Deciding Her Faete (Beyond the Veil Book 2) (4 page)

April found herself standing frozen, a feeling she wasn’t entirely sure was hers. She wanted to run, she wanted to scream, hell, she wanted to reach out, kick the guy in the balls and get the hell out of there, but something in his eyes held her still. She cringed when he reached for her face and slowly drew a finger down her cheek. She felt a small shock of electricity as his skin made contact with her own.

“Ah, the one that slipped away last night.” His sneer morphed into a cruel smile and told her that whatever he searched for, he had found.

April found herself being hauled out of the bar by him and two other men. She tried to scream, but some sort of block in her vocal chords prevented her from doing so. No one at the club even seemed to notice that she was being dragged away against her will. And there was that damn blue light again, sparking from her palms. She needed to finally admit to herself that she wasn’t just imagining it. It was real, and she needed to figure out what
it
was.

They led her to the back entrance, her struggles amounting to nothing, and onto a side street where a black limo awaited. The beefy goon smiled once more at her, and then he shoved her inside the car where she came face to face with an unconscious Jason.

Chapter Five

“Oh my God, what have you bastards done to him?”

Jason could hear April’s panicked voice as his mind slowly tried to shake the groggy haze from whatever those Fae assholes had used to knock him out. He’d gone back to the bar after dropping April safely off at home, and apparently he’d asked the wrong bartender too many questions. He followed the guy to a back office, and the next thing he knew, he was waking up in some cheap limo, his wolf frantic, telling him not only had he been sleeping for almost an entire day, but that now their mate had been captured as well. Trussed up and barely conscious, neither he nor his wolf could protect her.

“Oh, do calm yourself, girl,” he heard a male voice say. It sounded like the guy sat across from him. Jason didn’t recognize the voice of the male speaking, and his accent was clearly not from around here. “Your dog isn’t dead. There’s no need for hysterics.” The man paused for a moment as if contemplating something. “You almost had us fooled, you know, clever girl. None of our trackers could scent you with the stench of your beast overwhelming us, but you can’t hide the spark of Fae blood in your eyes, not from Frederych at least.”

“What are you talking about?” April asked as she searched Jason’s now blinking eyes for any signs of trauma. “I am not Fae. What could you possibly want with me?”

“April?” Jason finally struggled to sit up and take in the scene before him. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you, baby?”

“No, I’m okay,” she answered huddling in closer to him. “Are you okay? I couldn’t find any bumps on your head. How do you feel?”

They both looked over at the tall man sitting across from them when he sighed dramatically.

“So touching, really. The love between mates,” the stranger said right before he rolled his eyes.

“Who the
fuck
are you, and what do you want with us?” Jason growled, his wolf so close to the surface he was barely understandable.

“I am Kheelan, the captain of the Fae King’s royal guard, so watch your tone,
boy
,” the man sneered. “And it’s not you we want,
dog
. Your little pretty there has led us on quite a merry chase from her last hometown.”

Jason had never been this close to any Fae before. It shocked him that they would make such a bold move against the pack as to kidnap two of its members. Something big must really be brewing for them to risk Gabe’s wrath. He took a closer look at the Fae in front of him. Kheelan was very tall but had a more streamlined build than shifters did, and there was no denying the Fae were a beautiful race. Too bad most of the ones he’d met so far turned out to be such absolute dicks.

“Why were you tracking her?”

Kheelan looked back at Jason for a moment with a scowl, before a smarmy grin replaced it, and he answered, “My King has but to ask, and I will provide.”

That still didn’t answer his question, and the avoidance made his wolf nervous. What could the False Fae King possibly want with April, and what made him think she was Fae? He certainly couldn’t smell it on her. Jason looked over at his mate. He could see the fear in her eyes, and it almost killed him. He’d only known her for two days, and already he was failing her. He did not deserve a mate as perfect as she was.

“Why me?” April asked in a whisper.

“Well, my dear, you weren’t very selective in who you
helped
along the way.” He smirked at her, and Jason had no idea what this bastard was implying when he said “helped” like it was a dirty thing. “You have no idea how many humans we had to endure to get to the right one.” Kheelan scrunched his nose in distaste. “But you animals do so love to gossip. The peculiar thing, though, was that
you
were the only one who didn’t seem to know you were doing anything at all. Didn’t you ever wonder why they all came to you for their bumps and bruises, my dear? Did you think it was your charming nursing skills?” Kheelan threw in an amused laugh, like one would when a child had done or said something silly. “From there, all it took was a short trip and a little torture to find out where the little nurse had moved her traveling sideshow to … and how thoughtful of you to consider our convenience by moving closer to home for us. So thank you, my dear, for saving us the trouble.”

What the hell?
All this time they had been taking humans to find April?
Jason turned over Kheelan’s words, letting them sink into his still groggy brain.
Our mate is not only possibly Fae but also a … healer?
Something else Kheelan had said registered in his brain as well—“the stench of your beast overwhelming us”.
It made sense that his wolf and that of her wolf family could have hidden her scent all of these years, but something still didn’t add up.

April must have read the shocked look on his face because she grabbed his arm immediately and blurted out, “I don’t know what he’s talking about, Jason. I can’t be one of them. He’s crazy. The wolves just came to me because I was the only nurse they knew within the pack. That’s all.”

“April, you’re our mate,” Jason said quietly trying to ignore the impatient, disgusted sounds coming from the bastard Fae across from them. “We accept you as you are. That’s all we’ll ever need. I don’t care if you turn out to be a troll.”

“There are trolls, too?” she asked, her eyes widening.

“Good Goddess, I can’t take this anymore.” Kheelan banged on the partition, and the window quickly lowered, revealing two more Fae in the front of the car. “How much longer until we reach the forest? These two are making me gag, and we used up the last of the sleeping draught keeping the wolf down overnight.”

“Ten more minutes, Captain,” the driver answered.

“Good, now, you two shut up or I start peeling skin,” Kheelan ordered before he closed his eyes and let his head rest back against the seat.

****

Ten minutes later, the car came to a stop. As soon as the back door opened, Jason could smell the forest. His wolf fought even harder against the ropes binding his hands and feet. He was glad that the Fae hadn’t bound April, but he knew why, of course. They were confident that she wouldn’t try to escape, leaving her mate to their mercy, although he wished that she would.

“We’re going to untie your legs, dog, but if you try anything, your woman will bear the punishment.” Kheelan motioned for the guard to untie his feet as he grabbed April’s arm and hauled her outside. “Are we clear?”

Jason simply nodded, his wolf too close to the surface in his rage. His incisors had dropped, and he didn’t want to give the bastard any excuse to hurt his mate.

“Get walking, you two. I want to cross the Veil in time for dinner.” Kheelan pushed Jason towards a well-worn path through the trees. “The food you barbarians eat on this side is disgusting. No wonder human lives are so short and they age so quickly.”

“Where are you taking us?” April whimpered as she clung to Jason’s arm, trying to keep up with the guard in front of them in the fading light of the forest.

“Why, I’m taking you home, child. I didn’t tell you that I knew your parents before they died, did I?” Kheelan answered in a frightening tone, putting his finger to his chin as if he were trying to recall having that particular conversation. “Oh yes, I knew your father
very
well indeed, my dear. Reysken and I began our guard training at the same time, and we were the best of friends. He was mine in
all
ways.”

“What?” April stopped walking and just stared at the cruel man in front of her. “You knew my parents? You’re lying!”

“Of course, that was before your
whore
mother, Ilyra, came along with her tainted bloodline and her filthy magic.” Kheelan just carried on with his super-villain diatribe, like he was giving an interview as only a true sociopath could. “Reysken would have trusted
me
with his secrets if not for her.”

April gasped at the way this monster spoke about her parents. Jason’s heart broke for her as he saw the grief and rage sweep across her features. He wondered if Kheelan spoke the truth or if he simply said those things to taunt her.

“Imagine my surprise finding you. I recognize your father’s scent on you,” Kheelan laughed as they arrived in a large clearing that butted up against a large bare stone mountainside. “The Goddess is rewarding me for my dedication.”

“You asshole!” April screamed as she launched herself at Kheelan before Jason could get in front of her. “Shut your filthy lying mouth!”

“You’re pathetic.” The Fae caught and slapped her before she could do any damage to him. He then pushed her down as the other two Fae tried their damnedest to hang onto Jason as he fruitlessly tried to get to April.

Kheelan quickly went up to the rock surface and began to trace symbols into the air. Then, all of a sudden, the hair on the back of Jason’s neck stood up and his wolf began to whimper in his head that something was very wrong.

“Throw him through the portal. I’m hungry,” he heard Kheelan say behind him before he was shoved towards the rock wall and everything went dark.

Chapter Six

“Damn, baby, you are just how I like ‘em,” the heavily made up and perfumed blonde in front of him slurred drunkenly. “Tall, built like a linebacker, and ready to be fucked hard. You want me to fuck you hard, lover?” The woman then had the audacity to run her long, red tipped nails down Donovan’s chest.

He snatched her hand from him, flinging it away in distaste. Donovan growled low, his eyes no doubt changing to reflect the fact that his wolf hovered just beneath the surface, both of them furious that some woman would dare put her hands on him. He had a mate, and the touch of any other woman would not be tolerated.

The blonde’s eyes widened in terror. “Hey, I’m sorry. I … um, didn’t mean anything by it.” The woman sounded surprisingly more sober than she had just moments before, and then she scurried away.

Donovan was moments away from shifting, screaming, or beating the shit out of the next person to touch him, look at him wrong, or shit, even breathe in his direction. He was pissed. He was frustrated that every place he looked, every lead he followed turned up nothing. Jason was missing, and he didn’t mind admitting to the fact that it worried him. Add to that, he had no way of contacting April. Human girls had been going missing in increasing numbers, and he feared for her safety.

After the call the night before last to introduce him to their mate, Donovan had been secretly planning their first face to face meeting. He wanted to make the best impression he could on their new mate. Jason had told him that she was beautiful, but after seeing the photo he had texted him, the word beautiful seemed inadequate. He made a mental note to one day memorize every single freckle that adorned her nose and lovely blushing cheeks. As soon as he had heard her voice on the phone, his dick had jumped to fully aroused in seconds.

He’d rushed home filled with hope that Jason would be able to convince April to come home with him. Donovan wanted to clean up a little after the beating he’d taken from Gabe. He’d jumped in the shower, which led to him missing the next call from Jason. Apparently a friend of April’s had been taken, and Jason was heading back to the area the bar was in to see if he could find anything.

Donovan had called him back immediately afterward, but Jason hadn’t picked up. He also hadn’t told Donovan in his message what bar he was going to look in either, so Donovan spent the rest of that night going from bar to bar searching.

He’d given up in the early hours of the morning, and headed home, truly expecting to find Jason passed out on his bed, having lost his phone somewhere. When he found nothing, he convinced himself that Jason was still searching, or the lucky bastard had returned to the arms of their mate. A move he envied, but couldn’t blame his brother for if that was in fact what he had done. Jason was an Enforcer for the largest wolf pack in North America and there was no way there could be a nefarious explanation, he convinced himself.

In the afternoon, Donovan had gone searching again, this time promising himself that once he found his little brother, he’d show him with both fists why Donovan was Beta. The little prick was being a douchebag by not checking in. He’d been searching for hours and still turned up nothing. He went back home, hoping once again that Jason would somehow be there waiting, but again, he only found an empty house and Jason’s phone had been going straight to voicemail. He was just about to report the fact that Jason was missing, when Gabe called, letting him know there was an even more unusual amount of Fae activity happening downtown and it correlated with more missing humans.

Seven hours later, Donovan fell into bed exhausted. He and Niall had only managed to clear four bars in that time. Between them, they had tangled with no fewer than seven Fae who each decided it was better to mess with them then to leave quietly. Bastards. A couple of them got in a few cheap shots, and Donovan sported cuts and bruises he hadn’t before when he crawled out of bed that afternoon.

When he awoke and still found no sign of Jason, he barely kept his shit together. He had made the decision to go to Gabe with this despite the whole Fae uprising bullshit when his phone rang.

“Jason?” He answered quickly, without even glancing at the screen.

“No, it’s Niall.” The soft Irish brogue in his friend’s voice told Donovan Niall was stressed about something.

“What’s happening?”

“I’m at the edge of the forest just south of Gabe’s, and one of those Fae bastards is here.” Niall spoke quietly into the phone.

Donovan frowned as he grabbed his keys and made for his truck. “Just standing there? What the fuck do you think he wants?”

“Pizza,” Niall shot back sarcastically. “I don’t fucking know, Donovan, and because in your infinite wisdom you decreed that we had to approach these fuckers in pairs, I’m calling you, because my brothers are still in Toronto!”

Donovan growled low down the phone, his wolf unhappy at the tone Niall had taken. “Was that a challenge? Because the way things have been going these last few days, I will kill that Fae then use you to wipe up the blood.”

Niall sighed. “No, shit! Sorry, Beta, it was not a challenge. My wolf is pissed this fucker is standing anywhere near our Alpha’s home. I can’t get a hold of Gabe, and everything in me wants to rip this fucker to pieces.”

Donovan pressed his foot harder on the accelerator, the V8 engine jumping to do his bidding. “I’ll be there in two minutes.”

As it turned out, the Fae had been sent here with a message for Gabe and wasn’t at all keen to share it with him instead. Donovan had taken him to Gabe’s and let the fucker give his message. Alefric, the King of the Fae was giving them forty-eight hours to return a Fae woman to his realm or war was to be waged. The woman he wanted returned was none other than the newly found mate of two of his fellow pack-mates, Leo and Ben Eklund. Suffice it to say, the messenger got the answer that kind of request deserved.

Gabe ripped his arm off, and Donovan and Niall chewed on him a bit before leaving him in the forest where his scent trail had led them. Actually, they chewed on him a lot, and he was definitely in more pieces now than he’d been when he’d first delivered his message, but if the Fae found him sooner rather than later, there’d still be something left of him to find instead of ash.

Despite the fact he’d been able to release some of his pent-up rage on the messenger, he was still frustrated as hell that he couldn’t find Jason and had no way of locating April. He headed back out in search of his brother. The classless blonde would have offended him on a good day, so unlucky for her, she had crossed paths with him tonight. And he was getting sick of listening to music that was playing too loud, drinks that were watered down, and women who thought they had a right to touch him.

“I’ll take a beer,” he all but growled at the bartender. He looked about as interested in serving him a beer as Donovan was in drinking it, but he had to keep up appearances.

As he lifted the bottle to his lips to take a drink, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He growled in frustration and relief when he read his brother’s name on the display. Donovan pushed his way into the corridor that led to the bathrooms and took the exit that opened into the alleyway behind the bar before he answered the call.

“Jason, you arrogant little fuck, where the hell are you?” Donovan asked in the way of greeting. “You better have a damned good reason for going stealth for the last forty-eight hours, you prick, otherwise, I won’t just put you on your ass, I’ll make fucking sure you stay there for a good while.”

There was silence at the end of the phone that had the hair on the back of Donovan’s neck standing on end.

“My, my, is that how all dogs speak to each other or is that simply a brother thing?” The voice was clearly not his brother on the other end of the phone.

“Who is this?” Donovan’s voice was little more than a growl.

Jason had taken a photo of their mate last night on his phone. That image would be proof of the woman that could bring them both to their knees. He wouldn’t part with the device easily. If this bastard had it then Jason hadn’t given it to him willingly.

“Let’s just say that I am someone you are about to become
very
open and honest with,” the smarmy voice replied with a hint of triumph to it that had Donovan’s wolf pacing within him.

“Well, in the spirit of being open and honest, I think it is only fair to warn you. There are only a few people in this world that I give a shit about. The owner of the phone you’ve decided to give me this little courtesy call on happens to be one of them, and if you’ve hurt him in any way, then you and I are going to have a very different future relationship, one that ends with you meeting me, and me introducing you to the body bag you’ll be requiring for the duration of your stay above ground.”

At the sound of the bastard’s laugh down the phone, Donovan’s phone creaked in his hand as his grip tightened. “I do so love how you shifters immediately turn to threatening death or dismemberment when confronted with a superior being who holds all the cards.”

He knows about shifters? Superior being?
“Not only are you a huge narcissistic asshole, but you are a
deluded
narcissistic asshole. I reckon when I meet you and take you out of this world kicking and screaming, effectively removing you from any future gene pool, I’ll be doing all of human and shifter kind one hell of a favor.”

“As if I would ever deign to breed with one of your kind,” the guy snapped, for the first time displaying something more than that smug condescension he’d been using. “And human? Goddess, no! I am Fae, dog, and I would not want to dilute our kind with the likes of you and yours.”

He knew immediately that it could not be a coincidence that this guy was Fae. Donovan didn’t believe in coincidences. “So tell me, asshole, why in the fuck would you think you hold all the cards?”

“Because,
you worthless mutt
,”
he spat the last word, “I have your dog brother and the bitch your kind call mate.”

Donovan’s heart stilled in his chest for a brief moment before it came pounding back to life. “You listen to me you, nameless fuck, I—”

“No, dog, you will listen to me!” the man interrupted, his voice rising.

Despite every cell in Donovan’s body demanding that he roar, rage, and threaten the man who had his brother and his mate, he bit his tongue and listened.

“Last night, two of your kind found a woman they believe to be their mate, and will no doubt want to
claim
her. We do not want that to happen. We want her back in our realm as quickly as possible. You, Beta to the Alpha known as Gabe, will make sure to deliver her, or I will make you regret it.”

Different prick, same threat. Donovan was really getting sick of this Alefric guy and his drones.

Donovan’s growl of rage was insistent, and he had to swallow it back in order to speak. “If you hurt her…”

“What will you do?” The smug as shit tone was back. “I told you before that I hold all the cards. You asked me my name before, dog, and I will give it to you now, not because you demanded it, but because I want you to know the name of the Fae that will end your brother and your mate if you do not do as I have commanded. I am the Captain of the Fae King’s guard. My name is Kheelan Falk, and if you do not answer this phone when I call it, your brother and your mate will be harmed. If you fail to do what my King has decreed and what I have requested, then your mate will die with my name on her lips as she screams and begs me for mercy to end her quickly. Test me if you will, Beta, but be it on your head.”

The click of the phone as he disconnected sounded like a gunshot and Donovan roared his mate’s name to the heavens, fighting the urge to crush the phone to oblivion. He was a hair’s breadth from shifting. For a less dominant wolf, the urge to do so would have been impossible to stop, but there was a reason Donovan was Beta. He was stronger than any other wolf in the pack apart from Gabe.

Donovan spun in the alley, striding out to the curb where he’d parked his truck. He had to think. He headed back to Gabe’s, hoping he could formulate a plan that would enable him to save his mate and his brother, and get Donovan within striking distance of this Fae. 

There was another reason why Donovan had risen to Beta in his pack. He proved to be one of the deadliest fighters, a trait he was very much looking forward to impressing upon the walking dead man, this Fae called Kheelan.