Prickly By Nature (35 page)

If so, why hadn’t he called Dylan? “What?”

“Whoever he’s with—they called him
mon loup
. I don’t think he meant for me to hear.”

Dylan lifted a brow.

“My wolf.”

Ah. That was why Luc hadn’t called him. He probably didn’t want to answer Dylan’s barrage of questions—because he certainly had that and then some. A slow grin slid across Dylan’s face. “I wish I could’ve talked to him.”

“What? Why?” Avery asked, clearly missing something.

“Because I think Luc’s finally found what he’s been looking for.” Dylan stepped into Avery, nuzzling his ear.

Avery gave a contented sigh. “I thought so too. He sounded happy.”

“Good. I’ll call him tomorrow. I want to hear all about this guy.”

For dinner, Avery had gone all out, even making Betty’s cornbread as well. Dylan had to admit it was good. Really good. He was convinced Avery had been practicing on his own, because as much as Dylan adored his mate, Avery was hopeless in the kitchen. Or had been before.

Later, as they cuddled on the sofa in Avery’s den, drifting to Ramsey Lewis echoing from the speakers of Avery’s old record player, Dylan knew he’d put off for long enough what needed to be said. “I’m sorry, you know.”

Avery lifted his head and watched him.

“For the fight,” Dylan continued. “For saying what I said. For letting you leave.” Most of all for letting Avery leave. He didn’t know if he could ever forgive himself, but he’d work like hell to make sure it never happened again.

Avery was shaking his head before Dylan quit talking. “No,” he said. “I get it. Maybe I’m not as strong or as fast as you, but I can take care of myself. I also know when I can’t.” Avery laid his head on Dylan’s shoulder again, and Dylan thought maybe it was so he wouldn’t have to look at Dylan while he talked. It didn’t matter. Dylan could feel and hear everything Avery didn’t want him to see. “I think maybe I was trying to prove something—to you, to Reid, to myself.” He sighed. “I’m sorry too.”

It was a big deal for his mate to admit that. Dylan knew. “I need you to be safe.”

“I know.”

“I need you to come home to me.”

Avery nodded against him. “I will. Always.”

“I’ll try to quit hovering.”

“Maybe you won’t have to.”

It was cryptic and all Avery said, but Dylan was in a good place and didn’t want to disturb the balance again, so he’d wait for another time to bring it up.

Silence was comfortable between them, but Dylan had one more thing—the most important thing—to say. “You can’t leave when you get pissed off anymore. We’re in this together—family. You and me, we work things out from now on. Even if we fight or yell and it ends in tears, we do it together. Leaving is not an option. Not again. I don’t think I can handle you walking away from me again.”

Avery sagged against him. “I won’t.” He looked up and hazel eyes met Dylan’s. “I don’t like going to bed mad.”

“Me neither.” Dylan pressed forward and brushed a kiss over his lips. “I love you.”

Avery grinned up at him. “And I love you.”

Avery settled back into place and Dylan smiled, welcoming the warmth in his chest. They had been through so much over the past eight months, and as many adventures and victories as they’d faced together, Dylan couldn’t help but look forward to a little bit of boring normalcy. Not that life would ever be boring with Avery.

IT HAD
been over a week since the showdown at Warren’s cabin. Avery had relived every minute detail of that night in a series of nightmares. He hoped they would ease up soon; otherwise, he might never sleep properly again.

In the aftermath of Odell’s appearance and the police being called, Lacey had spent a couple of days in the hospital for tests and observation. Whatever other abuse he might’ve subjected her to, Warren had kept her fed and mostly taken care of. Avery didn’t have any idea of what the psychological ramifications might be from enduring a months-long abduction, but he was sure she’d be hooked up with a therapist, if she hadn’t been already. Hopefully a shifter so she could be completely open about her ordeal.

But what he
did
know for sure? She was glad to be home, reunited with her father. And Mr. Otis was ecstatic to have his daughter back where she belonged.

“Any news about Harting?” Mr. Otis asked as Avery sat at their kitchen table. He’d visited three times in the last week.

Avery set down his glass of tea. “Heath—Detective Ribeiro—has been keeping us updated. They’re trying to plea-bargain now. Warren’s confessed to having some involvement in the trafficking ring. How much, Heath isn’t sure. It seems like the situation is much bigger than Warren. I’ve learned there’s always a chain of command with these sorts of things. It’s going to take some investigating to find where exactly Warren might be on that chain.”

“I think he’s higher on it than he’ll let on.”

Avery turned to Lacey in surprise. She rarely said much when he visited, but though he’d worried she might, she didn’t avoid him either. Avery had gotten the impression Mr. Otis had told her about his efforts to find her since last October. Whatever the reason, she’d decided he wasn’t one of the bad guys and joined him and Mr. Otis in the kitchen whenever he stopped by.

“Did he say anything to you about it?” Avery asked. He knew Lacey had been questioned by the police a couple of times already, and there’d likely be more interrogations in her future.

“Not specifically, no. But I heard things. I paid attention.” Lacey licked her lips and looked down at her own mug of tea. “He assumed I was some empty-headed ditz, or maybe that I’d never escape. He didn’t try to monitor his conversations when he was at the cabin. I think he’s directly under whoever is in charge.”

Avery tilted his head in contemplation. “Were you held at a warehouse before Warren purchased you? Or were you brought directly to him?”

“I was at a warehouse. He came to inspect us. There were others. Three girls and a boy. I was the only shifter. That’s why he bought me. He did tell me that much.”

“So, they didn’t mean to abduct a shifter?” Avery asked. “It was a coincidence?”

Lacey nodded and brushed a trembling hand through her auburn hair. “I think so. But once he realized what I was, he said he couldn’t help himself. He told me he hadn’t considered the benefits of keeping a shifter for himself, that he should’ve taken into account how quickly a shifter would….” She trailed off and swallowed hard. “How quickly they would heal when he chose his girls.”

How quickly a shifter would heal….

Avery’s stomach cramped with sudden nausea at all the implications that came from that sentence.
Oh God.

Across from him, Mr. Otis had blanched. He looked agonized, obviously hearing the words Lacey hadn’t spoken.

“There were others before me,” Lacey continued, not noticing his and her father’s reactions. “He talked about them sometimes, said he sold them off when he got bored. He used to hold it over my head. He’d tell me I should do my best to keep him entertained, because I didn’t know who I might end up with after him. He said I might be bought by someone who likes to make snuff films for fun. So, I….” Lacey bowed her head, hiding behind the curtain of her hair, her breathing shaky. “I did whatever he ordered me to. I… I let him….”

Avery reached across the table and covered her hand. She jerked a little at the touch but didn’t pull away. “You didn’t ‘let’ him do anything, Lacey. All of the blame rests on his shoulders. He controlled you through fear. You did what you needed to do to survive. There’s no shame in that.” Avery wasn’t a psychologist, but he knew that much.

After a moment of silence, Lacey nodded. She pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m going to go lie down for a while.” She gave Avery the tiniest hint of a smile, more like a quiver of her lips. “See you later. And… thank you.”

She left the room before Avery could form a reply.

Mr. Otis sighed and buried his face in his palms. “I don’t know what to say to her,” he muttered quietly enough that only Avery would hear. “I don’t know how to help.”

Avery scooted his chair closer and rubbed Mr. Otis’s frail shoulder. “Maybe all she needs is for you to listen.” It was a platitude, but Avery felt it was true regardless. Mr. Otis didn’t have the sort of training needed to assist Lacey emotionally. He could be there, though, and sometimes that was the most important thing—just having that constant, steady support.

Mr. Otis dropped his hands. He didn’t seem to notice his eyepatch was askew. “Perhaps you’re right.” He sighed. “I think it might be time to lie down myself. Thank you again for everything.”

Avery ducked his head. He felt a bit guilty that, in the end, he hadn’t solved Lacey’s case so much as happened upon her while searching for Jaden. Still, the result was the same. Lacey was home. And as much as he wanted the sex ring brought down, his role in the process was finished. He’d be sticking mostly to the computer side of investigating from here on out. Not only would it make Dylan happy, Avery could cheerfully go the rest of life without another broken bone or injury.

As a desk jockey, he’d be less at risk, and it wasn’t as if there weren’t plenty of things to keep him occupied. Computer surveillance, background checks, identity theft, credit card fraud, cyber bullying—the list was endless, and he was learning more by the day. Reid could handle the stalkers, cheating spouses, and missing persons. And the trafficking ring Avery would leave in the hands of the police bureau. Because of Heath, he knew there were good cops out there, people who wanted to see the traffickers brought to justice as badly as Avery did. With Heath in charge, Avery knew the ring would be brought down eventually. It was only a matter of time.

“I’m glad you have her back,” Avery finally answered Mr. Otis. He grabbed his messenger bag and got to his feet. “Need any help?”

“No.” Mr. Otis pushed his wheelchair back from the table. “See you for lunch next week?”

Avery nodded. “Yeah. Count on it.”

AVERY LEFT
the Acker house, feeling lighter than he had in months. In the car, he checked his phone, which he’d turned off while visiting with Mr. Otis and Lacey. There was a text from Sven in response to one Avery had sent to check up on him earlier. Once again, Sven’s reply was filled with apologies about Warren and what had happened.

He knew Sven blamed himself for Jaden’s abduction. Upset and angry, Sven had acted before Avery could get back to him with the results of his investigation. He’d gone to Warren’s house mere hours after hiring Avery and confronted Warren about what he’d seen at the cabin. That fight had led to Warren snatching Jaden to lure Avery to him. He’d known Avery had been spying on him all day.

Avery cringed to think about someone watching him while he thought he was being covert. What a mess. He still didn’t understand why Warren didn’t have one of his werewolf underlings take him out while Warren was ensconced in his office at the shipping yard surrounded by plenty of convenient witnesses to act as alibis later. Then again, Warren was clearly the type who liked control and mind games. Maybe the entire thing had amused him and he’d never considered that Avery and the others might get the upper hand. The guy seemed arrogant enough for that kind of logic.

Avery shot a quick reply to Sven, asking if he wanted to meet for coffee the next day. He didn’t fault Sven for anything. He’d been clueless and in love with a bad man. He couldn’t be held accountable for the actions of that man when he hadn’t played any role beyond an unconscious one. Still, Avery understood it would be hard for Sven to forgive himself, especially when he’d heard about who Lacey was—a pack member, a fellow shifter. Reindeer didn’t concern themselves with feuding or territorial battles the way some other shifters did. They liked and accepted everyone. Avery knew it killed Sven that Warren had been abusing one of their own.

His phone buzzed a second later, Sven refusing his invitation, as he’d done with all the others that week. Avery thought Sven might be too embarrassed to face him in person yet. He’d keep trying. Sven had been as much a victim to Warren as anyone else. Avery felt nothing toward him but pity. He honestly wished Sven well and hoped he’d eventually find a mate who made him happy. Preferably one who wasn’t a psychopath.

Avery still wasn’t sure where Joel Overkamp fit into all of this. If Warren was responsible for his death, he hadn’t said as much. Then again, Warren wasn’t a stupid man. Why would he implicate himself in a murder? At this point, despite how much the lack of answers bothered him, Avery acknowledged he might never know what role, if any, Joel had played in the sex ring. Joel’s secrets had died with him, and as guilty as Avery sometimes felt about his suicide, he had to accept that Joel’s decisions were his own. If he
had
killed himself, Avery definitely hadn’t forced his hand.

Avery started the car, pulled out onto the street, and headed for home. With Lacey’s rescue, another chapter in his life had closed. He was thankful to Lacey for so many reasons. Though he would’ve gladly kept her from suffering if he could have, he knew if it weren’t for her case, he and Dylan might never have gotten their shit together, even after Dylan had helped him with the Victor situation. They might not be mated or living together. They might still be hanging on to all that anger and resentment.

Their relationship wasn’t perfect. It never would be. Avery didn’t have any delusions to the contrary. But they loved each other, and that made it worth every struggle.

The fates were right. Maybe a hedgehog being mated to a wolf would strike other shifters as ridiculous. But Avery knew the truth. He felt it in his soul. Destiny had given them both their perfect match.