Page 22 of Chasing the Wolf (Dark Wing #7)

Chapter 22

Mackenzie

T he walk from the captain's quarters down to the crew decks is a short one, normally. Not that I find myself in the captain's office often. It's one elevator ride away. But I'm not in the mood to have to talk to anyone.

In the aft of the ship, there's a stairwell no one ever uses. I go down one deck in the midship crew stairwell and cross back around the upper deck housekeeping area to the back stairs. I'm holding my borrowed shorts up most of the way. But I manage to not encounter anyone.

When I get to the third deck, I swing around the back of the crew bar and through the door, head-down, eyes on the floor. I have to pass a bunch of crew, but no one stops me. And I don't run into anyone who’s a super close friend. It's late, and I look like I'm doing a walk of shame. Because I am. A really long walk of shame.

Colette's not in her bunk, which is only slightly surprising. Colette doesn't have to sleep in her own bunk a single night if she doesn't want to. There are plenty of males who are more than happy to have her spend the night with them.

I peel Xavier's clothes off. Rather, I just stop holding them up. They puddle on the floor, and I step out of them. I take the one step into the shower, and my wolf gets all feisty. We’ve hardly touched yet but apparently, I'm not allowed to shower after touching him at all. Because now that I can smell again, everything smells super strong. In the shower, Colette's closed body wash that some dude sent her from France smells like it's trying to take over the world.

With leggings and a Dark Wing, non-uniform T-shirt and tennis shoes on, I pivot to head out the door. But then I turn back and randomly throw a bunch of crap in a bag. Avoiding Xavier isn't going to solve anything, and it's only going to make my wolf even more ornery than she already is. But I'm not carrying my two grocery bags stuffed with clothes back into the captain's beautiful suite.

The lobby's empty, but that makes sense. It's almost midnight. Hope's not there, of course. She does the early shift—when most of the problems happen.

Helen's there, waving at me like the little old lady she is. She smiles a mile wide. "Come here, you," she hollers across the lobby.

"Hi, Helen."

"It's already done." Her short gray hair bounces with excitement.

"What's already done?"

"Well, I heard the news, and I programmed your ID badge so it will open 1414. Boy, that cabin really is a good luck charm. Wish I could have used it a million years ago."

"Helen," I chide. "What would your mate say about that?"

"Oh, I'd still pick him. But maybe it wouldn't have taken so long."

"Ah, that's sweet of you."

"Why do you think I like working the night shift? I'm too sweet to be out in the daylight. I'd melt."

I laugh.

"Don't tell Hope I said that!" She points at me. "Wait, do you want a bracelet too?" She types, swipes, and thrusts a purple band at me.

"Thanks!"

"Congrats, honey." She fluffs a black dragon stuffie on top of her computer. "Best thing I've heard all day. Happy Pi Day."

"Happy Pi Day," I say and make my way to the elevator bank behind the closed shops. As I pass the jewelry story, I touch my necklace, the one Xavier loaned me. My wolf growls about the word loan . I catch my reflection in the glass. I'm not the same girl who left Maine. I'm not the same cub that Xavier tried his hardest to protect. And I'm getting the idea that my parents might have done a similar thing to me as Xavier did. Those last few years, they made home uncomfortable, knowing I wouldn't leave any other way.

I move my two overstuffed grocery bags out of the way to push the button. The elevator is empty. The doors slide open on the tenth floor, and I'm prepared to avoid eye contact with whoever is coming on board.

"Mackie?" my brother exclaims. "What are you doing in the elevator with groceries?"

"No groceries, just my clothes."

Colton takes a long whiff. "You . . . ah . . . That's not . . ."

I twist my lips to the side and cock my head. "Why is it not possible?"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt. And if you mate Xavier, there will be people who want to hurt you. Because like it or not?—"

"Where are you going, Colton?"

"Back to my cabin. Or I guess your cabin. Or, fuck... I'm not the kind who likes to cuddle, but I think she'll let me back into her cabin. Or I'll sleep on the deck."

"No, we've got other things to think about."

"I think you mating the future Alpha would be the first thing we want to talk about."

"Believe it or not, you're wrong." Xavier said not to talk about it with anyone. But Colton's not anyone, and I haven't told him much. Nothing specific.

The elevator slides open, and when we get to 1414, I open the door.

"So you've decided you're going to mate him?"

"Not yet, but if I hide away in my cabin, I'm not giving him—us—a fair chance."

Colton's brow furrows.

"Did Mom and Dad make my life hell to get me to move away from the pack?"

Colton hangs up his suit coat and sits in the chair next to the door. He pulls both of his shoes off and tosses them near his suitcase.

"Did they want me to not move back home?"

He shakes his head.

"So, is that a yes or a no?"

"Mom met Eva at a craft fair in Portsmouth. You know when she was on that kick selling crocheted wash rags and making napkins to try to help because of the shifts she lost at the mill?"

"She met Eva, the head of hotel services?"

"I believe so. Mom told her all about you. How you needed to get away from the pack. How she was worried that after college, if you came back, the Alpha would ruin your life. He'd threatened it for a long time. That you would become property."

"And after I left, they lost . . ."

"They lost a lot. But I sent them money. It was better than losing you. Well, better than losing you to the Alpha."

"Why—"

"Why did they stay? I don't know. I know he had Dad do some stuff a long time ago, things that if the police found out, they could have put Dad away for a long time."

"Oh... No... Fuck you, Colton. You could have told me all of this a long time ago."

"Fuck me? Wow, Mackie." He laughs, then glances at me and laughs harder.

I slap his arm. "What? Stop it. Why are you laughing?"

"It's just... that's what makes you defend yourself? All right. I'll take it. Consider me fucked. But you're safe. That's what the three of us wanted, okay? So no, I don't want you mating Xavier Wilder. Dad, Mom, and I have invested a hell of a lot of time and energy into keeping you safe."

"Okay, well, thank you. I don't need your protection now. And maybe I wouldn't have needed it before if people had a little more faith in me."

"I have faith in you, Mackie. Too much. You would have wanted to take down the devil by yourself. Given yourself up to protect others. I was just doing what you would have done for someone else. Because I love you. My infuriating little sister, who—damn—is now going to mate my best friend?" His eyebrows shoot up.

"I don't know. Come with me. We need to go talk to—" I grab my band from where I dropped it on the dresser and pivot back to Colton. He's holding his phone in his hand.

"What the hell, Mackie. Is this what you're talking about?" He holds his phone out to me.

It's a headline, not from ShifterChat but from a major human news site. Blaring red letters announce: Major Credible Threat to Shifter Cruise Ship Dark Wing. Thousands of Lives at Risk.

"This, this is what you want to talk about? This is Alpha Stanton Wilder, Mackie. The guy is insane."

Tears stream down my cheeks. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"I know you didn't. Where's Xavier?"

"With the captain. I'll take you there."

Conrad opens the door as we enter the lobby. "This way," he says, waving us into the captain’s cabin.

At the dining room table Xavier and the captain both look as if they've gone through a battle together.

"Matthias, this is Colton, Mac's brother," says Xavier.

"What the hell is going on?" Colton joins them around the desk where the two of them are staring at a computer. "Is this for real?"

"We don't think so,” says the captain. “But as a matter of caution, we're not stopping at the next port. And we're running deeper background checks on all the guests."

"Deeper background checks?"

"Of course. This is my home. I don't allow just anyone to sail with us. So far, we’ve found nothing alarming."

There's a thud on the other side of the room. I was so focused on Xavier and the captain I didn't notice the eight security and bridge officers around the dining room table. Luca, Daniel, Ina, and Orin, to name a few.

"We've got the security team back in Florida on it, too," FO Laurit says.