13. Kezia

I watched the door warily.The sharp rap against the wood made me jump a little even though I was expecting it. Lottie moved into my line of sight, and I knew without looking at her, she was waiting for me to tell her to open it.

“Do I need my gun?” she whispered.

“No.”

We both watched the door handle push down. My mate was never one for patience.

The door swung open, and when my brother stepped through, joy erupted at the sight of him, but I still pushed away the disappointment that he wasn’t Cannon. I was off my seat and across the room, and he crossed the space to sweep me into a hug.

“Luna’s grace, you are a sight for sore eyes,” he muttered as he squeezed me close.

I squeezed him back as tightly as he held me. “It’s so good to know you are okay.” I looked up at him. “How are you here?”

Kris stepped back, and I saw Royce over his shoulder. I shouldn’t have been surprised when Royce simply nodded in greeting, but I had to admit that I was expecting more than a nod.

“Cannon got me and Cass out,” Kris told me gruffly.

Looking back at the door expectantly, I saw it was closed. “Where is he?”

Royce’s attention flicked behind me, and I turned to see Cannon standing there. A part of me knew why he’d come in the back way, and that same part knew that would piss me off later, but for now, I drank him in. In a pair of faded denims, bare feet, and bare chest, he’d obviously just shifted from his wolf. His hair was messy, the way I liked it, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes hard.

He was alive.

Holy Luna, he was alive. Pissed off but alive—and healthy.

My chest tightened with emotion, and I already knew I was crying.

“He told me you were dead.” I felt like I was frozen in place as I watched him watch me. I saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes, and it was seeing that break in his armor that snapped my control. I ran to him and threw my arms around him, my tears flowing freely as I sobbed against his chest. “Thank you, Luna, thank you,” I whispered over and over. Looking up, I met his cold, hard, green eyes. Fear gripped me. “Cannon?”

His arms hadn’t embraced me. His mouth hadn’t met mine. He hadn’t reacted to me.

Backing away, I shook my head. The way he was looking at me was for the same reason as he covered the back door exit.

He didn’t trust me…

“No. No! You can fuck off. Do not even think of doubting me. I have been in misery. I have been beaten, threatened, all of it. I wanted to die, thinking you were dead. You do not come into this house and doubt me.” I shook my head in denial. “You don’t get to fucking do this to me, Cannon!”

Looking at my alpha, I wanted to cry again. He was alive. He was standing in front of me and breathing. As angry as I was at his reaction to me, I just wanted to hold him. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Cannon broke our stare, looking down at the floor. “You almost didn’t.”

His voice did something to me. The anger faded as quickly as it came. More tears escaped as I stepped forward, my hand reaching for him. “I should have never left. I knew it as soon as I was halfway up that mountain. I’m so sorry, Alpha.”

Cannon tilted his head back slightly, his eyebrow arching. “Alpha? Sorry?” He glanced at Lottie. “I can smell the whiskey. How much has she had to drink?”

I coughed out a laugh, hope rising within me as I took another step forward. “He told me you were dead.” I started sobbing again, and I angrily brushed the tears away. “I couldn’t move, I couldn’t eat, it was horrible. I thought you were gone.” I hiccupped and took another step towards him. “I don’t care if you think I’m drunk, please, Cannon, they told me you were dead. I need to hold you.”

His face gave nothing away, and I felt he would say no, but just as I was ready for rejection, he gave a slight nod, and I closed the distance with a speed that surprised us both. I heard his oof, but I didn’t care, because this time my mate was hugging me back.

All the weeks that we had been apart, all the horribleness we had both endured, it all faded away as his arms tightened around me, and I used them to lift myself onto my tiptoes as I hung onto him like the lifeline he was. Silent tears coursed down my cheeks, and when Cannon lifted me higher, I wrapped myself around him, while his head nestled into the crook of my neck.

And he held me.

And he didn’t let go.

And for the first time, in so long, my heart didn’t hurt.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered into his shoulder. “I thought I lost you.”

“I think you almost did.”

His words were sobering enough to make me lift my head and look at him. “Bad?”

I heard Royce grunt and had completely forgotten there were others in the room. “Bad?” he bit out. “I don’t think any of us thought he would be standing again.”

Reaching up, I brushed the hair off Cannon’s face. “Tell me everything.”

Cannon let me down, and realizing I wasn’t letting go of him completely, he wrapped his arm around me. “Introductions first?” He looked at Lottie, who had remained silent the whole time, her back against the wall as she watched us all.

“Oh shit, Lottie.” I gaped at her. “Um, this is my brother, Kris.” He nodded in greeting. “Royce. He’s usually more cheerful, but harmless.” Royce growled under his breath, and Lottie’s eyes widened. “He’s harmless to you!” I corrected. “And this is…” I turned my face up to look at Cannon, who was watching me, and when I reached up to touch his face, he leaned into my palm. Our eyes locked, my pulse racing, and I marveled that he was in front of me.

“This is your fella,” Lottie deadpanned. “I’m Lottie.”

Cannon looked away from me, and I saw the question.

“Vance lied. Lottie and Maggie are fine. He didn’t kill them like he said,” I told the males in the room. “They found me earlier.” I saw Cannon and Kris exchange a look, and I wasn’t sure what it meant. “What? What was that look?”

“It’s not safe for you here,” Kris told me. “We need to move.”

“I can be trusted,” Lottie told them, understanding the look far quicker than I did. She walked back to the counter. “Zia has explained a little of what she is.” I felt Cannon’s arm tighten on my waist. “I may not have known her as long as you all have, but I’d give my life for this girl. Almost did last time,” she added. “I trust her, you should trust me.”

“Lottie, you said it wasn’t… He hurt you?”

Her eyes gentled when she saw my concern. “I’m fine.” She scowled at Kris. “No harm will ever come to your sister through me, and I don’t like the implication it would.”

“Ma’am.” Kris had the grace to look abashed at the reprimand. “But we’re exposed here, and we need to be gone.”

Lottie looked at me, and I was already turning to Cannon. “Can we take Lottie?” His reaction was a slight widening of his eyes. “Please, Cannon. If they come back…”

“No.” Cannon pressed a kiss to my forehead to soften the blow. “Do you have family you can visit?” he asked Lottie.

“No.”

“See!” I seized on it. “No one will miss her.”

“Geez, thanks, Zia.”

“Shh,” I scolded her over my shoulder.

“Kez,” Kris muttered, and I could hear his warning.

“She knows I’m a shifter.” This time, Cannon’s eyes narrowed. “She knew before today, saw me last time. Never mentioned it to anyone.” I prayed to the Goddess that Lottie wouldn’t mention Maggie. “Please, I need to know she’s safe.”

“I’ll make this easy for you all,” Lottie said as she poured herself another whiskey. “This is my home. I run a business here, and I have no intention of leaving it.”

“But—”

She took a drink as she watched me. “You come visit me. You are always welcome, but I belong here.” She gestured at the man beside me. “You belong where he is. It’s the twenty-first century; technology will allow us to keep in touch. I know you have phones,” she added with a slight smile. “I think you need to go with your family.”

“I think that would be best,” Cannon said to her softly.

“But—”

“Shh.” Cannon pulled me into his body tighter. “We need to move.”

“But…” I felt lost again. “I can’t lose anyone else.” I knew I was crying again.

“You haven’t lost anyone,” Royce reminded me gruffly. “Your friend here is fine, Cannon is fine.”

“I still thought I’d lost them,” I snapped at him. “My grief was real. My loss was real.” Staring at my hands, I shook my head. “I don’t want to go through that again. I can’t go through that again,” I added, looking at Cannon. “I broke.”

“I’m here,” he told me, and the way he was looking at me had me turning into his body again, feeling comfort when his arms wrapped around me.

Sooner than I was ready, we were in the Jeep Royce had driven to get them here, and Lottie’s place was behind us. I was in the back with my brother, Royce was driving, and Cannon, being the biggest, was in the passenger seat.

“She’ll be okay,” Kris reassured me, patting my hand.

Wiping my eyes, I tried to convince myself she would. “Tell me what happened to you.”

Cannon turned in his seat and met my gaze.

“I came home, and you weren’t there,” he started. “I thought you may be with Nikan or Barbara. When I went to look for you, I passed Tev, and when I went past him, he stabbed me in the back. Twice. The second time, he left the silver blade in my back where I couldn’t reach it.”

My eyes were wide, I knew that, but I was still reaching for him, and he turned, leaning forward so I could see his back. A thin scar was evident in the low light of the car, and I glared at the mark on my alpha’s body. “Tell me you killed him.”

“Nikan took care of that,” Royce said gruffly. “After he…interrogated him.”

My head cocked as I looked between the two of them. “You mean tortured?”

Royce shrugged. “It’s done.”

“He’s dead?”

“He is.”

Turning back to Cannon, I fought my urge to crawl between the seats and sit on his lap. “How long did it take to cure you?”

Cannon’s eyes flicked to Royce. “A while.”

Royce was watching me in the rearview. “Why don’t you tell us why you left?”

They were all waiting for me to speak. “I should never have left that day. But Landon, he told me Kris was in danger and if I told anyone, he would die. I left for my brother.” Kris grunted, but I kept on talking. “And then when I met Landon at the meeting point, he told me he had to trick me as Bale had his mom. And then he knocked me out, and I woke up in a cell.” I glared at the thought. “Which I am sick of, by the way. They knocked me out again?—”

“Who’s they?” Royce asked.

“Bale.” I spat his name with venom. “That sick fucker has lost his mind. He put me in a silver cuff and chained me to a wall and beat me. And Landon tried to get him to believe I could be his mate, which I could never be his mate, and they made me shower in their compound, and this guy watched, and Bale said if I didn’t cooperate with Landon, I was to die. And then Landon told me Cannon had been killed, and I…”

The tears were falling again as I remembered the fear, and I was choked up and my breathing was fucked as I relived it all. “I couldn’t fight them anymore. They told me Cannon was killed, and I broke. Bale said I was broken, and I was to be given to the men, and then Landon told me I had to play along so his dad would believe I was tamed,” I snarled. “He left me and then Bale was there when I woke up, and he said, he said…”

I was breathing raggedly, too far gone to realize I was having a panic attack and not realizing Royce was no longer looking at me with distrust or that he had stopped driving. “He was going to force himself on me, and Moonstar had come back, and she had said Cannon wasn’t dead because I would feel more pain than the silver cuff, so when Bale went to touch me…like that…I let her take control.”

I refused to look at any of them, my eyes stinging and snot running as freely as my tears. Wiping my nose on the back of my hand, I stared out the window.

Royce blew out a breath. “Fuck, that was a lot.” He looked over at Cannon. “I think she’s telling the truth.”

“I have no reason to lie,” I snapped. Cannon opened his door and left the Jeep. I followed him, hearing the others do the same. “You think that I’m lying?” I asked him incredulously.

“When he stabbed me, Tev said ‘Kezia says fuck you.’”

I stared at him, knowing my eyes were as wide as saucers. “You really think I did this?” My guts were churning with anxiety and rage. “That’s why you didn’t come for me?” My laugh was sharp and bitter. “Now I get it.”

“You get it?” Cannon asked, his own anger riding close to the surface.

“No. I don’t. I’m lying.” I refused to look at anyone but Cannon. “Why wouldn’t you come and get me? Why would you let me think you were dead?”

“Because until Moonstar walked into the bunker, I was as good as dead.”

I blinked. Cannon didn’t. A quick look at Royce confirmed what he had said. “What?”

“I was dying. The silver was in my bloodstream. In my heart. Kidneys. Lungs. Tev almost succeeded in his revenge.”

“How? How are you here?” I swallowed. “Moonstar?”

“She used magic. It hurt like hell, and I passed out.” Cannon looked over at Royce. “Royce can tell you more than I can.”

Royce rubbed his hand over his face, as if the very idea of repeating it caused him distress. “We’d been arguing,” he began. “Doc wanted more surgery. Hannah knew it wouldn’t make a difference. Nikan…well, Nikan was…busy looking for answers. Cannon was in a bad way. Barely conscious. The pain he was in was a lot. Then when I thought it was really it, I was going to lose my alpha, I heard her.” Royce took a deep breath. “The door burst open, and you stood there. I didn’t know what to do; we were so sure you’d had a hand in it. I almost killed you there and then, and then Moonstar spoke. I knew it was her. She told us she could help. Doc refused to let her near him. She told us you were dying, like we didn’t fucking know that. Then she just walked past us, through us, and told Cannon it would hurt. He screamed and blacked out and…” Royce shook his head as if he still didn’t believe what he had seen. “This light, this ball of light she created from nothing spread out over his body and sunk into him, and his whole body arched off the bed, and he screamed again, and then…she pushed us out of the room, and when she was done, she was gone.”

I gaped at him. “She was gone?”

Royce gave me a flat look. “You’re giving me attitude?”

“I can’t believe you let her go.”

“You say it like I had a choice.” Royce sniffed.

My head was reeling, but one thing hurt me more than anything they had said. I looked over at Cannon. “How could you ever think I would do this?” I looked between him and Royce. “I know you didn’t trust me to begin with, but I thought we were past that.” I felt both sad that they thought so little of me and happy that Cannon was saved, and I knew I was going to start crying again.

“My alpha was struck down. The male who struck him told him ‘Kezia says fuck you.’ You had already fled. We got a condolence message for our loss sent from you.”

“You got what?” I asked in outrage.

“A card.”

“A card!” I was gawking. “You believed a fucking card?” I was furious. “He’s my mate. I was heartbroken.”

“Don’t give me attitude,” Royce growled. “If it walks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

“If it… What? Why are you talking about ducks?” I asked in confusion.

Cannon’s rumble of laughter startled me. Turning to him, I saw him watching us, and at the expression on my face, he laughed harder. “It’s a duck,” he said through his laughter.

Royce started laughing too, and I was sure they’d both lost their minds. “Why are you laughing? What’s funny?” My hands rested on my hips as I glared at them both. “Why is there a duck?” Turning to my brother, I glared at him too, but he simply shrugged.

Cannon had seen the exchange, and that caused him to laugh harder, and it was so good to see him alive, laughing, that I found myself smiling, and then I was laughing too.

Luna, it was so good to laugh again.