Page 24 of Chasing the Wolf (Dark Wing #7)

Chapter 24

Mackenzie

" Y ou're going to challenge the Alpha?" I say, blinking until Xavier and Colton come into focus. There's waking up with a start, and then there's waking from a nightmare, and then there's waking up to a nightmare. Hearing Xavier say he's going to challenge his father. After everything that just happened? I swallow down a tight, dry throat. I can't be part of that. I can't be back in Maine, even with the lot of his father's men taken down.

Colton grabs my toes. “No, Mac, you only heard part of what Xavier said. Stanton's going to jail, and there's no way he's getting out. They've got a ton of evidence on him... jail.”

"Really?" I look to Xavier for confirmation.

"It's true. I'll let justice take its course." He crosses his arms over his chest. There's more. I can tell there's more.

"So now you're the Alpha?"

"No, the pack will have to have a meeting?—"

"But you're the one who brought the town back to life. Gave everyone jobs." There's no way they won't pick him. How could they not?

"True."

"So they'll pick you." I'm trying as hard as I can to not let my emotions show. Even after everything, my wolf wants him. Is pulling toward him. I want to devour him.

"Not if I don't want to be picked. Let's finish this later." Xavier leans on the table. "You okay with us taking off?"

"Yeah, no problem," Orin answers. "Oh, you were asking the captain?" He laughs. "Wait, Whitney says they'll let Fletcher know if there's anything in the files about Mackenzie or her family."

"Tell her thanks," Xavier says loud enough for Whitney to hear him.

Orin fist-bumps me, Xavier, and Colton. I give him a weak smile. He's so nice. I wish he would find his mate. I look back at Xavier. Or maybe not. Mates can be difficult.

That's my cue. I should really be trying to get up. But honestly, I've never been this tired before. Ever. Sure, it's late—or early—but I think it's more the drop in adrenaline than anything else. Or the fated mate illness setting in. When you find your mate but don't mate and prolong the mating urge hormones, fate starts to kick you in the ass. I've got my back braced against the back of the sofa. If I don't, I'm going to fall over.

"I'm going down to the bridge to see about adding our port for the day back in." The captain nods to me and slaps Xavier and Colton on their backs before disappearing down the stairs.

Colton pinches my foot over the blanket, just like he used to do when I'd fall asleep on the couch watching movies when he was out with his friends. A blanket I don't remember getting. "You want some help?" Colton cocks his head at me.

"I can walk." But even I don't believe it when I say it.

"Sure," Colton says.

"But you don't need to." Xavier scoops me up and turns to my brother. "The doors?"

I snuggle down onto his chest.

"Some things don't change," Colton says as Xavier squeezes by him into the corridor. "I'll take the bunk,” he says once we’re in 1414. “If you don't mind?" He's got the door shut before I can argue. Not that I was going to.

I roll over onto my side, curling into a ball. I'm pretending to be asleep because I can't talk about all the things we should talk about. Not now, not today. Xavier tiptoes around the room, closing the drapes, turning the lights off. Then I feel him standing over me. The door clicks, and the light from the hallway hits my closed eyelids. Then he's gone. I can hear Colton rolling around in the bunk in the adjoining room. But where did Xavier go?

It's the last thing I think before I'm pulled under. I wake to the smell of syrup and bacon. Moreover, the ship's docked. Sure, the ship moves when it's tethered, but it's a different sensation. It doesn't take a seasoned crew member to tell.

"She's alive," Colton says. "I thought you were going to sleep the whole day away."

"Where's Xavier?"

"He's over in the captain's apartment."

"Quarters."

"Office, cabin, whatever you want to call it. He wasn't feeling too great. Said you might not be either."

"Yeah, I feel like I was driving a Civic that hit a moose."

"That bad?" Colton sinks to the edge of the bed. "Well, you should eat."

"It smells good. But I'm not hungry."

"Now I know you're really sick. My sister's never been able to pass up a meal."

"Watch it."

"I am. I'm watching you. Have you made a decision?"

"No. I thought I had, but . . ."

"This is for the two of you to work out. But he's a good guy."

"You're just saying that because he's put up with your sorry ass for all these years." I push at his thigh with the ball of my foot. But I'm so weak I can't budge him.

"Shit. Come on, Mackie, you need food." He fishes under the covers and pulls me up to the chair, where I pull down the T-shirt I don't remember changing into.

"Maybe some bacon." I eat half a slice and put the rest down on my plate. "Did Xavier come back last night?"

"Twice. He wanted to stay in the room to settle his wolf, but everything else started to hurt too much."

I nod, remembering the articles I've read. The ones in the medical journals Rama's mom has lying around her cabin. She's one of the nurses on the ship and is an amazing cook. I never say no when I'm invited to dinner with Rama. Though that's a lot less often now that Rama and Luca are mated. Anyway, the articles say if you wait too long, eventually you'll get sick even thinking about the other one. It really is fate's alarm clock.

"Can you tell him to come back? That we need to talk?"

"Yes, but only after you eat a real meal. Eggs, bacon, and at least one pancake."

"Fine." I scoop out the smallest portion I think Colton will accept and get down to it. It's the only way he's going to let me go see— No, that's what I used to do. I put the fork down. "I'm not hungry, and I'm not going to eat."

"Mackie, you know you get all hangry if you don't eat, and the mating bond is doing shit to you."

"I'm not a petulant cub. I tried to eat, and I can't." I stand up and move over to where my grocery bags full of clothes were yesterday. I turn in a full circle, but they’re not on the floor or anywhere in sight.

"Xavier hung up your things." Colton opens the armoire, and my clothes are hanging neatly next to Xavier’s. I reach out and touch one of his suits. I hear Colton moving around behind me, the telltale sound of cloches being placed back on plates to keep the food warm. "He sniffed each one. It was a little creepy." He pauses. "Ew. You were going to do the same thing, weren't you? I guess you two just need to get it over with. Mate, already. So you both don't drop on the ground from sickness."

I grab my pants and a shirt. I find my underwear folded in a drawer and hope that Colton didn't watch Xavier put them away. We're a close family, but not close enough that I want Colton seeing my lace panties. Because everything I grabbed was the good stuff from the back of my drawer.

Xavier’s put my toiletries in a drawer. I find a hair tie and pull my hair up into a messy bun. Not one of those cute ShifterChat girl messy buns, just a bun that is messy.

When I come out of the bathroom, Colton's sitting at the table, staring into his coffee cup.

"You okay?"

"It's weird not having my phone. But I kind of like how it's given me more time to think about everything that's gone on."

"There's a lot." I sit across from him back at the breakfast—or more like lunch—table. "The taking down of Stanton. Have you heard anything else? Like anything from Fletcher, or Mom and Dad?"

"Mom and Dad are good. Xavier's put them up at the Boston Back Bay Grand hotel for the rest of the week. Oh, I have the hotel phone and room numbers. They'd like to talk to you later. When you're up for it." He hands me a piece of crumpled Dark Wing stationery.

"Thanks," I say, staring at the array of dishes, then uncover the platter of pancakes. I move another two over and coat them with butter. "Real?" I point to the syrup.

When Colton taps his lips, he looks just like Dad. "Of course. You think Mr. Fancy Pants would order his mate fake syrup?" Colton laughs. "You knew before, right?"

"That I like real maple syrup? Yeah.”

“Come on, Mackie. You knew you were mates?”

“Definitely. Always." I glance up at my big brother.

"I apologize, but I'm glad you left. This was good for you, being here. On the ship."

"I know." He's right. I've become a different person. I dive into the pancakes, and we sit in comfortable silence until I've finished. "You were right too."

"About everything?"

"Nope. Don't get carried away. About me being hangry. Now, where did you say that best friend of yours is?"

"Captain's letting him use his cabin to stay in contact with Fletcher."

When I get there, Conrad opens the door.

"Good morning, Conrad."

"It's nice to see you, Miss Northwood," Conrad says, ushering us in, "...and Mr. Northwood."

"Thank you for your kindness last night. I felt out of my element and in the way."

"It was my pleasure to spend time with you. I have finished your snowstorm cake. You will have to tell me if I have completed it correctly."

"No way!" Colton jumps.

Xavier stands from the dining room table, where he'd been sitting at the computer Orin used last night. "No way what? Good morning, Mac." His smile is brilliant, but there are bags there I haven't ever seen on his face and his amber eyes lack the normal twinkle.

"You were working hard. Mac and Conrad made a snowstorm cake last night."

"Seriously?" Xavier holds out his arms, and I go to him.

I know we shouldn't touch. Everything I've read says that once two fated mates start to feel the effects, they need to make a decision. I throw my arms around him, and he clamps his hand around my waist. I inhale his hot chocolate, wood stove scent. His nose is in my hair. Can I give the ship up? Leave and go back to live in Maine? With the new Alpha?

"I'm going to go... I don't know, somewhere. But save me a piece of cake." My brother grunts, and the door slams behind him.

When I glance up, Conrad's gone too. I take Xavier's hand and lead him to the sofa. "You look tired."

"I am. But that's not important now."

"Taking care of yourself is always important." Our legs are touching, our hands clasped together.

"No, taking care of you is more important."

I laugh.

"What?"

"You mean the pack?"

"I'm not going to shirk my duties, but no, you are more important than the pack. I tried to sleep after the battle, but I couldn't. I kept thinking about how our phones exploded. Worrying that my father had some other agent in place to hurt you. Whitney and the rest of the Stone team combed through my dad's records, thousands of digital files, to make sure there wasn't anything else about you, Colton, or the Dark Wing. But it seems there were only those two females who planted the bugs and explosives in the phones. Fletcher's prepping to take over the pack."

"When are you going back to Maine?"

His eyebrows shoot up. "You need to say it."

"Say what?"

"Mac, can you forgive me for hurting you? For making the transition from a cub to an adult more difficult?"