by Amanda LeMay
“I don’t want her to have to ‘step up’, damn it. She’s been through enough.”
“You know what you have to do then.”
“Yeah,” Gunner replied in a defeated tone.
“There will be sacrifices either way. Which will take some explaining as well, and from what I understand, she knows very little about our culture. A ritual like that might be traumatizing, especially for someone who is not accustomed to seeing the raw brutality of our wolf heritage.”
There was a pause before Neeta spoke again. Her melodic accent sounded European.
“You haven’t discussed this with Brenin, or he would’ve shared it with me.”
“Nope, not yet. I don’t know how he’s gonna take it. One minute he’s spoutin’ off crap, making me want to knock the livin’shit out of him, and the next minute he seems to get it. You know how he is.”
“Yes, I do. He’s so very much like you.” The unmistakable love in her words came through clearly. There was another pause before Neeta continued, “I know exactly what you’re talking about, though. The hour-long car ride from the airport made me rather a captive audience. He’s having a rough time. He’ll come around. He always does. It’s been less than two days. He just needs time to work it out. ”
“He’d better work it out pretty damn quick or I swear I’ll—”
“Gunner,” Neeta interrupted softly, “before you do anything, you should explain what you intend, involve Simone in the decision, give her the chance to make a choice.”
A choice? Between...what? Traumatizing rituals? And what did Brenin have to do with this choice I would be given?
“Hmmm...lemons. She’s a good match for you.” I heard the smile in Neeta’s voice. “Invite her in before the snippets of our overheard conversation cause her any more stress.”
I gasped at her comment.
She knew I was there—listening.
My heart pounded in my chest.
Gunner’s bare feet rounded the corner and my breath caught as I looked up to see his smiling face.
“Gun...I didn’t mean to...” I stammered, suddenly ashamed I’d stayed silent and not announced my presence.
His rich, deep voice compelled me. “Come here, baby.”
His hand reached out and I stepped forward, right into his waiting arm. His other hand came up and stroked my face from my forehead to my temple, rough fingers sliding down and around my ear.
The same hand that had caressed my breast. The same fingers that had stroked deep inside me.
His green eyes seemed darker as they took in every inch of my face. “You all right?”
I opened my mouth to speak but ended up only staring at his lips. The same lips that had touched me in ways he had never touched another female.
Does she know?
I needed to push away, but I didn’t. My body seemed to have a mind of its own and where it wanted to stay was as close to Gunner as possible.
Another scent in the room invaded my senses—feminine, alluring, beautiful. Something almost indescribable—soft and floral, sweet with cinnamon, like carnations.
“Gun,” I whispered, desperately trying to break the spell he had on me.
“Gunner,” Neeta spoke softly, “Introduce me to your sakana.”
Your sakana...
A slow smile spread across Gunner’s face as his hold on me loosened. “Simone.” He looked across the room. “This is Neeta.”
I turned to face her, Gunner’s mate.
A sudden gasp rose up and filled my lungs, causing me to squeak out a breathless, “Oh...my...”
A shock of pure snow-white hair flowed thickly over her head, shimmering in waves down to her elbows. And there were Brenin’s gray eyes. But where his eyes were akin to a dark thunderstorm, Neeta’s were soft gray flannel. The power floating throughout the room touched me gently, tenderly, filling me with a sense of joy.
A small smile touched her mouth as her eyes met mine.
She was simply...stunning.
I stared, not giving one thought to how rude I must have appeared. My mouth fell open, and words sprang forth.
“What could he possibly see in me that he doesn’t see in you?”
Her smile dropped for a second before a new one took its place and lit up her entire face with happiness. “He sees your soul.”
“I can’t believe I said that out loud. I am so, so sorry.” I took a shaky breath and held out my hand to her. “I’m Simone, Simone Mowbray.”
“There’s no need to apologize.” She took my hand in both of hers and held it as her eyes shifted to Gunner for just a moment, then back to me. “I’m so happy to meet you. I’ve heard quite a bit about you. My son—”
Oh no. “Brenin and I...” Don’t get along? Insulting her son within the first few seconds of meeting her definitely would not leave a nice first impression. I swallowed and started again. “I don’t fault him for being angry with me. I should’ve done my research before I came here...I didn’t understand...”
“No, Simone, Brenin doesn’t understand.” Neeta’s smile widened, though her eyes were sad. “He’s never been in love.”
But she had.
And she can see it all over me and Gunner.
Suddenly, tears burned my eyes and I didn’t know why. Maybe it was just the thought that Gunner and Neeta had shared a life, had shared love at one time, and lost it somehow.
She was beautiful beyond words. Gunner was so masculine, so ruggedly handsome. If Brenin was any indication of how their children turned out, they would all be beautiful as well. They’d built and maintained a strong, healthy pack together. Whatever happened between Gunner and Neeta that made her decide to leave, I wasn’t sure I would ever understand.
Aside from her pure white hair, there wasn’t a wrinkle on Neeta’s lovely face. She might’ve been only a few years older than me. But knowing she had left this house thirty-five years before, and the fact that she’d given Gunner nine offspring, she must have been much older.
She was my height and wore a loose-fitting dress that flowed over her ample curves. Even her hands were pretty. She was perfectly, perfectly stunning. And, like an angel, she seemed to glow from within.
Her eyes drifted from my face and grew wide as they moved down my neck. She released my hand and with one of hers, lifted my hair away from my shoulder. Her smile fell away as her face became stern.
“You haven’t marked her.” She glared at Gunner.
I shook my head. “No, he...we—”
“Not yet.” Gunner’s arm tightened around my waist. “And not because I haven’t thought about it every damn second since I laid eyes on her, either.”
He hadn’t marked me and it was something important, something Gunner wanted to do, but was waiting on me—waiting until I was ready. If Gunner had a mating mark, I hadn’t seen it. With the way Neeta’s hair hung close against her neck, I was almost glad I couldn’t see the mark Gunner would’ve placed there so many years ago.
“So you haven’t...?” Neeta’s eyebrows rose up in question.
Gunner’s head gave a short shake to the left. “No.”
I looked from Gunner to Neeta and back again. “Haven’t what?”
“You need to take care of her.” The harsh accusation in Neeta’s voice took me by surprise, putting me on the defensive.
“He is taking care of me.”
Her soft gray eyes came back to me. “There are more ways to keep you safe. Better ways to protect you.” She looked back to Gunner, her face set. “You need to mate with her—tonight.”
“Neeta—”
“Mate with me? Tonight?” The pitch of my voice rose higher as panic closed my throat.
“Yes.” Neeta’s glare didn’t leave Gunner. “There’s no reason to wait.”
“Neeta,” Gunner replied flatly. “There are things you don’t know yet.”
“I know I don’t want Rule anywhere near her.”
“No. Wait—” I tried to jump in.
“Sanctuary is not enough, Gunner. Under our laws, if she is mated, Rule threatens her in any way or he even tries to set a challenge for her—”
“He can’t set a challenge for her.” Gunner interrupted, obviously losing his patience.
“If you don’t mate with her, he can and he will.” The soft gray I saw in Neeta’s eyes only a second ago had changed to hardened steel. “I doubt Rule would stoop so low as to set a challenge for another Alpha’s mate, but it’s not unheard of and I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“No, he can’t.” Gunner repeated more forcefully.
“A challenge would only serve to cause you injury and once Rule discovers Simone would never pick him over you, he would set a challenge just to spite you. I’m sure he also knows a challenge in your territory is not to the death so he would still have a very good chance of limping away to lick his wounds.”
“Neeta, would you fucking listen to what I’m sayin’? He’s not going to challenge me.”
Once they both stopped talking over each other for two seconds, I looked up at Gunner and asked, “Can my father set a challenge?”
Gunner looked down at me, his face serious. “No, he can’t set challenge for his own daughter. I’m thinkin’ knowing he can’t, he’ll have his Second set the challenge.”
I looked back at Neeta, the realization of who Rule really was and my connection to him plain on her face. She opened her mouth then shut it abruptly. Her eyes squinted as her lips barely moved. “You have got to be kidding me. Rule is her father?”
“Yeah, and if what Simone’s mother said is true, every damn wolf in his pack is his direct offspring.”
Her hand covered her mouth as her gray eyes rounded wide. “He...he didn’t?”
“Sure as hell sounds like he did.” Gunner left my side, walked over to the window, and jammed his fists down onto his hips. “Every male in that pack may very well be Simone’s brother by blood. The only wolf that might be able to set a challenge for her is the one Rule brought in from another pack. Except there’s a good chance he may also be one of Rule’s sons, from an outside breeding.”
“Good gods, Gunner,” Neeta whispered. “Is he insane? Does he realize what he has done? How many generations are we talking about here?”
Gunner shook his head and huffed out a breath. “I have no idea. Simone’s mom hinted at it going back to her great-grandmother.”
Neeta moved to stand next to Gunner. The stricken look on her beautiful face seemed a silent plea—for what, I couldn’t even imagine. “This is bad, Gunner.”
“Yeah, I know and I gotta find out who this outside wolf is.”
“Blaze.” His name slipped out of my mouth.
“What, baby?” Gunner looked over Neeta’s shoulder to where I stood.
“Blaze. The male my mother called ‘bastard’, his name is Blaze. I believe he would be considered Rule’s Second.” Strange. I hadn’t seen him the entire time I’d been held at Rule’s mansion.
Neeta turned toward me, her face composed and confident once again. “Have Ralph search the registry.” She glanced at Gunner, who nodded. “If he’s Rule’s son, the tribunal will back your claim on her, but it would help your claim if you marked her, at the very least. If he’s not Rule’s son...” Neeta lifted her eyebrows at Gunner.
Gunner gave another sharp nod.
Neeta nodded back and with that, the subject was closed.
And because so much of my own wolf culture was still a mystery to me, I’d missed whatever had passed between them.
Just then, heavy-booted footsteps came from the dining room, through the living room into the family-room.
“Supper’s ready,” Les announced as his head appeared around the corner.
“Great. I’m starving.” Neeta took my hand, folded it around her arm and we walked to the dining room together, with Gunner following close behind.
Neeta moved quickly around the table, greeting everyone with a hug.
Catching a glance at the seating arrangements, I cringed. The chair I had used the night before, the one directly to Gunner’s left, was still open, as was one other chair—on the left, all the way down at the end of the long dining table.
That would be my chair for the night and every night the Alpha female was here. I turned to head toward the empty chair just as Derry came out through the bat-wing doors carrying a large bowl of green beans.
“Is there anything I can help you with, Derry?” I needed to get out of the dining room for a moment—long enough to compose my face and take a breath.
I’m okay.
“Sure, honey.” Derry smiled. “I got a couple more bowls and a basket full of rolls. Grab whatever you can carry.”
I slipped through the bat-wing doors, grabbed the edge of the white granite-topped island, and held on while I breathed.
“You okay, honey?” Derry asked quietly from behind me.
I nodded and blinked away the sudden tears that threatened to come. “Yes, I’m okay.” I tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace, and didn’t fool Derry in the slightest.
“She’s a little overwhelming, isn’t she?” Her hand came down and gave my arm a pat.
“Yes.” I sighed. “She doesn’t seem angry or upset. Not with me. Not with him. Not about our bond. It’s like...she’s giving him to me.”
“The way she sees it, he was never really hers in the first place.” Derry grabbed the basket of rolls and shoved it into my hands. “Don’t worry. You and Neeta will talk, get this all out of the way, but right now, it’s time to eat. Now get.” She nodded toward the doors.
I carried the basket of rolls out with Derry right on my heels, not giving me a chance to stop or pause a step. I turned to the right and headed toward the seat I assumed would be empty and waiting for me. Once I got there, I looked up to find Tan sitting in my chair.
“Wow, thanks, Simone.” Tan turned and took the basket of rolls from my hands.
“Don’t hog the bread, Tan.” Les grabbed the basket from Tan, took a roll and passed the basket on.
In my confusion, I looked up the table to find the chair on Gunner’s left still vacant and waiting. Gunner smiled, leaned over, and pulled the chair out for me. I made my way around toward him while I chanced a glance the length of the table to find Neeta sitting in the chair to Brenin’s right—the chair Tan had been sitting in when I’d left the dining room to go into the kitchen.
Neeta had given up her seat at the table—the Alpha female’s seat—to me.
Gunner stood, held my chair, and then pushed it in for me as I sat down. Brenin’s eyes stayed on his plate. Gunner’s thigh touched my knee and once again, his warmth filled me and suddenly I didn’t care if Brenin was angry. What happened between Gunner and me was between Gunner and me, and we didn’t need his son’s approval. Gunner’s mate, Brenin’s mother, had given her blessing, and that was all that mattered to me.
Gunner’s hand took mine. He looked into my eyes and smiled.
I straightened my back. One hurdle down. Derry was correct again—everything would be okay.
Food was passed and Gunner served me as he had the night before, except this time, he passed the bowls to Neeta once he finished with them.
I stared down at my plate—ham, some kind of creamy sliced baked potatoes, dark and crusty brown around the edges, green beans with small pieces of bacon and onion, macaroni dripping with cheesy sauce, and a roll. Everything smelled and looked delicious.
Neeta stabbed a thick slice of ham from the platter with the serving fork. “Hemming and Neeru will be here in the morning. Taber and Sorin are planning to scout out around San Antonio before they get here. It seems Rule Arawn has claimed one of those hotels on the river as his temporary territory.”
I choked down my bite of potatoes and looked up at Gunner. His left hand slipped into my right. His thumb slowly stroked my wrist.
“He’s following protocol. Everyone will recognize the hotel as his base. That way, any overly angry, out-of-control wolf wi
ll think twice before barrelin’ in there, fangs flashing, ready to kill, because the punishment would most likely not be worth the satisfaction of killing a pack of wolves meaning to keep their Alpha safe. Anyway, sure as hell, no one would ever get anywhere near the big boss.”
Okay. Gunner gave my hand a squeezed then released it. I nodded and picked up my fork to try some macaroni and cheese. Just as I brought the fork to my mouth, I heard the sound of a truck engine pulling around to the back of the house.
“Shit, Derry.” Denny laughed. “How much food are you bringing in? That’s like the third van full of stuff been out here today.”
“You have any idea how many wolves are gonna be here tomorrow and the next day, and have you seen how much those Alphas eat?” Derry asked him.
“No, not really.”
“Well, then you’d better watch your mouth or I’ll make sure you find out how much they eat by having you as my kitchen slave for the next few days.”
Some of the other males chuckled under their breath.
“Wouldn’t be too bad, Denny.” Sky spoke up throwing Denny a smile. “Once Taber gets here, Derry won’t be in the kitchen much, anyway.”
“I can find you a job too, you little shit.” Derry sent Sky a wicked grin.
Hmm...Taber must be the male Derry was talking about—Seff’s father.
And Gunner’s brother.
I tried to hide my little smile as I picked up a roll, split it apart, and slathered it with butter. Just as I brought half to my mouth, Gunner’s phone rang. He leaned and dug it out of his back pocket.
“Yeah.” He paused and listened. “Damn it. Did you call Kern? Good. I want him out there with us...yeah, we’ll be there. Give us fifteen minutes.” He touched the little screen and shoved the phone back in his pocket.
Every voice at the table was silent.
Silverware clinked against plates as it settled. Everyone straightened in their chair and gave Gunner their full attention.
“Three different ranches reported dead cows. Not just dead, mutilated.”
“No fucking way.” Brenin growled.
“Derry.” Gunner looked over at her standing in the doors leading to the kitchen. “Call Seff in, please.”