Page 6 of Starting Over (D.O.A. DRAGO #1)

Jude stood outside looking to the river and listening to nature all around him. He and Rain still hadn’t figured out what they were going to do with the situation Rain was in, but at least he was able to convince Rain to stay with him until they could come up with a plan.

It had been almost three weeks since Jude had left Drago and a week now since Jude had been at the lakeside cabin. As wonderful as it was, the pain of being away from his mates was a physical pain by now. However, it was a pain he knew he had to endure.

No matter how many times he tried to think of his future and as much as he loved his mate and his maharishi, he also knew he wanted kids. There was no getting around it and no answer he could find on his own.

He’d also given what Rain said a lot of thought. Fuck if the man wasn’t wrong. His mates had asked for time and had been doing their thinking their way, and Jude had thrown a hissy fit. He’d acted like a spoiled brat. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to make the phone call that could change things.

But would anything change?

Jude didn’t know. He was at a complete loss and needed answers… but not just for himself.

Poor Rain was walking around jumping at any and all sounds he heard… the poor guy was terrified. Dream hadn’t even been able to find Danny or his buddies yet, and although he was still looking, Jude knew he could call in reinforcements.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, Jude did something he should have done the day he’d met Rain.

“Yellow… damn it, Pepper, get off that. I need to finish this report or Pit is going to have my ass.”

“Hey, Wiz,” Jude said with a small laugh.

A small gasp was heard, as Wiz whispered, “Jude?” His voice rising, “Jude? Seriously, dude, is this you?”

“Please, stop yelling. I need your help,” Jude quickly said.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you calling Casper? For fuck’s sake, Jude, the poor guy is seriously in bad shape… him and Smoky. Hell, I don’t even know the last time Smoky has left Casper’s arm. Your mates need…”

“Stop!” Jude snapped, “I can’t hear this right now. I need your help. Not Casper’s or any of the other guys.”

“Jude!” Wiz admonished.

Jude huffed, “Fuck, I knew I should have called Kendell. He would have just helped and not lectured.”

Wiz gasped, “Kendell? What the fuck kind of insult is that? You’d call New Mexico over me? Yeah, okay he’s good… well, he’s really good, but he isn’t even close to what I can do.”

“You and I both know you’re full of shit. Kendell is great, and like I said he wouldn’t lecture me,” Jude argued.

“Fine,” Wiz huffed out once more. “What do you need?”

Jude told him what he knew, and when he got finished, Wiz said, “How in the fuck do you get into shit all the time, Jude? You know if you’d just come home none of this…”

“Wiz, can you help me or not? Like I said, Dream’s tried, but he can’t find shit on Danny or any of the guys he escaped with, and from what I could find online they still don’t even know who the fuck helped them escape,” Jude stated.

“Yeah. Yeah, I can help. Just give me some time and I’ll see what I can find.

However, before I hang up with you, I’m going to say this.

Call your mate. Please, Jude. Please, call Cas.

He and Smoky know they fucked up on how they handled whatever the situation is.

I can tell. Please, just call him… you’ll never fix this if you don’t talk. ”

“I know, Wiz. Just, please find something. Rain really needs to know he can relax… even if it’s only for a few days,” Jude said.

“I’ll check it out and I’m also going to check out this bounty hunting team you told me the Mayor brought in,” Wiz said.

Jude was seriously confused, asking, “Why?”

“Because I have a feeling they might be paying you a visit soon,” Wiz said.

“Me? Why me? How the hell would they even know about me?” Jude said.

Wiz snorted, “Because if I was searching for Danny, I would be looking where the man plans to eat.”

Jude curled his lip, asking, “What the fuck does that even mean?”

“It means, if I was looking for Danny to show up, I would figure out that Danny is looking for the man that, in his eyes, ruined his cushy life. That man would be Rain. So wherever Rain might be, Danny will show up.”

“But again, they have no clue Rain would even be with me,” Jude insisted.

Wiz snorted, “Please, if their tech guy… and trust me, if the little I see here now is anything to go by, they have one… is worth his weight, he’s done a CCTV check and also used other business cameras to track Rain’s movements.

You told me that he climbed in your car at a Shell in Montreal.

They have cameras, and often they are shooting right to the pumps and are designed to check licenses in case of drive offs.

He would then run your license and know who you are.

He’d then continue following you until they knew where you were holding up. ”

“Shit. Wait! If he runs my plates and learns my name, would that lead them to you guys?” Jude anxiously asked.

“Maybe, but I doubt they’d give us any trouble. I’m just saying, until we know more about them, keep an eye out. I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t already watching you guys,” Wiz warned.

Jude looked around and across the river, but saw nothing.

Then again, the woods were still thick with colorful leaves so it wouldn’t be a shocker that he didn’t see them.

Besides, if they were as good as they claimed to be, they would be able to observe and not be seen.

“Okay, I’ll watch out for them. Just get me whatever you can as quick as you can.

I really want to give Rain a sense of peace if I can, even if it’s just for a day or two. ”

“You got it,” Wiz said, then jumped in, saying, “Call Cas!”

Jude hung up and looked around, then called out, “Thunder Bounty Hunters Plus! If you’re out there, Danny isn’t here.

You’re wasting your time. Leave Rain alone.

He’s going through enough. As long as I’m here, no one goes near him that he doesn’t want to see, and trust me, you don’t want to fuck with me! ”

With those words Jude walked to the outdoor patio furniture and sat down.

The sliding door opened and Rain looked around, “Is everything alright?”

Nodding, Jude answered, “Yeah. I put a call into a friend of mine, and he warned me that the bounty hunters Dream talked about might be watching the cabin. I was just letting them know what could happen if they try and fuck with you.”

Rain anxiously looked around. “Do you really think they would?”

Shaking his head, Jude said, “I honestly don’t. They’re trying to catch your nightmare. They aren’t the bad guys here.”

“Then why warn them to stay away?” Rain asked.

“Because you don’t need a bunch of strangers getting up in your face for answers you don’t have. It’s going to be alright, Rain. I promise. Nothing and no one is going to get near you,” Jude said.

Rain stepped back, stammering, “O… Okay. I… I’m going to g… go finish di… dinner.”

The moment Rain stepped back in the cabin, Jude looked at his phone and hit a number. It seemed to take forever before he heard the deep baritone saying, “Casper.”

Tears filled his eyes at just that one word, and a huge lump formed in his throat preventing him from speaking.

“Hello?”

Jude opened his mouth and only a tiny squeak escaped. However, it must have been enough for Casper, because the sound of movement, and gasped, “Jude? Jude, baby, is that you?”

Jude still couldn’t speak, but he didn’t have to, because his normally quiet mate seemed to have learned to speak, “Jude, baby, I’m so sorry. Please, come home. Come back to me. Gods, baby, I miss you so much. I love you. Smoky misses you… please, baby. I promise. You come home and we’ll talk.”

“I… I…” Jude tried to swallow once more, but his mouth was so fucking dry he had no spit to soothe his painfully knotted up throat.

“Jude, I know I was wrong. Smoky and I both know we could have handled the baby talk better. We just needed time… I mean, I don’t know the first thing about having a baby and I’ve been terrified at the thought of even holding one.

I just… please, Jude, I want to talk about this.

Smoky wants to talk about this, we just need you to come home. ”

“I can’t,” Jude barely rasped, then pushed harder, to say, “I’m sorry.”

“Then we’ll come to you. Just tell me where you are,” Casper begged.

A glass was set on the table next to Jude, and a gentle hand placed on his shoulder. Looking up Rain mouthed, “Talk to him,” then he walked away.

Jude took a sip of the water Rain had brought him. Pushing the cool liquid past the lump, Jude put it down then was finally able to speak. “I… I tried talking to you, Rance. Y… you wouldn’t talk to me.”

“I know, baby. I know and I’m so sorry. I swear to you, when we are together, I’ll talk to you about anything you want to talk about. Just please come home,” Casper begged.

“I’m not ready to do that yet. Too much is going on there and I don’t want to be a distraction,” Jude replied.

Casper let out a growl, “You are not a distraction for anyone. Everyone would be thrilled if you came home.”

“I can’t do that. I… I’m trying, Rance. I just… I need to think, and…”

“Then tell us where you are. Please, Jude. We need to fix this.”

Sighing, Jude said, “I know you guys weren’t trying to ignore me. You were thinking the way you need to do it, but it hurt, Rance. It hurt so fucking much.”

“I know, baby. I mean I didn’t at the time and I don’t know how I didn’t see it. Neither does Smoky. We just… we were in our own heads. It isn’t an excuse and I promise we will never do it again,” Casper said, sounding choked up and in pain.

Jude felt tears sliding down his face. He needed his mate, but he also needed his dragon. “Where’s Smoky?”

“He has been connected to me for a week now. He doesn’t come out to talk to anyone. Not even me,” Casper admitted.

Jude gasped, “Put me on speaker?”

It took a moment, and his mate finally said, “You’re on speaker.”

Without missing a beat, Jude shouted, “Smoky! Smoky, come and talk to me!”

Nothing.

“Smoky, damn you. You can’t ignore me for months and then not talk to me now. We can’t fix this if we don’t talk. Now peel your flat ass off of Rance and talk to me.”

“J… Jude?”

Oh gods be damned, his maharishi sounded so fucking weak.

“I’m going to tell you where I am. You’re too weak to fly right now, Smoky, so you’re going to have to suck it up and take a flight.

Until then, I expect you to strengthen yourself.

There’s a small airport here, but you’re going to have to switch off in Montreal in order to get here.

Do you hear me? You need to get here, I need you. Danger is coming my way.”

“What the fuck? What do you mean danger is coming your way?” Casper shouted.

“I’ll explain it when you get here,” Jude said, then gave his mate his location.

Jude knew his mates would be here by morning. He just hoped that his dragon would survive the trip.