“You just look tired after what you’ve been through.How are you feeling?This was all so…awful.”
Lucky should have expected the questions and curiosity.Although he’d had a group call with them, talking in person was definitely better.“It helped to have Chase and Ford.I got to forget about everything going on outside those four walls.”
Phoenix clasped his hand, looking worried.“I’m only telling you because I already put my foot in it, but…you should know about Kain.”
Caroline nibbled her bottom lip and grabbed Phoenix’s arm.“Not now.”
“We’ll never mentioned what happened again, I swear,” Phoenix said, which was a promise he cherished.“But…you should know that Lincoln was Kain’s true mate.”
“What?”How could someone as sweet as Kain be cursed with Lincoln as a mate?
Phoenix glanced behind him, as though he expected Kain to arrive any minute.“He feels bad about what Lincoln did.”
Lucky sighed, wishing Kain was here.“He’s not responsible for Lincoln’s behaviour.I just wish he’d told us about their bond sooner.”
“There is no bond!”Caroline clarified, looking scandalised, even though Kain wasn’t here to take offence.“Kain said he recognised the bond one night at a party where they both got drunk.Lincoln kissed him and Kain was so horrified he left.After he talked to his folks about not wanting Lincoln for an alpha, he was told to register the bond so he could have it rejected once he was of age.”
Lucky frowned, not sure he was following.“Why can’t he just reject him?”
“Alphas with their ridiculous laws.”His friends answered in unison, then laughed.Caroline picked up the topic with a smile.“The problem is that Kain felt the bond but he's certain that Lincoln didn’t.So Lincoln has to officially reveal the bond to Kain before he can reject it.Though I imagine that will change now he’s been arrested.”
Lucky nodded, thinking back to how Ford had promised to find out what happened after they handed Lincoln to the ORT.He’d been medicated until the effects of the OX wore off, but none of them knew what charges would be brought against him and what evidence they had other than Lucky’s word.If they couldn’t prove Lincoln had been responsible or that he’d been in possession of OX, Lucky would have to testify or they’d pull Rafe from his undercover work to give an official report.If an ORTa said Lincoln was responsible, Ford was sure that would be enough to close the case.
He hoped that wasn’t necessary, but he needed to speak to Ford.
Phoenix ran his fingers over Lucky’s ponytail.“You’re here, it’s over and we won’t mention it again.You do look lovely, just more timid than usual, but it suits you.”
* * * *
Chase
Lifting a smoke to his lips, Chase took a long drag and ignored Grant’s grumbling about a low score on the game he was playing on his phone.“Do you have to do that now?”The pinging noises were grating on his last nerve.
Grant sniffed and crossed his ankles to lean against the low wall.“You’re just pissed because your mate wasn’t in your bed last night,” he snarked, having made more than a few quips about how lucky he’d been to skip class just so he could fuck his mate.The fact he was making light of the whole thing was actually a relief.It was better than the looks and whispers he’d gotten from complete strangers when he stepped onto campus.
“My mate has never been in my bed.”Chase took another drag and held it, releasing it when he spotted a familiar car.Ford sat in the driver’s seat, the focus of Lucky’s attention.They lingered over a kiss, no doubt both cursing their agreement to live separately.
He watched Lucky approach his friends and gave them a chance to catch up, but his patience was thin.He ground his cigarette under his shoe and crossed the quad, going the long way around to see Ford sitting in his car, typing on his phone.Chase knocked on the driver’s window, and was surprised by how his stomach swooped when Ford opened the door to step out.
“How are ya, meda?”
Ford
He swore as his phone rang just as he was about to get close to Chase.He grabbed the phone from his back pocket and put it on speaker.“Sykes, what d’you got for me?”
His phone pinged to say Sykes wanted a video call.Ford rolled his eyes and accepted, raising an eyebrow at his best friend and colleague.
Sykes leaned back in a solid plastic chair.
“That mate of yours lives up to his name,” he insisted, raising a cup of takeaway coffee in a toast.“I got three pings on Lincoln’s location from the time of Lucky’s kidnapping.”
“Three?”Chase stepped forward, so Ford leaned against the car and let Chase move close to see Sykes.He had every right to be involved—this was about his mate, and if Ford’s fears were founded, they’d be protecting Lucky from this shit for months.
Sykes nodded, turning sideways on his chair as he grabbed a printout from the desk.“I had a team of techs working on the trackers we knew about—one for Lincoln, one for Lucky, and one that you stuck on the notes Lincoln tried to give you.”
While Sykes rifled through paperwork, Chase leaned closer to Ford.“What notes?”
“Lincoln tried to pay me less than what he owed, so I slipped a tracker onto the money.It was barely visible to the naked eye, but would tell us where that money led, after he left me,” Ford explained, finding it interesting that the money had ended up anywhere.“The little shit was supposed to be getting me more money, not spending what he had.I presumed he gave it to Scout, to get him to nab Lucky.”
