Page 70 of Run Free

Gage

Chapter 29

My life was a whirlwind spiraling out of control. I liked to be in control, but unfortunately God must have some sick sense of humor, because my mate did, too. We had a long way to go to learn how to compromise with each other, yet the passion in our arguing led to the most fantastic sex of my life. Every single time with Clara was even better. I was convinced I’d never grow tired of her. We weren’t perfect as individuals or even as a couple, we had a lot of adjustments still to make, but I was confident we’d get there. She was mine and while I had to put my foot down from time to time for her safety and my sanity, she was smart enough to know that in the end she’d probably always win.

At least I’d gotten a good compromise out of our latest fight. Monday evening came and went without a hitch or anything out of the ordinary. Today was the day we’d all deducted would be the Larkens’ attack on Thomas at the diner. Clara wouldn’t be there, though, she’d be by my side, safe and sound at home.

I watched as she scrubbed down the island in the kitchen before setting out beakers and various chemicals. It looked like a chemistry lab in there by the time she was done.

“How did you even expect to pull this off at the diner? It would have been impossible,” I told her.

She rolled her eyes at me. “I wouldn’t have been this thorough there, Gage. Here I can prepare for everything. There I would have taken a chance and prepared for maybe the top five possible poisons for testing.”

“So you’re saying this scenario is better?” I goaded her.

“No,” she grumbled under her breath. I knew she’d never admit to it anyway, but I liked to get her fired up all the same.

We called Thomas and Lily to walk through the plan one last time. We confirmed with Ruby her part to play, and then we just hung out and waited. Both of us were on edge. We tried to watch movies, just talk, and eventually ended up back in bed. Even that hadn’t taken the edge off the nerves. I realized we were feeding off each other’s emotions, too, making the situation even harder. Sometimes I had a tough time discerning whose emotions I was really feeling. It was similar to learning to identify the feelings and urges of my wolf from my own. He could influence my emotions if I didn’t keep them in check, and since he always fed off his natural instincts, they weren’t always right. I’d learned to control him and understand the differences with time.

I felt like that all over again with Clara. In time knowing the difference would be second nature, I wouldn’t struggle or doubt it, but now? Now was tough. We were in the learning stages, and everything was amped up from the threat against Thomas. I was struggling to know if I was nervous or just feeling Clara’s nerves, or both.

It was a long, emotionally draining day. We couldn’t keep calling to check in, because that would look too suspicious, yet isolated at home, we were blind to what was really happening. I was seriously second guessing the plan.

Finally, Ruby arrived with a to-go box. Clara snatched it from her and set to work. I watched beads of sweat pop up on her forehead as she concentrated. Three minutes later she frowned.

“There’s nothing wrong with this food.”

“Nothing?” Ruby asked.

That can’t be right,” I assured her.

“Gage, I’m telling you there is no poison on this food. Nothing,” Clara said.

“Ruby, who gave you the food?” I asked.

“Wyatt did. Kate prepped it personally,” she said.

Clara and I shared a look and she vehemently shook her head.

“No. Gage, I’m telling you, it’s not possible. Wyatt would never betray my brother. Never.”

“What about Kate?” I asked. I knew they trusted them both, but I had learned the hard way never to trust anyone.

“We have to go. We have to protect Thomas,” Clara said, half hysterical.

“We could have been wrong,” I tried to reason. “We all knew it was a long shot, only one possible scenario.”

I knew there would be no reasoning with Clara until she saw for herself that her brother was okay. I conceded quickly and we ran out the front door just as Kate came running down the driveway.

She had to stop a minute to catch her breath. “Wyatt swapped steaks. Thomas ate. They changed the plan. On the way to the clinic now,” she managed to wheeze out, slowly regaining control of herself. “This is the one he ate. Wyatt and Lily are staying by his side.”

“Dammit. We had a good plan!” I cursed.

“Thomas was worried he wouldn’t be convincing enough, but we need the anecdote quickly,” she said. “And I have to get back to the restaurant. In the commotion I was able to run over, but I don’t want too many suspicious questions thrown my way. Right now I can tell them I ran over to tell you so you could alert the family because I didn’t have your number. That’s if anyone even bothers asking. They may not notice. The restaurant was going crazy.”

Kate started crying. I hated when a woman cried. “It’s going to be okay,” I tried to assure her.

“Why couldn’t they just stick to the plan? This is going to ruin my restaurant and Thomas could still die. It was stupid not to keep us all in the loop.”

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