Page 6 of Midnight Whispers (Forbidden Entanglements #1)

Chapter Six

C ass printed out the information he’d found about who owned the farmhouse. He’d never heard the name before. Alice Newman sounded like an alias. Or at least that’s what his instinct was telling him. He’d find out either way soon enough.

He was just about to enter the name into the national database when Danny came around the corner. “Got a call. Some kid ran out of gas. On Hensley.”

Cass raised his eyebrows. “Not a local.”

Danny winced. “He’d said he was about to be. I thought that meant he knew about shifters, so I mentioned he was on pack land out there where he’s at. But now I’m questioning that theory.”

Cass swore and stood, grabbing his keys off the desk. “You told him not to get out of the car.”

“Yep. The pack alpha would have a field day with some stranger on pack lands.” Danny was pack and a good guy. His only issue was he assumed too much. He had a lot to learn if he wanted Iven to put him out in the field.

Cass nodded and then headed out. It took ten minutes to fill a container with gas and another ten to get to the guy, and by then, the night air had taken on a bitterness that promised temperatures in single digits.

He parked on the road and shut off his lights. There wasn’t any point in going to the side. No one would be out here at this time of night. He wasn’t even sure why the kid had come this way. The highway would have been a better option.

Cass let his lights shine onto the car so he could see the occupant inside. The kid had dark blonde hair and big brown eyes. He would have had a fresh-faced innocence about him if not for the lifetime of living in his gaze. But he appeared young, as if he were in his twenties.

As soon as Cass saw him, he knew they were mates. They had a twenty-year age gap, or close enough to it for Cass to second guess his reaction.

His eyes shifted into his wolf, and his fangs descended.

The car was an older model with rust on the front fender. Cass saw the tops of boxes in the backseat. He marked the kid as some broke college student on their way to Dinsmore. If Cass remembered correctly from his own college days and if things hadn’t changed, then the new semester started in about three weeks. Dinsmore College called the semester spring, even though it started mid-January.

The kid appeared as though he were about ready to shit himself. And Cass knew why, not that he could help his partial shift. His eyes, being canine, were unmistakable. Their headlights did a good job of illuminating Cass and his surroundings. Cass hadn’t forgotten what Danny said about the kid not knowing about the existence of shifters.

Cass didn’t get any closer than a few feet away. “I have a container of gas in my trunk.”

“Holy shit!” That was all the kid said, but he didn’t press the lock on the door on repeat. That was a positive sign, right?

“I won’t hurt you.” Cass made sure he kept his voice as calm as he could. It seemed to have no effect on the kid, though.

“What-what the fuck? Holy shit.”

“I’m going to approach.” Cass took a step closer, going slow.

Then the kid started hyperventilating, Cass thought the guy would pass out if he didn’t get himself under control. Cass also noticed how the kid’s breath came out in icy puffs. His cheeks were red from the cold and his lips were purple.

Cass cursed and hurried to the car. He tried the door handle, but the door was locked.

“I just want to get you warm.” The kid smelled like sulfur. He was a warlock.

How did he not know about shifters?

The kid shook his head. “Go away. I’ll call my dad.”

As soon as he said the word dad, Cass’s stomach twisted in knots. What was the likelihood that this kid was Iven’s son? Cass couldn’t mate with his best friend’s son. Iven would shit a brick and then probably kill Cass. “Are you Riley Palmer?”

Riley’s expression turned into one of confusion. He hesitated, but eventually, he nodded.

“I’m a friend of Iven’s.”

“You also work for him.”

Cass smiled. “That’s right. Will you open the door, please? My car is warm. You can sit inside while I put gas in your car.”

“I can put gas in my own car.” Sassy. Cass liked that.

He could also give as good as he got. “Apparently not.”

Riley flipped him off. But he unlocked the door. He’d covered himself with a blanket but put it on the passenger’s seat before he got out. As soon as he was free from the car, Cass wanted to wrap him in a hug.

“Stay back!” Riley held up his hand. He was shaking from the cold, but he still stood his ground, not allowing Cass closer. “I don’t know what you are but stay the hell away from me.”

Cass cursed his canine eyes and fangs. Not that he could help it, but he still felt bad for scaring Riley.

His poor mate shook. Whether from fear or the cold, Cass wasn’t sure, but something about it wrenched at his soul.

Cass grabbed the gas can from his trunk.

Riley followed him, although he kept his distance.

“I’m a wolf shifter.”

“I’d say that’s bullshit, but I saw your eyes.”

“You’re on pack land.” Cass opened the trunk and grabbed the can. He left the trunk open because he’d have to put the can back inside after emptying it into Riley’s gas tank.

“That’s what the dispatcher said. I thought he meant wolves. Like the animal version. Or are you the animal version too?”

“Sort of. I won’t hurt you.” Cass carried the can to Riley’s car.

“I can do it myself.”

“Your hands look frozen.” Purple and red blotches covered them.

Riley sighed. “Yeah.” He followed Cass and watched him as he poured gas into his tank. “I know you’re not going to hurt me. No way would my dad hire you if you were a danger to people.”

“Why’d you run out of gas?”

“Why are your eyes all scary?”

Cass met his gaze. “That’s complicated. And I asked you first.”

“I ran out of money.” Riley gestured to Cass’s face. “Do you always look like that? Your eyes, I mean.”

“Not always.” Cass liked Riley’s curiosity. He seemed as if Cass had put him at ease, or he was starting to. “So, you’re too proud to ask Iven or Griff for help. Is that it?”

Riley flipped him off again by way of an answer. “How do humans not know about you? If you have a pack, that means there are other people like you, right?”

“Fortune Falls is home to one of the biggest packs in the area.”

“Now tell me the complicated reason why your eyes are like that. Do you have normal teeth too? Or are your teeth always like that?”

“Okay, Mr. Million Questions. I’ll answer them all another time. When you’re not freezing to death and you’re ready to hear my answers.” Cass took off his gloves and handed them to Riley. “Put those on.”

“Thanks.” They were too big for Riley’s hands, but he moaned a little at the warmth. “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t ready to hear it.”

That moan went straight to Cass’s cock. It was at that moment he knew he had to figure something out because he was going to mate with Iven’s kid, whether or not Iven liked it. It just wouldn’t happen right away.

Riley might have thought he was ready to hear Cass’s answer, but he wasn’t. Instead of furthering the conversation, Cass changed the subject. “How old are you?”

“Why is that relevant to you helping me with my situation?” They definitely wouldn’t bond right away. Not when Riley had no frame of reference for what it meant.

“It isn’t.”

“How old are you?”

“Forty-two.”

“I heard your back hurts when you get older. Is that true?” Riley smirked.

Cass chuckled. “Little shit.”

“I’m twenty-four.” It was the first time Riley let his guard down. It made him seem more innocent, if that was possible. And more like the kid Iven described. Cass could practically see the boulder of stress on Riley’s back. Or pieces of it. Maybe some of it flaked off after his mother died, but he didn’t know how to let go of all of it yet.

It made Cass want to wrap Riley in a hug and not let go until the rest of the rock fell away.

After Cass finished with the gas container, he took it to the trunk. Riley followed him. “Would you like to warm up in my vehicle for a minute before you go back into your cold one?”

Riley nodded. “Thank you.”

Cass shut the trunk, and they got into the car.

They sat in silence for a long time.

The radio buzzed, but Danny didn’t dispatch him. It was a quiet night.

“I’m not keeping you from anything by sitting here?” Riley pulled off Cass’s gloves, laying them on the seat before putting his hands up to the vents. The heater worked overtime. He opened his palm and sucked in a breath. The way he had it turned, Cass couldn’t see what had startled him, but he saw the glow coming off it. Cass had been around warlocks long enough to know what happened when they found their mate. Riley might not understand what was happening since Iven neglected to tell Riley about being a warlock. As much as that pissed Cass off, it would be better coming from Iven.

Riley tucked his right hand underneath him and held the left closer to the vent. Since Riley was ignoring it, Cass would too.

“Nothing important.” Only a murder case, but even that wasn’t as important taking care of his mate.

“Are you going to tell my dad I ran out of gas?” When Riley met his gaze, his expression was pleading.

“Not if you don’t want me to.”

Riley sighed in relief. “Thanks.”

“Why didn’t you ask Iven for gas money? He would have given it to you.”

Riley shrugged. “I don’t know. Pride, I guess. I’m just used to doing everything myself.”

Cass couldn’t help the scowl. As soon as he realized what he was doing with his face, he smoothed it out. The last thing he wanted was to scare Riley. With his eyes still canine and his fangs still dropped, he had to keep his expressions neutral. Overall, Riley didn’t seem scared or even surprised by the existence of wolf shifters.

“I’m surprised Iven let you. Or Griffin. Hell, I’m surprised Zinnie wasn’t mothering you all this time.”

Riley smiled. Just speaking Zinnie’s name did that to people. Even Iven, who’d married and divorced her, smiled when he talked about her. “She did when I came for a visit. Dad and Griffin tried, before and after my mom died.”

“How did she die?” Nice conversation upon first meeting, but Cass seemed to bring out the deep conversations in people. He wasn’t sure why, other than he didn’t like small talk much. He’d never been good at it.

“Collapsed on the kitchen floor. Her heart just gave out.” Riley shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it, if that’s okay. This is my chance to start fresh. I don’t want to taint it. You know what I mean.”

Cass smiled. “Starting fresh, huh? You’ve come to the right place for that.”

“Dad’s been asking me to live with him my entire life. I figured this is our chance to get to know each other as father and son, since we never really did.” For the first time since meeting, Riley seemed genuinely happy. The smile reached his eyes.

Cass knew then that he needed to take a step back and let Riley have his time with his father. He couldn’t get in the way. Announcing they were mates would step right in the middle of them.