by Sadie Carter
“Where was this?”
“Over in Sioux City.”
“That’s Reefton territory. Why would Ian’s wolves want to hurt Laney?” Dusty pondered. The Reefton Alpha wasn’t a friend. But he wasn’t an enemy either. The Reefton pack was small and kept to themselves.
Edwards shook his head. “I don’t know that they were Reefton wolves. They seemed to want to get out of the city quickly, and they didn’t act like they knew the place that well.”
Reed growled. “If Ian let his werewolves leave their estate more often they’d have noticed other wolves in their territory.”
“What happened then?” Marcus asked.
“Dad had told them about my skills. They said if I did a job for them that all of Dad’s debts would be waived. I agreed. I mean, they were going to kill him otherwise. Then they told me what the job was. That I had to bomb this bookstore. I thought it was for insurance. I never realized someone was going to be in it.”
He stared guiltily at his feet. “No one died.” He raised his head in supplication. Dusty frowned, knowing without looking that Reed and Marcus had similar expressions of disgust and anger on their faces.
“Only out of sheer luck,” she snarled.
He swallowed. “They said I hadn’t done the job they wanted. That my father would pay for my mistake and if I didn’t meet them and do as they wanted that they would kill Hanna. I panicked. I raced back to the motel where Hanna and my cousin were. I grabbed them and ran. It took them less than a week to find us. We fought, but in the end, they killed my cousin and took Hanna. I was beaten severely. But I wasn’t worried about myself. I was terrified for Hanna.
“When they called me, they told me that I had to do something for them or they would kill my mate. My orders were to assassinate your Alpha’s mate. If I failed, Hanna would die. I had no choice,” he pleaded desperately.
Disgust and pity warred inside her for this weak-willed creature.
“They told me where to meet them. They blindfolded me and took me to this cabin in the woods. Hanna was there. I promised to do whatever they asked as long as they didn’t hurt her. They told me I had a month or Hanna was dead. I don’t know why they didn’t just kill your Alpha’s mate themselves. I never saw any of their faces.”
“What happened next?” Reed asked.
“I knew I didn’t have a chance of getting onto pack grounds. So I waited for an opportunity. I heard about the new bookstore, and I started watching it.”
“You were the one who shot at Cassie and me,” Dusty said.
He visibly swallowed. “You were in that car? I didn’t know.”
“How did you know that today was a setup? That Laney was still in the house?” Dusty asked.
“Somehow they knew,” he said. “I don’t know how. But two days ago they called me. They said you were setting a trap and that this would be the best time to get to the mark. It was too good an opportunity to miss.”
“So you decided to bomb the house,” Marcus snapped. “Without caring who was in it. Killing is always easier when you don’t have to look your victim in the face.”
Edwards paled.
“How did they know what we were planning?” Dusty pondered.
“It seems to me that you have a snitch in your precious pack.”
Marcus snarled, and Edwards wisely grew silent.
“You did it all? The hate mail? The slashed tires?” Dusty asked.
He shook his head. “I think they hired humans to do those things.”
“So why didn’t they get their human help to kill Laney?” Marcus asked.
Edwards frowned. “Apparently they did. They enjoyed telling me that when he failed they beat him to death. I think they got a kick out of forcing me to kill her. They’re sick bastards. I hate to think what Hanna is going through.”
“So where are they keeping Hanna?” Dusty asked.
“I don’t know,” he said desperately. “But time is nearly up. Last time I saw her, she was being kept in a cabin. It was surrounded by a forest. I was blindfolded throughout the entire trip there, so I don’t know how to get there. But it can’t be far away. You will go for her, won’t you?”
Reed stepped forward. “We’ll do our best to find her. But you know she may not be alive, right?”
“She is. She has to be.”
* * * * *
Six hours later, Dusty could barely keep her eyes open as Cain pulled his truck up outside his house. He climbed out. She was reaching for her door when it opened, and he drew her into his arms.
“Cain—”
“Hush,” he said. “You’re going to let me do what I have to do, Dusty.” He hadn’t let her talk while he was driving—hadn’t even asked her about the interrogation.
“Hmm, oh, I wasn’t protesting.” He carried her through the house to the bedroom. He set her down, holding her until she steadied on her feet.
“I was just going to say that I can scarcely believe it. My wolf is asleep because of some drug.” She heard the catch in her voice as Cain stripped her. He didn’t take the time to undo her clothes—changing his hands to claws, he ripped through her t-shirt and jeans.
“What are you doing?”
Her panties and bra soon followed.
“I think he’s tearing your clothes off, hellcat,” Brynn’s amused voice came from behind her. She turned to see him lying on the bed. Naked.
Cain turned her face toward him. “You keep your eyes on me.”
Dusty’s eyes widened in shock. “Okay,” she said soothingly.
“I held off,” he muttered, almost to himself as he moved his hands over her. He started with her face, running his fingers softly over her bruises then down her neck to her shoulders. “I didn’t smother. I didn’t hover. I waited.” He stroked his hands down her front. He stepped behind her, rubbing his hands over her back. “I let you do your job, but now, now you’re mine.”
“I’m okay, Cain.”
“Yeah, but I have to see for myself.” He walked around to face her. Drawing her in close, he hugged her. Dusty held him just as hard. Grasping her face roughly, he kissed her. It was intense, almost brutal, and she met him stroke for stroke, touch for touch.
“I need you,” he whispered against her lips.
“I’m here.”
He took a step back and stripped. Grabbing the condom Brynn threw at him, he slid it over his cock quickly.
Clasping her under her bottom, he lifted. Taking a few steps, he stopped when her back hit the wall. He didn’t set her down. Raising her good leg, he rested it over one of his arms. Her injured leg rested against the wall. She was open, at his mercy as he continued to kiss her as though he would envelop her.
Then he was inside her, stroking deep. Dusty was more than ready for him, welcoming him eagerly as he drove himself within her. It was a hard, fast loving. Cain massaged one breast without his usual finesse, as though he were so overwhelmed by emotion that it overrode everything else.
She felt the same. Pleasure ignited, raged, demanding satisfaction. When her release came, it was so intense that everything went black, all sound disappearing. She was lost.
Overcome from her orgasm, she barely noticed as he moved, carrying her in his arms.
Brynn murmured something, but she didn’t have the energy to make out the words. She was lowered into a warm bath. With a pleased sigh, she leaned back against the huge tub.
Someone pulled her right leg up and drew a soft cloth over her thigh. She opened her eyes to find Brynn bathing her.
“Bad cop, good cop, huh?” she murmured.
“In no way would I be considered a good anything.”
“I don’t know.” She grinned. “There are some things you do that are very, very good.”
He smiled slowly.
“How about you get in this bath with me, and I’ll tell you exactly what those things are.”
He eased into the other end of the bath. Fatigue forgotten, Dusty lay on top of him, pulling herself until her b
reasts were above his mouth.
“When you kiss them they feel very, very good.”
“Do they just?”
“Ah-huh,” she murmured as he grasped one breast and, raising it, kissed it, licking and then sucking sweetly.
“Oh,” she groaned, feeling each tug of his mouth on her clit.
“Good, hmm?”
“Ah-huh.”
“I think I can do better than good.”
Brynn held both breasts together, working on her nipples simultaneously with light flicks of his tongue. Then he dropped one hand to her pussy, moving his finger against her clit, matching the rhythm of his tongue.
Dusty whimpered, unable to believe she could be driven up to orgasm so quickly after the huge release Cain had given her.
“Brynn, no,” she wailed as he turned her, positioning her so her stomach rested against the lip of the bath.
“Lean over,” he said, climbing behind her, his hands massaging her bottom as he split her legs apart as far as they could go in the large bath. Slowly, a tiny bit at a time, he pushed inside her, stopping to torture her every so often with a pinch to her bottom or to tap her clit.
“Brynn, move,” she yelled, unable to stand it. If she could have, she would have thrust backward. But she was trapped between the bath and his body.
“Touch your breasts,” he whispered in her ear, kissing down her neck as he fully seated himself inside her.
“What?”
“Touch your breasts. I want you to pinch your nipples. Do it now.”
“Brynn, it’s so good, but I want more.”
“Just good?”
He parted her butt cheeks to rub a finger over her asshole.
“It’s wonderful, magnificent, fantastic.”
“Tut-tut-tut. I think you’re just saying that because you want to come.”
She pinched her nipples harder, biting on her lip to stop from crying out as her clit begged for the same touch.
“I’m not,” she sobbed. “Please.”
The finger playing with her bottom suddenly thrust deep. “Please what?”
“Brynn, please let me come. I need to so bad.”
She was shaking, barely able to concentrate. His mouth nibbled at her neck, his finger moving back and forth steadily as he continued the rhythmic plunging of his cock into her pussy, which wept desperately for relief.
Suddenly Brynn withdrew.
“No!”
Brynn stepped out of the bath and, clasping her around the waist, lifted her from the tub. He set her on her feet so she was facing the bathroom cabinet.
“Lean over and grasp the countertop,” he ordered. He nudged her legs apart. Once her legs were spread wide, he entered her swiftly from behind. Dusty watched herself in the mirror. She appeared flushed, her breasts large, her nipples swollen.
He covered her breasts with his hands as he drove harder, faster.
“Brynn,” she sighed, closing her eyes in pleasure.
“Keep them open,” Cain ordered. She glanced up into the mirror to find him standing behind them and slightly to the right, his dark gaze missing nothing.
“I’m not far off,” Brynn groaned. “Touch yourself.”
She whimpered.
“Now, hellcat.”
She tapped her clit with her finger.
“Come now, Dusty.”
Dusty yelled as orgasm cascaded over her, drowning Brynn’s own shout. Her legs turned to jelly just as she was caught up against a wide, strong body.
Brynn set her on the bathroom counter and ran a warm cloth between her legs, rasping her oversensitized clit.
He enveloped her in a soft towel before helping her stand. Dusty limped into the bedroom to find Cain lying on the bed naked. He held open his arms, and she fell into them, sighing. He always seemed to know exactly what she needed.
They were silent for a long moment.
“So did you break him?” Cain asked.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “We broke him.”
“Who is he and why was he trying to kill Laney?”
She pushed herself up, so she was sitting.
“Where’s Brynn?”
“He’s making you something to eat. Spill.”
“Brynn’s making me something? Can he cook?”
“He’s fine.”
“If I tell you both together it’ll be faster.”
“I already know.” Brynn appeared in the door with two cups of coffee. Leaning down, he gave her a long, lingering kiss.
“You were in the room?”
“Ah-huh.” He grinned unrepentantly.
“I didn’t sense you.” The bond had grown so she could generally feel when he was close.
“You were very focused on your prisoner.”
“If Cooper finds out you’re sneaking around…”
“How would he know?”
She shared a concerned look with Cain. But how would Cooper know? However, if he even suspected, and asked one of them…they couldn’t lie. And if their Alpha decided he couldn’t trust Brynn, there was no way he’d ever be accepted into the pack.
“Brynn—”
“Don’t worry so much. I promise everyone will think I’m playing by pack rules. I will be the very epitome of a proper packmate.”
“Ah-huh.” She waited for the penny to drop.
“I won’t allow anyone to find out the truth, you have my word.”
Dusty climbed off the bed and hugged Brynn tight. “A pack runs on loyalty, on order. You don’t quite fit, and yet you’ve got powers that could destroy us all. Cain and I are worried that if Cooper thinks you’re lying to him or sneaking around—”
“That he will throw me out. Don’t worry, he will never know, and even if he somehow did find out, I would never expect you two to come with me.”
“For God’s sake, Brynn,” Cain said with exasperation. Don’t you understand? We love you. We’d go to the ends of the fucking earth for you. We’d move to another pack, do what we had to. Life would be better if we had you and our pack. But if we can’t have both then we’ll choose you. Always.”
Brynn gaped at Cain for a moment, obviously shaken.
“I thought you didn’t trust me?” Brynn asked.
Cain waved off his words. “That was then. Now I trust you with my life. More, I trust you with Dusty’s. You’re family, Brynn. We have your back.”
Brynn just stared at them, his mouth opening then shutting.
“I think he’s actually lost for words.” Dusty grinned.
“Never thought I’d see the day,” Cain joked.
Brynn looked from one to the other. “I think I need to—”
Cain stepped in behind him while Dusty covered his front.
“You disappear on us, and I will hurt you,” Dusty swore. “What Cain said, he meant every word, and I agree with him. I don’t—I’m not always good at saying what I feel. Well, not about emotions and stuff. But I love you, and the two of you, you always come first with me. If you can’t live here, we’ll move. We can work out any other problems. As long as the three of us stick together, I’ll always be happy.”
“You’re wrong.”
Dusty looked up at Brynn, shocked by his words.
“I am?”
“Yep, you do a damn fine job of expressing yourself.” Leaning in, he kissed her. Cain moved in beside them, joining in.
“You really love me?” he asked Cain. “You don’t just tolerate me for Dusty’s sake anymore?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Dusty replied, rolling her eyes. “He never tolerated you for me.”
“Not anymore,” Cain replied seriously, surprising Dusty. “I care about you regardless of Dusty’s feelings for you.”
Dusty hugged Brynn.
“Thank God you came back when you did tonight. How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“How’d you know I was in trouble?”
“I guess Cain’s unease was rubbing off on me. I was coming back to check on you when I
felt your fear.”
“Where did you get rid of the bomb?” Cain asked.
“I took it as high as I could go then threw it.”
“Lucky it had enough time left.” Dusty leaned back in his hold to stare at his face. “How did you know it did? You didn’t seem to look at it.”
He grinned. “I didn’t. Guess I was in luck."
Cain’s gaze grew deadly. “What? You had no business carrying around a bomb that could explode at any moment!”
“So I should have left it to implode, right there with Dusty and your Alpha’s mate in close range? Besides, I’m immortal, remember?”
“You’d survive a bomb blast?” Dusty asked in amazement.
His gaze dropped away.
Cain crossed his arms over his wide chest. “If he was at full strength, maybe. But not now, not on Earth. Am I right?”
Brynn shrugged. “I’m more vulnerable on this plane. If my energy levels were low, it may have killed me.”
“Brynn,” she said, exasperated.
Cain placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “The two of you will be the death of me, you really will. Now sit. Both of you. And someone start telling me what the hell this guy said!”
Dusty smiled at Brynn and, taking both men’s hands, tugged them to the bed.
“Wait,” Brynn piped up. “I’ve got bacon on.”
He hurried away, quickly reappearing and joining them on the bed.
“So it didn’t really take all that long for us to break this guy. He’s from the Highmoon pack—”
“Wait, aren’t they from Texas?” Cain asked.
Dusty nodded. “Yep.”
“What they hell do they want from us? Why would they try to hurt Laney?”
“They’re not.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Someone else is.”
“Well, who?”
“Don’t know.” She shook her head then told Cain everything.
“He thinks we have a traitor?” Cain growled.
“Yeah. It makes me feel sick that one of the pack could betray us like that. But how else did he get that tip-off?”
“It’s worse than that,” Cain said coldly.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Not all the pack knew what we were doing. Just the enforcers.”