Mates in Life and Death (7 page)

“Well, you succeeded in doing just that,” Valerius muttered. “I’m

not even going to ask how you got Dad to take you along. Where are

you?”

“Timber Lake. It’s a small town in Minnesota, close to the border

with Canada. Very beautiful place.”

Valerius shared a look with Dan, and Dan nodded. “We’re coming

there,” Valerius said into the phone. “Do you have an address for us?”

“Willow Rivers, 36 Maple Drive.”

“All right,” Valerius said. “Wait for us, and don’t do anything

stupid.”

“Seriously, Val, you worry too much. We brought plenty of

guards, and your dad is watching my back at all times.”

In spite of Drew’s words, Dan couldn’t fault his brother for being

concerned. He’d lost a mate as Caesar, and he knew both Valerius and

Trent experienced a similar fear during the attack that nearly claimed

Drew’s life. He hated to admit it, but his friend made a serious

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mistake on this one. He supposed Drew’s heart had been in the right

place, but sometimes, one just needed to accept the boundaries of

their existence.

Valerius passed the phone to Trent, and a similar conversation

ensued. The basic decision remained the same. They’d go to Timber

Lake and meet up with Drew and Grant.

At last, Trent passed the phone to his mother, who demanded to

speak to Grant. Surreptitiously, Valerius, Trent, and Dan abandoned

the area in favor of going to pack. Even Dan knew better than to be

around Marion when she got pissed.

A few hours later, after thanking Wolfram and saying good-bye to

the people at the Magistrate’s Den, the four of them headed out

toward Timber Lake. The journey was ripe with tension. Valerius

drove, apparently familiar with the area from his hunter days. At one

point, Valerius looked confused as to the exact location, since the

town didn’t seem to appear on any map they could find. When Dan

vocalized his doubt, Valerius shrugged. “I’ll just follow this.” He

pressed his palm against his chest. “The best GPS there is.”

All the while, Trent and Marion badgered their respective mates

with countless phone calls. By the time they reached their destination,

Dan’s head was throbbing.

But as they approached their destination, his migraine began to

dwindle in favor of a different feeling. He rubbed his chest when a

peculiar weight settled on his heart. It felt as if a powerful thread

pulled at him, summoning him closer.

In his mind, Linden’s image emerged, combined with something

else, something he couldn’t quite see. Dan felt like he was choking,

the overwhelming sensations growing more and more powerful. In the

corner of his mind, he felt the car stop. “Are you okay, brother?”

Valerius asked.

Dan forced himself to calm down. “Yes. It’s just that… My mate.

I think my mate is here.”

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Silence fell over the car. Trent and Valerius seemed thoughtful

and looked at each other, as if conveying a silent message only they

could hear. Finally, Valerius started the vehicle once again. “Okay.

We’ll be heading in the tentative direction of the address Drew gave

us. If at any point you sense we’re heading away from him or her, tell

us.”

Dan nodded and their journey continued. They drove into Timber

Lake, a beautiful quaint town which held all the charm of a remote

settlement in the middle of nature, combined with a tourist retreat

feel. Dan noted a couple of shops, cafes, and even a pub, a large

administrative building, a library, and museum, all the hallmarks of a

typical American town. Never once, however, did he feel they were

straying from the direction they needed to take to reach his mate. In

fact, the sensation of warmth flowed over him with even greater

intensity, so much so that at one point all the beauties of Timber Lake

became nothing more than a blur.

When the car stopped, Valerius said, “We’re here. Do you want to

keep driving?”

Dan took a deep breath and shook his head. He knew exactly

where he needed to go from here. He exited the car and headed

straight toward the door. Distantly, he heard his brother call out, but

he ignored it.

He didn’t know through what miracle he managed not to tear the

door open. It could have been the fear of scaring his mate. He

knocked in the most polite manner possible. After a few seconds, a

tall brunet opened the door.

Dan was left gobsmacked, not knowing what to think or do.

Everything inside Dan screamed “mate,” and yet he knew this was not

Linden. How could this be?

“Ash, hey,” Trent said from behind him.

The man’s gray gaze looked away from Trent. “Hi,” he said.

The monosyllabic reply sent shivers down Dan’s spine. The man’s

voice seduced him, like passion turned into sound. He gulped, trying

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to get his brain to work right. So this was Trent’s brother, Ash. Okay.

Then Ash had a mate, a human mate. Dan had overheard it on the

phone. What the fuck? Could it be…?

Dan’s thoughts short-circuited when another person appeared.

Green eyes peeked in awe at Dan, shielded by locks of brown hair.

They were just like Dan remembered them, clear and honest.

Everything else might have changed, but not that. When their gazes

met, Dan was catapulted to another moment in time, from two

centuries back, when he’d first met his human mate. So many things

had happened since then, and yet, they’d found each other once more.

“Linden?” he couldn’t help but say. He knew the man standing in

front of him wouldn’t be Linden, just like Dan wasn’t Caesar. But at

the same time, their souls were the same, and like Dan still considered

Valerius his brother, he saw his mate’s spirit, nothing else.

The other man snapped out of his daze. “H–How do you know my

name? Who are you?”

A beautiful middle-aged woman emerged from behind Linden.

“Oh, it’s you. You’re finally here. Well, this is awkward.”

Dan felt like he’d fallen into the proverbial rabbit hole. He stared

from Ash to Linden, then to the woman. Was this how Drew had felt

when he’d met Valerius and Trent? If so, Dan hoped that one, they

wouldn’t get attacked by rabid in- laws, and two, they’d manage to

make things work, like Drew and his two mates did.

But he couldn’t get ahead of himself. First off, he completely

agreed with the human woman’s assessment. Clearly, Ash

acknowledged Linden as his mate and had not expected another.

“What are you talking about, Mom?” the human asked.

The woman—apparently Linden’s mother—made a pacifying

sound. “In a minute. Come on in, honey. I’m Willow. Tall, dark, and

glaring is Ashton, and you already know Linden.”

Dan walked inside the house and to Willow’s side. He took her

cool palm and kissed it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Daniel

Lawson.”

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51

Behind him, Valerius, Trent, and Marion appeared. As

introductions went all around, Dan found himself staring at Linden

once again. “It’s really you.”

Linden rubbed his chest in an absent gesture. “Why do I feel like I

know you?”

Ash came to stand between them, his eyes narrowing at Dan. “I

think there’s a lot here we need to discuss.”

Dan nodded. His new senses gave him mixed signals about Ash.

He seemed confused, apprehensive, and suspicious of Dan. But

neither of those things could disguise the arousal and chemistry

between them.

Before they could proceed with any explanation, Drew and Grant

stepped into the foyer. Drew hugged Trent and Valerius, and Grant

did the same with Marion. Drew then turned to Willow and frowned.

“Miss Rivers, I said you shouldn’t exhaust yourself. Come sit down.

All this activity isn’t good for you.”

Willow scoffed. “Doctors. No offense, honey, but I’m not an

invalid.” Dan didn’t know if he agreed. From what he gathered, her

condition must be quite serious if they were bringing the doctors to

her instead of the other way around. When Linden gave her a scolding

look, she led them to a small living room and sat down on a couch.

“I’ll get some drinks,” Linden said.

“Please, don’t.” The words escaped Dan’s lips before he could

stop them, but for some reason, he could not accept the mere thought

of being parted from his mate for even a second.

Willow smiled. “I think it would be best if we all left you to have

a brief talk. For the record, Daniel, I dreamt about you. I heard you

call my baby, Linden. I knew you’d come.”

She got up and ushered everyone out, until only Dan, Linden, and

Ash remained in the room. For a few moments, they stared at each

other. Finally, Ash took a deep breath and said, “Well, I’ll begin. I’m

Ash Hart. I’m a hunter, and you might’ve heard something about me

from Trent. I believe, somehow, both of you are my mates. But I can’t

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understand how that’s possible. I can’t understand how Trent makes it

work.”

“I didn’t understand it either when my friend, Drew, first told me

about it. Everything is so surreal to me.” Dan swallowed nervously.

“A few months ago, I was just a human deputy in a small American

town. Then, Trent and Valerius showed up, sweeping Drew off his

feet and bringing me along in the process.”

Ash scowled. “Wait, you’re human? That’s not right.”

“As I learned about the spirit wolves, I felt something inside me

change. And a few days earlier, I found out the soul of Valerius’s

brother, Caesar, is reincarnated inside me.”

Linden’s eyes widened, and he looked a little green. “Caesar? I

sometimes dream about someone named Caesar.”

Ash looked absolutely frozen now. “What happened?” Linden

asked.

“We met back then, two hundred years ago. You were human, and

me a spirit wolf. But we didn’t know Ash. We were so incredibly

happy together… until I bit you.”

A statue would have showed more emotion than Ash. “You turned

him feral.”

Dan nodded. It was getting harder and harder to speak. His

memories assaulted him, vicious, ferocious, bitter. He felt so

ashamed, so miserable for what he’d done. He’d failed both his mates

in the worst possible way. More than a failure, it had been a betrayal.

If only he’d hung on, they’d have found Ash. Together, they might

have figured out a solution.

Linden’s arms came around him, giving him strength. “It’s all

right. Take it easy. Ash and I are here now. You’re not alone

anymore.”

Distantly, Dan wondered whether Linden would think the same

once he finished the story. “You were growing worse, falling deeper

into the madness. We tried everything, Valerius and I, but nothing

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53

worked. In the end, I feared for your soul and… And… God, I’m so

sorry. “

Linden hugged him tight, shushing him, gentle whispers

preventing Dan from breaking up altogether. Dan remembered other

times when they’d hug, sometimes after Caesar argued with his

father, Lucius, or when his job became too much to deal with. “I

remember now,” Linden whispered in his ear. “You don’t have to say

anything anymore.”

Silent sobs shook Linden’s slender form, hot tears seeping

through Dan’s shirt to the skin. His mate’s pain burned Dan, but at the

same time, in a strange way, Dan found kinship in it. He’d have

preferred it if Linden never remembered their final days, and yet, the

knowledge their bond remained as strong as ever made him oddly

happy. It made him realize Linden’s soul had healed from the marks

of the feral virus. For him, that was the most important thing. He

didn’t know if he deserved Linden’s forgiveness, and especially not

Ash’s. But he’d spend the rest of his life trying to earn it.

* * * *

Ash watched as Dan and Linden hugged each other in a

combination of dismay and heartbreak. He’d known both of them

were his mates from the moment he’d seen them. He should have

been excited, no, over the moon in happiness. In a sense, he was. But

at the same time, something inside him didn’t allow him to fully enjoy

the experience. He couldn’t explain how he felt when looking at the

two of them. No, he could explain it. He felt left out, terrified, and

very upset.

It was beyond his power of comprehension how he could be

saddened in such a moment, but it couldn’t be denied. His mates’ pain

echoed within him, and he acknowledged it with a great deal of

distress, knowing he hadn’t been there to help them when they’d

needed it most. And then, there was his own selfish need to be with

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them, to want them both all to himself. They’d lived together before

ever knowing him. They knew each other so well. What did he know?

How could he compare? He felt… inferior.

All of a sudden, Dan and Linden broke apart and turned toward