Cougar's Victory (12 page)

Sometime later, Effie’s cell phone rang and startled her out of her nap. Dax was still at his desk, typing on his keyboard. She fumbled for the phone in her purse and put it to her ear.

“Yeah?”

On the other end was Cassie and she was freaking way the fuck out.

“Someone broke into our apartment! Why would anyone think we had anything good to steal? I mean really!” she screeched.

Sitting up, Effie was surprisingly awake now. “What do you mean someone broke in? Did they take anything?” Oh god, she hoped her computer was still there. How was she supposed to work? It’s not like she had renter’s insurance on her dump.

“They trashed the place, destroyed everything, even our shitty couch is sliced up!” Cassie wailed.

“Are you okay?” Effie asked, concerned for her friend first.

“I’m fine, I came home found the door busted open and then called 911,” Cassie explained.

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” Effie said, and stood up.

Dax was already up and had grabbed his jacket. He was sticking his head out the door to tell Margo they were leaving before Effie could say anything else.

“Come on, I’ll drive you,” he said, wrapping her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, baby. We’ll figure this out okay?”

Effie felt better in Dax’s arms. She was grateful she wouldn’t have to deal with this on her own. Why when things were going good did her shitty luck have to bitch slap her across the face?

Dax offered to drive her car back to her apartment and Effie didn’t complain. She was in no shape to drive, her mind was spinning. Sure she lived in the dumpy part of town. But most people wouldn’t even guess there was a residence above the diner. All the buildings around there were commercial. Plus just the state of the place didn’t exactly scream money!

They made it back to the apartment and found two police officers taking a statement from Cassie. Effie walked in and swayed on her kitten heels. It looked like a tornado had hit their tiny sanctuary.

Everything was either torn up, turned over, or dumped out.

She felt Dax’s arms wrap around her from behind. She leaned into his support. Her eyes scanned the room and came across her computer desk. Her laptop was gone.

“Shit, shit, shit!” She pulled out of Dax’s arms and rushed over to her desk. It was gone, even the fucking power cord was missing.

“My laptop! How am I supposed to work?” she cried, turning back to see Dax and Cassie looking at her with sympathy.

“Baby, we can replace that,” Dax assured her. “I’m just glad you girls weren’t here when whoever did this was here.”

Effie turned and ran into his arms, burying her head in his chest.

Dax looked over to see Cassie watching them. He opened his arms and Cass dove into them. She wrapped herself around Effie and Dax.

“This sucks,” Cass mumbled into Dax’s shirt.

“I’m sorry Cassie, this does suck,” Dax agreed. “Let’s get finished up with the police, grab what you can, and you’re both coming back to my house. And that’s final.”

“Okay,” Effie agreed.

“Okay,” Cass sniffed. “Your boyfriend smells good,” she said, winking at Effie.

“Stop sniffing my man!” Effie jokingly gave her a shove.

“Girls,” Dax reprimanded.

Effie gave Cass a raspberry, which Cass was glad to return.

They both gave statements to the police, which wasn’t much help since they weren’t home when the break-in happened.

They managed to secure what clothes that weren’t destroyed and bagged them up. It seemed the perpetrator was intent on destruction of the larger pieces of furniture and not necessarily the clothes and personal items. They did notice some jewelry missing but the thieves would soon find out that all of it was fake.

Dax was trying to keep his calm for the girl’s sake. The apartment reeked of her ex-boyfriend. His scent was on everything. Dax could almost smell his anger and rage while he tore through Effie’s space.

He couldn’t tell if the man was looking for something or just intent on destruction. Either way, the girls were not safe here anymore. Dax was going to make sure they were kept under a very close eye.

Dax made a mental note to send off an email to Everett to look into this Chris character. His family had access to lots of information. Being wealthy was part of that, the other part was that shifters made sure to have access to information that normal people would have a hard time getting. This kept them one step ahead in the incognito game.

Which made him think of his phone call with his mother earlier. After a few days of bliss, Dax had accidently let it slip to his sister that Effie was on her way over. He didn’t even think about it when he said it. His sister Mackenzie jumped all over it and Dax reluctantly told her about his mate. She was of course thrilled for him and couldn’t wait to meet her. It wasn’t fifteen minutes after he hung up with Kenzi that the phone rang and it was his mother. She then proceeded to spend the better part of an hour lamenting the fact that her first born, the Alpha of their pack, was mating a human. What would the other packs think!

Considering most packs were pretty integrated, Dax didn’t think it would be that much of a shock. Dax was very firm with his mother and stopped just short of using his Alpha voice to explain to her that Effie was his business. That he was still courting her and they hadn’t bonded yet. He warned her that if she did anything to jeopardize his relationship with her, he’d never forgive her.

His mother of course barely heard the threat in his tone. Lilibeth Hayes was a matriarch of a cougar clan. She wasn’t scared off by a young Alpha. He did try to get his mother to back down by promising that once their bond was completed he’d bring her down to California to meet the family. Until then, he needed them all to back off.

Dax’s father had got on the phone, asked his son if she was hot. Dax reluctantly told his father yes. His Dad told him ‘nice work son’ then gave the phone back to his mother.

Succinct his father was. That was a few days before today’s call. His mother had Everett run a background check on Effie. She was practically gleeful when she informed Dax that the
human
he was “dating,” not only came from a troubled background, but had lived in foster care and had changed her name.

She was less than thrilled when Dax informed her he couldn’t care less. He wasn’t going to change how he felt about his mate because of something she had no control over as a child. Dax also offered up to his mother, that she was being petty and spiteful, and that maybe she should spend more time worrying where her wayward son Stryker had gotten himself off too.

She’d hung up on him. It wasn’t the first time. His mother, god love her, was a nosey, high maintenance perfectionist. She was never going to change.

Dax drove the girls back to his house, got them settled into loungers by the pool, blended them both a double margarita, and told them both to relax while he handled the apartment.

Once inside, he texted Everett the information about Chris. Then he got Margo activated to get the rest of the girl’s things moved out of the apartment. He called their landlord and agreed to pay out their lease in full after informing him they were moving effective immediately.

Dax ordered a new laptop for Effie. He found one that was red and suited her style. Plus it was faster and had more memory than her old one. Finally he ordered pizza and went back outside to inform the girls that they were staying with him for the foreseeable future.

“Only temporarily, Dax,” Effie chided. Dating was one thing, moving in was another.

“Of course, my love,” he answered, looking over at Cass and giving her a wink.

“You’re sooo screwed,” Cass mumbled.

Effie didn’t know if she was talking to Dax or her. Whatever, the trauma of seeing her home destroyed had Effie happily accepting Dax’s help. Effie’s foster parents always told her to never reject a hand offered in help, because it might not be offered again. Serious words to live by and they hadn’t failed Effie yet.

They ate pizza and watched chick flicks the rest of the night. Both girls passed out on the couch. Dax lifted Effie up and got her tucked into bed. Cassie had stirred when he picked up Effie. “You want me to carry you too?” he whispered, with a smile.

“Tempting, Hottie McHottieson, but I better walk.”

Dax made sure Cass was settled into a guest room before he made his goodnights.

As he pulled Effie into his arms, she barely stirred. She was exhausted and he didn’t blame her. Her ex needed to be dealt with and soon. Dax’s last task of the day was to send an email to Cage Rochon asking his advice on how to handle the situation quietly. His response was to “Rip the son of a bitch’s throat out.” Coming from Cage, this was not hypothetical.

He’d done that exact thing to one of Dax’s former employees that had almost killed two of the Rochon brother’s mates. The man had been intent on death and destruction. Cage and his brothers ended his reign of terror. Dax got to watch it all as he lay on the ground shot by his former employee. It was not something any of them had relished doing. But they also wouldn’t let anything stand in the way of keeping their families safe.

Dax thanked Cage for his input and told him he’d get back to him with updates. The brothers had offered their full support in whatever Dax needed. He appreciated their willingness to help. Most shifters of different species didn’t mix much. It was in their nature to not only hide from humans but also protect themselves against other shifters. The Rochons and Hayes were an exception to that rule.

Tightening his arms around his mate, Dax shuddered to think of what would become of him if anything ever happened to Effie. He didn’t think he would survive.

As they lay together, Effie started mumbling in her sleep. Then the mumbles turned to quiet cries. Dax tried to rock her and whispered that she was okay. He didn’t want to startle her awake, but the nightmare that was clearly gripping her was gaining ground.

“No! Stop!” Effie yelled and tried to bolt out of his arms.

“Effie, baby, sshhh. I’ve got you. You’re here with me, it’s just a dream,” he murmured, kissing her head and petting her back. She was clinging to him, her nails digging into his chest.

“Dax?”

“Yeah, sweetness, it’s me,” he said. “You’re safe with me, at my house.”

Taking a shuddering breath, Effie tried to let the tension drain out of her. The nightmare was of Chris. She was at her apartment, it was torn apart and he was choking her again. This time no one came. He was laughing and squeezing her neck. Her air was gone and she knew she was going to die. She could still feel his hands gripping her throat.

“Effie, you’re safe,” Dax kept repeating.

“I’m sorry,” she managed. “It was just a nightmare.”

“I assumed. I’m not surprised. Your brain is trying to deal with the violation. I’d expect you to have a nightmare,” Dax assured her.

“Ugh, I haven’t had nightmares since I was a kid,” she admitted. She used to have them all the time. It was one of the things her foster parents hated. Her screaming and waking up the rest of the kids at night.

“I bet you did,” Dax said knowingly.

“What do you mean?” Effie asked. Dax sounded confident in his assessment that her childhood warranted nightmares.

“Total honesty?” he asked.

“Always,” she answered.

“My mother ran a check on you. Which sounds horrible I know and it is. It’s a total invasion of your privacy. But usually she does that before one of her kids has met someone and she’s planning on introducing us to them. She feels with our family legacy, no stone can be unturned in the search for perfect mates for her children.”

“Wait until she gets a load of me,” Effie mumbled.

“She told me about your past Effie. I very firmly explained to her I didn’t give a rat’s ass about your childhood. Who your mother was or the fact you used to have a different last name. I’m not trying to sound indifferent. But you are who you are. I love exactly who you turned out to be. However you got to this point, doesn’t factor into how I feel about you.”

Effie looked up at the man that was accepting her, trashy flaws and all. Unbelievable, he was simply unbelievable.

“You don’t care?” she asked incredulously.

“I don’t care if you don’t. You seemed to have made a new life for yourself. I admire that. It just goes to show how strong of a person you really are. It makes you that much better of a mate for me. I need someone strong beside me to run my pack.”

“Run your pack? Are you the boss or something?” Effie asked confused.

“I’m Alpha. Just like any pack animal, someone is always in charge. That’s me until I step down and someone takes my place. It’s not a hard job, but it’s always easier with a strong mate.”

Effie thought about this. She’d conquered a lot in her life. It was a constant uphill struggle day to day for her. What’s a little Alpha mate work thrown into the mix. Effie realized that was the first time she’d thought of herself as a mate. That word meant something more to her now. She saw that word for what it meant to Dax. It was a forever commitment to another person. Even after death, it was an unbreakable bond.

“I love you so much, Dax. I want us to be together forever. Like real forever,” she said, looking up at his eyes that were reflecting the moonlight streaming through the window.

Dax stared down at her. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?

“Do you mean forever like, bonded forever? Mated forever?” he asked, hoping she was saying yes. Even his cat was holding its breath.

“Dax, I don’t know how, but I know you are my One. The one I’m supposed to be with. Resisting that is almost painful. I don’t like being apart from you either. And I don’t want to spend my nights alone anymore.”

“It feels like I’ve been waiting years to hear you say that. I know it’s been a week, but I’ve been waiting decades for this,” he said, cupping her face.

Effie wanted to make sure they were both clearly on the same page. “Dax, your mom doesn’t seem to approve of me.”

Dax kissed her lips and held her gaze as he said, “She will. She’s a mom first, she wants the absolute best for her kids. And from two states away she’s worried you aren’t right for me. But even she knows we don’t choose our mates. She needs to meet you and then she will see that we are perfect for each other. If for some reason she thinks she knows better than the fates. Well, I’ll keep trying to convince her otherwise. But hear me now, I’ll choose you. I’ll always choose you, Effie.”