Chapter Fifteen
Alphonse stormed through the trailer to the office, where he’d left the female with two males watching over her. He didn’t want to believe what Joss said was true, but there hadn’t been an ounce of dishonesty in the male’s voice.
He pushed the office door, but it didn’t budge, and he realized it was locked from the inside. Putting more effort into it, he shoved his shoulder against the door, the lock splintering as it opened.
The two males lay unconscious next to the open window.
Tris was gone.
Letting out a furious howl, he waited for the sound to stop echoing in the office, then took a centering breath and stalked to the desk. Pulling the laptop forward, he opened the feed for the cameras his males had hidden around the park’s security walls and watched the footage of the failed first mission. It would have been nice if Stavrik and the males had been able to get into the park and take over, but Alphonse hadn’t really believed that would happen.
He called Stavrik. “Are you still being followed?”
“No, we’re outside of the city limits. When they dropped back, we stopped and pulled the trackers from our vehicles and threw them into the back of a pickup that drove by.”
“Good. I’m sending reinforcements. It’s time for plan b.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Alphonse ended the call and bellowed to the males milling around in the house.
“Get. Me. Requiem!”
* * *
Evan slept maybe ten minutes out of the four hours he tossed and turned. He wanted to leave the park and see Lark, but he knew he’d look like a lunatic if he showed up in the middle of the night to see her. His wolf was agitated on a hundred different levels, and now he had to take his disgruntled ass out to meet Tris and tell her that there wasn’t a future for them because he’d found his soulmate.
“Fuck.”
“What was that?” Silvanus asked.
Evan realized he’d sworn out loud as he’d been pacing from one side of the wolves’ private area to the other.
“I’m just frustrated.”
“Because of Lark?” Silvanus was a few years older than Evan, unmated and high-ranked in the pack.
“Yeah. And Tris.”
A few males were hanging around, waiting to hear from the males who’d gone to rescue Tris, and Silvanus had been one of them.
“Well, if you hadn’t gone to the pack, you wouldn’t have met her, and then you wouldn’t have been able to help set her free from her batshit crazy uncle.”
“I didn’t set her free.”
“She was rescued because of you. You might not have broken her out, but you sure as hell had a part in it all. And it’s clear that you feel guilty because you found Lark and Tris has been thinking this whole time that you and she were going to get mated. But I have a feeling she’ll understand.”
“Why?”
“Because no female of worth would give you shit for finding your soulmate. You said Tris is a good female and that things were still new between you. It’s not like you dated for a year and were days away from your mating when everything went to shit.”
“True.” Evan scrubbed a hand through his dark hair.
“Hey, have you figured out how to get Lark to know the secret?”
“Not even a little bit.”
Silvanus chuckled. “Well, hopefully it won’t take her too long. Maybe you could do a movie marathon with werewolf movies.”
“I’m not sure it would work.”
“Couldn’t hurt, right? Some of them aren’t too bad. I mean, none of them are on the money, but some are okay.”
Evan nodded. “It might be worth a shot.”
The door from the stairwell opened, and four pack members walked in. Tris followed, looking beat all to hell and nervous.
She saw Evan and her eyes lit up. He closed the distance to her and said, “Tris, I’m so glad you’re safe.”
She practically jumped into his arms and hugged him. He heard her crying, and he hugged her gently, not sure of the extent of her injuries.
“It’s okay, you’re not with Alphonse anymore. He can’t get to you here.”
“I-I—” She hiccupped and sniffled. “I was so worried he would kill you.”
“I was worried about the same thing.” He brushed the tears from her cheeks and said, “Let’s get you to Doc’s, and then you can rest.”
“You’ll stay with me, right?”
“Of course.”
He wasn’t such an ass that he’d blurt out right away that he’d found his soulmate and she was on her own. She was his responsibility, and he was going to take care of her until she was settled.
She thanked the males for setting her free.
“You already thanked us, but we were glad to help,” Felix said.
Evan escorted her to the pack doctor’s house. She was waiting at the door and smiled gently. “Come on in, Tris. I’m Paula.”
“Hi,” Tris said.
Evan helped her onto the bed in one of the exam rooms. While Paula looked her over and spoke to her, Evan had a chance to see how badly she was hurt. Her face was bruised, and there were healing cuts on her nose and lips, with dried blood in several places. Judging by the fingerprints on her throat and arms, she’d been choked and grabbed roughly.
“Okay, you can shift if you want to accelerate your healing,” Paula said, “or I’ve got some pain meds and tea you can have instead, and you can just rest as you heal naturally.”
Tris looked at Evan. “I don’t want to shift. I think Evan and I need to talk.”
Paula hummed and glanced at Evan. “Sure thing. I’ll go make the tea, and then you can rest.”
“Where am I staying?” Tris asked when Paula was out of the room.
Evan swallowed and said, “With Sarah. She’s waiting for us.”
“So not with you.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement. Tris’s voice was flat, like she wasn’t upset, but there was definitely disappointment shining in her eyes.
“I’m...things are complicated right now, and I really do want to talk to you, but maybe not right now when you’re healing from your injuries and need to rest.”
“You can just tell me. It was all over your face when I saw you.”
He frowned. “What was?”
She made a face and then winced as her lip split and started to bleed. He grabbed a tissue and handed it to her. “Don’t be an ass,” she said.
“Sorry, Tris. It’s just…I found my soulmate.”
“That’s all right.”
He blinked a few times. “Really?”
“I was going to tell you the morning Alphonse took me that I didn’t think we should mate. I like you. I think you’re nice and everything, but after waiting for four months to date you because of Alpha Bernard, and then feeling zero fireworks on our date, I knew it wasn’t right.”
“You really felt the same?”
She shrugged. “Bernard was so controlling, and he didn’t believe in soulmates. I think if we’d gone through with it, we would’ve eventually loved each other. But you’re not my soulmate and I’m not yours, and what kind of mating would that be like?”
“You could’ve told me that night we went out.”
“I could say the same to you.”
“True. But I wasn’t really certain I didn’t want to go through with it until after our date. But I am truly sorry, Tris. I really wanted to be mated and start a family. I hated the thought of waiting for my soulmate. Hell, I wasn’t sure if I believed everyone would get one anyway. But I knew that night we went out that it wasn’t right for me and it wasn’t fair to you.”
“She’s nice, right?”
“Who? My soulmate?”
Tris nodded.
“She’s amazing.”
“I’d like to meet her someday, just to say hello.”
“Of course.”
“You’re...have you mated her yet?”
“No, we just met two days ago. She’s human.”
Tris hummed. “That makes it more difficult.”
“Yeah, but I’ll get it figured out. The important thing is that you’re here and safe, and you can start a whole new life with our pack.”
“I’m not sure I’m really safe.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because,” Tris said, sighing, “Alphonse is crazy.”
“One hundred percent. But Joss threatened him thoroughly and made a show of force. The park is not just wolf shifters; there are a lot of other shifter groups who live here. And Alphonse never knew about our underground living situation.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m surprised. It’s really neat.”
“And safe. Trust me.”
“If you say so.” She didn’t look convinced, but Evan couldn’t help with that. She’d realize as time went on that the park was safe.
Paula came back with medication and a travel mug with a tea bag hanging from it. “Take one pill now with the tea. You should get sleepy in about twenty minutes. The tea will help to accelerate your healing too. I put some extra tea bags in with the pills. You can take a pill every four to six hours, and you can drink as much of the tea as you like; just steep a bag in boiling water for five minutes. If you need me, give me a holler anytime, day or night.”
“Thank you,” Tris said. She took the pill with the tea, taking a long drink. “I’ll bring the mug back.”
“No rush. Take care.”
Tris nodded. Evan helped her up and walked her out of Paula’s home and over to Sarah’s, which was a few houses away from Paula’s. The door opened as they approached, and Sarah, wearing a fluffy pink robe, smiled. “Hi, I’m Sarah. It’s nice to meet you, Tris. Come on in.”
“Hi,” Tris said.
Evan walked her inside and straight to the spare bedroom that Sarah directed him to. “I wasn’t sure of your size, but I grabbed some things from the market for you,” Sarah said, placing her hand on a stack of clothes on the dresser. “If you need other things, or don’t like what I picked, let me know and I can get different things.”
“I think I’d like to just rest for now,” Tris said. “If there’s pjs or a comfy shirt for me, that would be great.”
“Sure is. Bathroom is down the hall. I put out another toothbrush. I’m off work today, so whenever you wake up, we can get to know each other.”
“Thanks for your kindness, Sarah.”
“My pleasure. It’ll be fun to have a roomie.”
“Sleep well, Tris,” Evan said. “Sarah has my cell number. I have a new one since Alphonse bugged my old phone and we decided it was best to destroy that one. I’ll check in on you in the afternoon.”
“Okay.”
He walked out with Sarah. “She doesn’t have anything, right?” Sarah asked.
“Nope. No phone, no clothes or personal items. And Alphonse is her only family.”
“Well, not now; she’s got us.”
“Call me if you need me,” Evan said.
“Are you staying in the apartment?”
“Yes. I’m working the tour, and then I’ve got a date with Lark. I’ll check in on Tris before I go to work.”
“Got it. See you.”
“Bye.”
He looked at his phone as he headed toward the stairs. It was almost dawn, which meant he had time to rest before he had to report to the safari tour for work. Now that Tris was here and safe, he felt like he could rest. And he really wanted to rest, anyway. He didn’t want to be exhausted for his date with Lark.
Bounding up the stairs, he entered the employee cafeteria, grabbed one of the breakfast sandwiches from the counter, and ate while he made his way across the park to the apartment.
He unlocked the front door and stepped inside, kicking off his shoes and closing the door. He finished the sandwich as he walked into the master bedroom, tossing the wrapper in the trash and yawning so big his jaw cracked.
He stripped and flopped onto the bed with a groan.
His phone buzzed.
Opening one eye, he pulled the phone close and saw a text from Lark.
Can’t sleep. Miss you. Wish you were here.
His wolf was grinning.
Can’t sleep either. I wish you were here or I was there. This sucks.
I’m going to try to get a little more sleep, but I have to be at work at nine.
I have to work the safari tour for a few hours this afternoon, but I’m going to try to sleep too.
Sweet dreams, Evan.
They will be since I’ll be dreaming of you.
She sent him a few emojis, including the kissy-face one.
He sent her back the same ones.
Putting the phone down, he closed his eye as another yawn struck. In twelve hours, he’d be with his soulmate, and then they’d get to spend the night together. No matter what happened, he’d fall asleep with her in his arms, and that’s what mattered.