Rhylan

by Emilia Hartley

  “You, scared? She asked, voice slightly incredulous. “Of what?”

  Tom shook his head softly. “I’m sure you already know by now, but I’ll try to explain.” He ran a hand through his dark hair, breathing out a large sigh before continuing.

  “Look, I don’t… trust, easily. That was always more Nick’s forte. I was the big wrought-iron gate that kept people from getting to the super welcoming front door, if that makes any sense. So naturally, you could assume that ‘falling in love’ wasn’t something that I’d ever looked forward to.

  “And that was true, even after I met you. I can admit now that I’ve felt… things since the moment we met, but the idea of pursuing them or even acknowledging them, defaulted me to the one emotion I know I can count on most in my life.”

  “Distrust?” Savannah quipped softly.

  “Bingo,” Tom answered, flashing a quick grin. “You always hear that love is a distraction. Well I believed that.”

  “You don’t anymore?” Savannah asked, and she couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

  Tom shot her an apologetic look. “Oh, no, I still do.” He smiled a bit. “But now I wonder if a bit of distraction isn’t such a bad thing every once in a while?”

  Savannah’s heart nearly burst while listening to him. She still had so much doubt and so much fear, but she wanted to believe that maybe Tom’s hope was the first step they needed to grow what they had into something that could beat the hold Lucas had over her.

  Tom rubbed the back of his neck ruefully. “But I mean… it’s love. I don’t have the expertise that other men do when it comes to this stuff. How do I know I’m doing all the right things to express love?”

  Savannah grinned. “How many times will you say you love me before you let me kiss you?” she whispered. Tom’s eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn’t noticed he’d used the word once, let alone several times. In a bout of bold resolve, Savannah leaned forward and pressed her lips to Tom’s before he could say otherwise. A single tear slid down her cheek, but she wasn’t sad. For once in her life, something was going right. In this moment, only Tom was certain. She’d deal with Lucas and all the problems he brought with him later.

  “Savannah,” Tom breathed when she pulled back, looking deeply into her eyes. “Please don’t run away from me again.”

  “I won’t,” she promised as he gently brushed the tears from her cheek. “I won’t run ever again.”

  ***

  Savannah and Tom had allowed a bit of time to pass as they shared their alone time together in the woods, basking in the confession of love they’d been avoiding for weeks. A delicious shiver ran through Savannah’s body as she recalled curling herself in his embrace and thinking about being able to do so on a daily basis. Everything about the time they’d shared on the forest floor felt right. She’d do whatever it took to preserve the new life she’d choses to begin with Tom.

  “Savannah?”

  Turning in her chair, Savannah gave Jo a quick smile. “What’s up?”

  Jo grinned in return. “Nick and I have to make a quick trip just outside of town. We won’t be gone long.”

  “That’s no problem at all,” Savannah replied.

  Jo’s gaze shifted towards the back door, now left unlocked after Dan’s revealing. “Dan will still be here,” Jo continued. “But Tom’s around, too. If you want, we can lock the door before we go. We don’t think Dan’s would try anything, but I want you to feel safe.”

  “No, no, I’ll be fine,” Savannah assured. She needed to set aside time with him away from prying eyes. Jo really was too nice for her own good sometimes. “Now go, I don’t want to keep you.”

  “Okay, okay,” Jo minded, still glancing back reluctantly before the office door closed shut.

  Savannah let out a small breath as Jo loaded herself into a car with Nick and they took off down the street.

  She allowed herself a moment to collect her thoughts before standing. As she stepped back from the computer desk, the back room door swung open. “Are they gone?” Dan’s voice whispered.

  “Yeah, but Tom’s still in the garage,” Savannah replied quietly.

  They listened in silence to the muffled sounds of auto machinery and the tiny signal of some classic rock song playing in the garage. Dan nodded. “This is the closest to alone we’ll get.” He limped over and, without warning, threw a large cordial arm over Savannah’s shoulder.

  “Now can you tell me what the hell is going on?” he asked, pulling her into a strong hug.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Savannah tried not to stiffen in Dan’s embrace. The Northern Wind wasn’t keen on physical contact, and she wasn’t honestly all that close to Dan either, so the sudden contact surprised her. “It’s kind of a long story,” she began.

  Dan finally pulled away, eyes cautious. “I don’t think we have time for a long tale.” He grinned. “But you got out! That’s good, at least.” He looked around. “Only you though? Did Nick and Tom offer to protect you or something? Are anymore of the Northern Wind coming?”

  Savannah held up her hands. “Whoa, whoa. Calm down.” Savannah gave Dan a perplexed stare. The stoic second that she remembered was nearly as fearsome as Lucas himself. Tall and brutish and willing to follow any order with extreme prejudice. This new Dan that hugged and asked way too many questions was too different for her to process.

  “What’s gotten into you?” she asked, remembering at the last second that he was the ex-second of a cruel leader and that she might want to police her tone a bit better. “If you don’t mind answering,” she hastily tacked onto the end.

  Dan only looked confused. “Just happy to see another of the Northern Wind safe,” Dan answered simply.

  Savannah didn’t reply, and Dan’s eyes widened slightly in comprehension. “Oh. I know you’re probably not used to seeing me like… this.” He shrugged. “I’m just good at what I do. I become whatever my leader needs me to be. Lucas needed someone large and intimidating and built like a Mack truck to play shield behind. I needed a pack to belong in. So…” He let the sentence trail off.

  “And what are you now?” Savannah asked. “Is whatever you are right now—is it something that Nick or Tom needs?”

  Dan thought on her words a moment. After a bit of silence, he looked at her with revelation in his eyes. “No. They don’t need… anything, if I’m being honest. Maybe more men to stop Lucas, but nothing from me specifically. I’m being… just me, I guess.” He looked mildly confused. “I haven’t been free to do that in a while; I guess I can see why you’re so confused now,” he finished with a grin.

  Savannah smiled, thinking it was best not to point out that Dan just indirectly acknowledged Nick and Tom as his leaders. “Well then, it’s nice to meet the real you, Dan.”

  He flashed a real smile of his own. “Feels good to be back. So what’s new?”

  Savannah’s smile fell. “Well, the biggest news is pretty much everyone in the Northern Wind thinks you’re dead.”

  Dan frowned. “Is that what Lucas told them?”

  Savannah nodded. “Yeah. You must’ve been pretty bad for him to think you were done for.”

  Dan shrugged, his face falling. “It wasn’t a matter of whether I’d survive or not. The moment I failed, he just stopped caring. It’s how he’s always been. I likely wouldn’t be alive right now if Nick and Tom weren’t there to chase him off. He’d have time to finish off weak pack members himself.” Dan shuddered, but not like he was afraid. Savannah thought it was more like a shiver of succumbing, like the life he’d once live had been so normal, but looking back he couldn’t remember why or how. She felt exactly the same way.

  “Lucas doesn’t tolerate failure,” Dan finished with a haunted look in his eye.

  “That’s not refreshing to hear at all, considering I’m actively planning to fail it up, big time,” Savannah muttered.

  Dan’s eyes snapped to her, then to the garage door where Tom lay beyond, realization dawning on his face. “Wait, yo
u mean you’re not out?” He looked back to her, incredulously. “You’re a mole?” He hissed in a horrified tone.

  There was a sick feeling in Savannah’s stomach. It sounded infinitely worse when said out loud. “Yeah. Lucas sent me here to get them to trust me. I’m not sure what was supposed to come after that, but… I’m done. I want no part of Lucas’s plan to overthrow the alphas.” She shuddered. “But I’m not sure what this means for me. He surely won’t just set me free with a handshake and a hearty farewell.” She recalled the night at the lake with a sickening flip-flop of her belly.

  “Surely not,” Dan agreed. “I’ll offer what help I can. Even if that means helping the alphas beat Lucas back for a while longer.” He gazed imploringly at Savannah. “But we know just how bad the Northern Wind can be now. How bad Lucas can be. That’s no way for a pack to be run. We need to get as many bears out of there as possible.”

  Savannah swallowed hard. She didn’t really want to play the hero. She didn’t think she was cut out for it. Getting herself out so she could be with Tom with no fears of Lucas was her number one priority. “I don’t know, Dan.”

  “You know that pack, Savannah,” Dan tried to influence. “It grows a few bears a week. He recruits the beat down, the lonely, the young, and the ones who don’t know any better. He sells his sick brand of ownership with lies and half-truths. I can only imagine the lies you’ve caught him in since infiltrating the alphas.” He growled, low in his belly at the confirmation that Savannah couldn’t hide from her face. A lot of Lucas’s words did seem to hide truth when she got the full picture, right down to Dan’s death.

  Thinking back, she realized he’d never actually said Dan was killed. Flood did.

  “And the Northern Wind seems to grow all the more powerful for it,” Dan continued. “Eventually, he will gain enough bears to best Nick and Tom.” Savannah’s heart skipped a beat at the prediction. “Maybe not today, maybe not this month, but soon. Unless someone stops him.”

  “And this time, he’ll go for the kill, no hesitation. He has no wish to get them to join his pack anymore.” Dan bit his lip. “They’re good people, Savannah. Whether I stay or go, they don’t deserve the fight we brought to them.”

  A pang of guilt hit Savannah right in the gut. She knew without a shadow of doubt that Dan was right. Whatever retaliation Lucas brought upon Tom and Nick and Jo, it would be her fault, at least in part. She had to take responsibility. Now was not the time for cowardice.

  With a sigh, she breathed. “I’ll do what I can.”

  Dan smiled. “Good to hear it. And after,” his gaze slid towards the garage again, something contemplative in his gaze. “After we’ll figure out what to do with our lives for good.”

  Savannah didn’t tell him that she’d figured that out already, worried that the solidarity she felt with him as fellow ex-members of the Northern Wind might fade. Her entire body quaked at the very thought of disobeying Lucas and she was surprised she had the mental energy to entertain a rebellion at all. She needed this unity if she was going to go through with this.

  “I have a feeling, whatever we choose, we’ll both be a lot happier off for it,” Savannah opted to say.

  Dan glanced at her. “You think so?”

  She shrugged. “I think you’re happier already and you haven’t even made a decision yet.” Out loud, she finished mentally.

  Dan smiled, finally taking his attention away from the closed garage door. “Yeah? I guess so. You, too.”

  She grinned, knowing she had Tom to thank for that. Finally her path was clear. “Come on, Dan. There’s no Lucas anymore. Let’s just be honest with ourselves for once. I’m pretty sure we’re both staying with the alphas for much the same reason.” She grinned at the surprise on his face. “You haven’t been able to take your eyes off of the door where you know Tom has been working.” She shrugged. “And we’re kind of exploring something right now, too, so I want to see how that goes.”

  Dan stared at her, first in confusion, then slowly growing to epiphany. “You two mated.”

  Savannah scoffed, her heart skip-hopping in betrayal as the bear raised its head in interest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The last thing she needed was to worry about putting a label on her relationship with Tom. Plus, the thought terrified her.

  “I could smell that lie from a mile away, Savannah.” Dan looked worried. “Though you couldn’t have picked a worse time to—”

  “Don’t, Dan,” Savannah warned.

  “Hey, there’s no shame in—”

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she said, her bear’s ears pricking up.

  “Tom is more than a sufficient mate—”

  “Dan!” Savannah exclaimed. Her bear growled a warning at him and he held up his hands.

  “Okay, okay,” he placated, his gaze falling serious once more. “But m-word or not… you know we’re going to have to tell them about us, right? That is, if you’re really serious about staying.”

  Her stomach dropped, but she agreed. “I haven’t been more serious about anything in a good long while.”

  “And we’ll have to confront Lucas about our future,” Dan continued with a serious look. “Alone, without the alphas. The Northern Wind was our problem before we inadvertently requested the alphas’ safety. Whatever our future plans, it’s our responsibility to put them in motion. I won’t allow Nick and Tom to shoulder that burden as well.”

  Savannah’s body ran cold at the thought of being alone with Lucas again. “I’ll go if you’re there with me. Remember, there is no ‘we’. Lucas already gave you an out. I’m the one who’s not free.”

  Dan shrugged. “As long as Lucas keeps recruiting the vulnerable and impressionable, I won’t allow myself to be free either.” He winced. “Though we’ll have to wait a bit. I’m right on the cusp of being fully healed, but this leg has been through hell and back.” She watched him flex the muscle in his wide leg. “Another few days at the most.”

  The sound of whistling grew closer to the garage door, cutting the rest of Savannah and Dan’s conversation short. Savannah turned in a panic and began leafing through the stack of paperwork Jo had left for her.

  Tom swung open the garage entrance door, stopping short in the doorway, as he took in Dan and Savannah sitting semi close in the office alone. Savannah felt grotesquely guilty, despite not technically doing anything wrong in that moment.

  “What’s going on in here?” he asked, blatant suspicion in his voice.

  Savannah looked up from the papers, giving a quick smile as she feigned nonchalance. “Oh, nothing, really. Going through the work Jo set out for me today while she and Nick went out of town for something. Dan was just offering me a bit of chatter while I worked.”

  Tom narrowed his eyes, taking in the two of them. “So everything’s alright?”

  Savannah looked at him with innocent, round eyes. “Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t they be?” she replied without missing a beat. She wondered idly if she should be proud or disappointed in how easy it had gotten to tell the occasional white lie to the alphas.

  The sooner she could tell all, the better. She didn’t want to make a habit of this.

  Dan shrugged. “She was just telling me how much I’m missing out on since I still can’t shift yet.” He looked down at his stiff leg. “I’m definitely missing it. Is it all right if I take a walk—er, limp, rather—outside? That oughta help curb the craving some.”

  Tom shrugged. “Like I said earlier, you’re a free man, Dan. Do whatever you want.”

  Dan nodded, “Then I’ll see y’all in a bit.” With that he hobbled out the entrance, the door swinging closed loudly behind him.

  Savannah felt the tension in the room spike instantly, making her shiver inwardly. She didn’t understand; this didn’t happen when they were out in the forest; why did this uneasiness come back when she least wanted it to?

  When she turned to Tom, he was already staring at her. “Are you really okay?” he asked
softly.

  She swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. Everything’s fine,” she murmured as he trailed gentle fingers down the soft skin of her arm. Goosebumps followed in their wake, making her suppress another shudder. Just the slightest touch rendered her senseless. She opened her mouth to speak again, not really sure what to say, but needing to break the content before it accelerated, but Tom ran a thumb lightly over her lips.

  “How about I cook for us tonight?” he interrupted, his voice barely above a whisper. He leaned in, his lips a breath from hers. “You can say anything you need to there. Maybe stay a little later.”

  A delicious shiver ran through her as his lips trailed down her jaw and neck. She leaned back as he traveled to her collarbone, sighing in complete bliss. “I’d love that,” she breathed.

  “Great,” Tom growled in pleasure, nipping lightly at her collarbone and making her gasp. “I can’t wait.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tom paced the garage impatiently, the tinny signal on the radio playing so that he didn’t have to listen to the repetitive tap of his boots on the concrete as he eagerly awaited Savannah’s return to the shop that night. Equal parts terror and excitement sang in his veins, as well as a bit of doubt that he refused to acknowledge. If he was going to, for himself, be sure of anything tonight, it was that there was no turning back.

  “We’re heading out for the night.”

  “Right” Tom mumbled as Nick put on a light jacket, “See ya.”

  “Ask him about Dan!” came Jo’s disembodied voice from the office area as she called the suggestion loud enough for both brothers to hear.

  Nick grinned. “She’s right, you know? I bet you didn’t include him in your dinner plans.”

  He hadn’t. “Damn it.”

  Nick barked a laugh. “Don’t worry about it. We were planning on taking him off your hands for the night anyway, giving him a feel for the rest of our territory and maybe swaying him to our side.”