by Meg Ripley
But Nate wasn’t going to let it go that long. He snatched Audra by the arm and shook her. “What the fuck are you doing?”
A body was between them before she could blink. Scared and angry, Audra sensed Flint more than saw him as he threw himself at Nate. He broke her brother’s grip on her arm with a slam of his fist. Nate fell back for a moment in surprise, and Flint took advantage of him being thrown off-guard. He shoved his knee into Nate’s stomach and slammed his fist into his chin, knocking him on his ass. Flint pinned him to the floor, a pistol appearing in his hand. “Don’t you ever fucking touch her again,” he snarled.
Nate wasn’t ready to give up yet. He laughed as he looked around Flint toward Audra. “Is that what this is really all about? You’ve brought your boyfriend in here to kick me out and take over for himself? That’s pretty ambitious of you, Audra. I didn’t give you enough credit.”
Richard stepped up, his sharp teeth poking through his lips as he fought the urge to shift. “I suggest you and your rag tag group of strays get the hell out of here before things get ugly.” The others fanned out behind him; their fists curled.
“I’m not afraid of you or your goons,” Flint said to Nate, ignoring Richard. “What you’re doing is wrong, and you know it. This could get ugly, or we can make it easy.” He pressed the muzzle of the gun hard against Nate’s neck.
Nate’s eyes met Flint’s. “Fuck. You.”
What happened next was so quick, Audra could hardly keep track of it. Richard leapt forward, shifting in midair so that his wolf body slammed into the side of Flint, and the pistol went flying through the room. Another heavy body slammed into Audra and knocked her to the floor. She caught a glimpse of a tawny body flying through the room, followed by a second one as Hudson and Leona joined the fray.
Whoever had hit her hadn’t exactly been gentle, but it gave Audra just the motivation she needed to get this done. She was tired of worrying and wondering. She was tired of trying to make the right decisions, and right now, there was no choice. She gathered herself and launched to her feet. She shifted, feeling her muscles stretch and her bones crack as she became who she truly was. Even with everything else happening, this, at least, she knew was right. She was a wolf, and she would fight for the safety of her pack.
Her claws scrabbled on the hardwood floor as she fought to gain traction. Richard, Nate, and Flint were thoroughly entangled in a mix of light and dark fur as they snapped and bit at each other. Hudson was fighting at the side of his brother-in-arms, his teeth and claws flying as his roar filled the room. Leona was tackling Chris and Ryan and holding them decently at bay, her muscles sleek under her coat of golden fur. The continuing track of Nate and Richard conversing played as a backdrop to it all. Jeremy and Nick were nowhere to be seen.
Audra went to Leona’s side. She barely knew the woman, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let her die for this cause. Audra bowled Chris backwards into the sliding glass doors that led to the back deck and then turned on Ryan, her teeth searching for purchase on his throat. Leona already had her claws in his back, and his whine signified his capitulation.
Chris had hit his head hard on the glass door, and for a moment, Leona thought they had him, too. But he shook himself and came charging back toward the unlikely pair of she-wolf and lioness. His bark assaulted her ears, but Audra wouldn’t be intimidated. She and Leona leapt as one, and the three of them collided in the air. She felt the heat of his blood in her mouth as she sank her teeth into his flesh. She pulled back while pushing with her paws, ripping into his skin and creating the most damage possible. A howl emanated from his throat, followed by a short yip. He was done, and if he was lucky, he would live to tell them how sorry he was.
Audra whirled. Richard was a bigger wolf than the other men had been, and more of a challenge, but Hudson seemed to have him in hand. Deep scratches crossed the lycan’s face, scarlet blood dripping down to the floor. He still fought back, his head swiveling from side to side as he targeted Hudson’s hide, but he was slowing down. A bite landed uselessly in the lion’s mane where it couldn’t hurt the soldier at all.
And then there were Flint and Nate. Fur flew through the air as they continued to fight, with first Nate seeming to be on top and then Flint. They were evenly matched, and Audra felt her heart break at the scene. She knew Nate was bad news, but that was still her brother, after all.
She hesitated as she tried to gauge a good moment to get into the melee, but a heavy paw landed on her chest and pushed her backward. Audra looked into Leona’s amber eyes. The feline lifted her chin toward the front door.
Jeremy and Nick had disappeared, but now they came rushing back into the room with numerous other pack members at their backs. They crowded into the living room, and Audra was caught off-guard at how quickly they’d all been summoned. They glanced uncertainly at the two lions, who were obviously a surprise to find in their clubhouse. She glanced at the two wolves still fighting, noting with some small triumph that Flint was back on top again. That wouldn’t mean much, though, if Jeremy and Nick had brought the other members there as backup.
“Stop!” Jeremy called, holding his arms out in an effort to cease the madness in the room. Audra watched him carefully, waiting to see just what he intended. He strode across the living room to the two wolves still snarling and growling at each other. “I think everyone deserves a chance to hear this evidence that Audra has brought us.”
The room quieted except for the track that was still playing. Hudson shoved Richard aside dismissively, changing his shape back to that of a man as he crossed the room toward the laptop. Leona, too, returned to her human form, though she watched the pack of wolves carefully.
Jeremy addressed Flint. “Let him up.”
Flint’s lips quivered as he let out another low growl, his teeth still poised at Nate’s throat.
“I said, let him up!” Jeremy repeated. “We’re going to take care of this.”
Reluctantly, Flint let him go. Like the others were beginning to do, he pulled himself up onto two feet. Audra did the same, feeling his presence as he came to stand beside her. She longed to turn around and look into his eyes, to ask him if he was all right, to feel the way she fit into his arms once again. But she stood there with her hands on her hips, keeping her focus on Jeremy.
He signaled for Hudson to turn the recording off, and the lion did so. Jeremy turned around to look at the rest of the pack members. “There’s a lot I don’t understand about all this,” he admitted, “but there’s definitely something wrong within our ranks. Fighting isn’t going to fix it. That’s only going to make us lose more people.”
“The only thing wrong,” Nate gasped as he got up off the floor, “is these assholes marching in here, accusing me and attacking me. I guess we know who’s really been behind all this violence now, don’t we?” He wiped a streak of blood off the side of his face as he glared at the members of the SOS Force. “They’ve even managed to get my sister involved, taking advantage of her while she’s in an emotional state.”
Nate was getting awfully good at piquing her ire. “No one has taken advantage of me,” she bit off, “except for you. You sent me out to spy on Flint, but he’s the only one who was trying to put a stop to all this craziness in the first place.”
Jeremy and Nick were side by side in front of Nate. “I suggest you surrender right now and put yourself in our custody while we discuss this,” Nick said firmly. “Everyone’s heard it now, and there’s no way we’re letting you continue this.”
Nate gave Audra and Flint one final glare. “Fine. You do whatever the fuck you want to with the clan. See if I care.” He pushed his way toward the door, but the rest of the pack stopped him. Men and women alike stood their ground in front of their Alpha, wanting to get down to the bottom of this.
It was a triumph, Audra knew, but it was one she wished wasn’t necessary.
13
Flint had nearly gotten everything packed away into his Jeep. The mission was over, and i
t was time to head back home. He had a life and a job in D.C., and he’d only come out there because he was the wolf on the team and they needed him. At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself.
But as he slung his rolled-up sleeping bag over his shoulder and took in the peace and quiet of the woods around him, he knew that wasn’t completely true. Or at least it had only been true at first. He’d come out there to investigate the pack because it was the right thing to do and he had a strong sense of duty, but he never imagined he’d find so much that would make him want to stay. The mountains called to him, as though this was some ancestral home he’d known in another lifetime. His wolf wanted desperately to run through the valleys and over the cliffs, to feel the dirt under his paws, to howl at that crystal-clear sky at night. It was more than he ever could’ve imagined, and he hadn’t missed his life on the East Coast one bit since he’d arrived.
But there was no true place for him there. Whatever happened with this pack or any of the other wolves in the area, they wouldn’t accept some loner like him.
A car door slammed at the end of the pathway. Flint automatically tensed, but he knew from the soft footsteps who it was before she emerged from the trees. Her wide blue eyes, not diminished in the least by the bright blue sky overhead, made his heart lurch toward her, even though his feet remained frozen to the ground.
“I thought I’d find you here,” she said as she walked up. “Looks like you’ve got everything taken care of. I thought I’d offer my help, if you needed it.”
He looked back over the little clearing that had been such a perfect campsite. The fire pit was cold and gray, but a mere glance at it reminded him of the moments they’d spent together around it. There was the intimacy of their lovemaking, naked under the stars, and the humor of him trying to feed her with a spoon when she was tied up. It hadn’t exactly been a fairytale romance, but he wouldn’t have taken any of it back.
“No, I’ve gotten pretty efficient over the years. How are things working out with your pack? I imagine you’re the new Alpha by now.” Flint could easily see her in the position, holding her son by the hand while she bossed around the grown men in a motherly tone that they all respected.
But she shook her head, sending that glossy black hair in a cascade over her shoulders. “No. Jeremy will be inducted tonight.”
He put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes, wondering what he’d missed. “I was sure you’d be a shoo-in. You’ve been a member your whole life, and they respect you. Besides, it seems only right that the person who saved the pack be elected as the new Alpha.”
“I could’ve had the position if I’d really wanted it,” she said, coming a little closer and tipping her head to the side in thought. “I wasn’t sure it was the right job for me. Actually, I’m not sure that even pack life is right for me.”
“No?” She’d been dedicated enough to the pack before that it was hard for him to imagine her without it.
“No, and I wasn’t the one who saved them,” she corrected. She was less than a foot in front of him now, and it was hard not to reach out and grab her by the waist, to pull her forward just to feel her body against his one last time. “I finally came to my senses and helped someone who was able to see the bigger picture much better than I was.”
He raked his fingers over the back of his neck. “I don’t know about that. I was just doing my job. If all those reports hadn’t been called in to headquarters, I never would’ve been here.” And he never would’ve felt the pull of his body toward hers. No, more than that. Souls? He didn’t know how it actually worked, but now that he’d felt it, he didn’t like the thought of never experiencing it again.
“For whatever reason, I wanted to be sure to thank you.” Audra smiled up at him, and in that moment, Flint thought he might explode. It wasn’t just this place that he wanted to belong to. It was her. “And I also wanted to apologize to you. It was easier for me to believe that you were the bad guy, but I should’ve believed you in the first place. I was stubborn and angry. I’m sorry.”
Flint reached out, daring to touch her cheek with the back of his hand. She closed her eyes slowly, clutching her lashes against her cheek before she opened them again. “You don’t need to be sorry, Audra. I’m the one who barged into your life and turned everything on its head. Hell, I even tied you up. I just had to find a way to make you stay with me until I figured it out, but I’m sorry.”
“Sorry enough to stay?” she asked tentatively.
He easily remembered the touch of his tongue against hers and the way she made his wolf feel as if they were the only two creatures left on Earth. But he also remembered that she had her own life to live, and that didn’t involve him. Still, the idea nearly took his breath away. “Would you actually want me to?”
She blushed, a pretty shade of rose across her cheeks. “Well, I was thinking that if you were interested, then maybe I—” Audra cut off her words as she turned around. “I told you to stay in the car, young man.”
Randy came bursting from the trail into the clearing. He was young, but his inner wolf was already evident in the wild look on his face as he took in his surroundings. When his eyes landed on Flint, he looked desperate. “Mommy said you’re leaving!” he accused.
As if Flint’s heart was broken enough already. “I have to. My work here is done.”
“But I want you to stay with me.” Randy wrapped his arms around Flint’s leg, and then for good measure, wrapped his legs around him, too. “Grandma just bought me a whole new set of Army men. I need you to help me figure out who the good guys and bad guys are, and then we’ve got to take them all down.”
Flint looked down into those bright eyes as he tousled Randy’s hair. “You don’t think you can figure that out yourself?”
Randy lifted his chin in the air and shook his head. It was the same stubborn look Flint had seen on Audra’s face, and it was impossible to resist. “No way.”
Audra had bitten her lip to keep herself from laughing. In a mockery of what he’d said to her when he’d first brought her to the campsite, she said, “He’s very capable of making you stay until you decide to listen to him.”
“The two of you are teaming up on me. I see how it is.” He looked from one to the other, unsure of how he could possibly live half a continent away from them.
“And?”
Still with Randy wrapped around his leg, Flint grabbed Audra by the hip and pulled her close. His lips brushed hers as he spoke. “I’ll stay.”
14
Audra heard the rumble of a vehicle making its way up the steep drive. “Randy! Grandma and Grandpa are here!”
The boy came rushing down the stairs from the loft of the big log cabin, his footsteps thundering across the hardwood as he raced onto the porch. “I can see their truck!” he called through the window.
“I’m coming,” she said with a laugh as she abandoned the biscuit dough on the counter and went out after him. Just as she could see the excitement in her face, she felt it in her own heart. She loved her parents, and there was nothing better than having them come up to see the place she and Flint had finally settled on.
“Woo, that’s one steep driveway!” her father gasped as he hopped down from the driver’s seat and slapped his baseball cap against his knee before putting it on his head. “You’re gonna have a hell of a time come winter!”
“Oh, but it’s lovely!” Jeanine had scooped Randy up into her arms and was standing in front of the truck in awe as she stared at the house. “Look at all those windows!”
They’d been spending the past week moving in, but Audra turned around to enjoy the view for herself. The gabled front of the log cabin was almost completely glass from floor to ceiling, which allowed so much natural light into the home that she knew she’d never feel cooped up, even in the worst snowstorm. “You should see the sunset through it,” Audra replied, feeling a whole new thrill at this house. “Come on in. I’ve just about got dinner ready.”
“Where’s
your man?” Mr. Larson asked. “I’ve got some tips for him about that driveway.”
Audra laughed. Her parents hadn’t been completely sure about Flint at first, especially since he was the main factor in the coup that had overthrown their son, but they were reasonable people. As they’d spent more time with him, they were liking him more and more. “He’s chopping some firewood, but he’ll be in shortly.”
She brought them into the house, thoroughly enjoying the pleased gasps from her mother when she saw the vaulted ceiling, the exposed wood walls, and the open floor plan.
“This is just to die for, honey.” Mrs. Larson looked like she could cry. “If someone were to have shown me a picture of this home, I would instantly think of you.”
“We were lucky to find it,” Audra admitted. “Most of the places on the market were too close to town. We wanted to be in the middle of nowhere while still being close to the pack house.” She smiled to herself as she realized she’d not only found the perfect middle ground for their home, but also for her pack life. Jeremy was fully in charge of everything now, and Audra enjoyed still being somewhat involved. But instead of focusing on the day-to-day running of the organization, she could focus on her life with Flint and Randy.
“Come and see my room!” Randy took his grandmother’s hand and pulled her up the stairs.
Mr. Larson took the liberty of sitting down on a barstool. He gave Audra a serious look. “I heard back from the conclave today.”
“You did?” Her heart shifted inside her chest. Nate had been detained until the conclave could organize an official trial and decide what to do with him.
He pressed his lips together and nodded. “They’re excommunicating him. He’ll be taken off to Idaho, where the conclave has placed several other shifters that have been disbarred.”