Page 15 of Ruined Wolf
Maverick seemed to sense my sadness. There was no more need for words, but in the darkness of the bedroom, he got up and lit a candle, casting a golden glow over everything. Then he took me into his arms, kissed away my tears, and made love to me until I couldn’t think anymore, chasing the shadows of the past away.
CHAPTER SIX
LUCAS
“We’ll be leaving at about eight tomorrow morning,” Malcolm called to me as I stepped onto the gangway that led to the main dock. “That okay with you?”
“Not a problem,” I said, raising my hand in thanks.
“If you manage to wrap your business up early, the Wharfside might look a little dark and dingy, but the beer’s good, and the rooms above aren’t too bad either, not for the price.”
“I’ll keep it in mind,” I replied as I strode off towards the shore. I’d managed to catch a boat to the mainland, leaving Nova sleeping peacefully in Maverick’s arms.
The image of them wrapped around each other played in my mind, irritating me. I wasn’t jealous, not exactly. My elder brother was Nova’s mate too, and strangely, since she’d accepted us both as mates, any jealousy of them being together had gone. I’d just seen the way their bodies were tangled together, a warm jumble of limbs and skin, and it made me crave the intimacy at the same time it filled me with a feeling of revulsion that overpowered anything else. For a moment, I had imagined being the one she was wrapped around, the one whose presence she needed to sleep so peacefully, but I knew I could never be that. Not with my... eccentricities. Maybe that was why she’d been fated to have two mates. Maverick could give her everything I couldn’t. It didn’t surprise me, it just made me more determined to do what I could for her. I had my own special skills that I intended to use to protect my mate. She might not be able to sleep peacefully in my arms, but perhaps I could bring her another kind of peace.
Port Moonfall was just another sleepy little harbour town along the main coastline. Fishing and tourist vessels were anchored in place, bobbing on the small waves of the morning breeze. There was a small sandy beach and shops and bars along the waterfront. The buildings were all worn, just like the coastline, battered by harsh seas and years of wear, the fronts peeling off and repainted to hide the evident damage. In spite of that, the place was lively and bustling with locals, and the sun was bright in a clear blue sky.
I started off with the more wholesome establishments—little gift shops and cafes along the front—sweet talking the shop assistants and waitresses until they were happy to chat. I had dressed for the occasion in jeans and one of Asher’s fancy cashmere roll-neck jumpers. It covered the majority of the tattoos that tended to freak out normal people until they got to know me, because then they realised the tattoos were the least of their worries.
I leaned back in my chair, flashing a cheeky smile at the girl waiting on tables in this particular cafe. On my fifth black coffee of the day, I was already buzzing. Flirting with the women of the town was making me feel antsy. I had absolutely no interest in them and was only trying to help Nova, but it still made me feel uncomfortable. Nonetheless, it was working, and when the girl came over to take my order, she was more than happy to take a few minutes to chat.
“You in town long?”
“Sadly, no...” I let my gaze fall down her body, letting her think I was sorry about the fact. She wasn’t bad looking, but even if Nova hadn’t been on the scene, I never would have even entertained the idea. One night with me would have sent her screaming, and not in a good way. “I’m just here to find out what happened to my sister.” I opened the phone and showed her a picture of Nova.
“Your sister? What happened to her?”
I shrugged. “She’s missing. Could have run off with her boyfriend, but our parents are really worried about her, and I want to find her to tell her she’s fine to come home. They aren’t mad.”
The waitress nodded, sympathy on her face. “She doesn’t look familiar. Are you sure she’s in this town?”
“No, I got word she might have passed through a few weeks ago, and I was hoping someone would know more, but I haven’t turned up anything yet.”
“Aww, I’m sorry, honey. I don’t recognise her, but you could let me have your number, and I’ll text you if she comes in.”
I wrote a number down for her on the back of a napkin—the wrong one, obviously—and she smiled warmly at me when she picked it up. I felt bad leading her on, but if you told women that you were trying to track down a girl who wasn’t related to you, then they started to think all kinds of things and were rather hesitant about divulging any information. Understandably so.
I repeated the same farce in every shop and cafe I went into, altering my approach slightly to appear like the worried older brother in the shops run by couples or women much older than me, but by the end of the afternoon, I’d still turned up nothing. It seemed Nova had definitely not come through Port Moonfall on her way to Desolation.
I wandered out of town towards the coast and leaned on the barrier, looking out towards the islands. The tips of my fingers itched as my claws pushed at my skin, my wolf aching to be free. He was as frustrated as I was. Every inch of us clamoured for bloody revenge on those who had hurt our mate, and so far, nothing.
There was a small fishing village farther north along the coast from the town, and I resigned myself to finding a bus that could get me there. That was quite a ways from the place Maverick had pulled Nova out of the water though. I guessed she could have been pulled along by the currents, but did they even move that way?
A thought occurred to me, and I pulled my phone out of my pocket, swiping it open and placing a call.
“Asher? It’s Lucas. I need something.”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone, then the sound of my brother sighing. He knew I only called when it was important. “What is it?”
“Is there something on that infernal machine of yours that could predict the currents of the sea around here at a particular time and date?”
“I’m sure I could find something to help, yes. I’m going to need more specifics though.”
I grimaced. It hadn’t been hard to see that Asher had a major crush on Nova, and even someone with a heart as black as mine could see he’d been crushed when we’d taken Nova as our mate on the night of the claiming. He’d been dumb as far as I was concerned. If he’d wanted to mate her, he should have just stepped up when we did to protect her, and then he could have been spending his nights lost in her scent, drenched in her...
“Lucas?”
“Yeah. I’m on the mainland. I want to know where Nova went into the water. I figured you might be able to give me a place to start searching.”