Page 91 of Kidnapping Their Third

Cora pulled away from him and grabbed hold of Pike’s shirt. “Come on, let's go inside. I need cuddle time and that blue couch is calling.”

“Cuddling sounds good,” Pike agreed. He hooked an arm around Kimble’s shoulders and pulled him against his side, so they walked together with Cora leading the way.

Relieved to be with his beautiful flock, Kimble fell in step with Pike. “Anything my flock desires is also what I want.”

***

It wasn’t until almost dawn that Kimble’s brand-new phone pinged several times in a row. Cora and Pike were snuggled oneither side of him. It had taken several hours, a lot of edging, and an orgasm so powerful it almost made him pass out before Pike was finally able to fall into a restful sleep.

Worried that the phone would wake Pike, Kimble carefully reached across Cora to silence it but was captured by the messages on the screen, the first was from Annette.

We have lucy. We put in the cabin with Stan and Enrico. They'll Help her get settled and keep an eye on her.

The next several were from an unknown number, but he guessed it was Enrico.

Lucy is sleeping right now. Stan volunteered at a rehab for year so he knows what to do. Stan says that by noon tomorrow she's going to be sick as a dog from withdrawal. I would keep Pike away for now.

Annette is going to make sure we have the resources we need to help Lucy. Tell Pike we'll be doing everything we can for her.

Kimble responded to Annette with gratitude and then to Enrico with a warning that he couldn’t control Pike. The best he could do was make sure Pike spoke to Stan before venturing over. Stan responded with a thumbs up emoji.

Perhaps Pike would be content to know Lucy was safe and being looked after. Kimble wasn’t sure if he was happy about this outcome, but it was done, and he couldn’t take it back.

Time would tell if he’d made a wise direction. One thing was certain—if Lucy ever threatened his flock again, not even Pike’s love would save her.

Chapter 34

Pike

Standing in the living room of his old apartment, Pike took in all the nasty things that he’d ignored but found unacceptable now that he lived with Kimble. The mold all over the ceiling, the crumbling sheetrock, and soft spots on the floor were only the visible issues. The lack of water pressure and getting lukewarm water for his showers, if the water warmed up at all, were constant problems.

Worst of all was the damp, rotting smell permeating the whole place. How had he ignored it for so long?

Next to him, Cora made a quiet, disgusted sound. “Sad to say that this place is as bad as I remember. I can’t believe you paid rent for this dump.”

Pike looked down at her. “Funny you should say that. I missed paying last month and this month and nothing happened. No call, no text, no email. I wonder if this place even has a manager anymore.”

Cora grinned. “Too bad you didn’t know that sooner, you could’ve stopped paying rent months ago.” She hooked an arm through his and led him to the bedroom. “Let’s get your stuff and get out of here. I want to be home before Kimble wakes up. If we don’t get time with him right away, we might not see him until bedtime!”

Kimble was busier than Pike and Cora combined. Between his businesses and the pack, he spent a good deal of his night on a computer or phone. Annette had kept everything running while he was gone, but it was really a two-person job. Without Kimble, things had been missed and pushed aside. Not that it bothered Kimble. The vampire absolutely jumped into a hectic nightly work schedule.

It almost made Pike miss the old days just a little, when Kimble's whole focus was only him. Coming to his old apartment felt like saying goodbye to the last part of Kimble’s time being feral. Now that he was breathing in the mold and looking at the nastiness, Pike could say with confidence that he had no regrets.

“We can leave all the furniture behind, but I want my clothes and some personal stuff,” Pike explained.

“Whatever can fit into the truck,” Cora agreed. They’d driven the pack truck that had basically become Pike’s vehicle. “Grab anything and everything this time because we aren’t making a second trip.”

Pike chuckled and rubbed his irritated nose. “Agreed!” He handed her one of the trash bags he had in his hand. “Can you get everything in my dresser?”

“Sure,” she agreed and shook open the bag. Pike opened a second bag and started on the contents of his closet. They worked in silence for a few minutes before Cora spoke. “I talked to Stan today.”

Stan and Enrico kept Cora and Kimble apprised of Lucy’s progress and condition, but Pike had asked not to talk about it. Cora’s statement was to see if he wanted to know. Every time he’d saythat’s good,or something equally hollow, she’d drop the subject.

This time, he didn’t immediately respond. Trash bag half full, Pike went still debating whether he wanted to know more.

He hadn’t seen Lucy since the night she’d attacked Cora. She was living on pack lands now, but at Stan and Enrico’s place. Their cabin was on the far edge of the property, away from the main fenced-in area. They even had a separate driveway so the likelihood of running into his sister was slim.

The separation was good. It gave him time to figure out how he felt about her abuse and betrayal. He was going to forgive her, but he needed to decide what kind of forgiveness he was goingto extend. Would he try to rebuild the close relationship they’d had as kids or was he going to forgive but keep her at a distance?

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