A Lamb for the Bear's Appetite (7 page)

“I hope to fucking God you can trust this Liam.”

He was her mate, and although she didn’t know him aside from the those interactions, or really anything aside from those few facts he had given her, she knew that he was the one person she could trust implicitly. It was strange to feel that way about a male she really knew nothing about, but then again the pull of a mate, and the undeniable need to be with them, to keep them safe, and to prove one’s worth, ran hard in them. She tried hard to not feel anything for Liam, because getting him involved in this
clusterfuck
was not something she wanted, and although guilt swamped her at asking for his help, Olive had no other options, and knew she could trust her life and Holden’s with Liam. She had said a lot of words, and told him to leave, but she couldn’t even contain her emotions for him, and he had seen right through her.

“Yes, I do. I have just met him—” He cut her off by holding his hand up and shaking his head.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, especially concerning mates. I just wanted a yes or no, because once we do this there is no turning back, and if things go bad you need to be able to trust this man with your life.”

The sound of her rapid breathing was the only thing she could hear in the too still room. She nodded and licked her suddenly dry lips.

“Okay, so here is what’s going to happen. I’m going to call this Liam guy, tell him when and where to meet you and Holden, and then once all of that goes to plan, you will never look back.” He took a step forward and lowered his voice. “Do you understand me? You will get as far from here as you can, no matter what happens, and never think about Trent or anything you saw happen behind these walls.” His voice was deadly calm.

“I understand. All I’ve ever wanted for Holden and me was to go far away.”

He gave her a sharp nod.

“Good. At one fifty-seven in the morning sharp you need to be in the gardens by the east gate. Not a minute later or sooner. It is imperative that you follow my instructions perfectly. I can’t help you once you are outside of this house. Okay?” She nodded again. “I’ll bring Holden there no later than three minutes after two. You will then run straight for the trees that line the property. There is an opening in the fence surrounding the perimeter from a dog or wolf digging at it. It is getting repaired tomorrow. It’s small, but big enough that you two should be able to fit through it. I’m sorry, that’s the best I can do.”

They stared at each other for several long seconds, but he didn’t wait for her to respond, just went back over the panel, punched in a series of numbers and moved back toward her.
The door behind her unlocked and swung open.
But before she could move he was checking the hall and then gesturing for her to follow him.

Adrenalin and fear pumped through her veins. This was really going to happen. She was really going to get out of here, and so was Holden. The only problem was
,
would they really be able to pull this off?

Chapter Six

 
“Liam, you haven’t touched your food.” Liam looked up when he heard Candace’s soft voice. She had asked him personally to come over for a late lunch, but he had no appetite. All he could think about was Olive, and how in the hell he was going to get her to understand that he wasn’t just going to step back and out of her life. He also needed to do something about this leopard that had a hold on her. Kicking his ass wouldn’t do any good, not when he obviously had that kind of hold over Olive. And then there was the issue of her brother, and how important he clearly was. Liam was supposed to meet with Bodhe and Striker, and try to come up with some solution on how to get Olive and her brother away from that leopard shifter. It seemed like an impossible feat when he really sat down and thought about it. After doing some research on Trent he had found out all the nefarious things he was associated with. They were things he didn’t want Olive around, things that had his bear rising viciously to the surface, because just the idea of his female anywhere near that male was dangerous. The scent of her fear and the way she pushed him away to clearly protect herself and her brother, but also him, had Liam’s bear trying desperately to escape.

“I’m sorry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” He leaned back in the seat and rested one arm on the table.

Candace looked over his shoulder and into the kitchen where Trace was talking on the phone. She looked back at him and smiled.

“Is this about you finding your mate?” His heart skipped a beat at the easy way Candace had said that. “Oh, come on. It isn’t like I wasn’t able to pick up on the change inside of you.” His father hadn’t even been able to notice the change in him, but then again he had a lot going on with the bar. And besides, Liam had thought he had done a pretty good fucking job of keeping his shit on lockdown. Clearly he hadn’t kept it as deep as he had initially thought. “Don’t look so surprised. Your dad normally has these blinders on and can’t see a lot of stuff that is right in front of his face.”

He smiled, because he knew exactly what she was talking about, but he still couldn’t get over the fact that Candace had been so perceptive.

“Ugh.” He scratched the back of his head and looked behind him. His dad paced back and forth, his tone low but very angry at whomever he spoke with on the phone. “Yeah, but it is kind of complicated, so let’s just keep that between us until I get everything sorted out.” She smiled and nodded.

“Of course.
But I’m here if you want to talk. If this has anything to do with reluctance on either of your sides, trust me, I have firsthand experience with that.”
 
He smiled, but he knew it wasn’t a genuine one. Candace had no idea how bad this situation was, and how Olive’s reluctance went bone-deep. Candace stood when Alivia started to get fussy. His little wolf shifting sister took after her mother in the animal department, but she was a spitting image of their father with the dark hair and green eyes. Alivia threw a small bite-sized piece of food across the table, and it rolled over to him. This time he did smile genuinely. As soon as Candace had her in her arms Alivia snuggled right in, and the exhaustion was evident on her tiny face. Candace was a fantastic mother, far better than the shitty one Liam had been saddled with. Hell, Karla didn’t even deserve to be called Mom. Candace took a step toward Alivia’s room, but stopped and turned to face him. “I would never say anything to
Trace
that you told me in confidence, Liam. If you ever have anything you want to talk to me about, I’m here.”

“I know, and thank you, Candace.”

 
“But I’ll tell you one thing.” She wrapped her arms around her daughter a little tighter. “There isn’t anything in this world that can get between mates except themselves. I wasn’t too keen on your father when we first met, you know that, but anything that is worth something can be fought for. You just have to really want it, and I can see on your face that she really is worth it. Don’t be scared to go after what is your priority.” She smiled once more before taking his little sister to her room for a nap.

Liam sat there, thinking about everything Candace had said. Candace was a smart female, far smarter than his old man. Trace was damn lucky to have her in his life.

“Candace
take
Alivia to her room for a nap?”

“Yeah.”
Liam looked over at his father, whom he looked a hell of a lot like. Trace Dakota was only forty-six, had a mate and baby girl, and was the happiest he had ever been. That had been a long time in coming for his dad. Liam couldn’t give the old man much shit, not when his ex-wife had given him that nasty looking scar on the side of his face, put him through hell throughout the years and had even tried to come between him and Candace.

“Yeah.
Alivia was starting to throw food. That girl has an arm on her.” Liam grinned, which had his dad doing the same.

“Yeah, but that’s good. I want her to be able to kick any fucker’s ass that messes with her.” His dad sat down at the table and started digging back into his food, but he still had a grin.

“She won’t need to worry about kicking any douche-bag’s ass. That’s what she has all of us for. What’s the point of having a big brother, grumpy old man, and a handful of other badass shifters that would be more than happy to knock some dick’s teeth in, if we can’t throw some punches when the time comes?”

His dad grunted in agreement. “True.” He took several more bites before setting his fork down, leaning back in his chair, and staring at Liam in the eyes. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on.” Silence stretched out between them, and Liam breathed out roughly. When he was younger it was his dad who had been the constant presence in his life. His mom had been worthless in the parental sense, and once she and his dad had gotten a divorce and she had moved out of Sweet Water, Liam had already been out of the house and in school. But he found himself back in the small shifter town once he graduated, hoping to find work as an engineer, but as shit happens in life, things didn’t quite work out the way he planned. But he couldn’t say it had been a bad path to take, because if he hadn’t come back home he would have never found himself at Sticky’s and run into his mate.

He didn’t want to hide anything from Trace, but they didn’t talk about personal shit like this, and honestly Liam didn’t even know where to begin. This situation between him and his old man was not the norm, and he felt a bit out of place. When they did talk it was about Harleys and the bar, and a bunch of other manly shit. Finding mates, and emotions and all that didn’t come into play, at least not in their conversations. But maybe this was the opening he needed to change the relationship he had with Trace? He opened his mouth to tell his dad about finding Olive, but the sound of his phone going off broke his concentration. He glanced down at his screen and saw an unlisted number. Normally he would have let it go to voicemail, but there was a prickling inside of him that had him sliding his finger across the screen to answer it.

“Yeah?”
There was a moment of static filled silence, and his bear rose up on instinct. He knew the moment his dad sensed the shift in him because Liam felt the sensation of another polar bear rising up in the room.

“Is this Liam Dakota?” The deep voice showed nothing and was stoic in every sense of the word. He glanced at his dad, who now wore a hard, yet alert expression on his face.

“It depends. Who is this?”

“I’ll take that as confirmation. You’ll listen to me very carefully because we don’t have a whole lot of time.”

“Who the fuck is this, and what in the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m calling because of Olive Brownstone, your mate, and the girl that will die at the end of the week unless you listen very carefully to me.” Liam swallowed the sudden lump that had lodged itself in his throat at this male’s words regarding his mate. He didn’t know this male, didn’t know if what he said was accurate, but Liam wasn’t about to second
guess
any of this. The fact this male said Olive would die at the end of the week had him sitting up straighter and his instincts alert. His mate was in trouble, her life threatened, and this asshole on the other end knew something about that.

“Yeah, this is Liam, and I’m listening.”

“Good. Now that I have your attention, I’ll only say this once, because we don’t have time to fuck around. You understand?”

Liam clenched his jaw and lifted his eyes to his dad. Trace slowly started to stand, no doubt feeling the tension coming off of him, but Liam shook his head, stilling his father’s movements. “I understand, but
you
listen to
me
very carefully. If you hurt my mate I swear by everything that is fucking holy I’ll rip your throat out.” Liam didn’t miss his father’s surprise over the mention of a mate.

“Son, I’m not the one Olive has to worry about. I’m the one trying to save her life.”

Liam clenched his teeth, not about to correct this asshole that he wasn’t his son, and even if Olive had nothing to fear from him, Liam wasn’t picky on kicking ass on anyone that put his mate’s life in danger. For the next five minutes he listened to the man tell him where he needed to be and at what time in order to make sure Olive and her brother were transported safely far away from Kashton and Trent. When Liam finally disconnected the call he sat there staring at his cell, which he laid on the table in front of him.

“Liam, what the fuck was that about, and what the hell is this about you finding your mate?”

He didn’t answer his dad right away, couldn’t. Instead, he stood and made his way outside and onto the deck. His father joined him seconds later. Liam leaned against the railing and stared at the thick line of trees surrounding the place he had called home his whole life.

“I found my mate a few days ago, but she doesn’t want anything to do with me because she is tied to this asshole leopard shifter. He has this debt hanging over her head because of her junkie brother, and she thinks that pushing me away is what is right.” He looked over at his dad, who wore a hard expression. “My mate’s in
trouble,
and I need your help.”