Brink Of Passion (Alpine Woods Shifters)

by Sondrae Bennett

  He wanted to reassure her. To tell her of course it would be okay. He had everything in the world to live for because he had her. But before he could open his mouth, he felt the world drift away.

  Chapter 13

  Laurie paced outside Max’s hospital room. She glared at the wood door separating her from him. The door his brother and male cousins had disappeared behind, gently pushing her into the hallway. As if the pretty little lady shouldn’t hear what was wrong with her mate.

  Damn it! She’d known something was up and she’d stupidly chosen to wait, hoping he would come to her with his problems. Max had been so tense and anxious lately. And instead of pushing like she normally would, like she obviously should have, she’d kept silent. And now, he was in a damn hospital and no one would tell her anything.

  “Poison?”

  The word stuck out like a cannon blast in the empty hallway. She glanced back at the door. Food poisoning maybe? But then why were they acting like there was a giant secret she couldn’t be told.

  A quick glance around assured her she was alone in the hallway. Stepping forward, Laurie pressed her ear against the wood panel. The conversation inside was muted, but clear enough to make out most of the words.

  “Another attack?”

  Attack? On Max? And what did they mean by another?

  “Looks like it.”

  “We won’t know anything until we get the bloodwork back.” Not food poisoning. From what she heard, it sounded like someone had deliberately poisoned him. Someone had attacked him. More than once.

  Rage bubbled inside her. She knew something had been bothering him, but this? How dare he keep this from her. As if she didn’t have every right to know her mate was targeted. How dare he pretend nothing was wrong.

  Someone else spoke, but she couldn’t make out the words. She pressed harder against the door, but still only caught pieces of the conversation.

  “Treatment?”

  “Hospitalized…days…doctors think…fine if…”

  Fed up listening at the door while they discussed her lover’s treatment, Laurie reached for the handle and swept into the room. All conversation came to a halt as four sets of eyes bore into her. With a calm she wasn’t feeling, Laurie closed the door behind her and crossed her arms.

  “Anyone care to explain to me why no one saw fit to tell me my mate had been attacked? Apparently multiple times?”

  She swept her gaze around the room, stopping for a moment on each face, pushing all her fury into her eyes. Ryan glanced away guiltily. Colin appeared amused. Tyler was stoic as ever. She narrowed her eyes at him. Did anything ruffle his feathers? Max sighed, but Laurie continued to glare at Tyler.

  “Come here, Laurie.” Max held out a hand to her, and as always, she was helpless to resist. He pulled her onto the bed.

  At first, Laurie resisted, reluctant to lower herself in front of these men. They might be Max’s family, but they weren’t hers. With her mate wounded and in danger, her wolf wanted to guard him and was disinclined to trust anyone.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured, rubbing his cheek over hers. The feel of his warmth, the faint smell of his skin under the scent of sickness and antiseptic soothed her as nothing else could have. She turned into him, cuddling into his embrace.

  “You can’t keep me in the dark.” She’d go insane worrying about him.

  “It’s too dangerous.”

  Laurie turned and snarled at Tyler. What right did he have to dictate to her?

  “I’m in this whether you choose to include me or not.”

  “She’s right.” Max rubbed her arm, his words soothing her as much as the touch. “I can feel her frustration. I’d be beyond pissed if she kept something like this from me.” He looked down at her in amused affection. “How much did you hear?”

  “Not enough.”

  “Where do we start?” Ryan asked.

  “The beginning is usually a good place.” She wanted to hear it all. If she was going to help him she needed to know what she was up against.

  “You’ll miss your flight.” Tyler again.

  She shot a glare in his direction. As if she’d go now. Samantha and the baby could wait. They weren’t going anywhere. Max took precedence.

  “Guess she’s not going,” Colin said with a chuckle.

  “I’m still waiting,” she grumbled.

  “When I was attacked…” Ryan began, and Laurie listened in growing distress as the story unfolded.

  *****

  “But why?” Laurie asked, absently swirling her fingers over Max’s hand and arm. She should take her cue from his family and let him rest, but neither woman nor wolf wanted to leave his side.

  “I’m more concerned with the who than the why.”

  She was silent, taking comfort from his touch. Warm. Alive. She’d come close to losing him. She hadn’t even realized how close.

  Not once, but three times. She swallowed against the fear rising in her throat. Shivers wracked her body at the thought. If he died, she’d more than mourn. More than grieve. Just thinking about it made her soul cry out in anguish.

  Her love for him lived and breathed within her. How had it taken her so long to see it? The bond between them pulsed in her mind. Solid. Real. If she lost him, she’d lose a piece of herself. Severing that bond would shred her soul.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered, pulling her closer. Once again sensing the direction of her thoughts.

  “You better not be.” Because she had a sinking fear she wouldn’t survive the fallout. “Max, have you implemented any controversial new policies lately? Made anyone angry?”

  “Honey, stop worrying about this right now.”

  “I can’t! Just stop and think. Why would someone go after you?”

  “You’re okay with honey?”

  Laurie struggled to connect his question with the topic.

  “Honey? As in eating it?”

  “As in the nickname.”

  “Not really.” She shook her head to clear her thoughts. He could call her horse manure for all she cared, as long as he focused. “Would you please concentrate on the issue?”

  “Figures.” He sighed. “Fine. I haven’t changed anything lately. Except you. But if it was someone wanting to become my queen, she’d be trying to off you, not me.”

  “I’m serious.” Laurie pinched him.

  “Ouch! So am I,” he said, ending with a small laugh.

  “Queen?”

  “It’s actually quite apropos. The Family is almost like royalty, with the dominant male members eligible to become Premier.”

  “Explain it to me again.” She remembered Max explaining the intricacies of the leap’s hierarchy during the car trip to New York, but too much had been happening for her to retain the details.

  “The Family holds the power in the leap. The Premier is chosen from the male offspring going back two generations, further if no dominant male is found.”

  “But isn’t Ryan older than you?”

  “Yes, but I’m more dominant. As is Tyler and Colin, for that matter. Ryan was out of the running as soon as Tyler was born. When I was born, I knocked Tyler out. And although Colin is dominant, he’s not as strong as Tyler or me.”

  “So the last Premier was your father?”

  “No, Leah and Amy’s father was last Premier, but he didn’t have any sons. Even if he did, unless they were stronger than the rest of us, the mantle would have passed to me.”

  Laurie rubbed her head, still not quite understanding the intricacies. Questions swarmed through her mind.

  “What if someone else in the pack is more dominant than any of you?”

  “That’s why it’s more of a royalty system. Dominance is only one factor. Unless he was a member of The Family, he wouldn’t be considered an option for Premier.”

  “So, no matter what, the next Premier will be our child or Ryan’s?”

  “Or Colin’s or Tyler’s. The selection pool goes back two generations. If we had any se
cond cousins when I was chosen, they would have been considered as well.”

  “Wait. What about Leah and Amy?”

  Max shook his head before she’d even finished. “The line passes down through the males. Females get taken out of the running.”

  That hardly seemed right. But, she supposed she could understand the Premier needing to be male. Unlike human kings and queens, a Premier needed to be strong enough to fight. Sure, she could hold her own in a fight, and considered herself a strong woman, but all three of her brothers would best her in a true battle of strengths.

  “But if they have male children?”

  “I never claimed it was a fair system. It’s just the way things have always been.”

  Laurie stared at the button on Max’s shirt. Traditions were good, but not when they impinged on others’ basic rights. If Laurie was indeed queen, that meant she had the power to change things, didn’t it? She’d work on fixing things from the inside.

  First, she had to make sure Max was around long enough to see the change. Another wave of fear swarmed her. She rode it out and waited for it to abate. No matter what, she’d keep him safe. Which meant figuring out who wanted him dead.

  So who had motive?

  “If you die, who becomes Premier?” If she understood his diatribe correctly, it would be Tyler, the least welcoming of the group.

  Max didn’t answer. Turning her head, she saw a hard edge to his expression.

  “It’s not a member of The Family.”

  “Max, I know they’re your cousins, but you have to at least suspect—”

  “No, I don’t.” His tone was sharp, cutting off any argument to the contrary.

  Laurie bit her tongue to hold back the string of condemnation. Unreasonable. They weren’t discussing who stole the silver, where a desire to believe in the bonds of family could be considered noble and loyal. They were talking about his life. Everyone was guilty until proven innocent. And Tyler was at the top of her suspect list.

  Max sighed, drawing her attention.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. But I know they’re not behind this.”

  “Why are you so certain?” Did he have information she didn’t? Know some secret? Because from everything she’d seen, it had to be someone close to him. Someone who knew where he was at any given time.

  “If someone attacked Jason, would you suspect Ethan or Danny?”

  The denial was instantaneous and deep. But Alpine Woods didn’t have the same structure the leap had. Her brothers were stronger as a team and ran the pack like a democracy.

  Still, he’d made his point. She understood his reluctance to point fingers at his cousins.

  Lucky for him, she had no such qualms.

  Chapter 14

  Two days later, Laurie clutched her pea coat around her and watched Tyler through her wide rimmed sunglasses. What was he doing? She crept closer as he looked at a magazine stand on the corner ahead of her. So far, he had walked in a four-block square around the apartment complex. Twice. Was he waiting for something to happen? Meeting an accomplice, perhaps?

  Of course. He couldn’t do everything by himself. It would look suspicious later if he had no alibis for any of the accidents. But who? Someone in the leap or someone else in The Family? Tyler crossed the street and she followed as the light blinked red.

  Shit! Laurie ducked into a flower booth on the corner as Tyler turned in her direction. Her heartbeat kicked frantically against her ribs. She breathed deep, trying to calm her nerves. She’d lost focus and gotten too close.

  Had he seen her? She peered between two buckets of colored roses. He stood a few yards away gazing at the store where she hid.

  Crap, crap, crap. She needed to be more careful if she wanted to remain undetected. Okay, so she’d never done anything like this before, but how hard could it be to spy on someone? TV shows never made it seem that difficult. Not that television was a good indicator of real life. Even so-called “reality” television was faker than plastic fruit.

  But she was a predator. Tracking should be second nature, even if she was on two feet instead of four.

  After what felt like hours, but was more likely a handful of seconds, Tyler turned away and continued walking. Laurie watched from her hiding place until he was almost lost in the crowd. Height, at least, was one thing in her favor. She could get lost in the crowd easier than he could.

  She sped up when he disappeared around a corner. Someone shoved her. She pushed back, hurrying forward. She couldn’t lose her target.

  Laurie turned the corner and froze. This street was less busy than the last, providing fewer hiding spots. But cover was the least of her concerns.

  Her gaze shot left and right, scanning the street. It passed over the few strangers walking past. Damn it! She was sure he’d turned down here. Where could he have gone?

  Laurie hurried forward, glancing into store windows as she passed.

  Nothing.

  As if he’d vanished into thin air, he was simply gone. Now what?

  “Looking for someone?”

  Laurie jumped as the words stirred the tendrils of hair curling around her ear. She spun around and met the unsmiling gaze of one of the grumpiest men she’d ever met.

  “Oh. Hi, Tyler.” Her voice sounded high and pitchy. Crap, crap, crap.

  He simply stared at her with his cold eyes.

  “O-kay.” She searched for something to say. “Funny running into you here.” There. That sounded casual and not at all suspicious, right?

  “Not really surprising, considering you’ve been following me.”

  Her laugh sounded fake and brittle. “What? Following you?”

  “Laurie,” he spoke as if to a child. “We’ve had someone following you since the poisoning, so even if I hadn’t spotted you a half hour ago, he would have informed me.”

  Following? Her? She turned and searched the street but nothing stuck out.

  “Moreover, you’re not very good at this.”

  She turned back and narrowed her eyes at Tyler.

  “Unlike you, our guard knows what he’s doing. You’d have never known if I hadn’t told you. Probably can’t even find him now.”

  Laurie pouted. No way would she admit that she couldn’t.

  “Mind telling me why you’re following me?”

  “Why are you following me?” she shot back. Why was he always so…formal?

  “Protecting Max. You are his weakness.”

  Pride stung, she bristled.

  “So you’re protecting me?”

  “No. I’m protecting him. Your turn?”

  She snorted. Yeah. Like that was going to happen. She wasn’t answering any of his questions. But he blocked her path when she tried to sweep past.

  “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” he stated without an ounce of emotion. No anger. No fear. Nothing.

  Laurie stiffened, drawing her head up and trying to look taller and more intimidating. Not that it helped much. Tyler still towered over her. But if he was after Max, she wouldn’t let him win. And if she was Max’s weakness, she wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  “What exactly is the hard way?” Protecting her and threatening her in the same conversation didn’t jive.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  A part of her wanted to test him. Curiosity burned inside her. Maybe she did want to know. But the wiser part of her advised caution.

  “Someone is after Max,” she said, letting her protective anger seep into her gaze.

  “Yes, I believe we’ve established that.”

  She crossed her arms at his cold tone, narrowing her eyes. Did he feel anything? Ever? “I think it’s you.” Blunt. And not intended. But the words had escaped before she could think better of them. Maybe she’d been desperate to see some emotion. Or maybe she was simply reacting to being cornered. She glanced around. There were still a few people wandering the street, and if she screamed someone would come running. He couldn’t hurt her with so many
witnesses. Right?

  A hint of a smile curled his lips. Laurie stared, shocked at the display. Did the tin man finally get a heart?

  “Do you, now.” Not a question, but Laurie found herself answering anyway.

  “I do.” The laughter coming from the main street made her bold. She wasn’t alone.

  “And you came to this conclusion because…”

  “If Max dies, you become Premier.” Max might have unwavering faith in his family, but she’d seen Hamlet and Mary Stuart. Knew the countless other stories throughout history of royalty killing each other off for a crown. Family meant little to those who craved power.

  Instead of the calculation she expected to see on Tyler’s face, she saw surprise.

  “And you followed me because…”

  Laurie shrugged. Okay. Maybe not her most well-thought-out plan. But the need to act had burned deep inside her chest. It wasn’t as if she expected to catch him twirling his handlebar mustache or cackling over a cauldron. But Max wouldn’t even hear her suspicions. She needed proof. Either of guilt or innocence. If following him had yielded nothing, her next stop would have been breaking into his apartment.

  “Does Max know what you’re doing?”

  “Why does everybody always ask me that?” She was a grown woman, for Christ’s sake. She didn’t need permission to do something rash and foolish. “He’s my mate, not my keeper.”

  “Maybe because you need a keeper.”

  Laurie scowled, but saw no antagonism on his face, and his words lacked the expected ire. He seemed almost amused by her.

  Laurie bit the inside of her lip. When he smiled, he lost some of the harshness in his features. Hell, he could almost pass for attractive. Almost.

  “So?” His question dragged her out of her musings.

  “So what?”

  “What does Max think of your Harriet the Spy act?”

  “Harriet the Spy? Couldn’t you at least give me Sherlock, or Sam Spade?”

  He merely raised an eyebrow. Fine.

  “He’s not thinking clearly on this.”

  “Ah, so you did discuss it. Yet, you followed me anyway.”

  “Max might be blinded by the idea of family, but I’m not.”