Soul Moon

Answers

It's been almost two hours since Caden brought the strangely familiar bartender back to his condo. Two hours that he's watched over him, wondered about him, and fought back urges he shouldn't have for someone he doesn't know.

Whatever drug his target gave the bartender, it was potent. Concern for the mysterious man grows in the pit of Caden's stomach like a worm wriggling inside a rotten apple. Something feels off but he can't put a finger on it.

He checks the barkeep's pulse for possibly the hundredth time. Placing two of his fingers against the bartender's left coratid artery, he finds the man's pulse steady and strong. It's not a surprise. His acute sense of hearing hasn't stopped listening to the bartender's heartbeat since he saved the man from being abducted. However, even though the young man's breathing is regular, there's a thin sheen of sweat covering his abnormally pale skin which is warm to the touch. Caden wants to do more to make him comfortable or better yet, wake him up but there's nothing else he can do for the bartender until his colleagues arrive.

"Where are they?" he growls behind his teeth.

His patience and normally calm demeanor are quickly being eclipsed by the bartender's masculine odor. Under the stranger's enchanting aura, Caden's strong morals that he holds himself to are withering like fruit left in the sun. Everything about the bartender triggers the desires of his wolf.

He's even had to leave the room a few times to meditate and bring his inner beast under control. The young man's rosewood scent is an aphrodisiac to him. It makes his blood thrum in his veins and his heart fall into an unstable rhythm. To look at the unconscious man is both calming and unnerving to Caden's rapidly beating heart. He feels like he's being pulled in a hundred different directions, all of which lead back to the man lying in his guest bed.

Something in Caden's forgotten past nibbles away at his mind like a hungry insect. He tries to remember, to dig deeper, but the curtain remains closed. It's like an itch he can't scratch. Everytime he looks at the sleeping man's face another question arises and joins the dozens of others he doesn't have answers to.

But maybe the bartender does. Maybe he can answer all of Caden's questions. Maybe the barkeep is the answer.

For now, all Caden can do is watch over him. He places a cold washcloth on the young man's forehead to try and keep his fever down. Covering the bartender's shivering body with a heavy comforter, he makes sure the man's head and body are comfortable. Caden checks the barkeep's pulse and heart rate again to ensure that, whatever drug has contaminated his body, it was only meant to render him unconscious.

Caden's focus is entirely on the bartender when his phone buzzes on the nightstand. He startles with a jerk and snatches it from the nightstand. Without looking to see who the caller is, he hits accept.

"Did you get it?" the voice on the other end asks sharply.

Caden turns away from the bed and keeps his voice low.

"No."

"Why not?"

"There was no exchange."

"What do you mean there was no exchange? Our informant has never been wrong before."

"There was no exchange. But there was an attempted kidnapping."

"Kidnapping?"

Caden can hear the shock in the caller's voice. Knowing his colleague, the man is currently pacing back and forth in his office trying to figure out what went wrong.

Finally, his friend asks, "Who?"

Caden's eyes automatically fall to the sleeping figure now hugging one of the pillows tightly.