The Heir (30 page)

His knuckles had barely graced the wood when
the door swung open and took a step back.

"Hey Dani." He shoved his hands into his
pockets and tried to smile by his attempt fell short and it looked
more like a grimace.

In reality he had forgotten what it was like
to smile. Since Jessica’s disappearance he had forgotten about the
brighter things in life all together. Without her his world had
become dark and cold. In the beginning, he had thought of her as
his prey, he'd thought himself smart and cunning but he was an
amateur compared to her.

It was she who had snuck up on him without
him being the wiser. She crept up on him and the next thing he knew
she had become his world. Now that she was gone...he felt as if he
was lost in space with nothing holding him down.

Nothing.

Nick swallowed back the vile that crept up
with that thought. He couldn't bear the agony, couldn't bear to
think that this was what the rest of his life would be like without
Jessica. That was what kept him coming back. His need for Jessica
had made him do what no one else ever could.

It had made him, a proud alpha, get down on
his knees and beg.

"Hey Nick, what a surprise seeing you here."
Dani commented sarcastically, pulling him back from his
self-created abyss. She walked around him and towards her car, her
car keys dangling from her fingers and continued over her shoulder.
"Wish I could chat today but I've got things to do and no one else
is home today."

Nick sighed heavily; he was tired of being
brushed off.

He was tired of being treated like the
plague.

Using his shifters speed, he rushed past her
and a second later, stood blocking her car door. A startled Dani
stumbled back a step with her hand over her mouth to cover her
gasp. She was trying to keep him from noticing her terror but the
erratic beating of her heart had already clued him in on her fear
of him.

It was that and the scent of chlorine
suddenly bombarding his senses.

Nick hung his head in immediate remorse. He
regretted scaring her but he was tired of being brushed off. He had
endured it for months, knew it was part of his penitence but his
patience was wearing thin. He didn't know how much longer he could
go on like this nor did he want to find out.

He took a couple of deep breaths then raised
his head to look at her with his hands out of his pockets, open,
palm out in front of him to show her that he meant her no harm.
Dani's heartbeat slowed down but the wary look did not leave her
eyes nor did her body relax.

"I'm late Nick, I have to go." She explained
nervously.

"Please tell me where she is." Nick pleaded,
his voice sounding hoarse and thick even to himself.

Dani looked at him for a second, with what he
thought was pity in her eyes, and shook her head. It happened so
fast that it left Nick thinking that he'd only imagined it. That
his mind was playing tricks on him. Making him think he saw the
things he wanted to see.

"I can't," She moved her hands in a helpless
motion. "Jessica wants nothing to do with you."

Her words confirmed his belief; his mind was
playing tricks on him. For a second his spirits had lifted thinking
that he was finally getting through to one of them. But it had all
been wishful thinking on his part.

"Please," he begged. "I have to see her. I
have to talk to her. Make her understand." He ran a hand through
his hair in frustration of his inability to express himself
correctly. He hated that he couldn't find the right words to
persuade any of the Robertson’s into giving him the information he
wanted. "Please tell me where she is." He pleaded once again in a
soft voice filled with dejection.

Dani didn't believe his act and hardened her
heart against his haggard look. She knew from experience how good
his kind was at lying and how little they truly cared. His false
look of desolation was nothing compared to the pain she'd witnessed
from Jessica.

Dani empathized with Jessica's pain.

She knew how it felt to be used. Knew how it
felt to find out that the person you'd fallen in love with only
thought about you as a means to an end. Dani knew all too well the
debilitating pain of having to be around that person day in and day
out. It was a pain she would do everything in her power to save
Jessica from because she knew that unlike Christian, Nick wouldn't
be letting Jessica go.

Unlike Christian, Nick had a lot more to
lose.

With that thought Dani took a deep breath and
told him to move on. "Jessica is gone and she is not coming back."
She continued with spark of cruelty she didn’t know she possessed.
"She's creating a new life that doesn't involve you. You need to
move on."

Nick could smell a lie before he even heard
it and everything Dani said smelt of truth. He looked down at the
ground trying to hide the pain that her words inflicted. Every word
she spoke drove a knife through his heart.

She's creating a new life without you.

The words engraved themselves in his soul,
creating a new kind of torment in his mind.

"I can't," he whispered without lifting his
gaze from the ground; trying to breathe past the constriction in
his throat.

Dani steeled herself from the anguish that he
so clearly transmitted, telling herself that it was all lies. Every
look, every word was a lie.

"Then I'm sorry for you." Dani looked
pointedly at her wrist watch. "Sorry for cutting this short but I
really must get going."

Nick sighed in defeat and ran a hand down his
face; once again his pleas had landed on deaf ears. "Fine, sorry
for keeping you." He got out of her way and turned to go then
stopped and turned back to her just as she was getting into her
car. "Oh and Dani?"

Dani paused halfway into her car to look back
at him. "Yeah?"

"I'm not giving up. I'm not moving on. I will
find her, there's nowhere in this world where you guys can hide her
that I will not look.'’ His eyes glittered with conviction as they
connected with hers. "I know you guys flew her out of here, it’s
just a matter of time until I reach the end of the trail."

His words caused waves of shivers to surge
through her body like an earthquake triggered tsunami wave surging
inland. She knew he'd been determined before but his words and the
force he spoke them with were something new.

Dani nodded and turned away before he noticed
her renewed apprehension. "Good luck with that; goodbye Nick."

Nick watched her settle in her seat, cringed
when she slammed the door, the noise left his sensitive ears
ringing, and turned away when she turned on her car. He had known
it would be a waste of time. It always was; and even though he
already knew what to expect, he couldn't stay away.

To stay away meant to go insane.

Trying to convince Jessica’s' family to tell
him where she had gone was all he could do. He couldn't go out
looking for her like he wanted to. He was the Alpha and he couldn't
leave the pack for long periods of time. Since Jessica's
disappearance some members were weary and in need of the reassuring
presence of their Alpha.

Also, due to the chaos that Jessica’s
disappearance had caused, there were some members who might see his
absence as a chance to take control of the pack. A weak or absent
Alpha didn't stay an Alpha for long. So he stayed, even though
every breath he took hurt, even though every day was a nightmare
that he couldn't escape, he stayed because they were his
responsibility and he couldn't turn his back on them.

For the first time, the weight of his
responsibility was unbearable. Just once, he wished someone would
tell him what to do. But there was no one, no one to empathize with
him, no one. He was the Alpha; he alone was responsible for the
lives of his people.

Nick took a deep breath, trying to relieve
the tightness in his chest and crossed the street to where Axel and
Christian were leaning against the car waiting for him.

Even though it was unnecessary since they'd
heard and seen everything, they still looked at him expectantly and
he shook his head. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration
and muttered a curse under his breath that they also clearly
heard.

Christian pushed himself away from the car
and jogged past a dejected Nick.

"Where are you going?" Axel asked him.

"To give it a try."

Nick shook his head, he knew it was going to
be futile and told him so.

Christian laughed but it didn't quite reach
his eyes and not for the first time did Nick notice how tired he
looked. The same could also be said about Axel. They'd taken
Jessica’s' disappearance personally and for the longest time Nick
had also blamed them. It had been easier to blame them than admit
that the entire fault rested squarely on his shoulders.

If only he would have...

Nick forced himself away from that thought
for it only lead to insanity.

"We are going to find her."

Nick looked at Axel and allowed his control
to slip, allowed for all his desperation and pain to show if only
for a moment before masking it once again. "That was said four
months ago." He told him hoarsely.

"I'm sorry." Axel looked away. "I don't know
what else to tell you.'

Nick understood that Axel wasn't just
apologizing for his lack of response and Nick shook his head. "The
entire fault lies squarely on me. I should have-" Nick shook his
head again and turned away. "I can't do this, and I have to get out
here. I'll see you guys back at home."

"Where are you going? I will go with
you."

Axel took a step forward but Nick stopped
him. "I need to be on my own."

"But-"

"Alone." He laced the word with power as a
reminder that he was still Alpha, as a warning that, even though he
didn't look like it, he was still strong enough to rule; strong
enough to defend himself. If he couldn't take care of himself,
people would notice and how could he care for a pack if he couldn't
care for himself?

Axel understood that but he didn't like it,
he nodded and reluctantly went back to leaning against the car. "Be
careful."

"Yeah, call me if Christian has any
luck."

Axel nodded and as Nick walked away he sent
out a silent prayer asking for Christian’s success.

Dani was rolling out of her driveway, looking
over her left shoulder when there was suddenly a knock on her
passenger side window. She stepped on the breaks and all of the
composure she'd managed to regain after her confrontation with Nick
went flying out the window.

Her breath caught in her chest and a shiver
of soul deep recognition raced through her body when she looked
into Christians brown eyes.

She had not seen him in weeks and her
treacherous heart skipped a beat at the sight of him.

With a not too steady hand she rolled down
the window. "Today seems to be filled with surprises," she said,
avoiding his eyes from fear that she would give her feelings away.
"Like I told your master, I have things to do."

She released the brakes and started to back
out again without giving him a chance to reply but Christian had
other ideas. He reached down through the opened window, unlocked
the door, opened it and jumped in. Dani immediately slammed on the
brakes and looked at him.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm tagging along." Christian smiled at her
as he reached for the seat belt and buckled up. "Where are we
going?"

"You weren't invited, get out."

Christian shook his head and chided her. "Is
that the way you talk to your-"

"Don’t say it," she told him fiercely. "Don’t
you dare say it."

"It's not going to go away," Christian
murmured. "I'm not going to go away."

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel
until the blood went out of them. "Get out," she gritted.

"Tell me where she is."

"Go to hell."

"I'm already there." He told her softly.

Dani threw her head back and laughed
jaggedly. "You were always the comedian." She looked bitterly at
him and spat out, "You know nothing about hell."

Christian shook his head. It was always the
same argument and it never got them anywhere. Nothing he said could
get through to her and he couldn't blame her.

He couldn't blame her.

He deserved her scorn, he'd left her when she
needed him the most and he would never forgive himself. She might
not believe him but every day without her was hell. He would have
to live with his mistakes for the rest of his life but he couldn't
give her what she most wanted; her freedom. He refused to live
without her, he'd give her time but not her freedom, never
that.

He told her that and Dani shook her head.

"You and Nick are the same; you only care
about your wants. You don't care about who you hurt. You guys are
like fire, uncontrolled, destroying everything in your path."

Christian shook his head. "That's not
true."

Dani continued over his denial. "You do
whatever you need to do to get what you want. You used me to get
the information you needed and left as soon as you got it," she
accused him, every word leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. "You
took advantage-"

"Don’t," He interrupted. “Don’t cheapen what
we had-have."

Danielle, turned off the ignition, unbuckled
her seatbelt and turned in her seat to face him, her blood boiling
and ready to explode. "No, you did that! I’m only putting a name to
what you did! You used me and left me to deal with the aftermath.
You used me!"

She snapped. After all this time of keeping
it all bottled inside, she snapped. Every word she spoke, she
punctuated with a punch to his chest. It was wrong.

She knew it was wrong but all the pain she'd
kept bottled inside came surfing up and she wanted him to feel a
fraction of the anguish she lived with every day. The sorrow that
bore down on her soul which she carried like a dirty little secret,
for what she'd lost all those years ago.