“How in heaven’s name did one stupid human get the drop on you?” Mace knew the anger in his voice wasn’t appropriate. It wasn’t Peter’s fault Roan had been taken. The young shifter suffered a major gash on his head, probably from when he fell. A quick shift healed most of it, but Peter was still holding his head in his hands, Kalel curled up on his lap and refusing to move.
“Darts. Fucking stingy, drugged-up darts that had us falling to the ground before we even registered anything happened,” Kalel snapped, glaring at Mace. “Do you honestly think we’d have let anyone near Roan if we had a choice? We thought we were safe in this house. No one was supposed to know where we lived. Roan was in the kitchen making us a snack. Me and Pete were here in the living room. One minute we’re laughing and fooling around; the next thing I know is when I wake up, I’m tied up like a fucking bull calf; my mate unconscious and bleeding beside me.” He stroked over Peter’s chest, apparently still upset with what had happened.
Mace growled, and ran his hand over his head. “Look guys, I’m sorry….”
“Don’t go apologizing for your attitude. Your mate’s been taken. We understand. I couldn’t even control my shift when Ben was kidnapped.” Sin’s rumbling voice didn’t help Mace’s agitation but he threw the huge shifter a grateful glance. “But the key thing is, what the hell do we do to get him back? The scent trail ended at the bottom of the driveway. If they’re still driving the stolen car, then we’ve got no leads there. What about houses, have you checked out any properties they might own.”
“I’ve gone through everything I can think of,” Trent said from where he was hunched over his laptop. “Aaron only has one house in Stockton and a holiday home on the coast. With Aaron still in lock up, it’s unlikely Roan’s been taken there. Martin has an apartment, and again I can’t see either one of these men being that stupid. They have to have somewhere where either one or both of them are doing these killings. Aaron’s house doesn’t have a basement, and they run the risk of someone seeing something, if they’re using Martin’s place.”
Mace knew his friends were doing the best they could, and Dimitri’s ringing fucking lecture about going off half-cocked when they didn’t even know where they were going was still ringing in his ears. The police had a bolo alert out on the stolen car, but nothing turned up yet. The only thing Roan’s abduction managed to secure was a promise from the captain that Aaron wouldn’t be released, no matter how badly the man sang for his lawyer. But he and his friends had been going over the same stuff for hours, and nothing had been achieved.
Mace’s whole body was thrumming with suppressed energy. He wanted to throw something – preferably a punch into Aaron Clark’s smug face. Now that Mace knew about the shifter world, he totally understood why shifters had their own method of justice. Seeing Aaron sitting in the interview room, unable to do anything even though Shane and Dimitri confirmed the man was lying every time he opened his mouth, sent Mace’s mind to places it’d never gone; like beating the man senseless until he started telling the truth and to hell with the law.
Unable to sit still any longer, he got up, striding through the kitchen and out onto the porch beyond it. Resting his elbows on the rail he stared at nothing, the glorious gardens and immaculate lawns lit up by copious fairy lights failing to hold his attention.
Fuck, Roan, babe, where are you? What was the point of being mated to a shifter if it didn’t come with some sort of homing device? I should know where he is; I should be able to…. Mace’s thoughts broke off as he heard footsteps behind him and seconds later, Trent mirrored his pose. Mace just kept looking straight ahead. He didn’t have a clue what to say to his closest friend and he didn’t think anything Trent said was going to make him feel any better.
“I am so sorry,” Trent said quietly. Mace stayed silent. Trent’s apology wasn’t going to help anything, least of all finding Roan. “If I’d just listened to you when you told me to turn back…if I’d just believed a bit more in that mating bond you share with Roan…if I’d just turned the fucking car around then we might’ve caught the guy in the act. We could’ve done something, I don’t know what, but I’m so sorry.”
“If you’re saying this shit just to make yourself feel better, then shove it,” Mace said rudely. “You fucking laughed at me; when I tried to talk to Shane about it, he told me to hold off for a fucking hour. An hour,” he yelled. “If I’d listened to Shane then we’d still be at the station, doing fucking nothing, running around chasing our tails, and in the meantime Peter and Kalel were lying in the house hurt, and Roan…God knows what he’s doing to….” Mace broke off, tears filling his eyes.
“I can only apologize,” and Mace could tell by his friend’s broken tone that Trent was really upset. The part of him that’d been friends with Trent for a lot of years wanted to say something – anything, to let Trent know he understood. But Mace was too worried about Roan to care about his friend’s mindset. What that said about him, he didn’t know. But Mace needed Roan with him like he needed air to breath, and while it wasn’t a feeling he’d had before, he did nothing to hold it back. Which was why, when he did open his mouth, he didn’t give Trent the reassurance he was looking for.
“I thought you knew about the mating bond,” and he internally winced as he heard the harshness in his tone, but once he’d started, he couldn’t shut the fuck up. “You’re the one who told me how amazing it would be; how deep the bond; how true the feelings. You said it was something you wanted for yourself. Was that why you laughed at me when I wanted you to take me back to the pack house? Were you jealous because you don’t have a shifter of your own? Is that why you fucking laughed and ignored what I was saying? You wanted Roan for yourself?”
“How the hell could you even think that?” Trent straightened and his fists clenched, but Mace was past caring. His worry over Roan had escalated and Trent provided the perfect scapegoat.
“Oh don’t think I don’t know what your little game is,” Mace sneered. “Taking Roan out to get groceries, inviting yourself over for dinner, and chatting to him the whole time. Probably telling him bad stories about me so that you can look good. Making me out to be a bad mate.” Mace leaned closer. “You’ve always been a lady’s man, but admit it. Roan’s fucking pretty. I bet you imagine his lips around your cock when you’re tugging yourself off at night, imagine pushing down his throat until you fill it with come.”
Mace’s head snapped back as Trent’s fist connected with his chin. It wasn’t unexpected, in fact it was welcome. All that pent up rage and worry finally had an outlet. With a roar, Mace took Trent to the ground, pummeling him with his fists, feeling nothing but a white hot rage that burned his insides and had him wanting to kill someone. He might regret it later, in fact he knew he would, but Mace reveled in the moment, finally having an outlet for feelings he didn’t have the words to express.
Strong arms hauled him off Trent, lifting his feet off the ground. Fucking Gabriel. He was a bear shifter and where was he when Roan was taken? Sitting around the art gallery being all cozy with his two mates. Mace kicked and punched and when that didn’t get him free, he ducked his head forward and smashed it backwards into Gabriel’s chin. Gabriel grunted, but the over-muscled bear didn’t release his hold.
“Cut it out, you idiot,” Gabriel growled. “You got one free hit because I know how bad you’re feeling, but fucking do that again and I’ll rip your head clean off. Roan’s on the phone. He needs help.”
All of the fight drained out of Mace in an instant. Gabriel let him go and Mace looked over to see Sin helping Trent to his feet. He knew he had some groveling to do with his best friend, but Roan was more important.
“Where is he? Is he okay?”
“He killed Martin,” Gabriel said bluntly. “Shane told him to stay where he is and he’s tracking the cell number Roan’s using. We got to get going. Roan thinks he’s going to be arrested and he’s terrified.”
Roan? His dear, sweet, totally submissive mate killed Martin? Reminding himself he shouldn’t underestimate the strength of a shifter, Mace hurried to his car, not saying a word when Trent got in the passenger seat. His phone bleeped with an address from Shane and Mace’s foot hit the accelerator, peeling out of the driveway at top speed, the rest of the pack following behind.