Chapter 503 Chapter 503
As he rounded the corner, his phone buzzed in his hand. Pulling it out, he looked at it. Kenzo. He blinked, not even sure he could speak to him right now and make sense. Shit. He answered it, “Carson.”
“You got him?”
Tripp stopped and stood there looking around, “yeah.”
“Is he talking?”
There was a mom-and-pop burger joint across the street. “I had to tranq him, just waiting for him to wake up now.”
“Where are you?”
He almost said standing outside, then realized what he was asking, “he had a motel room, so we’re waiting it out there.”
“Okay, good. Asher and York are on their way to you, but probably won’t reach you until morning.”
Tripp nodded, “should have some information by then.” He was determined he was going to find out something from him now before he was neck-deep in shit.
“Is everything good with Amari?”
It’s fan-fucking-tastic. His cat rolled through him briefly. “Uh, yeah.”
Kenzo chuckled, “that sounded positive.”
Tripp couldn’t tell Kenzo how badly he’d screwed up. He shouldn’t tell anyone. Marking a female with consent wasn’t just frowned upon it was considered illegal. “How are the teams doing?” He needed to think about something else for a minute while he sorted this out.
“We’ll be set up to move in as soon as it’s dark. Multiple strikes again tonight.”
Tripp nodded and wished he was there. “Good. I should have something out of him before dinner, I’ll let you know.”
He heard a door close, and the sound of a vehicle start. “What’s going on, Tripp, your tone is so flat it’s like you’re sleepwalking or something.”
He was wide awake. In fact, he may never close his eyes again for fear he would be stabbed in his sleep.
“I know Amari can try a man’s patience and her father is not your favorite person, but she’s solid to work with...”
“How do you know? Have you worked with her?” He blurted it out and winced at the slight growl in his voice.
“A few times.”
Tripp scowled and stared at a car that drove by. His team leader had worked with his mate a few times. Were they alone? “Doing what?” What could he possibly need her for? He was the leader of the special operations team, he could call in anyone, why would it be Amari?
“Tracking poachers once and getting some of ours out of a tight spot—” he paused, “what the hell is going on, Tripp?”
Tripp closed his eyes and let his head drop, Asher and York might be picking his ass up when they got here, “she’s my mate, Kenzo, and has no idea—” He lifted his head and turned to look at the corner, how was it she didn’t know? “Can gas affect the ability to scent long term?” He’d known as soon as the water had washed away the offensive smell, how was it she didn’t know? His cat sure as hell was throwing it out there when he bit her and every second since.
“Shit.” That was all Kenzo said for a moment.
Tripp blinked, that was it? Just shit?
“If she inhaled it, I guess it would mess her up for a bit, burn the nostrils, but if she’s shifted...”
“She has.” He rubbed his hand back over his wet hair and felt how cold it was, even though he couldn’t really feel it anywhere else.
Kenzo blew out a breath. He heard the engine shut off. “I didn’t even think of you both being the same clan,” he heard voices, but they were muffled. Were the teams getting ready to head out? “You’re getting along though, right?”
The two of them in the shower flashed through his mind, they were definitely getting along—for now. “Yeah.”
“When did you realize it?” Kenzo hissed out a breath, “never mind, I don’t need to know that.” He blew out another breath, it wasn’t often his team leader seemed undecided, “you have to tell her, Tripp. Your cat is going to interfere and override you a lot, she needs to know...”
Tripp dropped his head down and kicked at the slush under his boot like some child that was avoiding looking at someone. “I fucking marked her, Ken.” He mumbled it. What was the punishment for unconsented marking? He’d already had an outlaw status and worked his ass off to get out of that mess, now he could end up worse. What was worse than an outlaw?
“Oh,” there was a pause, “oh, well, uh, you’re still breathing, so that’s-that’s a good sign.”
Never, in all the years he’d been working with him had he heard his fearless leader stumble for words. He snorted, “is it?” Sucking in a breath he blew it out, “it was without consent.” He stated it clearly, owning up to it.
“I put that together, if she doesn’t realize—well, fuck, Tripp, I have no idea.”
Tripp blinked and then looked straight ahead, without seeing anything. “She might fucking stab me when I tell her.”
Kenzo chortled, “that’s a given—it’s Amari, she’s a man-eater.”
The label made his cat still.
“Oh shit, her father...”
“Right. I’ve been in some deep shit before, but this is a clusterfuck like no other, boss.” All the tension in his spine drained and he was surprised he didn’t drop to the ground like a big gooey puddle.
“Okay,” his tone was more Kenzo-like now, all business, “can you continue with your task? Do you want me to send someone else?”
Tripp shook his head, “I got it.” He looked over his shoulder back toward the room, “and I don’t know if I could let her leave right now either.”
“Right, yeah, I’ve heard it’s a big mindfuck when you find your mate.”
Tripp snorted, “it’s something.”
“At some point, her sense of smell is going to return...” There was a sound like a tap on the glass and then the engine started again, “I won’t even ask how you came to mark her, but I’m fitting the pieces together and telling you right now, you need to fight like hell to stay focused on this, Tripp, get the information out of that scum before Asher and York get there.”
Tripp nodded, “I will. I might have to tie her up, so she doesn’t kill him in the process though.”
Kenzo blew out a long breath, “yeah, good luck with that, and uh, I know it may not feel like it right now, but congratulations on finding your mate.”
It didn’t feel like something he should celebrate just yet, “just, um, can you keep this between us for now?”
“Like I have a choice until you have her mark on you, no one else can know, bud—the only thing that’s stopping me from reporting it is I know Amari and how trying she can be, plus the circumstances aren’t exactly optimal.”
Tripp watched the snowfall slowly, normally he loved the season change, but today he wasn’t feeling it. “I don’t think there is a scenario of any kind that would work with her...”
“Right, she’s not really the type to fall for sweet-talking.” He could hear the vehicle moving now, “keep me in the loop, okay? If shit’s going to start falling on your head, I’ll try to be a buffer for you.”
“Like when her father wants to string me up and fillet me?”
Kenzo laughed, “you should know something,” the line muted for a second, “shit, I have to go, our king is calling me.”
Tripp nodded, “I’ll message you later.” He hung up the phone and then paused, he should know what? Shaking his head, he jammed the phone in his pocket and then started to march across the lot so he could go get her a burger and milk. He didn’t need to know anything else right now, he had enough to figure out. His stomach rolled, and he should eat too—not that food was going to make any of this less volatile when she found out. He stopped as he stepped off the curb. Shit. He forgot to ask if the cleanup had found the campsite. Kenzo would have said if they hadn’t, probably.
Growling, he started walking again, he needed to get his head in the game and put all this other stuff aside. His cat rolled through him to get his attention. “Don’t even start, asshole, you should have given me a heads up before it got this far.” Great, now he was vocally cussing at the other half of himself. At least he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about her filing a complaint against him, that wasn’t her style, she liked to handle things on her own. Was that better for him or worse? The image of the guy she bled out popped into his head. Definitely worse. Mindfuck. Oh yeah, he was there, and it was going to be like a goddamned maze finding his way out of this situation.