by Rhea Regale
“I have another pad,” Micah murmured. He flipped open the tool box and pulled out a rolled bed pad. When Kasa moved to help him, he issued the softest smile he knew and eased her back on her rear. “I’ll get it for you. Just relax. I’m sure your night’s been far more taxing than a simple trot in the woods.” With a lighthearted chuckle, despite the heaviness in his gut, he added, “We probably triggered much of your anguish.”
“Micah.”
The throaty tinge to her voice was electricity against the wires of his nerves, bringing him to pause. His fingers curled into the foam. Questions rumbled through his mind. God, that voice nearly whispering his name could unravel him in a blink.
Moistening his suddenly dry lips, he unrolled the pad and lined it up alongside his. He pulled another wool blanket from the box along with two small pillows and fixed up a comfortable bed.
Kasa nodded as he sat back. “Thanks.”
“I’m sure you’ll be hoppin’ out of the bed soon enough. The night’s not conducive for camping without heat.” He patted the area beside him. “Settle in, precious.” I’ll keep you warm.
Kasa crawled up to the new pad as he settled back on his. Tucking an arm beneath his head, he noticed she hesitated. A small furrow etched into her brow.
“Would you…I mean, can I…” Her eyes lingered along his chest. Micah couldn’t help but smile at the cute way she nibbled her lower lip. He spread his arm out.
“Come here.”
Kasa lowered into the side of his body. He tugged her close. This was where she belonged. Snug against him, the silk of her hair caressing his arm. The sweet, lovely scent of white wolf filling his nostrils. Her fingers spread over his chest and her head came to rest over his heart. Did she notice the unsteady beat it held? A waver in his usual composure?
“What happened earlier, Micah. It really wasn’t your fault. Jordan convinced me it was safe to speak about what happened to me a few months ago, so I told Slade.” Another sting to his pride. His brother knew her secret before him. He did everything to swallow back the tension that threatened to bubble up from his gut. Two of her fingers played with a button on his shirt. “I’ve tried to forget, but there are times the memories are triggered. When your…the feel of your teeth on my wrist…well, it reminded me.”
That was it? Such a simple, rather arousing, motion triggered her panic?
He lifted his head and glanced down at her. She lay with her head tilted too far down for him to see her expression.
“What happened to you?” Micah urged quietly.
“I was dating someone a few months back. He was the first guy Jordan actually approved of in my line of eligible boyfriends. The man’s name was Tom Hardy, and he belonged to a small pack that held grounds just beyond the Washington border into Oregon.”
“But your brother was aware you were appointed mates,” Micah said. He glanced up the shadow-shrouded hill. A dim light flickered in Jordan’s cabin at the crest, obscured by thick trees. That bastard allowed his woman to frolic around with other men? “Why the hell would he—”
“It’s done, Micah, but it explains Tom’s vague detachment from me, even if he showered me in affections,” Kasa said. Her words held a wisp of clarification that did little to settle the jealousy stirring in his soul. Having her now, in his arms, he didn’t want to imagine her bed-mussed by another man. Except for Slade. “Regardless, we had been dating for roughly two months when he disappeared. Jordan insisted that he would be back. He probably had to settle some small territorial dispute back home. But even I could tell he was as curious as I about Tom’s abrupt leave.
“We tried to learn of his whereabouts through our connections with other packs. No one heard of him, knew of him, or had seen him. One of my brother’s pack mates had a friend who had connections with Tom’s pack and learned that he never returned home.
“Three weeks later, Tom reappeared. Jordan was furious. I was hurt. I ignored him until he was at my door, groveling for my forgiveness. He brought me gifts every day for a week straight. He wrote me long notes of apology, spilling open his heart. In the end, I gave him a second chance.”
Micah’s teeth clenched hard. A dull pain started thudding in his temple. Jealously was a nasty fuck, one he never cared much for. But his jealously tangled with his need to protect, and here he lay, listening to a story from the past, knowing the outcome would leave him helpless.
Just like with Reiny.
“His apology wasn’t genuine, I’m assuming,” Micah said. The raspy bite in his tone had Kasa turning to look up at him. The pain in her eyes twisted his heart. Tears shimmered along her lashes. He reached up and wiped them away with his thumb. “Sorry. I’m a jealous bastard.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know you all the same.” He inclined his chin. “Go on.”
“Something happened to Tom when he was away. Something that made the wolf in his spirit snap at the smallest things. Within a matter of days, I went from hopeful to fearful. His moods reflected those of a rabid animal. His apologies became more and more hollow. His eyes…They scared me shitless. They’d go from comprehensive to mad in a blink. He had turned violent. I broke it off with him. Jordan threatened to kill him, and his pack, if he didn’t leave me alone.
“He left, and a couple days later, returned with a man I’d never seen. The scents that surrounded them were acrid, evil. The stranger shackled my ankles and my wrists until I was helpless, tied to my bed with a beast hovering over me. Tom started talking about caves and captive wolves. He started muttering about the Dark Moon sisters and their hunt for the whites. He laughed when he declared my destiny at the hands of those women, and he’d be rewarded when he turned me over to them. He told me that there were so many wolves that the sisters had, so many members of their pack they had kidnapped and retrained.”
A shudder coursed through her. It resonated through the solid wall of Micah’s ultra-tight muscles. This was sounding awfully familiar…
He tried to swallow, but his rage had swelled in his throat. Air barely drafted into his lungs around the sudden constriction. A flash memory of his sister filled his mind before Kasa’s soft, expressionless voice filtered through the vision.
“They held me captive to their own torture. Jordan had been beyond reach, hunting with the pack. I screamed for him for minutes. For hours. At last, he heard me and came to my rescue.”
“And this Tom?”
“Jordan slaughtered him and the man, after torturing information out of the two wolves. That’s why we began tracking the holding cells. After I healed, we realized there were so many helpless wolves out there, lost to their packs, being held captive against their wills. With each hunt and release, we learned more about who was behind it. The more cells—nothing more than deep, secluded caves—we breached, the darker the secrets became. We continued to get closer and closer to the den.”
“The den is here,” Micah revealed. Yes. He already knew that from tracking the very same creatures that had nearly taken his mate.
Before he could stop himself, he muttered, “Our sister was murdered by one of the turned wolves. The Dark Moon sisters have stepped up their game after Laela and Eliza were murdered by your cousins and their mates. They’re desperate to avenge their deaths, and will stop at nothing to do so.”
The flood of that nightmarish evening wrapped a cold hand around his heart and squeezed until ice chipped in his blood.
“She was ambushed one night while we were hunting. I suspect they thought she was you, the sacred mate to Slade and myself. Those wolves aren’t the brightest, even after their reprogramming. They’re sent out with one objective in mind: kill the white. Most of the wolves held no memory of their arrival at the den. Slade and I managed to corral a few before disposing of them. We learned what we needed to start our course of action.”
“Slade didn’t mention you had a sister.”
“I let Micah bring her up.”
Micah tipped his head and spotted his
brother gazing over the back edge of the truck bed. Kasa shifted onto her forearms, bracing herself against Micah’s chest. He refused to let her go.
“Mind if I sidle up? I’ll help the convection in the bed keep us warm for the rest of the night.” He glanced up at the horizon, his eyes narrowed. “Or pre-dawn.”
“I’m sure not even I could keep you away tonight,” Micah groaned. Slade chuckled and vaulted into the bed. He stretched out on the pad Micah had laid out for Kasa, crossing his arms beneath his head. He kicked one leg on the wheel well and sighed. A wave of heat cracked the wintry blood in Micah’s veins when Kasa edged her leg over his hip.
“Micah still holds himself responsible for Reiny’s death. He was the one who issued the orders to track a peculiar scent, which split us up and left us open for the attack,” Slade explained quietly. Micah closed his eyes. He rested a kiss against Kasa’s soft hair. The guilt he bore from that evening never stopped haunting him. He had led them astray. He had caused them to split up, weakening them. Reiny would’ve survived had both Slade and he been next to her. “What he doesn’t realize is that I hold just as much guilt from that night as he. We can’t change what happened. We lost our sister, but within days of her death, we caught your scent trail. And so did those fucked-up dogs.”
“Jordan and I have been very careful to throw our scents. If any of the rebels tracked us, Jordan disposed of them immediately,” Kasa said.
“He might have disposed of them, but with each death, the sisters have gotten smarter. There has never been a time you have not been tracked,” Slade said. Micah caught the stiffening of Kasa’s arms. A faint scent of fear permeated the air. She twisted her head and looked at Slade, who continued to stargaze. When he failed to explain further, Micah nodded. His woman’s attention turned to him.
“He’s right,” Micah offered. “Your brother is efficient with what he knows is there. He’s always done away with the pursuers, but never thought to pursue what he couldn’t sense. There was a gap between you two and the both of us. We trailed you, catching the wolves that stalked you. They were a proverbial crumb trail. We knew where you were by the rebels staking you out. On a few occasions, Slade and I spoiled their pathetic plans of attack.”
Micah rolled onto his side, enclosing Kasa between him and Slade. His brother’s lips twitched up in a smile, but he didn’t move to encase her. This was Micah’s time and he well knew it.
Sliding a leg around her tiny form, he held her close to him. Kasa tipped her chin and pressed a feathery kiss to his bottom lip. The soft touch managed to release him from the clutches of dreadful memories, regret, and anger. He wanted to delve back into the passion that sizzled around them before all these black secrets burst to the surface of the night. One long look into Kasa’s eyes forced him to keep his need in check. His woman was tired—no, no, exhausted—and she was in desperate need of peaceful rest.
“You see, little love, we were never far behind you, despite your ability to elude us. We protected you from afar. And now, we’ll protect you from your sides.” Micah slipped a hand between them. He traced her plump bottom lip with his thumb. Her eyelids drooped. Her hands cupped his neck, the tips of her fingers flicking at the ends of his hair. “Trust us. No one gets by Slade or myself without asking for death.”
“That reckless, huh?” Kasa murmured.
Slade chuckled at last. He turned and fit himself along Kasa’s back. One of his arms snaked around her waist, but he didn’t pull her away from Micah. When their eyes met over Kasa’s head, it seemed an irrefutable bond finally locked into place.
“Don’t take these tender moments for granted, baby. You think your brother’s a nasty fuck when he’s angry?” Slade snorted. Micah merely shrugged. “Image your brother at his worst and multiply that by about, hmm, thirty. Micah doesn’t fuck around, and neither do I. We’re well aware of the stories surrounding Jordan’s fierce behavior, but he wouldn’t be a match for either of us.”
“Reckless and bad,” Kasa teased on the start of a yawn. Micah caught the spark of desire in Slade’s dark eyes. He was certain it mirrored his own.
As her eyes fell shut, he left her with one delightful promise. “Doll, we’ll show you just how bad we can be.”
* * * *
Fever struck her. The first signs of sweat moistened the valley between her breasts.
Hot dampness filled the apex of her thighs.
The world around Kasa slowly came forth out of the dusky dreams she couldn’t place. At one point, she had been running. At another, she was cornered with Tom’s face filling her vision. At last, Micah and Slade came in. The spark memory of Tom sent her heart into a frenzy, but she swallowed back the anxiety. Tom is dead and my mates won’t let anyone hurt me again.
Peace caressed the edges of her spirit. Her fingertips absorbed the hot fabric beneath them and her lips quirked into a small grin. Each breath chilled her nostrils but warmed by the time it settled in her lungs. All around her, heat pulsed. The deft thudding of two hearts, one against her ear and one thumping against her back, lulled the nightmares out of her mind until she remembered where she was.
Right where I’ve always belonged.
Righteousness swelled in her chest. Only a few short hours ago, Jordan was the sole man she trusted with anything and everything. Then Micah and Slade swooped in, and instinct assured her life, and all matters of the heart, were safe in their hands.
Kasa peeled back her eyelids. Micah’s thumb stroked the top of her wrist, over and over. She didn’t want to disrupt the affectionate motion. Her body craved tenderness. Her spirit whined for gentleness.
Oh, but the wicked wolf in her wanted something much more naughty.
For a long moment, she lay with her head on Micah’s chest, watching small plumes of steam rise from each exhaled breath into the frosty blue morning. Sharp spears of sunlight didn’t pierce the bare trees. The air held the crisp scent of an approaching snow storm. Despite the frigid morning, she was surrounded by desert heat. Micah’s hand was exceedingly warm against her wrist, his shirt hot against her cheek. Slade had cozied up behind her, and the warmth that came from him far outweighed the warmth she received from the wool blanket.
She could stay like this forever.
At last, Kasa turned her hand over and slid her fingers between Micah’s. She yawned, stretching her legs and arching her back. Slade groaned, rolling away from her with a short snort.
“He’s still asleep,” Micah whispered in her mind. The erotic sensation of having men other than her brother speak to her on such a personal level made her nerves tingle.
She pressed upright and gazed down at Micah. Her mouth dried. Or maybe the wintry air finally froze all the moisture in her body. Oh no. There was moisture all right. Simply not in her mouth.
One thing was certain. She cast a sideward glance toward Slade’s sleeping figure. Yes, the brothers who’d claimed to be her mates were mindlessly gorgeous.
“I’m surprised he slept at all,” Kasa replied. Micah’s pale blue eyes, a color that nearly matched the morning glow, drifted from her gaze down her face, lingering briefly on her mouth. They raked heated paths down her body until coming to pause on their entwined hands.
“You still have scars from that night.”
Kasa nodded, but no shudder touched her spine. She’d laid everything in the open, facing the trauma from that terrifying evening. Both brothers filled her with promise and strength. She’d never fear the memories again.
“They outfitted handcuffs with silver teeth. When I refused to cooperate, they tightened the cuffs one notch at a time until the teeth finally bit into my wrists. My ankles have similar scars. Jordan said they’ll eventually go away.”
“Of course they will, but silver leaves its mark on us for a long time.”
Micah brought their entwined hands to his mouth and feathered her wrist with kisses. His lips were cool, the only part of him touched by the morning’s frost. A very light shade of pink colored his sharp chee
ks. The first hint of day-old scruff shadowed his strong jaw. His dark hair brushed over his forehead, mussed from the pillow and bed pad. She couldn’t help but reach up and brush the silky strands aside.
Glancing back at Slade, she didn’t ignore the flutter of her heart. Slade’s features were uncannily similar to Micah’s, but faint creases from his everlasting smile etched along the corners of his relaxed mouth. Fine lines resided at the corners of his eyes, eyes she knew sparkled with humor but hid a ferocious wild animal. Slade’s jaw was a tad more squared, his nose a fraction wider, and his hair a shade lighter than the deep midnight black of Micah’s.
Returning her attention to Micah, she smiled down at him. “I’m going to make breakfast. Why don’t you try to get some shut-eye, hmm? Jordan’ll be down in a few to make sure I’m okay.”
“He should know you’re okay,” Micah said, the morning ice merely scratching his tone.
“He’s followed this morning routine for years. He won’t stop on the account of my mates, I can assure you.” Kasa leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Micah’s mouth. She sensed his battle to keep it light, keep it simple. His fingers tightened around hers. His breath hitched and his lips opened a slit, only to close quickly. She patted his chest—God, what she’d do to tear open that shirt of his and familiarize herself his with body—and climbed to her feet. Stepping over him to reach the side of the truck, she cast him a sultry look. “Remember, you’re supposed to show me how bad you can be.”
Kasa leaped out of the bed, barely escaping Micah’s reach. His groan echoed around the truck, and she laughed, hurrying back to her house.
“You’d better be prepared to quench this fire when Slade wakes.”
“You’d better not doze off while we’re stoking the flames.”
She didn’t miss his grumbled “woman” before opening the door to her cabin.
Somewhere amidst the morning air, heat, and the spiced scents of Micah and Slade, she missed the succulent aromas of bacon fat and eggs until they smacked her in the face.