by Jami Gray
“Bonding occurs when one wolf’s life is in danger and their mate ties them together to save them. Who was dying, Xander?”
There was fear in her mother’s voice and Xander suddenly realized she hadn’t hid things quite as well as she had thought. “Me,” she admitted on a whisper.
Talon closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath. “That’s what I was afraid of.” She opened her eyes, and Xander could see the tears fiercely held in check. “You’re my daughter and I could have lost you. Who were you protecting?”
“Him,” Xander answered with brutal honesty. She hadn’t wanted what was happening to her to touch Warrick. It had been her choice to start cutting pack ties, not his.
Her mom tilted her head. “I’m assuming he had a few issues with that.”
The wry comment tugged a small grin free. “Just a few.”
Her mother rose and wrapped her arms tight around her. “I’ll forever be grateful he chose to save you.” Releasing her, Talon stepped back and grasped Xander’s chin. “You need to let him protect you as much as you need to protect him.”
“It’s not that easy, Mom.”
Talon smiled blissfully. “Nothing worth having is easy, baby. Remember that.”
Before Xander could answer, her cell phone rang. Rising from her chair, she gave her mom a quick, fierce hug then snagged the phone off the counter. “Cade.”
“Hey, Xander. You up for a little fun?” Raine asked.
“Depends on your definition of fun.” She turned and blew her mom a kiss before heading back down the hall.
“Let’s start with some B&E.”
Xander pushed into her old room and sat on the bed, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder as she pulled on her boots. “And where will this little soirée be taking place?” She stood and reached for her jacket as Raine rattled off an address. “Why does that sound familiar?”
“It’s Eilers’s place,” Raine answered.
Xander stilled. Neither she nor Warrick had given Raine much information the night before. “Raine, how’d you get his name?”
There was a snort from the other end of the line. “I got my ass pulled into the office this morning and informed by his royal furriness that I was to go with you to this particular address to uncover what ever I could.” Raine’s exasperation came through loud and clear. “Would it hurt him to say please occasionally?”
“Probably.” Xander wasn’t sure how she felt about Warrick’s order.
“So you in?”
“As if you have to ask,” she said, the familiar excitement of the hunt beginning to bubble in her veins.
“Great. I’ll meet you there in about fifteen?”
“I’ll be there.”
Raine hung up without saying goodbye, and Xander grabbed her keys from her dresser. Running down the hall, she gave her mom a quick kiss. “Work. Got to go.”
“Be safe, baby.”
She flashed her mom a wicked grin. “Always.”
Chapter Fourteen
Warrick had only been in his office at Taliesin a couple of hours and already his wolf was clawing in an agitated bid for freedom. He hadn’t wanted to leave Xander, not when things were so…strained. Damn it, he’d been so sure that once he sated himself with her scent and skin, this itchy need to keep her close would become more manageable.
He pushed out of his chair to stalk over to the window overlooking the backside of Taliesin. Mother Nature crowded the parking lot, blocking out the neighboring buildings, and providing the illusion of isolation.
As the Chief Financial Officer of Taliesin Security, he could have picked an office with a better view. Yet, he enjoyed the one he had. The fact that his office was as far away from the other executive offices as possible was an added bonus. It limited the amount of interruptions he was forced to deal with whenever he decided to make an actual appearance.
If the choice had been his, he wouldn’t have left the comfort of his home office. Unfortunately, remnants from this morning’s altercations were still being cleared out. Besides, his pending meeting was better served in the impersonal confines of Taliesin than the security of his home.
His wolf pushed forward, edging out the man. He could feel the change hovering. Between his lack of sleep, his chaotic emotions where Xander was concerned, and trying to unravel the bloody puzzle behind the threats, his civilized veneer was starting to crack.
Starting to crack? Those fissures were so deep, he wondered how anyone could miss them. It took so little lately to widen the gap between animal instinct and human intellect, it was a wonder he wasn’t spending all of his time furry and on four feet.
He ran one hand through his hair and blew out a breath, recalling Xander’s furious face as he kept her from leaving his house. That was one prime example of his unraveling control. Forcing compliance was a great way to show your mate how much you respected her.
He turned from the window and moved back to his desk, taking his chair. He propped his arms on the desk and lowered his head into his hands. Even now, though distance separated them, he could feel her. It amazed him that, even through her lingering anger at his actions, she was trying to find an excuse for him. He couldn’t bear to tell her that there was no excuse.
He groaned. He was going to lose her. A sickening sense of emptiness flooded his stomach and he closed his eyes. His need to keep her safe meant he would continue to make mistakes. How many more would she forgive before she left for good? Pressing his fingers against his closed lids, he fought back his urge to howl with frustration.
The buzz of his phone cut through his thoughts and earned a heated glare.
“Yes?” He didn’t try to hide the edge of the wolf riding his voice.
Unperturbed, Taliesin’s ever-efficient receptionist, Rachel, answered smoothly, “Your ten o’clock appointment is here, Mr. Vidis.”
He glanced at the wall clock. Fifteen minutes early. Interesting. “I’ll be available in ten.” He carefully set the receiver back in the cradle.
Leaning back in his chair, he considered the situation. The man currently cooling his heels under Rachel’s watchful eye wouldn’t be pleased. No dominant wolf liked to be made to wait. However, he was in Warrick’s territory. His territory, his rules.
Except that Ryuu, who was still out with Saul on trash duty, had made him promise to call in reinforcements, just in case. Considering how shaky his control was, it was probably safer to follow his Second’s advice. Safer for this visiting maverick, at least.
Warrick punched in Sebastian’s extension. After two rings, his Third’s voice came over the line. “Hey, boss man.”
“Sebastian, you available for the next hour?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“There’s a petitioning maverick waiting up front. Would you be so kind as to show him in at ten o’clock?”
“Ten o’clock?” Sebastian asked. “You got it.”
Warrick hung up the phone and pulled over the file Ryuu had prepared on his pending visitor. It was thinner than Warrick would have liked. The request to meet had been rather abrupt, and Warrick knew Ryuu wasn’t happy with the limited timeframe he’d been given to research the man.
He opened it and began to scan the report. Dan Vicks. No photo. Ryuu had been pulling the maverick’s passport photo when Neil Eilers had decided to hunt down his ex-girlfriend.
Dan had made his way to Oregon via northern Canada. He had chosen to live outside pack and taken the path of maverick. His work history was fairly straightforward. He appeared to be a contracted consultant with a large technical company, working up and down the coast. Single, no family listed as emergency contact or dependents.
Even with the short time frame, Ryuu managed to touch base with wolves in some of the other Canadian packs. One wolf in British Columbia’s Kenai Pack had described Dan as “a tough son of a bitch who seemed friendly enough.” A wolf from Alaska’s Stonehammer Pack had offered his two cents, calling him “a hard-working fellow.”
Warrick closed the folder. Chances were good Dan Vicks was simply looking for permission to stay in Motoki’s territory as he conducted business.
Normally, Warrick would have no problems granting such a request, but the last few weeks were far from normal. Neither he nor his wolf, were happy about letting an unknown maverick into his territory.
The sound of footfalls moving down the hallway had him tucking the folder into a desk drawer. He stood up and walked around his desk as the footsteps stopped in front of his door. He took a deceptively relaxed pose, leaning against the desk’s edge, his hands resting behind him as Sebastian’s firm knock sounded.
“Enter,” he called.
The door opened, Sebastian’s broad-shouldered body blocking Warrick’s view. Sebastian stepped forward, moving aside to let the man behind him through.
The half-remembered scent hit Warrick first, like a fist to his solar plexus. His breath stilled as shock rocketed through him. Every muscle locked into place as he fought not to visibly react. There was no way to stop the drastic rise in tension as Dan Vicks stopped inside the office, watching Warrick warily.
Under his skin, where Sebastian and Dan couldn’t see, Warrick’s wolf laid his ears flat and curled his lips back from his teeth. Warrick felt his nails burst through his skin and dig deep into the underside of the desk’s edge.
It took every shred of discipline he possessed not to lunge at Dan and sink his teeth into his throat. The faint brush of Xander’s wolf gave him breathing room.
“Sebastian, leave.” Warrick forced the command past his pounding fury. He didn’t take his stare off the wolf standing across from him, even as the door shut with an audible click. The tension in the office rose to a screaming pitch and still Warrick didn’t trust himself to react. Instead, he began to restrict the bond between him and Xander, his attention centered on the man standing in his office.
“Warrick.” The man nodded without breaking eye contact, his dark brown hair, streaked with black, shifting with the movement.
Unprepared for the stinging slice of pain at hearing his name from a voice he long thought dead, Warrick’s anger rushed forward, burying the heartache deep.
“Dan Vicks?” he ground out, refusing to look away from the eerily familiar, hazel gaze.
“Would you have agreed to see me if I had given you the name Dmitri Vidis, brother?”
“I have no brother,” Warrick snarled. “My brother died the day he betrayed our parents and the pack.”
The skin around Dmitri’s eyes tightened. Amber flashed briefly before he finally dropped his gaze, conceding Warrick’s dominance. “Betrayal is a matter of perception, isn’t it?” The rough edge of his question revealed the predator crouched under human skin.
Half-remembered resentment and pain flared, and Warrick bit out, “You chose to turn your back on us.”
“I recall it more the other way around,” Dmitri said coldly. “My family and pack turned their backs on me.”
Warrick stared unblinkingly at him.
Dmitri’s lips twisted into a bitter smile as he looked at Warrick, his gaze just beyond Warrick’s shoulder, offering no challenge. “We shall agree to disagree.”
Warrick made a conscious effort to uncurl his hands from the desk’s edge, forcing his wolf’s presence back. No matter how tempted he was, he couldn’t rip Dmitri’s throat out. No challenge had been offered. The slick bastard managed to escape an execution all those years ago because there had been no evidence of his supposed actions. And afterward, when the bodies had been buried and a new alpha installed, Warrick found no trace of his brother. Eventually, he assumed the traitor had taken his place among the numerous causalities.
Too damn bad he couldn’t have stayed dead.
For a moment, Warrick cursed his sense of honor that kept him from destroying the wolf standing in front of him. “What do you want?” he bit out, hanging onto civility by a hair’s breath.
“Not to rehash history,” Dmitri answered.
Warrick straightened and his wolf was pleased when the other wolf took an involuntary step back. “I’m uncertain if you’re arrogant or just a fool for coming here.”
Dmitri scowled and lifted his chin, but didn’t rise to the taunt. “I’m here to petition the Northwest alpha.” Forced neutrality coated every word.
Warrick swallowed his rage, stuffing it into a tight, dark spot in the corner of his soul. Mentally, he reached out and grabbed onto the familiar detachment he used in his dealings with the other heads of house and humans. The cold logic was unexpectedly comforting.
“I’m listening.” He gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat.” He waited until Dmitri was seated before he forced himself to move around his desk. The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention as he turned his back on his brother.
He took his time settling behind his desk. With his riotous emotions ruthlessly held in check, he studied Dmitri.
They had always been close in height, with Warrick standing a bit taller and Dmitri carrying more muscle through his chest and shoulders. Where Warrick had their mother’s unique blend of browns and blondes, Dmitri echoed their father’s darker blacks and browns. It was hard to look into the shared hazel eyes and not feel something.
Yet, where Warrick could easily blend into the crowd, Dmitri would stand out. Even now, he feigned a relaxed pose, stretching his legs to cross at the ankles and folding his hands over his stomach. Dressed in linen slacks and a silk shirt, he carried himself with a casual elegance, unmarred by an edge of arrogance. That arrogance had been the motivation behind Dmitri’s choice to leave their old pack in Russia and go maverick.
Questions surged in Warrick’s mind. Questions he didn’t dare let loose, because once he did, there was no way either of them would leave this office without bloodshed. His wolf prowled against his self-imposed restraints and he forced himself to think past his emotions.
Setting his elbows on the desk, he laced his fingers under his chin, and kept his face blank. “Are you petitioning as Dan Vicks or Dmitri Vidis?”
“Dmitri no longer exists,” he answered. “Dan Vicks is a legitimate businessman.”
“What does Dan Vicks want from the Northwest alpha then?”
“Recognition.”
Warrick raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“I’ve been approached by a group of mavericks and elected as their representative.”
“Representative? Since when have the mavericks needed a representative?”
“Since this particular group of mavericks decided to create their own pack,” Dmitri answered smoothly.
Warrick dropped his hands and leaned back in his chair. Dmitri’s request was highly unusual and not one Warrick could have predicted. “Why the change of heart? Mavericks are lone wolves for a reason. Pack structure isn’t to their liking, nor do they do well within it. Why do they feel the sudden need to establish their own pack?”
“It’s not sudden, nor are they considering it a change of heart. More as a strategic move.”
“Why?” Warrick asked, suspicion beginning to creep in.
“Protection,” Dmitri answered. “The world has become a much smaller place, making it harder and harder to live our lives undetected by humans. There are six of us who would like to establish a formal pack with our own territory.”
Paranoia raised its ugly head. Dmitri’s request on the heels of the current shitstorm was making him twitchy. “How are your fellow wolves coming to the attention of the humans?”
Dmitri snorted. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find an isolated area to run in?”
Warrick raised an eyebrow. “Isolated areas aren’t hard to find on this coast.”
“No, but it would be simpler having our own terri
tory, where we didn’t have to worry about some nosy human and their camera phone.”
“If that’s the case, why doesn’t each maverick just petition the local alphas?” Warrick pressed.
“Too many politics. We’re dominants and you know as well as I do, how many issues bringing in an outside dominant will cause. No local alpha’s willing to risk the possible upheaval in their packs.” He paused. “And none of us want to disrupt the local packs.”
Warrick studied Dmitri. He wished he could believe Dmitri’s altruistic answer, but their shared history made him wonder. “It’s never stopped you before.” Heat curled around the edges of his words.
Dmitri pushed out of his chair and to his feet. “I’m not here to revisit old arguments.”
Warrick leaned back, deliberately keeping his body relaxed in the face of Dmitri’s aggression. “As an alpha, it’s my job to ensure the safety of my packs. I know Dmitri Vidis, but I don’t know Dan Vicks.” He caught sight of Dmitri’s fists curling as his words found their mark.
“If I had to come to you as your brother, you would’ve torn out my throat,” he growled, temper rising along his cheekbones. “I haven’t forgotten that day either, Warrick. You wanted to kill me.”
No matter how hard he tried, Warrick could no longer keep the storm of memories locked behind ice. He shoved his chair back so violently it hit the wall behind him with a resounding thunk. Pressing his palms flat against the solid wood of his desk, he fought the urge to leap over the wide surface and take his brother down in a hail of teeth and claws. “I should’ve killed you.”
Dmitri rocked to the balls of his feet and leaned forward. “For what? For begging our father to save my mate? He was a hypocrite!” he growled. “Had it been Mom in the same situation, he would’ve moved heaven and earth, worked with whoever or whatever it took to save her. But because my mate was human, he refused!”
“You’re a fool,” Warrick snarled. “You chose a human for a mate. You were so blind you couldn’t see the threat right in front of you. She set you up and you fell for it.”