Alpha Pack 7 - Chase the Darkness (8 page)

“Come for me, mate,” he growled.

A few more thrusts of his cock, and she did exactly that, crying out as her orgasm shook her to the core. Micah followed right after, hugging her to his chest, peppering her hair with kisses. When the last of his release was finished, he rolled to his back and carried her with him, settling her on top of him.

Snuggling in comfortably, she sighed. “It’s never been like that.”

“Never?” He held her tighter.

“No. Sex without the closeness of a mate just isn’t the same.”

“True.” He paused. “I’ve never felt that either, until now, and I’m not sure how I lived without it.”

“With any luck, neither of us will have to go back to that existence again.”

Her mate’s wonderful scent filling her nose, she drifted.

And they didn’t move again for a long time.

M
icah shivered as Jacee traced her fingers over the scar that the demon had left on his chest. “I could’ve lost you before I even knew who you were to me.”

“But you didn’t, and I’m here.”
For now. How long can I last? If the real monsters don’t get me, the ones in my head just might.

“I’m glad.”

“Me, too.” He played with her hair. “So tell me about your family. Do they live around here?”

She was silent for so long, he didn’t think she’d answer. He was about to tell her to forget the question when she finally spoke up.

“They’re dead. My whole clan was destroyed by Hunters a few years ago.”

“Oh, honey.” He squeezed her tight, his heart going out to her. To lose one’s family was devastating, a shifter without a pack even more so. “I’m sorry.”

“I escaped for the dumbest reason ever. I was spending the night in town at a human school friend’s house and wasn’t even there for the slaughter. Nobody knew about me or ever came after me.”

“That’s not dumb at all,” he disagreed. “You were extremely lucky.”

“I felt guilty for years because my parents didn’t approve of my having a friend outside the clan. But I’d begged for weeks to stay over at Marcy’s. Finally they gave in, and that night they all died. Or so I was told, but I was never able to see the bodies since there wasn’t much left, and it was deemed too traumatic for me. My friend’s parents fostered me, helped me through everything. Got me through school.”

“I’m glad you had them.”

“Me, too.”

“Did you have siblings?”

“One younger sister, Faith. She’d be nineteen now.”

“Where did your pack live?”

“In Texas, the hill country near San Antonio. I moved here three years after high school graduation and got my bartender’s license, and I’ve been here ever since.”

“Well, I’m sorry about your family, but I’m glad you’re here now. I don’t mean that to sound selfish.”

“I know what you mean, and I’m glad I’m here, too.” He felt her smile against his chest, and then she shivered. “Cold?”

“Just getting a little cool. No fur coat in this form, you know.”

“I guess we should head back,” he said with real regret. “Early day tomorrow for me.”

“More demon hunting?”

“God, I hope not! The Pack has a meeting and then some training exercises. After that, Nick will probably have us wash the SUVs since that hasn’t been done in a while.”

“Sounds more fun than serving drunks.”

“Thought you like your job?”

“Most days,” she said. “But sometimes it does get old.”

“Well, once we’re mated you can do whatever you want. Stay there and tend bar, work at the compound, or go back to school and learn something else. The choice is yours.”

Propping herself up on his chest, she stared at him. “You’d support me if I wanted to go back to school?”

“Why not? I’d like that a hell of a lot more than you being at the Grizzly every night serving guys like that asshole Grant. But like I said, it’s your deal.”

“You won’t try to use your influence as my mate to make me quit my job later on?”

“No,” he said firmly. “I’d never do that to you.”

“Thank you. I have thought of trying to do something else, but there’s never been enough money or time. I spend my days surviving, mostly.”

“Well, no more of that. My mate will do what she wants.”

She seemed so happy about that, it made him a bit sad that life hadn’t treated her the best for the last few years. She had struggled, but she wasn’t the sort to complain. He admired how she put her head down and simply did what had to be done.

With reluctance, he parted from her and prepared to leave. This spot would always be special to him, and to her, too, he hoped. There would never be another first time. But he prayed there would be many more. He still hadn’t confessed his problem and that worried him, but tonight hadn’t been the right time to spring his heavy crap on her.

Please let her understand.

They shifted back into their animal forms, and Micah admired her coyote once more. Real wild coyotes tended to be thin and scrawny, half-starved and not attractive. But Jacee’s smaller body was filled out, her coat shiny and plush. She was a perfect example of her species, and he had no clue why her kind was looked down upon in the shifter world. It didn’t make sense to him, but that sort of thing never did.

When they reached the spot where they’d left their clothing, they got dressed again, then walked back to his car. He kissed her soundly, then helped her inside. Once behind the wheel, he drove her home as slowly as possible, not wanting the night to end.

They made out in her driveway for a while, and when he couldn’t put it off any longer, he walked her to the door. “Good-bye, for now.”

She hesitated. “You can stay if you want.”

“I want to take you up on that, believe me. But I think you need your space to process everything,” he said ruefully. “I’m not going to rush you.”

“You are quite a man, Micah Chase.” She beamed at him, then gave him a long hug. When she finally pulled back, she said, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Count on it.”

His wolf was howling piteously as he drove away from her house, and he agreed. The last thing he wanted to do was leave, but he knew he’d made the right decision. He didn’t want to rush her any more than the mating urge would necessitate. He wanted her happy. Comfortable. If that meant moving at her pace, so be it.

The hour was late, or early, depending on one’s viewpoint, when he arrived back at the compound. Only a couple of the Pack were up and about in the hallways, and he said good night to John and Sariel as he passed by. He didn’t think those two ever slept.

But he did, deeply.

And blessedly without nightmares, for the first time in weeks.

*   *   *

It was a damned shame the peace didn’t last.

A buzzing on Micah’s nightstand woke him at oh-fuck-thirty, and he blinked blearily at the offending cell phone, trying to assemble his tired brain into some sort of order. The damn racket stopped, and he almost fell back asleep—until it started again.

“For shit’s sake,” he grumbled, fumbling for the stupid thing. His greeting was less than pleasant. “What do you fucking want?” There were a couple of beats of silence.

“You, in my office,” Nick’s deceptively calm voice told him.

Ah, crap
. “Sorry, boss. Didn’t know it was you. Did we move up the meeting?”

“No, it’s still at eight. Something else has come up, though, so get dressed and come straight here.”

“Got it, be there ASAP.”

After hanging up, he checked the time on his phone and groaned. Barely past seven. What in the ever-loving hell was so important they had to meet before the meeting? Had some of his tests come back? No, it was too soon. Plus, Mac would’ve called instead.

Speculation would get him nowhere. Jumping in the shower, he made it quick. No way was he meeting the commander smelling like hours-old sex and his mate. After dressing in jeans and a T-shirt, then pulling on his shitkickers, he started off for Nick’s office.

Once there, he was surprised to find Sheriff Deveraux waiting with Nick. The two men stood, offering their hands, which he shook. Then Nick gestured for him to take the second empty seat across from the sheriff.

“Somebody want to tell me what’s going on?” Micah looked between the two men, but their faces were unreadable.

Deveraux spoke first, his tone gruff but not hostile. Yet. With the sheriff, you never knew when that could change. “Hello, Micah. I’m here on business, unfortunately. There was a woman murdered at a campsite last night just a few miles from here.”

“Oh, wow. I’m sorry to hear that. But what does that have to do with me?”

“Where were you last night and into this morning, between ten p.m. and three a.m.?”

His eyes widened. “Are you serious? What is this? Am I a suspect?”

“Just answer the question, Micah,” Nick said.

“I was with my mate! I mean, we haven’t bonded yet, but she’s my mate and we were together the whole time. I took her to dinner, and then we went for a run in the woods not far from here.”

The sheriff glanced at Nick. “That explains why your car was spotted by one of my deputies last night, parked on Dublin Road. Will she back up your story?”

“Of course. She has no reason not to. But why are you tagging me for this?” he asked in confusion. And then horribly, he knew, and he gaped at Nick. “Jesus Christ. This is because of what happened with Noah? You think I snapped. You honestly think I could kill an innocent woman?” That hurt more than he could have believed possible.

“No, not really,” Nick denied, shaking his head. “But when Jesse came to me this morning about your car being spotted, I had to ask.”

The sheriff spoke up. “It does look pretty suspicious, the woman being torn up and you being a wolf. You were the only one on staff who was away from the compound during those hours.”

“But I’m far from the only predator out there, paranormal or otherwise, Sheriff,” Micah said grimly. “I didn’t do this.”

“Then you won’t mind if I have some tests run on the inside of your car.”

“Unbelievable.” Micah ran a hand through his hair. “Do you have a warrant?”

“I can get one.”

“On what grounds? You know what? Fine, test the car. I’ve got nothing to hide. But for what it’s worth, John and Sariel can vouch for what time I came home and what condition I was in. I said good night to both of them, together.”

“All right.” The sheriff nodded. “Let’s get them into another room.”

Micah stopped himself from rolling his eyes, just barely. He knew Jesse was just doing his job, but it still upset him to have anyone think he could murder an innocent woman. And while the sheriff was wasting his time here, a killer was going free. That didn’t sit well, either.

Nick called John and Sariel into a different room in the office area. Then he and Deveraux went and talked to them while Micah waited. A few minutes later the men returned and the sheriff spoke.

“They said you came home a bit after three, as you said. They also reported that you smelled of the outdoors, sex, and of a certain local female—not the murder victim. They would’ve scented blood on you, and there wasn’t any.”

“That’s because I’m telling the truth,” Micah said, tired.

“I believe you, but I’m going to test the car now just to rule it out. Once a question has been raised, it’s best to follow through.”

“I understand.” He did. It just sucked.

Deveraux slid a file off Nick’s desk and opened it, retrieving a few photos. “Do you recognize the woman in these pictures?”

Micah took them and studied them closely. The first two were of a smiling blond woman of about thirty-five, candid shots taken in front of a lake. The rest were of the murder scene, showing the poor woman’s gruesome demise. His stomach lurched, though he’d seen many atrocities in the last few years. It wasn’t something he thought he’d ever get used to.

“No, I’ve never seen her around before. Tourist?”

“Probably. She was camping alone, which is unusual. No ID, but it was likely stolen.”

“I hope you find her family, give them some closure. And the bastard who did that to her, too.”

“Thanks. Me, too.”

By the time he left, Deveraux seemed satisfied that Micah was not his perp, not that he’d ever really believed it deep down. But he had to follow up his lead on the car, and once Micah had gotten over the shock of being questioned, he couldn’t blame the man.

Micah was tired, but once that was over, there was no time to go back to his quarters and get more sleep. Worse, he was edgy, anxious. He hadn’t taken his nighttime dose of myst because of his date with Jacee, and he’d forgotten to take it when he got home before falling into bed. Now he was jonesing, bad.

Ducking around a corner, he held up his hands. They were shaking, his heart racing, and he felt as if he was on the verge of a panic attack. Quickly, he dug in his front pocket and extracted the bottle, removing one pill and dry-swallowing it. Just one. His morning dose, and not one pill more. He had to wean himself off or end up in that damn hospital room.

The dose took the edge off, but not nearly enough. The meeting about fighting groups of rogue vampires, demons, goblins, and such was almost more than he could stand. They’d fought those beasts a thousand times, and he couldn’t fathom why they had to talk
every
fucking thing to death.

“Why don’t we form a knitting club and have raffle baskets, too,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m sorry,
what
?” Nick’s voice from the front of the conference room was irritated.

“Raffle baskets,” Micah said loudly. “Why don’t we have fuckin’ raffle baskets? It’ll make these meetings more fun! The women can bake cookies, too.”

What the fuck am I saying? Shoot me now!

“Hey, I don’t bake, asswipe,” his sister shot back. “Bake ’em yourself and we’ll eat ’em.”

Several of the team snickered, and he looked up to find Nick glaring. “Sorry, boss.”

“As I was saying . . . ,” Nick went on, shooting looks Micah’s way now and then.

Micah tuned him out anyway, because nothing short of a miracle was going to get him to pay attention today. He was a walking disaster, and struggling to hide it. When the meeting was over, he skipped training and went straight back to his quarters. He’d hear about it later, but he
had
to have more sleep.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out. His dreams were shadowy. Uneasy. He was searching everywhere, never quite finding what he was looking for. And something was stalking him. Remaining just out of sight, waiting for the chance to strike. Finally, at some point, the dreams quieted and he slept better.

A knocking noise woke him some time later. Squinting, he saw that it was past noon. He’d missed lunch, and he still wasn’t that hungry. He thought about not answering the door, but the determination of the person on the other side was greater than his will to ignore it. He answered.

And immediately wish he’d resisted. Rowan marched inside, and from the look on her face, this was not a conversation he wanted to have.