No. I’ll do it alone, Liam said.
Liam—
He fixed me with his glowing yellow eyes, and through the mind-link, he added, Not risking your life over a bear. To Zack, he said, Order your shifters back.
While Zack bellowed for his pack to retreat, I turned on Liam and hissed, You’re not a squirrel, Liam. You can’t climb trees.
He snorted in amusement, or maybe it was annoyance, then flicked his ears. Get back, too.
Like I was going to let him face off with a bear on his own.
When I still hadn’t moved, he growled at me and shoved his head into my belly.
Don’t you dare growl at me, you overgrown furball. I’m your Second, so I’m staying. Now, tell me your plan.
He blinked at me.
What’s your plan? Besides biting my head off for trying to help you? When he still hadn’t said anything, I added, You do have a plan, don’t you?
He looked at me, then at the bear, then back at me. My plan was not involving you.
Then you need a new plan.
He blew out a long, annoyed breath that ruffled the fur atop my ears. Squirrel . . .
I smirked, even though the situation was far from funny. Zack’s test may not have been an impossible one, but it held its fair share of risk.
Liam’s eyes flashed with an idea. When the bear hits the ground, corral him, okay?
My brow felt as though it was puckering—maybe it was. Are you planning on gnawing on the trunk until it tips the bear out?
He smiled, and then his rubbery lips retracted and his teeth shortened and the fur on his body became fine hair.
I yipped, Are you crazy? He wouldn’t understand me now that he was back in skin. I shoved my head into his shins to make him back up.
He was going to face off with a bear in skin?
I shouldered him again.
Ness! Stop.
I froze, momentarily baffled by the fact that he could speak into my mind even though we were in different forms. Taking advantage of my bewilderment, he stalked around me toward the trunk under the watchful gaze of the River pack, which had retreated so far back all I could see were lambent eyes and moonlit forms.
The sound of bark scraping had me gaping back at the tree. Muscles twisted underneath Liam’s dirt-flecked thighs. He proved agile, and soon, he’d reached the first large branch. He balanced on it, then reached over and broke off a smaller one. The bear barked.
Because he’d apparently not read the same nature guides I had, Liam decided it would be a good idea to poke the massive animal. The bear’s bark turned into a blood-curdling growl. Liam poked him again. This time the bear flipped around and caught the branch between his fangs before shaking his head until he’d ripped the stick from Liam’s grasp.
Liam reached for another branch at the same time as the bear unhooked his paws from the trunk and launched himself on Liam, sharp teeth bared.
Liam swung down to the ground just as the bear hit the branch. It broke free, and the bear fell, hitting the forest floor with a heavy thump. Instead of stunning him, the creature sprang up. Liam started to shift back into fur, but the bear charged. I blinked out of my daze and raced toward the bear before it could jump my Alpha.
Heart pinioned to my spine, I crouched and leaped, my claws finding purchase in the bear’s back. The animal growled and climbed onto its hind paws, swiping at me as though I was a pesky flea. I ducked my head and slid down the long expanse of black fur, gouging his flesh.
He let out a feral bellow and landed on his front paws so hard it knocked my claws right out of his skin and sent me flailing to the ground. I blinked up at the sky that seemed brighter and whiter, as though the moon had bloated and spread.
The sound of battle had me blinking again.
Liam!
I rolled onto my stomach and jolted onto all fours, the world spinning and fragmenting. I shook my head to clear my vision. Two black shapes collided right in front of me. I backed up, and they crashed in a heap right at my paws. For a terrible moment, I thought the bear had Liam pinned underneath him, but then my eyesight finally cleared, and I saw the distinctive yellow eyes of my Alpha staring down at the bulky beast.
Heaving with rushed breaths, Liam sank his fangs into the bear’s neck. A wet pop sounded, followed by the thump of the bear’s lifeless head banging against the rich soil. Muzzle dripping with blood, Liam picked his head up, leveled his victorious gaze on me, then jutted his neck heavenward and howled his triumph.
14
“I still can’t believe you poked a bear,” I told Liam after I’d wormed myself into my clothes.
Dried bear blood was smeared on one corner of his tipped mouth. The kill, or maybe the fight, had buoyed my Alpha. His neck was straighter, his shoulders broader, and his gaze brighter. He radiated adrenaline and pride.
It had been thrilling and terrifying. I was actually slightly terrified of how thrilling it had felt to bring down the beast.
“Says the girl who threw herself on his back.”
“He was charging you!”
Liam’s eyes sparked as he lifted his thumb to my jaw. When I jerked, his smile blunted. “You had blood.”
I rubbed at the spot he’d touched to get rid of the blood, and to get rid of the tingling left behind by his fingers. August’s face flashed behind my pupils. I backed up a step, not trusting myself to be so close to a man who’d once held the same gravitational pull over me as the moon held over the magic in our blood.
Two Rivers in skin passed next to us. “Nice hunt, Alpha.” They inclined their heads toward Liam and then toward me.
My fingers stilled on my jaw. Had they just bowed to me?
More Rivers trickled past, chattering excitedly and dipping their heads when they caught our eye.
Zack and one of his twin girls approached. Considering she didn’t have a claw mark anywhere on her body, I assumed it was Penny.
“Kolane”—the River Alpha extended his hand that was streaked in dirt and blood—“in fur and in skin, you have our backin’.”
Liam clasped the extended hand. “Thank you.”
Zack seemed to wait for Liam to reciprocate his declaration, but what had the Rivers done for us? If they helped us defeat Cassandra, then they’d earn Boulder backing.
After a pregnant pause, Zack nodded toward the meeting house. “Beverages and dessert will be served in the meetin’ house shortly. Shall we? I believe we still got much to discuss.”
Liam nodded.
Zack let go of Liam’s hand, then grabbed a hold of my shoulder and squeezed it so hard I thought the bone might pop out of the socket. “For a little thing, you did good out there.”
“Thank you.”
“I get why you picked her as your Second,” Zack said, lowering his hand. “She’s brave and easily underestimated.”
The Alpha’s compliment warmed my blood even though I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve it. I didn’t think leaping on a bear was brave; in my opinion, my actions had been a little impulsive and a lot reckless.
“Ness picked me, actually,” Liam said.
I fixed my gaze on the long blades of grass swaying against my jean-clad thighs. I stroked the dried tips with my palm.
I had picked him, and yet, I also hadn’t.
Not in the way he’d wanted.
“Is your sister okay?” I asked to change the subject.
“Yeah,” Penny said.
“Thank the God of all wolves,” Zack added. And then he gestured to the meeting house, and we all started toward it.
Liam fell in step with his fellow Alpha, and I fell in step with his daughter, not walking nearly as fast as both pack leaders. How were they not exhausted? My muscles spasmed with fatigue. If it hadn’t been for Zack’s mention of having much to discuss, I would’ve backpedaled straight to my cottage, sloughed my skin clean in a hot shower, and stuffed my bruised body between the crisp sheets.
Nostrils working the air, Penny said, “He’s not your m
ate, and he’s not your boyfriend.”
Even though they weren’t quite questions, I answered, “Just my Alpha.”
“But he wants more.”
Again, it wasn’t a question. “We had a brief . . . fling. It didn’t end so well.”
“And yet, you’re his Second.”
“And yet, I’m his Second,” I repeated. “What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?”
“I have a fated mate. Dad expects us to get together before the Winter Solstice, but I don’t know”—she tugged a lock of hair behind her ear—“he’s two years younger and real immature. I’m havin’ trouble wrapping my head around the fact that I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with him.” She smiled. “But it could be worse. My sister, the one who died, her fated mate was almost Daddy’s age. It was real weird for everyone at first.”
I peered at her through my lashes.
She shrugged. “But then people got used to it.”
“So she consolidated the link?”
“No. She chose not to. She had a crush on an Aspen. She was trying to get Daddy to allow her to marry him. That’s why she was in their territory when”—she bit her lip—“when the Creeks came.”
“But . . . We can’t change packs.”
“Technically, we can’t, ’cause we can never be looped into another pack’s mind-link without the same blood. Unless there’s a duel, but I guess you know that considerin’ what happened to the Pines.”
I nodded.
“But we can marry into another pack. Usually though, it causes a rift at some point, that point being when we pop out kids. Mixed pups have to pledge themselves to an Alpha. They can’t pledge themselves to two. And once they pick one, they can never pick the other.”
We’d arrived in front of the meeting house that was vibrating with animated conversations and the clink of utensils. She pushed open the door, revealing a dining hall dripping in candlelight and moonlight.
Penny’s smile increased. “Want to meet my mate?” She tipped her head toward a boy with a mop of black hair and lashes so long I could see them clear across the room. “Hey, Isaac!”
The boy looked up from the long table topped with plates heaped with fruit—cut and whole—and bottles of every drink imaginable. A giant smile overtook his fuzzy jaw.
Penny leaned in toward me and whispered, “I told him that if he managed to catch me a squirrel, we’d be doin’ the dirty tonight.” With a grin, she added, “He caught five.”
I smiled, but then I frowned. “You’re consolidating the link tonight?”
“Are you crazy? I’m not ready for that.”
“But I thought—if you have sex, doesn’t it—”
She grinned. “Um, hello. Ever heard of condoms? Got to test the goods before you buy them.”
“Oh.”
Before she could lead me toward Isaac, Liam spoke in my mind, I didn’t bring you along for a sex ed class.
Hackles raised, I scanned the room, spotting him standing with Zack by the picture window. I bet that if my mate had been Liam instead of August, my Alpha wouldn’t have had such a problem with my conversation.
Please come. We’re about to discuss Morgan.
For a moment, I didn’t move, didn’t want to move. At least not toward him. When I took a step back, he repeated my name through the mind-link, and it halted my retreat. He was using his alphaness to manipulate my body.
How I wished I could speak into his mind. I’d tell him exactly what I was thinking.
Unless you don’t care to find out what the Rivers know about the Creeks.
“Ness, you all right?” Penny asked.
“I need to”—punch Liam—“talk with the Alphas.”
Liam had his back to me, so I glared at his shoulder blades as I wound my way around the boisterous shifters.
“Nice of you to join us,” Liam said out loud.
I squeezed my fingers into fists that knocked against my thighs.
“So, let me recap what I’ve just learned,” Liam said. “Morgan’s never lost a fight nor a duel before, and the Aspen werewolves who tried to run after their Alpha lost were picked off one by one.”
“Picked off?” I asked, setting aside my annoyance. For now.
“Killed,” Zack said. “My daughter . . . the one who was . . .” His voice trailed off as he cast his gaze on the glimmering river beyond the window.
My heart pitched because I recognized the look of loss all too well.
He returned his attention to us. “She and Will were trying to get back here. They were caught before they crossed the Colorado state line.” Pain deepened the network of fine wrinkles over his sunbaked face. “Stupid blood-link made tracking them so friggin’ easy. If my baby hadn’t traveled with Will . . .” His voice caught.
Because she wasn’t linked to Morgan, but he was.
He cleared his throat. “But she wouldn’t leave him behind.” His deep-seated hatred told me we would’ve gotten his alliance had we slain the bear or not.
“Being noble comes at a cost.” Liam’s voice was soft yet carried over the rumble of talk around us. I’m sorry for snapping at you, he added.
I kept my gaze riveted to Zack. Liam and I would discuss his mood swings later, in the privacy of our shared hut. If he wanted to keep me at his side, he needed to change his attitude. He pushed as hard as he pulled. At some point, he’d shove too hard, and there would be no luring me back in.
He’d be on his own against Cassandra.
I thought of August then, of how calm he was, how he contained his temper even in moments of great stress. Thinking of him deepened the hollowness behind my navel. A hollowness that had annexed my entire chest.
“. . . all taken Sillin,” Zack was saying.
I shook my head to dispel the fog of my thoughts. I needed to focus.
“And I never heard of anyone able to shift with Sillin in their blood. It nulls our werewolf power.”
“Ness was thinking Morgan could’ve rubbed it into her skin,” Liam said.
“Like an ointment?” Zack hiked a thick eyebrow. “Hey, Sam, come over here a sec.” As Samuel made his way over, the Creek Alpha explained that his son was studying to be the pack doctor. “We got a question for you. What would happen if we applied Sillin to our skin? Would it get into our bloodstream?”
“Apply Sillin?”
“If it’s mixed into a cream,” I clarified.
“As soon as it’s exposed to air and heat, it loses most of its effect.”
“Most is not all,” I said.
He took a swig of the drink in his hand—a fizzy transparent concoction that smelled incredibly bitter. “If there is a residual effect, it would penetrate the bloodstream. Not to depress y’all, but I wouldn’t put too much stock in that theory.”
“She had nail polish,” I blurted out.
All three men’s foreheads grooved.
“She doesn’t seem the type to wear nail polish. I mean, she wears no other makeup.”
The men were still doling out confused stares.
“Maybe she puts the Sillin in her nail polish. If she brushes it on her nails right before a fight, then manages to claw through a wolf’s body, perhaps some of it gets into her opponent’s bloodstream.” When still no one spoke, I added, “Is my theory that inane?”
Sam sighed, swirling the ice cubes in his glass. “Not inane, Ness.”
“It’s an interesting theory,” Zack said. “But the effect would still wear off fast.”
“Maybe nail polish locks in the drug’s properties,” Liam said.
“Maybe.” Sam’s hesitant tone trampled most of my hope.
“Could she”—I swallowed—“could she have won without cheating?”
I didn’t dare look at Liam as I said this, too afraid of the I-told-you-so expression that was surely written all over his face. If she had won without help from any substance, then I’d ruined his chances of defeating her by forcing him to wait.
“Everything’s poss
ible with that woman. The best advice I can give you two is to watch your backs around Morgan. Watch your fronts and sides too for that matter. I wouldn’t it put it past her to strike from any direction.”
I felt my eyes widening. “You think she’d attack us before the duel?”
“If she senses her chances of winning aren’t that great, then yeah. She wouldn’t do it herself, of course. She’d get someone else to do her dirty work.”
“Like she sent her son to kill my cousin,” I said.
“We heard.” Zack exchanged a look with Sam. “Got anyone in the Creek Pack you trust, Ness? Nothin’ like an insider to get a clearer picture.”
“I do, but she was a Pine before, so I doubt the Creeks will trust her with anything.”
“Yeah.” Zack rubbed his beard, picking a twig out of it. “I doubt her new wolves will be given any classified information.”
Sam’s eyes widened. “Will’s brother. He could help ’em. I can email him tonight.”
Zack’s dirt-and-blood flecked hand stilled on his beard. “Avery hates Morgan, son. I doubt he’s privy to pack intel.”
“It’s been four years. He must’ve learned something in four years.”
“Have you two kept in contact?” Zack asked.
“I think Ingrid did.”
“Ask her to message him to see what his thoughts are on his Alpha.”
Samuel turned and scanned the room.
“I believe she’s with Poppy and your ma.”
Once his son stalked away, Zack said, “Hopefully he’ll be able to help us.”
It was strange to hear him say us and not you. Strange, but oddly comforting. I liked that our small pack wasn’t quite as alone, that we had allies. Sure, they were halfway across the country, but that didn’t mean their influence and backing couldn’t stretch over the thousands of miles.
“Ness, you mind if I take Liam aside for a bit? He and I need to discuss some personal matters.”
“Of course not.” My gaze skipped between the two Alphas. “I’ll see you back at the cabin, Liam.”
“I’m not kicking you out of the grub hall, Ness.”
“I know, but it’s been a long and eventful night. Plus, I’m pretty sure I’m still covered in bear gore.”
A Pack of Love and Hate Page 9