Abbey's Protectors [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 4] (Siren Publishing Menage & More) (14 page)

“Okay. We’ll keep an eye on things here. Please e-mail us when you can do another video chat,” Shelly requested gently.

“I will,” Abbey promised.

“Where are you going?” Synthia asked her.

“Not sure yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

“Okay, Abbey,” Synthia responded. “I know I won’t be able to persuade you from doing what you think you have to do. Just keep yourself open to what the beautiful lady told you, honey. You never know. Your dad might have brought her to you to help guide you.”

“Maybe,” Abbey said softly, shrugging. “Take care of yourselves. E-mail me if you have any problems. I won’t be able to answer you for a while. I’m leaving in the morning and putting some more distance between me and the men who found me. I don’t want them to be involved in any trouble that Peter might bring my way.”

Synthia shook her head and pursed her lips in frustration. “You’re a stubborn woman, Abigail Tyler.”

“Yeah, that’s what’s made me successful and has kept me alive. Bye, guys. I’ll try to call you later tonight but don’t worry if you don’t hear from me.”

She closed out the video chat and signed off before either woman could speak. She wasn’t kidding when she said that she didn’t feel well. She pushed her fist against the center of her chest. She ached terribly. She felt as if her skin was humming, and her hands were visibly shaking. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but she could only risk one more night in the small hotel. She had to keep moving. Feeling sick was not a good reason to stay where she was. It was just too dangerous to do so.

She closed down her laptop and snapped the lid shut. Standing, she straightened the clothes she had laundered just that morning. She had a supply of water and some nonperishable food. She had a good amount of money left and saw no problem being able to take care of herself until all the legalities of her divorce were complete, and she could go back to her home and her company.

Walking over to the bed, she lay down on it tiredly and pulled the light spread over her body, not even bothering to remove her clothing or sneakers. She was actually thankful for the black sweatpants and heavy, maroon sweatshirt she was wearing.

It was cool in the room despite the early August heat thanks to the air conditioner, but that didn’t ease her discomfort. She felt as if she had a fever. Chills were wracking her body, and she was grateful for the warmth when she cuddled beneath the blanket and burrowed into the pillow. Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate on breathing even, deep breaths to try to calm her racing heart. She was just so incredibly tired.

She drew her knees up toward her chest as she lay on her right side. It helped the pain lessen some, but the ache in her chest and in her stomach was still there, and she couldn’t prevent the whimpers of pain that left her. She started to shake and pulled herself deeper into a ball as she tried to tighten her muscles and hug herself. It didn’t help. The only thing she could think of that would help her was the memory of the two men who had saved her. Their strength had soothed her. The dreams of them had made her happy.

She twisted and turned on the bed as she struggled with her thoughts and desires. She couldn’t need them. She didn’t want to need them.

As she succumbed to slumber, she saw the two men who consumed her waking thoughts and appeared to her every night as she slept. She sighed softly as Hunter and Clay stepped toward her and surrounded her with their arms. She fell into the deep dream that repeated in her mind night after night, sighing as the feelings of safety and love surrounded her.

* * * *

Hunter slammed his hand against the dashboard of Clay’s truck. “Where the hell is she?” he demanded, turning to face his triad partner as Clay drove them down the side streets of the small town about ten miles from the hospital.

They had been looking for their mate from the moment she had left the hospital without any luck. Abbey had simply vanished. There was no way they would ever find her again. And that fact was tearing them apart from the inside out. The urge to mate and to claim her was all-consuming. They were nearly crazy with the mating fever. Drew had told them it would continue to escalate and test their control until they were able to claim their mate. Since they hadn’t been successful in finding Abbey, their emotions were out of control, their tempers were on a hair-trigger, and they weren’t of much use to anyone.

Because of that, they had removed themselves from active duty on the police force. There was no way they could possibly do their job when they could barely control their need to shift. The anger that boiled within them at the loss of their mate was so intense, no one would be safe with them.

Drew had told them that that the need to claim their mate would eventually give way to something that was beyond a mating urge. It would turn into more of a mating rage. That fact concerned them more than anything else. It put them in the position of being a definite danger to others. That was not acceptable. They had discussed it with their alpha, and Jace was ready to put them in quarantine if the mating rage took hold. It was as much for their safety as for the safety of the pack.

“Hunter, I have a feeling that everything is going to work out,” Clay told him as calmly as he could manage despite the way his wolf was snapping and growling within him.

“I don’t know, Clay. I don’t feel that way. I just feel anger.” Hunter looked at his partner and saw the way he was clutching the steering wheel. “My heart aches for her,” he admitted softly. “I don’t know what to do about it.”

“There’s nothing we can do. Only finding her will help.”

Hunter nodded, facing forward and scanning the street once again. Maybe by some miracle they would be guided to find Abbey. He had to believe that they would be united again. Saying a quick prayer to the Fates to help them find their woman helped to calm him just slightly. Nothing would completely relieve the mating urge until they were able to hold their mate in their arms and claim her.

“Pull into that diner over there,” he told Clay gruffly, pointing toward the right. “Let’s get something to eat.”

Clay nodded and pulled his truck into the parking lot of the local diner and parked at the edge of the lot facing the exit. The diner looked clean enough. He hoped their food would be good—if they could even taste it. The anger he was feeling was superseding anything else, and he doubted they would even be able to enjoy the meal. But they needed to eat. Their bodies were running on pure adrenaline as the mating urge sank its claws into them. They needed to eat and relax. Well, relaxing wasn’t a possibility, but eating was.

Walking into the diner, they took a seat at a booth toward the back of the small interior space. They sat across from each other and leaned back against the high backs of the booth, each man settling tensely as exhaustion filled him.

Hunter looked around the diner, taking in the lack of patronage. Only one other booth was occupied by two girls who couldn’t be more than twenty years old. He saw the way the women looked at him and Clay and growled softly.

“What’s wrong?” Clay asked him, turning to look in the direction that Hunter’s gaze currently was focused. He saw the women smiling back at him and turned to face his partner and shook his head slowly.

“I have no patience for their flirting,” Hunter told him angrily, his voice deep and filled with frustration and pain. “I only want our mate.”

Clay nodded and faced Hunter with complete calm. “Finding Abbey has given us a better perspective on our lives,” he admitted. “I keep thinking about how she felt in our arms.” He looked out the side window of the diner and watched silently for a moment as a white SUV with tinted windows drove by and headed into the alley between the diner and the small Laundromat that was next door. “I can still feel the way she ran her fingers through our hair. I keep remembering how our baby moved under my hand.” He turned to face Hunter once again. “I want to feel that again. I want to feel that right now.”

Hunter nodded, unable to speak. The waitress saved him from having to respond as she came over to their table and handed them the laminated menus.

“Good afternoon, sugar,” she said, winking at Hunter as he took the menu from her. “Can I start you both off with a cup of coffee?”

“Just water,” Hunter told her, barely looking at her.

“And you, sugar?”

She turned her attention toward Clay, her eyes roaming over him and taking in his physique. It was an appreciative appraisal that had been given to both of them time and time again over the years. It had never given Clay such a sense of cold emptiness before.

“Water is fine,” Clay told her, taking the menu from her hand and looking down at it. “We’ll be ready to order in just a minute.”

“Okay,” the waitress answered, smiling. “Just crook your finger at me when you’ve decided. I’ll be ready when you are.”

Clay lifted his head and faced Hunter, his blue eyes flashing with anger. “I can’t believe how pissed off that makes me.”

He looked at the waitress and saw her looking back at him from across the diner as she stood in front of the main counter. She gave him another wink, and he couldn’t prevent the deep growl that escaped him. He agreed with his wolf. He was not about to look at another woman. They had already found their mate. There was no one better than Abbey, and no one they wanted to be with more than the woman who was fated to be theirs.

The corner of Hunter’s mouth began to quirk up in a half smile. “I hear you,” he told him, chuckling softly. He smiled a little more when he saw the way Clay struggled to control himself before the anger slowly left his expression.

“You okay?” Hunter asked him softly.

“I will be.”

“You think so?”

“Yup. Abbey’s going to make it better.”

Hunter looked at his partner and nodded slowly. He had to believe Clay’s words. Not believing them would hurt too much.

* * * *

Abbey turned over to lie flat on her back. She kicked the blanket off of her and whimpered as the heat that filled her made her more than a little uncomfortable. She wiped at her face in frustration, her hand coming away wet from the perspiration that covered her. She tugged at her sweatshirt and pulled it over her head, leaving her wearing only a snug, teal T-shirt. The less clothing helped somewhat, but she was still overheated.

Hunter wrapped his arms around her as she stood between him and Clay. Clay pressed against her back, successfully trapping her against Hunter’s chest. He kissed the back of her neck and opened his mouth to bite down on her shoulder lightly.

“You can’t get away from us now, Mate,” Hunter told her, leaning down and taking her lips with his, intensifying the kiss and growling against her lips when she opened her mouth and submitted to him.

His kiss owned her. She knew it and accepted it. When he pulled back slightly and ran his tongue across her bottom lip she couldn’t help but giggle with delight. Pulling away from him and smiling up at him as he looked down at her, she saw how his brown eyes filled with warmth.

“Now why would I want to get away from either of you?” Abbey asked him, reaching up to touch his face gently before threading her fingers through his dark locks and gripping the softness of them tightly. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, sweetheart,” Hunter whispered back, leaning down and touching his forehead to hers. “So damn much.”

“Good thing or I would have to seriously hurt you,” she told him, smiling at the immediate grin that came to his sensual lips. She loved it when she made him smile.

She released his hair and turned in his embrace, sinking into him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly to him while she faced Clay. She winked up at Clay and smiled at the happiness that quickly filled his blue eyes, making them sparkle.

“I need you to kiss me, Clay,” she told him gently, her heart racing as her desire for him spiked.

“Whatever you need, honey,” he told her softly as he leaned forward and took her lips hungrily.

Abbey melted against him, glad that Hunter’s arms held her upright because her legs were suddenly unable to support her. She wrapped her arms around Clay’s waist and dragged her nails down his back, smiling at the growls that left him and rumbled through his chest.

“Love it when you growl,” she whispered against his lips. “It makes me think I really turn you on.”

“Oh, honey,” Clay whispered. “You more than turn me on. I want you so much I ache.”

Abbey pulled back and looked up at him, her eyes soft with the love she had for him. “I feel the same,” she admitted with complete honestly. “I love you, Clayton Forest.”

“Damn, baby,” he growled. “Love you, too.”

“Abbey,” Hunter moaned against the back of her neck, biting down on it lightly.

“Love you, Hunter,” she whispered, whimpering lightly as her desire for them both overwhelmed her.

“You’re ours,” Hunter told her, squeezing her tightly against his chest.

“Are you two going to show me how much you love me?”

She squealed with surprise as she suddenly found herself lifted and tossed down on the biggest bed Abbey had ever seen. She looked at both men as they settled on either side of her, laughing as she realized that they were all naked and her men were definitely aroused. She reached down and took hold of their shafts as they pressed against her hips and did her best to encircle their girths but failed miserably.