by Claire Ryann
Rek always worried that the pack's insistence on naming Day the new alpha had been a hasty one. Day was a good leader. He had been instrumental in bringing humanity to the pack, moving them forward in the modern age while careful to respect the elders who clung to older ways and find a balance between the generations.
However, an unmated Alpha was always a bad idea. Rek had been surprised that the elders had overlooked that when promoting Daelan.
Rek had no idea what his friend was going through at this moment, remaining unmated himself, but it had been painfully clear at the meeting yesterday that his friend was on some thin ice and there had been no time to discuss it privately.
Daelan threw himself against the bars one more time, hitting the iron with a grunt and shaking them as if he could break them apart. Then his wolf was out again, retreating to the far corner with a raised lip. But he was still.
"I sent Mingan and the kid after your mate," he said.
The white wolf in the cell barked.
"They will bring her back to the den and we will decide from there."
"Traitor," Daelan shifted and stood, his eyes narrow and silver, "I never thought I would have to protect my mate from you."
Rek heaved an uncomfortable sigh and cast a glance at the steel door, "You don't."
"Liar!" Daelan approached the bars again and glowered at his usurper, "If you sent them to bring her here, you are signing her death warrant."
"Daelan," Rek dared to move within striking distance of the man behind the gate. He lowered his voice and hissed, "I cannot protect her if she is not here." He expected Daelan to reach for him, to attack him, but he only seethed.
Rek straightened and stepped back, "Ruelle and the boys will make she gets back safely."
"RUELLE?!" Daelan rattled the thick bars, which was hard to do. They had built them to hold the worst of their kind. They should have kept even a rabid polar bear locked tight. Rek wasn't sure if he should be impressed or terrified that Daelan had managed to move them in their moorings, "You know how he feels about humans, why would you trust him to keep her safe?"
Daelan slapped his hands against the bars and began pacing, "They want her dead. Like she's committed some unforgivable crime against us. Against the pack. Just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong fucking time and a stupid wolf happened across her front yard." His voice had risen to a fever pitch. He kicked a chair to emphasize his frustration and the thing exploded into splinters.
"It's not her fault. It's not her fault that she doesn't get to choose. She shouldn't be punished for something that was out of her control."
Rek's heart was breaking for his friend. The man was clearly losing his mind with worry for his mate, not to mention the emotional struggle of being caught between his people and his love.
An unmated Alpha meant no one under him had taken a mate either. It was one of the ways the pack remained traditional-- and much like their animal brethren. The Alpha mated first.
Which left Rek and the pack mates of his generation at a loss. None of the younger men knew what it felt like to have a mate.
Sex? Sure. A species that came of age by 25 and often didn't mate till they were over a hundred tended to get around in between. But mate? They only had the mated adults to learn from, and the legends and stories that had been told for thousands of years.
Fate and the Great Mother meddling in their lives to bring them together with the one person who was best suited to them. Bringing them together at just the right moment. Blah blah blah.
Rek had heard it a million times. He had the same expectations and assumptions of what it would be like that every other unmated male in the pack had, but the possibility that any of them would mate a human had never crossed his mind.
"Day," he dropped his voice low, "you need to stay rational right now. I've got a lot of people out there waiting on my decision and you acting rabid isn't helping you or your mate."
"You've already led the mutiny, Rek, why bother coming here and pretending that I can still do anything to save her? What am I supposed to do? Just hand her over and let San and his toadies chase her into the woods just to hunt her like she was a rabbit?"
Daelan came back to the gate, his eyes pleading, "You don't know what you're doing, Rek. You don't know what this feels like." Daelan's wolf surged close but he fought it back so he could continue speaking, "She's everything, Rek. I don't just want her, I need her. I need her at my side, I need her in my bed and at my table and filled my pups. And I need her to be safe and well. If I fail at protecting her my life loses purpose."
On any other day, under any other circumstance, Rek would have laughed at his friend and chided him for being melodramatic. But on this day, in this moment, he saw the pain in Daelan's eyes and it was like a spear through his heart.
What was it like to feel so fully for someone?
Rek couldn't think of that right now. He had to figure out how he was going to keep his best friend from getting himself torn to shreds by his own people. With luck, he'd also manage to save Day's mate and get him restored as Alpha.
Rek glared at Daelan without giving away his thoughts. "Rational, Day. I need to you be rational."
He turned and knocked against the outer door and headed back up to the surface, lost in his thoughts.
One miracle at time, he told himself.
21
"Day's gonna skin you," Mingan said as he checked the damage to the rear bumper of the truck.
"Day ain't gonna care," the Kid shrugged as he slammed the driver's side door and came around to inspect the damage, "he's got way bigger problems than a little scratch on his truck."
Ruelle pulled Haley along with the group as they turned and headed up to the doors at the front of a very large lodge.
It was a lot worse than "just a little scratch" she noticed as Ruelle led her away from the truck. His huge hand wrapped all the way around her upper arm, his grip less than gentle and she was pretty sure she'd have bruises by morning.
Her knee hurt like hell. Whacking it on the frame of the truck when she'd thought she was bravely making a mean getaway had angered the injury that was only a few days old.
Ruelle didn't have much patience for her limping though, so she gritted her teeth through the pain and worked to keep up rather than get dragged along behind him. Because she had no doubt in her mind that he'd do exactly that.
Her questions about Daelan still hadn't been answered but it seemed pretty obvious that his meeting hadn't gone well.
Haley's heart thumped.
They wouldn't tell her where he was. They weren't telling her jack shit.
She could only speculate about what was going to happen to her, but before she could worry about that, she had to know if her mate was all right.
***
Ruelle pushed her in front of him and the other two men followed behind as they started down a long hall way. It felt weird being inside the big lodge. From the outside it looked like the Yosemite Lodge or maybe the Grand California Hotel at Disneyland.
Haley had counted 4 stories when they'd driven up. It stretched out on both sides of the main entrance doors in a series of windows that took longer to count than Haley had time for. So she'd expected the big open foyer with the sweeping stair cases and grand hall just beyond but now they were headed down a long hall way that made the building feel like it was bigger on the inside than on the outside.
Rooms ran off the sides of the hallway, some open, some not. It looked like a lot of offices and media rooms. Kids playing video games in one, someone playing the piano in another. Despite it's grandiose stature, it felt like cozy like it was someone's house.
Ruelle steered her around a corner and the hall became quieter with fewer open doors. Up ahead of them, a man turned a corner and headed toward them.
He was another huge guy. Haley was starting to wonder if any of the wolves were less than 6'5". This guy was bigger than Daelan. Probably 3 inches taller, with a little more bulk to him.
His hair was short and black, his jaw set squarely, his eyes staring ahead but not seeing. He looked like he was stressed out and maybe like he was looking for something to punch.
The big man ahead of her stopped just short of walking into her, his eyes suddenly seeing her and the men behind her.
"You must be Haley," his voice was tight and formal.
She nodded dumbly. She felt like she knew him already from Daelan's description. This was Rek. He had talked about his right hand man and best friend so fondly. It had been obvious that Daelan had a lot of respect for him as his beta and love for him as his friend.
Rek did not look happy to see her.
"Where's Daelan?" she asked boldly. Rek was second in command and Daelan's best friend, she figure he had to be on her side.
He looked at her without speaking, his nostrils flaring and his lip curling. Without acknowledging her question, he looked over her head at Ruelle.
Rek's head shook from side to side, indicating that whatever Ruelle's plan had been, it was being changed.
"Somewhere else," he said, "Somewhere safe--" he looked down at her with hard eyes and frowned, "for now."
Then he moved past them and continued down the hall, grabbing the young kid by the arm and taking him with him as he left.
Ruelle growled and grabbed her arm again, spinning her around and shoving her back up the hall the way they'd come.
"Fuckin just let us get on with it already," he muttered under his breath toward Mingan.
Mingan didn't seem totally on board with his buddy. Haley noted he agreed about getting on with it, he just sounded like he was talking about a different "it."
***
Ruelle left as soon as he shoved her in the room, grumbling under his breath. That left her alone with Mingan.
"Why won't anyone tell me where Daelan is?"
She was pretty sure she was not here as a guest. It seemed pretty clear that Ruelle would have been just as happy to kill her on the spot than drive across a mountain range just to lock her in a rather nicely appointed room.
It was like a small apartment, actually. With a separate bedroom, a private bathroom, and tiny kitchenette complete with a 2-burner stove.
On the wall opposite the door was a big window with a nice view of the woods behind the lodge. Which meant that they were on the far end of the east wing beyond where the wall of rock swallowed the huge building.
Looking out the window, she could see the back of the building and the way the lodge was built up against the mountain, except now she understood that the building actually continued into the rock.
Mingan stood across the room next to the door that led back into the hall. He shuffled uncomfortably from foot to foot and pretended like he hadn't heard her.
Haley considered the man carefully. He was every bit as tall as all the other werewolves she'd seen so far. Probably somewhere in the vicinity of 6'6", and clearly built on a solid frame. He wore the most clothes she'd seen on anyone so far too, an actual jacket over a shirt and jeans with a generous cut that didn't do much to show off his body. She couldn't be sure if he was jacked like Ruelle or if he might be carrying a little extra weight.
Didn't matter much either way, he was cute but totally not her type, and even if some of his bulk was just extra padding for the winter he was huge and getting past him was likely to be every bit as easy as trying to walk through the rock face of the mountain.
He did look like a pretty nice guy though.
His face had a pleasant fullness to it, even though most of it was covered in a thick, wavy beard a shade darker than the strawberry blonde waves that lay neatly trimmed close to his head. He had boyish look to him that made him look like he could be really sweet when he wanted.
He didn't seem to want to be sweet at the moment.
"Why won't anyone answer me?" She screamed at him, pounding a fist on the windowsill before hurtling herself across the room and throwing the same fist against Mingan's chest.
Nope. Not extra padding. That chest was just as hard as all the others.
Mingan's hands were lightning fast as he snatched her wrists in his grip and held her at a slight distance in front of him.
"Look, I get that you're really freaked out and all, but there's no need to hit me." His voice was level and smooth, "I haven't done anything to deserve you beating on me."
Haley's eyebrows shot up as she her mouth dropped open in disbelief, "Seriously?" she asked, "Seriously?" her voice shot up an octave. "You kidnapped me from my home and you won't tell me what the fuck is going on and you think I'm acting inappropriately?"
Mingan pushed her another few inches away from him and carefully let go of her hands, clearly ready to snatch them back up if he needed to.
"Are you going to tell me where Daelan is?" Haley squinted at him, "Or do I have to go find him myself?"
Mingan chuckled, "it's a pretty big house, ma'am, and I'm not supposed to let you leave the room."
"So could you please tell me what's going on?"
Mingan squirmed, "I'm not sure."
It wasn't the answer she was looking for but it was pretty clear that it was the truth. Whatever was happening, this place was in chaos. She felt like she'd been dragged into a military coup.
"I take it Daelan's news didn't go over so good."
Her shoulders slumped as she turned around and went back to the window.
"Not really."
She hadn't expected Mingan to respond, so the mournful tone of his voice caught her off guard. It also gave her hope. He didn't sound like he was with the new regime.
"...So now Rek's in charge." Mingan had been trying to explain the mess she was in for the last hour. Actually, not the mess that she was in. He'd avoided answering her every time she asked what the pack wanted to do about her, but he'd opened up about Daelan's predicament.
"So Rek betrayed Daelan?" Haley was incredulous. After listening to Daelan tell her all the stories of their friendship through over a hundred years of growing up together it didn't seem possible. Rek was his best friend, his go-to guy, his Boy Wonder, his Spock. Rek was the guy who had always had Daelan's back.
Haley had been so sure that between Daelan's alpha status and Rek's unflagging support that they would have been able to control any possible dissent among the troops.
She had really believed it was going to be OK.
Mingan shrugged helplessly, "Things are kind of a mess," he said morosely.
"So what happens now?"
Mingan stared out the window, avoiding eye contact with her, "Not sure yet. Rek's always been hard to read. I don't know if he took over to save Day..." his throat worked in a hard swallow and he dropped his eyes to his hands resting on the tabletop, "or to save himself."
Haley was pretty sure Mingan didn't mean "save" like saving face, or saving their jobs, something in Mingan's voice reminded her she was among wolves. She was pretty sure he meant "save" as in their lives.
22
"We got a problem."
Daelan sat on the far side of the cell and eyed Rek levelly without words.
Rek looked rough. Looked like he hadn't slept in 2 days and, as he unlocked and pulled open the barred gate that closed off Daelan's cell from the outer corridor behind the sound proof metal door that locked off this section of the sub-basement from the rest of the main house, he looked a little out of control.
Daelan's wolf perked up on alert. Rek was rarely out of control.
"Your mate got out," Rek blurted.
"Out?" The fight had gone out of Daelan, he had been in a Zen-like state of waiting for the last several hours. Now he started at his former friend with distrust. Everything he thought he knew about the man had turned inside-out. This could be a trap.
"Out!" Rek's voice reverberated off the walls. He was clearly agitated.
Daelan could smell the rising fear in Rek's scent. It was a dead giveaway. This was no clever strategy, this was Rek's plan-- whatever it had been-- going sideways. Daelan jumped
to his feet and rushed toward the open door.
"Wait," Rek caught him by his shoulder as he ran by, "there's more."
Daelan's muscles were tight with tension. It was taking everything he had to stand still and focus on what Rek was saying next.
Haley had escaped. The pack had grossly underestimated her, naively thinking that a chunky human female lacked the capacity and the nerve to crawl out of a second story window in the dead of the night to face the wilderness alone in winter.
Daelan couldn't help feeling a surge of pride in his mate for her tenacity. He was also consumed by gnawing dread.
"Daelan," Rek's voice was measured and formal. Daelan steeled himself, Rek never used his full name, “Some of the council members had a meeting last night. In secret. Without me."
"That a violation of pack law!" Daelan's anger breached the limits of his self-control. He had to get moving before he lost his wolf to madness.
Rek was nodding, "and we will deal with them but right now we have a bigger problem."
Daelan was already out of the gate and at the big metal door. Something in Rek's voice stopped him cold and he turned to look back.
"They've sent party after her. A hunting party."
Ice pushed the blood from Daelan's veins. The room spun for a moment around him. Then the white wolf was charging up the stairs to the main levels.
***
The lodge had been unusually empty, making his escape easier than he'd expected. Daelan's wolf burst through one of the back doors off of the main kitchen, into the woods behind the big house. Most everyone he'd seen had stepped back and let him go, only one person tried to stop him and he had left him lying in the hall clutching the bloody stump where Daelan's wolf had severed his hand.
Hunting his mate like prey in the woods would not end well for the contingent of pack members who had instigated this. Daelan knew he was signing his own death warrant. This would be his last act as a member of the pack, and likely his last act in life. He knew his hunters well, he had no doubt that they would succeed in their mission, which meant he couldn't save Haley. But he was sure as hell going to make sure that no one could save the ones who hunted her.