Page 4 of Midnight Hunt (Wolves of Midnight #4)

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GRIFF

The nearly five hour car ride ended way too soon.

Vi and I spent the majority of it listening to her blaring country music, both of us loudly breaking into song on several occasions. It was like the past week apart had never happened and everything was back to normal between us.

Except that it wasn’t.

She’d called me. She’d been scared and called me instead of her boyfriend.

What’s more, she still hadn’t had sex with him. I’d teased her earlier about the lingerie, but I’d already known Reid hadn’t seen it. If he had, they would have definitely had sex, and I definitely would have scented it.

They’d been living in the same apartment for an entire week. I thought for sure she would come home smelling like him this time, complete with a fresh claim mark. I’d dreaded it. Prepared for it. And yet, when I’d swept her into my arms back at Reid’s place, I’d inhaled nothing but crisp fall leaves and dark chocolate, a scent I knew better than my own.

I’d nearly crashed to my knees, beyond relieved at the discovery.

Still, I’d spent the past five hours making nothing but small talk. We didn’t even bring up the fact that two males had tried to kidnap her. Vi didn’t respond well to being pushed. The only reason why Kolton sometimes got away with it was because of his position as the pack alpha.

If Vi wanted to talk about Reid or the attack, she’d do it on her own terms. Although I outranked her in the pack, she was just as dominant—maybe more so in some ways. If I forced her to talk, it would put a strain on our relationship, a lifelong friendship we’d fought so hard to maintain.

So I kept silent, carefully bottling up the words that desperately wanted to spill free. I didn’t bother to do this with anyone else in my life, but with Vi . . . things were different.

The second she parked her Jeep inside the family estate’s five-car garage, she jumped out and beelined for the house. I could sense how homesick she’d been, and even though it was two in the morning, I had no doubt she planned to tiptoe into every bedroom just to catch a glimpse of her family.

Smiling a little, I stayed in the Jeep long enough to text Kolton: Made it home safely. No one followed us . Any news on the two males?

A few seconds later, he sent back: No news. They aren’t members of Alpha DeRosa’s pack. We’re heading back now. Be there in an hour .

Cursing under my breath, I exited the vehicle and grabbed Vi’s luggage from the backseat. I was just about to tuck her newly-purchased lingerie into the suitcase when an image of her modeling them for Reid popped into my head. I stuffed the bag into the back pocket of my jeans instead.

When I closed the garage and entered the three-story mansion a few minutes later, I found Vi upstairs in one of the nurseries.

“I think he grew while I was gone,” she whispered as I silently came up behind her. I peered around her at the nine-month-old baby sound asleep in his crib, then down at her. Her lashes were fluttering, a sign that she was on the verge of tears.

The need to comfort her was like a swift kick to the ribs, but I didn’t initiate contact. If she wanted my touch, she would come to me. When she didn’t move, I replied in an equally soft voice, “Personally, I think Luca’s getting a bit chunky. Too many people spoil him in this house now that he can eat solid foods.”

When she muffled an amused snort, the ache in my ribs faded.

After a few more minutes of staring at her nephew, she crept back out and made for the third floor. I knew she was dying to see her four-month-old niece, but Lillian was still co-sleeping in the master bedroom with Kolton and his wife Nora. Luca had always been a calm baby who easily slept through the night. Lily, on the other hand, kept her parents up at all hours of the night. Nora was probably in there right now trying to nurse her fussy, night-owl daughter to sleep.

Not surprisingly, Vi peeked inside Melanie’s room next. Her seven-year-old sister was sound asleep, gripping a stuffed blue unicorn as usual. Hovering at the door for a moment, Vi crossed the ultra girly room newly decorated in blue and stopped at Mellie’s bedside to place a soft kiss on her cheek.

The girl rolled over in her sleep, mumbling something about dresses and tea parties.

Satisfied, Vi left the room, only to tiptoe to the next occupied bedroom. When she cracked open the door, though, a quiet gasp left her lips. My protective instincts surged to the surface, along with my wolf familiar’s. Whiskey went on high alert, ready to attack at the first sign of danger. But as I crowded in close to Vi, prepared to whisk her out of harm’s way, she whirled around and shot past me.

“Vi,” I hissed, but she was already across the hallway and scurrying down the stairs. I went after her, trying to keep my footsteps light. By the time I reached the ground floor, she was nowhere in sight. Using my heightened sense of smell, I tracked her through the house. She’d rushed toward the back where the dining room was, but when her scent veered sharply to the left, I knew where she was headed.

As I approached the open doorway, freshly baked dough and warm chocolate teased my senses. Whiskey immediately started to settle, and I slowed my mad dash. Already knowing what I would find, I paused at the kitchen entrance to take in the scene. Sure enough, two figures stood at the massive kitchen island, the countertop covered in cooking supplies and freshly baked goods.

“It’s the middle of the night, Mom,” Vi gently said to the older female whose face and sleep t-shirt were streaked with flour. “You should be sleeping.”

“I know, honey,” Charlotte Rivers distractedly replied as she finished placing another batch of chocolate chip cookies on the cooling rack. “I was feeling restless, and you know how baking helps settle me.”

“I understand, but I’d feel better if you were upstairs in bed. How about I get you a glass of milk and finish cleaning up here?”

Her mother paused to glance up at her eldest daughter. They looked so much alike. Same straight dark hair and deep olive skin. Same dark amber eyes, even though I rarely saw Vi’s on account of her purple contacts. Tucking a premature white streak of hair behind her ear, Charlotte considered her daughter’s words before saying, “Sure, honey. A glass of milk would be nice. But you should get some sleep too. You look tired.”

Vi waved her mom’s concern away with a small laugh. “I’m okay. It’s just a long drive from Boston.”

Charlotte set down her spatula with a slow blink. “Oh.”

Vi didn’t seem affected by the sudden blank look on her mother’s face, but I knew better. It had been five months since Charlotte had come home, five months of slowly incorporating her back into society. We still hadn’t reintroduced her to the entire pack, but they all knew she was alive, that Kolton and Vi had hidden her away after she’d succumbed to heartbreak over her husband’s death.

Some of the members felt betrayed by the secrecy, but no one could really blame them for what they did. Their mother wouldn’t be alive right now if they’d told the pack of her broken state. She was still recovering, still drifting off inside her mind, but she was lucid most days, thanks to Nora’s healing magic.

Her short-term memory had suffered the most from the mental break, though. Sometimes, she forgot that she had a seven-year-old daughter. That she was no longer the alpha female of Midnight Pack. Keeping track of the household’s comings and goings was also hard for her. She probably hadn’t even realized that Vi had been gone all week. What’s more, she constantly forgot about Reid. In fact, she thought Vi and I were—

“Oh, Griff!” she suddenly exclaimed, her eyes brightening in recognition as she spotted me in the doorway. “I should have known it was you keeping my daughter up so late. Not getting her into trouble, I hope.”

At the adoring, slightly scolding look she gave me, my face split into an impish grin. “I promise I’m not getting your daughter into trouble, Mrs. R.”

“Please, Griffin, I insist you call me Charlotte. I’m not blind, you know. I see what a strapping young man you’ve become. You’re not that towheaded little boy anymore who used to pull on Violet’s pigtails.”

At the mental image the memory gave me, I burst out laughing. Vi rolled her eyes, but when she huffed a laugh of her own, my chest warmed.

“If I recall, Mrs—Charlotte,” I teasingly drawled, “your daughter got her revenge for all that hair pulling by giving me my first black eye.”

“Why, Violet Jane,” Charlotte gasped in mock dismay.

“He deserved it,” Vi muttered, throwing me a glare that promised retribution for outing her.

Ooh, tell another story , Whiskey purred, clearly enjoying the slightly dangerous banter. Dangerous, because Vi was probably going to beat me up after this.

My mouth curved into a wicked grin. Seeing what I was about to do, she opened her mouth to stop me. Before she could, I blurted, “She also stole a bottle of vodka from your liquor cabinet once and dared me to drink the whole thing. I was only fifteen.”

“Hey, I didn’t force you to drink it,” Vi protested, her eyes practically shooting lasers at me. “I was twelve years old. I didn’t know it would make you throw up like that.”

“Yeah, and my mom’s warned me of the dangers of alcohol ever since. Every Christmas, she gives me the stink eye before letting me touch even a drop of wine.”

Vi snorted in amusement. “Really? I didn’t know that. Serves you right, though. I still can’t believe you drank the whole bottle.”

“You dared me,” I said with a shrug.

Shaking her head, she moved toward the cabinet where the glasses were kept. As she lifted an arm to grab one, her purple shirt rode up, exposing a sliver of smooth olive skin just above her favorite designer jeans. I’d seen that strip of taut flesh more times than I could remember, but my body reacted to it all the same.

Your screwdriver is showin’, mate , Whiskey casually remarked, this time in an Australian accent. Might wanna put him away before the lady sees.

She won’t notice , I replied.

I was talking about her mum .

Well, in that case, he had a point. Most evenings when her brain was tired, Charlotte’s mind got stuck in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact, when she was still pregnant with Melanie and her husband Anthony was still alive. When things were happiest for her. When her son was in college and her eldest daughter had just been freed from a toxic relationship.

The calm before the storm. Before everything had changed. For all of us.

Charlotte was stuck in that happy place now, blissfully unaware of the seven hard years that had passed, years that had shaped us into different beings. Right now, all she saw was her nearly sixteen-year-old daughter, her son’s oldest best friend, and the exciting possibility of a budding relationship. Not just lifelong friendship but something more, something deeper.

Apparently, deflowering her precious baby girl equaled wedding bells. Didn’t matter that the intimate moment had happened while Vi was in heat at the tender age of fifteen. Charlotte was clearly waiting for me to make my intentions known—and reminding her about Reid didn’t help. Whenever her brain was stuck like this, she only had one goal in mind . . .

Getting me to claim and mate Vi before Anthony Rivers promised her to another pack heir.

All these years, I’d thought Charlotte had approved of the betrothal, but she’d revealed some secrets to us over the past few months. Namely, her distaste for the archaic tradition of uniting two packs through an arranged marriage contract. Which was ironic, considering the deal her son had made last year with Nora, his fated mate.

But Vi didn’t see me as something more. And the last thing I wanted was to push her into a relationship she didn’t want.

The reality of our situation was like a bucket of ice water, effectively dousing the heat in my groin. She was with Reid now. A pack heir, ironically. Charlotte might be stuck in the past and hoping for a mate match between me and her daughter, but I couldn’t afford to entertain that fantasy.

Vi was in a healthy relationship for once, and I wouldn’t stand in the way of that. Not this time.

She deserved a good guy, and I couldn’t deny that Reid was just that. He was kind, upstanding, and respectful, a male I could actually approve of.

There was no good reason to sabotage their relationship.

None, whatsoever.

My skin suddenly felt too tight. Needing something to do, I pushed off the doorframe and headed for the mess on the counter. A minute later, I was elbow-deep in warm water and soap suds, scrubbing bowls and pans so vigorously that they all but groaned in protest. Vi continued to chat with her mother as she too helped clean up, putting away the cooking supplies and wrapping up the baked goods while Charlotte finished her glass of milk. In no time, the kitchen was back to its pristine condition.

Charlotte looked around approvingly before nodding and saying, “Thanks for the help, you two. I’m off to bed now.” Before leaving, she gave us both a kiss on the cheek goodnight, then paused and added, “And if you’re going to have sex, be discreet. Anthony is still adjusting to the idea of you two being together.”

With that, she gave me a final pat on the cheek and left the kitchen.

Vi and I gaped after her, our jaws slightly unhinged. Well, that was a new one.

“Did she just . . . ?” Vi whispered.

“Yup,” I whispered back. “Your mom just got super cool.”

She whacked my stomach, making me grunt. “Knock it off, Griff. I think she’s getting worse.”

Hearing the worry in her voice, I gently nudged her shoulder with mine. “Healing takes time, Vi. The mind can break in a second but take years to repair. With lots of patience and compassion, she’ll get better. You’ll see.”

She released a tired sigh but didn’t comment.

“Your mom’s right, though. You should get some sleep too. You’ve had an exhausting day.”

“But Kolton and Jagger aren’t back yet. I need to know what they learned about my attackers.”

“Kol texted me. Alpha DeRosa doesn’t know who they are.”

Her shoulders fell. “Great. Just great.” Reaching up, she yanked the tie out of her hair. As the dark strands tumbled onto her shoulders, I had a sudden desire to feel them gripped tightly between my fingers. Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Vi added with another sigh, “Well, I’m off to bed, then. Night.”

“Night,” I murmured, watching as she left the kitchen.

She was still acting like everything was normal between us. Like she hadn’t called me in a panic earlier and admitted that she needed me.

Needed .

I opened my mouth to call her back, to demand she explain herself. To push . Instead, I firmly shut my mouth and allowed her to go unchallenged, bottling up the unspoken words between us once more.

Only when I heard her reach the stairs did I move to follow, forbidden thoughts of touching her still dancing through my mind.