Gifted with Hydrangea (10 page)

“
Okay, that brings up another thing about ranks,
sweetheart. You remember Gale?”

“
From breakfast, right?”

“
Yes. She’s mated to the alpha, which makes her the
alpha mate. When we mate, we become as one with our mates. Therefore, we share
the rank of our mates. So even though I’m second in command, she still outranks
me. After alpha, is me, the beta. Then there’s the enforcer, who enforces pack
laws and protects the pack. Because our pack is so big, we have three
enforcers. Our lead enforcer is Slate. He’s mated to Katie, so that makes her a
higher rank than the other two enforcers, who are Matteo and
Dultyn
.”

“
Oh, I get it.
Dultyn
? Isn’t
that Havana’s man?”

“
Yes, they are mates. Which makes her lower rank than
Katie, but higher than the ranks below her.”

Heath decided to wait to ask about mates. There was so
much to learn, and he didn’t want to miss this ranking information, as it
sounded too important. “Okay, so after the enforcers are?”

“
The trackers. Those are Nix,
Kace
,
and Ryker. Now, remember how I said the alpha can make his own rules?”

Heath vaguely remembered something like that. It was a
lot of information to process. He nodded, so Enzo continued.

“
Well, because our pack is so big, he actually created
another rank. The rank of sentry. Not all packs have extra ranks, but an alpha
can do just about anything he wants. Sentry is our lowest rank. There are no
other officer ranks, so everyone else is equal to one another. I would say the
only exception is the pack doctor.” Enzo chuckled. “He’s probably the only one who
could defy
Alphy
, and not get hurt doing so. You can
think of him as like a silent partner in the pack. He even attends the officer
meetings at times.”

Heath leaned back on his hands and swung his legs as
he thought about the information. There was really one other thing that he
didn’t fully understand, and it bothered him.

Enzo interrupted his thoughts. “Please tell me, Heath,
what are you thinking? Let me help you understand whatever it is that is
bothering you.”

Heath raised a brow as he gave a pointed look at Enzo.
“I didn’t think I was that transparent.”

“
Not outwardly, but
paranormals
have a keener sense of smell than humans. And shifters have one of the keenest of
all
paranormals
. I can smell your emotions. That is
another thing. You can’t lie to a paranormal because we can scent them.”

“
Wait, so no one lies?”

Enzo shrugged. “We have our villains, as do humans, so
there are those who lie, but it’s incredibly tricky to get away with, so it’s
unnatural to us.”

“
Oh, ok, I guess.”

Enzo gave him a pointed look. “So what was it you were
thinking that left you so unhappy?”

Heath leaned forward again
and sighed. What he was about to reveal was
embarrassing, but he really liked Enzo, more than logic should dictate, so he
needed to clarify things before his heart got further invested. As it was, he
was going to be nursing the biggest broken heart he’d ever endured.

“
I really like you, Enzo, even if you aren’t human.
It’s obvious you didn’t mind having some fun with the same sex, but if you got
mated, well, I don’t think my heart could take it. I’m looking for a lifelong
relationship. No one wants to be the ‘good for now’ lover.”

Enzo twisted himself to face Heath and grabbed both of
his hands. Heath looked up into his extremely serious face.

“
Heath, listen very carefully to me. I know I told you
this last night, but given the day you had, I understand you probably don’t
remember, or didn’t understand what it meant. Shifters mate for life. All
paranormals mate for life. We live longer lives than humans, so fate grants us
the ability to sense the other half of our soul, our mate. It’s a rare gift to
find, because we get only one, but once we find them, we’ll want no one else.
After we mate with them, we can’t even get it up for another.”

Heath’s heart started to ache. Enzo had just confirmed
to him that they couldn’t be anything more than friends. But in spite of the
freaky shifting part, for some reason he wanted more with Enzo.

“
Don’t you get it?” Enzo sounded urgent. “
You
are my mate, Heath. We don’t choose
our mate, otherwise we’d mess things up, so fate chooses our most perfect mate,
and that perfect someone for me, is you. I don’t, and will never again, want
another. It’s you or no one.”

A flicker of hope pulled on Heath’s heart, and a
flutter tickled his stomach. “So you’re saying I’m your soul-mate?”

“
Yes. Be prepared, because I’m going to spend the rest
of my life begging you to mate with me.”

Heath tilted his head. “Mate? You keep using that
term. Does it mean marry?”

“
Sort of, but it’s more permanent for paranormals.
There are no divorces. It’s an actual physical bond that can’t be undone. When
we find our mates, we want to claim them, to join with them permanently.”

“
So you want to claim me? Like luggage?”

Heath saw tension in Enzo’s body as he explained it to
him. “No. When we claim our mate, our chemistry syncs so that we would both
live the same lifespan. You would live a longer lifespan, you would heal much
faster than you do now, and you would become immune to many illnesses. But
should one mate die, so will the other.”

Heath’s brows knitted together. “So you’re saying that
if I let you mate with me, and if you die, I will die, too?”

Worry and frustration tensed Enzo’s facial features,
but his voice was patient. “Not instantly, but yes.”

“
Wait, you said that you have to be born a paranormal,
that you can’t be changed into one. You’re saying that if you mate with me, I
will become one of you?”

“
No, you won’t be turned into a shifter, Heath. The
claiming just alters your chemistry to live longer and heal faster.”

Heath gave him a skeptical look. “How does a
paranormal claim a mate?”

Enzo looked like he relaxed a little bit in relief.
“It can vary with different paranormals. For a shifter, like myself, I would
need to come inside you, and also bite you.”

Heath’s dick was half hard. As soon as he heard what
Enzo had to do, he pictured it in his mind, and his dick inflated the rest of
the way. He silently cursed the thing, and tried to focus on the question he
wanted to ask next.

“
Uh, w-
wha
—uh…”

Enzo seemed to understand what he was asking. “My bite
releases my saliva into your body, to change it. Together with my cum it will
start the chemical reaction. Also, I need to ingest some of your blood, for my
body to sync with yours. If I do one, or the other, it temporarily starts the
bonding process, but doesn’t complete it unless both are done.”

Heath wanted to believe him, but he still held doubts.
“How do you know I’m the one fate chose for you? What if you mate me, but
someone else comes along who you think is better, you would regret mating with
me.”

“
There are different ways to know. Our sense of smell
is the first and main way to tell. Also, my canines will only descend when I’m
attacking, and when I claim my mate. So I wouldn’t be able to mate with you, if
you aren’t my mate. Uh...”

Suddenly Enzo got really red. His eyes darted around,
and he scrunched up his nose. “Uh … shit, you’re probably going to freak out
about this, but I can’t lie to you, I have to tell you.”

Heath expected the worst as he sat as patiently as he
could, waiting for Enzo to get around to telling him whatever it was.

“
Uh, oh boy, ok, here it goes. We, I mean, uh, wolves,
uh, my kind knots, only for our mates.”

“
Knots? What is that?”

“
It’s a gland on my penis that swells, locking us
together when I climax.”

“
And you can only do that with your mate?”

“
Yes.”

“
So, you haven’t ever done it before with anyone?”

“
No. I’ve never experienced it before.”

“
But if I’m your mate, you will.”

“
Yes.”

Heath turned and stared blindly in the space in front
of hi
m
.
He’s right.
I’m a bit freaked out about that.

Chapter Nine

Ryker was sitting in the passenger seat on their way
back to the house with
Neto
when he felt his
beloved’s p
ain
and alarm. He tried screaming for his mate through
their link when
Rudo
started to fade away.

“
What is it, Rye? What’s wrong?”
Neto
asked, as he glanced worriedly over at him from behind the wheel of their newly
rented car.

“
Something’s wrong with
Rudo
.
I felt his pain, and now nothing. I can’t contact him.” Ryker began to tear up.

Neto
reached a hand over and
grabbed one of his. “Hey, calm down. He’s probably just out cold, or you would
have felt your soul-tie snap. When he comes around, you’re going to need to
feed him calm and confidence.”

As they drew closer to his mate’s property, Ryker
could see black smoke, a lot of black smoke, billowing up into the sky from the
direction of the farm.

“
Neto
, look! That’s a lot of
smoke. Something’s on fire. Hurry!”

“
Call the fire department,”
Neto
ordered as he sped their vehicle up.

Ryker frantically dialed 911. As they approached the
house, Ryker saw both the shop and the house were on fire. As soon as an
operator answered, he didn’t wait for the operator to finish before he yelled
into the phone for fire trucks, then blurted out the address just as
Neto
stopped their vehicle not too near the inferno. Ryker
disconnected the call, leapt out of the car, and began running to the house.

“
Ryker, no! Wait!”
Neto
yelled from behind him.

Neto
grabbed him right before
he was able to run into the house and pulled him back. Ryker screamed and tried
to fight him off.

“
You can’t go in there!”
Neto
shouted as he continued pulling Ryker back.

Just then, the roof started to fall in. Sirens
surrounded them, and firemen swarmed the property
.
Ryker lost his strength and fell to his knees,
sobbing. He watched the firemen hook up their hoses, and began dousing the
flames, but the building was a total loss, and Ryker didn’t think anyone could
have lived through that.

“
Get a hold of yourself, Ryker.”
Neto
grabbed his upper arms and shook him. He spoke in a low enough voice so no one
could hear them. “Can you still feel your bond? Focus on it. Is it still
there?”

Desperate for hope, Ryker closed his eyes and tried to
find the link that bound him to his beloved.
There, is that it? Yes, he’s still alive!

“
So he’s still alive?”
Neto
asked.

Ryker nodded his head. Both men looked up when they
spotted the sheriff’s vehicle approaching.
Neto
helped Ryker to his feet. He tried to wiping his tears away with his sleeve.

Sheriff Grant had the look of sincere concern as he
approached. “We got several calls in about the smoke and flames that could be
seen from the road and neighboring homes. What happened?”

Fortunately,
Neto
answered
for him. “We’re not sure exactly. It was in flames when we got here.”

“
Do you know if your friends were inside?” the sheriff
asked.

“
We aren’t sure,”
Neto
responded.

The sheriff nodded his head and turned to look at the
burning buildings. “I got that warrant, and we searched his place. We found a few
pieces of the furniture, including the bed, but we didn’t find any of the
equipment. However, we searched Mr. Branch’s office, and we found some
paperwork I think you should look over. I’ll understand if you don’t wish to
right now, but when you get a chance, I have it down at the station.”

“
Thank you, sheriff.” Ryker’s voice felt scratchy and
sounded shaky to his own ears.

The sheriff looked around before leaning closer. He
talked in a lower voice. “Just so you know, it was a good thing I found the
papers, and not anyone else.”

Ryker watched in confusion as the sheriff walked away
and sought out the captain of the firefighters.

“
What do you suppose that’s about?”
Neto
asked.

Ryker tilted his head. “I wonder if he knows about
shifters, and found some evidence.”

“
Since it’s the alpha’s house, it sounds about right.
But how much does the sheriff know, and why would he think to trust us with
it?”

Ryker looked up at
Neto
. “I
want to know why the stupid alpha trusted human law enforcement. Alphas and
coven leaders in general, keep their distance for this very reason.”

Neto
placed a hand on Ryker’s
shoulder. “Be careful. If he does know about shifters, he could be the one
selling them to the scientists. Maybe you should go sit in the car. You should
call
Alphy
. If you don’t have any objections, I want
to search the perimeter to see if I can find anything that can tell us what
happened here.”

Ryker nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Ryker sat in the passenger seat of the car they had
just rented and closed the door. He felt slightly relieved when the sounds of
the chaos muted. After dialing
Alphy’s
number, he put
the phone to his ear, and watched the firemen work as he waited for his
longtime friend to answer.

Alphy’s
cheerful voice greeted him. “Glad to hear from you, Rye. How’s the move going?”

Ryker began getting choked up, so he coughed to clear
his throat before answering.

“
Uh,
Alphy
, not so good.”

“
Ryker, what’s wrong?”
Alphy’s
voice turned serious and was tight with concern.

It was just like
Alphy
to
care. He wasn’t just an alpha. He was a close friend, or even more, family.
Ryker couldn’t hold back a sob.

“
Alphy
, I think someone took
Rudo
and Gavin. I hope they have Gavin, because if not, he
could be dead in one of the buildings that are now on fire.”

“
Whoa, hold on, back up, Rye. Start from the
beginning.”

Ryker launched into everything that had happened,
clear up to the cryptic comment from the sheriff.

“
Neto’s
looking around to see if
he can find any clues,” Ryker finished.

“
Ok, little buddy, I’m flying down there, and I’m
bringing a team. You stay close to
Neto
. I want you
safe. Use your mad skills to find anything you can on that alpha. The corrupt
alphas are getting paid for the shifters they give them. Go with that age-old
saying: follow the money. Keep me informed with what you find, and continue to
listen to your link with your beloved. When he reaches out to you, he can help
lead us to him. Let him know a lot of help is on its way.”

Ryker was crying again. He sniffed and tried to wipe
his nose with his hand, then wiped his hand on his pants.

“
Thank you,
Alphy
.”

After Ryker hung up with
Alphy
,
he hunted
Neto
down, and repeated what
Alphy
had told him
.

“
All right then,”
Neto
said.
“How about we head to the sheriff’s office to check out that paperwork? After
that, we can head to our hotel to wait for
Alphy
there. I’ll drive the truck, and you can drive the car.”

“
Okay. Did you find anything during your search?”

“
No, and I already told the sheriff that I didn’t find
anything. He agrees with me that I think that’s why the fires were set, to
destroy any evidence that was left behind.
I
can’t even smell anything over the smoke from the
fire.”

Ryker followed behind the sheriff, and
Neto
went behind
him, in the truck. They pulled up outside the
sheriff’s station. The sheriff led them inside and into his office. He closed
the door behind them and offered them a seat.

Sheriff Gra
nt
walked around the desk and sat down, and looked
at them for a moment. “My sister got mated last year,” he said.

Ryker raised a brow, and he had to concentrate hard to
feign indifference. Both he and
Neto
remained silent.
The sheriff sighed. Reaching down, he pulled out a drawer. He placed some files
on the desk and nodded toward them.

“
These are the files on everyone in the alpha’s herd.
Now I didn’t know if you knew about their kind at first, but after watching you
guys, like your subtle mannerisms, I’m willing to take a risk. Regarding your
reaction to the fire, is Mr.
Sarr
your mate?”

Ryker still didn’t answer. After a few moments, the
sheriff sat back in his chair. “Look, I know how far you guys go to keep this a
secret, and I know you’re worried about your two friends, and I swear to you I
will do everything in my power to get them back, but I need to talk about
what’s going on, and I need you to know you can trust me with this.”

The sheriff turned around a framed picture that sat on
his desk, to show them. It was a lovely outdoor country style wedding picture,
with the couple in their wedding attire. The couple smiled in the picture, looking
as happy as they should be on a wedding day.

The sheriff pointed to the woman, who, Ryker noticed,
resembled the sheriff. “My sister is all the family I’ve got. She wanted me to
know about her mate because she knew she was going to outlive me, by a lot. She
didn’t want to fake her death and watch me grieve for her. She wanted to have
the rest of my lifespan to stay a family. She wants her young to grow up
knowing me. I promised to keep it a secret, and I have. I don’t want to do
anything that would endanger her.”

The sheriff turned the picture back around. His look
darkened. “I don’t know how, or when, but that son-of-a-bitch alpha that I
arrested a few hours earlier, somehow figured out that I knew about shifters.
He tried to threaten my sister and her mate if I didn’t arrest you. I don’t
like to be threatened. And as everyone knows, if you give into a bully, they
will always have a hold of you. I don’t like to be forced to do anything I find
is morally wrong, and someone willing to commit that kind of blackmail, usually
means they have worse crimes they are trying to hide. So I wasn’t about to bow
to his wishes. I called my sister and her mate and warned them. I’m glad I did.
I found out a few things about him.”

The sheriff stopped talking and looked at both of us.
Ryker’s curiosity and drive to bring down the alpha pushed him to ask, “What
things?”

The sheriff relaxed and leaned back in his chair. “My
brother-in-law runs their local police force, and he has connections. He says
he’s heard of some illegal, high risk gambling organization that’s starting to
crop up in the shifter community. The council has been made aware, and is
supposedly investigating it, but he hasn’t seen anything done as of yet. But
when he checked out Mr. Branch, he learned that a few months back, Mr. Branch
lost a fair amount of money and didn’t have the money to cover his losses.
Until a few days later, when miraculously he did. When I looked at the
paperwork we obtained from Mr. Branch’s home office, it shows a large deposit
was made from some corporation.”

The sheriff handed him a paper that was on the top of
the stack in front of him. Ryker took it and looked down at it. Ryker knew the
date when
Rudo
was abducted, and on the paper he now
held, was a receipt dated the day after his abduction.

“
Phenocorps
,” he hissed the
name out loud as he read it with distaste.

“
You know of it?” the sheriff asked.

Ryker looked over at
Neto
first, and with a nod from him, he answered the sheriff. “Yes. They’ve been
abducting shifters.” Ryker looked over at the sheriff. “One of them escaped
recently, and found her way to our pack. We raided it and…” Ryker’s emotions
were already fragile, so he paused to get control over them as he struggled
with the memory of what he learned from the survivors.

Neto
finished answering for
him. “They tortured, abused, and killed many shifters, all in deplorable
conditions, and all in the name of science.”

The sheriff’s face turned sour. He stood up abruptly
and started pacing. “So let me get this straight. His own alpha sold him out to
them?”

Ryker’s lower lip quivered. “Yes, we believe so, and
we think he just might have done it again, just now,” he said in a shaky voice.