by Amanda LeMay
“Track him down,” Derry replied as she placed a cup of coffee in front of me. “Punish him anyway.”
Jessy edged closer to her mate. “Punishment is not pretty.” She paused, looked at the floor. “No offense, but I really don’t want to attend another tribunal, not even yours, Simone.”
“I understand.” I didn’t even want to be there. I stared at my plate and found that even though my stomach ached for food, I couldn’t bring myself to pick up my fork.
“Just a warning.” Dain cleared his throat before going on. “Punishment can be extremely brutal and vicious. There’s no shame in looking away.”
I looked up. Jessy had moved to stand in front of her mate. Dain had wrapped both his arms around Jessy’s shoulders. Her fingers interlaced with his as her head rested to one side and stared blankly out of the window. Jessy must have witnessed a punishment—a punishment Dain had wished she had never seen.
“I’ve seen punishment.” Tears burned my eyes at the memory of the unknown female Rule had punished. “If that’s what’s in store for Rule, I won’t look away.” I sobered up, huffed out a sigh, picked up my fork, and ate every bite of my breakfast.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
WHEN GUNNER HAD WALKED into to the huge parking garage he called a shed, I fully expected him to drive out in what I’d imagined would be a stereotypical cowboy’s truck, which yes, he admitted he did own, as well. What I wasn’t prepared for was Gunner pulling out in the sleek, shimmering, dark cherry red muscle car.
Before I left the city, I had only ever been in three separate cars in my entire life: my mother’s expensive luxury sedan—where I had learned to drive—and the limo that carried me wherever I needed to go. Driving into the little town of Comfort and back to the ranch in Jessy’s truck made the grand total three vehicles. I had always assumed that one day I would have enough money to purchase a car of my own.
And Gunner’s sleek ride, with its smooth, black leather interior, would suit me rather nicely.
The car’s powerful engine rumbled deep and low, vibrating the ground beneath my feet. Gunner stopped in front of me, gracefully slid out, walked around, and opened my door. I slipped down into the passenger seat, enjoying how it cradled my body like it was made just for me. I glanced around and wondered if maybe Gunner suffered from what humans called a mid-life crisis, and if he was suffering from this condition, was his attraction to me part of it? The fast car, the younger female—both symptoms sounded like that unfortunate human malady.
Gunner’s smoky leather fragrance saturated the interior of the car, though the lemony undertone seemed to be missing—as if he took it with him each time he exited his car. Either that, or my sense of smell was so under-used, I failed to pick it out.
He settled into the driver’s seat and looked over to me, his eyes kind and caring. “You ready for this?”
No. “I’m okay.” I glanced away, finding it harder to lie while I looked at him.
“Simone, that’s not what I asked you.” He took my hand and squeezed, the warm comfort filling me up. “Are you ready to do this?”
Tucking my hair behind my ear, I turned to face him again.
Just tell the truth.
“No...but if I wait until I’m ready...”
I’ll probably run.
But I couldn’t say that, either. I’d made a promise. I wouldn’t leave.
I couldn’t leave. Not now.
“You’re doin’ the right thing. And I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”
I nodded and then we were off down the winding dirt road, through the big, black wrought iron gates and out onto the highway. The split-rail fence marking his ranch boundary whizzed past as I gazed out the window at the rows and rows of trees that had been carefully cultivated and maintained.
“What variety of trees are these?”
“Pecan. That big one up near the house is over a hundred years old. These ones here,” his hand swept in front of me, “I planted when I took over as Alpha. We needed a little more income than what we get from cattle. I been thinkin’ lately I might plant some wine grapes and sell them out to the wineries here.”
“Do you share your profits with your pack members?”
“Yeah, all this and the market. Every member of the pack pitches in. They do their share of the work when it’s needed. Harvesting the pecans, working the cattle, even stocking and cashiering at the market.”
“Most of the members of Rule’s pack work for his company. Well, females only work until their first heat, then they stay at home with their mothers and wait to be chosen to produce an offspring. Now that I think about it, I know it’s not right.”
“No, it isn’t right, but making females stay home isn’t against wolf law. One thing though, Rule’s company must be making enough money to support his pack. I mean, you grew up in a mansion, right?”
“Yes, but I didn’t want to live in my mother’s mansion for the rest of my life. I wanted to move out to an apartment, live on my own like the males do. It’s odd, but Jessy was one of the first females to hold a position in that company normally held by a male. I didn’t want to be stuck down at the bottom. Females in that pack are not encouraged to attend college or seek out any other sort of higher learning. Only males were. I wanted the same opportunities the males had. I wanted to have a good education behind me when I started out.” I clenched my fists in my lap, my nails digging into my palms. “After my mother pulled me from college, my life goals fell apart. I went to work every day and made it a point not to stand out, to blend into the background. I didn’t get in anyone’s way. I didn’t look anyone in the eye. I became a shadow.”
“Simone.”
My pulse raced as my body tensed up, remembering one of the biggest arguments I’d had with my mother.
“I have absolutely no idea how much money I made. My mother controlled my finances. She worked in some separate division of Rule’s company that managed the corporation’s finances. My paychecks were automatically deposited directly into her bank account. She refused to give me the account number or even the name of the bank.” I stared out the window, anger at how my mother controlled me in every way she could burning through me. “I believed her. I trusted her. How could I be so stupid?”
“You’re not stupid. Stupid would have been for you to stay and let some sadistic sonofabitch torture you.”
“Yes, staying would’ve been extremely stupid.” I sighed as a sudden, heavy weight settled on my chest. “When I left, I left with nothing. Not one penny.”
“Don’t worry about the money. You don’t need it.”
“How am I supposed to live?” Panic rose in my voice.
“Whatever you earned, I’ll make it up,” he replied calmly.
“Then you’d better put me to work. I didn’t come here to be a charity case.”
I felt the vibrations of Gunner’s deep growl all the way down to my bones before it left his mouth. “Listen,” he started between clenched teeth. “Sometimes, you gotta let go, shrug that shit off and leave it in the past.”
I flipped my hair back and looked at him, ready to keep going, ready to let loose some of the anger I had been holding so tightly inside, even though I knew directing it at him was wrong. But as I studied his profile, noticed the way his jaw clamped down, how the muscles of his shoulders bunched up, causing his biceps to flex and strain all the way down to his white-knuckled fingers gripping the steering wheel—I realized my emotions seemed to feed his and if I didn’t calm down, what was happening between us now would escalate beyond my control.
I didn’t want to argue. I wanted to blow off steam, but now was not the time.
“Maybe.” My throat tightened up, but I breathed through it, trying to defuse what I had started. “But, Gun, I have...nothing.”
And just like that, the rising tension in the car vanished. His rough hand wrapped around mine, his large fingers interlacing with my smaller ones as his thumb brushed lightly back and forth over the insid
e of my wrist. Every time he touched me, even the simplest touch seemed to affect every muscle in my body, warming me, drawing a smile on my face even when I didn’t feel particularly happy.
“Yeah, you do,” he whispered.
I couldn’t help but laugh a little. He didn’t understand; however, I wasn’t going to push it. Not now.
“Just like Derry. I’m never going to win an argument with you, huh?”
“Maybe. Someday.” Then he chuckled. “Probably not.”
“Well, I’d like to be around the next time you and Derry get into it.”
“I don’t argue with Derry. Not anymore. She doesn’t fight fair.”
His lips turned up in a smile, causing small creases to fan out from his green eyes.
“Why do you say that?”
“I don’t like to lose. Ever. And Derry is one smart female. She never argues unless she knows for a fact she’s right. I learned that a long time ago. So now, she starts up, I let her have it and back the hell off.”
I grinned at him. “Oh...so you tuck tail and run?”
He laughed out loud and it was such a glorious sound. “Now, hold up there, I never said that!”
With Gunner’s hand in mine, and the tension significantly relieved in the car, I sat back and watched the landscape fly past.
That morning, I’d been in such a rush to tell my story, and once we pulled into the parking lot, I wished Gunner would’ve passed up the building and kept driving. Not only because I wasn’t sure I was ready to share what had happened to me with anyone else, but also because it was the first time Gunner and I had truly been alone, albeit in a car. Well, a very cool car.
Once we parked, Gunner came around, opened the car door, offered his hand, and helped me out.
“Ralph may need to ask you some sensitive questions. If you need me, I’ll be right beside you.”
This interview was going to be harder on him than on me. There were so many details he hadn’t heard yet. So many details that might color the way he saw me.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you’re here, but...will you make me a promise?”
“A promise?” He stepped back, put his hands to his hips, and cocked his head to one side while raising one dark eyebrow.
I took a breath. “If I need you to step out, will you do that for me?”
His hesitant look shifted to something dark as his stance straightened. He stepped in, decreasing the gap between us to mere inches. He stood so close, even with the warmth of the Texas summer sun shining down on me and rising up off the asphalt, I felt the heat coming from his body.
“Listen. First, I am the Alpha here. I granted you sanctuary. You are in my personal care. I put this pack on alert to keep you safe.”
“Yes, I understand, but—”
“Second, being the Alpha, I have every right to know exactly what’s gonna be coming out at that tribunal, which means I won’t get blind-sided by shit I didn’t know.”
I took a small step back, my bottom hitting the car door behind me. “I agree, Gun, but—”
“Third.” He leaned in and loomed over me. “I have feelings for you I cannot fucking control and the thought of leaving you alone in a room with another male while you are stripping off your clothes, no matter if that male is the pack lawyer and my own fully mated and married brother, no way that’s gonna fly. Do not ask me to step out. I can’t do that. I cannot fucking do that.”
What is this between us?
I reached up and brushed his silver goatee with my fingers. “I’m having a very difficult time controlling my feelings, too.” I moved my hand to his cheek. “You are not the only one here in protection mode.” Those hard edges of his face softened. His eyes closed, then he nodded once.
Chills swept my skin as tears burned my eyes. This was going to be so hard.
“If you can’t promise to step out, I can promise that you will wish you did.”
His eyes opened slowly and stared down into mine.
I stepped around him and walked toward the office building, breathing in deep and exhaling hard, every breath causing my entire body to shudder. There was no way I would give in and burst into tears.
I’m okay.
I couldn’t let my emotions take away my resolve. I needed to walk into that office and see justice done. Wolf justice.
I put one foot in front of the other and kept going.
If Gunner planned to keep his word and stand by my side, he needed to catch up because I was not looking back. I sniffled and wiped away the one stray tear that ran down my cheek.
Gunner groaned something low, but all I caught were the last two words he bit out: “Ah, fuck.”
His boots crunched through the parking lot. Pulling me to a stop from behind, he turned me gently into the hard wall of his warm body. My arms wrapped around his waist automatically as if we had embraced this way thousands of times before. His lips kissed my hair while I pressed my cheek into his chest.
“Look at me, Simone.”
I did.
“I meant what I said. I’ll be there right beside you. I told you before, I’ve seen a lot of shit in my life and I swear, if you can live with the horror you went through, then so can I.”
His mouth met mine, soft and sweet.
I gave in. It wasn’t worth it to argue with him. Especially because I would lose. He didn’t understand, and no matter how much I might try to reason with him about why I didn’t wish him to live through my horrors, no amount of talking would change his mind. I pulled back and gazed up into his eyes.
If I could look into your beautiful green eyes every day for the rest of my life, everything before you—before us, wouldn’t matter at all.
“Then I’m ready to do this.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
GUNNER CLOSED THE THICK, wooden door behind me. A heavy lock clicked into place. Dark walls, dark furniture, a large mahogany desk, and shelves upon shelves of leather-bound books lined the walls, every inch inundated with wolf power.
“This office is soundproof. There’s no recording devices in here.” Ralph Bodolf motioned to the metal-studded wingback chair sitting opposite his desk. “No two-way mirrors. No way anyone other than us can hear a thing you’re gonna say.”
At first glance, Ralph Bodolf seemed a somewhat younger version of Gunner—same height, same broad shoulder width, same striking green eyes. Although his hair was shorter, almost a military-style cut, it was the identical brown shade as Gunner’s, all the way down to the silver that graced his temples. Besides the absence of the goatee that softened Gunner’s face, Ralph’s facial features were harder, more angular.
“There’ll be no written record of what you choose to tell me. With my experience dealing with other people’s computers, I’ve found if someone really wants to get into protected files, they’re gonna find a way, no matter what safeguards you slap in place. This here,” he pointed to his temple, “most secure safe you’re ever gonna find.”
Ralph’s thick, Texas accent rolled off his tongue slow and easy and, just like Gunner’s voice, a measure of comfort floated out with it. I imagined his deep, soothing voice compelling hardened criminals, catching them off guard, causing them to spill the minutest of details to their most hideous crimes, simply because he asked them to. It must have been the power coming off him—power so similar to Gunner’s, calming and warm, like a nice, soft blanket—something I wanted to wrap around myself and hold tightly.
The absolute opposite of Rule’s power: dangerous, electric, sparking out as it warned you off.
Ralph settled back in his big chair. I studied his face and relaxed posture as Gunner took a seat in the chair next to mine.
“I’ve never met two true siblings. I always thought...Rule told us that...” I shook my head. “He lied. About everything.”
“I spent some time last night investigating the San Francisco pack. Rule’s got it locked up tight. Even with Jessy living there, working for him for two years, she couldn’t tell me
much, either. All she could tell me was what she didn’t see.” Ralph glanced to Gunner, then looked at his folded hands on the desk. “I’m sure it’s a hell of a shock to wake up one day and find that everything you were raised to believe is a lie.”
I nodded, and inhaled a long deep breath as I settled back into my chair.
“Where do you want me to begin?”
“Whereever you’re most comfortable. If I have questions, I’ll ask as we go along.” Ralph’s voice held a note of sympathy.
I’m okay. Everything will be okay.
I licked my lips and let it spill out.
“Thirteen days ago, Rule Arawn came to my residence under the pretense we were to discuss producing an offspring together and possibly mating. Dinner was served. My food was drugged with something that made me more...agreeable. Compliant. Submissive. At some point, I passed out.”
Gunner growled low, beside me. The vibrations beat subtly against my skin. I reached out and took his hand, lacing my fingers through his, hoping my touch would ease him as the rest of my ordeal came out.
Ralph’s eyes flashed over to glance at his brother once again, then back to me. He nodded for me to continue.
I pulled in another breath. My internal litany of “I’m okay” worked as an impassive barrier, a wall of detachment. Like reading words from a script, the next part came out all in one go.
“While I was unconscious, I was taken to his home, down into a basement, stripped of my clothing, and strapped down on a wooden table. When I regained consciousness, Rule described what he would do and gave his reasons, his excuses, why I should feel privileged by his attention. He used a hot metal tool and a small hammer to brand his initial on my breasts and my pelvic area. And, because I healed, to an extent, after each branding, he repeated the process numerous times on each area to ensure the brands were deep and permanent. This took place over a period of three days.”
Gunner’s hand drew away from mine. The loss of his touch stung. He sat forward in his chair, his elbows on his knees, as he pushed his fingers through his hair.