Page 46 of Knotty New Year

And then, in true Dallas fashion, the hail began. Chunks of ice the size of baseballs pelted the tarmac outside the viewing windows.

My phone battery had died, and I plugged it in to charge, while Victor picked out the healthiest options on the menu for us both. I ordered a glass of Balvenie, though Victor declined, and told a succinct version of his travels over the past year, and the story of how he came to be a father.

“So you adopted her at her mother’s request?” I asked, rolling up my sleeve and scratching at my mate mark. “I’m sorry Paloma lost her mother. But you’ll be a fantastic dad. Will you want to move back into the house while she’s young, or…?” I scratched harder, wincing when I inadvertently drew blood.

Victor’s eyes narrowed, and he changed the subject. “How long ago did you say you claimed your omega?”

“Five days—no, six, now,” I replied, trying not to claw at my arm. “But I need to see a doctor. Something’s wrong with my mark.”

“What does it feel like?”

“Like a rash? No. Like it’s… burning. Like I’ve burned myself.”

He swore. “Your mate had the mini-heat, yes? When you met.”

I blinked. “Yes, but I didn’t mark her then. I waited until later.” I blushed. “I mean, a few days later.”

He ran a hand over his face. “That’s not a rash, brother. That’s a biological imperative you’re feeling. Your mate is going into heat.”

“That’s impossible. She told me she’s not due for her heat for nine or ten more months… Ohshit.” I dropped my tumbler of whiskey on the plush carpet. “The annual shot. Could she have been…”I strode to a nearby table where a courtesy laptop was open, ignoring both Victor and the employee who came to clean up my spill, and called my PA.

“Mr. Paxson?” he answered, groggy from sleep.

“Theodore, wake up. I need you to check the records on which doctors and clinics in the Georgetown area, if any, may have received the mislabeled shots. Text me the listimmediately.” The main shipments had gone to New York and New Jersey, but if one of the doctors had a satellite office in either of those states, and part of their order had been transferred to a Georgetown branch…

I hung up before he could speak. By the time he called back, I’d logged into my Storm Securities account and pulled up the dossier I’d had done on Candy the first day we’d met. When he listed the names of the doctors’ offices who were involved, I cursed out loud.

“Dr. Marguerite Grantham. Fuck. Fuck!”

“What is it, Nicky?” Victor murmured.

“You’re right.” I explained about the shots, and he took it in as he always had. Calmly, efficiently calculating the best steps forward.

I’d sent my new mate off to Colorado, alone, going into her annual heat.

“How did you know?” I rasped, holding my burning mate mark with one hand. “No one’s ever mentioned any side effects like this.”

“Normally, once the mating bites are exchanged, both partners are out of danger. But it’s highly unusual for true mates to be apart for more than a day or two, and never for an annual heat. We have to get you to your omega as fast as possible, Nicky.”

“She’s suffering, I know. God, it’s my fault. I should’ve gone with her. No, I should havewaitedto claim her. I’m so fucking selfish.”

He didn’t disagree. “I hope the weather clears and you get there in time.” Something in his tone had me wrenching my head up.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure our family will help her. I can’t see Lin, or any of the omegas who know what’s happening… Well, they’ll have seen the signs. They’ll get her to a doctor.”

“What?”

His eyes flashed with anger and frustration. “This is her first mated heat, Nick. She’ll be going into it without you. Without you there, her fever could rise higher and higher, until she slips into a coma. She could suffer permanent brain damage.”

“No!” I was up and halfway out the door to the lounge before he caught me. “Let me go. I’m taking a car.”

“You can’t drive in the storm,” he said quietly, fighting to hold me. “And it’s a fifteen-hour drive to get to what could be snowed-in passes. Plane is the fastest way to get to her. Be patient.” He held out my phone, which had charged up enough to work. “Let the girls know.”

Of course.I powered it on, and saw a barrage of texts had come in on the emergency family chat.

No one could find Candy. They hadn’t seen her for hours, but she’d left a note Teddy had found saying she was going skiing. But she was still gone, the lifts had stopped, and it was getting dark with no sign of her.

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