A Chase Christmas (City Shifters: the Pride Book 6) Read online

  Chapter 9

  Benedict

  Something about seeing Eloise in the kitchen drove him wild. Benedict lost all control when he tore the hairnet and bandanna off her head, freeing the crazy hair, and shoved her against the wall. Her welcoming heat drew him in, dragged him closer, tried to squeeze the climax from him before he could really get started, and he groaned. Benedict growled and nipped at her neck, hiking her higher against the wall as he braced his feet and pounded harder. He wanted to hear her climax, feel her body convulse against him, force his way through her pleasure to find his own. Being in the kitchen where someone might walk in on them only drove him harder. She moaned and bounced on his cock, hips thrusting to meet him as she yanked on his hair.

  Benedict buried his teeth in her shoulder, through her shirt, and hitched one of her legs higher on his side, spreading her open until his stomach met hers and her entire body tensed. Eloise wailed and froze, eyes half-closed, and Benedict fell off the cliff. Stars dotted his vision as he moved against her slowly, trying to breathe, and kept her pinned against the wall.

  Eloise sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, though her heart thundered against his chest. "One of these days, Ben, someone's going to catch us."

  "That's half the fun," he said, kissing her.

  And then the groaning screech of a moving dumpster echoed from the alley. Eloise blinked, eyebrows raised, and tried to stand so she could get dressed. "Damn it."

  Benedict wanted to put his fist through the steel fridge. Those damn kids messed up his afterglow. He got himself decent and zipped up his pants before storming to the back door and kicking it open. "What the hell are you looking for?"

  But no kids riffled through the trash. Two dark shadows lingered near the trash, dragging bones and other things from the bags, and their eyes reflected the light back at him. Benedict's heart thumped in his chest and a growl boiled up. Goddamn wolves. Probably Evershaw's pack, lingering around Eloise since the alpha's brother had a crush on her. He fucking hated Todd Evershaw.

  The wolves growled back, lowering their heads as they watched him, and dodged as Benedict threw a bottle of olive oil at them. They raced into the night, disappearing in a skittering of claws on the concrete, and he let the door shut behind him as he returned to the kitchen. Benedict scowled and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn wolves."

  "You sure? Could it have been coyotes? We've seen more of them around here lately." Eloise struggled to get her hair under control and frowned as she re-buttoned her jeans. "The trash has been a mess the last couple of days."

  "I'll have Edgar check the cameras." He scowled but pulled her in for another bone-creaking hug and rubbed his chin against her head. The lion wanted to mark her again and again, until those fucking wolves figured out she was taken. "But I'm walking you to your car and I don't want you out here alone."

  "Good luck with that," she said, poking his side until he jumped. "I've got stuff to do here tomorrow. I'll call you if there are any problems, Bennie poo."

  He grumbled and pushed her up against the fridge once more, loving the way she wiggled and sighed and grabbed him. He could fuck her again right there, but it would be more fun in a bed. And less stress on his knees. Benedict leaned down to kiss her until she sagged against him, arms linked around his neck, then released her. Eloise staggered, looking a little dazed, and he resisted the urge to preen. Instead, he helped with her coat and locking up the rest of the building, then walked her to her car. She still had no reasonable sense of self-preservation, which drove him crazy. She ran headlong into danger as if she were invincible.

  Benedict watched the taillights of her car disappear, back towards the highway that led to the house, and pulled out his phone as he got into his SUV. He took a few cleansing breaths before dialing, but the moment he heard Miles fucking Evershaw pick up on the other end, all the rage came back in a rush. "Look, asshole. Stop sending your wolves around to bother my mate or I will fucking end you. Got it?"

  "And Merry Christmas to you, too, dick." Evershaw didn't even sound surprised. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  Benedict snarled and slammed his fist against the steering wheel. "Two wolves in the alley behind the soup kitchen where Eloise works. If I see them again, I'll fucking kill them and leave them on your doorstep."

  "We had a pack meeting this evening. In fact, we're still in a pack meeting. Every member of my pack is sitting in front of me, and we have Santa here giving the kids presents. So maybe take a deep breath, pull your head out of your ass, and tell me what these wolves looked like."

  Benedict scowled at the dark alley, though the lion's urgent need to kill Todd Evershaw faded somewhat. He still didn't like the guy. "Dark wolves, big but skinny. They didn't smell like anyone from BloodMoon pack. One had a white patch on its chest."

  Evershaw spoke to someone else, his voice muffled, and Benedict strained to hear what the asshole said. A moment later, the alpha sighed. "They're not ours. I'll send Todd and a couple of others to search the alley, see if we can identify them by scent. Is your mate still at the location?"

  "No," Benedict said through gritted teeth. And Eloise wouldn't be at the damn soup kitchen without him for the next month, at least.

  "Good. We'll call tomorrow if we come up with anything." Evershaw didn't sound optimistic. "And for your future reference, dickhead, no normal wolf shifter would ever go digging through garbage. You might not have a very high opinion of us, but we sure as fuck don't go dumpster diving. Whoever they are and whoever they belong to, there's something wrong. They're sick or crazy or stuck. If you see them again, be careful."

  "Yeah. Happy holidays, asshole."

  "Go fuck yourself, Chase."

  Benedict felt a little better when he hung up, although there wasn't much reason for it. Sure, Evershaw's brother wasn't sniffing around Eloise anymore, but having two sick or crazy werewolves running around the city wasn't a good thing by any stretch of the imagination. He started the car and started driving, though he called Ruby to warn her and then updated Edgar. His brother cheerfully reminded him of the ball of Christmas lights still waiting to be untangled, and Benedict cursed under his breath as he drove. It might be dawn before he got the chance to mark Eloise again.

  Chapter 10

  Eloise

  It was still way too early when Benedict got up to meet with Edgar and one of the private investigators they worked with, and though I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, I needed to meet the kids at O'Shea's by nine. So I followed him downstairs after I got dressed, but stopped short when I caught sight of the gray-haired man Edgar greeted in the foyer. He looked familiar, but I knew I didn't know him, had never seen him before. Something about him just seemed... kindred.

  Edgar glanced up as I hesitated on the stairs, then nodded and gestured at the older man. "Eloise, this is Smith. We've worked together a great deal in the past. Smith, this is Benedict's mate, Eloise."

  "The gorgon," the investigator said, a hint of a smile touching his face as he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

  "Nice to meet you," I echoed, a little uneasy. At dinner one night, Isobel said the man was actually fae, whatever that meant, but didn't have any more detail. His eyes flashed quicksilver, then returned to a more normal blue-green.

  Edgar checked his watch, then fixed me with a slightly suspicious look. "Where are you off to so early, Eloise?"

  "Some kids came into the soup kitchen last night. They need a job." I edged closer to my brother-in-law, uneasy with the way Smith studied me, despite that the man wasn't threatening or creepy or anything too alarming. My hair stirred, floating off my shoulders in a few wisps. "I asked Ruby if they could work in the kitchen a bit to earn enough money for a place to stay."

  "They're homeless?" Smith shook his head, then offered me a business card printed on expensive paper. "A friend of mine runs a shelter. There will be a room for them this evening, if they need it."

  "Thanks." I stuffed the card in my back pocket, relieved to see Benedict emerge from the rear of the house, near the kitchen. He offered me his cup of coffee, a hint of surprise on his face, and I sipped it gratefully before going on. "What are you guys up to?"

  "The cubs," Benedict said. He yawned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Smith was supposed to figure out whether they're related to anyone from the Keller medical experiments."

  "They're not," Smith said. He handed Edgar a sealed envelope. "But their lab work showed some genetic abnormalities, so someone's been messing with them. Before or after they were born, I don't know. It could be due to the two still being in wolf form, but even the boy in human form shows the abnormalities."

  "So they're not test tube babies from the experiments." Edgar shook his head. "But we won't know what's wrong with them, if anything, until we find their parents. Any luck with that?"

  "No hits on their names, phones, credit cards, nothing. It's like they've dropped off the face of the earth." The investigator glanced at me and winked. "Which happens more than we think, right?"

  I wanted to hide behind Benedict but settled for keeping the coffee as a barrier. My hair floated higher, beginning to tangle into snake-like braids. Benedict stood behind me with his arms linked around my waist, resting his chin on my head. Going back to bed seemed like the best idea all year.

  Edgar checked his phone. "We have to find them, Smith. Where else could they be?"

  "I'm waiting to hear back from Evershaw about something with that third pack. The coyotes have not been particularly helpful, so they may be involved. We'll find something." Smith checked his watch and canted his head at the door. "I have a few notes on those other issues we're working."

  And it was clear those notes weren't for my ears. I handed Benedict his coffee and patted his b
utt as I headed for the kitchen. A travel mug might keep me awake long enough to reach the city. "I'll be back in a bit."

  "Call me if anything happens," he said, attention already on whatever Smith wanted to discuss.

  I rolled my eyes and moved faster than I ever did in the morning, focused on the coffee. Hopefully Ben hadn't killed the pot. I made it all the way around the island before I saw her — Natalia, on her knees, hand gripping a cupboard.

  "Jesus, Nat," I said, and rushed to her side. "What's wrong?"

  "Just a little dizzy." She tried to wave me off but I ignored her, helping her up and over to one of the kitchen chairs. She winced and held her stomach, shaking her head. "Damn heartburn."

  "That doesn't look like heartburn." I pulled out my phone to call Logan. He'd lose his mind if he knew she was in that much pain. "Damn it, Nat."

  "Don't call him." She exhaled and leaned back in the chair, massaging her sides. "It's not a big deal, Eloise. Put your phone down."

  "Natalia Chase," I said, and tried to use her own 'I'm the head chef, don't argue with me' voice against her. "Your health and your baby's health are both big fucking deals. And Logan would murder me if he knew I saw you like this and didn't say anything. What the hell is wrong with you?"

  "I don't know," she said. Natalia covered her face, looking suddenly frail despite the baby belly. "Eloise, I don't know what the hell is going on. There's so much going on, so much that needs to be done — I don't have time for this."

  "None of that shit matters. None of this matters if you're not here with us." I got up to pour myself coffee and retrieve the tea she'd been making before she fell. "For fuck's sake, Nat. I know you think you're responsible for everyone else having a perfect Christmas, but you're not. There's no such thing as a perfect Christmas. We just need to be together. And drink. Drinking always helps."

  She snorted and held the mug of warm tea, giving me a sidelong look. "And you know I can't drink, you jerk."

  "More for the rest of us." I glanced at my watch and wanted to curse; I would be cutting it close, but I could make it by nine if I didn't hit any traffic. But I couldn't leave Natalia there by herself.

  "Ruby said you have an early meeting," Nat said. She waved me off and put her feet up on one of the other chairs. "Go. She said it was about some homeless kids. They need you, so get out of here."

  "You need to go to the doctor." I crouched next to her chair and forced her to look at me. My voice dropped as my hair really took on a life of its own, reaching out to reassure her. "I don't know what you're afraid of finding when you go, but you have to go. Bad news doesn't get better with age. Right?"

  "I know. I'll go today." She looked tired, the kind of bone-deep tired that meant you'd been burning the candle at both ends and from the middle, too. Natalia forced a smile and patted my shoulder, brushing away my hair. "Thank you, Eloise. Go help those kids. And if they don't have a place to go for Christmas, you damn well better bring them here."

  "Roger dodger," I said. I didn't feel good about it but I couldn't let the kids think I'd forgotten them. But as I headed for the car, I texted Logan that Natalia wasn't looking good and needed a doctor ASAP. She might never forgive me for diming her out, but I wasn't going to be the one who could have said something and didn't, especially if something went really wrong.

  The cold outside took my breath away, but when I got to my car, I found it already running. Benedict started it up and cranked the heat, so it was already warm when I got in. I smiled the whole way into the city. That was love.

  Chapter 11

  Benedict

  Benedict stared out the window of the SUV as Kaiser drove through the city. Their phones pinged with updates from the other cars involved in the search — Edgar, Atticus, Ruby, her pack members, and the Evershaw brothers. After the reports from Smith about what the third pack might be up to, Logan started calling in favors to try to identify the intruders Eloise found in the alley. They could have been spies or scouts, and maybe returned already to the other pack to report back. Or they could have been victims of the pack. No one knew.

  His fingers drummed on the armrest of the door, and his knee bounced. Something wasn't right. Something hadn't been right all day. All week, really.

  Kaiser glanced over at him, teeth flashing white in the dim interior of the car. "Do you need to get out and run by the car to work out some of that energy, or can you keep it together?"

  "Something's wrong." Benedict shook his head, about to go on with whatever speculation came to mind, but his phone rang. Eloise. His heart climbed to his throat as he answered. "Babe, what's wrong?"

  "Get over here. The soup kitchen. Now." She sounded calm. Too calm. And quiet, her voice muffled.

  "What happened?"

  "They're here. The wolves. Going through the garbage again."

  Benedict said, "Stay on the phone with me and don't you dare get near them," and looked at Kaiser. "The soup kitchen on Fifth. The wolves are there."

  The bear immediately whipped the SUV around a corner and sped through the light traffic toward the shadier part of town and the soup kitchen. As he drove, he called his guys and the rest of the teams searching and gave them directions. Benedict listened to Eloise breathing and focused every atom in his being on getting to her before those crazy wolves did something desperate. Or before Eloise got curious and poked her nose where it didn't belong. He couldn't take it and whispered, "I love you, El."

  "I love you, Bennie," she murmured.

  His blood ran cold as growling rose in the alley, and as Kaiser's SUV turned another corner and Benedict saw the soup kitchen, he couldn't take it. He threw open the door of the moving SUV and roared out of the car, racing toward the alley as Kaiser slammed on the brakes and shouted at him. Benedict growled as he blocked the mouth of the alley, the lion raging as he wanted to shift, and Benedict held on to control with his fingertips. The two wolves crouched near the dumpster, snarling, and their eyes flashed gold and black.

  Kaiser jogged up behind him and screeching tires betrayed the rest of the team drawing closer. The bear was not happy. "You dented my bumper, asshole. Did you break your hip?"

  "Not now." Benedict took a threatening step toward the wolves, not caring that they were cornered and searching for a way out. "You two. Shift back so we can have a conversation. That's the only way this ends well for you."

  The larger wolf, the male, growled louder and edged in front of the female. Protecting her. Benedict took a deep breath but didn't get any closer. "If something's wrong, if you're being forced to do this, just tell us. We can help you."

  Still nothing. He looked at Kaiser. "What do you—"

  The wolves charged, the male first. He blasted into Kaiser and knocked the man back, but didn't bite him. The female wolf bolted and the male followed, disappearing into the night just as more cars filled the narrow side-street outside the alley. Benedict ran for the door into the kitchen, wrenching it open to find Eloise sitting on one of the work tables, swinging her feet as she waited for him to show up. A weight lifted off his chest and Benedict caught her up in a crushing embrace. The lion purred but he growled in her ear, "I am so teaching you a lesson when we get home."

  "Benedict," Atticus said from the doorway, and his voice cracked.

  Benedict's blood ran cold. He turned and the whole world tilted. Atticus looked white as a ghost, holding up his phone in a shaking hand. "Nat's in the hospital. Something's — really wrong."

  His heart stuttered and slowed, and the blood pounded in his ears. Natalia and the baby. Logan. Benedict squeezed Eloise closer as the terror of possibly losing a mate struck home. Atticus still looked stunned. "They want Eloise. Said she could help."