CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Even with the incessant drone of the roof’s HVAC unit and the muted street sounds coming from below, Deke heard feet clambering up the exterior ladder. He knew it would be Isaiah, since the shifter was scheduled to take the next shift.

Most enforcers did surveillance duty. Usually from a low seat on the rooftops of the various pride-owned stores. None of the pedestrians below ever noticed them. Why would they bother looking up?

As Deke rose to his feet, the wind swept toward him, pulling at his clothes, rattling the deli’s sonar panels, and showering him with the smell of car exhaust and the stomach-rumbling scents coming from the street’s eateries. He hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so he was damn hungry.

Finally, Isaiah reached the rooftop. He tipped his chin at Deke as he crossed to him, his shoes scuffing the concrete floor. “Anything worth noting?”

Deke shook his head. In particular, he’d kept a lookout for Ginny, who—according to the enforcer watching her apartment—still hadn’t returned home. “All seems normal. The only bit of action was the Phoenix Alpha female, Taryn, arguing with her mate’s grandmother outside the florist.” He was pretty sure the old woman’s name was Greta.

Isaiah’s mouth curved. “Is it just me, or does the grandmother not seem to age?”

“Kye swears she’ll outlive them all,” he said, referring to the Phoenix Alpha pair’s son.

“He’s gonna have to leave his pack soon. He’s too strong a born-alpha for his wolf to tolerate being ruled by another shifter for much longer, even if that shifter is his father.”

Deke nodded. “I don’t know if he’ll definitely join our pride, though.”

The problem with many breeds of shifter was that two alphas couldn’t exist in the same group without fighting. Pallas cats didn’t have that issue, so Tate and Havana had offered for Kye to join their pride so that he wouldn’t be far from his family.

“There’s a chance he could instead begin his own pack,” Deke added.

Isaiah’s brow pinched. “He’s only, what, twenty-one?”

“Shifters younger than that have done it.”

“True.” Isaiah paused. “How’s Bailey?”

“Good.” Her fight with Dayna had been the talk of the pride for the past four days. His mamba had expected to receive the cold-shoulder from some, but none were iffy with her. All she’d done was answer a challenge—she’d had every right to do so. Yes, she’d been unnecessarily vicious, but no one was judging. Pallas cats didn’t really have room to judge anyone for being so brutal.

Isaiah planted his feet. “Have you seen or heard anything from Dayna?”

“No. She hasn’t reached out to me in any way. I didn’t really expect her to. Her pride is hurt, and my mother threatened her with certain death if she didn’t leave ‘her boy’ alone.”

Isaiah chuckled. “Sounds like Livy.”

“According to Tate, Dayna said that though she’s upset that I rejected her, she’ll accept and respect my decision.” The Alphas had paid her an official visit a few days ago to welcome her home—a welcome which wasn’t genuine from Havana, but she’d been civil. “Apparently, Gerard sat with her the whole time and held her hand.”

“Gerard?”

“That’s what Tate said.”

Isaiah twisted his mouth. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s jumping on this opportunity to try and win her back.”

“Maybe. Whatever the case, he’s keeping her occupied. That suits me fine.”

“I take it she hasn’t given Bailey any more trouble.”

“Wisely, no, she hasn’t. Dayna claimed to our Alphas that she has no intention of challenging Bailey again because it would hurt me and also get in the way of me and Dayna ever being friends again one day.”

Isaiah snorted. “She’s just worried she’ll get her ass kicked again.”

Deke dipped his chin. “I think she’s taking the high road to save face and hide that she’s hurt.” It was Bailey who’d put forward that theory, and he agreed with her. “All I care about is that she stays out of Bailey’s way. So far, she has.” It was made easier by how Dayna lived in the other pride-owned complex. Though the two females had caught sight of each other once or twice from afar, neither had made a move to cross the distance.

“She’d be a fool not to, because Bailey will just humiliate her all over again if Dayna pushes her buttons or starts another fight.”

His mamba would—not merely because it wasn’t in her nature to back down, but because she wouldn’t hesitate to assert her claim to Deke. It soothed the jagged wound to his pride that Dayna had caused when she kept him dangling for two and a half fucking years, never making his importance to her clear.

“I’m sorry I missed the brawl,” Isaiah added with a smile. “I’ve been repeatedly told it was highly entertaining.”

That it had been. “Where were you anyway? Tate said he invited you to meet us at the Tavern that night but you made excuses not to come.”

His smile fading, Isaiah licked his lips. “I was busy. Genuinely.”

“Doing what?” His scalp prickling, Deke narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on, Isaiah? Is it about Lucinda?”

Isaiah looked away at the mention of his true mate. Deke knew of shifters who’d recognized their mate at first sight. The enforcer in front of him was one of them. He’d spotted her from afar two years ago, but he hadn’t approached her, because she’d been snuggled up against another male. Instead, Isaiah had learned everything he could about her.

Lucinda wasn’t a shifter, she was human. She was also engaged to a man she’d been involved with for several years. As such, Isaiah had kept his distance and watched over her, no doubt hoping she’d separate from her human fiancé at some point.

“She’s pregnant,” Isaiah blurted out.

Deke went still. “What?”

“She was getting IVF treatment,” said Isaiah, his voice like crushed rock. “It worked.”

Deke felt his eyes close. Just as shifters couldn’t produce offspring with someone who they hadn’t claimed as their mate, humans who were the predestined mates of shifters could only reproduce with other humans through IVF. “Fuck, man, I’m sorry,” he said, opening his eyes.

Isaiah scrubbed a hand down his face. “I’m done keeping tabs on her. I have to stop for my own sanity. At this point, I’ve accepted that I’ll never have her.” He pushed his shoulders back. “That’s why I’m entering into an arranged mating.”

Deke felt his lips part. “The fuck?”

“I signed up to FindYourMatch.com the night I declined Tate’s invite to the Tavern.”

Mentally rocked, Deke stared at him in silence. The website in question was run by shifters to help pair up any who sought to enter an arranged mating. Apparently, it was very popular and had led to many successful arrangements. “Wait, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“I’ve been considering it since Lucinda first started IVF treatment. I knew then, deep down, that I was never going to have her. But my cat held out hope. He’s always felt she’d choose us over her human partner if only we’d tell her we exist. But I’d never barge into her life, break it to her that we’re mates, and upturn her world like that. And I don’t see her leaving her fiancé of five years to pursue something with me—a total stranger.”

“And now that she’s pregnant, your cat’s hope is gone,” Deke guessed.

Isaiah nodded, his throat bobbing. “He couldn’t accept her now that she’s carrying another man’s child—he feels betrayed. But he’s struggling to emotionally let her go.”

“You think taking a mate would be the answer?” asked Deke without judgement.

“It was my dad who put the idea in my head. My parents entered into an arranged mating, as you know. He said the moment he branded my mother, his cat considered her under his protection and intellectually understood she belonged to him, though the animal didn’t immediately immerse himself in the mating. The rest came with time.”

“Your theory is that if you claim a woman, it’ll make your cat officially let Lucinda go,” Deke realized.

“Dating someone won’t be enough—I’ve tried it, he doesn’t acknowledge them. But if I claimed someone, it would force him to take notice of them, to engage with them, to cease dwelling on what he can’t have. And it would fill the void in him that Lucinda can never fill.”

And also fill that same void in Isaiah. “You don’t worry he’d lose his shit and reject whoever you claim?”

“No. He might not emotionally accept the female as his mate in the beginning but, as my dad’s cat did with my mother, he’d place her under his direct protection and feel territorial on an elemental level—there’ll be no way for him to fight it if she’s branded.” He held Deke’s gaze as he added, “I’ve put a whole lot of thought into this. It isn’t a decision I made lightly or simply because I was hurting. I wouldn’t consider it if I wasn’t sure it would work out.”

Fair enough. “If it’s what you want, we’ll all be behind you. What comes next?”

“I have to finish the process I began a few nights ago. There’s a long-ass questionnaire to fill in. It’s very detailed and covers everything—not merely basic stuff such as your likes and dislikes, but your bedroom habits, how many kids you want, your preferred parenting style—the list goes on and on.” Isaiah rubbed the side of his neck. “It’s not easy to be that open and honest, so it’s not a questionnaire anyone can work through quickly. I’m almost done.”

“And you can guarantee that all your information won’t be shared?” Because if it was leaked to the shifter world, it could be used against him.

“Yes. Not even any potential matches will receive a copy of the completed questionnaire.”

Knowing Isaiah wouldn’t sound so positive unless he’d made certain of it, Deke moved onto his next question. “What will happen once you’ve completed it?”

“I’ll submit it. The site will suggest possible matches for me based on my answers. I’m only allowed to choose one to contact. If after an exchange of messages we’d both like to meet, we’ll do that. If we choose not to, I can reach out to any other possible matches.” Isaiah inhaled deeply. “Hopefully there’ll be at least one. You know as well as I do that not all shifters are fond of pallas cats. That might go against me.”

It might indeed. “If you do find a possible match and the meet goes well, do you have the opportunity to date them for a while?”

“No, the founders of FindYourMatch are very clear that it’s not a dating site, it exists only to help advocate arranged matings. As such, I wouldn’t even meet with a potential match alone—both of us will have one of our Alphas present. I suppose it’s to ensure that shifters aren’t using the site to merely hook up. The female and I would have to decide there and then if we wanted to go forward with the mating.”

In that case, the process was similar to when Alphas got together to make such arrangements for the purpose of securing alliances or other such things. “I must admit, I didn’t expect this. But I can see why you’d choose this option. I hope it works out for you.”

“So do I.” Isaiah paused. “I don’t visualize myself having any problems imprinting on someone. I’ve never been set on finding my true mate. Maybe because my parents are happy without theirs.” He gave Deke a probing look. “What about you? Could you imprint on someone?”

“It isn’t something I hoped to do. I wanted to find my true mate. But …”

“But Bailey is making you reconsider whether that’s so important,” Isaiah finished, the far too insightful asshole.

Yes. Deke couldn’t imagine letting her go. Wasn’t sure if he could. And, in truth, he didn’t want to.

Not that he’d said as much to her. His mamba was skittish and guarded. He wasn’t certain how she’d react.

Plus, there was the little problem that, in order for imprinting to happen, his cat would need to be on the same page as Deke. At the moment, the animal still had issues upon issues.

“She wasn’t supposed to make me reconsider it,” Deke grumbled.

Isaiah’s lips twitched. “Bailey often does things she isn’t supposed to.”

“Very true.”

They chatted for a few more minutes before Deke headed to the ladder that would take him to a narrow alley. He climbed down and then strode out of the alley and onto the street. Intent on grabbing lunch, he went to push open the deli door … but then Therese stepped out.

Instead of skirting around him, she remained in his path, cleared her throat, and gifted him a nervous smile. “Hi, Deke.”

He only grunted.

She winced. “I know I’m probably not your favorite person right now, but could we talk?”

“If your intention is to pass on a message from Dayna—”

“It’s not, I just wanted to give you a heads-up about something.” She huddled a takeout bag close to her chest. “I thought you should know that she and Gerard are back together now.”

The pair had moved fast. “Why did you think I needed to know?” It had zilch to do with Deke.

Her mouth bobbed open and closed. “I didn’t want you to get sucker-punched with it.”

“Nice of you.” But the news wouldn’t have had any impact on him no matter how he’d learned of it.

“Listen, I shouldn’t have said the bitchy stuff I said when you and Dayna split. She was just so sad. A mess. I was mad on her behalf and … well, I’m sorry.”

“Are you also sorry for trying to convince Bailey that I would set her aside for Dayna?”

She raised her shoulders. “I thought you would. I thought you loved Dayna.”

“You thought wrong.”

“Why would you have marked Bailey if it wasn’t to get back at Dayna?”

His cat bared a fang at the note of demand in her question. “Well, that’s none of your business now, is it?”

She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I take it you don’t accept my apology.”

“It wasn’t a real apology. You’re not sorry for what you said. You’re not warning me about Dayna and Gerard for my sake. She told you to pass on the news to me and report back how I reacted. Well, you can tell her that I genuinely wish her and Gerard the best.”

Therese studied his face. “You really mean that? You’re truly done with her?”

“Yes. Do us all a favor and get that across to her.” He tipped his chin to the side, gesturing for her to move out of his way. Once she did, he stalked into the deli and joined the line.

In front of him, Luke and Blair turned their heads.

“Oh, hey,” she said.

Luke’s brow creased as he took in Deke’s expression. “Who put that look on your face?”

“I’m just goddamn sick of people playing games,” replied Deke, thrusting a hand through his hair. “Therese was sure to let me know that Dayna and Gerard are once more an item—something Dayna undoubtedly put her up to.”

“Ah,” said Blair. “Sounds like she’s hoping to make you jealous. I hope not, because it isn’t fair to Gerard if she’s using him and toying with his feelings.”

Luke pursed his lips. “You never know, they could be serious about making another go of things. But I doubt it.”

Blair’s nose wrinkled. “I might have bought it if they weren’t making such a claim literally days after Deke publicly proclaimed he was done with her. It doesn’t seem genuine to me.”

The doorbell pinged behind him and then … “Deke?”

He tensed, recognizing the voice. Shit. Very hesitantly, he turned to face Maisy.

She lifted a placatory hand. “I know, I know, you don’t want to get to know me. That’s fine, it’s not why I’m here.” She moved closer. “He called me again using another number. Deke Two, I mean.”

The sense of urgency in her voice made Deke frown. “What happened?”

“He said he missed me and wanted us to meet,” Maisy elaborated. “I don’t want anything to do with him. But I was curious about who he really is, what he looked like, if he was young or old or whatever. So I agreed to meet him at a place of his choosing. But I didn’t go inside. I looked through the café window and took a picture of the guy sitting at the table where he’d said he’d wait for me.” She held up her phone. “Do you know him?”

Studying the photograph on the screen, Deke felt his face harden to stone. “Yeah,” he bit out. “Yeah, I know him.”

Ashort time later, Deke felt his muscles bunch as a knock came on his Alphas’ front door. Luke briefly met his gaze before rising from the plush armchair and breezing out of the living room. Deke glanced at Tate, who stood in front of the fireplace; his stance dominant, tension rolling off him in waves.

After his conversation with Maisy, Deke and his Betas had headed straight to the Alpha pair’s home to relay what they’d learned. Home alone, Tate had then summoned the pride member who Maisy had snapped a picture of … so it was no surprise to Deke when Luke reentered the room with Sam at his back.

The healer wore his default half-smile, his face and posture as open as usual. It was only when he took in the others’ expressions that a line dented his brow. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, fine,” Tate told him, his voice carefully neutral. “We just need to speak to you about something. Have a seat.”

“Okay.” Sam gingerly perched himself on the opposite end of the sofa from Deke. “What’s going on?”

Tate folded his arms, his body language relaxed rather than confrontational, but his sober gaze telling the healer he meant business. “Where were you yesterday at noon?”

Sam blinked. “Um, having lunch at a café about half an hour’s drive from here,” he easily replied. “Why?”

Tate’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Were you alone?”

“Yes. I would have had Cassandra with me, but she was busy.”

The Alpha cast Deke a the floor is yours look.

Deke turned to Sam. “I had a visitor today. Someone who says you were supposed to meet them at the café yesterday.”

Sam frowned. “What?”

“According to them, you called them and requested that they be there,” Deke added, watching him closely.

Sam’s back snapped straight. “That’s a load of crap. I wasn’t there to see anyone. I always go to that particular café on Wednesdays, and I always eat alone.”

Luke stirred in his armchair. “This is a routine thing for you?”

Sam nodded hard. “I go to visit my human aunt and then stop off at the café on my way home—she used to own it, so I like to go there.” He swept his gaze over everyone in the room. “Who the hell is claiming I wanted to meet them?”

Deke dug his tongue into the tip of his canine tooth. “Remember how your name was used to create one of the fake profiles of me?”

“Yes,” the healer replied. “Tate asked me about it. I told him that it wasn’t me.”

“This person contacted one of the women he’d been ‘dating’ while posing as me,” Deke went on. “He asked her to meet him at noon the previous day at that café; told her he’d be sat at the corner table near the restrooms. She took a picture of him and brought it to me to see if I recognized him.” Deke paused. “It was a photo of you.”

Sam shook his head hard. “I was at the café, yes, but I did not arrange to meet her or anyone else.”

“Do you always eat at that particular table?” Blair asked from where she was perched on the armrest of Luke’s chair.

Sam gave a sheepish shrug, his cheeks going pink. “Yes. I used to sit there as a kid with my mom when we’d go there together, so I like to eat at that table.” He cut his gaze back to Tate. “I swear to you, it was not me who contacted the human; I had nothing to do with the fake profiles.” His eyes lit as he clicked his fingers. “Talk to Cassandra. I invited her to come with me yesterday morning, but she couldn’t make it. If I’d planned to meet anyone else, I wouldn’t have done that, would I?”

Tate bit the inside of his cheek, saying nothing for long moments, his eyes raking over the healer’s face. “Thank you for answering our questions,” he finally said. “You can go.”

Sam blinked, seeming surprised that he’d been so easily dismissed. He slowly stood, swallowing hard, and then mumbled goodbyes before leaving.

Deke exhaled heavily, tossing an arm over the back of the sofa. “That went pretty much how I thought it would.”

When he’d first spoken to Maisy, he’d been open to the idea that Sam could be their culprit. But the more he’d thought about it, the more his point of view had shifted. Because if there was one thing their boy had been very careful to do, it was mask his identity. It made no sense that he would suddenly be prepared to remove that mask.

Deke went on, “I wasn’t sure how Sam could have been lured to the café, but I was pretty certain he was set up.”

Blair gave a slow nod, her fingers absently doodling patterns on her mate’s nape. “I can’t see Sam being our guy. It seems to me that someone knew his routine and used it against him.”

Tate unfolded his arms, a muscle in his jaw flexing. “The fucker is playing games again.”

Luke idly drummed his fingers on Blair’s thigh, saying, “He probably expected Maisy to barge in there and make a scene. Sam would have then reported it to us. The situation didn’t unfold as our boy expected, but the end result was the same.” He looked at Deke. “He got your attention.”

Deke cricked his neck. “And I’m now supremely pissed off.” Later that evening, that same anger flamed in Bailey’s eyes when he brought her up to speed.

Straddling him on his sofa, she clamped her lips shut and shook her head. “I can’t believe this motherfucker. Does he not have anything better to do with his life?”

Deke slid his hands up her thighs. “You would think he would, but apparently not.”

“I cannot tell you how much I want to pound my fist into his balls. If he even has any. Goddamn coward hides behind his designated scapegoats.” She clasped her hands together. “Can we peel off his nipples when we find him? Like, seriously?”

Sensing it was a genuine request, Deke couldn’t stop his lips from curving despite his mood. She always managed to do that. Always managed to crack through the stubborn wall of his anger, no matter how black his mood. “I doubt anyone would try to stop you, even though our boy has got to be someone from the pride.”

For his cat, that was the worst part. The betrayal slashed at him. If you couldn’t trust pride, who could you trust?

Bailey let out a sigh. “Poor Maisy. He would have used her all over again. If she’d marched into that café and confronted Sam, only to realize she’d approached the wrong person yet again, she’d have been wrecked that our boy played her a second time.”

Which he evidently didn’t care about. “I don’t get why he won’t just stop. He could have left the matter alone. Could have quit while he was ahead. He didn’t. I know he wants my attention, but why? What is he getting out of all this on a personal level?” Deke just couldn’t see it.

“Questions for the ages. If he’s so intent on being up here in your head”—she tapped his temple gently—“all I can think is that you must be up in his. If it was someone who had a thing for you, I really don’t think they’d go about it this way, so it can only be someone who has beef with you.” She sighed. “I don’t know why people cling to grudges.”

Deke did a slow blink. “You cling to grudges.” Tighter than anyone he knew.

She waved that off, as if it wasn’t relevant. “Well, I say we don’t give him what he wants; that instead of thinking and talking about him, we focus on something else.”

“I’m up for that.”

“Groovy.” She tipped her head to the side. “Whatever shall we talk about?”

He cupped her hips and tugged her closer. “You.”

Her brows lifted. “Me?”

“There are lots of things I’d like to know about you.”

“Hmm, like what?”

“Tell me where you learned how to hack and fight and build bombs and fly helicopters,” he urged, but she went still, her expression closing over. “I don’t know what it is you’re hiding, but you can trust me, Bailey. I swear to Christ, you’re safe with me; anything you share is safe with me.” He gave her hips a gentle squeeze. “Let me in a little more, baby. I won’t make you regret it.”