12
Ricky paced the floor like a caged animal. Shauna had been gone for hours, it was almost dark and there was no sign of her, nothing, she’d vanished and she knew. He would find her, but what then? She would never forgive him for what he’d done and he didn’t blame her one bit.
Dakota was terrified and if he were honest with himself, Ricky was too. Shauna had been taken right from under their noses, in their town and it was a miracle that Mallory wasn’t gone too.
Dice had lost his mind and it would be a while before either man would be able to relax.
Then there was the guilt. He’d sworn to keep her safe and he’d failed and why?
That was the part he couldn’t figure. She should have been safe in town.
Hate, it was like poison in a person, but he was starting to feel it take hold of him too. He was starting to hate the groups that protested shifters. He couldn’t help who he was, what he was and he damned sure shouldn’t have to hide it to live in the world and Shauna was just an innocent in all of it.
Shauna.
He took a long pull from his beer and let his mind focus on her. He could see her in his mind, every detail.
That scared the shit out of him.
Shauna was more to him than he wanted to admit and it had scared the shit out of him. He wasn’t mate material, but hell neither was Dice and look at him. He was as happy as shit shacked up with Mallory and that kid of theirs. They had their issues and Sam was still a very sick little boy, but they were as happy as could be expected. Dice was almost normal; his wolf was almost a docile as a tamed house dog when Mallory was around. It was a damned good thing too because everyone was tired of getting shredded every time the damned monster took a notion. The fact still remained that Dice was the craziest asshole there was outside of the caves at Lost Lakes and he had a mate.
“Dice took the kid out to stay with Mallory and Sam. Some of the girls showed up, figured Shauna wouldn’t like the show he’d be getting if he stayed much longer.” Clothesline spoke, interrupting Ricky’s thoughts when he pulled out a chair and straddled it. “Lucian is over there having a little meeting with Dice. There’s no place on earth safer for that kid. Lucian said he owed the kid for something, any idea what that’s about?”
He nodded. He knew that Pie would be dick deep in a woman as soon as one walked through the door. Dakota didn’t need to see that. He let out a breath. What kind of life was this to offer a woman, any woman, but one like Shauna was even worse. She would never be able to accept this life. She had lived a good life with Maverick, he’d given her everything and Ricky knew he would never measure up. He had never measured up.
“Care to let your me in on the secret?”
It took a minute for Ricky to understand that he’d spaced out. “Lucian is the man who commissioned Maverick and Shauna to write the shifter laws. It was part of his big master plan.” Ricky shrugged.
Clothesline seemed to consider that. “Did Lucian kill the kid’s father or did the hyenas really get him?”
Ricky shook his head as pain lanced through his chest.
“I can feel your pain brother. You need to share this shit and let me help you carry it. Whatever it is. You know I won’t hold it against you. We all have our issues.” Line said in his ruined voice.
“I can’t.” Ricky shook his head and lifted his eyes to his friend, his brother.
“That’s fine. You need it out, you know where to find me.”
Ricky nodded and tried to shove it all away. The whole thing had been ripped open again since Shauna had come into the picture, but he had to keep a grip on himself.
“Lucian had a hand in Mav’s death, but I don’t know that he ordered it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Hyenas injected Mav with that damned serum. It fucked his wolf up. He sent Shauna and Dakota away before it got too bad.”
“What did that shit look like?”
“Remember when Sam changed in the shop and tried to kill everybody?” Clothesline nodded. “Imagine that with a full-grown wolf, a monster.”
Line let a string of creative curses flow before he let out a huff and shook his head.
“That’s seriously fucked. That why he called you? Knew you’d handle shit? That what we are looking at with Riv?”
Ricky considered his words, but there were none, eventually, he just nodded.
“Means he trusted you brother. That’s not a little thing. Don’t let it get to you. We need to be careful of this thing though, these fuckers start trying to stick us we are in a hell of a place.”
Ricky felt his stomach churn. “Why haven’t they died off yet?”
“They are. They are dying off, but not fucking fast enough.”
“Did that lead give them anything at all to help Sam?” Line shook his head. Ricky knew it was killing him.
“Will the kid ever make peace with his animal?”
That’s what the Sickness did, it turned the animal on the human and it destroyed the sanity of the sufferer.
“Hard to say. Dice does ok with his most of the time and Sam seems ok when he changes. His wolf is a monster though. I don’t know if it’s because of the sickness or just because he takes after his daddy, but he’s a beast.”
Ricky couldn’t help his chuckle. Dakota’s wolf wasn’t a beast, he was cunning though. He’d taken to huntin like a duck to water and he’d found his own methods. He was so much like Maverick it was heartbreaking.
“Cheer up brother, I brought you a present.” Line grinned and nodded toward the back room.
Ricky stood and walked back to find an old woman from town sitting in a chair. Her face was streaked with tears, but her eyes were defiant and filled with condemnation.
“I’m not telling you nothing. That girl is better off. She can live a clean life if she’s away from you monsters, away from your filth.”
Ricky felt his blood start to boil. “That girl is a woman who knows her own mind. That girl is a fucking brilliant lawyer who isn’t even with one of us. She is here because she is afraid someone will hurt her son. She is amazing, smart, loving, and she is a good mother. What the hell are you?”
“Her mind was corrupted by a monster. We will help cleanse her of his filth. We will help her remember what she should be.”
“What she should be? What she should be is here with her boy, here with me.”
“That boy is nothing but a monster and neither are you.” the old woman spat.
“You haven’t seen a monster yet.” Ricky felt his teeth grow, it was painful to force a partial change, but he wanted this woman afraid, too afraid to keep secrets. The terror in her face told him it was working.
“Where is Shauna?”
The woman’s eyes were wide with fear, but she stayed silent.
“I’m getting hungry old lady.” He snarled. “Or maybe I should just bite you, turn you, see how you like being a monster.”
“You wouldn’t, you can’t do that. The news says so.”
The smell of terror filled the room. He’d found his way to get her to talk.
“Ricky, don’t do that, we don’t want to do that.” Clothesline soothed him, it was a nice touch, Line knew how to play the game.
The old woman screamed and fought against her ropes, but she couldn’t break free.
“No! Stay away from me you beast from hell!” She ranted.
“Oh, I think it’s just what she needs Riv. let her feel what it’s like to be hated, to be feared. Let her feel the animal ripping her apart.” He licked his lips and stepped closer. He let saliva leak down his chin to drip onto her arm, she screamed in terror as if he’d dripped acid on her skin.
“They are radicals, zealots. They took her.” She babbled as she looked at the droplets on her arm. “We got a call from that lady on the news, McFadden she said that Shauna had been a good girl until she fell in with a monster. We just want to help her.”
“Where is she?” Ricky snarled and snapped his razor-sharp teeth inches from her face.
“The old orchard.” the old woman hung her head in defeat.
“Head on out there. I’ll get Mouse to handle this and be right behind you.” Line offered.
“Thanks Riv. I’ll take Books, Dice if he’s back around.”
Line gripped his shoulder. “These people are fucking crazy. If your head ain’t in it, stay right here and have a little snack.”
“Can’t argue with that. It’s a nice offer.” Ricky sent the old woman a wink and walked out of the room. He knew there would be traps, maybe it was all a trap, but these were not hyenas, just regular old humans who had lost their minds. That should be a piece of cake.