RISE OF THE LYCANS - Mates and Bonds
Chapter 21 - Friend

Selena

A few moments later, the limousine managed a tight turn onto a narrow street and came to a stop. Jose and Flaym stepped out and crossed the street to the sandwich shop. Grandma wanted to join them, but Lukas told her his father had requested she call him about something urgent. We waited until the door closed before anyone spoke.

Grandma reached into her purse and removed her phone. “I’m going to call Ares now so I can get in there and see all that hanging meat. I should have some shipped home.”

“I’m sure Lukas just made that up to keep you here with us,” Storm announced, and she was right. With a demon on the loose in Paris, no one wanted her out of sight.

“I needed to talk to you without Jose here,” Lukas told me. “He seemed to take the demon thing better than expected.”

“He didn’t seem concerned when Grandma mentioned magic either,” Caspian noted.

“I liked the man-shifting dog story,” Grandma added.

“You think he was sent here to spy on us?” Storm asked.

“No,” I refused to believe where this was going. “Jose has been a good friend to me.”

“You’ve known him for what a year? A year and a half?” Caspian pressed.

“I have a sense about these things… Jose is my friend.”

“That’s fine,” Lukas said. “I think we should take the sandwiches and get back to the hotel. Then we can say goodbye to Jose and let him go home before he witnesses something else he’s not supposed to.”

“But he stared right into the eyes of the demon,” I said as fear shot through me. “If she blew up my apartment, then he’s not safe.”

“He’s not a shifter. He should be fine,” Lukas assured me.

“If he’s been seeing Erick, who sent you spiked champagne, then he needs to stay away until we sort everything out,” Caspian insisted. “It’s for your safety and his.”

“If Erick was working with Darc, he’s a dead man,” Storm reminded us.

“What if Erick might try to hurt Jose to get to me?”

“He mentioned Erick had ghosted him,” Grandma said. “It’s hard to date someone for months and not develop feelings. Maybe Erick is staying away from Jose to protect him?”

I hadn’t spent much time with Erick, so I wasn’t sure about him. If he was sporting a mark of magic and showing up everywhere, then he had to be connected to all of this.

“Don’t forget his disappearing act,” Stella reminded me.

“Darc has a mage working for him. Someone had to brew the tonic given to the humans working at the mating ball.”

“What tonic?” Storm questioned.

“There was an entire orchestra at the Versailles ball and a full wait staff. They had all been given a tonic that would make the evening a blur in the morning,” I explained to her. “Alpha Darc used it as a precaution in case someone noticed anything unusual.”

“And by unusual, you mean a growl or claiming,” Storm said in understanding. “If he had access to have all that tonic brewed, what’s a little champagne spiked with heat stimulants?”

“It has to be Erick. He comes from a line of mages,” Grandma insisted. “I saw the mark.”

“Erick has to know he’s a walking corpse,” Caspian rumbled.

“We need to figure out what we’re doing with Jose before they get back with the sandwiches,” Storm said. She leaned forward for a better look out the window at the shop.

“Can’t we just hide him in drag?” Grandma suggested. “Some big hair and makeup—no one will recognize him!”

“Maybe we should send him home to Los Angeles,” Caspian replied.

“The City of Angels?” Storm smirked. “Please… He’d be safer in Las Vegas, the City of Sin.”

“You had a missed call from Rex,” I reminded Lukas. “Maybe something happened at the Darc pack.”

Lukas reached for his phone and dialed Rex. The phone went to voicemail, and he disconnected. He tried Zander next, who was running special security at the hotel. He greeted Zander and listened as he did most of the talking.

“What’s going on?” Storm pressed, and Lukas put Zander on speakerphone.

“… Rex is on the phone with your father right now. Hang on so you can talk to him,” Zander’s voice rang out as he continued to update us. “Balthazar speared the Beta with his claws and read his mind. Pierre Darc had intended to get closer to Selena to learn more about lycans. They were hoping for Storm, but when she didn’t show up—”

Lukas snarled and I felt his rage fill the car. “He went after Persephone instead!”

“Balthazar made minced meat out of him, but Alpha Darc and Alpha Orléans are both missing,” Zander told us.

“Lukas?” Rex’s voice interrupted.

“We’re here,” he replied.

“Don’t let Storm out of your sight,” Rex insisted, and I could feel the tension through the phone. “Where are you?”

“I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself,” Storm’s eyes swirled with anger. “I just need to decided if I’m going to kill Darc quickly or slow and painfully.”

“We’re in the limousine in the third arrondissement. Flaym just stepped out to get sandwiches.”

“Balthazar killed the Darc Beta,” Rex said. “The Gamma and Delta submitted, so he claimed the Darc pack. If Pierre wants to remain Alpha he needs to challenge Balthazar for it.”

“Whelp, I suppose that’s one way of ensuring the pack has a lycan Alpha,” Grandma chimed.

“What about the Orléans pack?” I asked.

“Killian and Xena are there with Wylder and Tymber,” Rex replied. “No one seems to know what happened to Alpha François Orléans.”

“And my parents?” I asked.

“Mateo and Paola are at the Darc pack with Ares and Balthazar,” Zander answered. “They may not be back tonight.”

“All the family packs have moved to high alert,” Rex continued. “Ambrose and Chiara went to Italy to ensure Cyrus has no surprises.”

“What’s the update from Cyrus?” Storm asked.

“It’s quiet,” Rex replied.

“Valaria’s a lycan,” I said. “If they were after Persephone, they could try to snatch Valaria.”

“Italy is the safest place for them right now,” Lukas reminded me.

I knew he was right. Nightshade pack was one of the hardest packs to infiltrate because of its location in the Tuscan mountains. It was also the largest pack in Europe and had one of the strongest warrior armies ever known. Alpha Cyrus was an elemental lycan with a lycan mate. Cyrus had other elemental wolves in the family, including his father, uncle, and grandmother. He also had a coven of vampires that lived with his pack. Ambrose was the Vampire King and would do everything he could to keep them safe.

“I want Jose safe, too,” I pleaded. “He could be in danger, and it’s all because of me.”

“I’m not so sure about your friend,” Caspian told me. “He looked into the eyes of a demon and recognized what it was.”

“It wasn’t rocket science,” Grandma Chimed. “The horns probably gave it away.”

Caspian shook his head in disagreement. “He’s been involved with Erick—”

“You heard Rex, Darc was trying to get close to me. Erick could have been using Jose.” I hated the idea of Jose faking a friendship with me for so long just to get information. I would have sensed something insincere about him, and I didn’t.

“We’ll have him stay at the hotel for a few days and watch him carefully,” Lukas announced. “I don’t want him on the family floor. Put him on the second floor and monitor him for anything suspicious.”

Caspian let out a loud groan. “Call Zane and have him get a room ready. I’ll go see what’s taking Flaym so long.”

He pushed the door open and crossed the street to the shop. Grandma grumbled about not being able to see how the sandwiches were made and if the product was fresh.

“Their bread might be made fresh, but how do you know the meat hasn’t been sitting there for months?” Grandma continued just as a white delivery truck squeezed between us and the shop.

There was no way around us, and the delivery truck didn’t seem to care that we were blocking the flow of traffic. I wasn’t sure if the man was delivering fresh meats or getting a sandwich, but I considered mind linking with Flaym to tell him to hurry up. Parisians were not the most patient when it came to traffic jams. I caught sight of his red hair as he held two large bags. The door swung open, and Flaym looked like the cat who had gotten the cream as he climbed into the back seat. The scent of freshly baked bread filled the car, and I looked out the window, searching for Jose. The delivery truck pulled away as the driver bit into a meat-filled sandwich. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Oh man, that was amazing! I have to bring my dad back here,” Flaym boasted. “We need to ship some of those hanging meats back home. This place is incredible.”

“Where’s Jose?” I asked.

“He got the bag of drinks while I was with René. I thought he came out to wait with you.”

“Who’s René?” Lukas questioned.

“His father owns the shop. It’s been in the family for two hundred years!” Flaym told us. “He gave me a quick tour of the place and showed me the meats.”

“He showed you his meat?” Grandma asked.

“I like meat,” my wolf yipped.

“Did you see Caspian?” Lukas questioned.

“No,” Flaym replied. “Wasn’t he here with you?”

“You were taking longer than expected, so he went to make sure you weren’t buying the entire inventory,” Storm told him.

“He’s not responding to my mind link,” Lukas announced.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Grandma said. “The shop is just over there. He couldn’t have gone far.”

Lukas stepped out of the car to look for Caspian. I rolled the window down so I could keep a close eye on my mate. Flaym poked his head out of the sunroof and scanned the street for them. We watched as Lukas stepped inside the shop, looking for Caspian and Jose. A few minutes later, he emerged and gave us a headshake to tell us there was no sign of them.

Storm got out of the car and walked around, trying to scent them. I retrieved my cell phone from my purse and dialed Jose. It went straight to voicemail. I tried Caspian and it was the same. Lukas peered into the windows of the buildings on the street and tried sniffing their scents. The frustrated look on his face told me he couldn’t pick up anything.

“He had the bag with the drinks and chocolate mousse,” Flaym said. “You don’t see the bag sitting around, do you?”

“No.”

“The shop isn’t very big. They couldn’t have disappeared into thin air,” Flaym sighed and lowered his head back into the car. He scooted to the door, and Grandma reached for her purse.

“Grandma, stay in there with Selena,” Lukas ordered.

“No way,” she replied and followed Flaym out the door. “I’m not explaining to Poseidon that I lost his firstborn and heir.”

An hour later, we were seated on the rooftop terrace of the hotel. Flaym was stress-eating his way through a second sandwich as we reviewed the day’s events. Zander ordered the shifters from LaRue Enterprises to track Caspian’s phone.

“Maybe I should go back to Notre-Dame and have a closer look,” Ranger suggested. “See if I pick up anything.”

“Fuck, I’ll have to call Dad,” Rex announced, running his fingers through his hair. “Alpha Darc and Orléans are missing… They could have Caspian.”

“What about the demon and the confessional?” I asked. “Something doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Maybe it was the Houdini disappearing act,” Grandma grumbled.

“I’ll go back to the church and have a look,” Zane said.

“You can’t go alone,” I replied. “There’s a creepy priest, Father Fontenay, who didn’t seem to like us.”

“I can handle a human priest,” Zane assured me.

“Erick is behind all of this,” Storm snarled. “The she-devil at the catacombs, then Erick at the church… this isn’t coincidental. We need to check his apartment. Where does Jose live?”

“Jose lives on the other side of Montmartre, behind the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur.”

“If he’s working with Erick,” Storm warned. “I’ll skin Jose alive.”

Zane and Cynder left to look at the church again. I gave Lukas the address for Jose, which was at the opposite end of Paris from Erick’s apartment. To Storm’s disappointment, Lukas and Rex left to search the apartments, and they both insisted she stay with us at the hotel. Lukas gave Ranger strict orders not to let me or Grandma leave.

Lukas had suggested I get some rest, but I didn’t want to rest. I wanted to be out there looking for Caspian and Jose. Worry flared in me, and I was filled with doubt, wondering if Jose had possibly led Caspian into a trap. Stelle let out a low whine, feeling responsible for not sensing something was wrong with Jose sooner. My mind raced back to all the conversations I’ve had with him, the shopping, spa visits, cooking classes, weekend adventures, and nothing seemed to send up a red flag.

Was I so desperate and lonely for friendship that I had been blind when a viper entered my world?

It was hard to make friends in France because they tended to keep their circles small and valued deep friendships instead of superficial acquaintances. When Jose came along and recognized that I was from the States, we seemed to click. My stomach tightened at the thought that he could have betrayed me.

“Should I call Uncle Poseidon?” Storm asked with uncertainty. “What if they find him, or Caspian saw Jose sneak off and is following him in the shadows?”

“The Moon Realm is on high alert, and I’m not sure we should say anything yet,” Grandma said. “We don’t want to want to cause worry prematurely.”

“You don’t look so well,” my sister’s voice spoke softly.

“I think I need to lie down.”

“I’ll come help you get into bed,” she offered and followed me back to my room with Ranger beside her.

Although Ranger and Caspian were cousins, they were raised as close as brothers. They both looked like younger versions of their twin fathers, and I tried to shove down the guilt. Caspian was an Alpha and should be fine.

“Is there anything I can get you?” Ranger asked as we stepped into the front living section of our two-room suite.

“How about some answers about demons,” I replied sarcastically.

“I don’t know much about demons, but I know someone who does.”

“Who?”

“My mother,” he replied. “We should call her.”

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