Reclaiming Angelica (2 page)

Raul’s eyes grew big. “I will?”

“Yes, you won’t always be small like you are. You’re smart,
and one day you’ll be big, like me. When you are, make sure you’re a good
alpha. The best. Take care of your pack.”

“I will, Poppa,” Raul promised.

“One day you’ll want a mate. It’s lonely being alpha. You
spend so much time taking care of everyone else, you’ll want someone to love
only you and take care of you the way you take care of the pack. You’ll want a
little boy or a little girl of your own to give you all the love in their
heart. When that day comes, don’t do like I did. Pick someone like you, a
shifter who understands your wolf. A woman who will help you with the pack, not
pull you away from them.”

Raul wrinkled his nose, puzzled. “But you said pack is
family. I wouldn’t leave my family, Poppa.”

Poppa closed his eyes and dropped his chin so Raul was no
longer looking into his eyes. “Sometimes, son, love makes us do foolish things.
Things you think you’d never do, so choose wisely who you love.”

Raul had a feeling this had something to do with Momma, but
before he could ask, Poppa looked at him again and continued, “Remember what I
told you about humans, Raul.”

“Like Momma?” Poppa had said a lot about humans since Momma
left.

Poppa shook once, like he was cold, and his eyes got shiny.
He blinked them a few times until they cleared. “Yes, like your momma. What did
I say?”

Raul repeated the words that had been drilled into him.
“Never tell a human what I am. They won’t understand, and they’ll be afraid of
me because I’m special.”

“And?” his father asked.

“Never love a human.”

“That’s right, son. Pack comes first. Humans will take you
away from the pack; take you away from everything that’s important. They are
dangerous to your heart.” One thick digit tapped Raul on the chest. “Mate a
human, and she’ll break your heart.”

Raul didn’t know what a broken heart was, but it didn’t
sound like something he wanted.

“Remember my words, son. Be a better man, a better alpha
than me,” Poppa told him. “Now, it’s very late and past time for you to go to
bed. Pick out a book for me to read and then climb under the covers.”

Raul did as instructed, and Poppa read to Raul until he fell
asleep. It was the best day ever, even if he did still miss Momma.

* * * *

The next morning, Poppa was gone when he got up. Uncle Joey
said Poppa went hunting. The day went on, and Poppa still didn’t come home. By
dinnertime, Raul was watching at the window for Poppa. When Raul asked what was
taking Poppa so long, Uncle Dillion said sometimes it took a long time to catch
a deer because you had to sit real still and wait for the deer to come to you.
That when it was really cold like now, sometimes the deer didn’t want to come
out. Uncle Max said he’d go see if he could hurry Poppa along.

Uncle Dillion told Raul to come eat his supper, and then,
when Poppa and Uncle Max still weren’t home, to go take his bath and get ready
for bed. Raul played with his new toys in his room, continuing to wait.
Finally, he heard the door open and voices talking.

“Poppa?” He came running out the room.

Uncle Max stood in the living room, looking sad.

“Where’s Poppa, Uncle Max? Did you find him?”

“Raul, son, there’s been an accident,” Uncle Joey said.
“Your Poppa, he—”

“Don’t lie to the boy,” Uncle Max said in a hard voice. “He
deserves the truth. Raul, come here, son.”

Raul came closer.

“You know how sad your Poppa was at your Momma leaving?”
Uncle Max asked, his hands on Raul’s shoulders.

“Yes, sir.” Poppa didn’t like to talk about Momma, but
sometimes Poppa got really quiet and looked sad. Raul had seen Poppa, late at
night, holding Momma’s picture in his hand, and his eyes were wet like he’d
been crying.

“When men like us love, we love with our whole heart. Your
Momma leaving did something to your Poppa. He tried really hard to be strong
for you, but without your Momma…” Uncle Dillion said.

Raul’s gaze bounced from one uncle to the next. “Where’s
Poppa?”

It was Uncle Max who said, “Your Poppa’s dead. He killed
himself with the gun. He left a note asking us to take care of you because he
was too chickenshit to do it himself.”

“Max!” Uncle Joey shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? He’s got this beautiful boy, and
because his bitch of a wife left him, Paul went and offed himself. If that
isn’t chickenshit, I don’t know what is,” Uncle Max shouted back.

“Guys, none of us have mated,” Uncle Dillion said in a calm
voice. “We can’t understand how he felt. Most wolves die when they lose their
mates. That’s a fact.”

“Bullshit!” Uncle Max said in a loud voice.

Raul eased away while his uncles argued, and went and curled
up in bed. He cried as he hadn’t since he realized Momma really wasn’t coming
back and just before falling asleep, whispered, “I’m sorry, Poppa, for telling
Momma our secret.”

Raul Santiago pulled into the parking lot of Lobos
Investigations, exhausted down to the bone. Lobos Investigations was the
business he and his pack—Billy Ray, Mercer, Dominic, and Knox—had started after
leaving the military. Their primary source of income was private
investigations, but they specialized in skip tracing and fugitive
recovery—bounty hunting.

Raul rubbed weary hands over his scrubby face and sighed.
His prey had led him on a teeth-gritting, jaw-grinding chase, managing to stay
one step ahead of both him and law enforcement officials until a stroke of luck
dropped the perp right into his lap. The disgusting bag of puke now sat behind
bars, denied bail, and facing two life sentences if convicted. Raul had
received grudging acknowledgment of a job well done from the FBI, and a nice
fat bonus on top of their hefty fee from the client. One that would have them
sitting in the black for months to come.

In addition to his weariness, his wolf crawled beneath his
skin like a rash, demanding to come out. It had been too long since he’d given
way to his four-legged form, the chase having taken him to places where the
sight of a massive timber wolf would have resulted in him being hunted down and
captured by state wildlife enforcement, if not shot on sight by some spooked
citizen. He’d go to a nearby nature park soon and satisfy his beast, but at
this moment he needed to write his report and turn it in to his partners.

It was late. Well after business hours, but a light was on
in the office. One of the other guys must be working late.

As he entered, Dominic looked up from the computer. His
blue-eyed gaze seemed wary. “We expected you back hours ago.”

“Traffic was a bitch.” Raul held up a check. “Our grateful
client threw in a little something extra for the fast results and minimal
expenses charged to their account. Since you’re here, I take it your hunt was
equally successful?”

“Yep, I caught her. Silly woman hadn’t run far. Took less
than a day to find her. She’s cooling her heels in a cell, and their daughter
is back with her grateful father.” Dominic leaned back in his swivel chair, his
blond head shining in the dim lighting. “I take it you haven’t been home?”

Home was a dilapidated old apartment building in an older
section of town his pack had purchased and remodeled. It contained four
two-bedroom/one-bath units. He and Dom had the upstairs units while Billy Ray,
Mercer, and Knox had the bottom.

Raul shook his head. “Negative. I wanted to stow my gear,
drop off the check, and file my report first. Then I’m going for a long run.
Once I get home, I don’t plan on surfacing for days.”

Two and a half weeks he’d been gone. He missed his place and
his bed, but most of all, he missed his mate, Angelica Ruiz, his beautiful
Angel. A sweet name for such a fiery-tempered woman. Long, curly brown hair,
golden-brown eyes that sparkled with an inner light, pouty lips made for
kissing, and skin that reminded him of honey in sunlight, she was his—every
luscious, curvy inch of her. Four months ago he’d talked Angel into moving in
with him when the lease was up on her apartment. When he finally made it home,
he was crawling inside Angel and not coming out for a week. His cock throbbed
at the thought.

“Uh, maybe you should, you know, go straight home. Skip the
run and the rest of this.” Dom waved, indicating the office and paperwork. He
sounded strange and smelled off too.

Raul’s beast, which had been driving him crazy, stilled,
senses alert. The man was equally concerned. “Why?”

Dominic’s gaze slid away, his head tilted to the side in a
subtle baring of his throat. His continued silence caused Raul’s heart to beat
faster as a sudden thought crossed his mind.

He leaped the distance between them and cleared the desk in
a single bound to grip Dom by the neck of his shirt. He dragged the other
man—his partner, best friend, and beta—out of the chair and gave him a small
shake. “What’s happened? Is it Angel? Is she all right?”

Raul hadn’t spoken to her since he left. This case had been
more intense than most, with an element of danger normally not present. He’d
needed to focus all his energy and attention on the hunt. As a professional
bail bondsman, one who frequently used their services, Angel understood.
Instead of complaining, she’d insisted he not worry about her but concentrate
on finishing the job at hand so he could return home in one piece. He’d hated
being out of touch for so long but knew his pack would look out for her and
contact him if an emergency arose.

“She made us promise not to say anything,” Dominic choked
out.

When Dom’s face began turning red, Raul let him go. He was
tempted to beat the information out of him but knew it would do no good. Dom
was loyal. He’d die before betraying his alpha. That loyalty extended to Raul’s
mate as well. His fragile, human mate.

“Just tell me if she’s hurt,” he said finally.

“Not physically, no,” was the cryptic response.

“
What the hell does
that mean
?” he bellowed.

Dom held up both hands, palms out. “I’ve said too much
already. Go home, Raul. I’ll take care of your things. I’ll be home later if
you need me.”

“Fine,” Raul snapped, temper straining at the leash. He
handed Dom the paperwork and check, laid his gear and weapons on top of his
desk, and then left, trusting Dom to do exactly as he said.

He hit Speed Dial as he crossed the parking lot before
placing the cell phone to his ear. “Come on, come on. Pick up the phone,
Angel.”

When the answering machine came on, he hit the Disconnect
button and immediately redialed. Why the hell had he let Angel convince him not
to keep checking in? He jumped into his SUV, cranked the ignition with a
vicious twist of the key, shoved the vehicle in gear, and peeled out of the
parking lot and onto the street.

It was after nine in the evening, and traffic was still a
bit heavy. He weaved in and out, causing more than one motorist to honk at his aggressive
driving. Raul didn’t care. He’d called three times—make that four—and Angel
still hadn’t answered. Not the house, the cell, or office phones. All calls
went straight to voice mail. As a bondsman, her job was rarely nine-to-five.
She spent a lot of time on the phone with prospective clients and concerned
family members. He’d never known her not to answer his or anyone else’s call.

On a good day, home was a thirty-minute ride from the
office. He did it in fifteen. Gut clenching, he braked in front of the
apartment complex with a squeal of tires, noticing his apartment was dark. Raul
left the vehicle parked crookedly in the driveway, dived out the driver’s-side
door, leaving it open, and sprinted for the entrance.

He dashed up the stairs and had his unit door opened and the
alarm disabled in seconds.

“Angel! Where are you, baby?” he asked, trying to ignore
what his senses were telling him.

He raced through the small apartment, checked every room,
every corner, his heart unable to believe what his eyes and mind were telling
him. Raul came to a halt in their bedroom, which he’d instinctively saved for
last, fearing what he’d find. There the evidence was undeniable. His mate, the
love of his life, was gone. The closet and drawers were empty of her clothing.
The bathroom and dressers bereft of her possessions.

He threw back his head and let out an enraged howl.

* * * *

Raul was due back today. Should have been home hours ago,
according to his business partners. She’d spent the day in uneasy anticipation
of his reaction to her moving out of his apartment.

Angelica nervously paced the floors of her new
four-bedroom/two-and-a-half bath ranch-style home. The house had been
foreclosed on by the bank and put up for auction where she’d bought it for a
ridiculously low price. It was a home meant for the family she hoped to one day
have with Raul.

She loved Raul with all her heart. Wanted to have children
and grow old with him, but she could no longer live with secrets between them.
She wanted all of him. Wanted to give him all of her. As long as they were both
hiding who they were at the core, their relationship would never work.

Oh, she knew Raul loved her. It was there in everything he
did, every gesture he made. Her happiness was his happiness. Yet she
knew
there was something he hid from
her. Knew it and was sick of it. When was he going to trust her enough to tell
her the truth? If they could just get past this one little thing…

Her cell phone rang again. She glanced at the screen. Not
Raul this time, but Dominic. “Yes?”

“He’s home and headed your way. I hope like hell you know
what you’re doing,” he said with a low growl. Dominic and Raul were like
brothers. He’d only reluctantly agreed to help her once she’d convinced him and
the others that her goal wasn’t to leave Raul, but to force him to take their
relationship to the next level. Now that the moment was at hand, she wasn’t
quite so sure she’d chosen the right course of action.