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ran out.
Cam first tried all the doors on the floor where he was. Most of them
were locked. The ones that weren t were empty, and one was Mato s. As
soon as he opened that door, the man s scent assailed him. A powerful
longing came over him, and he wished with everything inside him that
Mato was there or that he was wherever Mato was. He banged the palm of
his hand against his forehead. Snap out of it. You ve got a job to do.
He sucked in a deep breath and got moving again. A preliminary
search of Mato s room didn t produce much. If he really wanted answers,
he d go through Lucas s stuff. But of all the skills he d acquired over the
years, lock picking wasn t one of them.
The first floor was no better. He d seen Lucas disappear into a
particular room, and from a glance beyond, he guessed it was his office,
but that door too was locked. Cam swore. Almost as if they expected him
to snoop. At the back of the mansion, he came to the last door to check
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before he had to abandon his search. To his relief, the knob gave when he
turned it, but from the moment he opened the door, pain constricted his
chest. The scent coming up from the deepest, darkest recesses was
unmistakably blood Kyle s blood.
Cam felt around on the wall for the light switch. For some reason his
night vision had turned off. He put it down to the emotions that almost
clouded his reason. Stairs led downward, and he descended them. On the
level below, he was met with cement floors and rocky walls. Boxes lined
the space, all neatly stacked and labeled. Cam skipped checking them out,
led by his brother s blood, which had intensified. He moved with caution
farther into the basement, past wine racks that were filled with bottles.
None had collected any dust, and he wondered if a servant kept them clean
or if they were new. Those too he passed, and then he saw it. A cage with
metal bars and a sturdy lock. The door lay open, and beyond it was just a
square of concrete for a floor with chains and cuffs hanging from the back
wall.
Even if he didn t have the wolf abilities, he could identify the dark
stains on the cuffs and on the bars. The scent was so strong, it burned his
nose, but the worse part was finding out what they had done to his brother.
Cam s eyes burned. He d fucked that bastard that had been a part of it.
He d eaten at the same table, just above this prison. Had they fed on him?
No! He closed his eyes and sank to the ground. He couldn t think like that
or he d go insane.
Cam didn t know how long he d sat there struggling between despair
and rage, but apparently he d lost track of time. He d known long before
the car drew up to the house that they were returning. In the silence
surrounding him, he scraped the concrete with his claws and fought to
think through his next move. With supreme effort, he pushed up to his feet
and returned to the stairs. He shut the basement door behind him and
climbed the steps to the second floor. In his room, he turned the lock and
switched off the light. After he shed his clothes, he stood under a cold
shower in the dark. When the knock on his door sounded, he ignored it.
He waited for Mato to call out to him or to pick the lock, but after a while
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he went away, and Cam fell into bed. The light of dawn was just piercing
the small gap in his curtains.
* * * *
Mato barged into Lucas s office without knocking. So he s seen the
cell.
Lucas looked up. You talked to him?
No, he wouldn t answer the door. I didn t want to push him. He needs
time to calm down. He sighed and dropped into a chair. Everything inside
him wanted to go up there and force the door open. He felt Cam s pain,
and it tore him up inside. He craved being near him, touching him, kissing
him. Scenes of their love-making played out in his mind over and over,
tormenting him. The knowledge that he and Cam were all but mated now
did nothing for his mood because of what he d seen in the basement. Mato
expected him to either attack or leave at any moment, and if that
happened, well, the shit would hit the fan. Cam couldn t leave.
You know what this means, Lucas said.
Mato bared his teeth. He belongs to me, and I ll be damned if you kill
him like you did his brother.
You must see reason, Mato. If he
Fuck reason! Mato jumped to his feet. He s my mate, and I ll die
before I let anyone hurt him. No& you will die. That s a promise.
Lucas didn t appear to be cowed. He wouldn t be. He took his position
as head of their family very seriously. He cared about them all and their
well-being. On some level, Mato knew that. He could even acknowledge
that Lucas cared about him, but none of it mattered if Lucas thought he
could take away his mate. Cam might be altered, but they would be
bonded as soon as they exchanged bites. Now he had every intention of
making that happen after he spoke with his lover and explained how it
worked. Lucas would not get in his way.
* * * *
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