A Curse of Fate (Shifter City Fated Mates #1)

Chapter 30

Chapter

Thirty

HUNTER

I dialed his number, and it rang twice before he answered. I didn’t bother with the usual pause for a greeting, because with Slade it would never come. “Did she make it into the club okay?”

A burst of music in the background caught my attention… He was still there .

“Yes. She’s already working. No training necessary apparently.”

“You stayed?” I knew better than to push him, but this was highly unusual behavior. I needed to monitor where his head was at after spending the afternoon with her.

“She knew every car in our garage.” He sounded mildly perturbed. A tone I’d only heard during times he wrestled with a particularly difficult puzzle, whether that be online or within our pack.

“Lots of shifters know car brands,” I pointed out.

His rumble was more confused than menacing. “Not just the brands, brother. She knew the make and model. I’d hazard a guess that she could have named the year on most of them if pushed. Of all the omegas, we find one who grew up above a garage and has a genuine love for bikes and cars.”

I filed that away with the limited information we knew about Emmeline Anders. “Did you learn anything else about her during your afternoon?”

Like which dead motherfucker put that scar on her back. When I’d seen that raised and ropey scar across her tanned skin, I’d been on the verge of losing control of my wolf. It wasn’t that it made me look at her differently, or want her less, but the knowledge that someone hurt her had me devolving toward my base instincts. Protect, hunt, destroy, kill.

“I’ve learned very little that’s new,” Slade grumbled, “but I know enough that with a few more pieces of her puzzle, I’ll be able to solve the mystery.”

His implication that Emme was nothing more than a mystery to unravel pissed me off, but considering my own intentions toward our omega weren’t completely altruistic, I kept my irritation to myself. “Did Kellan arrive?”

Slade’s huff was clear down the line. “Ten minutes ago. He’s sitting in her section, tipping away our fortune and ensuring no other shifters get too close.”

That little bastard had half the city fooled into thinking he was the nice one when he could be just as diabolical and dangerous as the rest of us. The only difference was the smile on his golden face as he stabbed you in the back. It was a relief to know he’d keep an eye on her during her shift.

“That’s good. Until further notice, that omega belongs to the Reeves pack, and it’ll be a cold day in hell before I let anyone fuck around with my belongings.”

There was another huff, but for a change he didn’t refute my claim. It spoke volumes that he was still sitting there, attempting to work out the final pieces to her puzzle. Dragons were possessive in nature, and I wondered if Slade had finally found a shifter he couldn’t just dismiss and walk away from.

There was a crack down the line as his boots hit the ground. “I’m out of here. This is a waste of my fucking time.”

Or not .

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I cursed the fucking morons who thought this thankless job was an honor. Being the entitled alpha was going to be the death of me—not that I’d cede control to anyone else. Not while I still breathed.

“Okay, I’ll see you at home in a few hours. I’ve got to oversee final testing on a new product that hasn’t quite gone to plan, and then I have to unravel this shipping screwup between the UK and Australian branches.”

Slade hung up and I actually laughed; he was always consistent in being an asshole.

Two hours later I had my new product working as expected, and I’d fired six of our London upper management while promoting one legend who’d managed to pull his head from his ass and help me save about fifty million dollars by getting the shipment to the right fucking location on time.

A quick glance at my Jacob he wasn’t known for keeping secrets. But with him, there was always a chance he just hadn’t bothered to pay attention.

Curiosity entered his tone. “Have you had a power increase with Emmeline?”

Annoyance filled me, but I couldn’t rip his head off just because he’d guessed the obvious reason for my question. “You know we’re not bonded. There’s been no change, except she’s living under our roof to keep her safe.”

“And you’re no closer to figuring out why she’s so against joining your pack? With scent matches, her wolf should be driving her forward. It’s fate and instinct.”

Normally he’d be right, but Emmeline was an omega. Her ability to fight her base instincts was stronger than ours would ever be.

“We know very little about her. She’s afraid of us for some reason, mostly in regard to forming a complete bond. None of us are pushing, of course, but Kellan’s working his usual magic by winning her over with charm.”

Soren hooted with laughter, and whatever tension had lingered after my question was broken. “He’s the only one of you assholes with a chance if that’s the play.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I’d also seen the fragments of Emme’s broken soul, and a part of me wondered if she might not need more than Kellan’s sunshine to sustain her. She’d craved the submission my wolf demanded. Falling right under my command, even as an omega.

Soren’s game picked up in the background, and he was distracted for the rest of the call. “We’ll be at the track tomorrow. Oh fuck. You asshole.” He cursed out his teammate again. “Then family bonfire night. I’d only miss that if I was dead.”

“You’d be dead if you missed it. It’s mandatory.”

Soren’s good-natured laughter reminded me of the good and bad years of our childhood. “Yes, Daddy Alpha,” he drawled down the line.

A growl ripped from me. “Don’t fucking start. It’s bad enough that I can’t get Kellan to stop calling me that.”

All I got in response was more laughter. “You can try this thing where you don’t boss everyone around. It does wonders to ease up on the dad vibe.”

Dad vibe . The fucking irony when the father figure in my life was one evil sonofabitch. I decided long ago, right after I changed my name, that I’d never carry on his legacy with children. Daddy Alpha was as close as I’d ever get to being a father.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I kept my tone light, even as my thoughts grew darker. “See you at the track, brother. Don’t stay up all night shooting noobs.”

“All I’ve got is noobs,” he mumbled. “I’ll rage quit soon if these assholes don’t pull their weight.” The line went dead.

I pulled into my street, and relief hit me when I saw Kellan’s Bugatti just up ahead. He wouldn’t be here unless Emme was finished and safely home from her shift, which allowed me to stop stressing about her being out of my sight.

The fact that I couldn’t just drop everything and follow her around, keeping her safe, bothered me more than it should.

After ensuring the security gates were closed behind me, I followed the other car along our dark street. None of our family members were night owls; the only lights still on were from our house.

Kellan pulled into his spot slowly, and I wasn’t worried until he opened Emme’s door and leaned down into the vehicle. I made it across the garage in ten steps. “What’s wrong?”

Kellan’s torso emerged with a sleeping omega in his arms, and unable to help himself he drew her close and breathed deeply. “She’s just exhausted, Hunt. I don’t think she’s sleeping that well, and new jobs are stressful. But she did amazing tonight. There were no incidents, everyone was nice to her. Actually, a few were a little too nice, but I set those dumbasses straight.”

My back teeth clanked as I ground them together, an annoyed growl rumbling from my chest. “Give me their names and I’ll deal with them.”

Kellan’s low burst of amusement was fucking annoying. “You can’t kill them. Trust me, if there’d been anything inappropriate, I’d have killed them and we’d be figuring out how to ditch a car with five bodies in the trunk.”

Five . My wolf howled as rage rose until my vision was red. “Give her to me.”

I didn’t force my dominance into the command, hoping he’d understand how much I needed to hold her tonight. It’d been one hell of a week.

With a reluctant sigh, he held her out to me, and she looked positively tiny in his arms. “Okay, but only because you look like you’re about to bust a nut if you don’t hold her.”

It was the bane of my existence to be constantly surrounded by smartasses. Not that he was wrong.

Emme didn’t stir as he handed her across, and as soon as I wrapped my arms around her, my wolf calmed. Her sweet scent started to mix with mine, and I was thrown back to the day I’d scented her chocolate and honey in the council room.

The connection had been so strong, slamming into me, and I’d almost given into the roaring need to claim her. It had only been the fear on her face which held my bite.

I headed for the stairs but had to slow when Kellan leapt in front of me, his face devoid of his usual joviality. “Don’t do anything that will cause me to be angry with you. I will avenge her honor.”

My rumbling growl was the only fucking warning he needed to know he’d pushed me as far as I’d allow tonight, but he didn’t back away. For that, I respected the hell out of the little shit. “I won’t hurt or upset her. Now get out of my way.”

He pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at me, before he stepped aside, allowing me to take her upstairs. Emme still hadn’t moved, solidly asleep, and it annoyed me that she’d let herself grow so exhausted that she was vulnerable.

I’d never cause her physical harm, but she didn’t believe that, so she shouldn’t be sleeping this soundly in my arms. Was this about more than exhaustion though? Was there a part of her that instinctively knew she was safe in our pack?

When we reached her room, she let out a breathy sigh and snuggled closer to my chest. Her ear was pressed just above my heart, as if seeking out the beat. With a groan, I shifted her higher and adjusted myself in my suit pants. Being this close to her had my dick trying to punch through the material like I was a fucking teen pup getting laid for the first time.

I had to get her to bed before the slivers of control I desperately clung to shattered.

The roaring need to claim her never went anywhere. If anything, it got worse each day, as I fought a millennia of shifter instinct.