by RJ Blain
I was so, so tired of funerals, when I laid pieces of my heart in the caskets along with the bodies of my friends. Would the North Folk pack be laid to rest in the cold ground, or would their ashes be scattered in the winter wind?
Elliot sighed, and he rested his chin on my shoulder, leaning his head against mine without any care I was still covered in chilling, oozing stew. “I understand. It’s been over a month. The chances of finding Dante and Nicole alive are slim. Richard’s heartbroken, but he’s trying to pretend everything will be okay for everyone else’s sake. So long as he still believes, everyone else does, too.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to keep searching for them. We’re going to find Basin, and we’re going to wipe them out—every last one of them. We didn’t start this war, but we’re going to finish it. We’ve lived to protect Normals for so long, but I won’t let us be eradicated, not without a fight. They have blood diamonds. They have Dante, and they have Nicole. But we have something far stronger.”
“What do we have?”
“Pack,” Elliot growled, and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to him. “The wolves of North Fork died, but their deaths won’t be for nothing. Tomorrow, I unleash the dogs of war. I want you at my side when I do. If Nicole and Dante are still alive somewhere, we’ll find them.”
I lacked the courage to ask what we would do if we couldn’t find them.
I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, the source of so many of my fears. If I cut out tomorrow, I had the present. The present held a man who wanted me despite my flaws, despite my fears, and despite everything I had already cost him.
I couldn’t afford to run and hide anymore. “Should I be concerned you want to drag me into a shower? I saw this in a movie once. Bad things happen to innocent women in showers.”
Elliot chuckled. “Good things happen to bad girls in showers.”
I pulled away from him, bent over, and ran my hands through my hair, shaking out bits of carrots, potatoes, and meat. I was aware of him watching me, and when I straightened, his gaze swept over me.
“If you’re trying to tease me, you’re doing a fantastic job.”
“Take the collar off.”
“I already told you the condition for that.”
“Your choice, Mr. Anderson. You can leave the collar on and stay outside of the shower, or you can take it off and be invited in.”
Elliot closed the distance between us and unbuckled the collar, tossing it aside. Grabbing hold of my hips, he yanked me to him, and he pressed his mouth to my throat. “You’re mine now.”
My wolf’s eagerness flooded through me, and I closed my eyes, my breath catching in my throat. For the first time in my life, I willingly submitted, tilting my head to the side to grant Elliot easier access.
He wasted no time nipping me so he could fully claim me as his.
Chapter Seventeen
While Elliot had wasted no time getting us in the shower, once we were there, he stretched every moment into a blissful eternity I didn’t want to end. When he finally relented and allowed the shower to cool the inferno his touch ignited within me, my wolf drifted to sleep.
My head nodded, and I barely resisted the urge to curl up on the nearest soft surface and collapse.
“You can’t fall asleep here.” Elliot chuckled, grabbed one of the bathrobes, and wrapped me in it. “You’ve lost weight. If the weather holds, we’ll go to Richard’s house. I don’t suppose you can do something about the blizzard, can you?”
I shook my head. “I can’t feel the weather anymore.”
“Can you use your witchcraft at all?”
I stifled a yawn and shook my head. “I haven’t tried.”
“The weather’ll make things difficult, but I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be snowed in with.” Elliot gave me a towel so I could deal with my hair while he dried off and wrapped himself in a bathrobe. “Recruit Richard to trim your hair, and make sure he cuts it how you like. If he had his way, every woman on Earth would have long, perfectly curled hair.”
“Should’ve hit him harder,” I mumbled, wrapping my hair in the towel and piling it on top of my head.
“While I agree, he can be useful sometimes. Come on.” After tightening my robe’s sash and adjusting it on my shoulders to his liking, he herded me out of the bathroom. “Alex and Emily want to see you. You can rest to your heart’s content there.”
“Do they know who attacked their pack?”
Elliot hesitated. “We tried to ask them, but they’re submissive. Emily started crying. Richard and every other dominant Fenerec in the place had a freak fit, and that put an end to questioning. Evelyn suggested we might have better luck if you talked to them. Judging from their reactions, though, I believe it was Markus. A stranger attacking them wouldn’t have triggered such a strong response.”
I really would kill Markus if I ever got my hands on him. Until I found him, I had no choice but to deal with my fury. Exhaustion helped numb me the additional evidence Markus had betrayed us all.
I wanted sleep, but I led the way to the kitchen. Richard was standing near the stove, arms crossed over his chest while growling. Frank sat at his table, watching our Alpha with an arched brow.
Elliot headed straight for the coffee maker. “Is he giving you problems, Frank?”
“When isn’t he giving me problems? We’re arguing about whether we’ll be staying here or going back to the lodge or house.”
“House,” Elliot ordered, pouring a mug of coffee, which he offered to me. “Vicky needs to see the puppies, and she might be able to find out what happened to the North Fork pack. If we’re going to get snowed in, I’d rather be close to the puppies.”
“It’s not going to be a fun trip,” Richard warned. “It will be cold and dark. It’s easy to get lost.”
“Not up for the challenge?”
“I’m more worried you’ll freeze to death before we make it.” Growling curses, Richard grabbed a mug from the counter and filled it with coffee. “You took your time.”
“She needed help getting all that crap out of her hair.” Elliot gestured at the cut across Richard’s forehead with his mug. “What happened?”
My face heated, and I was grateful Elliot had an excuse ready. I doubted I’d be able to do anything other than splutter.
“Long story.”
While Elliot scowled, I could smell his amusement at Richard’s unwillingness to confess why I’d thrown a mug at him. Instead of pressing the point, he turned to Frank. “You have a snowmobile with enough gas to get to Richard’s house?”
“I do. I guess it’s for the better, since Richard wasted dinner being an idiot. I’ll call the house and make sure they have something ready for Vicky to eat when we arrive.”
“Maybe we’ll luck out and avoid the worst of the storm.” Richard headed for the front door. “Get them dressed for the weather, Frank. I’ll prep the snowmobiles.”
Frank sighed. “One day, I’ll learn. I don’t even know if I have clothes suitable for this weather, and I live here. Why does he always expect me to perform miracles?”
Chuckling, Elliot drank his coffee before setting the mug aside. “Stop performing them all the time and he won’t expect them from you anymore. I’d like to reach Richard’s house alive. What’s the plan?”
“Dress in layers and pray.”
Richard refused to let me take a snowmobile with Elliot, and Elliot refused to let me leave his sight without wearing the tracking collar. The fight lasted ten minutes, and when the dust settled, Richard and Frank held me down while Elliot buckled the leather around my throat.
My wolf slept, everything perfect in her world, while I wanted to leave bodies in my wake. True to Richard’s worries, I was still susceptible to Elliot’s commands, and after he used brute force to get the collar on me, he started issuing orders like a dictator, forcing me to go with our Alpha.
Maybe I couldn’t sense the weather anymore,
but it felt like the temperature plummeted as my rage strengthened until not even the snow dared to fall.
Three hours after leaving Frank’s house, we reached a stone monstrosity deep in the Canadian wilds. While I had seen homes perched on mountains, I’d never quite seen anything like the tiered, cascading castle Richard called home.
I wondered if I’d been to the place before. With a low groan, I leaned against Richard’s back, banging my helmet against his.
“Why are you beating me with your head?”
“I’m tired, I’m cold, I’m hungry, and I bet you’re going to expect me to walk up to that… that thing.”
“That thing is my home.”
“I bet you need a map to find your bedroom. Are you expecting a siege? Or are you compensating for something?” Disgusted at having clung to Richard for dear life for so long, I slid off the snowmobile. The fear of death—mine—had snuffed out my fury.
My legs forgot how to work, and I ended up in a bank. Yanking off my helmet, I howled and flung it at the source of my irritation.
Richard caught it, tucked it under his arm, and pulled off his helmet. “I got you here in one piece, didn’t I?”
“You lost Frank and Elliot.” There was no sign of the second snowmobile’s headlights in the darkness. The snow began to fall, and it stung my face in the gusting wind.
While I was furious Elliot had joined forces with Frank and Richard to collar me, the cold was so intense the air bit my lungs with every breath. It’d take a lot for me freeze to death, but Elliot was far more delicate.
Richard sighed. “Frank and Elliot should have beat us here by at least twenty minutes. I gave them the racing sled so your mate wouldn’t freeze to death. You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you? Thanking you? Maybe you’ve forgotten what you said, but I haven’t.”
“I won’t apologize for telling you the truth, no matter how much you dislike it. Anyway, the other sled’s faster. They should already be here waiting for us. You’ll feel better after you warm up, have a chance to see the puppies, and eat.”
I staggered to my feet and brushed the snow off. “Elliot better be in that stronghold.”
“This is about the collar, isn’t it? He promised to take it off when we got here. It’s not my fault. You already mugged me once today. Haven’t I suffered enough?”
“No.” Shooting a glare at Richard, I stomped up the steps to the front door, pausing long enough to arch a brow at the pair of Chinese guardian lion statues guarding the entry.
They seemed old and worn, a lot like me.
Richard approached the door. Instead of pulling out keys, he popped open a panel, revealing a keypad. He tapped in a code and the door beeped. He pushed it open and held it for me. “I think I understand why Nicole likes you so much. You both have it out for me, don’t you?”
“He took your collar off.”
Richard smirked. “He doesn’t love me.”
To cover my embarrassed blushing, I bared my teeth and snarled at him before stepping into the entry of his house. Red, black, and gold dominated the foyer. A dragon entwined with a phoenix in a lacquered mural on one wall. Paper lanterns cast golden light on the black, glistening floor.
I’d been to China with Samantha, and whoever had decorated the room had captured the ethereal presence of an ancient Chinese castle. Narrowing my eyes, I asked. “Did those lions come from China?”
Closing the door, Richard flashed me a grin. “They were a gift.”
“The Chinese don’t gift guardian lions to just anyone. Who’d you steal them from?”
“Not long after I became Yellowknife’s Alpha, I did someone from China a favor. When he found out I was building this house, he sent them as a gift. I hadn’t known he was a prominent member of the Chinese government. He hoped they would protect my pack. I’m pretty sure it was also a subtle hint I should pick a mate, too. That was before I’d met Nicolina. If you’ll get out of that snowsuit instead of gawking at me, I’ll take you upstairs. That’s probably where Elliot is hiding from your wrath.”
“I can’t believe you three collared me.” I growled a few curses, fought with the snowsuit’s zipper, but eventually got out of the damned thing. “It was unnecessary.”
“I can’t say I blame him for not wanting to take a single chance with you. He made me wear one before, too.”
“You’re not wearing one now.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s only because I didn’t give him a chance to grab the damned thing on the way out the door to retrieve you.” Richard took care of hanging the snowsuit up before gesturing towards a lotus-themed hallway. “And while everyone will look the other way if you give him a black eye again, I’d prefer if you only maul him during mating.”
“Richard!”
“What? I like puppies. My nursery’s practically empty. I need more puppies around. Newly mated couples often have puppies. Puppies make everyone happy. I hope some of the bitches decide to have puppies this season.”
“Are you serious?”
Richard sighed. “I want more puppies around. Evelyn’s having hers out of season, so I doubt anyone will opt for trying for a puppy knowing we’ll have a little one born soon. It’d also put to rest any problems with the unmated males.”
I opened my mouth, decided there was no way I could win, and clacked my teeth together. Smirking at me, Richard led me down the hall, paused at a gap between lotus paintings, and pressed on the wood-paneled wall. It popped open to reveal a door painted in an ocean motif.
Unsure of what to expect, I took my time going up the steps, sniffing as I went. A familiar scent teased my nose. “Is that salt?”
“You’re smelling the swimming pool. I switched from a chlorine system to salt water. It’s a lot less harsh on Fenerec noses. Then Elliot found out my pool was better and had to have one of his own. Of course, his will never compare.”
“There’s a swimming pool? In your house?”
“I thought it was a necessity. When I have unmated bitches in the pack or Fenerec-born who haven’t been given permission to court for a mate yet, my house is turned into a winter retreat during the full moons. The swimming pool gives them a place to exercise and socialize in comfort. This year, everyone is either too young or already being courted, so I have the house mostly to myself for a change.”
At the top of the staircase, there was a second painted door. Richard tapped in another code, which opened it. I peeked into the room.
A tropical paradise waited, and one entire wall of the pool room was composed of massive windows. The snow hissing outside was at odds with the trees, the ferns, and the sparkling waters of the pool that took up most of the room. A waterfall cascaded over foliage-framed rocks.
“Holy shit, Richard.”
“It seems my brother is annoyed with me. Alex only opens the window in the winter when he’s annoyed with me. He likes watching me fret over the electric bill.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
Richard pointed across the room. “Behind that wall, there are panels we install over the glass in the winter to keep the electric bill down. When I annoy him, Alex puts them away and attacks my wallet. Of course, Evelyn likes lounging in the pool and watching it snow, and what Evelyn wants, she gets.”
My guilt surged, and I wondered how I could help her get what she really wanted—what we both wanted. “I want to help find them.”
“Vicky, it’s not your fault.”
“Stop saying that. It is my fault. I refuse to allow you to deny me from taking responsibility.”
Richard sighed. “Fine. You are partially responsible. But, it’s not like you went up to Basin and told them to take you, Dante, and Nicole. Someone tried to take you from us again, too. My only regret is that the fucker who shot you didn’t live long enough for us to question him. I meant what I said earlier. Elliot’s constantly afraid of losing you. Maybe you hated being in confinement, but he’s been terrified you’ll vanish again—or worse, rejec
t him. He knows just enough about what it means to be a Fenerec for him to understand what’s at stake. He doesn’t want a fling, a one-night stand, or whatever it is you were taught wasn’t appropriate for a lady. He wants forever.”
I did, too. Elliot contented, complemented, and completed my wolf—and me, but I was too much of an embarrassed coward to admit it. “Forever is a long time, Richard. It’s a long time I’ll spend without him when he dies. I’ve been around long enough to know that. Witches die. Normals die. Even Fenerec die. I’m old enough it’s very difficult for me to die.”
“Trust me, I’m aware. I heard about when you cracked your skull when your employee’s funeral had been bombed. Then there’s the time you got shot with a silver bullet.”
I grimaced at the reminder of the events leading to and following Samantha’s death. “I never guessed Amelia was a shadow witch. Never suspected it, not for a minute. I thought…”
I still doubted how much had been reality versus tricks Amelia had created in my imagination.
“You thought she was a good person. A lot of people did. Elliot explained the situation to me. I think he spoke to all the North American Alphas about how to expose a shadow witch, their capabilities, and what had happened. He was really, really angry someone had masqueraded as him. Add in the fact he was used to trick you, and he was a very unhappy man. It’s a mercy the shadow witch had been killed, because I doubt he would’ve had any mercy. Her killer did her a favor.”
“Markus shot her.”
Richard straightened. “Dupree shot her?”
“He did.”
“Elliot hadn’t told me all the details, just that the witch had died and he hadn’t been the one to kill her. What else was she involved in?”
“She was in charge of our whole legal department. We had to check over every single element of our company when we found out what she was. She even handled the custody arrangements for Alex and Emily.” I clenched my teeth and shook my head. “We both know how that worked out.”