Chapter Nine

 

After spending the night in the same bed, the rest of the week felt more hollow and empty to Cade than ever before. Dean had gone home to wait for any word about the investigation or the arson report, and Cade had continued his week at the animal clinic. It was one of the most drawn out weeks Cade could remember.

Disappointingly, Dean didn’t come back to Silo for another sleepover, either. The nights were cold and seemed endless, even when he managed sleep. His wolf was already forming bonds to Dean, whether Cade was ready or not.

He tried to be congenial to patients.

Brothers didn’t fare as well. Even Jamie was giving him a wide berth, which wasn’t all that easy considering the size of the veterinary clinic. It made him feel that much worse that he was making life miserable for his brother-in-law because he couldn’t be with Dean.

And if it was like this now, what was life going to be like later? If they completed the bonding? If he introduced him to the pack?

No, not if, when. He knew that was inevitable.

Unless he lost Dean.

The howl he heard rocked his ears.

Damn. The day could not end soon enough.

He barely took the time to change when his shift was finally over, layering clothes to be out in the cold. He needed his bike, and there was only one direction he was going to take.

The roads were still clear, thankfully. Tucking his hair under his helmet and jacket, he roared out of Silo on his ride. He’d even remembered gloves this time. He needed the rush, the wind, and focus. Needed to get this…lust under control. There was a need he didn’t understand. A need to be with Dean. A need to be close to him. A hunger he hadn’t ever tasted. It went deep, like he’d been infiltrated at his innermost marrow.

It had been steadily growing since the weekend. Since those kisses. The weight of the man held in his arms as they’d slept was a lingering memory. A sensation he’d hunted for every night that week. He snorted. That certainly hadn’t helped his sleeping any.

Restless, needy, hungry. Was it any wonder Jamie had been giving him room? He understood what Cade was going through, probably better than Cade himself did. He grunted, his jaw tight with frustration. The crisp wind stole away each breath.

Maybe he should talk to Chris or Quade. Cade knew Chris had gone to get advice once from their alpha, Roman. He didn’t know why he’d assumed finding his mate would be easy. It really should have been.

He’d never anticipated the curveball life had thrown at his head. In that, Chris had the advantage. He’d known what he’d liked since he was a kid. Cade… He sighed, the cloud of steam gone in a flash. Had he been hiding or was this simply something he was going to have to learn to live with and appreciate that he’d found his mate at all?

He spotted the burned out hulk of Gemini’s not too far in the distance. On impulse, he slowed and rolled to the rear of the building, out of sight from passing vehicles or curious eyes. Unlatching his helmet, he rested it on the seat, taking a slow look around. The tape was still up, but sagging because of ice buildup. The hole in the outer wall was still there, as was all the debris the collapse had caused. A pattern of dull footprints wandered in and out of the entrance. Likely the investigators’. The smell of burnt wood had faded some.

Tilting his head, he listened, but only heard the quiet sounds of nature amid the creaks and shudders of the damaged building.

Being on the lookout for ice on the ground, he did a slow search around the rear, and then back up the side where the truck had sat before it had ripped out the support beam. More footprints cut swaths through the muck that had firmed under the cold. If there was any way to distinguish them by age, or person, it was lost on him. He hoped the investigators had found what they’d needed.

Returning to the motorcycle, he leaned on it and crossed his arms, looking at the building. What was he not seeing? What would bring this kind of anger to a man? Why would someone want to harm, and possibly kill, Dean? Once more the night before Christmas popped up in his memory. But who of those could be tied to Daniel’s death? The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that anyone with a grudge and history would visit a place with a bad memory, especially for what they were doing that night.

Letting his gaze roam and wander, he saw the building, the parking lot, the dumpster, rough ground, and mounds of filthy snow and ice. He guessed that anyone digging for clues had searched the area.

But what a human might miss, a lupine nose certainly wouldn’t. He dug his phone out of his pocket to silence it. No sense in letting it be obvious someone was hanging out around back. He stripped his jacket and laid it on the seat next to his helmet, doing the same with his sweater and undershirt. Bared to the waist, he walked behind the utility storage building and finished undressing, stuffing his socks in his boots to fold his jeans once they were off. He rested them neatly on the boots to keep them off the ground.

Crisp grass crackled under bare feet. The bite of the sharp chill was a shock to nerves. Listening to the silent world surrounding him, he let the wolf free, merging as their blood, their bones, their souls became one.

A hard huff of crystallized breath was followed by a fierce shake as the animal adjusted to the chill. He didn’t let the wolf out often outside of pack runs, and Cade felt its wary confusion.

The animal scented the air. Char and mud, people and ash. Keeping a strong connection to the animal, he let it cautiously emerge from behind the shed. Alert and patient.

Time to do a little snooping.

 

* * * *

Dean put the car in park and shut the engine off. Staring at the burned out shell of Gemini’s made something inside his chest ache. The sign that had hung near the door was dangling off a support, the electric cables limply draped to disappear somewhere on the ground. There hadn’t been any windows. An old, rustic, wood building that had been through quite a few owners before he and Daniel had taken it over. He knew he had no reason to be there, but sitting at home waiting for people to dot their Is and cross their Ts was killing him. The longer he had to wait, the more it felt like the last memories he had of his brother were slipping through his fingers.

“I don’t know what happened, Daniel,” he whispered into the silence. The hole in the side felt like a punch to his gut. More caution tape had been hung, for all the good it did.

There was so much left unsaid, unanswered in what had happened here. Wrapped in his jacket, he wasn’t ready to get out of the car. That gaping hole in the wall intimidated him. Someone had taken time, had made the conscious decision to cause that.

He snorted.

Like the fire hadn’t been?

Only… He’d been feet from where the ceiling had fallen, Cade even closer.

Sheriff Archer had asked who he’d pissed off.

Dean wished he knew.

Sighing, he opened the car door and let it quietly click shut. The air was still, cold, any sunlight already fading. Wispy clouds were thinning, allowing the high moon to glow down on the world. It felt wrong to create a sharp interruption. There was almost a sense of calm to the air. Like nature was waiting to draw its next breath.

With his hands fisted inside his pockets to keep warm, he strolled along a wide path around the building, watching the ground, letting his vision skip every now and then to his surroundings.

His feet froze to the ground when he turned the corner.

A motorcycle sat in the graying dimness. The helmet and a few articles of clothing waited on it.

Dean frowned. He could swear that was Cade’s bike. Walking closer, he spotted the black leather jacket. He didn’t doubt it now.

Glancing around in confusion, he looked for the other man. A man who was obviously half-naked if all the clothes were his.

“Cade?” A chilled shiver strolled down his spine. What was Cade doing there? Where was he?

A scraped sound whipped him around to the darkened opening of the rear entrance.

Dean hopped back a step, startled to find himself not alone. And it wasn’t Cade.

Gazing up at him were a pair of gray eyes surrounded by dark fur. Eyes and a muzzle then very slowly, a body materialized.

The dog whined.

“Hey, buddy,” he tried calmly. He had no idea if the big thing was wild or not. It wasn’t acting aggressive, just cautious.

It took a small step forward. Dean held his ground.

“Staying out of the cold? Not sure this is a good choice,” he said. He wasn’t sure how long they stood staring at each other before the dog inched through the doorway and darted out into the fields behind the property. Dean lost it pretty quickly in the thickening darkness.

“Cade?” Still no answer.

Dean frowned. Why was he here? His bike was hidden behind the building, and if he hadn’t come to this side of it, Dean would have never known he’d been there. So why was he there and not wanting that to be known?

Dean leaned on a mostly unmarred spot of the storage shed.

Cade had better have a few answers ready when he decided to show his face.

 

* * * *

Cade waited and listened.

Dean didn’t try to follow. He didn’t hear the car start up again either, and after a few minutes, he realized why. The other man was waiting for Cade.

Shit!

He paced in slow circles in the tall weeds and frozen, dried grasses. This was not how he wanted Dean to find out about the wolf. He was grateful the man had thought he’d really only been a homeless dog, but fuck and hell.

How was he going to get to his clothes? How was he going to explain this to Dean? He’d hidden when he’d heard the car pull up. With the angle Dean had parked at, he could see right inside through the demolished hole in the side wall, so Cade had hunkered down and hoped he’d drive away again.

No such luck.

As soon as Dean had discovered his motorcycle and knew he was there, Cade knew he’d start looking for him.

Silently, he was cussing in ways that would have had his mother after him with a bar of soap.

After another ten minutes in the freezing cold, he couldn’t make Dean suffer. It was getting colder now that any sunlight was gone.

“Cade! Come on. It’s fucking cold as shit out here. Where are you?”

He sighed in defeated acceptance, hanging his head.

With his tail and his head low, he emerged out of the field and dragged his ass toward the shed. He could stay hidden, but he’d still have to explain what he’d been doing there. He’d tried to make the best decisions during his lifetime. He could only hope this was one of them.

“Hey,” Dean called gently, the one word full of genuine concern.

Lifting his line of sight, he landed right on a pair of green eyes that were pinned on him as he approached.

“It’s cold out here, huh? I bet you’re freaking cold, too.” He squatted down and let a hand hang limp off a knee, knuckles lightly bent in offering.

Cade let the wolf greet him. Let him run his face all over that hand. He even licked at Dean’s cold fingers once.

He couldn’t hide the terror that this was all he’d get of the man once he knew the truth.

“I don’t know what you are, a hybrid maybe. At least you’re friendly.” He continued to talk in a soothing, calm voice.

Cade would have chuckled if he’d been on two feet. No, not a hybrid. At least not the kind Dean was thinking of. After a long nuzzle against his outstretched hand, he backed up and stared right into him.

He hardly moved, didn’t twitch, didn’t blink. He hoped Dean made the connection when he saw him face to face again.

Almost sick to his stomach with what he was about to do, he backed up and slipped behind the shed to dress. On two feet.

A few minutes later he heard, “Cade! Come on man. There’s a poor dog out here freezing to death. I’m about to take him home with me and leave your sorry ass out here. What the hell are you doing here anyway? Where are you?”

Cade shook his head. Wish you would take him home. He stomped into the second boot and stood straight.

He drew a slow breath. Cold bit at bare flesh again. It must’ve dropped ten degrees in the last half hour.

“I’m here,” he said, walking out from behind the shed. At least there was enough moonlight to not scare the poor man out of his skin.

Dean jerked away from the shed. “Shit! Where’d you come from? Why didn’t you answer?”

Cade’s jaw clenched tight. He reached for his shirt and tugged it over his head. “I want you to just listen for a minute,” he replied.

“To what?” Dean’s anger was on the rise. “What the hell are you doing here? Why were you hiding? Why didn’t you answer me? Why are you walking around naked?”

He pulled on the sweater. He ignored every single one of his questions. “What color were the wolf’s eyes?”

“What? The dog? You saw it?”

“Dean.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Christ. Where do I even start?” he muttered.

“Just tell me what you’re doing here first.” Dean stood stiffly, only a foot or two away.

“I came to see if there were any clues that could have been overlooked.” Unfortunately, he hadn’t found a single thing. Not a hair, not a left behind mistake. Nothing. And his want to help may have ruined his entire future. He tied back his hair. “I’m asking: What color were the wolf’s eyes?”

“That was a dog, if you saw it. Wolves don’t live around here.”

“Dean,” he said with a hint of sorrow and exasperation. “Please.” He hadn’t looked at the other man yet. His stomach was a corkscrew tight mass of knots.

“I think they were gray. Wait. Aren’t most dogs’ eyes like brown or maybe blue? It did look a little like a malamute or maybe a shepherd mix.” He snapped his jaw shut. He glared at Cade. “Quit that! Tell me what you’re doing here, at night, hidden, and for the game point, half-naked!”

“I told you, I was searching. As for the half-naked…” He let out a slow, controlled breath. It was a whitish stream in the frozen world before it dissipated. With a wealth of caution and just as much apprehension, he faced Dean. “Look at me, Dean. Look closely.”

Dean sneered.

Cade didn’t move, and he didn’t blink.

Gray eyes locked on green.

“Picture the wolf. He’s a near black with gray eyes, right?”

Uncooperative, Dean nodded. “If you saw it—”

“Dean,” he growled. He wanted to get the man out of the cold, but didn’t dare force him to make the connection, not on this. It scared the shit out of him to have to push like this as it was. This really wasn’t how or when he wanted to share the truth with the man. The bonds were still forming, weak. One mistake and it would be all over for him. He moved a few inches closer. “Just…try. Please?” he begged. “Look at me and try.”

Dean’s expression didn’t change. “You are just as insane as I’d first thought. I don’t know where your mind is, man, but it’s fucking freezing. There is a lost dog out here somewhere, and you’re where you’re not supposed to be. Here.”

“Let me come home with you and I’ll bring the dog with me,” he offered.

“On your bike?” Dean tossed his hands in clear disgusted disbelief. “If you’re not going to tell me the truth, fuck off. I don’t need headaches like this.”

“Dean.” He closed his eyes briefly and tried to calm his heart. “I can explain. I… I’ll show you.” He was losing ground so fast here. He really wanted to get the other man out of the freezing cold. He could handle it for a long period of time. Cade knew Dean couldn’t. Except Dean’s unwillingness to even work with him to piece it together was killing him.

He tried to close the gap and Dean skipped a step backward. The move sliced Cade through, chilling him in ways the winter temperatures couldn’t come near.

“Just go home, Cade. Call me when you figure out which lie you’re going to fix first. Or better yet, don’t bother.” He shifted his glare from him to the bar. “It seems awful convenient, now. I meet you, you do a good night’s favor and suddenly my bar gets torched like a bad bonfire.”

“I wasn’t any part of this,” he argued, his apprehension swinging quickly to anger of his own. He had no idea where the idea for blame came from.

Narrowed eyes focused on him. “But you’re here now. Why? What are you hiding?”

“I told you—”

“Riiight, because everyone likes to walk around in the freezing cold, half-naked, at night. Searching for what?”

“Fuck you,” he growled lowly. “If you’d let me explain—” As soon as he spoke, he realized his mistake.

Dean spun on a heel and stalked away. He was around the corner in two strides and gone. A few seconds later, Cade heard the smack of the car door and the shriek of the car’s motor being brought to life.

Headlights flooded the area then the car was on the road and gaining speed. Leaving him behind.

Dean punched the side of the shed, rocking it on its foundation. Not one of his best moments.

“Damn it.” Icy air filled his lungs as he fought to calm himself.

No. He’d made the first move. He wasn’t letting him stomp away. If Dean wanted the full truth, wanted answers, then Cade was going to give them to him. There was no going backwards now.

Locking his helmet into place, he started his bike and rolled from behind the remains of the bar. Taillights were visible in the distance. He had a good guess they were Dean’s.

Zipped into his jacket, he cranked the throttle and raced after the man.