by Amanda LeMay
But...why?
Blaze stood unmoving, but leaned forward slightly, as if he were also drawn to Neeta. His lips slightly parted, his rapid breaths lifting his broad shoulders and chest with each deep inhale. Not only could I see his heartbeat pounding like mad through the big artery running up his neck, I heard it as well, and when I focused, the sounds of another heartbeat in the room mirrored Blaze’s like an echo.
“I wish to negotiate terms.” Neeta’s words pulled my attention back to her. “I’ve granted Simone sanctuary, and as her sponsor, I intend no harm to come to her while she is within my territory.”
She spoke the truth, but...Neeta wasn’t my sponsor. Jessy and Dain were. Unless...
“So you’ve come to ensure her safe return.” Rule’s gaze roamed up and down Neeta’s body, then he smiled. “I will gladly release her to you, but...the terms are the same.”
Neeta smiled, but something strange flashed in her eyes. “So, you do remember that night?”
Rule nodded as a grin spread across his cruel face.
“I understand.” She licked her bottom lip, then slowly ran her teeth over it as she paused. “However, I have terms of my own.”
Rule slid his hands into his trouser pockets as he settled his frame on one hip. “Go ahead.”
“Simone will be under the protection of the Comfort pack for the rest of her life. Once the tribunal is finished, I’ll fulfill my part of your terms. Though,” Neeta’s face went hard as her gaze came to me for the first time, “I must insist you ban Simone from returning to San Francisco.”
A sudden, dark anger filled the room. All of it came from Neeta. All of it directed solely at me.
I gasped as my empty stomach dropped. She had fooled us. Fooled us all. Gunner. Derry. Me.
Oh, how she hates me.
I glanced at Brenin. He stood still, waiting, not making eye contact with me or anyone else in the room.
“So, it is your mate’s mark on her neck.” Rule chuckled. Of course he would find this funny. “You gave sanctuary to your rival. It is a true testament to your honor that you haven’t killed her yourself.”
“I have sworn to protect her, as has my son. And because it’s an Alpha male’s privilege to have as many mates as he’d like, I can’t fault Gunner for taking an interest in Simone. Comfort may cover lots of area, but the pack is small and short on females.”
“Very interesting.” Rule smiled so wide, he looked as if he would burst into a belly laugh any second.
“She’s fresh meat. Something Gunner hasn’t had before.” Neeta’s words dripped with jealousy. “His new toy.”
My throat tightened as a sudden rush of tears overflowed and streamed down my cheeks. I thought she understood. I thought she was happy for us. How had she hid this anger and hatred?
And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to change how she felt about me, or how I felt about Gunner.
“I’m so sorry.” My weak apology drifted out as a feeble whisper.
Her head snapped in my direction. “I don’t want your apology.”
And that was the truth, just like every other word she’d said here today.
I looked away, but saw her hold out her hand to Rule.
“Then we are in agreement?” she asked.
I glanced up at Brenin. His hard, handsome face, so like his father’s, stared back at me. His eyebrows dipped for a second as if he understood I was hurting, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything to reassure or defend me.
Neeta stood with her hand extended. “Rule, do we have an agreement?”
“Simone is exiled. However, you understand there will be collateral damage.”
Collateral damage? What does that mean?
“I have no problem with collateral damage. I understand some things are unavoidable. You understand the five wolves you sent into Comfort will suffer severely, once they are captured. The humans are on alert. They have no problem shooting animals that threaten their cattle.”
Rule’s eyes widened in surprise. “They are wolves. They hunt. They—”
“They didn’t hunt.” Brenin growled through his fangs. “They played.”
Neeta’s outstretched hand slipped back to grasp Brenin’s arm.
Rule lifted his chin. His own fangs made an appearance. “That is...unfortunate. They have acted without my permission.”
Truth. No one said it, but even I knew the law regarding the Alpha’s responsibility for his pack members’ actions.
Neeta’s hand came forward again. “Then it’s settled.”
Time seemed to slow as I watched as their hands travel closer together. Rule’s hand clasped around Neeta’s, and that simple handshake squeezed my heart in a death grip. I tried to look away, tried not to see them seal the strange pact they had just made, but I couldn’t. Neeta shivered, and sighed. The fine hairs on her arm rose in waves, as if she were embracing the hand of a long-lost lover.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
I’D TRUSTED HER.
I’d believed her when she said she was happy Gunner had found his sakana.
Apparently, I’d made a terrible mistake.
My love for Gunner had given me the courage to swing the door wide open to that little place inside where I had hidden everything—all my desperate dreams, all my unfulfilled hopes, all those feelings I had locked away, afraid they would make me appear weak, shameful, foolish. Neeta had reached in, grabbed the small piece of my heart with her name on it, that piece I had so quickly entrusted to her, and sliced it away with her razor-sharp tongue. The pain was so sudden, so devastating, it left me scattered and numb.
There was a tug on my forearm. My feet shuffled forward. Somewhere in the background, my mother called out my name, screeched an assortment of jumbled words that had little meaning to me. I couldn’t grasp them, couldn’t place them in any sort of an order to make sense. Along with the same disgraceful names she had heaped on me before, she blamed me for something that seemed to infuriate her to no end. Whatever it was, she was convinced it was all my fault.
Typical.
The door closed behind me, muffling the raised female voice that continued to rant on and on and on in that room.
It didn’t matter. I didn’t care what my mother thought of me. I wished Rule would shut her the fuck up.
I stood in front of an elevator, my damaged heart beating out the seconds as I waited for the doors to slide open and swallow me up. The strong, warm hand that softly gripped my forearm never let go, and succeeded in keeping me gently tethered. I didn’t really mind.
I’m...okay.
And that’s all I was. Okay. Just...barely.
The elevator doors slid open. The hand pulled me inside. When the doors closed, trapping me inside the small box with Neeta, I could hardly breathe. Even though I couldn’t feel the hatred coming off her now, I knew it was still there...hidden.
Brenin’s hand came away from my forearm and clenched into a tight fist.
“He fucking put—”
“We’ll talk outside,” Neeta hissed quietly.
I flinched as a dash of hatred snapped out and pinged against the walls, like a little, metal ball in a pinball game.
Brenin’s arm came around me. A deep growl rumbled up from his chest as he leaned toward his mother.
“Did you see her neck?”
“We will talk outside,” Neeta growled back.
The elevator stopped. Brenin dropped his arm from around my shoulders as the doors slid open. A couple with two small children entered. The doors slid closed again. The boy talked nonstop, every other word, why, why, why. The girl looked up at me, her hair a mass of dark chocolate, baby-fine curls, her eyes so dark brown they were almost black. Her face shifted to Brenin.
“Hey there,” Brenin murmured.
She blushed, wrapped her arms around her mother’s leg, and hid her face for a second before gazing up at Brenin and smiling her sweet, little-girl smile.
The elevator doors opened. The family steppe
d out first and we followed behind.
We were in the lobby. I saw the street. Panic rose in my chest like a tidal wave.
Where is he? Where is he? Where is he?
I started moving faster, toward the exit. A sudden jerk came at my forearm.
“Simone, it’s okay.” Brenin pulled me to a stop. “You’re okay, Simone.”
“Where’s Gunner?” It took everything in me not to shriek his name. My heart pounded behind my ribs. Every breath rushed in and out of my chest. “Where is he? Why didn’t he come for me?”
“Simone.” Brenin spun me around as he grabbed my shoulders in both hands. I clutched at his biceps, but I kept my gaze focused on the doors, searching for the male who meant everything in the world to me. “Hey, Simone, look at me.”
Gunner wasn’t there. He didn’t come.
I dragged my eyes away from the exit and stared at Brenin.
“Did you run?”
Did I what? Run? “Wh-what?” Run?
“Did you run back to that sonofabitch who branded you? Because if you did, I’m gonna march your ass right back up there and leave you to those damned dogs.”
All the air left my chest as if I’d been slammed against a brick wall. I tried to say no but nothing came out.
Gunner hadn’t come for me. He didn’t come for me. Did he think I ran?
I shook my head back and forth.
He didn’t come.
Was I really nothing more than a new toy?
“Simone, damn it!” Brenin shook me. Hard. “Did you fucking run?”
“Brenin, stop it.” Neeta’s hand came down on Brenin’s wrist.
“No!” A sob burst forth from my mouth. “I didn’t run!”
Brenin pulled me into his chest, wrapped his arms around me and whispered gently in my ear. “You’re okay. You’re safe. Everything’s gonna be okay.” His head lifted away from me, his entire body tensed against mine, as a spicy, citrusy scent hit my nose.
“She didn’t run.” Blaze stood only inches from Brenin’s face, his scent mixed with Brenin’s and Neeta’s scents. “She was taken. She didn’t come here willingly.”
“I swear to holy fuck if you had anything to do with hurting her, I will kill you.”
“Brenin!” Neeta yanked at her son’s arm, but he didn’t let me go. “Stop it.”
Brenin shifted me to his left side, farther from Blaze and closer to the exit. “We don’t need some fucking eager lap dog to escort us out the door, so get!”
“Brenin, stop it!” Neeta hissed between clenched teeth.
“I didn’t bring her here.” Blaze glared at Brenin, but didn’t move any closer. “I had nothing to do with her kidnapping. Rule had them shoot her up with a tranquilizer that should’ve lasted at least two more hours, but she metabolized it much faster than he thought she would and don’t ask me how he knows that shit, because I don’t know. And since he had no clue the mark on her neck was another Alpha’s mark, he didn’t expect you to show up so quickly.” His chin shot in my direction. “Her mother told Rule she was screwing every wolf in your pack. Rule wanted to kill her when he saw that mark on her, but ended up taking out his anger on her mother instead. He thought he had time to convince Simone to back off and if she didn’t, he’d just discredit her in front of the tribunal. He thought...” Blaze ran his hands through his long hair, in understandable frustration. “Hell, I don’t know what he was thinking.”
I looked up at Blaze. A hard crease lay between his pale eyes. His face softened as his gaze shifted to look at me. I felt bad for him. He was an outsider. Rule had lured him in with the promise that he would eventually take over as Alpha. If Rule lost his pack, Blaze would be handed that job much sooner than he expected.
“I hope you’re ready to fulfill your role as Alpha, because I won’t back off. I’m not afraid of him.” There was nothing about Rule Arawn that scared me, anymore.
“Simone, I’m so sorry. Sorry for all he put you through. I didn’t know. Rule doesn’t consult with me on who he chooses to breed with. He doesn’t consult with me on a hell of a lot of shit he does.” His hand went through his hair one more time. “He told me the brandings were...” His jaw clenched as he shook his head. “Fuck.”
“Kind of like a little light going off in your head, isn’t it?” I mumbled as I pulled away from Brenin. “Please, can we just go?”
“Yeah.” He took my forearm again and we turned toward the glass doors. “My truck’s to the left.”
The glass doors slid away. The heat reflected off the pavement and surrounding buildings made it feel as though I’d stepped into an oven instead of out to freedom. Brenin turned and glanced over his shoulder.
“Why the hell are you still following us?” he snarled.
“Get in the truck,” Neeta said quietly. “I’ll be right there.” She turned on the sidewalk and started walking back to Blaze.
Brenin stopped moving forward.
No. Please. Don’t. Just get me away from here.
I glanced down the street. There were three trucks parked in front of the hotel. If I had known which truck belonged to Brenin, I would’ve run to it.
“Mom, I’m not leaving you alone with him.”
“Brenin, he’s not going to hurt me.”
“And you just happen to know this how?” Brenin snapped.
“Because...” Neeta stared at her son. Her pleading gaze shifted to me for a second, then back to her son. “Because...I...just...know.”
“No. Fucking. Way.” Brenin stood shaking his head. “This shit needs to stop.”
What shit needs to stop?
I stood, puzzled. Why couldn’t we leave? Why did they have to stand around arguing when we needed to get away from there before Rule changed his mind and came storming out of the hotel with more tranquilizer guns?
“Get Simone in the truck,” Neeta ordered.
“Mom—”
“Brenin, please.”
Why were they arguing? We needed to get out of there.
“Fuck. Fuck!” Brenin turned and not-so-gently yanked me down the street to his truck. I didn’t really care how roughly he handled me, so long as we left.
He jerked the door open, helped me up into the seat, then jumped in the driver’s side, shoved in the key, and cranked up the air conditioning.
“Fuck!” Brenin slammed his palms down on the steering wheel, sucked in a huge breath, then seemed to deflate right there in the seat. “Scoot to the middle and buckle up. The second she gets her ass in here, we are gone.”
I slid over next to Brenin and fumbled for the seatbelt.
“Here, let me.” Brenin grabbed at the belt and shoved it into the slot until it clicked.
I caught his eyes. “Why didn’t he come for me?” I choked out the words, not knowing if I really wanted an answer or not.
“Tribunal wouldn’t let him.” Brenin’s mouth spread in a wide grin. “I think it had somethin’ to do with him yelling how he was gonna fuckin’ rip Rule to shreds and scatter his bloody body from here to San Francisco.”
For some strange reason, the thought of Gunner covered in Rule’s blood caused a rush of heat to travel through my body, from head to toe, and settle in my breasts and between my legs.
Brenin shifted his gaze out the windshield to where his mother and Blaze stood close enough to kiss. Because Neeta’s back was to us, we couldn’t see her face, or Blaze’s. They spoke so low, the constant street traffic and the fact that Brenin had the air on full blast, made it impossible to hear their conversation. After only a few minutes, Neeta nodded, then turned and headed toward the truck. Blaze stayed rooted to the concrete sidewalk where she had left him, but the look on his face made it clear that watching her walk away tore him apart.
Neeta climbed in the truck. The door closed with a solid thud. Brenin leaned forward and looked at her.
“Mom?”
“Just drive.”
CHAPTER FORTY
“PULL OVER.”
I glanced next
to me. Neeta looked as beaten as I felt. Like she was the one who, only moments ago, had found out that someone she cared for and respected had played her for a fool. It wasn’t like I couldn’t care, because I most certainly did. I’d let her in, thought she was on my side—Gunner’s side—by the way she’d taken me under her care and defended us against Brenin when he’d refused to accept the connection between me and his father.
I’m okay. Don’t cry. Don’t let her see how much it hurts.
“Mom, we don’t have time to pull over.” The truck accelerated. Brenin sped around a slower-moving car and switched into the inside lane, as if to prove a point.
“Pull...over.” There was a hitch in her voice. “Please.”
“You know the drill. We get her. We get out. No stopping.” Brenin shifted gears and maneuvered his big truck through the traffic.
I turned to look at Neeta. Something was not right. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she took in a shuddering breath. I reached toward her, wishing I could comfort her, then snatched my hand back and looked away. I was the last female on this earth Neeta might accept comfort from, and feeling that way broke my heart just a little bit more.
“Please, Brenin, pull over.” Neeta’s voice tightened.
“No. You got stuff to say to Simone? You say it on the road and say it fast. Then you get Dad on the phone before he loses his ever-lovin’ mind.”
I wasn’t so sure I wanted to hear anything Neeta had to say. Her big reveal back at the hotel pretty much said it all. Yes, she’d walked away from Gunner, but mark or no, he was still her mate. She had every right to her feelings. I wasn’t angry that she’d lied, though I wished she had come right out with it in the beginning. At least then, I would’ve known where I stood. Strange that Gunner and Derry had been so certain Neeta would react differently. They truly believed Neeta would accept me, accept that Gunner and I were meant for each other.
Brenin caught the next yellow light and sped through the intersection. “I ain’t stopping, Mom. You know Dad’s holdin’ his shit together by a thread, so you better start talkin’.”
I cleared my throat and spoke to the windshield. “You don’t need to tell me anything. I don’t blame you.”