Love, Always, Promise [Wolf Creek Pack 5] (2 page)

“You just bring your young man back here to meet me when you find him. That will be thanks enough.”

“Promise,” Ethan replied with a smile.

As he turned away, the nurse stopped him. “Oh, hey, have you tried contacting Sheriff Joe? He might be able to keep an eye out for your young man, especially if he’s lost. He’s one of you, too. He’d understand.”

Ethan turned back, shaking his head. “No, I didn’t think of that, but thanks. I’ll stop by and talk to Joe as soon as I check my apartment again.”

“Good luck, Ethan,” the nurse said as he turned and hurried out of the emergency room. Ethan gave her a little wave and headed back to his apartment. Okay, so Jace wasn’t at the hospital or the bar. Where else could he be?

Ethan tried to look everywhere as he hurried back to his apartment. He didn’t want to miss seeing Jace. He could be anywhere. Reaching his apartment, Ethan hurried up the stairs and ran into his apartment.

He found the place still empty, no sign that anyone had been here since he left. Ethan’s shoulders slumped and tears filled his eyes. Where was Jace? Why wasn’t he here where he should be?

Ethan grabbed a small backpack and filled it with a couple of granola bars and some bottled water, a small blanket and an emergency kit. He grabbed his jacket and the backpack and made his way back out the door. He’d spend all night looking for Jace if he needed to.

* * * *

“My name is Ethan Brown. Can I speak with Sheriff Joe, please?”

“Sheriff Joe is out on a call right now. Is there anything I can do for you?” the deputy behind the counter asked.

Ethan shook his head. “No, I really need to talk to the sheriff. Do you know when he might be back?” he asked, looking around the sheriff’s office.

“It could be any time. If you want to wait for him, you can sit right over there,” the deputy said as he pointed to a line of metal chairs sitting against the far wall. Ethan nodded his head and went to sit down.

He twisted his hands nervously in his lap as he waited. He wasn’t sure that the sheriff could file a missing person’s report. Jace had only been missing since last night, but anything might help.

He spent the entire night covering every inch of town, going into any business that remained open to ask about Jace, asking every person he saw on the street about him. No one had seen his mate.

After a night of searching fruitlessly, he arrived at the sheriff’s office as soon as it opened, hoping to catch the sheriff and talk to him about Jace. He could feel himself getting desperate, afraid he would never find his mate.

He didn’t know what he would do if something happened to Jace or if he never found him. How was he supposed to spend the rest of his life mated with no mate? He never even heard of such a thing.

He heard of werewolves out there that lost their mates to death, but never one that just
lost their mate
. As long as Jace remained alive, he could never be with anyone else, not that he wanted to. He saved himself for Jace and would continue to do so for as long as it took to find him.

Ethan nearly jumped when the double doors on the front of the sheriff’s office opened and a tall, black haired man dressed in a uniform walked in. He waved to the deputy behind the counter as he walked passed.

“Oh, hey, Sheriff, there’s a young man here to see you. He’s been waiting for over an hour,” the deputy said as he pointed toward Ethan.

Ethan quickly jumped to his feet when the sheriff turned to look at him. “Are you Sheriff Joe?”

The sheriff took a few steps toward him. “Yes, you’re Ethan Brown, aren’t you? From Shasta Pack?”

Ethan quickly nodded his head. “Yes, can I speak with you for a few minutes? It’s really important.” How in the hell did the sheriff know who he was? Did he locate Jace? Was Jace looking for him even now?

“Is something wrong?”

Ethan looked around the office. There were just a few people in the room, but he would really prefer talking to the sheriff in private. “Can I talk to you in private?”

The sheriff looked at Ethan for a few moments before he nodded his head. “Come on into my office, Ethan.”

Grabbing his backpack, Ethan followed the sheriff into his office, sitting down in the chair across the desk from the sheriff.

“So, what seems to be the problem, Ethan?”

“A nurse at the hospital suggested that I talk to you. She said you would understand about finding my—my mate?”

“Yes, of course I would. I’m the enforcer for the Wolf Creek Pack. Why?” the sheriff asked as he folded his hands together and sat forward in his chair.

“Oh, thank God. I found my mate last night down at Doogy’s bar. Do you know the place?”

Joe nodded. “My brother Tommy is the bartender there.”

“Anyway, we went back to my place, and he claimed me. I guess I kind of passed out, and when I woke up, he was gone. I can’t find him anywhere. I’ve checked the hospital, the bar, every hotel I could find. It’s like he just disappeared.”

“Okay, slow down,” Joe said, holding up his hand. “You found your mate, he claimed you, then disappeared?”

Ethan nodded. “I’ve been out all night looking for him, but—”

“Are you sure you found your mate, Ethan? Could he have been a human?”

Ethan shook his head. He pulled the collar of his shirt to one side so Sheriff Joe could see the bite mark in his neck. Just a few hours passed since Jace claimed him. Ethan knew the mark would still be a little red but visible to every shifter around.

“Okay, guess that answers that question. What’s his name, description? What do you know about him? Maybe I can track him down and find out what’s going on,” Joe said as he grabbed a piece of paper and pen to take notes.

He looked up when Ethan didn’t immediately answer him. Ethan saw the man’s eyebrows rise. He knew it was because of the flush filling his face.

“Ethan?” the sheriff asked.

Ethan felt like an idiot. He realized that he handled things with Jace all wrong. He knew nothing about his mate except the size of his dick. He should have found out more about him before he fucked him.

“I just know his first name. It’s Jace. Other than that, I don’t know anything about him. We never really got around to the talking part of things. I kind of figured we’d get to that the next morning, but—”

Ethan’s face burned even more when Joe chuckled.

“Okay, I guess I can see that. I didn’t know much about my own mate for several days after I met him. So, why don’t you tell me what you do know?”

“His name is Jace. He’s about six foot three, brown hair, green eyes, and totally hot.”

“Is he from around here?” Joe asked. “Do you know if he belongs to our pack?”

“No, he said he came from out of town. He said he was just passing through.”

“Is there any way he could have left with plans to come back for you?”

Ethan thought about it for a minute. “But wouldn’t you think he would have left me a note or something?”

“Maybe he didn’t have time,” Joe suggested.

Ethan shrugged. “I guess,” he said sadly. Could that have been it? Did Jace take off without leaving note because he didn’t have time? Would Jace come back for him? Wouldn’t he want to come back for him?

Rising to his feet, Ethan grabbed his backpack and looked back at the sheriff. “Thank you for listening to me. I guess I’ll just go home and wait for him to come back. I’m sure you’re right and he just needed to leave in a hurry.”

Even as he said the words, Ethan knew he didn’t believe them. Something dreadful happened to his mate and he knew it. He felt it in the deep ache in his chest.

“Ethan, I’m sure he had a very good reason for leaving the way he did. Just give him some time. In the meanwhile, I’ll keep an eye out for him and see what I can do. Okay?”

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

“If you don’t hear from your mate, why don’t you check in with me in a couple of days,” the sheriff said as he walked Ethan to the door. “Don’t worry. It will all work out in the end.”

Chapter 2

“Hey, Sheriff, they keeping you busy around here?”

Sheriff Joe Nash looked up to see his long time friend, Jason Dominick, standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, leaning up against the doorframe. “JD, how the hell are you? Come on in.”

“I’m doing a lot better now, but it has been a long road,” JD said as he walked in and sat down in a chair across from Joe’s. He leaned back and propped his feet up on the edge of the desk. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been great, better than I have in years,” Joe replied, a deep chuckle coming from him.

“Oh? Do tell,” JD encouraged.

“I found my mate a few months back.” Joe grinned. “He’s the most gorgeous thing you ever laid eyes on.”

“He?” JD whistled. “Wow, bet that set your parents back a bit.”

Joe shook his head. “Not really. I mean, sure, they were a little surprised in the beginning, but now Nate and my mom are nearly inseparable. I swear he spends more time at my parents’ house than he does at home.”

“My father would disown me in a heartbeat if he even caught wind that you and I were friends, let alone if my mate was another man. He doesn’t tolerate anything that remotely smells gay or lesbian.”

“Really? That’s too bad. We have several gay and lesbian couples in our pack. Sure, there are a few grumbles here and there, but for the most part, no one cares. A mate is a mate. We don’t choose them, fate does.”

JD shrugged his shoulders. “I guess. I just couldn’t ever see myself in that type of relationship. My mate will be a woman that can provide my father with his grandcubs. My father set down that law a long time ago.”

“And if your mate is a man?” Joe asked seriously.

JD shook his head. “Fate wouldn’t be that cruel to me. There’s no way I can take over after my father as alpha of our pack if I’m mated to a man.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing?” Joe asked. “Getting ready to take over for your father?”

JD knew that Joe wanted to change the subject. He couldn’t blame the man. It was a touchy subject. He always knew Joe was gay, but it never bothered him. He just knew he couldn’t be gay. It wasn’t allowed.

His father carefully explained that to him when he was seventeen years old and got caught kissing a boy. His father set down the law concerning
homo depravities
, as he called them. Then he proceeded to beat the lesson into him.

JD dated only women, making sure no one ever saw him with a man again. He hadn’t ever really been in a relationship with a woman, much to his father’s disappointment. But he never got in a relationship with a man, either.

“Not really. I’ve actually been recovering from silver poisoning.”

“Whoa, silver poisoning?” Joe whistled. “How the hell did that happen?”

“It was stupid, really. About three months ago, my brother Robert decided that he wanted to be next in line. He and his goons jumped me, but instead of doing it in an honorable challenge, they tried to take me out with silver daggers.”

“What happened?”

“I didn’t kill them, but only because I bled too much. I sure as hell did some damage, though. By the time it was all over, I was in pretty bad shape. It took nearly three weeks for me to get over it.”

“I’ll bet. I’m just glad you did. I can’t remember hearing of anyone that has gotten over silver poisoning like that,” Joe said.

“I almost didn’t.” JD snorted. “The silver got into my blood stream. I felt pretty bad for a while. Everything got all screwed up. I couldn’t smell right, I couldn’t hear right, nothing.”

“Really? Lost all of your senses? That sucks,” Joe exclaimed.

“You’re telling me. The worst of it is that the entire time is one big haze. There’s still bits and pieces of time I don’t even remember even now. I think I was pretty much in a fog,” JD replied.

“But everything is okay now?” Joe asked, the concern clear in his voice.

“Well, except for the fog, yeah,” JD chuckled. “I still don’t remember much of anything that happened during those three weeks. Doubt I ever will. Everything else seems to be back to normal, though.”

“That’s good. I would hate to think—come in?” Joe said when someone knocked on the door.

JD turned his head to see another deputy open the door and stick his head in. “Hey, Sheriff, I hate to bother you, but we’re a little of concerned. Ethan didn’t come by today, and it’s his regular check in. He never misses a week. We wondered if you could maybe go check on him.”

“Yeah, sure, Charlie. I’d be happy to,” Joe replied, reaching for his brown cowboy hat. He looked over at JD as he got to his feet. “Feel like going for a ride?”

“Yeah, I guess,” JD replied as he got to his feet and followed Joe out of the sheriff’s station.

As he climbed into Joe’s bronco and put on his seatbelt, he looked over at Joe in curiosity. “So, what’s up with this Ethan guy? Did he miss out on his weekly donut drop or something?”

“No, not exactly.” Joe chuckled. “About three months ago, Ethan met his mate in a bar, took him home, and mated him. When he woke up the next morning, his mate was gone. At the time, we thought he just went home to take care of some business and he would come back.”

“And?” JD asked when Joe stopped talking.

Joe shook his head. “Ethan never saw him again. He came to see me and wanted to file a missing person’s report, but he barely knew anything about his mate. Too busy getting laid.” Joe chuckled. “Since then, he comes in once a week to see if I’ve found anything out.”

“Man, poor guy. Do you think he will ever find his mate?” JD couldn’t imagine being without his mate once he found her. He felt sad for the man. He must be going through hell.

Joe shook his head. “I did in the beginning, but it’s been nearly three months. I’m starting to wonder if the guy even knew he mated Ethan.”

“Could Ethan be wrong about the mating?”

“No, I wondered that at first, too, but I saw the bite myself. He definitely claimed Ethan.” Joe replied as he parked in front of a red brick building. “I feel bad for the guy. Even after all of this time, he’s totally convinced his mate will come back for him. I don’t have the heart to tell Ethan he’ll probably never see him again.”