Missing You

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Price is About to Be Paid

Draven took a seat on his couch that was skewed because they had rolled into it and held his ribs. He looked down at his hand with his ring on it as he could see bruises forming on his own knuckles, and then back at Blaine that had blood running from the side of his lip, “I didn’t do anything that she didn’t want to happen.”

“What the f**k does that mean?” he demanded still seething with anger.

“It means, that I went to her. To be with her. But because I am still restricted to barracks, and still listed as MIA, I did it in the dark. Literally.”

Blaine immediately understood what he was saying. He walked over to Draven dressed in his full fatigues and went toe to toe with him as he stood up. With anger in his eyes and voice he said, “You just couldn’t wait, could you? You and your f*****g d**k couldn’t wait just a few more f*****g hours, huh? You just had to f*****g scratch that itch? Well congratulations, bro. Now, we all f*****g lose her,” and he turned around and walked out throwing the door open. Draven jumped a little when it hit the wall with a loud thud. What he didn’t see was Blaine talking into his Apple Watch, “To Wolf Pack: EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY!! Shadow is now excommunicado until other wise told differently. Wolf”

Draven sat back on his couch and felt every minute of that fight on his body. He wiped at the blood smeared on the side of his temple from a cut to his eyebrow. He knew he had f****d up with Blaine and Nina’s brothers. It’s not what he wanted to happen, but it did. He had to make it right. Somehow. Looking for his phone, he found it under the skewed couch. Grabbing it, he sat against the couch and called Deacon, wincing at holding his ribs. At least they weren’t broken, but he would be hurting for awhile. It rang a few times and when he answered he said, “Shadow, I shouldn’t be talking to you.”

“What? Why not?”

“I have to follow my alphas.”

“Damn. That was fast.”

“That’s how it works.”

Draven hung his head. He could hear Deacon’s disapproval, “You had to go and do that to Nina when she is so f*****g vulnerable? What the f**k is wrong with you?”

Draven hung his head, “Just tell me what I can do to make this right.”

“There is nothing you can do to make it right. Not with us. And certainly not with my sister. You will have to just see what happens like the rest of us.”

“What if I can’t?”

Deacon was silent and then, “That is not my f*****g problem,” and hung up. Draven then pressed his phone to his chin and lowered his head. He had f****d up. Royally. And he had no idea how he was going to fix it with Nina’s brothers, much less Nina. How could he if he didn’t know where she was?

The next afternoon, his escort went to get him for his final debriefing as the investigation had been closed. Draven had gotten his hair cut that morning and had shaved to military regulations despite the cuts and bruises he had on his face. With a few butterfly closures on his face and knuckles, he got dressed in his officer’s uniform. When he grabbed his hat to open his door to his escort, his eyes went big seeing the damage that had been incurred. Draven placed his hat on his head, “Bill me.”

The young escort nodded, “Sir.”

Together they went to the vehicle, and he was driven to the building where everyone and everything was to be decided. As he exited the car, he thanked his escort, and walked inside the building. Once inside, his eyes focused on his element dressed in their dungarees. Upon seeing him, they stood up and saluted him and then greeted him warmly.

Jinx looked at him, “Damn, what happened bro?”

Draven removed his hat, “I f****d up. Royally,” looking down ashamed, “And I don’t know how to fix it.”

Before he could tell them what happened, they were called into their meeting. There, they were all debriefed and all awarded a Navy Cross. Draven was also given an honorable retirement with full pension for the things he and his team had endured. His team members were also each promoted. Draven was also moved from being listed as Missing in Action was changed to Active Duty. His retirement would be expedited, and he would return to civilian life in a few weeks. And the one that they had deemed the person that provided the bad intel was going to be handled and they would not release that information.

As they left the building, Jinx said, “This calls for celebration lads!”

They then dragged Draven to the bar on base. There they had beers on the house due to their recent Navy Cross award and they each ate the hamburgers from the kitchen. After they each had a good buzz going, Draven then let it all out. They had been with him there at the Crowder concert and were able to help him when he had a small flashback, and they knew what he was up to. But not what he had done just a few days ago. When he finished, he told them what Blaine had done and rightly so.

“How do I fix this?” he asked his men.

They were all at a loss. By the end of the night, Draven was rightfully drunk and was almost depressingly so. Jinx was the only one that could reason with him and took him home and put him in bed that he would sleep it off and wake in the morning with a better outlook and have a plan in motion. Hopefully.

The next day, Draven found himself on a plane hungover under his real name to find Nina. When he arrived in California, he immediately went to her condo. He wanted to pick up where they left off. He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to tell her that his case had finally been concluded in that he and his team did what was necessary for their mission and did what they had to do to survive. He wanted to tell her that he was granted retirement from the military. He wanted to tell her that he was ready for their lives to start.

Now, here he was about to see her and reveal his existence to her. Hopefully, she hadn’t left yet. The whole plane ride he had practiced and rehearsed what he was going to tell her. He wanted to tell her everything he could. Of course, within reason. He had even bypassed seeing his family so he could see her first.

As he parked his rental truck, he looked up to see her place dark. With his heart pounding in his chest, he closed his eyes and did some deep breathing. A few moments later, getting out of the truck, he went up to her door. He soothed his hand over his white shirt with a skull printed on the front and wiped his sweaty hands on his cargo shorts. He hadn’t been this nervous since his first mission as a SEAL. As he was about to knock, her neighbor was coming up the stairs. “If you’re looking for Nina, she’s gone.”

He turned, “Excuse me, ma’am?”

The older woman climbed the stairs with her door, “Misses Lebowitz,” she said correcting him, “but something tells me you know that already.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed.

She smiled, “I’ve seen you before. Several times. Except you had a beard the last time I saw you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She went to open her door as her dog sniffed at the man’s leg, “Nice shave.”

“Thank you.”

“Sorry to break it to you, she’s gone.”

“Do you know where she went?”

She shook her head, “No. I’m gonna miss her. She was a good girl. But, if you find her, don’t let her go.”

He nodded, “Yes, ma’am,” and left running down the stairs to try and find her. When he got back in his rented truck, he called Blaine.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

“Where is she?” Draven asked.

“Who?”

Draven threw the hat he was wearing at the dashboard and yelled, “Don’t f*****g play with me right now! Where the f**k is Nina, Wolf?”

Blaine let out a deep breath, “I can’t tell you because I don’t even know. I told you, she invoked the Anonymity Act. None of us will know where she is. So don’t get any ideas about hitting up my brothers. Trust me. They will not and cannot help you.”

“What? Why the f**k not?” he demanded.

“Because, it goes against the code we have as a Pack. I cannot betray her trust again. Not to mention that the software that Scout designed does not let her leave a digital imprint anywhere. Even if she were to use her credit cards or get on her social media, we won’t know where she is. But under this Act, she won’t. She will have enough cash on her that she will be gone for some time.”

“Wolf, I have been waiting for a f*****g year to be with her. Let her know I am alive, and I still want to be with her.”

Blaine said, “Well, boo-fuckin-hoo. You f****d that up a few nights ago, now didn’t you? Your stalking tendencies really freaked her out man. I have never seen my sister as vulnerable as she has been with you. The last time this happened was right before you met her in Philly. The guy managed to greet her in her bedroom when she returned from a meeting. He had a gun on her. She wasn’t about to let it happen again. But then, you went and did what you did, and the dam opened up. Well guess what, you want to know what it’s like to be part of our Pack, now you do. Alpha is in charge. That is why we do not and will not call her Luna. And you will do as she says, when she says. She has always been the brains, we are just the brawn. And she f*****g figured it all out. Just not the part that it was all you. And because your case was still pending, I couldn’t tell her s**t. Perhaps I was the weak one because I wanted to see my sister happy, and so I helped you in any way that I could. That stops now. I will be loyal to my sister until my last dying breath. You cannot imagine the things she has gone through since our loving sperm donor left us.”

Draven let his head fall back against the head rest, and he closed his eyes as he clenched his teeth together.

“And don’t even try to get Radar to find her. Scout took care of her phone to make her incognito and all she had to do was hit a button, which she already has. Besides she won’t take calls from any of us, least of all you.”

“How long do I have to wait for her this time?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Like I said, this Act gives her the time she needs away from us and away from you to do what she needs to do to get her head straight.”

“What can I do to make things right with you and your brothers?”

Blaine was silent and then he said, “There is nothing you can do but wait. Depending on what she says when she finds out everything will depend on how my brothers, and I will react. In the meantime, stay the f**k away and let her go. Goodbye, Shadow.”

“Wolf,” and the call disconnected. Draven pressed his head to the headrest clenching his teeth and then punched the steering wheel until his knuckles bled. He then drove to a nearby liquor store and bought a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and went to the hotel he usually stayed at. There in that room, he drank himself drunk and passed out.

When Draven woke the next morning with a hangover, he promptly threw up and showered. When he got out, he wrapped a towel around his waist and wiped the foggy mirror. Looking at his reflection, his skin looked grey, his bruises were bad, but he had endured worse, he would get over this just like he got over those. As he reached for his toothbrush to brush the horrible taste out of his mouth, he jumped when he saw a reflection in his mirror. Turning, he was looking at Hunter. He was sitting down on a chair dressed in his own military fatigues with his hat resting on his knee with his arms crossed. He did not look pleased.

“What are you doing here?” Draven asked.

“It appears that you royally f****d up bro. And not just with my Alphas either.”

“So what? What am I supposed to do about it? Wolf said she was gone.”

Hunter stood up and went over to him standing an inch taller at six foot two compared to Draven’s six foot one. “I am your only lifeline, bro. I suggest you take what I give you.”

“And what can you give me, huh? She’s gone.”

“I know. But I also know my sister. I will help you find her, but, in doing this for you, I am being disloyal to my alpha.”

“What does that mean for you? And what do you want in return for helping me?”

Hunter put his hat back on, “This means that once you find her and she finds out I was the one that helped you even after all of our other brothers told you to f**k off, she will put me on notice again,” shrugging, “But, unlike them whining p*****s, I am used to it. I am Omega after all.”

Draven crossed his arms over his bare chest since he was still in his towel, “Now tell me what you want for helping me.”

“You will know when the time comes. And when the time does come, because it will, you better be prepared. Do we have a deal?” holding out his hand. Draven glanced down to his hand and placed his hand in their matching hands, “Deal.” Releasing hands, Hunter looked at him, “Also, she is my little sister, and it is my duty to kick your ass for what you did.” Draven didn’t see it coming. Hunter’s fist connected with his jaw sending Draven to the floor. As he got his bearings and looked up at Hunter, he was just smiling down at Draven. Then he held his hand out to help him up.

Tentatively, Draven took his hand and moved to his feet. Hunter nodded and released his hand, “Now. We can focus on finding my sister.”

“Just tell me what I need to do.”

Hunter turned towards the door, “I’ll be in touch,” and was gone. Draven rubbed his jaw and then checked his teeth. With a hangover and now a hurting jaw, he was going to suck it up and get down to business. First thing first, he needed to get to Florida to see his mom and then on to see his sisters.

His first stop was to Florida and the moment his mom had opened the door, her hands flew to her mouth and then she threw her arms around her only son and wept. He held his mom and rubbed her back. When she finally calmed down, they went into her house, and he told her what minimal information he could without giving anything away. He couldn’t tell her about his capture, his coma, his rehabilitation or even the things he had been up to with Nina.

“Have you called Nina? Seen her?” she asked.

He nodded, “In a sense.”

“What does that mean?”

“I just-I just think I messed up with her.”

“What did you do? Whatever it is, I will take her side. She has been absolutely wonderful since the moment we all found out you were missing in action. She has taken care of us in so many ways.”

Draven was confused, “What did she do?”

“Honey, she has taken care of everything. And I mean everything. From taking over and paying off my mortgage. Setting up college funds for all of your nieces. Paying off all of your sister’s student loans. She even calls us every week without fail. We Zoom with her twice a month. We even email every day.”

He perked up, “Have you heard from her lately?”

“Of course. As a matter of fact, she was just here a few days ago. Poor thing, she hasn’t been sleeping well and looked such a fright when she showed up. She was here for about a week and while she was here, all she did was sleep for the first two days. Afterwards, she told me about a stalker she had and how he had entered her house and she just needed to get out. Oh, I just wish you had been here to tell her that you’re okay. Do you want me to tell her and your sisters about you? We are supposed to Zoom with her tonight.”

“No. I want to do this on my own. You know, tell them all myself.”

She nodded, “I understand.”

Later on that night, he sat just outside his mom’s office and listened to the conversation. He missed her. He missed Nina. He listened as they talked about her latest book and the wonderful reviews she had gotten. Draven then spend the next few days with his mom and reassuring her that he was okay and was here to stay. He then found himself visiting his sisters in Virgina Beach, Salem, Delaware, and New Hampshire. Each time he got to his sisters, he had just missed Nina. It was infuriating. But nonetheless, it was nice to see their surprised and happy faces when they realized who he was. He stayed with each of his sisters for a few days and in the last week he was with his sister Christina in Delaware did his phone finally ring.

Answering it, “Shadow.”

On the line, “It’s Omega,” Hunter said.

“What do you got?” He could hear Hunter smile as he told him what he found and what to do.

After leaving California and her Mystery Man, Nina found herself, temporarily, back in Texas. She found herself visiting Draven’s family starting with his mom. They talked all the time through phone calls, group text, Zoom and now visits. She had been hopping between taxis and that had gotten old. She eventually was able to procure an old Jeep Wrangler that she was able to hide the title from her brothers and the like and drove to see Helen. Since she was worried that her stalker s***h Mystery Man s***h babysitter was going to find her, she was constantly on the move.

In those first few days she stayed with Helen, she slept as she was exhausted. But she made sure to spend a good enough amount of time with her before moving on to see Jenna, Marjorie, Jackie and Christina and all of the girls and their dads. They were all so happy to see her but worried as she had lost weight and wasn’t the bubbly and vivacious Nina that they had gotten to know.

Nina also made time to FaceTime with Misty who was pissed at her for not telling her where she was going or who she was seeing. And true to her word, she did not contact any of her brothers. She kept herself busy with her workouts and her novel and seeing Draven’s family. After everything she had been through in the last year, she tried to live her life for herself and damn everything and everyone else. After she left Christina’s, she found herself driving aimlessly around the country. She stayed in hotels, motels, and sometimes slept under the stars in the Jeep without the top on. She even managed to adopt a stray dog that was brown with scraggly hair which told her that he had terrier somewhere in him. She loved his beard he had on his chin. He sat in the passenger seat of the Jeep with a big smile as his tongue hung out of his mouth.

Nina took him to the vet in a nearby town and the vet told her that the dog was approximately five years old and was fixed. They got him caught up on his vaccinations and they even gave him a bath and groomed him. When they brought him out to her, they had even tied a blue bandana around his neck with the new collar she had gotten for him. She was pleased with him and pleased with the groomer for not cutting off his beard and instead just cleaned it up a little.

As they traveled, he stayed right by her side and never once barked at strangers or caused her any issues. He only barked at men that got too close and barred his teeth once at a man that Nina didn’t trust, and he quickly moved away. He only ate when she told him to, and he went when she pulled over. Whoever had him before her had trained him very well. It was a shame that they didn’t keep him. One night as they sat in the Jeep eating and sharing a burger with fries, Nina looked at him as he ate a fry, “I need to give you a name.”

He raised his brown eyes to hers.

She slowed her chew, “Hmm, what shall we name you? Huh?” tearing off a piece of burger for him which he promptly ate and then rubbed his ears. Then when she wasn’t looking, he stole her kosher pickle. She smiled, “Hey, I was gonna eat that.” He then dropped the pickle and nudged it towards her with his nose. She rubbed him under his chin, “It’s okay. You eat it,” and he leaned down to eat it. Then she looked at him, “How about we name you Pickle.”

He raised his face towards her and barked for the first time a raspy loud bark. She held her hand out and he put his paw in her hand, “Nice to meet you Pickle. I am Nina.” He barked and put his paws on her chest and then leaned forward to kiss her cheek and then steal and eat the rest of her burger. She smiled scratching his head as he finished the pickle. Then she started the Jeep, and they were driving off into the sunset.

Draven in the meantime did everything he could to try and find where Nina was. After a week of not being able to find her with what Hunter told him, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He went to several different people, including Radar, to try and triangulate her phone or her location. The IT people he contacted ran facial recognition software to see if it would pick her up somewhere, but then the person that was helping him would get remotely close, their system would completely crash. After his fifth attempt, just as the computer they were on crashed, his phone rang.

Not recognizing the number, he went ahead and answered it, “Hello?”

“Shadow. It’s Scout.”

“Oh, hey, brah.”

“Don’t brah me. Stop trying to find her. Stop trying to use software or my tech people to find her. I have safety protocols up for her so that anyone that searches for her, including myself, results in a complete and utter system failure where nothing will come back up and they have to replace their entire system, and nothing can be recovered.”

“Oh, come on. You and the rest of you guys cannot possible expect me to sit by and let her slip through my fingers again!”

Deacon let out a deep breath, “I know what you two have gone through in this last year. But she is my sister, and my Alpha, and I will do what I have to, to protect her. This is a protocol that we have designed for her safety because of what happened with her previous stalker. Hell, we don’t even know where she is. I am sorry, I cannot let you try to override it for her. She would kill me first and then maybe ask questions later.”

“Well, I think she would be okay with it once she found out it was me.”

He could hear Deacon shaking his head, “No. I am sorry, bro. I have my orders. As being a beta in my pack, I have to obey my alphas.”

Draven lowered his head, “I understand. But know this and tell Wolf and all the others. She is the love of my life, and I will not let any of you stand in the way of me getting to her.”

“I wish I could help you, but I can’t. Take care of yourself Shadow. But please, do not make an enemy of us. That is something you do not want to come raining down on your shoulders. Trust me.”

“Then just tell me where she is.”

“I will tell you when my alphas tell me I can. Until then, you are on your own.”

Draven hung up his phone and looked at his home screen picture. It was the last photo he had taken of Nina after they had made love their final night together. She was laying on her belly with the sheet covering her bottom and she was smiling small and seductively at him. At that moment, he knew where to find her.

After a few months of being alone and living in seclusion with Pickle on a ranch in Montana literally in the middle of nowhere, Nina decided to move back to Hawaii to try and resume some resemblance of a life. Hoping that she got the hint to whoever it was stalking her to leave her alone. Once back in Hawaii, she found a new home on the other side of the island on the beach and resumed her life, though still did not contact her brothers and even made it a point to get Pickle to Hawaii and go through quarantine so that he could stay with her. Jay and Piper were very happy to find out that she had returned to the island and wanted to help her in any way they could.

That first week in her new home, she slept on an air mattress as she waited for her furniture to be delivered. But, she slept peacefully. She slept with the peace knowing that no one but Jay and Piper knew where she was. She slept with the peace knowing that no one could get to her. Not really. Not unless she allowed it.

Piper and Jay made sure to check on her daily even when she wasn’t talking to anyone but Misty. They had all exchanged numbers with each other to keep an eye out on Nina for each other. Misty couldn’t wait to meet them in person, they were truly amazing women to keep an eye out on Nina.

One day as she was sitting on her lanai watching the morning surfers, her phone dinged. Setting her cup of hot tea down, she picked it up. It was a text message from Elliott. She went ahead and called him directly. He answered on the first ring, “Hey, Alpha. I’m glad you called.”

“Jedi. What’s up?”

“Uh, please don’t hate me or put me on notice, but the rest of the brothers are worried about you and asked me to call you. They haven’t heard from you in six months.”

Nina felt anger instantly invade her, “Well, you can tell them I am still alive, and you can tell them I am still invoking the Act and to f**k off. Is there anything else you needed?”

He cleared his throat, “No. Alpha.”

Without saying goodbye, she hung up and went back to her tea and watching the morning surfers.