Say My Name

by R K Knightly

  "Easy," Liam said, moving toward her. "The words will come. Was it a nightmare?"

  Elle nodded, gaze drifting to the ground.

  "They wake you up?"

  Another nod.

  "I almost wish I had nightmares," he told her absently. "Nightmares come with sleep. I could deal with the dreams. This fucking insomnia...not so much."

  "Tea?" The word came out faultless and clear, as clear as he had ever heard her sound.

  "Sure."

  Liam had never been much for tea, so he was merely capitalizing on the company that came with it.

  Elle got out another mug and placed it on the bar before Liam. He grabbed two teabags and placed them in the mugs as she went to grab some milk, a few lemon wedges, and some honey.

  "N-not...b-b-both," she said to him, cutely stern as she pointed from the lemon to the milk. "C-c...ur…"

  "It'll curdle," he finished for her. She simply nodded back at him and then got a spoon and a spare saucer for their teabags.

  It was quiet all over the territory this late at night. Most everyone was asleep except for the patrol, which was miles away on the outskirts of the land. The silence didn't bother either one of them, and the increasing sound of the tea kettle coming to boil was the only thing out of place at that time of night.

  "Does this help – the tea?" Liam asked.

  She wiggled her hand in a so-so gesture.

  Sometimes.

  He heard the word as if she had spoken it, though that was impossible since she hadn't taken the oath and opened herself to the pack mindlink in the process. But he heard it anyway and nodded his head.

  "Worth a shot," he said, more to himself than to her.

  After their tea had been steeped, drunk, and the resulting dishes put away, they both climbed the stairs. Liam hoped sleep would find him, whereas Elle hoped the soothing brew could keep away the terror.

  As they both made their way to their rooms and stood at their respective doors, Liam stopped and turned around. Elle was standing there, staring at the doorknob like it would come alive and take a bite out of her. He watched her shiver for a moment and place her hand on it, turning it slowly as if there were armed robbers on the other side.

  "Want to chat a bit before going to sleep?" Liam asked, walking over toward her. He was hoping that conversation would relax her enough so she could find sleep. Maybe even tire himself out since having to endure mindless chatter was tiring in and of itself for him.

  Elle looked up at him, doe-eyes sorrowful and insanely large in the dimly lit hallway.

  Liam thought she would say no, but she only nodded her head and opened the door wide.

  Walking over to the bed, she climbed under the covers and patted the bedside for Liam to sit down. It was his house, after all, his sister's old bedroom, and he should feel as comfortable anywhere in his home as she had at her parent's.

  "Tell...sister," she said, looking around the room.

  "Tell you about my sister?" he asked, to which she nodded.

  "Not much to tell, honestly," he admitted. "Her name's Arden, and she's about two years younger than I. She found her mate around the same time I did and moved away. Colorado."

  He continued to speak, regaling her with stories of his childhood, explaining some of the rules of living at Plumbrook, many of which she was aware, and explaining more about some of his closest friends, Colleen, Blake, and Trace.

  Liam spoke for a long time, not knowing when her eyes had finally closed.

  And not remembering when his did, either.

  Chapter 13

  She woke up warm. Much too warm. A long arm was draped across Elle's waist, giving her the illusion of-

  Wait – what?

  Blinking her eyes open, she took a long sniff of the air. Liam. She remembered that she had fallen asleep after Liam had started talking about some of the pacts he had made with neighboring Alphas in his tenure, but she didn't remember anything after that. Not even the hint of a dream.

  A gust of hot air blew across her cheek and she shivered. Not out of fear or air temperature, but from something else. An emotion she couldn't quite put her thumb on. Once the proverbial thumb got close, the word skittered away, evading her.

  At least Liam had fallen asleep outside of the duvet. But he was draped across her body like a skin-tight outfit, or a cheap off-the-rack suit.

  Sliding her body out from under his was more of a task than she anticipated. She was not keen on him waking up before she got dressed, brushed her teeth, and started breakfast. Talk about awkward.

  And what time was it anyway? Looking at the clock, she was surprised she had slept so long. It was half-past nine, an hour the back her eyelids hadn't seen in years. Of course, waking up to a nightmare and then her tea and conversation with Liam had chipped away at some of her usual bedtime hours.

  When she was free of the bed – and Liam’s arms – she walked quietly over to the bathroom, placed her mussed up hair in a sloppy bun, and proceeded to brush her teeth.

  She made a mental list of things that they would need to buy. They were running low on eggs, so unless she started laying them herself, Liam was going to be stuck eating Cheerios or Fruit Loops tomorrow morning.

  Downstairs, she cracked a few eggs and put the burner heat on low, adding a pat of butter into the frying pan and whisking the eggs vehemently, like they had somehow personally offended her.

  Coffee was ground and perking, the scent of which usually woke up the Alpha, who craved his caffeine.

  "Morning," Liam said from the door, voice groggy with sleep.

  "M-morn-n-ning," Elle replied from her place at the stove. She kept her gaze fixed on scrambling the light-yellow mix.

  "Sorry about last night," Liam told her on a yawn. "Must've dozed off. I knew I was dull, but I didn't think I could bore even myself to sleep."

  Elle smiled and turned around.

  "Iss...o-kay," she told him. "Y-your...home...your...b-bed."

  "You're getting good," he told her approvingly. "And it's your bed now. I bequeath it to you. It's not like my sister's going to send for it, and I didn't actually pay for it. If you really wanted to be picky, it's my parents' bed. Their hard-earned dough purchased it."

  Liam had never mentioned his mother and father, and Elle could only wonder why.

  "Where...are p-par...rents?" she asked.

  "Dad became an elder with The Council, so he stays close by their settlement," Liam told her. "It was a hassle for him to fly back and forth, and he's getting too old to be driving there and back. Mom, of course, went with him. They're in Colorado, like my sister, so there's that."

  Elle nodded and flipped some bacon, another necessity from the store that they needed. Her mind made the mental note while Liam's voice rang out in the background.

  "I'm heading into town today," he told her. "Have to drop some mail off. Is there anything you need?"

  She told him in stilted words. Bacon, eggs, bread, and milk.

  "I'll grab those things on the way back from town," he promised, and started to sit down at the breakfast bar.

  After eating, the two parted, Liam heading to his bedroom for a shower, Elle to her own room to start her morning routine. They were both showered and ready for their day within half an hour.

  The staircase needed dusting, Elle noticed, and she decided to get going on that, moving to the hallway closet where the cleaning supplies were always kept. A Swiffer duster, a rag, and some lemon-scented furniture polish later, she was ready to tackle the upstairs first, passing by Liam as he left his room.

  "Eggs, milk, bread, and bacon, right?" he asked, stopping Elle with a firm hand to her shoulder.

  "R-right," she said, nodding up at him.

  "Okay, I can remember that without writing it down," he told her.

  That's when something happened.

  Liam leaned in, his lips close to her temple and, for the briefest of moments, Elle thought he was going to kiss her there. But it only became a swift brush of
his lips against her skin and she blinked, wondering if she had imagined it.

  "S-see you later," he stuttered, shaking his head as if perplexed with himself.

  Which, by the way, he was.

  ∞∞∞

  I almost fucking kissed her, Liam thought the whole way toward Blackriver.

  After ridding himself of the delicious fragrance of Elle on his body and clothing, he had called Jeremiah, requested a meeting, and then centered his thoughts back to the same five words. I almost fucking kissed her.

  It should have felt surreal, but the idea of it had come so naturally to him, that it almost ran across as an afterthought. It had been as easy as breathing, getting that close to her. If he hadn't seen her flinch just slightly, he would have followed through.

  "Bye, honey. I'm off to work. Kids, you be good for your mother." Then a kiss on the cheek, forehead, or temple. Completely domestic and utterly unlike him. He hadn't kissed anyone before leaving the house like that since Cecelia. Blake, or even Trace sometimes goaded him, requesting a kiss before leaving his office, but they were always silenced with one of his infamous glares, walking quickly away when they saw he meant business.

  "Un-fucking-believable," he muttered to himself, shaking his head for the millionth time that morning. Pretty soon his fucking brain was going to start rattling around up there, he had shaken it so much.

  Liam patted the envelope in his hand, a large manila one, containing all the checks Elle had filled out for him and handed over for him to sign. Her penmanship was pretty and very legible, whereas his closely resembled something some henchman from Hell might have scrawled for some virgin-sacrificing ritual. Or a doctor's handwriting. Lord knew what those symbols on those prescription pads even meant.

  Liam slowed his car down on the outskirts of Blackriver and waited for the three men ahead of him to approach his vehicle.

  "Name?" a tall, burly male asked while leaning over at the level of Liam's head. Liam drove a dark green Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R, low to the ground. The ogre standing next to his car practically had to fold himself in half to get a look at Liam.

  "Alpha Liam Stark," he obliged. "I have a meeting with Jeremiah Bluth, your leader, I presume."

  "Kent?" the man called to one of the other males.

  As in Clark Kent – Man of Steel? Liam quipped to himself, groaning internally that he couldn't just say it out loud.

  "He's good. The Alpha is expecting him," Kent told him. "He can pass." Thank you, Superman.

  The Jolly Green Giant nodded and stood up to his full height, backing away from the car and gesturing for him to pass.

  "Last house at the end of the road," Goliath called after him, his voice booming out so that most of the pack could probably hear him.

  Liam nodded, though he doubted that the man saw it. He waved his hand out the window in acknowledgment, and drove on a bit faster.

  After a few minutes, he pulled up to the last house on the road. It was blood-red with dark blue shutters, a sprawling two-story monstrosity. Liam's eyes darkened as he put the car into park and stepped out of the vehicle.

  He grabbed his manila envelope, not wanting to leave it in his car, though he locked the doors behind him. He was on enemy territory, for lack of a better term, and he hoped his increased blood pressure didn't give Jeremiah any reason to think that this wasn't just a friendly visit.

  "Liam," a voice called out from the front porch. "I was told you were here. Come in."

  The man's voice was gruff, and the dark circles under his eyes made Liam smile internally. Maybe the man was having a harder time without his mate than Liam had suspected. He hoped for damned sure he was. Served the fucker right.

  They stood in the kitchen for a minute while Jeremiah offered Liam a beverage.

  "Just water, please," Liam said. "My...housekeeper filled me up on coffee this morning." His lips twitched up at the word “housekeeper”, a little amused with himself.

  "What brings you here, Liam?" Jeremiah asked, getting out a bottle of water for his guest.

  "I was just concerned is all," Liam stated in a measured tone of voice. "My patrol has told me that some neighboring pack was searching the land just beyond my borders. Since you're the closest one, I was wondering if it was you and yours."

  Jeremiah tipped his head back, taking a deep draught of water before speaking.

  "It was," he told his guest. "We've been looking for someone."

  "Who?" Liam immediately asked. "Maybe if I see them I can let you know."

  "No one of importance," Jeremiah said waving his question away.

  Liam's eyes flashed. No one of importance? His mate didn't matter to him? Un-fucking-real.

  "Male or female?" Liam pressed. "If I see any strange wolves around, it would to be good to at least get a gender or a description."

  "Why do you care?" Jeremiah asked, beady little eyes scrutinizing Liam's. "It's not like we have close ties. Why would you help me?"

  "Well, if you're looking for someone, I can only assume the person might be dangerous. Is that not so?"

  "She's not fucking dangerous, she’s-" Jeremiah stopped his angry outburst and did his best to school his features.

  "So...a female," Liam said, raising his brows. "A love interest? Maybe one of your flavors of the week? I know how you love your women. Many of them, and not always one at a time."

  "She's not-"

  It was almost too easy for Liam to goad him, though Jeremiah couldn't have suspected it. These were all simple questions, one’s anyone would ask.

  "Well, have you found your little female?" Liam asked. "It makes my patrol antsy to have that many foreign wolves skirting our property, and you've made them quite anxious."

  "I...no, I haven't found her, and we've not stopped looking," Jeremiah admitted grudgingly. "We are done searching your area, though, and I doubt we'll be back. We've decided to look north, towards Canada. We feel she may have doubled-back to the northwest."

  "Well, good luck on your search." Not. "I hope you find whoever it is you are looking for." I hope your whole body burns for days on end, just like you burned your initials into Elle's soft, creamy skin, you sick fuck.

  "Is that all you wanted?" Jeremiah asked, suspicion engraved in his words.

  "That and your assurance that your search party will not cross pack lines," Liam said. "I would hate to have a blood feud on our hands when I'm forced to imprison one of your wolves. That is, if one was stupid enough to trespass."

  Liam held the manila envelope in his hand, waving it in the air before he went to take his leave.

  "Wait!" Jeremiah called out, his voice strangled, so different than the tone from only moments ago. It sounded desperate.

  Liam looked back, blinking as the man came closer to him, his nose tilted in the air.

  Jeremiah's eyes flickered between Liam's face and the envelope in his hands.

  "What's in there?" Jeremiah asked, his tone edging on dangerous.

  "Just some paperwork. Some checks I have to send off," Liam said. "You know, business things."

  "Why does it smell like a female?"

  "I had my housekeeper help me yesterday with the books," Liam told him, feigning impatience. "She's just as good with numbers as she is in the kitchen. Now if you'll-"

  The envelope was ripped from Liam's hands and Jeremiah dug into it, looking crazed as his hand stuffed the checks into his face, searching for the scent that had, until now, evaded him so completely.

  Before Liam could think to run or even panic, Jeremiah's hands stuffed the checks back into the envelope and dropped it to the ground. His face was in Liam's in half a second before his hot breath hit the cooler skin of Liam's cheeks.

  "Where the fuck is she?" Jeremiah roared. "Where is my mate?"

  Chapter 14

  Fuck.

  Liam gave one slow blink.

  Jeremiah worried him, but he was only mildly afraid of what of the man could do. He wasn't true Alpha blood, and he never would be.

&nbs
p; "She’s safe from you, you sadistic asshole," Liam answered, his voice gravelly and deep.

  "She's mine!"

  "Was yours, I would say," Liam said, breaking their eye contact with a quick blink. "If you truly wanted her, you wouldn't have done what you did to her."

  Jeremiah let go of Liam to take a small step back, shocked.

  "You know nothing." Jeremiah sounded confident, but it didn't translate to his eyes. They wavered, unsure.

  "I know more than you think," Liam decreed quietly. "She was quite forthcoming with the extent of your...hospitality while residing here at your house."

  "She's an Omega." As if that was some sort of explanation.

  "And you're a black-hearted, egotistical fool," Liam spat back at him, his blue eyes blazing and becoming darker at the same time.

  "She's mine to do with as I please."

  "She's a person, not property for you to maul and destroy," Liam told him. "If you didn't want her, you should have rejected her. Let her have a chance at a different life. A better one."

  "I want her back!"

  "You'll get nothing from me," Liam stated firmly. "She has my pack's protection. One wrong move, even a toe over the line into my territory, and it's war."

  Jeremiah's eyes widened, the pupils dilating furiously.

  "You'd risk a war for some strange wolf? An Omega?" he asked. His jaw twitched as he spoke.

  "I'd risk it for someone as innocent as her," Liam said with a nod. "You can let her go quietly, or you can try your hand at beating me. It's up to you. I warn you now, though. I have told my Beta where I am and he is expecting a call from me in...” He checked his watch. “Fifteen minutes. If I don't call, he is poised to attack. Attack and win." It was an easily fabricated lie, but one that came quickly to Liam.

  Jeremiah's eye twitched. Then his jaw. He was biting back a snarl when something came to his mind. No one would risk their people for the sake of someone else unless...

  "You plan to take her as your Luna?" Jeremiah barked the question out, though it sounded more like a statement in Liam's ears.