Hagen, Lynn - Murphy's Madness [Brac Pack 15] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (9 page)

“We’ll talk about it later,
rebenka
.” Ludo kissed him once more before shutting off the light and closing the door.

He searched out the resident doctor, asking Nicholas to have a look at Murphy’s bump on the head before descending the stairs and finding Maverick in his office.

Ludo closed the door and took a seat on the leather sofa. He rubbed his hands over his face as he stared at the floor for a moment, trying his best to make sense of the situation. He knew every warrior was gifted with a mate who had issues to work out, but Murphy’s seemed so devastating. It wasn’t a habit he could fight to control, or an ugly past he had to get past. This was mental. How the hell do you deal with something like that? He knew he had a long and hard road ahead of him.

Ludo wiped at his eyes as he sat back and stared at Maverick. “I’m not sure what’s going on. He claims that some woman is stalking him, hurting him.”

“And you don’t believe him?” Maverick asked.

They sat silently for a long time as Ludo tried to work everything out in his head. He couldn’t come up with a solution. He felt so damn lost.

“I don’t know.” He pulled the rubber band free and ran his hands through his hair. “No tracks were found outside in the backyard. I’m positive he’s lied to me more than once. What am I supposed to believe?” He was desperate for any advice he could get. The thought of his mate being mentally ill made his heart hurt. Murphy was so witty and handsome, so full of life. There had to be a way to help him.

“That’s a tough call. The only thing I can tell you is keep an eye on him, watch for anyone hanging around his bookstore, and watch him. You should be able to figure it out sooner or later.” Maverick leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You know our mates come to us with issues. They all have so far. Murphy’s may be mental, but we’re all still going to be there for both of you. Just keep him safe, even from himself if that’s the case.”

Ludo stared down at his hands that were resting on his knees. He picked at his thumbnail as he worried that it all might be in his mate’s head. “And if it turns out that this Maribel is a figment of his imagination?”

“Then we cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Ludo blew out a weary breath and nodded. The weight of the world felt as though it were perched on his shoulders. He needed to find out if Maribel was real.

His mate’s very sanity depended on it.

* * * *

Oliver sat back on the couch in the den watching the other mate’s play the video games. “Do you think he’s really crazy?”

Drew shrugged as he splayed his hands in front of him. “He never seemed crazy to me.”

“Yeah, me either.” Oliver ran his hand over his jaw. He’d never met an unbalanced person before—this didn’t include his father—but Murphy didn’t seem the type. A little nutty but not crazy.

Something just didn’t add up. He saw the woman in the store, had seen the fear in Murphy’s eyes when she walked past the window. He didn’t think the mate was lying, and he definitely didn’t think he was crazy.

He would keep his eyes and his ears open. There had to be a way to prove the bookstore owner—and now mate—wasn’t making things up.

Oliver just prayed he could find the proof. He liked Murphy and didn’t want him to be locked away.

* * * *

Murphy pulled the blanket up to his chin, his fingers curling around the fabric. The images of Maribel standing in that window, the night a backdrop to her crazed look burned into his brain. He had never seen anything more frightening in his life.

Too bad no one believed him. He knew she was real, even if no one else did.

He reached up and rubbed the lump on the back of his head and winced. He was about tired of being injured and really tired of being a victim.

Murphy grew angry as he thought of all the things Maribel had done and how he was the only one who thought she was real.

He threw the blankets back. Fine, if no one believed him, then he didn’t need to be here. Pity was one thing he wasn’t going to watch enter everyone’s eyes when they looked at him.

He wasn’t crazy.

Murphy pulled Ludo’s shirt off. An overwhelming sadness took over at the thought of leaving the dark and lovely wolf, but he wasn’t going to stay somewhere he was pitied or they thought he was lying.

He tossed the oversized shirt roughly to the floor as he pulled his shirt over his head and tied his sneakers back onto his feet.

Fuck all of them.
He was getting out of this damn zoo and never looking back. His apartment was almost packed, and all he had to do was hire a packing and moving company to get the store taken care of. He would leave Maribel in the dust and all these wild kingdom animals as well.

That’ll teach them to think he was lying. He didn’t have to put up with this. It wasn’t as if he was stuck here. He could walk out the front door anytime he wanted to.

That golden dick wasn’t worth being locked up in a padded room. To hell with proving anything. Once he was halfway across the country, he wouldn’t have to worry about their asses anymore.

Murphy opened the bedroom door and jogged down the stairs, heading straight for the front door. He’d walk back to town. Darkness didn’t scare him, just the people who lurked in it. How had Cindernightmare found him? That was the scariest thought in his mind when he considered walking home. As angry as he was, he’d drop her crazy ass in a ditch if she tried anything tonight. Just try him, just try him, damn it, and he would go buck wild on her psychotic ass.

“Where are you going?”

Murphy gulped. Maverick. The one person he never wanted to run into again. That voice took all the steam out of his mental tirade.

“Home.” Murphy kept walking. He may not be brave enough to give the large man a piece of his mind, but no one was stopping him from leaving. Not even the man that looked like a biker from hell.

“Let Ludo take you.”

Murphy waved a finger as he kept going. “I don’t think so. He thinks I imagined her.”

“Did you?” Maverick asked.

Murphy could feel his temper rising. He should have kept his big mouth shut and never told Ludo about her. Look where the hell it got him. Murphy waved a dismissive hand at Maverick and opened the front door. He didn’t have to answer to anybody. He didn’t break any laws, so they couldn’t stop him. Murphy took a step outside and stopped in his tracks.

Ludo was standing on the other side.

“Crap, I really don’t need your shit right now, Ludo.” Murphy pushed past the man, wanting to curl into his arms instead of walking down the gravel drive and away from the one man that seemed to want to keep him. He brushed that thought aside and took the first step away from the wolf. He could do this, no problem whatsoever. Ludo didn’t have a hold on him.

“I can give you a ride.”

Murphy spun around and pointed an angry finger at the wolf. “Oh, you have done that already. I bet you want to stuff me in that truck of yours and give me a ride straight to the funny farm, not happening, buster.” Murphy turned back around and stormed off.

Ludo jogged to his side, keeping up with him. “You can’t just walk home from here.”

“You see these shoes?” Murphy pointed down to his sneakers. “They’re moving me further and further away from that loony bin you call a home. Watch my ass shake from side to side as it slowly disappears from your sight. You got some crazy booty. So go brag about it to your family and leave me the hell alone.” Murphy walked along, listening to the gravel crunch under his feet as he thought of the most erotic man to enter his life. To hell with him, Ludo wasn’t worth admitting he was crazy when he wasn’t.

No dick was that good.

“I’ll walk with you.” Ludo came up next to him, walking right beside him.

“Look, it was fun, mind-blowing, and heart-stopping. The ride is over. I’ve put my pants on backwards and strolled out of your front door to meet my next adventure.” Murphy turned and sneered at Ludo as he jabbed his finger into that solid ass chest. “And you aren’t a part of it. Go seduce someone else and then rip their heart out. I’d rather have the homeless man.”

“You think our mating wasn’t real?” Ludo pulled on Murphy’s forearm to stop him.

Murphy yanked free. “About as real as you think Maribel is. I think you had a good time biting the shit out of me, now go.” Murphy’s heart was hurting, but he wouldn’t allow it to rule how he handled this situation. He was done being everyone’s victim. They could all kiss his pale ass.

Murphy held his hand up in front of Ludo’s face, stopping him before anything else left his lips. “I’m done. It’s been fun. Now go the fuck away.” Murphy turned on his heels and walked quickly to the paved road.

“I’m not letting you walk home, at least not alone.” Ludo stubbornly walked beside him.

Murphy ignored him. If he looked over at his dark and lovely wolf, he was going to relent, and he wasn’t going to do that. He did have his pride. “Then send the tiger to escort me.”

“He’s too young.”

Murphy almost stumbled at Ludo’s words. He wasn’t really having this conversation, was he? He just wanted the man to leave him alone. Okay, not really, but he didn’t want Ludo looking at him as if he had escaped from a mental ward with a straight jacket tossed away somewhere.

“Will you talk to me?”

Murphy walked faster, trying his best to leave Ludo behind along with his heart. “Why? You don’t believe a word I’ve said,” Murphy spat.

“You have lied to me, admit it.”

“I’d admit it, but then you would call me a liar. A big ole catch twenty-two going on here.” He had lied to Ludo, but he wasn’t going to admit it. That would only give the man fuel to his hellish fire.

Murphy hit the ground when a heavy weight landed on his back. At first he thought Ludo had attacked him until he saw his wolf fighting another guy.

“Get the hell off of me.” Damn it, not again, no more being a victim. He’d had enough of that to last him a lifetime and then some.

Murphy tried to roll over but the guy held him firm. He grunted as he struggled to free himself. A searing pain shot across his shoulder and down his back. “Are you seriously trying to eat me!”

The man hissed and sank his teeth in deeper. “A relative of Ludo’s?” Murphy asked as he bucked and screamed. It felt as though skin were being torn away. Murphy reached over his shoulder and yanked the guy’s hair, hard.

The pain in his wrist was nothing compared to what this guy was doing to him.

Murphy gasped when the weight was suddenly gone. He rolled over to his back and saw wolves fighting the men who had attacked them. Oh, this was just too damn much for him. Murphy pushed to his feet, pulled his shirt off, and pushed it into his shoulder.

He took off running, getting as far away from the pandemonium as possible. Fuck packing, Murphy was out of here tonight. He didn’t care about the store or his belongings anymore. All he wanted was thousands of miles between him and this
Resident Evil
setup.

He skidded to a halt when a dark figure came from behind a tree. Oh, this was so not good.

* * * *

Ludo took down the last vampire. They were becoming one big headache anymore. He was sick of fighting them. Everyone knew they were after Melonee because she was fey, but enough was enough already.

Ludo looked around for his mate, but Murphy was nowhere in sight. A tremor of fear shot down his spine.