chapter 9

[Moran]

    “You better put your guns down and get your fucking hands up.” A woman’s voice said softly, but sternly. 

    We complied, placing our weapons on the floor and waited to see what would happen next. I didn’t want Ford having sex to be the last thing I saw before I died.

    “Go to the couch and sit. I’m going to give you zip ties. The short one will tie up the tall one, then the tall one does the short one. And don’t piss me off. I have an itchy finger and a short temper.” The voice growled quietly.

    We walked to the couch and sat. The woman stood near the door and, as we heard Ford and Madison finish, she closed it with a gentle click. Then moved to get the ties.

    The brunette from the bar was standing in front of us, wearing some boy-shorts and a quarter tank top that barely covered her breasts. She had two large guns, one in her hand, the other she’d set on the little table while she closed the door.

    She pulled open the drawer of the table and grabbed two zip ties. Retrieving her gun, she took the ties to the coffee table and set them down. She held a gun on each of us until we were finished tying each other up. She released the hammers of her guns, returned to the table by the door to set her guns down, and retrieved ours from the floor. She set them on the table as well and went to sit in a recliner.

    “I know you both probably have more weapons. Especially, Hati over there. And I’m not going to take them from you. I know you’re here to see what’s happened to Fenrir. Mostly, I’m mad because you came into my home without knocking.” She explained.

    “We thought you two were torturing him or something.” I said.

    Val, shook her head as hard as she could.

    The women in the Helvegr dressed, acted, and were referred to as men, but didn’t speak while in costume to keep their secret. It was a condition we’d given for them to join. Val and Chris had felt it was acceptable in return for being part of the resistance and trying to find and free their families and people.

    “Except Hati, he kept trying to tell us Fenrir was probably just getting laid. But we had good reason to believe otherwise.” I insisted.

    The girl glared at me as she understood the implication. I wasn’t going to lie. They could have been hunters or trackers. There weren’t many female hunters and trackers, but they did exist.

    “Someone told you he left with two women who weren’t his usual type. You have GPS on your phones. If he’d ended up at a motel or something, you wouldn’t have had a problem. The warehouse district isn’t a place one would imagine someone having an apartment.” She said in a bored, irritated tone. 

    “She inherited the warehouse when Indie died. Maddie has no idea who Ford really is. She came from a small town in the boonies and overloaded on college courses during the three years she was living here with Indie and me. There was no time in her life for anything but school. I’m fine with letting you take your weapons and go. He’s free to leave in the morning, if he wishes.” The roommate finished.

    It was a little bit of a relief that it was what it seemed on the surface. I still didn’t feel confident, though. Something was making me really uneasy. It was possible my nerves were because of how I was raised, but I wouldn’t leave an opening by discounting my feeling.

    “She may not know, but you do. You’re not going to call the cops?” I pressed.

    “Why would I do that? It was pure fucking luck she found him. The bar was close to the warehouse and she didn’t want to dress up for the places I usually go. He just decided to come in tonight. Her exact type. Except the criminal part. She’s never dated a guy with a record.” She said thoughtfully. “I’m grateful. She went out drinking for the first time in months. She flirted with a guy and took him home. It’s like she’s finally being a person again.”

    The door behind her opened and Madison, dressed in a long cut, silky, black baby-doll nightie, came out followed by Ford in only his jeans. They stopped and stared at us. Ford became angry. I could taste the violence in the air. He was seriously pissed to see us. Ford pulled Madison to him.

    “Serena? What’s up?” Madison asked softly.

    Now I had the name of the other girl. I wondered what she’d say. If Madison had no idea who we were, it wouldn’t be good to introduce a new aspect of Ford’s life so suddenly. I wished Val or I could mind link Ford. It was the downside to having a mixed species pack.

    “These are two of Ford’s friends. I guess they decided to track him down and try to prank him or something, but you know how I get when I hear people in the house. They were just explaining it to me when you guys came out.” Serena smiled.

    It was a decent lie. Nothing too specific. Seemed like the sort of thing two guys would do. I could see the confusion on Ford’s face. He didn’t realize that Madison had no idea who he was! He was about to say something when Serena interrupted him.

    “Were you taking him to the garden to smoke?” Serena asked.

    “Yes. Untie his friends and get them something to drink. There are cookies in the jar, make some coffee. We’ll be back in a bit.” Madison grabbed Ford’s hand, took him to get his jacket, and led him down the little hallway.

    “Fuck. Now you have to stay until you’ve had drinks and a lecture.” Serena sighed.

    She went to the junk drawer, grabbed wire cutters, and snipped the ties off of our wrists. After retrieving her guns and taking them somewhere, Serena went to the kitchen to start coffee and get a plate of cookies set out.

    We watched her move around the kitchen as if nothing had happened. Like this was the most natural thing at nearly midnight. There was something strange about these girls that went further than Madison’s interest in Ford.

    When Serena cut us free, I thought I’d smelled something ‘other’, but when I’d tried checking again she smelled like a normal human. So many things just weren’t adding up for me. Maybe she had a supernatural boyfriend or had made out with one tonight and his scent lingered.

    “We should go while she’s distracted.” I quietly suggested.

    “No. Ford’ll be pissed if we’re not here when he gets back. I bet he doesn’t even know she has no idea who he is. Probably thinks she’s super cool about it.” Val snorted.

    “Either way, I have to call Raoul. You know how he worries.” I looked up at Serena. “Is there somewhere I can make a private phone call?”

    “Down the hall, second door on the right is my room. Go ahead and close the door. Tell the Alpha I said hi. Oh! Don’t touch my stuff.” She responded.

    I followed her instruction and found myself in a clean, warm bedroom with a slightly mussed bed. There were bras hanging on a strange decorative piece that looked like a bunch of women’s torsos. I stared at it as I pulled out my phone and dialed Raoul. It was an interesting piece. It looked like something Tony would have made.

    “Did you find him? Is he okay?” Raoul asked as he answered the phone.

    “Yeah, Alpha. He’s fine. The girls weren’t torturing him. He was with the redhead.”

    “He does like redheads. Did you get away without him catching you? He’ll kick your butt for starting this whole thing you know?” Raoul sighed.

    “We backed away before they saw us, but the roommate had two guns held on us. She tied us up and was telling us why it was okay to leave him here, when Ford needed a cigarette and the redhead took him to the roof. The redhead’s called Madison or Maddie. She doesn’t know who we are. Or who Ford really is. She’s making us stay for coffee and, I suspect, a scolding about breaking into people’s houses to play pranks. The roommate, Serena, knows though. She told me to tell you hi.” I chuckled.

    Frankly, I didn’t know how she knew I would call Rao, but it was funny that she’d told me to pass her greeting. She confused the hell out of me, but I’d wait and absorb as much as I could before making a judgement.

    Raoul laughed. “Always nice to hear from my fans. Put the phone on speaker and I’ll mute mine. I have to hear this. It’ll be good after all the stress.”

    “You got it, Alpha. Hati is pissed. Kept saying it was probably Ford getting laid and I wouldn’t listen. I’m not gonna live this down anytime soon.” I groaned.

    “No. You’re really not. What’s the girl like? You said she was hot. Now, I know she’s a redhead. What else?” Raoul asked eagerly.

    I knew he wanted something like this for Ford. An attractive woman who saw his worth as a man. We all wanted it for him. He seemed to be falling into a deeper depression as the years went on. Rao’s issue was hard enough to deal with, but Ford had been getting more and more erratic. It was probably because of the way it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere. I smiled and answered him

    “Madison looks like she should have fairy wings, but smells like a human. And she looks at Ford like he’s a god. She gives orders like a queen and has this cold glare when you’ve done something she doesn’t like. But there’s something… I don’t know… innocent? about her, too. I’ll show you the pictures later. I better go. They’ll be back soon.” I said.

    “Got it. Remember to set the phone up so I can hear.” Rao reminded me, setting his phone to mute.

    He sounded excited about what would happen next. Maybe he was thinking he could use it in a book. Big drama always seemed to be happening around the shifters. Like they attracted it.

    I set my phone to speaker and blacked out the screen before heading back to the living room. I set the phone on the coffee table and sat again. At least I wouldn’t have to give a big report to Rao later.

    “How was he?” Val asked.

    “Fine. Thinks it’s funny.” I replied.

    “At least someone does.” She sighed.

    Serena carried the coffee service to the table. She set cups in front of us, then poured the coffee. Setting a plate of cookies out, Serena indicated what was in the little pots and poured coffee for herself. We quietly sipped our drinks.

    I grabbed a cookie. It smelled like chocolate. I took a bite and it was the most incredible thing I’d ever put in my mouth. Chocolate and butterscotch danced on my tongue. It was just sweet enough to be a treat on its own, but not so sweet to overpower the sweetness of the sugar in my coffee.

    “These are amazing.” I said after drinking a little of my coffee.

    “Maddie has a special talent when it comes to sweets. She likes them more than anything else, and worked really hard to learn to make all sorts of things. You should try her apple tarts, you’ll be ruined for apples.” Serena laughed.

    Val nibbled a cookie. I saw her eyes widen under her mask. I knew she’d want the recipe. Maybe Ford could get it for us. We’d just have to wait and see.

[Ford]

    Madison took me to a stairwell at the end of the hall and we went up a short flight of stairs. A fire door was at the top and she opened it, holding it for me. I’d been expecting a basic warehouse roof, but this was nothing like that.

    There were small trees and grass. A garden of five long planters stood on the other side. Nearby was a small propane grill with a table next to it for prep and a little four seat patio set.

    Flowers and bushes lined walking paths. At the outer edge of the roof was an uncovered spot where three lounge chairs sat. I could imagine it was for sunbathing. I could almost see Madison in shorts and a bikini top, laying in the sun. Though, she was pretty pale, so maybe not.

    Under a lattice work gazebo, there was a hot tub. It made me think about all the things I wanted to do to Madison in baths, showers, pools, lakes, rivers, the ocean. I couldn’t get enough of her.

    She pulled me to a stone bench. There was a little planter that was full of sand right next to it. They had a smoking area, but neither of them smelled like they smoked. This place seemed to be made for entertaining.

    “You come out here a lot?” I asked, lighting my cigarette.

    “In the early morning, late evening, and at night. I’m out more often in the spring and fall. The sun burns my skin pretty easily.” She blushed. “Indie and Serena spent more time out here than I ever did.”

    Serena had mentioned that Madison’s sister died. I could sympathize with that. I’d lost five brothers and sisters along with my parents and countless cousins. I guess Serena was good friends with both girls if they all shared a place.

    “I’m sorry about my friends. They probably worried when I didn’t come home. I don’t think they were prankin’ me.” I murmured.

    I had no idea what was going on. What Serena said didn’t make sense. When I’d seen them, I’d been pissed off. There was no reason for them to be there. I was a grown fucking man, not some kid. I deserved a life outside the Helvegr. At least for one night.

    “I should hope not.” Madison huffed. “That would be rude and I would have to ban them from my home.”

    I smiled. She was cute when she was offended. I liked that she wasn’t afraid of the Helvegr, either. Maybe I could keep her for a while. As long as I could keep anyone outside her, Serena, and the Helvegr from finding out, I probably could.

    When I was done, we headed back in. I couldn’t wait to hear what Val and Moran had to say for themselves. I wasn’t going to stand for any bullshit. If they didn’t have a good fucking excuse, there would be hell to pay.