CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER TEN

Tossing a mini pretzel into his mouth a few days later, Alex glanced at the wall clock. It was ten minutes before the store was due to close. There was only one customer left who was taking his sweet time, much to the annoyance of Bree and Elle, who’d joined forces to hurry him along.

Alex exchanged a frustrated glance with Greg and then took another long look out of the store window. He’d escorted Bree to and from work every day since the Frasier Banks incident.

The good news: There’d been no further trouble.

The bad news: There’d also been no success in Vinnie’s plan to track down the hyenas and deal with them personally. It quickly became apparent that there was little information out there on Dale Bray and his clan.

Some of Vinnie’s sources had given him “tips” on where their underground territory might be. Alex had accompanied the Alpha to check out each of those tips, but none had amounted to anything.

Alex knew it was grating on Bree that Vinnie turned down her request to join them on scouting potential locations for the hyena’s base; knew it was hard for her to stand back and watch others deal with the matter. But the Alpha was right—it was best that she stayed close to their pride mates. Why make it easy for the hyenas to grab her?

Nodding along to whatever the customer was saying, Bree nibbled on her lower lip. And Alex remembered how it felt to suckle on that lip. Remembered how it felt to let it slide between his teeth. Remembered how he’d bitten it hard enough to mark the previous night. The imprint of his teeth was gone now, but he could fix that later. Biting his woman had fast become one of his favorite things to do.

“You gonna keep on staring at her while you pretend to listen to me?” asked Greg.

Alex gave him a hard look and ate another pretzel.

“I heard that Mateo approached her in the deli last week and tried to talk to her. Heard she made it clear she had no wish to talk to him.”

Bree had told Alex all about it, though she hadn’t yet told him what the little bastard did that caused the rift between them. Alex could only conclude that Mateo had said something extremely hurtful to her in anger after she rejected him.

“It’s sad to see them so at odds with each other,” said Greg. “He’s probably heard that you and Bree are now together. He’ll be hurting, but he’ll be happy for you once he’s come to terms with it—Mateo’s a good guy. Have the Cages been a problem?”

Alex dipped his hand back into the bag of pretzels. “I thought they would be, but none of them have contacted me or Bree since it became common knowledge that we’re together.”

Just then, his mother came to stand in front of him, looking as elegant and imperious as always. “Why you scowl?” Valentina’s voice was low but all demand. “You have had that look on your face for days.”

Alex rolled back his shoulders. “I’ve got things on my mind.”

“Then you should go somewhere else to brood. You scare off customers.”

He felt his brows snap together. “I don’t brood.”

She rolled her eyes. “All dominant male shifters brood—they just like to pretend they don’t. You, my son, are champion brooder.”

“I’m just uneasy.” He ate his last pretzel and then scrunched up the small bag. “The hyenas want Bree badly, and they’re not going to drop it.”

Valentina sighed. “This I know. I also know you will protect her. Which is good, because Vinnie is useless.”

Alex let out a heavy breath. His uncle could demonstrate the ability to walk on water and Valentina would still call him useless purely because he didn’t work at her pace. “It isn’t his fault that we can’t find the hyenas—you know that.”

Catching movement in his peripheral vision, Alex looked to see the human push away from the counter. Fucking finally. Once the guy left, everyone readied the store to be locked up and grabbed their personal things from their lockers.

Back on the showroom floor, Alex lifted a brow at Bree. “Ready?”

“Yep.” Her brow furrowed. “You didn’t save me any pretzels?”

“You can have some when you get home. You had more than one bag when I looked earlier.”

Her frown deepened. “I have pretzels? Where?”

“The kitchen cupboard.”

“Which cupboard?”

With a hand splayed on her lower back, Alex ushered her out of the store. “The white one.”

“They’re all white.”

He stayed at her side as they walked, protecting her from being jostled by pedestrians. One of Mila’s pack mates stepped out of the coffee shop up ahead of them, muttering at a glowering male who followed her out of the shop. His jeans were badly stained with what looked like coffee.

Spotting Bree and Alex, the she-wolf grinned and said, “Hi, guys, how are you?”

“I’m good,” Bree replied. “You?”

Makenna waved a hand. “Oh, we’re fine.”

Alex exchanged a nod with the wolf enforcer, Ryan. The guy took the “strong and silent” type to a whole new level and mostly communicated in grunts that his mate was convinced she could translate into actual words.

“What happened?” asked Bree, looking at the coffee stains on Ryan’s jeans.

“It was his own stupid fault,” said Makenna. “I warned him this morning that it was bad luck to put new shoes on a table, but he went and did it anyway. Then he’s all surprised when he finds himself covered in scorching hot coffee.”

Grinding his teeth, Ryan turned to his mate. “If that woman in there hadn’t bumped into me, it wouldn’t have happened. This was a result of clumsiness, not bad luck.”

Makenna put her hands on her hips. “And what about the puddle you stepped ankle-deep into earlier? Or how about the fact that you broke your brand-new pair of shades? And then there’s the little matter that you lost forty dollars somewhere. Dude, hello, are you not seeing the correlations here?”

Ryan’s eyes flared. “It’s all coincidence.”

“There are no coincidences,” Makenna said in a mysterious voice.

Honestly, Ryan looked like he might explode. But then he just grunted.

Makenna gasped. “Oh, is that so?” She gave a haughty sniff and then turned back to Bree and Alex. “We sadly can’t stick around and chat. White Fang needs to get out of those jeans. I’ll hopefully talk to you both again soon. Bye!”

“Take care,” said Bree, giving the couple a brief wave.

Alex put a hand on her back and once more herded her toward the cul-de-sac.

“You could have at least said ‘see you later’ or something,” Bree told him.

Alex only shrugged.

“It wouldn’t kill you to say hi and bye to people, you know.”

“I know.”

She just sighed.

Finally, they reached the cul-de-sac. When they stepped inside her house, he closed the door behind them. She headed for the kitchen, announcing that she needed coffee. And then … he really didn’t know what happened. But it was as if an invisible force slammed into her and knocked the breath from her lungs, because her body came to an abrupt halt and her knees buckled.

He quickly grabbed her by the waist, worried she’d fall. And then he saw it. A pile of gold necklaces littered the kitchen countertop, gleaming under the sunlight that streamed through the window.

Tension zipped through his body and tightened every muscle. The jewelry hadn’t been there when they left the house that morning. Which meant someone had broken into her fucking home. Someone had managed to sneak past the enforcers guarding her house and—for some unknown goddamn reason—dump necklaces on her counter.

Even as his protective instincts beat at him to get her outside so he could search the house, he dragged every surrounding scent into his system. Coffee. Foods. Cleaner. Herbs and flowers filtering in through the open window—a window she hadn’t left open.

He smelled something else, too. Smelled someone. A person who carried the scent of bitter apples, thick smoked wood, and black pepper.

“Calvin.” Alex bit out a curse, his blood boiling. The male cat’s scent was faint, but there. “Does the dumb prick think that breaking into your house and leaving you a mound of jewelry is some kind of courting ritual?”

He turned Bree to face him, intending to tell her to go to the porch while he took a look around, but then he froze. She was white as a damn sheet, and her eyes were glazed over. They were as lifeless as those of a doll.

His scalp prickling, he palmed her face and stroked his thumb over her cheekbone. “Don’t worry, baby girl, he’ll be dealt with. I need you to go sit on the porch while I search the rest of the house and make sure he’s gone.”

She blinked, and then the vacant look left her eyes. Now they glittered with something dark and unforgiving. Straightening her spine, she stepped back. “You check upstairs. I’ll check down here.”

He stiffened. “Bree—”

She ignored him and immediately started to search. Not wanting to leave her on her own, he worked with her as they checked first downstairs then upstairs. Calvin was nowhere to be found.

Alex fished his phone out of his pocket and called Luke. “Send your enforcers to pick up Calvin. He broke into Bree’s house and left her what I guess you could call gifts; he knows that shit isn’t done. Call me when you’ve got him, because I intend to have a little talk with him.”

He rang off before the Head Enforcer had the chance to respond. Alex followed Bree as she returned to the kitchen.

Standing in front of the counter, she stared down at the jewelry, her gaze clouded. “I don’t know why he’s playing these games,” she said, talking to herself … as if she’d tuned him out.

Alex frowned. “Games? He’s done this before?”

“I thought it was Bernadette. She seemed the likeliest person to do it.”

His hackles rising all over again, he sidled up to her. “Do what?”

“He obviously couldn’t find the necklace after I threw it away, so he just … bought these.”

Alex growled. “Baby girl, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Tell me what’s been going on.”

The dark note of authority in his voice reached Bree, dragging her out of her thoughts. Absentmindedly, she stroked her throat, going back to that moment when she’d first walked into the kitchen and saw the necklaces. Shock had slammed into her like a freight train, blanking her thoughts. She hadn’t been able to make sense of what she was looking at. It was as if a fog had clouded her mind and made her see the world through a haze.

Then she’d snapped out of it, and only one thought had rung through her brain—she had to find the bastard who’d done this. Calvin.

Although the shock had worn off and she could think clearly, she felt cold all over. She just couldn’t understand why Calvin would do this.

Bree lifted one of the chains. “After Paxton left, Bernadette gave me a necklace just like this. She said it was a gift from him; that he had the other half of the heart. But she lied. She had it all along.”

“She thought it would comfort you to think he’d given you a gift?”

Bree nodded. “Shortly after I told the Cages that I didn’t want a future with Paxton, one of these was posted through my door in a blank envelope. I figured she was returning her half, letting me know it had never been a gift from him at all.” She licked her lips. “I binned it. But someone dug it out of the trash and left it on the windowsill the night I was out cold from the tranqs. I dumped it in the wishing well in my backyard. And now … this.”

“What you’re telling me is,” he began, his voice quiet yet loaded with anger, “it’s possible that at least one of the Cages have been playing mind games with you … and you only thought to tell me this now?”

She tossed him a frown. “Don’t make this about you, Alex. Be mad if you want but go be mad somewhere else if you’re not going to actually help me work out what in God’s name is happening here.”

Seconds of silence went by, winding her tighter. “All right,” he gritted out. “We’ll table that discussion for later. Now, tell me what you did with the necklace that Bernadette gave you when you were a kid.”

“I dropped it down a street grid the very same day she gave it to me.” Bree rubbed at her eyebrow. “I don’t know why Calvin would do this. Unless he’s pissed that I’m with you and this is his way of reminding me I have a mate. But that doesn’t make sense, because this started before you and I got together.” She looked around the kitchen, as if there’d be something there to give her answers. There wasn’t. She turned to Alex; his expression was as unreadable as always. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that, considering Calvin wants you for himself, it’s odd that he’d do something that would hurt or scare you. Maybe he’s as messed up as his twin in his own special way; maybe this was him making sure you got the message that he’s taking his brother’s place.” He licked over his front teeth. “Or maybe we shouldn’t be looking at Calvin.”

She frowned. “I can smell him.”

“Or … you can smell Paxton. They share the same scent, Bree. You know that.”

A shard of pain dug into her chest. “He’s dead.”

“Pains me to say it, Bree, but we don’t know that. Not for sure.” He flicked a glance at the necklaces. “This could be him screaming to you loud and clear that he’s here. Though I don’t see why he’d linger in the background.”

“It’s not him. He has no reason to come back.”

“Yes, he does. You. You’re the only thing that matters to him.”

“No one ever mattered to Paxton. He was not a normal person. Oh, he was ‘nice.’ Ran errands for his mom. Supported and advised others. Was always quick to offer a helping hand. He acted good, but it was a front. He earned people’s trust so that they’d never suspect what lurked beneath the surface. Never suspect he was a pathological liar who got a twisted kick out of hurting people.”

“He was fucked up, yeah, but he wouldn’t have hurt you.”

Bree closed her hand around the necklace. “He came to see me the day before he left. He told me that if he had any sense, he’d kill me right then.”

Alex almost rocked back on his heels. “He talked about killing you? He said that?” A growl vibrated his chest. “He couldn’t have meant it.”

“He meant it. He didn’t look at me and see his true mate. I don’t think he even saw a person. He saw a weakness. And he wanted rid of it. But he decided against killing me. He left instead.”

A curse flew out of Alex’s mouth. “You should have told me.” The phone in his pocket beeped. He pulled it out and tapped on the screen with his thumbs. Pocketing the cell, he said, “That was a text message from Luke. He picked Calvin up from his apartment and now has him in Vinnie’s spare bedroom.”

“Good. I’d like to talk to him.”

“Bree—”

“It wasn’t a request, Alex. Don’t push me right now.”

“You’re better off staying here. I’ll call Elle and ask her to come sit with you.”

Bree sighed and joined her hands together. “Okay, we need to make it clear right now how you should act when you feel like dishing out orders to me. Step one: Hesitate before you decide to throw your metaphorical dick around. Step two: Hesitate again, reminding yourself just how useless it would be to exert authority over me. Step three: repeat the first two steps at least once. If all else fails, go play Russian Roulette with a fully loaded pistol, because it’ll save me the trouble of shooting you in the face.”

Moments ticked by as Alex simply stared at her, never once blinking. Then a heavy breath left him. “Fine, we’ll go together. But here’s what you need to understand. If he did this, he’s not going to admit it. He’s going to lie his ass off. And his best way of pleading innocence? Blaming it on the person who shares his scent.

“He’ll spread that shit around so that people will believe it wasn’t him. Everyone will be whispering about how Paxton’s back, which is gonna send his parents into a tailspin. In other words, this is going to be a massive clusterfuck. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to sit this part out while you brace yourself for what’s to come.”

She folded her arms, giving him a blank look. “Yeah, I’m still going.”

He gave her a tight nod. “All right. We’ll go question Calvin. But, baby girl, you need to face that—shit as it is—Paxton could be back.” He squeezed the side of her neck. “I won’t let him hurt you. Tell me you know that.”

“I know that,” she said. “I won’t let him hurt me either.”

His eyes gleamed with what could have been approval. “No, you won’t,” he agreed.

Walking into Vinnie’s living room, Alex tipped his chin at his uncle, who greeted both him and Bree with a curt nod of the head. Vinnie wasn’t wearing his usual charming smile designed to put people at ease. He was all ruthless Alpha in that moment. Alex’s beast approved, because something needed to be done about this shit.

“Calvin’s inside the spare bedroom with Luke,” said Vinnie, getting right down to the matter.

“Has anyone questioned him?” asked Alex.

“Not yet.” Vinnie folded his arms. “Maybe you could tell me exactly what’s going on.”

Bree unclenched her fist, showing the Alpha the necklace. “Bernadette once gave me a necklace just like this …”

Alex remained quiet as she told Vinnie the whole story, not trusting that the Alpha wouldn’t berate her for keeping all this to herself. Yeah, okay, he got that there wasn’t much going on at first; that it just seemed like Bernadette was being a bitch. But still, he didn’t like that he was only learning of it now.

Taking the necklace, Vinnie examined it. “And you think Calvin’s behind the recent activity?”

“His scent was in my kitchen just now,” she pointed out. “And he was at my house the night before I noticed the necklace had mysteriously found its way to the windowsill.”

“You don’t think it could have been Paxton?” Vinnie asked, his tone careful. “You don’t think that’s a remote possibility?”

Her mouth tightened for a moment. “I’ll accept that it’s something to consider. But it doesn’t add up. I mean, what reason could Paxton possibly have for hiding in the shadows?”

“He’d know I wouldn’t allow him to return to the pride after all he’s done since leaving; he’d know I’d officially banish him and that, as such, our pride mates would always be on the lookout for him. Coming out into the open wouldn’t be to his benefit. I’m not saying this is the situation. I’m just saying it’s a theory we should consider.”

“All right. Let’s say that your theory is right. Why would he suddenly make his presence known?”

“You publicly renounced your claim on him,” Alex cut in. “I doubt he’d have liked that, whether he wanted you for himself or not. Now it’s clear you’re with me, which he also wouldn’t like. And as Moira said, Paxton never shared well. Maybe he wants you to at least consider that he’s alive so that you’re too scared to be with another male.”

She shook her head. “I told you earlier, he cares nothing for me. He’d see me dead if he could.”

“See you dead?” echoed Vinnie, frowning. “I doubt that’s likely.”

Alex tipped his chin toward his uncle and said, “Tell him, Bree. He needs to know.”

Her shoulders drooping a little, she repeated what Paxton had said to her before he left.

His face reddening, Vinnie cursed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

She shrugged. “I was just happy that he was gone. Now can we move onto the whole questioning Calvin thing?”

“Yeah, I’d say it’s time to get some answers.” Alex held his hand out to Vinnie, who placed the necklace on his palm. “Which one of us is leading the interrogation?” Alex always did the main bulk of interrogating, but Vinnie liked to play the part of sort-of-good-cop.

“I’ll set the tone and get him talking,” said Vinnie. “Then you take over. But no beating answers out of him. Not when there’s a chance this wasn’t him—we can’t even think of a rational reason why Calvin would have done this. He’s a good guy.”

Bree rolled back her shoulders. “I want to be there.”

“It’s best if you stay here with Tate at first. Alex and I will be asking Calvin questions he won’t feel comfortable answering in front of you.”

She ground her teeth. “One touch from me and—”

“It’s unlikely that he’ll consent to you reading his emotions,” said Vinnie. “If I thought he was guilty, I’d tell you to do it against his will, but we both know you wouldn’t—it’s not who you are. If he doesn’t answer my questions to my satisfaction, I’ll call you in and have you talk to him.”

Bree exhaled heavily. “All right.”

Alex gave her nape a squeeze and then followed Vinnie through the apartment and into a small, sparse bedroom. Leaning against the wall, Luke stared at the furious-looking male cat who sat on a wooden chair.

Alex’s inner beast growled as it picked up the same scent it had found in Bree’s kitchen. The animal was still raging. Alex suspected his beast wouldn’t calm down any time soon.

Calvin’s hard eyes darted from Vinnie to Alex. “I really hope someone’s going to tell me what this is about. Luke hauled me in here but won’t say why.” He went to stand, but Vinnie waved a hand, gesturing for him to stay put.

The Alpha took the seat opposite Calvin, which was the only other chair in the room. “I can understand your frustration.” Vinnie stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed them at the ankles. “But there’s been a bit of confusion, and we feel there’s a good chance you can clear it all up for us.” He cocked his head. “I’m curious. Just how long have you had a thing for your brother’s true mate?”

The male’s eyes flickered, but he didn’t respond.

Vinnie lifted a brow. “You do want her, don’t you? I doubt that will wash down well with your mother—she’s holding onto the hope that Paxton will come back for Bree. How do you think he’d feel about your wish to have her for yourself?”

“What does that matter? She’s with Alex now anyway. And it’s not like Paxton’s ever coming back.”

“You sound very sure of that.”

Calvin sighed. “It’s been twelve years of no contact from him. I think it’s pretty obvious at this point that he’s not coming home. If you want my opinion, he’s dead.”

“Dead?”

“No one’s heard anything of him for four years now. That says it all.”

Vinnie twisted his mouth. “I can’t help but notice that you don’t sound particularly upset that your brother could be dead.”

Calvin shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve had a long time to get used to the idea, that’s all.”

“Did he ever contact you at any point since leaving the pride?”

“No. Nor did he contact anyone from my family.”

“You’re sure of that?”

“Yes. There’s no reason for them to keep it a secret—especially from me. They’d have been too excited to keep it to themselves. Look, what is this all about? Why are you so interested in a guy who’s dead? And why am I here?”

Alex stepped toward him, liking the sound of the male’s heartbeat kicking up. “You sound certain that he’s no longer of this world.”

Something close to bitterness flashed in Calvin’s eyes as he glared at Alex. “Call it a twin’s instinct.”

“What, you believe you felt it when he died?” asked Alex, letting derision color his tone.

Calvin’s lips thinned. “No. I just don’t feel him anymore.”

“I see.” Alex dangled the necklace in front of him. “Recognize this?”

Calvin’s expression didn’t alter in the slightest. “Should I?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Calvin’s jaw hardened. “No, I don’t recognize it.”

“It’s a replica of a necklace that Paxton supposedly gifted to Bree. Well, your mother claimed it was a gift from him. Bree believes Bernadette gave it to her to comfort her after he first left. Your mother claimed that Paxton possessed the other half of the pendant, but Bree thinks Bernadette kept it.”

“Sounds like something my mother would do.”

“Bree tossed her half away years ago. The other half recently made a reappearance. Someone hand-posted it to her. She dumped it in the trash can. But it reappeared again. So, once more, she threw it away. Then she came home today to find a pile of these on her kitchen counter.” Alex swung the necklace slightly from side to side. “How did you sneak past her guards?”

Calvin’s eyes bulged. “You think I did it?”

“Was it the first time you broke into her house? You get off on that shit?”

“Wait a goddamn minute, I have never broken into her home. And I certainly wouldn’t leave necklaces for her to find. I mean, seriously, what possible reason could I have to do that?”

“You tell us,” said Alex, stepping closer to him. “Even better, tell us why your scent was in her kitchen just now.”

Calvin shot to his feet. “I had nothing to do with this!”

“Sit down,” Alex snapped.

Calvin reluctantly obeyed. “I’m telling you, I did not do this. Hell, I didn’t even leave my apartment today.”

“Is there anyone who can corroborate that?”

“No, I was alone.” Calvin looked at his Alpha. “I swear to God, Vinnie, I didn’t do any of this. I wouldn’t.”

“Then why was your scent in her kitchen?” Alex challenged.

“I don’t know! It wasn’t me! It …” Calvin trailed off, and his face went slack. “Paxton. He has the same scent.”

“You said he’s dead.”

Calvin licked his lips. “Well, obviously I can’t be sure he’s dead.”

“You sounded sure. You said you couldn’t feel him anymore. A twin’s instinct, right?”

“Well, unless you can think of another reason why the scent that he and I share was in Bree’s house earlier, it had to be him because it was not me. I wouldn’t do anything to upset Bree. I care about her.”

As his beast lunged for the male and swiped out a paw, wanting to knock the cat off his chair, Alex leaned over and put himself eye-level with Calvin. “Well, she doesn’t feel the same way about you,” he said, his voice as quiet as it was deadly. “Bree is mine, so you can imagine just how much I’ll enjoy bashing your skull against the goddamn wall for trying to fuck with her head.”

“It wasn’t me!” Calvin again looked to Vinnie, his eyes a little wild. “It wasn’t, Vin, I swear to God.”

The Alpha gave Alex an almost imperceptible nod. It was time to get Bree.

Alex returned to the living room only to find Elle sitting on the sofa with Bree.

Noticing him, Bree looked up and asked, “What did he say?”

“Exactly what we thought he’d say,” replied Alex. “He claims he didn’t do it and that it could be Paxton. You want to take a shot at getting Calvin to talk?”

She slowly stood, her eyes going hard. “Damn right I do.”

“Then let’s go.” Alex waited for her to cross to him and then led her to the room in which Calvin was being held.

“Ah, Bree,” said Vinnie as she entered. “Glad you could join us.”

Calvin shook his head at her. “Bree, you have to know I didn’t do this. Does it even make any sense to you that I would?”

“No, it doesn’t,” she replied. “But your scent was in my kitchen.”

“Then it has to have been Paxton. Playing mind games … that’s what he does. He messes with people. He stirs the pot. I’m telling you, Bree, it wasn’t me. Which means you need to be careful, because there’s no knowing what he’ll do next.”

“You don’t think it’s low to blame a dead man?” asked Alex.

Calvin’s nostrils flared. “It. Wasn’t. Me.”

She pursed her lips. “I can help you prove your innocence, if you’re up for it.”

Hurt flashed across his face. He straightened in his seat. “I get it. You want to infuse guilt into me. You’ve already decided that I’m guilty, haven’t you? And now you’re hoping to push me into making a confession.” He looked around the room. “You all really think I did this? Seriously?”

“Actually, no,” said Vinnie. “So help us scratch you off the suspect list and consent to Bree’s offer of help.”

Calvin frowned. “She doesn’t want to ‘help’ me. None of you do. And I won’t lie, it hurts like hell that my own pride mates—some of whom are my own family—would proclaim me guilty unless proven innocent. It should be the other way around. I should at least get the benefit of the doubt from people who supposedly care for me. Jesus, this is insane. And you know what? Fuck you all.”

Vinnie sighed. “Calvin—”

“No, if you want to believe I did it, fine. Pin it on me. But just know you’re not the man I thought you were. And, apparently, I’m not the man you thought I was. Because anyone who truly knows me will be damn sure that I didn’t do this.” Calvin set his jaw. “So, as I said before, fuck. You. All.”