Chapter 24

Looking into the room Devin checked on Rayne. As far as mates went he wasn’t doing a great job of keeping her safe. He’d let her get lost in a storm, cut and then he over-medicated her. Feeling inadequate wasn’t something he had ever experienced. Shaking his head, he forced himself to leave her alone to rest, and went back to his small office. He had to figure this out. If what she said meant what he thought, then things were worse then he’d first imagined. Rayne had not only taken Tomas’s car, but she’d broken off her engagement to him. Rage rushed through Devin’s veins at the thought of her being with a man like that, but he forced it aside and looked back at the archive information on the screen.

Nicholas hadn’t been Sarah’s true mate, but they had been in love. After a challenge for Sarah by her mate they had fled Canada and gone to the States. What the archive wasn’t going to tell him was how Nicholas had ended up in servitude with the Tomas family.

The phone rang, he grabbed it so it wouldn’t wake Rayne. “Hello?”

“Devin. It’s Calum.”

He hadn’t thought hearing from anyone would ease the tension in his body, but Calum did that. “You’ve talked to father?”

“Briefly. I’m heading in that direction now, thought you could fill in some blanks.”

Rubbing a hand over his eyes Devin opened them again and looked at the screen. “I have a lot of blanks myself.”

He chortled, “That doesn’t surprise me.” He paused for a few seconds. “Look, after I got over my shock of your dad calling me to back you up, I realized you’d agreed and I have to tell you I never thought I’d see that day and it worries me.”

“I know. How much do you know?”

“Well, you have a mate. Were you planning on sharing that sometime soon?”

Devin closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. “I’ve only had a few days to come to terms with it myself. I never imagined...”

Calum laughed, “We all know there’s that one for us out there, and yet each time we’re surprised. I was more referring to letting me in on it, I am your first and what affects you is going to affect both Gage and myself at some point.”

He hadn’t thought of that either, then again, it’s not like he knew he had a mate before this week. If Devin took his place in the pack and Alliance, Calum was his first and Gage his second and the three of them would continue along that path until they passed it on to their sons. It was, regardless of his position, their responsibility to watch his back. Until this week, he’d never had the need for either one.

“Are you still there?”

“Yeah. Sorry my mind is all over the place right now.”

“With good reason.”

Devin got up and wandered over to the window. “Okay, quick summary. My mate doesn’t even know what she is or anything about her own heritage, as far as I can tell. She’s the daughter of Nicholas and Sarah Andrews, they’re dead and he worked for the Tomas family in Chicago...”

“Shit! It’s as bad as I imagined it was going to be.”

“I’m not done yet.” He took a deep breath and tried not to focus on the jealousy that wanted to surface as he thought of the next part. “Rayne was engaged to Aiden Tomas, I don’t know the details yet, but as far as I can figure she took one of his cars and took off and ended up here...”

“Jesus, Devin, we’re going to be ass deep in it now.” He sighed. “Couldn’t you just have an impending challenge to your place in the pack or something?

Devin ran a hand through his hair and tried to relax a bit. “I know.”

“You should be high-tailing it back to your pack, where you have a lot more back up than myself.”

“It’s complicated. Rayne doesn’t know anything.” He glanced towards the door and debated on going to check on her.

“Anything? Are you saying she has no clue about Tomas? She had to know what her parents were.”

“I don’t think she did.”

“Cripes, you had to do it all the hard way. So, what’s the plan?”

“I’m waiting to see how bad her foot is and then head for higher ground. I just have to figure out how to tell her...”

“Wait. Her foot? You lost me. She’s hurt?”

Devin went back over to the window and leaned against it. “She got caught in the storm last night, it took me hours to find her...”

“What the hell was she doing out in a storm? Is there something else I need to know?”

He pictured the expression on his friend and protectors face. Annoyed and confused unless Devin missed his guess. “It’s a long story, Calum.” He opened the window and let the breeze bring all the scents from outside in. Nothing seemed out of place. “How soon can you be here? Have you talked to Gage?” He may not be ready to be king, but he knew when he was outnumbered.

He made a noise that sounded like a cross between a growl and a laugh. “Gage is tail deep in his own mate issues right now.”

Devin felt sympathy for him. “Kelsey’s back?”

“Any day now, and he’s barely hanging on.”

He could hear the sounds in the background as Calum drove, he was still in the city. “I am so very thankful I haven’t had to cool my heels for years knowing who my mate is, but not being able to touch her.” He growled. “Besides if Gage knew that the Tomas’s were involved, I don’t think he’d be very cool-headed, it was never confirmed, but all directions pointed to them being the cause of Kelsey’s parents’ death.”

Devin clenched his jaw. “I remember. If you’re talking to him, tell him we’re only a call away if he needs us.”

“I did. Look, keep me informed, I’ll be there tonight.”

He still didn’t like the idea of someone else around Rayne right now, but knew he didn’t have any other option. “Let me know when you’re here. I’m hoping by then I’ll have found some way to tell Rayne what’s going on.”

“Good luck with that.” He hung up before Devin could add anything further.

Had things just gotten better or worse? He didn’t know, but none of it was going to be easy and he had to get started. Glancing again at the computer screen, Devin focused in on Nicholas’s family line, someone needed to add Rayne to that. Flicking the screen off, he headed back towards the bedroom. He was out of time where letting her find out on her own was concerned.