A Cold Winter's Day 25 (16 page)

Curtis wasn’t too sure if he could trust the guy, but what choice did he have? He didn’t know where he was or what he was dealing with. “If you betray me, I have an entire pack of wolves that will hunt you down and gut you.” Not to mention Chauncey.

Curtis knew for a fact that his mate was looking for him at this very moment.

“I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m honestly not lying to you.” The man hurried to the door, opening it slowly as he stuck his head out. He waved for Curtis to follow him as he ran from the room.

Curtis took a deep breath, praying he wasn’t walking into a trap.

* * * *

Malcolm walked into the hut, his heart breaking as he saw Luke kneeling next to Shanta’s bloody body. A knife was in his hand as he was looking at the man as if nothing was real.

“Luke?”

His mate shook his head, his hand shaking as he laid the knife on the ground. “He wouldn’t tell me where Cole was. He wanted to drain my son, use him for financial gain.”

Malcolm approached slowly, kicking the knife away from Luke before he squatted down next to his mate. “Are you hurt, Luke?”

Luke looked up at Malcolm, his chocolate-brown eyes filled with anguish. “He wasn’t going to tell me where my son was,” his mate repeated. “He tried to kill me with that knife.” Luke pointed to the bloody piece of metal that Malcolm had kicked across the room. “I couldn’t let him kill me. Who would look after Cole if I was dead?”

Malcolm knew his mate was in shock. He knew for a fact that Luke had never killed a man before. His mate was too sweet, too kind to have ever killed anyone. He reached out slowly and pulled Luke into his arms, holding him.

“We need to find Curtis and Cole,” Malcolm reminded him.

Malcolm stood, pulling Luke to his feet as they walked out of the hut. He wasn’t sure how he was going to find his son or son-in-law, but Malcolm was never going to give up. He would search until his dying day for Cole and Curtis.

And he knew Chauncey would as well.

Speaking of Chauncey
. His son came running out of the woods, growling as he entered the village. One of the elves ran toward Malcolm, his eyes wide when Chauncey began to charge after him.

“I’m not trying to harm you!” the man shouted as he neared Malcolm. “Call him off!”

“Chauncey,” Malcolm shouted. It was the only way to get his son’s attention. Chauncey came to a halt next to him, his eyes filled with fear and rage.

“What is it?” he asked the man standing before him. Malcolm had no patience at the moment.

“I know where Shanta took the baby and man.”

This gained everyone’s attention as the man scooted closer. A few of the people in Luke’s tribe sneered at the man standing there, but Malcolm and Maverick surrounded him, giving him their protection. “Tell me.”

The man wrung his hands, glancing at everyone around him before lowering his voice. “You have to promise to take me with you. I’m betraying my people, and they won’t be too happy with me.”

“Tell me!” Luke shouted as he grabbed the man by his collar and shook him violently. “Tell me where my son is!”

Malcolm knew how Luke felt, but they needed the information more than Luke needed to strangle the guy.

“You have our word,” Maverick said as he glared at the men standing around them. The alpha’s glare wasn’t anything to sneeze at. It even made Malcolm shiver as he stood there waiting for the man to reply.

“Shanta has a place not too far from here that he uses for…other things. If you take me with you, I’ll show you where it is.”

Without hesitation, Maverick led the man to his truck, helping him into the backseat. Malcolm followed, pulling Luke into his lap as the man told them where to go. The second SUV followed close behind as they drove past the speed limit.

Malcolm prayed along the way that Cole and Curtis were unharmed. Not only would he lose his mind, but Luke would be devastated. Not to mention Chauncey. He wasn’t sure what his son would do if he lost his mate. Chauncey and Curtis were as close as Malcolm had seen two people. They lived and breathed for one another. Chauncey sat in the backseat with Malcolm, not saying one single word as he stared out of the window.

Malcolm wasn’t sure if he had ever seen Chauncey this quiet. Except for the time when he first discovered Curtis was his mate. It was eerie, but he knew how his son felt.

“There.” The man pointed to an access road.

Maverick made the turn, gunning the SUV down the road, a grim expression on his face. Malcolm set Luke aside, ready to take on whoever got in his way. That was his son and son-in-law in that building, and nothing was going to stop him from getting them back.

The SUV came to a skidding stop when Malcolm, along with Maverick, saw Curtis walking down the road, a bundle wrapped in his arms.

Malcolm jumped from the truck along with Chauncey as they raced toward Curtis. His smile was wide when he saw Chauncey. Malcolm grabbed the bundle from Curtis, peeking inside to see Cole smiling up at him. “Were either of you hurt?”

Curtis shook his head as Chauncey grabbed him and damn near crushed Curtis to his chest. “No. We had help.”

“Who?” Malcolm asked as his mate and the others joined them. Malcolm laid Cole in Luke’s arms, watching the tears fall from Luke’s eyes. He pulled his mate and son close, looking to Curtis for an answer.

“Some elf. I wanted him to leave with us, but he fears Shanta will kill him if he does. He’s already risking his life by helping me and Cole escape.”

“Shanta is dead,” Luke said in a bitter tone.

“Really?” Curtis asked as he looked back at the building. “Then I need to go tell Garrett.”

An idea formed in Malcolm’s mind as he stood there looking at Curtis. He turned toward the alpha, seeing a knowing look in Maverick’s eyes. How the hell did the guy do that?

“You have my full support.”

Malcolm nodded as he led Luke back to the truck. Chauncey, along with some of Maverick’s men, went after Garrett.

“Full support of what?” Luke asked as he climbed into the warm truck.

Malcolm chuckled as he hugged his mate to his side. “I was thinking about using my ranch as sort of a place where people could find refuge and help them get back onto their feet.”

“But didn’t you tell me that Brac Village already had a resource center?”

Malcolm shrugged. “It would be good for my sons to have some help, and it couldn’t hurt to give someone a place to feel safe. I can talk with Taylor, make some sort of arrangement. If they need short-term help, they can go see him, but if they need something a little more lengthy, why not?”

Malcolm absolutely loved when Luke smiled like that. It made his eyes sparkle and his face light up like a sunrise.

Malcolm rolled the window down when he saw Carter shimmer in where Maverick was standing. This couldn’t be good.

“We have a bit of a situation at home. D has chained himself to Sloane’s bed, refusing to leave…and his brothers are there, fighting the wolves to get into the house.”

Maverick ran his hand over his face as he cursed. He looked over at Malcolm. “Can you handle getting everyone home?”

Malcolm growled.

“Yeah, okay.” Maverick turned, grabbing Carter as he and his men shimmered out.

“Looks like D is putting up a fight to keep his mate,” Luke said as he climbed into the front passenger’s seat as Malcolm took the wheel.

“Yeah, but I think he’s going about it the wrong way.”

Boy, was he ever going about it the wrong way. Malcolm just prayed D knew what he was doing. He knew Maverick wasn’t going to kill the squirrelly man, but he wasn’t too sure about Sloane.

* * * *

Luke had Cole strapped to his chest on one of those baby-carrying things, refusing to let his son out of his sight as he showed Garrett and Abe—the man who had told where Cole and Curtis were being held—to a room.

He wasn’t thrilled to have either of them there after what had happened, but he knew they had tried to help. That counted for something.

Maybe.

“Dinner is at six. Get some rest. Starting tomorrow Malcolm will show you what needs to be done around here.”

“Who’s Malcolm?” Garrett asked.

Luke really wished his mate would stop telling everyone to call him Pa. It was getting confusing. “Pa, now go rest.”

Luke left the two as he walked downstairs. He was tired as hell, feeling as though he hadn’t slept in years. The stress had gotten to him even though Shanta was dead, because he still couldn’t relax for some reason.

Luke rolled his shoulders as he sat down on the couch and picked up one of the magazines. He wasn’t that worldly, not like Carter had been. Luke had never gone traveling to see the world. He had been more of a homebody, so a lot of things were quite new to him.

The wood elves lived very simple lives, no microwaves or televisions. They had chosen to embrace the old ways, which suited Luke just fine, but learning to run a washer and dryer had been fun as hell.

He was probably the only guy on the planet to thoroughly enjoy doing laundry.

Hearing a soft snore, Luke looked down to see Cole’s little arms and legs dangling from the baby carrier, sound asleep. He curled up onto the couch to take a nap with his son when Riley walked into the living room.

Maybe taking a nap in his bedroom would have been a better idea.

“No, stay,” Riley said when Luke pushed up from the couch and made to leave. “We need to talk.”

Luke wasn’t too sure about that. Riley had been nothing but cold to him since Luke first got here. Anything the man had to say to him couldn’t be good. He covered a yawn, focusing on the man standing before him.

Riley took a seat on the opposite sofa, setting his drink on the coffee table as he turned and faced Luke. “I’ve been a prick to you.”

No shit.

Anyone with one workable eye could see that.

“It wasn’t you and I’m sorry I took it out on you,” Riley continued. “You see, me and my pa have worked this ranch side by side since coming here, and well…”

Luke picked up where Riley trailed off. “You were afraid I’d change that.”

Riley nodded, his cheeks turning a scarlet red. “I know, it sounds childish.”

“No,” Luke said as he shook his head. “It sounds reasonable. You’re close to Malcolm. It’s totally understandable. But you have to know, Riley”—Luke laid his hand on Riley’s arm, making the man look at him—“that I would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship with your father.”

Riley grabbed his drink from the coffee table, taking a long swallow as if nervous for some reason. It must be hard to admit being wrong, especially a large man like Riley, who always wore such a stern and serious look on his face.

It had to have killed his pride.

Luke smiled at Riley, patting him on his knee. “We cool?”

Riley chuckled as he nodded. “You’ve been hanging around the twins way too much.”

Maybe so, but they were fun as hell to be around. He was still trying to get to know the triplets, and Roman, the youngest, stayed gone most of the time working. But the twins always managed to make Luke laugh.

“I guess I have.”

Luke curled up onto the couch, wrapping his arms around his sleeping son as he laid his head onto one of the decorative couch pillows. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m long overdue for a nap with my youngest son.”