looked into Lola. She wasfired from the casino not too long ago. She was also evicted from her apartment a week after being fired. I so far haven’t been able to locate her.”

Tate pinched his lips shut as disappointment flooded him. “Fuck.”

“I doubt she’s now living on shifter territory, considering she recently resided in a crummy apartment in a very shady area. My guess? She’s either a loner or part of Gideon’s weird family.”

“It would seem so,” said Tate, rolling back his shoulders. “Thanks, River. Let me know if you manage to find her.”

Ending the call, Tate sighed.

“I take it River didn’t have anything good to say,” hedged Luke.

“No, he didn’t.” Tate relayed the short conversation to his brother. “I was hoping Gideon would show up at Taggart’s address.” But according to the enforcers watching the house, plenty of cars had driven down the road, but none had stopped. “If Gideon or one of his minions did go looking for Taggart and Clementine, they might have decided not to bother searching the house after seeing that the Charger is gone.”

“Maybe.” Tate exhaled heavily. “I’d like to do another search of the house. I’m not optimistic that we’ll find anything that might point toward Gideon’s location, but it’s worth a shot.”

“Then let’s do it.”

Keeping his promise to Havana that he’d relay any intel he received, Tate sent her a message: Just spoke to River. No good news to report as yet. Tate gave her a brief summary of what the cat told him.

Her reply came quickly: Bummer. Was hoping I could pull out the pom poms later. Like you’ve said lots of times, Gideon can’t hide from us forever. We’re getting closer, so don’t brood. Later.

Tate snorted. Later, babe. And I don’t brood.

She sent him a message with several emojis of a face with a long nose.

Shaking his head, Tate pocketed his phone and took a swig from the soda he’d bought at the deli. He was just about to pass the bakery when the door opened, and five familiar shifters stepped out. Spotting Tate and Luke, the Phoenix Pack wolves turned to face them.

“Oh, hey, how are you guys doing?” asked Taryn, the Alpha female, holding a huge box of baked goods.

“Fine,” replied Tate. He and Luke exchanged greetings with her mate, Trey, their Beta Dante, their Head Enforcer Tao, and Trey’s grandmother, Greta.

“I heard about all the chaos surrounding your woman,” Trey said to Tate. “We’ve been doing our best to locate Gideon York, but he’s proven to be pretty elusive.”

“How’s Havana?” asked Taryn.

“Good, all things considered,” Tate replied.

Giving him a wan smile, Greta patted his arm. “You have my utmost sympathy, boy.”

Tate’s brow creased. The antisocial, maladjusted woman generally wasn’t a person who felt compassion for anyone. “I do?”

Greta rested a hand on his shoulder. “Anyone who’s been lumbered with a devil shifter for a mate deserves sympathy.”

Trey rounded on her. “Greta.”

“Well, it’s true,” the old woman insisted. “They’re a bloodthirsty lot, and they seem to live by the motto that any day is a fine day to kill.”

Tate knew that. He also liked it, as did his cat. Which was the only reason he didn’t whack his brother over the head for nodding in agreement.

Taryn sighed. “Don’t take her bitchiness personally, Tate. She can’t be nice, she sold her soul to Satan himself long ago. I’m guessing she was granted eternal life in return, because we just can’t get her to die. She has the wrinkles, the scaly skin, the fuzzy gray hair, the rickety bones, the musty old lady smell … but her heart still beats.”

Greta scowled. “Oh, you wish me gone, do you?”

“Every time I blow out my birthday candles. Now let’s get going, Bride of Beelzebub.” Taryn herded her toward an SUV that was idling at the curb.

Trey sighed. “Yeah, this is my life. See you around.”

Tate inclined his head while Luke tipped his chin.

“I am not senile!” Greta shouted at Taryn.

“But you are fucking demented. Now get in the SUV, Wrinkles.” Taryn all but shoved the woman into the vehicle. “I did not push you, I was just trying to help.”

Exchanging a smile with his brother, Tate took another drink of his soda. Taryn was crazy enough to be a pallas cat.

It was as he and Luke began their drive to Taggart’s old address that Tate heard his phone beep again. It was a message from Deke: A guy called Dieter just showed up at the center to speak privately with your mate.

Tate felt his nostrils flare. Son of a motherfucker. “We’re making a pit-stop at the center,” he told Luke, glad they were only minutes away from the building.

“Why?” asked Luke. “Everything okay with Havana?”

“Depends just what her ex has to say to her.”

“Her ex? What ex?”

“Funny story.”

Havana was in the middle of straightening out the filing cabinet in Corbin’s office when someone knocked on the already open door. She glanced over her shoulder. Her devil narrowed her eyes.

Looking like a man who’d been kicked in the gut, Dieter slowly walked in, rubbing his nape. “Havana,” he greeted softly.

She closed the metal draw of the cabinet and turned to face him. “Hi,” she said, her voice just as low.

He cast the two enforcers leaning against the wall a brief look. “Can we talk alone?” he asked her.

She studied his expression. He didn’t look as though he’d come here to mouth off again. In fact, he had his metaphorical tail tucked between his legs. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, she looked at the enforcers. “It’s okay, guys.”

Deke and Isaiah left without a word, each shooting Dieter a hard look. They didn’t close the door behind them, and she knew they’d rush in if they thought it necessary.

“Your bodyguards, I presume,” said Dieter.

She folded her arms. “Yes.”

Sighing, he made his way toward her. “You’re probably super pissed at me. I don’t blame you. I was an asshole last time we spoke. It’s just … It was a shock. All of it. The drive-by, how you almost died, that you’d found your mate.” His shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry for being an ass. You didn’t deserve it.”

Havana stared at him. He’d said all the right things and looked appropriately repentant, but there was an off note to his tone. She couldn’t help but get the feeling that this was leading up to something. Something that she wasn’t going to like.

“I heard about the second drive-by,” he said. “I also heard that Devereaux saved the day.”

She squinted at the edge to his words. “Dieter, if you’re going to act like a shithead again—”

“I’m not, I …” He trailed off with a soft curse.

“Why are you here?”

“To apologize. To check that you’re okay.”

“Apology accepted.” Well, sort of. Her devil jutted out her chin, unmoved by his apparent remorse. “And I’m good.”

He swallowed. “I’m glad. I’ve been worried about you.” Licking his lips, he took a step closer. “I need to know something,” he added, looking more serious than she’d ever seen him. “If I’d offered you more than casual sex at some point in the past, would you have agreed to try it?”

Well that came out of left field. “You never would have offered me that, Dieter. You want to be part of a flock, and no lone shifter can give you that.”

“But if I’d shoved that shit aside and asked you to try something serious, would you have done it?”

“Does it really matter? I’m with Tate now.”

His face darkened. “It matters to me. Be honest with me, please.”

She sighed. “The truth? I’d have agreed to more. I wanted more. But you didn’t. We shared a bed off-and-on for a year. You never asked for exclusivity or stuck around long. You flitted from person to person, keeping things simple and shallow.”

“Because I was a fucking idiot,” he clipped. “I was obsessed with becoming part of a flock. I lost sight of what else was important to me. You.”

A snort bubbled up. “You never made me feel important.”

“I should’ve done, because you are.”

“Things often seem much more appealing when they’re out of our reach.”

“This is not me being drawn to forbidden fucking fruit. This is me realizing how badly I messed up. This is me wanting you back.”

She almost gaped. Oh, he could not be doing this. He could not be pulling this crap. Tate had been right about him, she realized. “You never had me to begin with. You kept me dangling on a string. You’d disappear for months at a time, return to throw scraps at my table so I’d find it hard to forget you, and then you’d be gone again.”

“I didn’t keep coming back to stop you from forgetting me. I did it because I couldn’t fucking help it.” He ground his teeth. “You say the pallas cat is your mate. But you’re still not bonded to him, so how do you know it for sure?”

“I just do.”

“Or maybe you want to believe it. Maybe you’re done being alone. Maybe you want to finally settle down. I can give you that, Havana.”

Her lips parted. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“No joke, no lie, I can give you that. He doesn’t know you like I do. You and I have history. Good history.”

“Dieter—”

“No, listen to me.” He took another step closer. “I love you, all right. I love you. I should’ve said it before now. I should have gotten my act together, admitted what was most important to me, and asked you to take a chance on me, on us. I didn’t, but I’m doing it right here, right now. If you need time for me to prove to you that I mean every word, I’ll give you that time. I will. Whatever you want, Havana, I’ll give you whatever you want. I’m in this for the long haul.”

She stared at him, hurt. Once, hearing those three little words from him would have delighted her. Now, they only made her sad. Because if he truly meant them, it had taken her finding her mate for Dieter to actually realize he cared for her so deeply.

If the situation were reversed, she wouldn’t have made this declaration. She wouldn’t have messed with his head this way. She’d have had more respect for the fact that he’d found his true mate. Yet, he apparently couldn’t do any of that for her. He expected—literally expected it, she could hear it in his voice—her to drop Tate for him. “You need to go.”

Dieter frowned. “What?”

“I’m with Tate now. I have no wish to change that. I don’t want to hurt you, but I won’t lie to you. I don’t want what you want.”

“Because he’s got you convinced that you two are mates. I don’t see it, Havana. When I looked at the two of you standing side by side, I didn’t see any connection there. You believe him because you want to believe him. You want to put down some roots and settle. I get it. Like I said, I can give you that.”

“I don’t want you to.” And it was pretty much the last thing her devil wanted. “He and I are mates, Dieter. I don’t expect you to be happy for me. But I’m asking that you respect that and just drop this.”

His eyes flared. “I’d respect it if I believed it, but I don’t.”

“Lucky for me and Havana, we don’t require you to believe it.”

Tate almost snorted at how fast the eagle twirled to face him. He’d overheard plenty as he stood outside the office moments ago, and he was finding it an honest to God’s struggle not to drop-kick the son of a bitch. His cat had sliced out his claws and was now drumming them on the ground, raring to pounce.

Dieter had tried to move in on Tate’s woman. Had claimed that there was no true-mate bond. Had professed to love her and be ready to fully commit to her. Really, it was like Dieter wanted to have the shit kicked out of him.

Tate planted his feet and cocked his head. “I figured you’d make this play sooner or later. Havana’s not a woman who’s easy to let go of, is she?” Tate had learned that the hard way. He’d initially made the mistake of not instantly snapping her up, but not because he hadn’t wanted to. No, he’d held back to protect her from any hurt that his cat could potentially cause her. Dieter, though, simply hadn’t bothered to offer her more until he learned she was taken.

Dieter sneered. “If you think I’m going to cower or apologize, you’re wrong. I won’t give her up without a fight.”

“I won’t give her up period. You made this move too late. And for that, I thank you. Because I might not have her now if you’d tied her to you. But that has already occurred to you, hasn’t it? Things could be so different now if you’d just done this sooner. And that knowledge is eatingaway at you, isn’t it?” The idea gratified his cat.

“She is tied to me in her way.”

Tate almost rolled his eyes at the pathetic claim. “Can’t you just be a friend to her? Someone who’ll support and be pleased for her? Do you really not care how hard this is for her? You want her to choose between her friend and her mate. And, weird as it is, you expect her to choose you.” That Tate really didn’t get … unless Dieter had always suspected that Havana cared for him.

“She and I are more than just friends with benefits,” the eagle insisted. “Always were.”

Yep, Dieter had suspected that she cared for him. Tate’s nostrils flared. The motherfucker had known she felt something for him. He’d known that going back to her bed again and again was giving her false hope that their little arrangement could evolve into something else. More, he’d known that he was hurting her by bedding other females and seeking her out when lonely. But he’d selfishly done it all anyway.

“I know her inside and out,” Dieter went on. “I know everything there is to know about her. I know what she needs, and I’m ready to give it to her.”

“You think you deserve her? Odd. You didn’t propose a relationship until after another man entered the picture. You didn’t hesitate to sleep with other women. You didn’t appreciate what was right in front of you. Instead, you quite simply used her. Used and then tossed her aside again and again.”

“I didn’t—”

“You also had no problem committing to another woman. Then you heard that Havana had found her mate, and you realized how badly you’d messed up. But rather than accepting that you missed your chance and just wishing her well, you decided to ask her to dump her mate for you. You expect her to choose a man who didn’t appreciate how special she is, which I think is plain fucking insulting.”

“You’re not really her mate. You’ve fooled her into thinking you are, but it isn’t true.”

Tate’s cat snapped his teeth. “You truly believe that Havana is so easily manipulated? That she doesn’t know her own mind?” Unlikely. “The only person here trying to manipulate her is you. I truly can understand why you’d want her to be yours, but you can’t have her.” Tate moved toward Havana, but the eagle quickly blocked his path. Tate felt a cold smile curve his mouth. “You think you can stand between me and what’s mine?”

“She’s not your mate.”

“So you stupidly keep saying. But even if she wasn’t—which she absolutely is, I assure you—I wouldn’t let her go.”

“You can’t hold someone against their will.”

“I won’t need to. Despite what you might have told yourself, Havana’s not going to leave me for you. If you make her choose, you’ll lose her.” Which would suit Tate fine, to be honest, because Dieter had never treated her how she deserved to be treated. He’d never appreciated, treasured, or been considerate of her.

“You can see the brand on my neck,” Tate said to him. “It should tell you that she considers me hers just as much as I consider her mine. You don’t have a prayer of coming between us.”

“He’s right, Dieter,” said Havana, making the guy turn back to her. “Tate and I are mates. This little declaration of yours … you made it too late. I’m not going to leave him for you or anyone else. I wouldn’t even if he wasn’t my true mate.”

Dieter swallowed, his face falling. “You hardly know him. I’ve been part of your life a hell of a lot longer. He might think you belong to him, but notice he didn’t once say he cares about you.”

“I don’t need him to say it. I feel that he cares. I never once felt that you did.”

Dieter advanced on her, looking ready to grab her.

“That’s close enough,” Tate warned him, a growl rumbling in his chest—one that came from both him and his cat. “Step away from her.”

The eagle rounded on him, his face red. “You think I’m afraid of you?” He let out a derisive snort. “Fuck you.” Retracting his fingers like they were claws, he lunged.

Tate snapped out his fist, slamming it into Dieter’s jaw. The eagle dropped like a stone, dazed. “It didn’t have to go this way.” Tate fisted the guy’s shirt, dragged him out of the office, and dropped him at Luke’s feet. “Get rid of him.” Tate then spun on his heel and headed straight to his mate.

Havana went easily into his arms and blew out a breath. “Well that was unpleasant.”

He cupped one side of her neck. “You okay?”

“Yes. Your enforcers gave you a heads-up that he was here, huh?”

“They did. My gut told me that Dieter would make this play at some point, so I had a pretty good idea of why he’d come here. I didn’t want you dealing with it alone.”

“And you wanted to metaphorically pee on your territory.”

“You’re more than just my territory, baby. You’re my everything.” He squeezed the side of her neck. “If it turned out that we weren’t mates, you’d still be my everything.”

Her face went all soft in that way he liked. “Right back at you.”

“Good. But we are mates. We just need your devil to accept me as you do.”

“She’s more than halfway there.” Havana smoothed her hands up his chest. “I’m sorry that she’s taking her sweet time.”

“Don’t be. This is all on me. I let her down. I let you down. In doing so, I hurt you both. I don’t expect her to just forgive and forget all that—she doesn’t understand why I originally held back. She’s just looking out for you. Although it stings that she’d feel you need protecting from me, I know it’s my own fault. She’ll come around. And when she does, I can officially claim you.”

“A claim I will return.”

“Yes, you will.” He slowly took her mouth in a soft, languid kiss, loving how she strained toward him for more. He pulled back with a sigh of regret. “I’ve got to go. I have a few things to do.”

“Alpha stuff?”

“Alpha stuff. I’ll pick you up at the end of your shift.”

“Okay. See you then.”