Gifted with Hydrangea (4 page)

Ryker could see Grey’s eyes go big. “Wow, that’s a lot
of security.” Grey held his hands up. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“
I know it’s a lot, but I don’t want to underestimate
your alpha. And if Lizzy is in the trouble I think she might be in, then I only
hope it is enough.”

“
What kind of trouble do
ya
think she’s in?” Grey asked.

Ryker looked at
Alphy
. “
Phenocorps
?”

Alphy
returned his look. “Likely,” he responded.

“
This time we go during the day,” Slate said, with a
deadly look. After knowing what the others had gone through, Ryker had to
agree. These scientists were slated to die.

Chapter Fou
r

Enzo pulled
Alphy
aside as
he entered the house. “I have news you’re going to want to hear.”

“
Good or bad?”
Alphy
asked,
as he stopped just inside the door.

“
It isn’t good, but I would say it is more unwanted
than bad.” Enzo felt uncomfortable with telling
Alphy
anything negative.
Alphy
had already been through so
much.

Alphy
nodded and headed back outside. They climbed up to the office that was now over
the garage. The space was still busy with pack-members who were helping to
remodel it. The main living space was going to have a desk for every officer,
and a small lounge where they could hold their morning meetings comfortably,
with mates included. The long closet in the bedroom was being turned around to
be opened to the main room, and turned into a hutch for all of their security
feeds. The bedroom was going to be split to create two offices, one for
Alphy
and one for himself. There was still a ton of work to
be done, but
Alphy’s
office was already secure.
Alphy
led him in and closed the door.

“
So what’s the news?” he asked, as he walked behind his
new desk and sat down in his comfortable chair.

Enzo took one of the guest chairs. New furniture was
slow to come in, with everyone focused on higher priorities.

“
Matteo just called and told me some reporter is
snooping around town, asking about the two planes that went down. He said she
had gotten an anonymous tip about them.”

“
Fuck! Of course she did, and it wouldn’t have been
from the S.I.S. They would want to keep that shit quiet.”

“
Exactly. As far as we know, the only other person that
knew about it was the pride alpha, Tony Smith.”

“
I can’t imagine he would want that kind of heat on any
paranormal. It’s one thing to arrange people you hate to be sent to some
hellhole like
Phenocorps
, but it’s entirely something
else when you endanger the secret of our existence.”

“
I told Matteo to keep an eye on the reporter until I
had a chance to talk to you about it.”

“
Fuck!”
Alphy
swore again and
rubbed his eyes. He let out a loud exhale and looked off into a corner in
contemplation.

“
I can’t spare our guys. We’re stretched thin enough.
To make matters worse, Rye and his team are leaving with
Rudo
.”
Alphy
tilted his head back. “On the other hand, we
need to keep an eye out for her. We would need to do something if she gets too
close.”

“
What about Raymond? His coven is huge. He’s bound to
have some vamps he could spare.”

Alphy
slowly shook his head. “I’m already going to be asking him for help with
Slate’s friend.”

Alphy
folded his fingers behind his head as he leaned back and told Enzo about Grey
and his sister, and her friend.

“
What if we just bug her phone, and where she’s
staying? Maybe even put a tracker on her.”

Alphy
leaned forward and placed his arms on his desk. “That will work. Do it.”

Enzo nodded and moved to stand but was halted by
Alphy
. “Hold on, Enzo. Sit down a minute.”

Enzo froze for a second before he sat back in the
hard, uncomfortable chair, and waited for
Alphy
to
continue.

“
I also need you to head over to the
Waltons
,’”
Alphy
said seriously.

Enzo quickly brought up who they were, in his mind.
“One of the old couples who came here with the elk herd?”

“
Yeah. They’re an old couple who are pretty set in
their ways. I don’t think they realized just
how
different it would be to live in a mixed pack. They are having
a pretty severe dispute with a wolf shifter family who arrived, and just so
happened to have moved into an apartment directly next door to them. See if you
can find a way to settle the dispute. If you can’t, we might have to look into
evicting one of them from the pack. I don’t want that to happen. I want all
paranormals to see us as a refuge.”
Alphy
rubbed his
face, and Enzo thought he looked tired.

“
I know you do.” Enzo tried to soothe him. “We expected
things to be rough while we try to figure out which rules work best for a mixed
pack like us. Rules, etiquette, and customs all vary, sometimes extremely,
between predator and prey shifters, then add to that the vampires.”

“
Yeah, but we also expected to grow a lot slower than
we are.” Stress and worry were etched on
Alphy’s
face. “While you’re heading over to take care of that dispute, I am heading
over to another one on the other side of town. It has gotten more violent than
the one I’m sending you to.”

That isn’t good
, Enzo thought. “Don’t worry about the
Waltons
’ dispute. I’ve got this.”

Enzo got up and headed out. He was determined not to
fail
Alphy
on this. Different ideas on how to best
handle the situation occupied his thoughts as he grabbed the keys to the newly
returned pack vehicle. Just as he sat himself in the driver’s seat, Enzo froze.
His dick went ramrod hard, painfully pinching between the fabric crinkle of his
jeans. His eyes shifted, and his gums ached from his canines threatening to
descend.

“
Son of a bitch!” he shouted, and slammed the palms of
his hands against the steering wheel.
My
mate was in this car! Maybe he was one of the mechanics.
Enzo could smell
Havana was most recently in the car.
She
must have picked up the car. Maybe she can tell me who my mate is.
Deciding
he could stop by and meet his mate while he was in town, Enzo hopped back out
and went in search for the alpha’s sister.

Enzo entered the kitchen and saw Havana putting away
the dishes she had just washed. “Hey, Havana, I need to know who the last
person was who drove the car before you picked it up.”

Havana looked at him over her shoulder. “Yeah? Why? I
didn’t find anything wrong with it when I picked it up.”

Enzo felt like grinding his teeth. He didn’t have the
patience to play twenty questions. “Because he is my mate. I’m in no moo
d
for playful conversation, Havana. Now tell me who he
is, or who can tell me who he is.”

Dultyn
,
who was never far from his mate, walked around the corner, and stood
protectively beside
Havana.
Enzo sighed. Ever since
Havana’s abduction,
Dultyn
rarely ventured too far
away from her.

Havana ignored both his bad mood and her mate’s
protectiveness. She smiled widely. “Congratulations. It totally makes sense
now. He had all these pictures of flowers in his toolbox. Said he came from a
long line of flower people. You know, like what
Dex
does. His name was Heath. He’s a mechanic there. Cute little guy. Short, thin,
dark blond and sun-bleached hair, sweet as pie. His parents run the little
flower shop downtown. Gosh, it will be awesome to have him part of our pack.
Good luck.” Without waiting for any response, Havana turned around, kissed her
mate, and then continued to put away the cleaned dishes.

Enzo stood frozen for a little bit, trying to process
his mixed thoughts. He was jealous Havana knew so much about his mate, when he
himself didn’t, yet he was entirely grateful that she was able to help him find
his elusive destined. He was also suddenly nervous, and still turned on to the
point of pain, with the minor image of him she was able to provide.

Fuck, I’m in trouble if I
don’t get control over myself,
he thought, then growled.
Damn it, he’s human. How the hell am I going
to introduce him to the paranormal world without losing him? I doubt I’ll be as
lucky as
Alphy
, Slate, and Nix. Fourth time is
definitely not a charm.

“
Thank you,” Enzo mumbled to Havana before turning and
heading back out to the car.

As he began his trek into town, he began getting
excited about finally getting to meet his destined mate.
First things first. I need to take care of the feuding pack members.
Then I can stop by to meet my mate.
His stomach fluttered with
anticipation.

****

The sun was getting close to setting when Heath got
out of his car and looked around.
Boy,
she wasn’t kidding. The place is really overgrown.

He walked up a broken and overgrown path to the
rundown house. He could smell the rot, and winced at the smell, but soon his
expression turned into a large smile. Thick hydrangea trees grew around the
house in many different colors and breeds.
Wow!

Heath trotted back to his car and retrieved the box he
grabbed from work, and his clippers. After he returned to the bountiful
hydrangea trees, he began clipping some off. He took time to smell each cluster
he clipped before he laid it gently in the box, smiling the whole time. They
didn’t really have a smell, but he enjoyed doing it just the same.
They’re so beautiful.

Sounds from in the forest caught his attention. He
stopped and looked around. Through the trees, he saw an overly skinny girl,
running naked, and laughing. A very skinny wolf was bounding playfully around
her.
What the—

Before Heath could finish that thought, the laughing
girl’s body contorted and grew fur, and in a matter of several seconds, she
became a second playful wolf.

Heath’s eyes grew wide. He inhaled sharply, but froze
in place.
Did I just see that?

The wolves seemed to suddenly sense he was there
because they both stopped and looked his way. Fear punched through his body.
Both wolves howled long and loudly, then ran toward him. Heath screamed, and
ran for his car. He reached the car and tried to open the door, but the wolves
were there, one on each side, growling loudly. He froze. Fear spiked through
him sending goosebumps to rise on his arms and down his spine.

He slowly turned his eyes to the one on his right. She
stood about five feet away, baring her teeth and growling. The other one behind
him growled just as loud, giving him a stereo of the terrifying noise. His
stomach tightened with fear. Heath felt like throwing up.

He didn’t know why he did it, but Heath slowly held
his arms up. He flinched, nearly leaping out of his skin, when the wolf in
front of him barked, snapping her jaws in the air, spraying spittle as she did.

Another wolf, with red fur, ran out of the forest. It
was huge and had a healthy weight. Behind him trotted a
…horse?
A tall, muscular, bay stallion with a long shiny, black
mane.

Heath’s body was shaking and sweating as he watched as
the new wolf barked at the ones surrounding him. Behind him, he heard the
sounds of joints and ligaments popping and snapping. The sound made him sick.
His body had enough and rebelled. Heath heaved over and puked. Some of it hit
the side of his car and rolled down the side, and its rancid smell filled the
air around him. The wolf in front of him quickly backed away, trying to stay
away from the foul contents that splattered on the ground. Heath’s body quaked
so badly that he fell forward, and had to use the side of the car to hold him
up. His diaphragm locked and wouldn’t let him drag in air. He pulled and pulled
until his lungs were freed, allowing him to inhale deeply. He took several deep
breaths before a round of coughing fits hit him.

Heath continued to lean heavily against his car as he
slowly started to calm down just enough to hear past the ringing in his ears.
He could hear a girl crying.

“
I’m so sorry. He saw me shift.”

Another girl’s voice added, “So we decided to hold him
until you got here.”

A man’s voice, with a southern accent, responded. “
Shh
, it’s ok. You did exactly the right thing.
Alphy’s
a good alpha. He’s not going to flog you or
anything. Just calm down. We’ll handle this. Why don’t you and your sister
shift, and run back to the house and get yourselves some supper.”

Heath heard the popping and snapping sound again. His
eyes were shut, and with hearing the sound, he squeezed them shut even harder.

This isn’t happening. It’s
not real. I’m hallucinating. Maybe I fell and hit my head.

But the sick feeling that consumed his body didn’t give
Heath confidence in his theory.

The sound of padded
paws thrummed through the ground, and grew distant.
Heath’s head was throbbing. The nicker of a horse caused him to open his eyes,
just a peek. The large bay stallion stood staring at him a few feet from him.
Heath thought the horse looked like he was giving him a sympathetic look.