Chapter 530: Clothes
Graeme felt his mate’s panic like a punch in the gut.
He and Sam had been standing around the fire drinking a mug of the latest brew Jack had created specifically for the Midsummer holiday. Jack was happy to entertain them on this auspicious night, especially since he didn’t get to see his cousin and former business partner much anymore. He was managing the farm brewery on his own these days since Sam had fully taken on the Beta role.
And then Graeme felt it—August’s panic.
"Is it happening?" Sam asked, immediately aware of the change in Graeme’s energy.
Graeme’s eyes snapped to his as he was about to answer, but then a dungeon guard sprinted to their side.
"Pearce is gone!" The male said, the shock from this truth painted on his face.
"What?" Both the Alpha and Beta said at once.
"That’s impossible," Graeme shook his head, not understanding. "No, that can’t be. Look again."
"I... I..." the male stuttered, not wishing to argue with his Alpha but also knowing with one hundred percent certainty that it was in fact true. He would not have dared speak the words if he was not certain.
"Fuck," Graeme cursed under his breath and darted toward the dungeon entrance. So much for the daddy filter.
Sam was on his tail, letting his own string of curses fly when they arrived to find the cell empty. There was no tunnel burrowing out. There was no evidence of any kind as to how he had ended up missing. He was just... gone.
Graeme glared hard at the empty space. There was no way. There was absolutely no way that male could have done this on his own. Even if he had somehow miraculously gotten out—if the sky had opened up and delivered unto him some kind of answer to his tortured prayers—there was no way he would make it off of pack land in the condition he was in. He was practically a skeleton.
"I can’t worry about this right now," Graeme snarled.
"Let me worry about it. I will round up some guys to hunt him down," Sam said.
"All of our best males are gone," Graeme scoffed. This couldn’t be a coincidence. If he hadn’t changed his mind, he wouldn’t even be here right now.
"I’ll figure it out, Graeme," he replied.
"Do you even scent him?" Graeme asked, his eyebrows raised in question. "Outside of this cell, do you even scent him?"
Sam backed up and realized at once what Graeme had apparently noticed as soon as they entered. There was no scent. Pearce had quite literally vanished—scent and all.
"I can’t fucking do this right now," Graeme snarled, turning to leave the dungeon. "My son is coming. See what you can find out. You know where I will be."
He tore into his wolf and used the run to Maggie’s cottage to clear his head of all of the ugly thoughts that were crowding it. Either someone in their pack had aided Pearce or someone outside of their pack had infiltrated again without any of them noticing.
Both possibilities were infuriating. He thought they had fixed these issues. He thought they were all finally united—all serving one common goal. All serving one purpose—to support that precious golden threat of unity that wove them all together.
He shook his head and blew the fury out of his nose as he ran. He wasn’t going to show up to support his mate with this anger in his body. He wasn’t going to let her feel that from him. They were welcoming their son tonight. That was all that mattered right now. The rest could be dealt with later.
Graeme ran through the crowd of females at the back of Maggie’s cottage, their surprised and happy faces going by in a blur as he focused on one thing—August’s scent. It was full of fear, and everything inside of him alerted to that fact. He had to get to her. He had to protect his mate.
Once he was inside the cottage door, he jumped back into his skin, racing up the steps to where he could hear her now. Goddess, she was in so much pain. He could feel it tightening in his own chest.
There were four females in the room: Greta, Maggie, Selah, and his mate. She was bent over, grasping the bed post with tears rolling down her face.
"Graeme," she breathed, relief washing over her face. "I knew you wouldn’t leave me. I knew it." She chuckled before tension took hold of her again, gripping every muscle in her body as she felt another wave of pain climbing over her.
Maggie and Selah quietly ducked out of the room as he strode to her side.
"Clothes," she said through gritted teeth, her eyes flitting toward where the females had departed.
"I’m here, Moon," he said, taking her hand that was gripping the bed so she could transfer all of her pain onto him instead.
He kissed the back of her knuckles and watched as she relaxed with his touch. He was the only one in the world who had the ability to dull this pain that was determined to surmount her, and it was an instant relief.
She breathed through the remainder of the contraction, silent tears rolling down her face through the end of it from just... relief. He was here. He hadn’t gone to hunt a stag after all.
"Thank you," she said on the final long exhale, smiling softly when she opened her eyes to focus on him once again. "Put some clothes on, my love."
"What?" He chuckled, kissing her knuckles again. "You are worried about that right now?"
"Yes. That’s mine," she said, gesturing toward the very impressive size of his masculinity that was on display for all to see.
"Clothes is what you said," he repeated, the smile wide on his face from amusement as he realized his misunderstanding. "Not close."
"No one disagrees that he is yours. I can assure you," Greta chuckled and rolled her eyes.
"Still. Put some clothes on," August panted, preparing herself for the next wave of contractions.
"Well I suppose we can see what Maggie has available," Greta said, shifting from her place at August’s side to the closet so Graeme wouldn’t have to move from where he was offering himself as her pain relief.
