Finn Page 9

  He had been the only thing Finn had regretted leaving back home, but he had thought it would have been better this way, letting Ani live a normal life in which he didn’t have to play nurse for Finn. It seemed his cousin wasn’t letting go, though. “How did you find me?”

  Ani blushed and looked down, suddenly very interested in his feet. “I, well, I followed you once, and you came here, and have you seen how many hot guys live in this house? I mean, is it something in the water or is it because they’re shifters?” Finn recognized this for what it was—a way to distract him from the fact that Ani had followed him.

  “Why did you follow me?”

  Ani looked straight at Finn. “You were always so sad. I knew you were working on what happened to you in that lab, but it was more than that. I wanted to know what was happening, but you weren’t talking, so I followed you. You came here and I managed to find out what was going on.” His gaze moved on to Bryce and Finn nearly laughed at the fierceness in Ani’s face. “You hurt my cousin. Don’t ever do that again because I...I’ll hurt you!”

  “It’s okay, we made up.”

  Ani smirked. “I can see that.” Finn blushed. Okay, time to talk about something else.

  “So what are you doing here?”

  The smile on his cousin’s face fell and Finn’s heart filled with dread. It couldn’t be good. “I don’t know what happened with Karun, but he wasn’t happy. He called me into his cabin and asked me about you, but I didn’t even know you were gone until he told me, at least not for sure. He also told me that he knew where you were and that he could have come and taken you but that it wasn’t worth the trouble. He said that if one cousin wasn’t available he still had another one. He tried to-to touch me, and when I pushed him away he said that our family had always been a pain in the ass and that he was going to sell me like he did with you. What did he mean, Finn? Did he...who did he sell you to?” Ani’s gaze went to Bryce as if he suspected it might have been to him.

  “No, no, it wasn’t Bryce. Bryce is my soul mate.” Finn fingered the bite on his neck almost unconsciously. “Karun sold me to that lab. He was the one who gave me to the scientists.” Finn couldn’t believe Karun had been about to sell Ani too. He was the only real family Finn had left. Well, Ani’s mom was still alive, but she seemed to think that Finn wasn’t good enough, just like their clan’s second, so he didn’t think about her that way. He turned to Bryce. “Do you think Dominic would let Ani stay here? I know it doesn’t have anything to do with the pride, but—”

  “Of course he will. Apart from the fact that those labs have to do with all the paranormals since they experiment on us, you know he considers you family, and since Ani is your cousin, he’s family too.” Bryce started to get up. “Come on, we’ll go and talk to him. It’s not that late yet.”

  Finn had to stop his mate before he revealed all that naked flesh. “Ani, shimmer into the other room, please. We’ll get dressed and come to you in a minute.” Bryce smirked and Finn knew Bryce knew why Finn had told Ani to basically disappear.

  “Aww, you’re jealous. That’s so sweet.”

  Finn smacked his mate on the arm, soothing the hurt when Bryce made a show of whimpering. He couldn’t believe how comfortable he was with the man. Finn was usually shy, and he was wary of others since he had been treated badly since he was a child. He tended to stay away from most people and observe them before letting them in. He liked the way in which Bryce was making him take baby steps out of his shell, at least with him. In time, he hoped he would come to act like this with all the other members of the pride. He knew that by mating with Bryce he had just gained a thirty-member family.

  It didn’t take them long to grab their clothes from the floor and put them on, so they were soon standing in front of Dominic’s office. The problem was that no one answered when the knocked on the door. “Where can he be?”

  “Probably on the deck,” Bryce answered. “He likes to shift and lie there, even when it’s cold.”

  Finn had seen the Alpha in his lion form, and he was really, really big. He wasn’t afraid of him, because he knew shifters understood everything in both their forms, but it was impressive and a little intimidating.

  The lion was indeed on the deck at the back of the house, the three younger kittens of the pride running around him in both human and animal forms. One of them, Kylie, a little girl that couldn’t have been more than three years old, was riding Dominic as if he was a pony, and it awed Finn that even if he was an Alpha, he was comfortable doing things like that. The lion was a good man.

  Bryce opened the door to step outside and the huge lion turned to watch them, his chest moving as he took a deep breath. Finn heard Ani squeak behind him and the air shift, indicating he had shimmered away. He turned around, surprised at the fact that his cousin ran since there wasn’t any reason to, but the commotion behind him made him turn back to the Alpha. He saw Bryce grab Kylie from Dominic’s back as the lion shifted back until he was standing gloriously naked in the middle of the wooden deck, looking at Finn.

  “Who is he? Where did he go?” Dominic was always intense, but never harsh, and his tone surprised Finn.

  “That was Ani, my cousin. I don’t know where he went, though.”

  “Can you make him come back?”

  “Maybe. Nix can call their family members mentally, but I can’t be sure he will come back. Why do you want him to come back?”

  “Because he’s my mate.” Finn felt his chin drop on his chest as he gaped at the lion.

  Well, shit.

  * * * *

  Bryce didn’t know whether to smile or be worried. It was obvious Dominic was on edge since Ani had popped out without even talking to him, and he had to know Dominic was his mate. Bryce hoped they would be able to talk and solve whatever the problem was. Dominic was his friend as well as his Alpha, and he was happy the man had found his mate. He deserved to be happy after everything he had done for Bryce and every single member of the pride, plus a lot of other people. He always helped when he could and never asked for anything in return, and Bryce was sure Ani was going to be a handful and keep Dominic on his toes.

  “How do you call him?” the lion asked Finn, and Bryce was curious to know that too.

  “I just have to think about him and think the message.”

  “Is it mind reading?”

  “Yes, but we can only read what the other is purposefully sending. I can’t just read anything. And it has to be someone blood related or a bonded soul mate.”

  Bryce froze. “Does that mean that you can do it with me? Or do the two have to be Nix?”

  Finn blushed. “I should have told you about that, but it didn’t cross my mind. We can do it too. If you think about sending me something, I’ll hear it and you’ll hear me when I answer. It’s because we’re soul mates. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a Nix.”

  Since Finn seemed worried about not having said anything, Bryce tried to reassure him. It’s okay, love. I actually like sharing this thing with you.

  Finn’s eyes widened before he smiled. Love you too.

  Bryce heard him, the voice in his head caressing him and making him feel so happy.

  Dominic made an impatient noise, pulling Bryce away from his thoughts. He understood how the lion was feeling so he urged Finn to try and ask Ani to come back. Finn concentrated for a bit before shaking his head. “He’s in our room, but he doesn’t want to talk to Dominic.”

  “Why not?” The Alpha was putting on a stoic face, but Bryce had known him for many years and he could tell the man was distraught inside. He wondered if that was what Finn had felt in the beginning, and he felt even guiltier than before. He knew things with Finn were good now, very good, so he decided to help his friend get with his mate, just as Dominic had done with him.

  “We’ll go and talk with him, see what’s wrong. We just wanted to tell you that Ani asked to stay here. It seems that his clan’s second was planning to sell him just
like he did with Finn.”

  Dominic’s eyes hardened. “Keep him safe until I can do it. I’ll go and kill that man myself if I have to.”

  Bryce knew his Alpha wouldn’t do anything like that unless Ani really was in danger, and until the Nix remained in the house it was unlikely to happen. His sense of honor wouldn’t let him.

  It didn’t take long for them to get back to their room, and Finn literally rushed through the front door of the suite. Ani was there, nestled in a tight ball on the couch, his eyes vacant, and Bryce started to worry because it was obvious something big was happening, and not in a good way. “Do you want me to leave to two of you alone?” he whispered to Finn.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe you could just stay in the bedroom? That way you won’t be far if we need you.”

  Bryce could do that. Nodding, he stepped away and sat on the bed. It was when the two cousins started talking that he realized he hadn’t completely closed the door. If he got up and did it now, he would interrupt them, and he didn’t want that.

  “What’s wrong, Ani? Why did you shimmer away?”

  It took a little while before the other man answered. “I was scared.” His voice was so low and soft that Bryce barely heard it, but it damn near broke his heart. There was so much pain in those three words.

  “I want to help you, but I don’t know how. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

  “That man...he’s big.”

  “You mean Dominic? Yeah, he’s quite big, I guess about six foot six.”

  “So he’ll hurt me?”

  “What? No! Why do you think he’ll hurt you? Dominic is a good man, he would never hurt you. He’s been so good to me, and he’s going to be even nicer to you since you’re his soul mate.”

  “I don’t want to be. Big men hurt me.”

  “Bryce didn’t do anything, though,” Finn pointed out. “You weren’t afraid of him.”

  Bryce was glad. He didn’t know what was going on exactly, but he could tell that Ani associated height with pain. He couldn’t help but wonder how tall the clan leader and his second were.

  “He’s your soul mate,” Ani said. “You would never be with someone who would hurt me.”

  Finn didn’t say anything, and Bryce waited to hear if Ani would continue.

  “Leold is tall. Karun, too.”

  Bryce could tell that Finn had understood the meaning of Ani’s words from the loud gasp he let out.

  “Did one of them hurt you?”

  “Leold always hurts me. He touches me, and I don’t want that. I don’t want anyone to touch me that way, and if I stay here my soul mate will want to. He’s so big, I can’t stop him.”

  Dread filled Bryce. While Finn had managed to escape being raped by the clan’s second, it seemed that Ani hadn’t been able to. He listened as the small man quietly started crying and heard the soft words Finn crooned trying to sooth him, his heart breaking. He didn’t know Ani, but he couldn’t help but feel for the man. He seemed so vulnerable and sweet, it made Bryce want to protect him, and he knew he would, right along with Dominic.

  Chapter Six

  Ani had been living with Finn and Bryce for about a week, and he was doing well. After that first night in which he had confessed what had happened with Leold, he hadn’t mentioned it again. It seemed he was trying to forget about it, and he was doing a good job at showing other people a happy face, but Finn had seen the anguish in his eyes when he thought no one was looking at him. He still refused to talk to Dominic, and he shimmered out to Finn’s and Bryce’s room when he saw the lion or any one of the biggest members of the pride, especially the unmated ones. Dominic was both sad and worried, but nothing Finn had said had changed Ani’s mind for now. He could just hope things would get better in time, once he got to know everyone better.

  Maybe living in a safe place would do him good. He was already opening to some of the shifters living in the mansion and to most of the humans. He also tolerated Bryce and Ward, even if they were big men, so there was still hope for Dominic.

  As happy as Finn was that his cousin was safe and starting to heal, he still couldn’t shake off the feelings he had for the whole situation, especially now that he knew he hadn’t been the only one to be abused by those who should have protected them. Ani’s situation was even worse than Finn’s had been, and he suspected his cousin hadn’t been the only one. He was also convinced that it couldn’t be the first time Karun and Leold had sold or planned to sell members of their clan, or even outsiders. He just couldn’t prove it, and even if he could, no one would do anything. His clan lived too far off, and there was no upper authority who could deal with it.

  That didn’t mean they should leave those people in the scientists hands, though. Finn had heard about the records they had found in the office of the previous Alpha from the nearby pack, and he was hoping Leold had something similar. He couldn’t be sure, since the clan leader wasn’t the type to keep archives, but he hoped so. Karun was a lot more organized, so maybe he could check his cabin too. Finn had tried to talk Dominic and Bryce into letting him go, or at least into taking some of the pride’s soldiers there, but they weren’t bulging. Dominic was too concentrated on keeping the pride safe, and Bryce was scared for Finn.

  It seemed like he would have to take the matter into his own hands, and he was ready to do it. He couldn’t live his comfortable life thinking that there was someone out there being tortured and hurt while he could help them. If he managed to find even only an address, he could shimmer in and see if he could find anyone. Finn knew he wasn’t a warrior, far from it, but he needed to do something.

  He just needed to find the right moment. It wasn’t like Bryce could come after him, since the clan lived more than six hours from Whitedell. Sure, the man would be seething when Finn came back, but he hoped it wouldn’t take too long for him to forgive him. Dominic might be a little harder to get around, though. The Alpha could even decide to throw Finn out of the pride for disobeying a direct order, but Finn knew that the lion had a soft spot for him, so hopefully he wouldn’t.

  Finn was ready. Bryce was at work, and Dominic was doing whatever Alphas did. Keenan was still sleeping and Jamie...Finn didn’t know what Jamie was doing, but he hadn’t seen the man in a while, so he hoped he would stay away for a bit longer.

  Focusing on the woods behind the clan’s village, Finn shimmered. He wanted to check that no one was around before shimmering into Karun’s cabin, then if he had time, into Leold’s. Not seeing anyone, Finn shimmered into a tree near the fields in which the clan grew their vegetables. From there he could see several clan members working the earth under the greenhouses.

  “What are you doing here?” a loud whisper asked from the nearest branch. Finn yelped and held tight on the tree, his fingers scrambling to get a grip on the rough bark.

  “Ani! What are you doing here?” Finn frantically looked around but it seemed no one had heard them. He kept his voice as low as he could anyway.

  “What are you doing here? I know Bryce didn’t want you to come. What do you think you’re doing?”

  Damn, Finn had forgotten to check what his cousin was doing before shimmering out! “I have to do this, Ani. I can’t let them suffer even more when I could help them.” Finn looked up and saw Karun talking with Leold at the edge of the field. He didn’t know how much time he would have, so he had to hurry. “Go back home!” he hissed to his cousin, hoping the brat would listen to him but not really believing it. He shimmered into Karun’s cabin without checking if his cousin had listened to him, but he should have known he wouldn’t. Ani shimmered right behind him and continued to try to convince him to go back.

  Finn tuned him out as he started to go through the drawers of Karun’s desk. He had so little time, and the drawers were full of every bit of rubbish he could imagine, which didn’t make his task any easier. He let out a disgusted yelp when his hand touched the battered tube of lube in the back of the drawer. Finn didn’t even want to kno
w why it was there and what Karun did with it. He just slammed the drawer closed and started on the next one. “Ani!” His cousin hadn’t stopped talking since Finn had started. “If you really have to stay in here with me, at least make yourself useful and help me!”

  Ani looked shocked, but Finn didn’t stop to reassure him. He was actually pretty impressed that the man had had the guts to come back after what he had confessed to Finn, and he knew it was only because Ani was worried something could happen to him. At least someone knew where Finn was.

  Finn scanned the next bunch of documents and finally, finally, he found something. It looked like a list of names and places, and when he looked to the right of the piece of paper, Finn saw a column of numbers. Checking it, he noticed his name and saw that he had been sold for twenty thousand dollars, and it was the highest amount on the list. He also noticed that not all the names were associated with Nix or faes in general. There was a lot of information on every transaction, including the species, and there were a lot of shifters there, which meant that Karun somehow captured them.

  “Well, well. Look at what we have here.”

  Finn jumped, his heart nearly jerking out of his chest at the sound of Karun’s voice. He looked up, ready to shimmer, but the man was fast, too fast for Finn. He backhanded him, sending him flying against the wall.

  “Finn!” Ani shimmered right beside Finn and he pushed the documents in his hands. Ani couldn’t shimmer with him, he wasn’t strong enough, so Finn had to hope he would at least manage to hand over the documents.

  “Take that back to Dominic and tell him what happened!” Finn tried to shimmer, but he couldn’t concentrate. He had hit his head on the wall, and it hurt like a bitch. He saw that Ani was still there, petrified, probably by fear. He had to make him move, so Finn reached out and slapped him. “Go! Bring Bryce!”

  That seemed to do the trick. Ani gave Finn one last look and shimmered just in time. Karun had been about to grab his arm, and he ended up with only air in his fist. Finn was still trying to shimmer out, but his head was pounding, the pain gathering on the back of his skull. Karun reached out and grabbed Finn’s throat, partially choking him as he pulled him up and dragged him to the desk. He opened the last drawer, the only one Finn hadn’t explored yet, and brought out one of those black collars that would stop Finn from shimmering.