Heaven's Hell [Brac Pack 13] (3 page)

Thankfully, they got away, and the warrior Storm had rescued them. Keata didn’t speak English very well, so another mate, Oliver, ordered mangas in Japanese for Keata to enjoy.

“I have both. Let me go get them for you. They’re in the back.” Murdock dropped down onto the sofa, letting his head fall back.

Visions of his mate kept playing in his mind. That gorgeous head of autumn hair, the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen, and the heartwrenching look on his face. For the millionth time Murdock cursed himself.

Why would fate pick that exact moment to introduce him to his mate?

Murdock growled. He wanted his mate, wanted him here right now. His cock that normally was hard ninety percent of the time lay flaccid in his jeans, his libido hitting rock bottom.

It wasn’t about his staid cock. It was about finding his mate and having the man forgive him. He probably screwed that chance up.

Murdock wondered if he would ever see him again.

Murdock’s heart felt heavy and his chest restricted at the thought of losing his mate. He rubbed the palm of his hand over his chest, wishing he could go back to last night and change what had happened.

He thought about going back to that club, taking up post until his mate showed up. But the way the guy took off, the man wasn’t going to step foot in there again. That was too much for Murdock to hope for.

“Here they are. Should I put them on Oliver’s expense account?”
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“I guess. Send the bill to the house. Nero will see that it gets paid.” Murdock took the bag from Murphy.

“It’s not due until the end of the month. Maverick has a new assistant?” Murphy wrote in his book, tacking on the recently purchased items to Oliver’s tab.

“Yeah, hired him about four months ago. Nice guy.” Even if the new accountant didn’t approve his truck loan.

“Okay, give me his name so I know who to send the invoice to.”

“Nero Credence.” Murdock watched as Murphy wrote the name down. His hand was wrapped in a stretch bandage. Murdock wondered how someone hurt their wrist shelving books.

“Got it. Have a nice day, Murdock.” Murphy looked up at him and smiled.

“Same to you.” Murdock wished he could. Thoughts of his mate plagued his brain nonstop since last night. He felt miserable, dirty, and heartbroken.

Murdock walked back to the garage and waited inside the office.

It was too cold to hang outside and wait.

Murdock sat in Caden’s office. Caden was Mark’s mate, and he made the appointments and kept the records for the shop.

Caden used to be one of the Sentries, Timber wolves that guarded the Den and surrounding area, keeping the mates safe.

But one fateful night made him realize he wasn’t Sentry material.

At least not yet.

Only being ninety years old, he was still a bit young. So Caden decided to wait until he was mature enough to handle the job.

Murdock respected the pup for his decision. It couldn’t have been easy.

“All done.” Mark chuckled as he wiped his hands on the shop rag and then shoved it into his back pocket. “I won’t even explain to you what I did.” He wrote a few notes on a clipboard and then handed it to Caden.

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“Thanks.” Murdock grabbed the bag filled with books, waited for Mark to pull his truck out, and signed the paperwork for Nero’s records. He tossed the bag on the passenger seat.

He steered the truck onto the street, and noticed it didn’t make that noise anymore, so Murdock was happy. The drive home was peaceful.

Pulling onto the gravel drive, Murdock parked his truck, cut the motor, and climbed out.

“Damn it.” Murdock turned around, forgetting the bag of books.

Once he grabbed them from the truck, he jogged up the front steps and into the house.

“Here you go.” Murdock tossed the bag on the couch in the den.

“Thanks.” Oliver dug through the bag, setting Keata’s mangas aside.

The warrior waved to a few Sentries, grabbed a juice from the juice bar, and went upstairs to his room.

Murdock collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. All he could see were big blue eyes staring accusingly at him.

He groaned, turning over to his side, and stared at the bathroom door. That couldn’t be the only chance fate would give him. At only one hundred and fifty-five years old, he had a long way to go to be all alone.

So how was he going to find his mate? It wasn’t a question of
if
, but a question of when. He wasn’t giving up. That blue-eyed angel would be his.

A knock sounded on his door. “Yeah?” Blair, one of the mates, opened his bedroom door and stuck his head in. “Dinner is almost ready.”

Murdock nodded as Blair closed his door. He didn’t have an appetite. The only thing on his mind was finding his mate and erasing that pained look from his beautiful face. He knew his mate was a shifter. Only a shifter recognized their mate, and from the look on the man’s face in the club, his mate had recognized what they were.

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Lynn Hagen

Did he live in the city? Murdock hadn’t heard of any wolf pack living there. He shot up from his bed. But there was one to the east.

The Eastern pack.

That’s where his mate would be from. It was a long shot, but Murdock was desperate to find him. He would head out at the crack of dawn. It was only a few hours’ drive. Would the Alpha of the Eastern pack allow him to snoop around?

He could call Jazz. Jasper used to be a Sentry here until he mated the Alpha of the Eastern pack. He could convince his old pack mate to help him in his search.

Feeling a little better, Murdock washed up for dinner. George would cause a fuss if he sat at the dinner table with dirty hands.

Although Murdock was a very hygienic wolf, George had a knack for finding the slightest speck of dirt and sending you off to scrub down.

The guy took cooking too damn seriously in Murdock’s opinion.

Checking his nails to ensure they were top notch clean, Murdock headed downstairs.

He could hear dinner already underway. Rounding the corner into the dining room, Murdock heard a gasp, glass shatter, and a chair knock over.

“Heaven, what’s the matter?”

Murdock looked over at the commotion.
Fuck me, man!
There, standing with his hands clutched to his chest, was his mate.

* * * *

No, no, no.
This couldn’t be happening. Just couldn’t. Heaven covered his mouth, trying to stop the sob from leaving his lips. How could his mate be here? Fuck, his bad luck was never going to leave his side.

“What’s wrong, Heaven?” Alpha Maverick asked.

Heaven’s eyes narrowed as rage consumed him. How dare his mate stand there looking gorgeous enough to eat? He had no right!

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“Heaven?” His mate said his name, and it sounded like harps playing from heaven.

“You cheating son of a bitch!” Heaven covered his mouth as he ran from the room.

His mate tried to stop him by grabbing his arm, but he yanked his arm away and ran for the front door.

He had to get out of here.

The pain was just too much to bear.

Flashes of his mate’s cock buried deep in that other man blurred Heaven’s vision. He became disoriented, slamming into the front door.

“Wait!” his mate called after him.

Heaven had to leave. He couldn’t listen to the lies his mate would try to tell him in that deep, sexy timbre.

Heaven turned to see the Alpha slam his mate into the wall as his nails grew, his canines descended, and his muzzle elongated.

“You cheated on your mate!” The Alpha roared in his mate’s face, and all Heaven could do was watch with a feeling of detachment. This was a dream. It didn’t feel real.

“No!” his mate yelled. “I didn’t know. I haven’t claimed him. He walked in while I was in the bathroom.” The Alpha snarled. “Go into the dining room and wait for me now!”

Heaven watched as his mate looked sadly at him before walking away, walking away from him, not even fighting to stay by his side.

“Heaven, my office now. Please.” Maverick didn’t wait for Heaven to move. He walked away in an angry rage. Shit, Heaven was terrified to go into that office. Maverick looked as though he had escaped from hell.

“Go. Hurry.” The Alpha’s mate, Cecil, ushered him down the hall.

* * * *

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Lynn Hagen

Murdock paced the dining room. All eyes were on him. He didn’t care. All he wanted was Heaven.

It took him all of two seconds to realize he was Tangee’s cousin.

The small mate glared at him. Murdock ignored him. It didn’t matter.

He hadn’t done anything wrong. Not technically. Although he had thought about the fact that he would have flipped out if the roles were reversed, so he really couldn’t blame Heaven for his pain or his hatred.

“Maverick wants you,” Cecil announced as he stood in the doorway.

Murdock hurried forward, meeting the mate in the hallway.

“Where’s Heaven?”

Cecil curled his lips in and shook his head. He pointed down the hallway toward the Alpha’s office. Murdock nodded and watched as the small mate joined the others in the dining room.

Blowing a steady breath, Murdock felt like he was walking to his execution as he entered the alpha’s office. He ran his hand over his head as he looked around Maverick’s office for Heaven.

“Have a seat.”

Murdock chose to sit on the leather sofa instead of one of the two leather chairs situated in front of the Alpha’s desk. It made it seem less official when he sat on the sofa. He didn’t like the grave look on Maverick’s face. This wasn’t going to go well at all, he could feel it down to his bones.

Maverick studied him for a moment as he pulled on his soul patch, his eyes giving nothing away. “What happened?” he finally asked.

Murdock sat forward, placed his wrists on his knees, and stared at the floor. He began to pick at his fingernails as he spoke. “I was at the club, met a guy in the bathroom. My mate walked in while I was fucking him where everyone could see.”

“Jesus, Murdock.” Maverick pounded his fist into his desk, his head shaking back and forth. A low growl sounded through the office.

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25

“I swear. I didn’t know he was in the club. Hell, I didn’t even think he was in the same state.” Murdock defended himself.

“I just got off of the phone with Heaven’s father. He’s demanding restitution.”

Murdock glanced up. “Does he want me to disavow Heaven? Is he demanding my portfolio?” Murdock’s head was in a whirl. He wouldn’t survive if he couldn’t see his mate again. What if he couldn’t lay eyes on that angelic man or hold him close? This was fucking torture.

“It’s not that easy, Murdock.” Maverick pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a long breath. “In exchange for what you did to his son…he wants your life.”

Murdock’s head snapped back. He knew when you cheated on your mate, the person who had been wronged could demand what they wanted. And if that mate was still under the care of a parent, then the parent could demand it. But his death?

“Maverick, you do realize this is justice, not restitution?”

“I understand, but put yourself in their shoes, Murdock. I warned you many times that your ways would catch up to you.”

“Did Heaven ask for it or his father?”

“Does it matter?” Maverick asked in a gentler voice.

Murdock thought about it. “Yes, it does.” If his mate demanded it, he had no chance in hell.

“His father. All Heaven did was cry.” God, he felt like total shit. “Can I ask who he named as my executioner?”

Maverick leaned forward, stared Murdock straight in his eyes and set his jaw. “He named me.”

Murdock jumped up. He knew if he didn’t find a solution, Maverick would have no choice but to do it. “Course of action?”

“As your named executioner, I grant you two weeks to go to your mate and seek his forgiveness. If, at the end of those two weeks, Heaven has not forgiven you and his father has not accepted your
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Lynn Hagen

apology, then you must return here. I would advise against running.

You know I can track you.” Murdock could see how much Maverick hated this. If the alpha didn’t abide by the demand, then Maverick would be challenged by not only Heaven’s father but their Alpha. It was a law handed down through the generations, and no Alpha went against it.

Murdock stood to leave, ready to pack his things tonight and head out to find his mate. He didn’t hate his Alpha. He knew Maverick had no choice in the matter.

“Murdock?”

He turned, staring his Alpha in the eyes.

“I suggest you get this taken care of. I haven’t lost a Sentry yet and don’t plan on starting now.”

Murdock nodded, left his Alpha’s office, and headed upstairs. He packed a few items. He made sure he packed a change of clothes for a few days and his toiletry bag. Without a backward glance, Murdock closed the front door and headed for his truck.

He wasn’t a coward. If Heaven couldn’t forgive him, then he would return to his pack and take his punishment. Maverick didn’t need to warm him. Murdock knew his pack was the best in their tracking, hearing, and night vision skills. Even if he contemplated it, Murdock knew that his Alpha was sending someone to watch him.

Murdock felt eyes on him from the house as he pulled his truck from the gravel drive and onto the paved road.

This was wrong in so many different ways. Murdock wouldn’t argue the point that he wasn’t mated to Heaven or even knew he existed when it happened. His job now was to get Heaven to forgive him and hopefully start fresh with his mate.

* * * *

Heaven lay in his bed, wishing he hadn’t gone to that stupid club.

All he wanted was to get out and have some fun. None of this would
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have happened if he had gone to meet his cousin sooner. He would have met his mate and lived a happy life.