A Cold Winter's Day 25 (10 page)

Yes, his heart no longer beat. But that was okay. It was okay because Luke wasn’t there to tell him otherwise.

No, Luke wasn’t there, but the scent of his blood was.

He knew Luke hadn’t run because Cole was downstairs with his brothers.

So that meant the tribe leader had taken him.

Malcolm continued to stare at the blood as if it would float from the carpet to form Luke’s body, showing him that his mate wasn’t really gone.

But it didn’t.

And there he stood.

Dazed.

“Pa.” Bryce called his name quietly from the doorway, as if afraid to approach him. “Pa, we have to go get Luke back.”

Malcolm knew this.

But he couldn’t move.

“Pa, Maverick is here. He’s downstairs.”

Malcolm stared at the speckles of blood, feeling like his life was over. Had they killed Luke? Was he dead? Was his heart ever going to beat again?

“We need to go.” Maverick’s voice resounded through the room, but Malcolm couldn’t make his feet move. He was afraid.

Afraid of finding his mate and seeing that he was too late to save him.

“Now!”

Malcolm’s head snapped up as his entire body came to life. He roared so loud that his throat felt like it was bleeding as his mind snapped back to the here and now.

“That’s right,” Maverick said as he approached Malcolm, his face stern as he raked Malcolm with a sneer. “Keep that rage. Use it against the one who has stolen what belongs to you.”

Malcolm stormed from his bedroom, only one thing on his mind. Luke. He had to get his mate back even if it cost him his own life. He needed to know that Luke would forever be safe. He started to shift, but Maverick stopped him.

“Save your strength for the battle ahead.”

When his sons tried to follow him, Maverick shook his head, his eyes burning with malice. “Stay and protect the child. I have sentries guarding the house.”

His sons looked like they wanted to argue, but nodded instead. Malcolm rushed past everyone as he ran from the house, ready to kill the bastard who had taken Luke right out of his own home.

“Do you know who did this?” Maverick asked as they climbed into the truck.

Yeah, he knew. “Luke was running from the leader of his elf tribe. Shanta.”

Maverick cursed as he pulled his cell phone out. “Hawk, I’m going after Shanta. He stole a mate and is trying to kidnap a child.” Maverick hung up as he pulled the SUV from Malcolm’s driveway.

The alpha turned toward Malcolm, his tone was stoically dry. “This changes nothing between us, bear. But no one steals a mate and threatens a child from my pack.”

Malcolm caught the meaning. Maverick still considered him pack, even though they were on the outs right now. Malcolm had to admire the wolf for that. There weren’t too many men who would do that.

“Understood.”

Malcolm sat there quietly as he tried to figure out why Shanta wanted Cole so badly. The cub was an innocent child, so why pursue him to the point of kidnapping his father? None of it made any sense to him.

Luke had said that Cole was the key to the elves’ salvation. But what did that mean? How? What were the elves suffering through that would make grown men chase down a child? Malcolm knew he would die to protect Luke and Cole, but he wanted answers to the reason he had to feel this way in the first place.

What was so special about Cole other than being a Lakeland?

Malcolm was becoming frustrated when no answers came to mind. They were running out of time, and he couldn’t help but feel like Luke was slipping away from him. It was some deep internal niggling, but the feeling wouldn’t go away.

“He’s going to die, bear.”

Malcolm’s head snapped up as he glared at Maverick, but the alpha didn’t have anything but sympathy in his eyes.

“I dreamt about it.”

Malcolm didn’t want to hear any more. He refused to listen, and he refused to believe that. He wasn’t going to lose Luke when he had just found him. No, fate had already taken one love from him, and Malcolm refused to believe the bitch would be that cruel to take another.

He had to hang on to the belief that he would find Luke and that his mate would still be breathing. No other option was available in his mind.

He wouldn’t accept any other option.

Malcolm damn near jumped from the moving SUV as they pulled into wood elf territory. He wanted his mate back, and Malcolm wasn’t taking
no
for an answer. He meant business, and he would kill anyone that stood in his way.

He pulled up to his full height, grabbing the first man he saw and shaking him senseless. “Where is Luke?”

The man pointed to a small single-story hut with a thatched roof. This was too easy. Malcolm wasn’t getting a good feeling about this. Where was Shanta? Why wasn’t he met with more resistance?

He cut his eyes over to Maverick, the alpha wearing the same quizzical look that Malcolm felt. Malcolm released the man and ran toward the building, but Maverick stopped him before he rushed in.

“It could be a trap.”

It could be, but Malcolm didn’t care. He wanted Luke back in his arms, crying out his name and looking at him like he was Luke’s entire world. Malcolm wanted to hear his mate call him papa bear and take him to task when he was acting like an ass.

He just wanted Luke back.

Malcolm yanked his arm free before he stepped through the opening. He cocked his head when he saw Luke lying on a bed, unconscious. He didn’t look harmed. Malcolm closed the distance, reaching for his mate and pulling Luke up into his arms.

He growled when he saw the bruises on Luke’s face.

Malcolm vowed to make Shanta pay for marring Luke’s beautiful skin.

“Malcolm?” Luke asked, but it came out more like
ma-cum
.

“He’s drugged,” Malcolm said to Maverick.

The alpha’s eyes darted around the room as a dark and foreboding shadow crossed his face. “This was too easy.”

Malcolm agreed as he scooped Luke up into his arms and carried him outside. There was no one in sight now. Everyone had scattered, hiding somewhere. But where was Shanta?

“I don’t like this,” Kota, Maverick’s beta, said as he opened the back door to the vehicle. “Everyone ran as soon as you two entered the hut.”

“Get down!” Maverick shouted.

Everyone dropped to their knees, Malcolm placing Luke between his body and the SUV as the hut exploded. Debris shot sky-high until it rained down onto the ground, some pieces hitting the truck.

“I’ll kill him,” Malcolm shouted as he realized just how close he had been to losing his life, losing Luke.

Maverick’s head snapped around, his canines fully extended. “The babe.”

* * * *

Malcolm held Luke close as the truck raced home. He could tell that Luke was still loopy from whatever drug Shanta had administered, but he wasn’t harmed, save for the bruising on his cheek and jaw.

That still made his blood pressure go apeshit every time he looked down at Luke. Now that he had his mate back in his arms, Malcolm’s worries were with Cole. He was just a cub, unable to defend himself. He prayed his sons were all right and defending the innocent babe.

This had to have been a trap.

Shanta must have used kidnapping Luke as a way to distract them so he could go after Cole. Malcolm seethed as he thought about his mate being used as a pawn.

“We’re almost there,” Maverick said through clenched teeth as he pressed the gas pedal harder, going faster.

But it wasn’t fast enough for Malcolm.

Luke’s head lolled on Malcolm’s arm as he slept. Malcolm was glad he was asleep. No parent wanted to deal with the horror of not knowing if his child was in danger. It was best that Luke slept through the ride.

The man wouldn’t have been sane right now if he were awake.

Brushing the hair from Luke’s eyes, Malcolm stared down at his mate, burning Luke’s features into his memory. He wasn’t sure why he was doing it. Malcolm could never forget anything about the man lying in his arms.

The man was as unforgettable as the sun.

Malcolm never thought he would find his mate. He didn’t even think he had one. But never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he would be fighting just to keep him. Malcolm ran the tips of his fingers over Luke’s soft skin as he prayed for all of this to end.

His fingers gently traced the bruises, his heart hurting to see them mar Luke’s gorgeous face. They were already turning an angry shade of purple and green, looking so out of place on Luke’s pale skin.

He just wanted a life with Luke and his family that didn’t involve running, fighting, or jumping at every knock on the door. His nerves were so frayed that he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold it together.

The stress was getting to him.

And Malcolm knew he didn’t do well when plagued by stress.

No one really did.

“Cole,” Luke whispered as he tried to raise his head from Malcolm’s arm. “He’s going after Cole.”

Malcolm kissed his mate’s forehead, wishing he could take Luke’s pain away. But nothing was going to remove that agonizing misery when Luke found out that Shanta had indeed set them up and had gone after the cub.

Sighing, Malcolm leaned back against the seat, resting his head and knowing that nothing he said to Luke right now would matter. His mate was still drugged, and they were still some way from his home.

As the miles ticked by, Malcolm wondered why fate would send him someone with so much baggage. He had lived a simple life, albeit strange at times because of the paranormal world, but simple enough.

Being mated to Luke was anything but simple.

The elf should be a stockholder in Samsonite. But then again, so should D. Maybe his purpose was to help those in desperate need? Malcolm had always had an open-door policy when it came to those who needed his help.

He had never turned anyone away.

And now his biggest challenge to date came from his mate. Wasn’t that a kick in the pants? Malcolm knew the person he was helping now was the most important person in his life.

Looking out the back window, Malcolm realized that he must have dozed off because they were only a mile from the ranch. Night had fallen, creating shadows everywhere, shadows that could hold any sort of predatory being.

Shadows Malcolm had never truly given thought to before now.

As they drew closer to the ranch, Malcolm slid Luke from his lap and gently laid him on the seat. He needed to be prepared for whatever was waiting for them. His bear was fighting to get free, fighting to defend Malcolm’s mate and the cub.

He was also worried to death about his boys. They were large, strong, and capable of taking care of themselves, but Malcolm wasn’t so sure when it came to an entire tribe of elves.

They weren’t that good.

As the SUV pulled down the dirt road to Malcolm’s ranch, he could see fighting in the front yard and on the side of the house. The illuminating light of the moon bathed the battle in an eerie red glow.