Gifted with Hydrangea (8 page)

Rudo
walked up to a cheap
mirror, with a plain wooden frame he had built. He was hopeful as he saw it was
still in place. It was three feet wide, and over six and a half feet tall.
Grabbing one side, he pulled on it, opening it like a door. Behind it revealed
a large, upright safe.

“
Wow, that’s awesome. Did anyone else have the
combination?” Ryker’s voice held awe, which helped ease the sting of being
robbed in front of his mate.

The safe looked intact. “Sort of. I have a copy of the
combination in my will. Whether or not the alpha was able to take a look at the
will, I am uncertain.”

“
Well, the alpha hadn’t been able to declare you dead
yet, so he shouldn’t have been able to get a hold of that will. Open it up.”

Rudo
didn’t want to open it in
front of Ryker. If the alpha had indeed been able to get a hold of the
combination and had cleaned him out, it would mean he had nothing to give his
mate, nothing to offer him. He didn’t want to look like a failure in front of
his mate, but whatever was done, was done, so with a knot in his stomach, and
almost shaky hands,
Rudo
began dialing in the
combination.

Gavin and
Neto
joined them
as he dialed the last number. He pulled on the handles, swinging the heavy door
open. A breath whooshed out from him as he saw everything in his safe was there,
and intact.

“
Holy Fort Knox, lover, you’re loaded.” Ryker laughed.

Rudo
was so relieved. He
grabbed up Ryker and held him in a tight embrace
for several minutes. Ryker seemed to have known he
needed the comforting, so he didn’t argue, or struggle, or even complain. He
just held him back.

Gavin interrupted their quiet moment. “Hey,
Rudo
, that had to have been a lot of work, finding a way to
build your safe into a wall. How’d you do it?”

Rudo
kept his hold on his mate,
but relaxed it a bit and leaned back. “I didn’t. It was a small closet, so I
found a safe that would fit it, and just placed the mirror over it.”

“
That’s smart,”
Neto
said.

Ryker reached out and opened a black velvet bag, and
poured some of its contents out into his hands. They were jewels he had
purchased to stand in for currency. He did have some piles of tightly bound
cash, but investing in jewels took up less space, and couldn’t be destroyed as
easily. Also, its value could increase.

“
That’s some serious sparkly,” Ryker said.

“
Careful, Rye,” Gavin said. “You have
Rudo’s
family jewels in the palm of your hand.”

Ryker laughed and wiggled his eyebrows in response.

Neto
admired one of the rifles
Rudo
had stored in the safe. Ryker put the gems back in the
bag, and after he placed it back in the safe, he pulled out the official
paperwork that
Rudo
had also stored in here.

“
I think, in light of everything, maybe we should
return one of the trucks for a c
ar
. Any objections?”
Neto
asked.

Ryker shook his head. “None here. Everything we can
pack up today will fit in the one truck. We’ll have to wait and see what the
sheriff can find on the alpha’s property, but chances are likely he either sold
or gave away everything they took. We may not recover everything, if anything,
on this trip.”

“
I know it’s not much of a consolation, but at least
they didn’t get the stuff in the safe,” Gavin said.

Rudo
had to agree. “It is true
that most of what they left behind is what matters to me the most. The pieces
of equipment they left in the shop may be old, but they have more meaning to me
than the newer pieces they took. And my most precious heirlooms I stored in
here, with the exception of the pictures of my family, which they left hanging
on the walls.”

“
Let’s get to work then.”
Neto
slapped Gavin on his shoulder.

Ryker returned the papers, and they closed it up, and
positioned the mirror back into place. They spent the next hour loading the
truck, while Ryker wrote down everything he told him was missing, and also
wrote up their statements.

“
All right, I’ve got all the statements written up. All
you guys need to do is sign them, and I have the list of everything stolen. I
also called a realtor to get the sale of the house started. She’ll be out in an
hour. I was thinking of having one of you help me run this paperwork into the
sheriff’s office, and turn the second truck in for a rental car while the other
two of you finish with the final bits of packing. How does that sound?”

Everyone agreed, so
Neto
jumped into the truck with Ryker and headed to town, while
Rudo
and Gavin finished up.

Thirty minutes later,
Rudo
was bent over the disarrayed books, concentrating on picking them up and fixing
their pages, when he felt three stabs of pain in his back. He looked back to
see someone he didn’t recognize, standing in the doorway with a dart gun. He
had been concentrating so much on the books, and his own self-pity, that he
hadn’t noticed any unfamiliar scents had come in. His eyes grew heavy, and as
darkness started to engulf him, he heard his mate screaming for him in his
mind, but he could do nothing to respond. The blackness caught up with him and
pulled him under.

Chapter Eight

Enzo stretched, yawned, and rubbed his eyes. His nose
twitched with the smell of antiseptic. The fog in his mind cleared, and he
suddenly remembered where he was, and why. Enzo sat up and looked around. The
light of day filtered in through the two windows, but was dampened by the white
blinds that covered them. It was plenty for his wolf senses, and he was able to
bring his eyes to focus on the sleeping form in the bed beside him. The steady
rise and fall of his mate’s chest assured him he was still sleeping.

Enzo let out his breath long and slow.
My mate.
Just being able to say that
with certainty in his head gave him butterflies. He sat there for some minutes,
letting his eyes take in Heath’s sleeping form. He took in his mate’s scent and
listened to his mate’s heart’s steady rhythm. His fingers twitched with a
longing to touch him, and his mouth watered with need to taste him, when his
mind dunked into the gutter after seeing the tenting of the blanket from his
mate’s morning wood.

Enzo scrubbed his face and shook his head. As much as
he wanted his mate, Heath had had the worst fright just hours before. He had
just learned about the existence of paranormals. Now was not the time to molest
the man.

As quietly as he could, Enzo stood up and walked to
the door. He silently opened the door and slipped out to use the bathroom. He
quickly used the toilet, and washed his face and hands. He was about to sneak
back into the room when he heard someone enter the building. Familiar steps
made their way closer. He turned his head and saw
Alphy
walking around the corner.

Alphy
greeted him with a smile. “Morning, sunshine. Did you enjoy sleeping in?”

“
Shh
, not so loud,” Enzo said
in a hushed voice. “Heath is still sleeping.”

Alphy
lowered his voice. “Sorry. How’d it go last night?”

“
He slept through the entire night without incident.
Although waking up to the reality that last night wasn’t a bad dream will be another
story. ”

“
True. I thought I’d come out here to bring you up to
speed on our morning meeting, seeing’s you missed it ‘n’ all.”

Enzo followed
Alphy
out into
the waiting room, and they each took a seat.

“
Ryker and the others made it to the airport, and their
plane is already in the air. You don’t usually sleep in this long.”

Enzo leaned his head against the wall his chair was
against. “I haven’t been getting much sleep. It wasn’t bad enough to show just
yet, but it was enough. I think being able to sleep with his scent so near,
allowed me to relax enough to catch up on some of those missing Zs.”

“
Well, you didn’t miss much. We mainly discussed you
and your mate, and Ryker’s mission. We also discussed technicalities regarding
Craig and Mina. Grey is already back home, but he has reservations about his
alpha.”

Enzo grunted. “With reason. Sounds like the alpha is a
tyrant, selling the shifters who oppose him.”

“
First we have to find Lizzy to prove it. In the
meantime, I asked Tyler if he could find an alpha who would be interested in
challenging him.”

“
They’re a wolf pack, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Wolves are the most common of shifter breeds.”

“
That’s pretty much what Tyler said. He’s going to
reach out to Councilman Black to help. The only thing he foresees may be a
difficulty is if the alpha is corrupt, and sold Lizzy to
Phenocorps
,
then it might mean he’s an asset to them. It would cause them to take notice,
should he be usurped.”

“
They have to know that alphas are challenged and
defeated all the time. True, he’ll need to watch his back, but aside from that,
it shouldn’t look too conspicuous.”

“
I agree. And Slate’s friend, Grey, will be a reliable
ally for any good alpha. Oh, and also, Max has agreed to be our liaison with
the Buffalo coven.”

“
Good, I’m glad he was finally able to take time to
think it over. He was consumed with helping his mate first, trying to get
everything back that was taken. Or at least most everything. And now that I
have a mate of my own, I totally get it.”

“
That brings up the final thing. I’m giving you some
time off to woo and care for your mate.”

Enzo was a little shocked. “Not that I’m complaining,
but there is so much to be done. The pack is still in a bit
of chaos, adjusting to each other, and the
investigative business we started still has so much to do to get off the
ground.”

“
I realize how much needs to be done, believe me, I do.
But mates come first. Especially after what he endured yesterday. The twins
told me he threw up, almost right on top of one of them. They felt really bad
for scaring him so severely, especially after they found out he is your mate.
They are the ones who approached me to giving you some time off. They
volunteered to help in the office, or wherever I need, so you can have that tim
e.
I might ask for help every now and then, and I’ll
keep you up to date with whatever is shared in any meetings you miss. But other
than that, I’m taking them up on the offer.”

Enzo was shocked and greatly moved by the offer.
I’ll have to find a way to make it up to them
someday,
he thought.

“
Thank you,” Enzo said, with some bit of emotion.

“
You’re welcome.”
Alphy
stood
up, and Enzo stood with him.

Alphy
headed to the door. “The girls saved some breakfast for both of you, so take
your time,” he said over his shoulder. Then he opened the door and left.

****

From down the hall, Heath listened to
Alphy
leave. In spite of the horrendous events he’d
experienced last night,
Alphy’s
name had stuck. He
had woken up when the two men were talking in the hall. Heath was curious what
they had to say, so he followed just to the door, when they had moved to the
waiting room, and listened to their conversation. Much of it he didn’t fully
understand, but he did think he understood about the twins. He remembered
almost perfectly, nearly throwing up on one of the wolves. He wasn’t sure what
to think about them working to give Enzo time off. He was still afraid of them.
However, he felt like what they did was really nice.
But it was for Enzo. Would they still hurt me?
A little jealousy
crept in at the fleeting thought they would do anything for Enzo. His darker
thoughts were interrupted.

“
Hey, you’re up.” Enzo’s smooth and sexy voice sounded
down the hall as he started coming closer.

Heath suddenly felt scared.
Should I have stayed in bed? Will he get mad that I was eavesdropping?
I don’t want to get any of these guys mad at me. They may really kill me.

“
Hey, whatever you’re thinking,
stop.
You’re fine. Remember, I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.” Enzo’s voice
lowered to a soothing sound, and he came up and wrapped his arms around him.

Heath took in the man’s scent as he was pressed
against Enzo’s well-built body. It was spicy and musky and nearly made his toes
curl. Instantly his body relaxed into Enzo’s arms. Large, hot hands rubbed in circles
on his back.
Mm, I could get used to
this.
He had crushed on this man for a month and a half now. How many times
had he longed to be right where he currently was? And just how many times did
he jack off to the mere thought of being this close to the man? They had been
the most intense orgasms he had had in his life, each and every single one of
them
. But he’s not a man.

Heath paused at that thought. He would have thought
that that would dump ice water on his libido, but his hard-on, tenting his
sweats, didn’t wane in the least. Instead, it jumped, and he could feel pre-cum
escape from the tip as he thought about the power that this man, or beast, had.

Enzo gave a mix between a groan and a growl. Instead
of being scared, shivers of pleasure prickled up Heath’s spine.

“
Fuck, baby, you’re killing me.” Enzo breathed into his
hair. “I want you so damn bad, I could pound railroad spikes with my dick. But
I don’t believe you are ready for me just yet.”

Enzo pulled away and stepped back. Heath had to take a
second to get the strength back into his legs to hold himself up, and he sorely
missed the heat Enzo’s body had offered. He looked up into his face, and
another dollop of pre-cum oozed from his slit. Raw, sexual desire powered
through Enzo’s blue-fire eyes.

“
Let’s go get some breakfast. I need to eat something,
before I eat you.” Enzo’s voice was low and sultry.

Heath silently nodded, but didn’t make any effort to
move. He wasn’t afraid of Enzo’s declaration. Maybe he would have been last
night, but right now all he could think about was Enzo making a meal of his
dick, and that wasn’t a bad thought at all.

“
Fuck me,” Enzo mumbled right before he slanted his
head and pressed his soft, pink lips to Heath’s.

The kiss went nuclear the moment their mouths met. Enzo’s
fingers dug in a pleasurably painful way, through his short hair, and pulled
him harder against the man who was now devouring him.
Yes, please!
he
thought.

Heath grunted when his back was pushed up against the
wall, and a whimper escaped him somehow, as Enzo rubbed his restrained cock
against Heath’s, and the stubble on his chin scraped against his, which sent a
zing of pleasure south.

Enzo’s mouth suctioned in Heath’s lips and then his
tongue. His balls rolled in their sac, and he felt like they were being pulled
up, from the suction Enzo had on his mouth. Enzo nipped at his lips, and then
ran his tongue over where he nipped.

Heath gyrated his hips, grinding his erection against
Enzo’s. Suddenly, a voice not Enzo’s registered through his cloudy thoughts.

Enzo directed a threatening growl to his right, at
someone down the hall.

“
Do not blame me. You are out in the open, in a clinic
that is now open for visitors. I’m sure you do not want everyone seeing, or
smelling, your mate’s … condition.”

Heath turned his head and saw the doctor, standing at
the end of the hall, and felt heat cover his cheeks.

Both men were breathing heavily. Enzo groaned and
rested their foreheads together. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m weak when I’m
around you.”

Heath didn’t want to say it out loud, but to himself,
he could admit he felt the same way about Enzo.

Enzo pulled away. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

“
Wait!” Heath said, and pulled back when Enzo tried to
lead him down the hall. Enzo looked back, and gave him a curious look.

“
I haven’t used the, um, bathroom yet.” Heath felt a
blush heat his cheeks.

Enzo smiled and let go. After Heath was done, Enzo was
waiting with his shoes, outside the door.

“
We almost left without these. It tells you how much my
mind really wasn’t working,” Enzo said, handing the shoes to him.

Heath laughed, and put them on. On their way out,
Seamus stopped them from the kitchen area.

“
How did those pills work for you, Heath?”

“
Uh, fine,” he answered.

“
Any unusual grogginess or perhaps dizziness?”

Heath shook his head. “No. Thank you for them.”

“
You’re welcome. If you need anything, at any time, you
can come to me. Do you know if you are going to be staying here again tonight?”

Heath looked up at Enzo, hoping to get help with that
answer, but with the controlled blank look on his face, it was clear that the
choice was his own, so he turned back to Seamus.

“
I, uh, don’t know.”

Seamus waved his hand dismissively. “That’s fine. You
let me know what you decide, when you do. There’s no pressure. Oh, don’t forget
your desserts. They’re still in the fridge.”

Enzo walked over and opened the door of the fridge.
“How’s that research going, Sea?” Enzo asked.

“
We’ve made some breakthroughs.
Maysa
and I have already figured out a sedative that will work on paranormals. We
haven’t figured the doses out yet, but that is on our agenda for today, and we
are very close in a working pain reliever.”

“
Wow, that’s great!” Enzo smiled, and waved goodbye as
he led Heath out of the building. They walked in the chill of the morning,
through the shadows of the trees. Heath shivered with the chill. Enzo must have
noticed, because he wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and drew him up against
his side. Enzo’s body heat was powerful, and did the job of keeping him
comfortable until they reached the main house.