Chapter 21
Libby
She wanted to do something nice for Dillon. Since the pack was totally out of control he needed a place to call his own. She remembered when they surveyed the land coming across the old beat up cabin. It was the perfect place for him to be able to go to get a break.
But she wanted it to be a surprise. He’d done so much for her, and now it was her turn. She waited until he was asleep and made her way outside as quietly as possible. There was a garage that had the tools she needed to fix some things up. The cabin needed cleaned first.
That’s what she would do. She was restless for some reason. She had no idea why, but something told her she needed to explore the land. She might as well make herself useful. That’s how she’d always been. With parents that hated her and being raised with her aunt and uncle, Dillon was so much more than her Alpha. He was more than her cousin too. He was the brother she never had.
This was their new home, and so far, she’d not felt at home. It didn’t matter there were other Supes in town. That should have helped, but they were dragons and even though she had no problem with her, she worried they didn’t like her.
And that was Libby’s biggest asset and flaw. She wanted everyone to like her. She went out of her way to make sure she helped the best she could. It was why she sent the other wolves over to the tribe’s land to help work on the house. It was why she got down with helping too.
The night was chilly still not quite fully summer and she enjoyed the nice breeze. She walked the path until she came to the part in the woods where the cabin was. There wasn’t a trail to find it, but she remembered everything. Being as smart as she was made it hard to find love or even friends for that matter. Her kind were very touchy when it came to intelligence.
She wrinkled her nose when a scent she hadn’t smelled in a long time caught her. It was that of hell. A demon had been nearby—and recently. Her hackles rose and so did her wolf finally aware of their surroundings. Taking slow and easy steps, Libby held her broom like a sword. Not that it would do much for a demon, but she wanted to be prepared for anything.
The further she went the more she scented. And it wasn’t just demon she was smelling…
She went around the bend and nearly tripped over a body on the ground. Even in the dark she could tell he was in bad shape. The demon scent came from him and he lay face down in the grass. When she bent to roll him her, she touched his bare back and would have fallen had she not been so prepared to be attacked, but this was different than she expected. Her senses were assaulted by the scent of—her mate.
“Oh gods,” she whispered. “My mate.”
After all this time of searching she’d finally found him, and now she wasn’t even sure if he was alive.
‘He can’t be dead.’
She fell to her knee and hovered over him gripping both shoulders to flip him on his back. He was heavy and touching him was hard when he beast wanted to play, but she used her strength and rolled him over.
His eyes were shut and his body was covered in blood. After a few seconds, she learned he was alive but barely.
She knew he needed help but she couldn’t’ very well take him home. She had an inkling of an idea of who he was, and she wanted to curse fate for giving her a mate that had turned into a monster. How could she be with a man who killed—for fun. That’s what everyone said, but now that she got the scent of demon in her nose she wondered if maybe he didn’t do it on purpose. What if he was a victim all in his own right? That could very well be the case. It was something she’d have to ask him because now that she’d found him she was determined to save him. Though it looked like someone tried to take his heart. Claw marks marred his skin and he was pale.
With the amount of blood still smeared on his body she assumed he’d lost more—somewhere else.
How did he end up here?
Maybe he scented her. She smiled at that thought. Hurt and almost near death, he found her scent and searched her out. It was romantic in a way.
“Shut up,” she muttered. This wasn’t the time to be romantic about him. In her mind, she had to remember he was a killer. He was no innocent, not until she heard his side of the story.
“Now what to do with you?”
It hit her that the cabin was empty and not many of the wolves knew about its existence. It was why she was fixing it up for Dillon.
That was perfect.
She was already almost there anyways. With his weight, even she would struggle to get him there herself.
She sighed and tossed her supplies to the side. She’d have to come back for them. But first to get him patched up.
It was going to be a long night. But to save her mate would be worth it. Maybe she could find her own home within him.
***
Max
After everything that happened he still searched daily for the scent he found. It didn’t matter that he now knew he wasn’t worthy of a mate. She was still out there, and the compulsion was too strong. He was restless and depressed. Dallas had barely spoken to him since that night, but she swore she didn’t blame him. It didn’t matter whether she did or not.
He blamed himself.
He should have been stronger. He should have been able to beat that dragon. Mostly he wished he could have saved Tali.
No one acted strange around him. In fact, they all seemed to be watching him closely. He’d taken to walking the land. Not only to search for the scent of his mate, but to be alone. He couldn’t bear to face them. He didn’t want them knowing how weak he was. But they knew. Now everyone knew he was a submissive. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He was born to follow not lead. For a long time, he hadn’t been okay with that. But he’d finally come to accept it—until now.
He ran through the woods when he caught a hint of the scent and he inhaled. She was close. He ran searching. It was then he realized he was in the same place he’d been when he’d been taken. He froze in the spot forgetting the scent and shuddered.
The look on Tali’ face when Jaz shoved that wickedly long blade through her torso would haunt him for the rest of his life. He’d frozen then too. He should have done something—anything to get the monster to leave her alone, but he was at a loss.
Jaz had already stabbed her once, the first scream, so blood covered the blade and dripped off the thin spring mattress onto the concrete floor. His beast was riveted by the blood until she screamed again. Then his beast sprang into action—too late.
Now he and the beast weren’t on talking terms. He’d taken to ignoring him expect when they were searching for their mate, any other time he shut down from everyone and everything. He’d eat when he had to, sleep if when he closed his eyes he didn’t see Tali’s face, but mostly he stayed locked in his room never wanting to face Dallas or the others again.
All of them had tried to pull him out, but he wasn’t worthy. Just like he wasn’t worthy to find his mate.
Maybe fate was taunting him. Maybe that’s why her scent disappeared out of nowhere. He wasn’t meant to find her but chase her until the day he died. Which would be soon if he didn’t mate. The sickness was taking over. Every day was harder than the one before. It was only a matter of time…