Savage Desire
Chapter 35

Ryan wasn't too surprised when he materialized in Gloria's garden. He hadn't meant to go to Jeremy's mother when he'd desperately blinked out of the suite. All he could think at the time was how he needed some peace and calm within to prevent himself from going insane. Well, what better person to give him that peace than Gloria Stanton. He saw her as his mother too after all. Ryan stared at the elegant woman who seemed to be oblivious to his presence. With a deep breath, he released his aura. One moment Gloria seemed engrossed in whatever she was doing with the flowers, the next, she was sniping the air. Then she turned in Ryan's direction with a huge grin on her face. But that grin wavered, and then disappeared. She frowned, sensing that all was not well with her son- in-law.

Gloria watched as Ryan's mouth opened as if to speak, and then closed. She saw his eyes brim over and knew that he was falling apart. Ryan opened his mouth again but then closed it again. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Ebookex.com. Visit Ebookex.com to read the complete chapters for free. Gloria didn't need to be a genius to know that whatever was causing Ryan's misery had something to do with her son. Her eyes hardened for a split second in anger. But then watching Ryan, she knew that he didn't need her anger that very instant. Gloria's face softened, became even more stunning. She opened her arms and whispered; "Come here, darling."

Ryan didn't realize he was crying until he felt the wetness on his cheeks. He walked into Gloria's arms and then just let himself go, pouring out his confusion and hurt in a storm of tears. And although Ryan didn't break down into sobs like he really wanted to do, he allowed himself to accept the comfort that spilled out in volumes from the woman he'd come to see as a mother.

'Anything?' Jeremy asked his friends on their mind-link. And when both said they still hadn't found Ryan, he let out a frustrated roar.

They'd been searching for Ryan for hours to no avail. He'd gone to check Ryan's apartment, campus, the f*****g woods, no Ryan. It was only natural for an upset werewolf to shift and go for a run. But obviously, that wasn't how Ryan rolled. As a wolf, Jeremy's best bet was to track his mate by his scent. But apart from the fact that he couldn't feel Ryan, Jeremy couldn't even smell him. He'd been gone since two p.m. that afternoon. And it was already after eleven p.m. Jeremy could say for a fact that Ryan was nowhere within that pack house. F**k!

"Where are you, baby?" Jeremy whispered to himself as he walked dejectedly out of the woods.

He saw Phillip and Stan pulling on their shorts with worried looks on their faces. They'd scanned every inch of the woods and beyond in their wolf forms but there was no sign of Ryan anywhere. He took the shorts and sexy sleeveless t-shirt that Stan held out to him and unhurriedly, wore them.

"Listen, I'm very grateful for your help guys." Jeremy said quietly.

"You know we're always here for you." Phillip said. "Where do we go next?"

"I'll take it from here." Jeremy murmured. "At least he's alive. Although I can't feel him, I would have felt it if he was in danger or..." He trailed of] but his friends knew what he wanted to say.

"That's good." Stan said, leaning forward to give Jeremy a hug and a light slap on the back. "He will be back. The guy loves you too much not to."

"Well, it's not like he has a choice." Phillip chuckled.

"I hope you're right." Jeremy sighed, accepting the one-armed hug from Phillip. "I'll just pass through mum's and tell her what's going on before she replaces out that Ryan has gone missing." "You had better do that dude." Phillip chuckled. "I wouldn't wanna be you if she replaces out any other way. All the best."

"And if you replace him, you know what to do." Stan drawled, making an obscene gesture with his tongue.

"Fuck you." Jeremy laughed despite himself.

"No, thank you." Stan laughed. "But you know who would welcome that. See you tomorrow bro."

And even as Jeremy parted ways with his friends, his heart pounded with dread. He knew his mother was going to kill him. Fuck, he wanted to kill himself too. The only thing stopping him from doing that was the fact that it would be ruled as suicide. He cursed darkly as he took the longest route to his mother's house. He should have shifted and ran but he preferred to walk to give himself time to think. He would just tell his mother that Ryan had blinked out after a misunderstanding. Then he would promise her that he was going to sort everything out. With that plan made, he hastened his steps.

Jeremy wasn't surprised when he found his mother watching TV in her living room. Since he was a kid, the earliest that woman went to bed was one a.m. He thought it strange though that his mother didn't even turn to acknowledge his presence. "Mum?" He went to sit beside her on her plush maroon couch. "Are you okay?" He asked with concern.

Gloria slowly turned her head to look at her son. She saw the concern and confusion in his eyes and wondered why he looked confused. Surly Jeremy should know that she wouldn't be happy with the way he'd made Ryan unhappy. "Did you just ask me whether I was okay?" Gloria asked with an incredulous look on her face.

"Well, I thought...wait, has Ryan said anything to you?" Jeremy twisted in the seat to face his mother. "Do you know where he is?"

Gloria looked shocked for a moment but then quickly schooled her features to one of indi@erence. Jeremy obviously didn't know. Ryan was something else, she thought amused. In fact Gloria was so amused she couldn't control the laughter that erupted from her

throat.

"What's going on?" Jeremy frowned. "Why are you laughing?"

"Oh Jeremy." Gloria threw her head back against the head rest and gave a deep sign. "Why are you here?"

"I'm beginning to think you know why I'm here." Jeremy rasped, not amused. "Has he called you?"

"Who?" Gloria managed to maintain a straight face.

"Don't play with me Ma." Jeremy growled.

"Don't you dare growl at me." Gloria hissed, suddenly angry. "I'm trying very hard to hold on to my temper because of what you've been through so don't test me, Jeremy Stanton."

"I'm sorry." Jeremy mumbled. "I just...I'm worried about him. Not knowing where he is, is killing me."

"Well, you should have thought of that before driving him away with your shitty attitude." Gloria said sternly. "We all know that it's going to take a while to bounce back after your experience at the Fort but the last person you should take your frustrations out on is Ryan. That boy has been through a lot and doesn't deserve any shit from you. After what he went through at the hands of that stupid s***m donor of his, you should be treating him with kid gloves, not hurting his feelings. What did you say to him to get him so heartbroken?"

Jeremy stared at his mother. Ryan obviously hadn't told her what he'd done. That was good because he had no intention of telling his mother.

"Where did he go Ma?" Jeremy's voice was hoarse. "I need to know where he is."

"He's fine. Just tell me what you did to him."

"Where is he?" Jeremy was getting worked up and Gloria could tell.

"He's asleep in the guest room." She said quietly.

"What?" Jeremy gasped. "I didn't smell... Is he okay?" He asked as he got to his feet with the intention of going to his mate. Gloria held him back. "Wait Jeremy."

But Jeremy snatched his hands out of Gloria's grip. "You can't stop me from seeing him."

"I know and I won't." Gloria said softly. "Just come sit with me and listen to me. Please."

With a deep sigh, Jeremy went back and sat beside his mother. He looked shaky. Gloria reached for his hand and rubbed soothing circles at the back.

"He cloaked himself Jeremy." She said softly. "I didn't even know that till you asked me where he is. I thought you came here because you knew he was here. The question is, why would your mate cloak himself? He obviously didn't want you to replace him. For a mate to do that, you must have hurt him real bad. What did you do?"

Jeremy shook his head sadly. "I can't tell you Ma. But I will fix it. I promise I will."

"Telling me you'll fix it isn't going to get you of the hook, Jeremy." Gloria said coolly. "There are no words to describe what that boy has had to endure. Meeting his father like that, being thrust into all that violence, seeing people that he'd come to see as family die at the hands of his father...it has all been too much. And you hadn't been there to help him through all that. That boy needs the highest level of comfort from you, Jeremy. The last thing he needs from you is this." She threw her hands up angrily. "Making him feel this way. I've never felt a person hurt so much as I had when I held Ryan in my arms today." She whispered.

"Shit." Jeremy swore.

"I don't know what you did or said but I expected better from you son. Ryan doesn't need this from anyone. Especially not from you." Jeremy nodded, feeling so wretched. "Can I see him now?"

Gloria nodded. "But please don't wake him up." She cautioned. "He was strung up so tight I had a hard time getting him to sleep." "Fuck!" Jeremy visibly shook as he got back to his feet.

"I'm sure he will be fine by the time he wakes up tomorrow." Gloria said. "I'll tell him you came by when he wakes up."

"I'm staying with him Ma." Jeremy couldn't control his low growl. He knew his mother would insist he left. Well, not this time. He sure as hell wasn't going to allow anyone to tell him not to be with his mate. Not even his mother. Jeremy's eyes turned amber. His wolf was close. And no one in their right minds challenged an alpha whose wolf was that close. Especially not a mother. They knew better. "This is not like the other time. He's my mate now. He stays with me."

Gloria nodded and watched her son move towards the guest room. Jeremy was right. They were mated now. His place was by his mate.

Jeremy sent a quick message to Phillip and Stan on his mind-link to tell them that he'd found Ryan. He thanked them once again and then opened the door to his mother's guestroom. He gasped when sorrow instantly hit him like a punch. Although Ryan was asleep, his emotions surrounded him as if it were another entity. He lay on his side, buried under the covers, facing the door. The room was bathed with light from the moon which streamed in from an open window. Tendrils of hair lay across his forehead, down one side of his flawless face. Jeremy swallowed hard. His mate was just beautiful. That angelic face... He was perfect. Jeremy took a step closer to the bed but stopped with a pained whimper when he saw the streaks of dried tears on Ryan's face. What had he done, he railed at himself. His wolf was going crazy inside him. He needed to hold Ryan, feel his heart beating against his, feel his breath on him...

Jeremy stripped. He just wanted to get as close to Ryan as he could without waking him up. Getting naked meant instead of two sets of clothing between them, there was only one. Completely naked, Jeremy lifted the edge of the covers and slid in beside Ryan. Ryan didn't wake up when Jeremy got in beside him. But he snuggled into Jeremy, settling in as if his body were made to perfectly fit Jeremy's. Even in sleep, he obviously craved the closeness of his mate. Jeremy gently pushed the hair o Ryan's forehead and stared down into the most breathtaking face he'd ever seen. God, he loved him.

Then as if he couldn't help himself, Jeremy lowered his head until his lips feathered against Ryan's. He didn't kiss him because he didn't want to wake him up. But he didn't separate their lips either. He just allowed his lips to rest against Ryan's. He didn't think about any other person. It was just his mate's lips. And it felt great.