Page 40 of Chased

It was just as Mikey was finishing up the last of the lettering that Madison, juiced up on margaritas so she wouldn’t feel the sting, told everyone why she’d agreed to get the ink that particular day. The other women were comparing their own tattoos and talking about what they meant, and Madison blurted out, “This is my freedom tattoo. I was supposed to get mated today. To a total asshole.”

She hadn’t realized what day it was until that morning, when she looked at the calendar. This was the day the Renards had set for her mating—and it was now the day, according to her uncle, that everything was going to come crashing down because she’d betrayed her family.

Everyone stared at her for a minute. Mikey slowly put her tattoo needle down. “Holy shit,” she said. “Is that why you left?”

Madison nodded. “He was a bastard,” she said. “He liked to hurt me.”

Caitlyn came over and sat down on the bench, rubbing the shoulder that hadn’t been tattooed. “Oh, honey,” she said. “Was it an arranged mating?”

“Uh huh. A family thing.”

Caitlyn made a face. “I was supposed to have one of those. I left too.”

Madison sat up, almost knocking Mikey’s tattoo tray over in her shock. “You did?” She wouldn’t have dreamed anyone as cool as Caitlyn would have even come close to getting stuck in an arranged mating.

“Hell yes,” she said. “Good thing I did. He turned out to be a psycho kidnapper. Of me. And he tried to kill my true mate.” Her voice got hard, and her sweet face turned fierce.

A voice from the doorway said, “Shit. We’re not talking about Jared Donnelly, are we? Because just saying his name gives me a bad taste in my mouth.”

Madison looked up to see a tall blond man coming in the door of Mikey’s cabin, with Remy and Colt just behind him. The man who’d spoken looked just like the twins, only about twenty-five years older. Obviously their dad.

“Sloan!” Caitlyn jumped up and flung herself into the man’s arms. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“I wanted to surprise you, of course.” He bent her back and planted a huge kiss on her. When he finished, he said, “And here I find you talking about your past fiancé.”

“Only in sympathy for Madison,” she said. “She barely escaped a mini-Jared, apparently. They were supposed to be mated today, but she bailed and came here to work instead.”

“Good for you,” Sloan said to Madison. “Hopefully he’ll stay wherever he is, so no one will have to kill him.”

Yikes. “Did… um, did someone kill Jared?”

“Dad did,” Colt said. “After the asshole kidnapped Mom.”

“Shot him out of the fucking sky,” Sloan said with satisfaction. He added, “He was an owl.”

Wow. And Sloan looked so nice.

Caitlyn kissed him on the shoulder. “My hero.” Sloan rolled his eyes a little, but Madison could tell she was totally serious.

Breanna said, “I know what we should do. We should take Madison into town tonight, to the bar, for a ‘fuck you I’m free’ party. It’s even karaoke night. How fun would that be?”

So that’s how Madison ended up singing karaoke at the local roadhouse in Rockhaven on a Saturday night, drunk off her ass.

She’d never sung karaoke before, and she’d had no idea how much fun it would be. She and Breanna and Mikey sang “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and “Don’t Stop Believing,” which got the entire bar singing along.

Sloan, it turned out, could really sing, and he and Caitlyn did a duet of “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum that had both their sons facepalming. “It’s just wrong,” Remy muttered. Colt added, “Nobody wants to know about their drunk geriatric sex feelings.”

That made Madison giggle. “I think they’re sweet. But I guess you’re planning on not having any more sex once you turn forty?”

Mikey said wickedly, “I bet Xander has a few things that could help, if Mr. Happy has trouble standing up straight.”

They both shot her the finger simultaneously.

Mikey explained to Madison, “Xander is their dad’s best friend. He owns an online glitter novelty and sex toy store.”

“You’re kidding.”

Jaeda winked at her. “Completely serious. Come by my cabin sometime and I’ll show you some samples.” Then she dragged Remy up onstage to sing “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” which started Colt facepalming all over again.