Protect and Fur [3xtasy Lake 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

“Brenna!” Aiden pounded on her door. He cursed himself a thousand times for leaving her the way he had last night. But, he’d been able to leave everyone to fight his battle and risk their lives. When he’d reached the rogue’s cottage he’d found a smoldering building and not a single hint of any bodies. The sun peaked over that tree line, revealing the damage from the night before. There’d been trees scorched and some destroyed from the flames, but the area had been completely silent.

He’d sat in the middle of the scorched dirt for hours and thought about what Brenna had said to him. He’d also thought about his life and what he truly wanted out of it. When John had been about to pull the trigger, Aiden’s last thought would’ve been that he loved Brenna. This was his one true chance at happiness. He had a True Mate handed to him, and he’d taken it for granted.

He could be an asshole, but if it meant losing Brenna, then he’d change.

“Open up! I want to talk to you!” Aiden backed up and peered up at her windows.
Did I see a curtain move up there?
He didn’t think that Brenna was the type to hide away, and he figured if he pounded at her door long enough it would piss her off and then she’d fly off the handle at him. He’d take it, too. Anything and everything she wanted to yell at him, and then he planned to spank her ass for putting herself in danger and then promise to love her forever.

He had contacted the Guardian Council and told them he was done, retired. He was relocating to Ecstasy Lake for good. He wanted a family and a home, and he wanted to share it all with his best friend.

“Brenna!” He hollered one more time and then decided to see how angry she’d get if he broke in her door.

“Typically, if someone doesn’t answer their door it’s because they aren’t home.”

River leaned against his car. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her legs at the ankles. He remembered what she looked like the other night, and now with her black eyeliner and bright red lips she looked like she was hiding. All her buckles and leather and lace she covered herself in did a great job of distracting attention from herself. It made him wonder what she was hiding from.

“I thought she might be ignoring me.”

River nodded and grinned. “That’s possible, of course, except I know that she left early this morning.”

“Left?” His heart sank. “I’m too late?”

“No, I don’t think so.” River reached in her pocket and pulled out a delicate silver watch on a chain. “There’s a grand-opening party at Big Bear Brewery tonight. She went shopping with her moms, and then she’s going straight over there.”

“Is that where you’re headed?”

“No, I’m going to a concert and then the Adamare show in Toronto. Hellspawn is doing an artistic piercing show tonight.”

“Artistic piercing?”

“Yes!” River bounced on her toes. “His girlfriend Jenny is one of his models, and he places all these feathers over her back muscles, and when she moves she looks like she has wings. It’s so amazing. I met him once, and you know, he can look a bit scary but he’s really a big teddy bear.”

Aiden nodded as River continued to go on about this artist. He would’ve rather left and found Brenna, but he didn’t want to hurt River’s feelings. The young woman tended to talk a mile a minute when she was excited about something, so it didn’t take long before she finished.

“I’ve gotta go or I’m going to be late. I’m going to the Apocalyptica concert first with some friends before we head over to Adamare.” She bounced over and gave Aiden a hug. With her platform boots, she was as tall as him.

“You’re not going to leave again, are you?” she asked. “You’re going to stay here, right?”

“Yes, as soon as I find Brenna and let her know.”

“Oh, good.” She gave him a cute grin and kissed him quickly on the cheek. “I’m glad I didn’t slash your tires then.”

Aiden laughed as River flounced away. A large black SUV pulled up, and she gave him a wave before getting in. He made a mental note of the license plate. Brenna loved her assistant, which meant that River now fell under his protection as well. He wanted to keep his Mate happy, and he’d do what he did best to start.

Now that he knew where Brenna was going to be, he had to formulate a plan of attack for tonight. He was going to come up with a plan. Brenna deserved the best of everything, and he was going to make certain that’s what she got, starting with her Mates.

If he was going to stay here and commit his life to this relationship, then Craig was going to have to change as well. Aiden understood why Craig suppressed his wolf, but he didn’t buy it. Monsters were born. Men didn’t turn into them because of their inner creature. Craig viewed his wolf as a separate entity, an evil presence inside him. Aiden was determined to force his friend to accept every part of this relationship. He wanted to bond with his Mate, but he wouldn’t do that without Craig. So the time had come for Craig to accept himself.

* * * *

Craig sat in his cruiser, watching over the cars that passed him. It was a beautiful day, and most people were in the mood to enjoy it, and their speed reflected that. A soft rumble caught his attention and he tossed his radar gun on the passenger seat. He recognized the sound of that engine anywhere, and sure enough Aiden’s black Challenger flew past him moments later.

Craig flipped on his siren and pulled out behind the vehicle. Aiden pulled over immediately and waited for Craig to approach the driver’s window. He wanted to kick Aiden’s ass. He wanted to go to the clinic right after the fight, but the darkness inside of him started an inner battle that he’d almost lost. Craig hadn’t wanted to subject Brenna to that kind of danger so he stayed away. His work shift started early this morning, which prevented him from going over once he had himself under control again. All he could do was call and leave a message on her voice mail.

“Is there an emergency, Mr. O’Reilly?”

“Yes, I had to find you.” Aiden moved to open the car door.

“Stay in the car, sir,” Craig ordered.
Did no one know how to use a phone anymore?
Aiden rolled his eyes but shut the door. “Is there any reason why you couldn’t call me?”

“Because you turned your goddamn cell phone off.”

“Then leave a message.”

“I did, seven in fact, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.” Aiden frowned at him. “Carol said you usually sit along this stretch of road and if I was careful I would see you.” He grinned. “I figured I would speed and find you faster that way.”

“Really, what was so important that you couldn’t wait at my house until my shift was ended?” Craig made a mental note to take his cell out of the glove box where he had tossed it at the beginning of his shift.

“I’m not leaving again, Craig. If I’ve got to choose between Brenna or being a Guardian, then it’s no contest. I want my Mate, and I want this relationship to work.”

Craig couldn’t help the grin that pulled at his cheeks. They had some damage control to do, but he was sure they could work it all out. “We’ll meet Brenna at her house tonight and talk to her then.”

“She’s going to be at the Big Bear Brewery’s grand opening tonight. I don’t want to wait. Let’s go and get our Mate there.”

Craig nodded. “All right, meet me at my place at the end of my shift and we’ll go and find her.” Still grinning, he handed Aiden the speeding ticket he filled out before he got out of his cruiser.

“Goddamn, you’re an asshole,” he heard Aiden holler from inside his car.

“Next time, wait till I call back.”

* * * *

That evening, Craig and Aiden pulled into the parking lot of Big Bear Brewery. It was a beautiful building that seemed to blend in with its surroundings. The exterior was dark wood and subdued. There was a large patio off a second level, filled with people enjoying the evening.

A low growl rumbled from Aiden, and Craig whipped around to see what he was looking at. A man stood partially in the building’s shadow, but Craig recognized him right away.

“That’s the asshole who worked for Anthony. I saw him carrying Brenna’s body that night.” Aiden set off at a dead run and tackled the man to the ground. The guy noticed Aiden coming and had time to close his cell phone and toss it to the side before impact.

“Shit, wait!” Craig raced after his friend. He watched as they traded a couple of nasty punches, forcing grunts out of each other. Nausea punched his gut at the memory of Aiden lying there, Brenna refusing to leave him behind.

Aiden’s opponent caught him in an impressive throw and launched him a few feet away. As soon as Aiden flipped back up on his feet, Craig grabbed him in a full nelson. “Stop it, Aiden. He isn’t a rogue.”

“Fuck you, I saw him, and I remember his scent.”

Craig held his arms trapped up and back. “Daniel’s a Guardian, Aiden. He took over your job when your cover was blown.”

“He’s too young.”

Daniel did have a baby face that the beard and mustache didn’t completely hide. “He had to be. They suspected you. Someone new had to come in and take your place. Someone they wouldn’t suspect.”

“Called it on-the-job training, they said.” Daniel ground out the words as he braced his hands on his knees. “And I’m older than I look.”

“Daniel came to the house to warn Brenna. We decided to use the opportunity to get a distraction. We had no idea what we might find, and this way she’d be there to help.”

“You willingly put our Mate in danger.” Aiden snarled at Craig.

Craig snorted. “Next time Brenna gets it in her head to do something dangerous, you tell her she can’t, and see if you fare any better.”

“In Craig’s defense, he did try.” Daniel grinned and picked up his cell phone. “Brenna refused to stay back knowing you might be hurt.”

“Hey, what are you three up to?” a deep voice called out.

Craig’s boss walked up to the building and stopped cold, a smile breaking out over his face. “Son of a bitch! Daniel, why didn’t you say you were coming to visit?”

“I wanted to surprise everyone.”

Jake Campbell lifted Daniel in a bear hug. The two of them slapped each other on the back in a manly greeting. Laughing, he put Daniel back on the ground. “Aiden, have you met?”

Jake turned in time to see Craig release the hold on Aiden’s arms. “Yes, we were introduced.” Aiden shook out his arms and shot Craig a dirty look. Craig shrugged in response. If Aiden hadn’t been such a hot head and listened, then he wouldn’t have made an ass out of himself.

“You pissing people off already, Daniel? So tell me what you’ve been up to out west. Still training to be a Guardian?”

“Nah, I stopped that. I don’t have the patience for it.”

Craig took the hint and didn’t say anything more about what happened that night in the woods. If Daniel was keeping secrets, then it was his business. Craig had more important things to worry about right now.

“Jake, have you seen Brenna anywhere?”

“No.” Jake shook his head. “But I just got here.”

“Aiden and I want to find her before it gets any later.”

Aiden grunted and held out his hand to Daniel. “Sorry about that.”

“Completely understandable.” Daniel shook Aiden’s hand. “If I’d been in your shoes I would’ve reacted the same way.”

“You and I need to talk, though.” Aiden frowned at Daniel. “We probably have more in common than pissing other people off.”

Craig recognized the haunted look that crossed Daniel’s features. It was the same look he’d seen on Aiden in the past. Jake looked back and forth between the two men and then looked at Craig. Craig shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t have a clue what was happening.

They let Daniel and Jake catch up and then continued into the building. The music assaulted Craig’s ears the second they entered. The main bar was like walking into a wall of scents.
Fuck.
There was no way they were going to be able to track her in here. He could hardly differentiate any scent from natural or chemical. Aiden stood beside him, rubbing his ear, looking incredibly pissed off.

It took Craig a few minutes to adjust to the deafening levels. He looked appreciatively around this part of the brewery. One wall was made of glass, and he could see the immense stainless-steel tanks behind it. The opposite wall was a long bar, and tables dotted the outer rim. In the middle was a large dance floor filled with people. A wide staircase lined one wall and must lead up to the balcony he saw coming in.

Aiden clapped his hand on Craig’s shoulder and nodded toward the bar. A big burly man worked behind there. He didn’t look to be much older than he and Aiden, but looks were always deceiving in this town. Aiden held up two fingers and the man nodded, placing a couple beers in front of them a moment later. Craig glanced down at the label and grinned. “Blavet’s Brew?”

“Keeps it popular with the tourists,” the bartender replied. “It certainly helps that there’s a rumor that Blavet put out a forest fire last night.” He stuck out his hand. “Boyd McNamara.”

“Craig Walker, and this is my friend Aiden O’Reilly. Nice to meet you.” He shook the big man’s hand.

“Oh, you two are the ones who have claimed that pretty little vet.” Boyd leaned forward and rested his forearms on the bar. He looked like he was getting comfortable and ready to chat.