Gifted with Hydrangea (7 page)

Heath felt ill.
Hunters?
Abductions? Experimenting? Paranormals?
Words, questions, and pictures of
this evening’s events circled around in Heath’s head.
Do I want to continue to pursue him?

Heath’s mind was so cluttered that he tripped over a
root as they walked between a few trees.

“
Whoa there, sweetheart,” Enzo said as he lunged for
him, and pulled him back before he hit the ground. Enzo held him firmly against
his rock hard body.

Heath felt his dick filling as he felt
everything
was rock hard.
If that thing is as big as it feels, my ass
is in big trouble,
he said to himself, referring to the rigid length
digging into the side of his lower stomach. Heath’s shaft filled more, and his
star clenched at the thought of Enzo pounding in and out of him with that giant
thing. Heath thought it looked like Enzo was sniffing the air.

Enzo’s voice was low and husky. “Oh, sweetheart, what
I wouldn’t do to give in to what your scent is calling me to do.” He gave a pained
groan and rested his forehead against Heath’s. “But
Alphy’s
right. You’ve been through enough today, and I want to do this thing, between
you and me, right.”

Enzo stayed in place a few moments more before taking
a step back and resuming walking. Heath watched the ground as Enzo’s hand
warmed his own, guiding him to their destination. He was secretly glad that
Enzo stopped. His body wanted to be stripped, and shoved up against a tree, and
pounded into the bark with that Olympic sized cock, but at the same time, he
really was scared and unsure of how he was feeling.

They entered a manufactured home that he could tell
was very recently put in. Enzo gave him a quick tour.

The front room was the waiting area, accented in warm
earth tones. Also one small part in front of the entryway was partitioned off
as a basic doctor’s exam room.

Enzo pointed to a door on their left of the front
room. “To the left is the master suite. It is Seamus and
Maysa’s
private living quarters. Straight ahead, as you can see, is the kitchen. It’s
used more as a lab and nurses’ station, but they keep food here for when they
work long hours, or if they get a patient that needs something to eat right
away. Other than that, they go over to the house for meals.” Enzo walked over
and placed their desserts in the fridge. Heath didn’t see anything gross, like
urine samples, or anything, so he didn’t say anything.

“
Just off to the left of the kitchen,” Enzo continued
to explain, pointing, “is a small laundry room, and an exit.” Enzo turned them
around, and led him over to where the dining room would have been, if this was
a house. It was sectioned into three hospital exam rooms. Unlike the one in the
front room, which only had minor equipment, the hospital exam rooms had
everything a hospital would have. Oxygen tanks, heart monitors, even gurneys.
They were each divided by hanging hospital curtains hung from tracks on the
ceiling. At the end of the hall were three bedrooms and a bathroom. Two rooms
were set up as hospital rooms, and the third was turned into an x-ray and
surgical room.

“
Sea said you can choose either room. Which one did you
want?”

“
That one,” he said, pointing to the one farthest in
the corner. Heath wanted to be as out-of-the-way as he could.

Enzo led him into the comfortable sized room and
closed the door. In the middle of the room was the largest hospital bed Heath
had ever seen. “Wow, I’ve never seen one that big before.”

Enzo chuckled. “A lot of us are pretty big, and
sometimes we might come in, in shifted form. Picture a Kodiak bear, and you’ll
understand. Plus, the ones of us who are mated can’t stand being separated from
our mates. This allows them to hold their mate while they are still recovering.
Our alpha had to use it recently. He was skewered by a tree when the plane he
was in crashed.”

Heath gasped. “Wait, that’s not the rumored plane
crash that supposedly happened just a few weeks ago, was it? The one with the
missing pilot and passengers?”

“
Yep. I’ll make you privy to the conspiracy. Havana was
abducted, and the guys who had her were transporting her by plane.”

“
Havana? They took Havana?” Heath was shocked,
picturing the sweet girl he had met twice now, in such trouble. Heath sat down
on the large bed.

“
Yes.
Alphy
, his mate Gale,
and Nix, were in the plane
Bronya
was flying back up
from Toronto. She forced them down, but it caused her plane to crash, too.”

“
Wait, so the rumors that there were two planes are
true?”

“
Yep.”

“
They said the guys in the first plane, vanished.”

“
They abducted Havana, and had also killed several
shifters, so we took them into custody.” Heath heard the anger in Enzo’s voice,
but he knew it wasn’t directed at him.

“
So they’re still alive?”

He saw Enzo wince. “One was killed when he shot
Havana’s mate,
Dultyn
, but the others are alive, and
in a safe place.”

“
You mean that big guy with all the tattoos?” Heath
asked, remembering the giant of a man that he saw was so loving and gentle with
Havana.

Enzo smiled and chuckled. “Yep, that’d be him.”

“
I’m glad they’re all right,” Heath said truthfully. “You
keep saying ‘mate’. Is that like a spouse?”

Enzo shifted to one foot, looked down to the ground,
and rubbed his chin. Heath could tell he was worried about something he was
going to tell him.

“
It’s more than just a spouse, Heath.” Enzo looked up
at him, directly into his eyes. “We each are given a predestined mate. You
could call it a soul-mate. Each paranormal senses their mates differently. For
shifters, it’s by scent. We’d do anything for them, even forsake any other
relationships we may have formed. I want to tell you more, but that is a very
big subject, and there are a lot of other things you need to know to better
understand it. But I want you to know, Heath, you are my mate. I would lay my
life down to protect you from anyone who would harm you, even if it is from
myself.”

Heath felt his heart start to speed up.
What does it mean to be his mate?
He
didn’t know why he believed him, but Heath really felt like Enzo told the
truth. He truly trusted Enzo to protect him, and in this new world of crazy that
he now found himself in, that was enough for now.

Heath nodded his head. “Ok. Uh, one more question. You
said ‘each paranormal’. What does that mean?”

He heard Enzo sigh. “Paranormals are beings beyond the
scope of scientific understanding. There are more than just shifters, Heath.
That’s why we have to keep our existence a secret, because scientists would
butcher us for their own ends.”

“
Okay, I get that, and I also understand there’d be
more prejudices against you than there are for gays. I promise I’ll keep your
secret, Enzo. I may be seriously freaked out about all of this, but I don’t
want you to be in danger. So what other kind of paranormals are there?”

Enzo took in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and
leaned against a wall. “Well, Havana’s mate,
Dultyn
?”
He looked up at Heath, and Heath nodded in return. “He’s a gargoyle. He can
shift into a gargoyle form.”

“
No way! Really?”

Enzo chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, really. We have a
couple others, but they aren’t mated yet, so they aren’t capable of changing
into human form. They are up and about by now, but come sunrise, they turn to
stone.”

“
They really do turn to stone?” Heath asked excitedly,
then paused. “I don’t get it. What does mating have to do with turning human?”

Enzo waved it off and stood back up. “That’s a long
explanation. But if you see them, they are good people. Don’t judge them by
their looks, which can be shocking.”

Heath’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, and I’ve proven I
don’t handle shock too well.”

Enzo snorted. “We’ll work on that. I should also tell
you that we have a few vampires.”

Heath felt the blood drain from his face. His
heart-rate shot up, and he felt himself starting to shake again. Enzo must have
sensed it because he dropped his clothes on a nearby chair, and wrapped his
arms around him.

“
Shh
, don’t freak out,
sweetheart. They won’t hurt you. They are personally just like you and me.”

“
But don’t they have to drink blood?”

“
Yes, but remember what I told you about the Hollywood
versions?”

“
Mostly fictional?” Heath asked, and couldn’t help the
tinge of hope in his tone.

“
Yes. They aren’t the bloodthirsty monsters you were
told about growing up. True, they need to drink blood, but they never take from
someone who isn’t willing. And when they’re mated, they can’t drink anyone’s
blood except their mate’s. You know Seamus and Ryker?”

Heath gasped and stiffened. “They’re vampires?”

“
Yes, but they are also both mated. They can only drink
from their mate. And in spite of what you’ve been told, they can go out into
the sun.”

“
Really? ‘Cause Ryker doesn’t look like he could handle
thirty seconds in the sun without going up in smoke.”

Enzo leaned back and laughed hard. The sound of Enzo’s
laugh made Heath smile, and he felt himself beginning to relax. Enzo gave Heath
a squeeze before pulling back and picking up his clothes. “We all give him
grief about his complexion. You’ll fit right in.”

Enzo walked over and grabbed the hanging privacy
curtain. “Shifters aren’t usually too modest when it comes to nudity because we
have to undress to shift. But I know you aren’t used to that, so I’ll close the
curtain, and give you some privacy to change while I change on the other side
of the curtain at the same time. Is that okay?”

After Heath’s nod of affirmation, Enzo pulled the
curtain around, keeping to the side of the door, while Heath was on the side of
the bed. He quickly changed into the clothes Ryker had given him and crawled up
onto the massive bed.

Enzo opened the curtain and dropped his dirty clothes
on a smaller chair. He walked over and set the larger chair next to the Heath,
and lowered into a bed. Walking back over to his clothes, he grabbed his jeans,
and dug into one of the pockets, pulling out the packet of pills Seamus had
given them. Next, he exited the room, and came back with a small glass of
water.

After Heath downed the pills, Enzo leaned over and
placed a kiss on his head. “Goodnight, sweetheart. I’ll be right here if you
need me.”

Heath leaned back and closed his eyes. In a way, he
wanted to wake in the morning to find this was all just some nightmare, but on
the other hand, he liked Enzo. Ever since the first day he saw him through the
shop windows, he’d felt a pull towards him like nothing else. Sneaking in and
stealing his address information, to be his secret admirer, was something he
wouldn’t have done normally, especially in this day-and-age. But something deep
down told him that Enzo was worth the risk, and if he could just get over the
fact that he turned into a werewolf, he hoped that would still be true.

Chapter Seven

Ryker blew the steam away from his newly poured fifth
cup of coffee. He was having a difficult time keeping his eyes from drooping as
he studied the monitor in his laptop.

“
Wow, Rye, why use a cup when you can drink directly
from the coffee pot?” Gavin laughed at his own quip.

“
Perhaps you should get some rest,”
Neto
said.

“
There’s no time. We land in twenty minutes, and this
is the only time I’ll have for a while to try and find more information on
Lizzy. Someone did a doozy of a job making her disappear.”

Rudo
leaned over and rubbed his
hand over Ryker’s shoulders. “You need to take care of yourself. You can do
that while I pack up my belongings. I don’t have much anyways. It’s mostly just
tools and big furniture.”

“
Who really does?” asked Pierce, one of the vampires
Raymond sent to help. “I rarely see any paranormal gather much in the way of
possessions, until they are bonded. There isn’t too much of a point.”

Ryker liked Pierce. His looks could be intimidating,
but he was a really kind man. He’d become friends with him, and a few others
from Raymond’s coven when they came to stay with them just over a month ago,
after helping to rescue Slate’s mother and sister.
Wow, that was only a month ago?

“
I agree,” Fabian said in his usual French accent. “Not
much
sencze
when you cannot share with that
quelqu'un
de
spécial
.”

Ryker didn’t say anything. He didn’t have any reason
to disagree since up until about a month and a half ago he was still living
with his parents. He looked around at the others on the plane, who were talking
quietly among themselves. Gavin and
Neto
were here to
help him get
Rudo
packed up. Slate, Fabian, Pierce,
and Gregory were there to help retrieve Mina and her mate, Craig. With Mina and
Craig targets of an alpha who just may have been the cause of Lizzy’s
disappearance,
Alphy
wasn’t taking any chances with
the safety of their retrieval.

Ryker could hear the different mechanical parts of the
place whir as the plane began its descent. Resigning his search for now, he
packed everything up and readied himself for touchdown.

They landed in Erie, Pennsylvania, and from there
rented two vehicles and checked in to their hotels before heading a half an
hour south to their destination, a place called Waterford.

They pulled up to a beautiful Victorian, two story home,
on a five acre lot that had a large woodshop next to it. They had called ahead,
arranging for the herd’s alpha to greet them. But as they met in front of one
vehicle and looked around, they didn’t see anyone.

“
Huh, so nice of him to be courteous enough to be
punctual.” Gavin’s voice was full of sarcasm.

“
I have a bad feeling about this,”
Neto
said in a low voice.

“
Yeah, me, too,” Ryker agreed. “Good thing I planned
ahead and made sure we have all the legal documents we should need.”

Neto
looked around. “Notice how
close we are to Buffalo, New York?”

Ryker could feel his beloved’s unease through their
bond. “Hey, why don’t we go check out your shop?”

Rudo
nodded.

“
I’ll go with
ya
,” Gavin
said.

“
I’ll stay here and keep a lookout,”
Neto
offered.

The three made their way to the shop, but without the
keys, he thought he would have to bash in the door. However, when Gavin turned
the doorknob, it opened.

“
That isn’t good. It was supposed to be locked,”
Rudo
said as he cautiously opened the door further, and stepped
past Gavin, into the darkened building.

Ryker heard him swear as he looked around. Ryker stood
beside
Rudo
and viewed the space. Light streamed
through windows, illuminating the place, but aside from being a bit sparser
than he would have thought, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“
What’s wrong?” he asked.

“
Over half of my equipment is gone.”

“
Well that might explain why the alpha is running
late,” Gavin said as he leaned against the doorjamb. “You said he knew where
your spare keys were, looks like he didn’t want to be around when you found out
he robbed you.”

“
Hey, guys, better get out here,” shouted
Neto
.

The grouped exited the building and saw a car
approaching followed by two sheriff vehicles.

“
Looks like he brought the sheriff and his deputy. But
why?” Gavin asked.

Ryker had a bad feeling about this. “Maybe he got here
early, and found out about the theft and wants to report it?”

Rudo
shook his head. “I don’t
believe that, and I know you don’t either.”

Ryker shifted his weight to one side as the vehicles
slowed and took places to park. “Good thing I brought documentation of
everything.”

“
And a cover story,” added
Neto
,
in a low voice. “Those officers are human.”

A large, barrel-chested man with slate grey
hair exited the civilian car. Another, thinner, man
exited the passenger side.

The first man turned an angry look towards them, and
pointed at them as he approached.

“
They’re trespassing. Arrest them.”

The sheriff narrowed his eyes at the man before
turning towards their group. He hooked his thumbs on his belt and casually
walked closer, as the deputy leaned against his rig, with his arms and legs
crossed.

“
I’m Sheriff Grant. That there,” he nodded toward the
other officer, “is Deputy
Wiliks
. Mr. Branch says he
owns this property, and that you boys are trespassing. Before I arrest anyone,
I’d like to hear your side of the story.”

Ryker stepped forward. “That man lied, and I have
proof, if you’ll let me?”

The sheriff nodded, and Ryker walked over to the
rented truck he came in, and reached in for his laptop and the folder of legal
papers he had so diligently hunted down. He handed the papers to the sheriff,
who immediately began looking them over. He also handed over a business card
with his name on it, that he had printed up for himself and his fellow ranking
pack members.

“
I’m Ryker Rossi. I work for a private investigating
company in Canada. We are investigating an attack committed against Mr.
Sarr
and several others. It is still an open investigation.
He was severely injured, and is only just now able to return home. That man,”
Ryker pointed at the barrel-chested man, whom he guessed to be the alpha, “knew
Mr.
Sarr
had disappeared, and he assured us
everything of Mr.
Sarr’s
was all here. However, we
have just now learned much of Mr.
Sarr’s
work
equipment is missing.”

Ryker watched the sheriff flip through the papers as
Ryker gave his little speech. He remained silent after he was done, until the
sheriff gave another nod of his head and handed the papers back to him.

The sheriff turned and called to his deputy. “Rodger,
get your cuffs out.”

Ryker froze and held his breath.
Does the alpha have the sheriff in his pocket?

The sheriff pointed to the man Ryker thought to be the
alpha. “Take Mr. Branch into custody for submitting a false report.”

Ryker silently breathed out his relief as he heard the
deputy giving the Miranda rights to the now sputtering man. He could hear the
clicking noise of the cuffs locking around Mr. Branch’s wrists.

“
Add slander, embezzlement, and maybe conspiracy to
that, if you would, please. Can we also get a warrant, or something, to search
his house for Mr.
Sarr’s
things?” Ryker asked the
sheriff.

Ryker saw the other man just standing quietly beside
the car he arrived in, when the sheriff answered.

The sheriff nodded. “I’ll call it in. Meanwhile, have
Mr.
Sarr
make a list of everything that is missing.”

“
Did Mr. Branch have the keys on him?” Ryker asked.

“
I don’t know. Let me go see.”

The sheriff walked over to the very non-silent man in
cuffs, and after a moment, came back dangling a pair of keys.

“
Are these the keys?”

Rudo
stepped up and held out
his hand. The sheriff placed them in his hands, and
Rudo
inspected them.

“
These four keys here are. I do not know what the other
keys are for.”

Ryker harrumphed and shrugged. “They are more than
likely his own keys. He probably just added yours to his.”

The sheriff agreed with a nod. “That would be my guess
as well. Go try them out to show proof they are yours.”

The sheriff looked back at his deputy, who was putting
the cuffed man into the back of his rig, and then looked over at the other man,
who had silently walked around the car he arrived in, and got in before
following him and
Rudo
up the front porch. Ryker
heard the car start up, back out, and drive away, spinning his wheels as he did
so.

Rudo
tried the doorknob before
inserting the key. The knob wiggled, but it was clear that it was locked. He
inserted one of the keys and turned it. Then he twisted the knob, easily
opening the door.

“
All right, Mr.
Sarr
, I’m
going to need a full statement from you, as well as that list of everything
that is missing.”

Ryker felt
Rudo’s
mixed
emotions, and none of them felt happy. To give his beloved a moment, he turned
to the sheriff and answered him. “I’ll make sure you get that, sheriff. Thank
you for your help. Will you be needing a statement from me and my guys, too?”

“
That would be helpful. Here’s my card.” The sheriff
pulled out a card from the front pocket of his shirt, and handed it to Ryker.
“Call me if you need further assistance. I’ll inform you when that warrant is
ready.”

“
Hope it doesn’t take too long, sheriff,” Ryker said as
he looked in the direction the alpha’s car had disappeared. “I have a feeling
they’ll get rid of the evidence if you wait too long.”

The sheriff turned and headed back down the steps,
then entered his rig. He and the deputy turned their vehicles around, and
headed back down the driveway, leaving a small dust cloud in their wake.

****

Rudo’s
heart hurt. He knew there was no love lost between him and his alpha, but to
have had his trust broken in such a way hurt.

He heard his mate’s soothing voice in his head.
“You okay?”

All he could do at the moment was just blankly shake
his head. He really didn’t feel okay. He felt violated. He had trusted his
alpha, as all the herd did, as executor of his estates. As he stood in the
doorway, looking into his house, he could see that almost everything had been
taken. His alpha’s actions said to him that he had known he was gone, and
probably believed he wasn’t coming back.
Rudo
originally hadn’t believed the alpha had anything to do with his abduction, but
now he wasn’t so sure.
Who else could
have been involved? He would have had others do this for him.
Suddenly
having his mate’s buddies here for protection didn’t feel so overkill, like he
had originally thought.
Rudo
sighed and moved further
into his home.

He heard his mate gasp behind him, indicating he saw
the condition of the inside of his home. Now
Rudo’s
heart really hurt. He wanted to protect and provide for his mate, but how could
he when everything he had was taken? He wasn’t even able to prevent his own
home from being raided.

“
Hey,” Ryker said in a hushed voice. “I know what
you’re feeling, but you were betrayed,
Rudo
, by your
alpha, no less. An alpha is someone everyone should be able to trust.”

Gavin’s voice came from behind him in the form of a
very long line of expletives.

“
Where’s
Neto
?” He heard
Ryker ask him.

“
He’s inspecting the perimeter,” Gavin responded.

The group inspected the house in silence. It was a
solemn event that shook him to his core with each room he ventured into. His
furniture was gone, his cookware, and all his food was gone from the kitchen.
Many of his clothes were gone, with the rest piled in a heap on the floor. His
bookcases he’d built himself were gone, and his books were carelessly thrown in
a pile in a corner. Even his four poster bed, which he had built himself, was
gone. There wasn’t a chair or stool to sit on to allow himself to hang his head
in grief.