Locked Away

The forces might have doubled if they had been expecting Zayne. Zayne had taken the time to explain things to Mekhi. Zayne refused to have Mekhi beat himself up over this.

Because Zayne knew within himself, it simply was not the case, and he needed Mekhi to get better and not wallow in what he saw as his failures.

After more back and forth, Mekhi resigned to Zayne's estimate of events.

Then an elated Zayne simply stared at Mekhi, his blue eyes twinkling, a broad smile on his face. Still, before he could say anything, Mekhi's eyebrows pinched, his eyes narrowed, and he instantly sat up, "Oh buddy," his tone curious, "tell me we got help."

Mekhi assumed Zayne's smile was about his trip and hoped it yielded results. He knew they needed it now more than ever, and hearing that they had Alpha Theodore Thornton's backing would simply make his day.

It would mean all was not lost. It would mean that this might actually be over soon.

Zayne's expression was the same, except his smile grew wider, if possible, and he shook his head slowly and positively, then spoke, "Uh huh."

Mekhi responded with a "Yes," making hand gestures to it, lifting and fisting his hand and bringing it down on Yes.

"Goddess, this is the best news I could have woken up to." Mekhi breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes closing as he laid back on the pillow on this hospital bed.

The movements to sit up affected him slightly, but he would not show it, or Zayne would insist he stay bedridden and get more rest.

Mekhi's hand moved to rest behind his head as his eyes slid to his Alpha. He was waiting to hear the details about what went down and wondered why Zayne had not said anything else.

Instead, he found Zayne still smiling like a maniac.

Curiosity was suddenly at an all-time high as Mekhi thought Zayne was acting weird. Why was his face like that?

Mekhi sat up again but winced this time. He could not help it when Zayne's hands darted out to render assistance where he could, "Dude, are you ok?"

Zayne quickly asked, now his features etched with concern and worry for Mekhi. Mekhi was his buddy, best friend, right hand, partner in crime, and beta, having been with him since he was a pup.

Mekhi waved him away and said, "No, no, what's it to you? Spill it." Quickly changing the topic, seeing the concern and worry in Zayne's eyes and features.

Mekhi knew he was fine; he just needed time to heal; his right foot was the problem, and it was not a big deal.

Zayne, recalling what he was about to say, looked at Mekhi when he was about to ask again. Mekhi folded his hand and raised an eyebrow in question.

Zayne sighed. Then a tiny side smile graced his lips. Yes, he wanted to share this fantastic news, but he wanted to know if Mekhi was alright, "I found my mate."

Zayne said, and another shit-eating grin burst out on his face, eyes glittering when Mekhi shouted, "WHAT?"

Mekhi's expression was shocked, his eyes fixed on Zayne, his mouth opened and closed, then, "Goddess, Zayne." He started to laugh wholeheartedly," Understanding dawned on him.

Yes, that is why his Alpha was looking at him and smiling like a crazy person.

"Dude, this is amazing." He reached out and hit Zayne's shoulder, "It is the best news. Ha, you are on a roll today, aren't you?" He teased.

While Zayne smiled and stared off into space, his beautiful mate popped into his mind.

"So, tell me, how is she? What is she like? Is she beautiful? Did you mark her?" Mekhi rattled out questions, eager to hear his Alpha's story of how he met his mate.

He made himself comfy again, ready for the tale.

Zayne turned to Mekhi, and his eyes twinkled with mischief, "You would not believe who her father is."

Mekhi sat up again, ready for this challenge, the wheels turning. Where he went? His eyes widened, "Goddess, don't tell me, Thornton?"

And Mekhi burst out in laughter again and clapped his hands, "Wow, some ball for some long lost daughter, huh?" Mekhi rubbed his chin, then mused on their conversation when they got their hands on the invitation.

"Who would have thought, huh? Now you have to tell me everything." Mekhi refused to lie down again because Zayne seemed to be intent on shocking the life out of him.

If he kept at it, he would continue to hurt his foot from his leg going down.

Then Zayne took the time to share from getting into the ball as Mekhi was already abreast of what had transpired when they landed.

"Damn dude, Alpha Theodore Thornton's daughter... I like her already. Just because of how she defended you, it says a lot." Mekhi heard the story, and he was in awe, and a stroke of jealousy arose in him.

Only because he had woken up nostalgic about life and finding his mate, but he was so happy for Zayne. He deserved this.

"And I must commend Rafael. I would have done the same. Thornton is a punk." Mekhi gazed off as if recalling something...

"What did she say again? No one touches him... Tell me you weren't turned on. Hell, I am turned on." Mekhi jested.

"You would not believe how much, and Aragorn wanted to mark her since at the motel," Zayne spoke, staring off again, his mind replaying the events, his smile reaching his eyes.

Mekhi burst out laughing again, "So she pulled her necklace off and showed you who was the boss, huh?" Mekhi could not help but poke Zayne, but he loved every minute of this story.

Zayne's mate was feisty, and he could not wait to meet this little thing.

Zayne's smile broadened as he gushed, "Yes, she did." His eyes twinkled as he remembered a feisty Aubrianne 'bout she had everything under control.'

There was more teasing on Mekhi's part, unable to help himself, and Zayne indulged him, enjoying the topic of conversation. HIS mate.

So Mekhi had him.

Mekhi even enquired about Aubrianne's best friend, excited to meet her. Wondering if she might be the person he could at least move on from Sacha with.

Really take his plans on dating and mating into action. Or maybe he should travel first to at least attempt to find his mate before anything else.

That way, he would have at least tried to find her, and if not, then maybe...

However, Mekhi soon got back to business, as this was good. All of this was good news, with Alpha Thornton's backing, Aubrianne's friends, and the men they had received thus far.

He asked Zayne to contact Mira, and at Mekhi's request, his need for more positive news, Zayne reached Mira for Mekhi and placed her on speaker.

Mekhi immediately informed Mira of the urgency of the matter and that they had been attacked, also that he was laid up in a hospital bed.

Mira had expressed concern as she had been trying to contact him since Monday. She finally got the details from the drive after breaking down countless firewalls.

It took her eight days to crack and a day to scan through the info.

She explained she found a bunch of what looked like delivery routes for medication or highly classified sealed shipments and the addresses of where these shipments go.

There was also a particular delivery that jetted off to a remote island. Both Mekhi and Zayne were just soaking up all the information, and then she told them she could arrange to meet to give them the drive.

They can easily access it and view the details themselves. Maybe it would make sense to them.

Mira did not know just how much this made sense to them, and Zayne was already betting on the locations of the outpost he hoped to get. They just may have gotten it on this drive.

Plus, he can cross-check them with the intel Carlita got from Dr. Nathan's Mind.

She also got a glimpse of something disturbing that caused her to dig deep, so much so that she was certain Nathan would have a migraine when he woke up.

As she was curious as to what memory Dr. Nathan's human mind had locked away deep in its depths.

Carlita saw something very unsettling about Nathan's sister. Zayne could not wait to find out if his mother knew about this.