Gregory's Rebellion (13 page)

“No need to be afraid,” the man said. “I’m Gregory’s friend from the council. He told me all about you.”

Hayden’s eyebrows skyrocketed. “He did?”

The man chuckled. “Yes. Don’t worry, he hasn’t told anyone else at the council about you, but he knew he could trust me.”

Hayden frowned. He didn’t know if he should believe the man, but he found himself edging closer and asking, “What is your name?”

“Oh, do forgive me,” the man replied, closing the distance between them. “My name is Riley.”

“Oh, you’re Gregory’s superior at the council.”

“That’s right, I am. So are you going to invite me in for a coffee?”

“Uh, okay, sure.”

Hayden still wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing but the man seemed harmless, despite his size. He led the way up the porch steps and pushed open the door. “Come in.”

“Thank you.” Riley followed him into the bunkhouse, through the living room and into the shared kitchen. He nodded in thanks when Hayden motioned for him to take a seat in one of the chairs around the table.

Hayden set about making coffee. Neither spoke while he worked. It was Riley that broke the silence.

“So how do you like it here on the ranch, Hayden?” he asked.

Hayden’s smile was wide, genuine. “Very much. Everyone has been so welcoming to me since I arrived.”

Riley nodded. “You came to a good place, and Kelan is a wonderful alpha. He looks after his friends and family.”

Hayden nodded enthusiastically. “At first I thought he was only helping me out because he knew Gregory and I are mated, but, now that I’ve come to know Kelan more, I realise that he loves to help people. It makes him happy to do so. I guess it’s in his nature.”

Riley’s eyes widened slightly as though this were a revelation to him, but he quickly recovered. “Well, yes, quite. I imagine it is. So tell me, Hayden, have you and Gregory been happy since you mated?”

That seemed like an odd question to ask. Hayden’s stomach lurched. Had Riley picked up on Gregory’s discontent? Or had his mate actually confessed his unhappiness to the wolf?

“Why do you ask? What has Gregory told you?”

“Oh, nothing, really,” Riley said with a shrug of his shoulders. “It’s just an impression I get from him.”

Hayden gave up all pretence of making coffee and sat down opposite the large wolf. “Did he say he’s not happy with me? Is he sorry we mated?”

Riley met Hayden’s gaze head-on. The look he threw Hayden’s way made him shiver. “What do you think?” Riley asked. “Do you think he’s happy?”

Hayden dropped his gaze and began picking at a knot on the wood of the table. “No,” Hayden whispered. “I don’t think he is.”

“And why do you suppose that is?”

All of Hayden’s doubts and insecurities were suddenly in the forefront of his mind. There were probably myriad reasons why Gregory didn’t want him. Hayden was too quiet, too shy. He wasn’t clever. He’d done nothing with his life but wash dishes and clean up horse shit. Gregory was intelligent, clearly educated. He had a good job as an agent at the supernatural council. What could he possibly see in someone like Hayden? And then, of course, there was his scar. He knew it made him ugly. It didn’t matter how often Gregory tried to convince him otherwise—he had eyes in his head, he knew how he looked in a mirror and he was too much of a coward to do anything about it. He was afraid to shift. He was pathetic. Gregory needed a strong partner, someone worthier. He would be better off without Hayden holding him back.

“Maybe it would be better if I left him,” Hayden whispered.

Riley shrugged. “Only you know what’s best for you both. But what I can tell you is that Gregory hasn’t been himself in the past couple of weeks. He’s been lying to his superiors, hiding things. Not doing the things I asked of him. That’s not Gregory, not at all. He’s changed since he met you.”

Riley was right. Gregory had changed in the past couple of weeks, even Hayden could see that. Gregory had been getting more and more distant, more distracted. He wasn’t the same man Hayden had met just two short weeks before. He clearly wasn’t happy. Hayden swallowed down a lump in his throat and nodded his head, mind made up.

“I’ll go,” he said quietly.

Riley nodded. “That might be for the best. You know, you could always come back to council headquarters with me. I can assure you no harm would come to you there. I would personally see to it that we find you somewhere to live, a new job. Gregory would never have to know.”

Hayden blinked back the tears that had begun to cloud his eyes and nodded. “Just give me five minutes to get my things.”

* * * *

“Kelan!” Gregory pounded on the ranch house door, his heart hammering so hard against his ribcage he was afraid it would break free from his chest at any moment. “Kelan!”

The door opened and Kelan stepped out on to the porch. “Gregory, what’s wrong?”

“He’s gone,” Gregory managed to choke out. “Hayden’s gone.” Bile rose in Gregory’s throat but he swallowed it down and ran a hand through his hair. “What am I going to do?”

“Calm down. Have you spoken to Cary or Aaron? Maybe he’s out in the north—”

“His clothes are gone!” Gregory said desperately. “There’s nothing left. It’s like he was never here at all.”

Kelan frowned. “Did you guys have a fight? Is Hayden upset with you for any reason?”

Gregory shook his head. “No, things were going great between us—at least I thought they were. He wouldn’t just run out on me like this. Something’s wrong. I can feel it. What if it’s Dean? What if he took him?”

“Look, we don’t know that it’s anything sinister yet. Let’s try to keep a clear head, okay? I’ll call Jared to come around and help us search. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

Twenty minutes later Gregory sat in the bunkhouse kitchen with Kelan, Cary and Aaron. Kelan hadn’t had any luck with Jared. The deputy had gone to the nursing home with Nate to visit Nate’s father. Jared had promised to stop by the Crazy Horse as soon as he got back, but the nursing home was a couple of hours’ drive from Wolf Creek. Gregory was so angry he was ready to tear the place apart to find his mate. He’d never felt so helpless in his entire life.

“I haven’t seen him since breakfast this morning,” Aaron said, looking to Cary for confirmation.

Cary nodded. “Aaron and I were out riding fence most of the day. We took sandwiches with us for lunch so we wouldn’t have to come all the way back. When we got here at dinner time, we just assumed he was in the barn with the horses.”

“Jesus, then he could have been gone all day,” Gregory said desperately.

“Are you sure there isn’t somewhere he would have gone?” Aaron asked. “His parents’ place maybe, or any other family around here? Does he know anyone else in the area?”

Gregory was starting to lose patience with everyone, even though he knew they meant well. “He doesn’t know anyone around here and he hasn’t spoken to his family in five years. I’m telling you, something has happened to him. He wouldn’t have just left like this—something’s wrong.”

“We don’t know that,” Kelan reasoned.

“If something has happened to him, I’ll never forgive myself,” Gregory whispered. It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe through the pain in his chest.

“Hayden’s not a kid, Gregory,” Kelan said. “From what I know of him he’s taken care of himself since he was sixteen years old.”

“That’s my point exactly,” Gregory snapped. “Hayden looked after himself for five years, and then I bring him here to keep him safe from the council and something happens to him within two weeks of him being here. I failed him, Kelan! He’d have been better off without me.”

“Isn’t there
anyone
in the council you can trust to talk to about this?” Kelan asked. “The council has better resources than us. They would be better equipped to find him.”

Gregory massaged the back of his neck while he thought about Kelan’s question. “I don’t know. I could maybe call Riley. I’ve worked under him for years and he’s always seemed trustworthy. I thought about talking to him when I discovered Hayden was my mate, but I didn’t want to take the chance, just in case.”

Kelan put a hand on Gregory’s shoulder. “I don’t think you have any choice anymore.”

Gregory let out a shaky breath. “I know. I’ll make the call.”

* * * *

When Hayden opened his eyes a strong sense of déjà vu washed over him and fear prickled along his spine. He was sitting in a chair in a small living room, his hands tied behind his back. His head hurt. He thought maybe he’d been hit and lost consciousness.

“Ah, you’re awake, good.”

Hayden looked around the room for the source of the voice. “Riley?”

The man chuckled. “I’m afraid I might have misled you. My name is Dean—Dean White.”

“Dean?” The blood in Hayden’s veins turned to ice when he realised the implications of that name. Dean was the person Gregory suspected was responsible for the deaths of all the shifters’ mates in recent months.

Dean chuckled. “That’s right. Your expression tells me you’re familiar with my name. Why do you think I didn’t use it earlier at the ranch?”

Hayden’s gaze flickered around the small room, hoping for some clue as to his whereabouts. They appeared to be in some sort of cabin. “Where are we?”

“That’s not important.” Dean placed a dining table chair in front of Hayden and sat down in it, looking him directly in the eye.

“What am I doing here? What do you want with me?”

“Now you’re asking the right questions,” Dean said. “Let’s just call you insurance. I asked Gregory to do something for me, but he’s been…reluctant. I can’t have that. I might even return you when he’s done what I ask. I’ll have to think about it.”

Hayden flinched when Dean reached out and traced a finger down the line of his scar. “You’re a very pretty kitty,” he mused. “Shame about the scar. I wonder why you haven’t shifted to get rid of it.”

“That’s none of your goddamn business!” Hayden spat. He refused to tell Dean any more than he already had. He feared he’d already said too much about his relationship with Gregory. And now Dean was trying to use him to get Gregory to do his bidding—the exact reason the council was against its members mating.

Dean shrugged. “It’s not important. I’m sure I could…overlook it.”

Dean’s eyes filled with heat and Hayden’s stomach lurched. “You’ll never get away with this.” His voice cracked.

Dean threw his head back and laughed and the coldness in his tone sent shivers prickling down Hayden’s spine. “Don’t you get it? I have been getting away with it, for some time now. Who’s going to challenge me?
Gregory
?” Dean snorted. “Don’t think your precious mate will save you. If he cared that much for you, he would have done what I asked already. Your life clearly isn’t
that
important to him.”

Hayden tried to ignore Dean’s words, but they stung regardless, just as he knew Dean had intended them to. Then he took a moment to really think about what Dean had said. It was true that Gregory had changed over the past couple of weeks, especially the last few days. He’d seemed distant. Hayden had believed it was because Gregory regretted meeting him and was sorry they’d mated, but if what Dean said was true—if he’d really been blackmailing Gregory to do something for him—then that would explain why Gregory had been distracted. Maybe his aloofness had had nothing to do with Hayden and their bond after all, and everything to do with worry about what Dean might do if Gregory didn’t do what he’d asked. Hayden felt his anger for Dean grow more and more pronounced.

“If you really believed I wasn’t important to Gregory, you wouldn’t have kidnapped me,” Hayden argued. “You would have just killed me like you did the other council members’ mates.” As he spoke, Hayden concentrated on shifting his hands into claws so that he could slice through the ropes that kept him tied to the chair.

Dean shrugged. “I’m just making sure I cover all bases, nothing more. Besides, I didn’t personally kill the other mates, you know. I didn’t have to. I got other people to do it for me.” The smile on his face was more of a sneer. Hayden shivered, even as a bead of perspiration trickled down his brow.

“But I don’t understand why.” Hayden tried to keep Dean talking so he could work on cutting through his bonds.

“Mating makes shifters weak!” Dean shouted. “We don’t need weak men in the council. We need strong men that can lead by example. Men that are not afraid to do what it takes for the greater good.”

Hayden finally managed to cut through his ropes, but he kept his hands behind his back and waited for the right time to make his move.

“And just what is the greater good?” Hayden asked his captor.

“Shifters have become spineless creatures. Only out for themselves. There’s no pack mentality anymore, no community spirit and no common sense. You wouldn’t believe some of the idiots I’ve had to deal with in the council lately,” Dean ranted. “You be surprised how many shifters want us to reveal ourselves to humans. That can never happen! We’d be digging our own graves. I had to put a stop to it. I had to deal with those members that would see us discard our way of life. I had to—”

“You took away people’s lives,” Hayden said.

“This is a war!” Dean screeched. “Don’t you understand that? There are always casualties. I did what I had to do. I took lives to save others.”

“You played God is what you did. You used people to your own ends, killed people to get what you want. You want to talk about war? If this is a war, what does that make you? Tyrannical. A dictator and a monster.”

Dean roared and struck out. Loose from his restraints, Hayden was able to dive to the ground before Dean’s powerful blow landed on the top of his head. He recovered quickly and spun around. Dean shouted out in frustration at losing his prisoner and rounded on Hayden, his eyes instantly shifting to their wolf form.

Hayden looked around for something he could grab, but he wasn’t fast enough. When Dean reached him he struck out and even though Hayden tried to dive out of the way to avoid the blow he didn’t manage it. Dean’s claws caught him, scraping along his back. The wounds were deep and Hayden tried not to cry out from the pain of it, not to show Dean any weakness, but he wasn’t entirely successful. Hayden crawled along the floor to try to get away from Dean’s imposing frame, but he only managed a couple of yards before Dean was on him again. Dean punched Hayden in the stomach, stealing his breath.