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CHAPTER TWENTY

X av quickly scanned the warehouse when he stepped out of the doorway, but he saw only shadows playing on the lines of shelving and clusters of crates. Without moving his head, he glanced upward, taking in the few broken pipes that hung precariously from the ceiling.

“Check in,” Dean bellowed into the echoing room, not about to release Xav long enough to use a walkie or phone. “I want to see everyone, front and center.”

“If anything’s happened to Lindsay, you’re answering for it,” Xav informed Dean tightly.

“Shut up.” Dean dug the pistol harder into Xav’s neck. “You’d better hope my boys are all right. Is your brother doing this? How did you tell him where we were?”

“I didn’t,” Xav said truthfully. “I didn’t have time.”

Xav knew damn well Diego had nothing to do with the eerie darkness and silence in the warehouse. Lindsay was out there, her wild self doing whatever the hell she wanted. He’d laugh if he wasn’t so worried about her.

Xav knew that if Dean’s original intention had been to kill Xav and Lindsay, he’d have done it the minute Xav had called and summoned Diego. Dean could guide Diego the rest of the way by himself, no longer needing Xav. Plus, he’d never have let Lindsay wander the warehouse with only one man to guard her.

Dean had considered Xav and Lindsay a sideshow, small potatoes. His goal was to confront his brother, AC, and he didn’t give a shit about Xav and his perky girlfriend. Whether they lived or died hadn’t been important.

Now, Dean was getting rattled. A power cut could be explained by faulty electrics in an old building, but things banging around and his guards yelling was a different story.

Dean pushed Xav forward, making for a small door next to large rolling ones that Xav assumed led either outside or to a loading bay. All the doors were shut tight, he saw as they approached, the small one with a padlocked bolt in place.

“No one came in that way,” Xav observed. “There must be other entrances. This place has fire doors, right?”

“Check in,” Dean yelled again, ignoring Xav. “If it’s you, Diego Escobar, show your face, or your brother gets it in the head.”

There was only silence, broken by a muffled groan from the depths of one aisle.

“Diego’s not here,” Xav said. “He can’t answer you.”

Again, Dean ignored him and kept up his conversation with the imaginary Diego. Obviously he didn’t consider Lindsay capable of doing any damage, more fool he.

“I only want AC,” Dean said loudly as he pushed Xav toward the aisle from which they’d heard the sound. “I’ll let him go if you put my brother in front of me.”

“Diego couldn’t have gotten here so fast,” Xav said in a reasonable tone. “It has to be someone else messing with you. Maybe those guys from California want their money back.”

By Dean’s tightening grip on Xav’s arm, he saw the logic in this point. He jerked Xav directly in front of him. “You’re going in first and flushing them out.”

“You mean the two of us against whoever managed to break in here and take out all your guys?” Xav asked incredulously. “Good plan. How about we get the hell out of here and drive to the rendezvous, instead?”

“What about your girlfriend?” Dean sounded surprised. “You’d just leave her? You’re cold, dude.”

“They’ve probably already nabbed her.” Xav shrugged as though ready to cut his losses. “Linds,” he called. “You all right? Answer if you can.”

There was a long moment of silence. Just when Xav thought Lindsay wouldn’t respond, they heard her voice from the depths of the darkness. It was weak, pleading.

“Xav, honey? They say to stay back.”

Xav tried not to sag in relief. Lindsay Cummings would never, ever cry out to anyone so pathetically, no matter what the situation. If someone truly held her, she’d be either snarling obscenities or teasing her captors into confusion, as she had with Dean and his henchmen in the office.

“Okay, you’re right, they have her,” Dean said quietly. “We’re going.”

“You’d just leave all your guys?” Xav asked, mimicking Dean’s earlier question. “That’s cold, dude.”

“If they could help, they already would have. Let’s go.”

Dean turned Xav around and half pushed, half dragged him toward the locked outer door. Xav heard a faint scratching sound behind them, maybe claws across a floor, then the squeal that sounded like a door that hadn’t been opened in a while, followed by a slight draft that quickly cut off.

Dean whirled, pointing his gun into the darkness. Xav readied himself to disarm him, but Dean almost immediately turned back and continued shoving Xav at the door. At some point, Dean would have to undo the padlock or reach for a key to have Xav unlock it, and Xav would seize his chance.

Something clicked above them, and then static buzzed through whatever speakers had once been this place’s intercom system.

“Oh, wow,” Lindsay’s voice came to them. “This is like the control room for the whole warehouse, isn’t it?”

“Where is this control room?” Xav demanded instantly of Dean. “Come on. We can still help her.”

“Nope, she’s screwed.” Dean continued propelling Xav onward. “So are we, if we stay. I have other resources. You just make sure I get my meetup with AC.”

“Lindsay.” Xav tried once again to sound like the concerned but resigned boyfriend. “I’m sorry.”

Something gurgled deep in the recesses of the building. Dean halted, his gun solidly on Xav, his gaze darting everywhere. Xav braced himself for whatever Lindsay was about to do.

The broken pipes above them began to shudder and groan.

With a loud bang, water burst from them, cascading in haphazard fountains and raining down to shelves, crates, and the cement floor. The sudden pressure found weak joints in other pipes, and soon more jets of water spurted forth, spraying Dean and Xav in an abrupt shower of cold water.

“I think I found the sprinkler system,” Lindsay said through the speakers. “Hope that stuff is potable.”

Gee, thanks, Xav said silently.

“What does this do?” Lindsay went on. “Oh, it opens the loading docks. Cool.”

With a creak and a squeal, the three large garage doors near the exit Dean had been making for slowly rose and folded back to reveal the cold darkness outside.

Dean swiped at the water running down his face. “What the hell?” he snarled.

“Forgot to mention, Lindsay’s a little crazy,” Xav said smugly.

“Let’s go.” In his single-minded need to confront his brother, Dean started pushing Xav toward the rising doors.

Chill air rushed into the warehouse. While Xav saw only darkness in their immediate area, the glow in the sky beyond came unmistakably from Las Vegas. The occasional flash from light shows on the Strip confirmed it.

The two men were steps away from rushing through an open garage door when it gave an alarming creak. Xav propelled himself and Dean backward as all three doors shot downward, slamming to the floor with a reverberating crash.

“No, you don’t,” Lindsay said above them. “You okay, Xav?”

“Barely.” Xav struggled with Dean who, instead of scrambling clear when Xav pushed him, had locked an arm around Xav’s neck.

Xav went still when he felt the barrel of Dean’s pistol in his ribs.

At the same time, someone hammered on the outside doors. “Parkes. You all right in there?”

“I guess there really are more guards outside,” Lindsay proclaimed through the speakers. “Let’s see, shall we?”

Intense light flared beyond the high windows, and shouts came to them.

“My, those floodlights are bright, ” Lindsay said cheerily. “Take your hands off my mate, Mr. Dean Parkes, or I won’t go easy on you.”

“I have a pistol against your mate , as you call him,” Dean announced. “Come out of there.”

“You really shouldn’t count on weapons, you know,” Lindsay said without concern. “So unreliable.”

“That’s it,” Dean snarled. “I’m done.”

Xav jerked sideways, jabbing his elbow into Dean at the same time. He broke Dean’s hold, but before he could dive out of the way, Dean fired his pistol straight into Xav’s stomach.

Or would have, if the gun had gone off. Instead, it clicked. When Dean glanced at the weapon in surprise, Xav tackled him.

“Nice one,” Lindsay called. “That’s why I lifted your gun and emptied it before I went shopping.”

“Son of a bitch,” Dean snarled as he fought.

“By the way,” Lindsay went on, her words growing vibrant. “Xavier Escobar, under the light of the moon, the Mother Goddess, and before witnesses, I accept your mate-claim!”

“Shit.” Xav gasped.

He took Dean’s blows and returned his own, the two men fighting with swift violence. Xav finally broke from Dean, rolling away from the man across the smooth floor. Dean scrambled to his feet and started to run.

“I love you, Linds!” Xav yelled into the air as he sprang up and charged after Dean. “Shouldn’t there be more witnesses, though? Better ones than this dickhead?”

“Oh, there are plenty of witnesses .” Lindsay’s laughter rang out, the most beautiful sound Xav knew. That is, next to her groaning his name when he was buried deep inside her.

The dock’s doors rolled upward once more. The guards Dean had prudently stationed outside the building were now lying on the concrete loading bays in motionless lumps.

Dean pelted out, regardless, Xav right behind him.

“AC,” Dean screamed when he saw his brother illuminated by the floodlights. “I’ll kill you?—”

AC, held between a pissed-off wolf Shifter with a giant sword and a massive man with orange-and-black striped hair, lunged forward. “No, little brother, I’m killing you .”

An instant later, Xav tackled Dean once more. Blood dripped from Xav’s face onto Dean’s as Dean struggled and spit obscenities.

A pair of familiar combat boots halted near Xav, then Diego calmly bent down and wrapped Dean’s wrists in zip ties. Diego stepped back to allow a thin but surprisingly muscular man with dark hair and midnight eyes haul Dean to his feet.

Xav rolled quickly out of the way. If Stuart Reid started teleporting people, Xav didn’t want to be caught in the field of weirdness.

He climbed to his feet to find Lindsay right in front of him, her green eyes wide with both concern and elation.

She was stark naked, meaning she’d left her clothes behind when she’d shifted, but she showed no uneasiness about the other Shifters and humans surrounding her. She latched onto Xav and pulled him close, holding him shakily.

“Did you mean it?” she whispered.

“Which part?” Xav breathed into her ear. “That I love you? Or that we needed better witnesses? I admit, these are pretty good ones.”

In addition to Diego, Neal, Tiger, and Reid, Cassidy was there, along with Leah, who watched the two of them, enraptured, tears on her face.

“The first part.” Lindsay touched her forehead to Xav’s. “I love you too, Xav.” Her voice was quiet, pitched only so Xav would hear.

Xav’s body heated, something inside him complete for the first time in his life.

“You meant it about the mate-claim?” Xav asked. “You weren’t just trying to distract Dean?”

“Couldn’t it be both?” Lindsay smiled at him. “But, in case we didn’t make it, I wanted to be your mate when I went to the Summerland. I want that even more if we’re staying right here on Earth. Mate bond or no mate bond, I don’t care.”

“Linds.” Xav cupped her face and kissed her, a slow, hot, promising kiss. She sank into him, her returning kiss full of sultry fire.

Small claws on his back jerked Xav from the bliss of Lindsay. One of the wolf cubs—Matt or Kyle—scrambled up onto Xav’s shoulder and began a high-pitched, ear-splitting howl.

Xav put a hand on the little guy’s furry back. “I love you too, lobito. ”

“He’s congratulating you on the mate bond,” Neal translated. “I am too.”

Lindsay’s eyes were starry with hope. “I feel it.” She laid her hand on Xav’s chest, right over his heart. “I think you might too. Do you?”

The hot tingle inside Xav flared at her touch. It quickly became searing need that made him wish everyone else would evaporate while he took Lindsay on this cold loading bay floor.

“I think so.” Xav slid his hands to her hips. “I don’t really understand it, but I’m willing to let you teach me all about it.”

“That sounds fun.” Lindsay’s answer was shy but her touch promised wonderful things to come.

“The mate bond is there.” Tiger’s resonant voice came to them. He sounded as though it should be obvious. “It is easy to see.”

Matt, or Kyle, on Xav’s shoulder, howled his agreement, while his twin dashed around their feet, yipping.

Lindsay ignored them all and tugged Xav to her for another kiss, this one filled with deep desire. Xav felt himself reacting, his body not caring that they stood in the middle of a crowd.

He remembered his talk with Lindsay about scent marking, mating, and the mate bond, and knew the mate bond was important to her—one of the most important things in a Shifter’s life. Lindsay had just tossed out that she didn’t care whether it formed, but Xav knew she did.

The burning in his chest told Xav Tiger was right. Somehow, the mate bond had found him, and now was making him want Lindsay with an intensity he couldn’t fight.

Talking and bonding could come later. For now, Xav needed Lindsay, the mate of his heart. The kiss turned even more fervent.

Behind them Brody guffawed. “Get a room.”

Lindsay broke from Xav with a laugh, but her eyes held the same burning need Xav felt. Xav cupped her face.

“I feel it,” he assured Lindsay. The hope in Lindsay’s eyes seared him, and he traced her silken cheek. “Mate of my heart.”

Amid the continuing laughter and Emma’s admonishing Leave them alone, Bear, Xav gathered Lindsay close and kissed her again.

The two who’d danced around each other, in and out, back and forth, with the occasional connection were now whole. One.

Mates.