Charity Received (3 page)

Bale, Faith, Arak, and Zeke remained in the room while the others filed out. Feeling the need to ruffle Zeke’s feathers a bit, Kash turned his attention to Faith.

“So where might your troublesome sister be this evening?” He watched in amusement as Zeke automatically frowned at the mention of Faith’s twin. “I called my mate, but she isn’t answering.” A faint snort that could only have come from Zeke caused Kash to turn his head and hide a smile. Referring to Hope as his mate had originally been a lie Faith had propagated to help ease her twin out from under their father’s control, but it soon became a running joke between Hope and him. The fact that it tweaked Zeke’s temper was a bonus. Call him sentimental, but Kash wanted Hope to be happy, and for some reason, she seemed to want Zeke. Though why, Kash couldn’t fathom.

Faith rolled her eyes. “Who knows what trouble she’s getting into now. I had hoped Charity would be a calming influence.”

“Speaking of the elusive werewolf, why do I get the feeling she’s avoiding me?”

Faith glanced away, but not before Kash thought he saw pity flash in her eyes.

“Shifter. She’s a shifter, not a werewolf,” Zeke cut in.

Zeke’s anger surprised Kash. Maybe there
was
more going on with the werewolf than he’d originally thought.

“Funny. I could have sworn I heard you call her ‘Wolfie’ and ‘Sasquatch’ just last night.” With a look, Bale dared Zeke to refute his statement. “And you two seem to have gotten awfully close.”

“What’s your point?”

Bale ignored the threat in Zeke’s green gaze and shrugged. “Just curious.”

“Bale, why don’t you concentrate on your female, and I’ll—”

“What? Concentrate on your own?” Arak’s eyes lit with surprise. “Are you implying what I think you are? Is Charity your mate?”

Everyone in the room seemed to still, avidly waiting for Zeke’s reply. Kash had his own reasons for being interested. Though Hope denied any attraction to Zeke, Kash recognized a lie when he heard one, even without Zeke’s ability to discern lies from truth.

“Jesus Christ, no. But while she might not be my mate, she is my friend. And I’ll rip any of you a new asshole if you mess with her.”

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Arak mumbled, and Kash silently agreed.

He wondered what it was about the werewolf—uh, shifter—that inspired such loyalty in others. Hope, Faith, Bale, and now Zeke, all seemed to protect Charity religiously. He strengthened his resolve to meet the female, to find out for himself just what it was about her that caused such a reaction from everyone who knew her.

Charity smiled warmly at Bale as she placed a bottle of Kilkenny on the napkin in front of him. Club Dominus hadn’t carried that particular brand of beer until Faith had become involved with the huge, dark-eyed, dark-haired male. It was bandied about that he wouldn’t drink anything else. And Faith went out of her way to keep her mate happy.

Then she slid the glass of Cabo Wabo to Zeke. He was a contradiction, that one. So hard on the outside, and yet so sensitive. Though no one would have believed Charity if she’d said so out loud. She’d made the mistake once of mentioning him to Hope. After being flayed alive by her roommate’s sharp tongue, she’d learned her lesson. Hope and Zeke were not to be allowed in the same room. She just didn’t understand the general dislike between the two.

While Charity felt certain Bale had basically adopted her out of a sense of obligation because of her assistance when Faith had been kidnapped, Zeke had become one of her dearest friends. Being a shifter, she was able to perceive people’s emotions, each having a distinct scent, and with Zeke, his came through very clear. While it confused him, he genuinely liked spending time with her.

“Thanks, Sasquatch.” Zeke tugged gently on one of her braids.

In retribution, she gave his blond goatee a good-natured yank. If anyone else had dared to call her such a foul name, Charity would have shown them exactly what a pissed-off shifter could do with a set of claws. But this was Zeke. And he owned a piece of her heart.

If she hadn’t known better, she would have associated the feeling with being part of a pack, because this was what she thought it was supposed to feel like to belong. But Zeke was no shifter. And while Prue believed Bale and all the brothers who lived in the giant fortress just north of Seattle were, Charity knew better. None of them smelled of an animal. No, they were something old…ancient.

Zeke leaned toward her to whisper in her ear. “Do you have a minute to discuss some business?”

Charity fiddled with the edge of a napkin on her tray. “Give me ten, and I’ll meet you in Faith’s office. I have something I need to run by you too.”

As she turned, Zeke gave her braid another tug. Casting a grin over her shoulder, Charity approached the bar. With her attention now fixed on the two occupants behind the wooden structure, she could tell Prue and Faith were talking about her.

She knew Prue especially was worried, but really… The pair should have known by now she could hear them even from the other side of the noisy, crowded club. It was the reason Faith hired so many shifters as bouncers. Besides their strength, their excellent hearing helped differentiate sounds, picking and choosing which ones posed danger while filtering out what could be perceived as white noise.

“Faith, you are purposely being obtuse.” Prue slammed down a bottle of vodka with enough force, Charity was surprised it didn’t shatter.

“And what do you want me to do, Prue? Her mate is dead. I can’t fix that. Neither can you. And I certainly can’t force her to stop hunting just because you don’t like the risks she’s been taking.”

“And if those risks get your sister killed too, then will you feel differently?”

A growl rumbled from Charity’s chest as she threw her tray on the wooden top.

While she couldn’t refute Prue’s assessment of her actions, she wasn’t going to be blamed for Hope’s lack of good judgment. Faith’s twin sometimes confused reality with the female superheroes she wrote about.

Faith and Prue glanced up in surprise.

“Damn it, don’t pin Hope’s inability to recall she is still human—hence easily harmed

—on me. And I never asked either of you to fix me.”

Faith had the good sense to look apologetic. Prue, on the other hand, only arched one pierced eyebrow at her, and Charity softly growled again.

“What are you going to do, Charity? Rip my throat out?”

“Go to hell, Prue. Keep poking your nose in my business, and I just might,” Charity said, the words coming out with a snarl.

“Been there. Done that,” Prue answered with a smirk. “And you made it my business when you showed up at my house six months ago.”

Horror filled Charity as that night came back to her. After just discovering her mate was dead, she didn’t know where else to turn, and she’d found herself at the house Prue shared with her best friend, Tempy. So out of control, she’d shifted right there in their kitchen, shredding her clothing and probably freaking both females out.

As the scene flooded her mind, she felt the tentative grip with which she’d been holding on to her sanity begin to slip. Her wolf wanted to take over, to make someone hurt just as much as they both did. And she didn’t care who she destroyed, as long as it helped ease the pain for just a little while.

A pair of thick arms wrapped her in their embrace. Inhaling deeply, Charity was consumed by Zeke’s scent, and it seemed to ground her. The wolf receded, and she sank back against his chest, so tired of fighting. At that moment, she wished she could just end her suffering.

“You need to let me go, Prue,” she whispered and watched sadly as the other female avidly shook her head.

“I can’t do that.”

Charity turned her head away from the pair and tried to blink the tears from her eyes.

“Sasquatch is taking a break now.” And without waiting for confirmation from Faith, Zeke turned Charity to face him. “Come on, kid.”

As he led her down the hallway toward Faith’s office, Zeke snorted when they passed Arak. He had Calie, the other waitress working tonight, backed against the wall and was kissing her while the little brunette vampire had her hands buried in his blond curls. As Zeke opened the door and shoved Charity inside, his large frame blocked her view of the scene. Wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill she, as a shifter, should not be feeling, Charity wished for an escape from the emotional roller coaster she found herself on.

“Are you okay?” Zeke’s voice remained quiet, as if he were speaking to a wounded animal, and Charity almost laughed at that thought. If only he knew just how broken she really was.

Turning from him, she nodded.

“Then you want to tell me what the hell just happened? Faith seemed to think you were going to shift right there at the bar.”

His statement had Charity curious, and she met his gaze. “How would you know that?”

“She told Bale.”

“From across the room?” As Zeke’s eyes narrowed, she got that he’d revealed something he hadn’t meant to. “She can communicate with him telepathically.”

“We aren’t discussing Bale and Faith, Charity.”

She gave a humorless laugh and moved farther into the room, away from Zeke.

“Then what are we discussing, Zeke?”

“How about you and I fuck?”

His question, so out of the blue, startled her. Zeke was clearly flustered, given the sudden pinkish tint to his skin, and she couldn’t resist poking at him. “So now you, what…? Want to be fuck buddies? Arak is having a bad effect on you.”

Zeke folded his arms across his chest, apparently resigned to get an answer from her. “Well, why not? We like each other.”

Charity smiled then. “Yes. Surprisingly, we do. But that’s not enough for me. Maybe six months ago, I could have lived with that.” She sighed, averting her eyes from his probing gaze. “And maybe in another six months…” Charity shook her head sadly.

“I’d hate never knowing what it was like.”

Zeke appeared stunned by her admission. “Sasquatch, are you a virgin?”

Charity turned her back to Zeke and moved to the window to gaze out into the darkness. “What do you know about shifters?” she asked quietly.

“Only what you’ve told me.”

“A shifter cannot survive the loss of a true mate. We get sick and expire within weeks or months. But I am not so fortunate.”

“What are you saying, Charity?”

The horror in Zeke’s voice drew tears to her eyes. “My mate is dead. But since he and I never actually mated, I am forced to remain behind.” A soft sob escaped her lips as her breath hitched. “It hurts so badly… I never thought it could be so awful.”

“Oh Christ,” he muttered, turning her around and dragging her into his arms.

Charity didn’t protest his embrace, allowing the comfort his presence provided. She collapsed in Zeke’s arms, weeping soundlessly. Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking his chest. She couldn’t explain what it was about Zeke. When other males tried to touch her, her wolf howled in protest. But with him—and to a lesser extent, his brothers—she felt safe. And in his protective arms, she made a complete ass of herself.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered once she’d managed to shore up the dam and embarrassment had taken the place of sorrow.

“Do not apologize to me,” he said gruffly. Zeke brushed away the remaining tears from her cheeks. “I just wish I could do something.”

“You have.” Charity gave him a tentative smile. “More than you could possibly understand, just by standing here.” She tried to sweep the wetness away from his vest, lowering her eyes sheepishly. “Look what I’ve done to you.”

Zeke sighed dramatically. “Oh, the things I must endure for the sake of mankind.”

“Big of you to take one for the team,” she murmured drily. “Anyway, this wasn’t what I wanted to discuss with you.” Charity pushed her way out of his arms, chastising her silly behavior. She was done mourning. There was a job that needed to be done, and she had a plan—one she refused to deviate from. “You don’t want an invite to my pity party.”

“Charity.” His voice held a warning.

“I need this to get through the days, Zeke. I’d be lost if I couldn’t hunt.”

“I know,” he said, resting his hands on her shoulders, massaging gently. And Charity suspected that Zeke really did. At the oddest times, her wolf sensed such a flood of emotion coming from him that she knew something just as heart-wrenching had happened in his past to harden him.

“These recent attacks…”

“What about them?”

Charity couldn’t help a small smile at Zeke’s interruption. Ever the warrior. “Word is they appear canine, probably wolf. And rumor has it the O’Malley pack is missing three of its young males.”

“Do you think the two are related?”

Charity shrugged. She really didn’t know what to make of the attacks. “Maybe I could answer that question if I could get a look at one of the victims. But even in a pack as large as the O’Malleys, for one male to go missing is unusual. And three?

Unheard of.”

A sudden noise caught Charity’s attention. At first she wondered about it, but Zeke seemed not to have noticed. Then she realized it was coming from him.

“And I know why…because I got high, because I got high, because I got high,” she sang along. Zeke looked at her like she was insane. “Afroman. It’s coming from your pocket.”

“Son of a bitch.” Zeke dug into his pocket and pulled out his cell. “I swear to God, I’m going to kill Faith for teaching Arak how to use that fucking computer. If that bastard messes with my phone one more time…” Zeke flipped open the phone.

“What?” he barked.

Charity turned to hide her laughter. She and Zeke had had many a discussion over the past six months regarding his musical choices. Gangsta-rap. Crap Charity just couldn’t get into no matter how much she’d tried. Give her good ol’ Linkin Park any day.

The smile slid from her face when she recognized Kash’s voice on the other end of his phone. Stepping farther away from Zeke, she hoped the distance would drown out the other male’s cadence. No such damn luck.

Then what Kash was saying registered. There had been another attack close to the club.