by L Ann
“Alphas are territorial. They do not share their power with others. Packs have a hierarchy. The Alpha is at the top, his seconds, and down through the line. Females are known as Omegas and we have our own hierarchy, also based on strength amongst ourselves, but amongst the primary Pack hierarchy, our standing is based solely on who we are mated with.”
“That sounds almost medieval.”
Isabella chuckled. “Yes, a lot of the packs do seem to be a little backwards. The Midnight Pack is definitely one of change. Cormac welcomes anyone to join its ranks – members of other packs who want to move on, females, lone wolves who have no pack.”
“It sounds very complicated.”
“I suppose it is if you haven’t lived it. But it’s really not as complicated as it sounds.”
“Who are Cormac’s seconds?”
Isabella gave her a surprised look. “Deacon and Shaun, of course. They could be Alphas of their own packs, but they choose to stay with their brother.” She grinned. “Keep that in mind. There will come a time when Shaun’s Alpha tendencies will come to the fore. I’ve seen him when he turns all Alpha wolf. It’ll go one of two ways with you – you’ll either enjoy it, or you’ll want to kill him … or both.”
“Enjoy it?”
“Oh honey.” Isabella’s laugh was throaty. “Alpha wolves are a breed unto themselves.”
“I don’t even know what to do with that statement,” Cassie said faintly. “How long do you think it’ll be before we hear anything?”
“Not until they return, or they call for Asher to join them – which I don’t think they’ll do because that will leave us unprotected. Chase’s flight was rerouted, and he’s stuck in Chicago. Unless they feel we need to know something, they won’t be in touch.”
“Because we’re female?”
Isabella laughed. “Oh, heaven’s no! It has nothing to do with that.” She took another sip of wine. “It’s difficult to explain when someone hasn’t grown up within a pack sanctuary. While each member can live their life as they wish, the Alpha is the ultimate authority. Any decision that has an effect on the pack as a whole must be made by him. Below him are those who are his most trusted, those he would leave in charge should he need to be away from the pack for any length of time.
“In the case of Midnight, that would be Shaun and Deacon. From there, it would be Asher and Jaden. Below them, it gets complicated. Chase, as our doctor, stands slightly outside the hierarchy. There are times when he can override an Alpha’s command. Cormac’s pack isn’t very large, and the rest of them will be here very soon.”
“So, Cormac would tell Shaun and Deacon, who would then relay it to Asher and Jaden?”
Isabella nodded. “And if they felt it was information the rest of the pack needed to hear, they would then share it further. But wolves don’t think like humans, Cassie. Information you might feel you need to know, they won’t even consider important.” She reached out and touched Cassie’s arm. “But I can guarantee they will not rest until your sister and Scarlet are found.”
~ This is fucking pointless! ~ Deacon’s snarl reverberated through Shaun’s head. ~ There’s no scent. The fucker knew exactly what he was doing. ~
To his left, he heard Cormac sigh and glanced sideways to where his older brother and pack Alpha sat on his haunches, gazing out across the valley.
~ What do you want to do? ~
Cormac didn’t respond straight away, his silver eyes moving across the landscape before his head turned to look at Shaun.
~ Why did he take them? We’ve dealt with Hunters before. They kill and leave the bodies for us to find. Especially our females. Removing them is their ultimate goal. They believe it’s an effective way to cull the pack. So why did he take them alive? ~
Shaun was aware of Deacon moving up to stand beside him, but his attention was on Cormac.
~ You think there’s something more to this? More than a typical hunt? ~
The silver wolf’s head inclined. ~ Either that or our Hunter is not a Hunter, but something else. ~
~ Something else? ~ Deacon joined the conversation.
~ I was thinking about his actions so far. I think it’s a safe bet he caused Cassie’s crash, then he drugged us. We were unguarded, not expecting an attack. Any Hunter would have just slaughtered as many of us as they could. But not this one. Instead, he took our females. All our females. ~
Cormac rose to his feet and began to pace as he spoke – a move both brothers recognised as a sign that their Alpha was working through an idea.
~ He released two of them – the two he should have kept or killed first. Roxie is our youngest female, just coming into her adulthood. Taking her out would make sense. They would see her as having many years of breeding. Time to produce more Shifters. Any Hunter would remove that threat as soon as they found it.
As for Isabella, it’s no secret that she’s my –
~Unwilling mate? ~ Deacon butted in.
~ We’re not mated, you know this already. ~ Cormac told him. ~ Not the way Shaun and Cassie are. Either way, taking her out would have been the expected move. The Alpha’s female. But instead they release her. Next, Cassie is thrown to the wolves, quite literally. Was he expecting you to lose control? ~ He threw the question at Shaun.
~ The dose was strong, but I don’t think I would have lost control to that extent. ~ Shaun replied slowly, as he thought over the night before. ~ The urge to chase was strong, but at no time did I want to kill. ~ He swung his head to look at Deacon. ~ Did you? ~
~ No, I only stayed with you. I didn’t even feel the need to chase her down when she ran. ~
~ I think he wanted to confirm your identity and your mate-link. ~ Cormac continued. ~ We need to take precautions in case he releases videos showing you shift. But that brings us to Scarlet and Gemma … ~
He fell silent. Shaun and Deacon watched as he reached the tree-line, turned and padded toward them.
~ Why take one wolf and one human? What does he hope to achieve? ~
~ Unless he doesn’t know Gemma is human. ~ Deacon offered.
Cormac’s head swung around to stare at Deacon. ~ Hunters know the difference. They don’t just jump on everyone they see without making sure first. You already know this. ~
~ And what if it isn’t a Hunter, like you said? ~
~ If they had kept Cassie, there would have been room for doubt. That could easily put it in the realm of crazy ex-boyfriend. ~ Shaun replied. ~ But I don’t think that’s what this is, Deke. ~
Deacon grunted his agreement and turned to look down into the trees below them.
~ What do we do? We have no scent, no trail to follow, nothing! ~
~ We go home, change, and go into town. Find out if there are any other new arrivals. ~ Cormac said. ~ It’s the only thing left for now. ~
It was close to four in the afternoon when Cassie heard the front door bang open. She shot upright and would have ran from the room if Isabella hadn’t caught her arm to stop her.
“Wait,” the other woman cautioned. “Let them come to us.”
“But –”
“Trust me on this, Cassie. They’ve been out for hours as wolves. They need a few minutes to adjust.”
The sound of male voices reached them, growing louder as they came nearer then softer as they passed the door without entering. When five minutes had passed, and no one appeared, Cassie frowned.
“I can’t wait here. I’m going to find Shaun,” she told Isabella, and left the room without waiting to hear her reply.
The kitchen was empty when she stuck her head around the door. She had been sure they would have been in there, so was a little surprised when there was no sign of anyone. Next, she checked the TV room, only to find that empty as well. That left the study and the bedrooms. She glanced at the study door and decided to check upstairs first.
Shaun was pulling a t-shirt over his head when she entered the bedroom, and Cassie took a moment to admire the dance of muscles beneath his skin. His head poppe
d through the gap and he caught her looking before she could avert her gaze.
With a lazy smile, he reached out and hooked his fingers through the belt loops of her jeans and pulled her against him.
“Hey,” he whispered.
His mouth covered hers, tongue slipping between her lips as they parted to reply, and Cassie didn’t even bother pretending to resist. She wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed her fingers beneath his shirt, seeking out the warmth of his skin under her palms. His body shuddered under her touch and he surged closer, his hands closing over her hips.
He muttered something against her mouth and the world spun as he turned and tumbled them onto the bed behind him.
The weight of him above her, pinning her to the mattress felt good, and Cassie thought she might have told him so as a laugh rumbled through his chest, vibrating against her hands as she slid them over his taut muscles.
“You have no idea how badly I want to do this with you,” he told her between kisses, cupping her face between his palms. “But if something happens while we’re up here fooling around, I know where your mind will go. You’ll convince yourself that the time we spent here could have been used to save Gemma.” He levered himself up on one arm, putting some space between them. “You feel it too, don’t you? The bond between us growing stronger. It’s hard to resist.” His mouth returned to hers for a slow kiss, and Cassie forgot how to breathe.
“I felt it the first time you touched me. Do you remember? Like static shock. I didn’t realise it then, but it was telling me you were mine.” His mouth found the frantically beating pulse at her throat and he ran his tongue over it before lifting his head to look down at her with blazing yellow eyes.
Cassie licked her lips and his eyes followed the movement of her tongue. Untangling one hand from his shirt, she curved it over his cheek, her thumb running across his full bottom lip. With a slow grin, he nipped at it before rolling sideways and gathering her against him.
“We need to go back downstairs,” he told her. “I only came up here to put some clothes on. As much as I hate to kill this mood, I told DJ and Mac I’d meet them in twenty minutes. And you came looking for me to find out what we know, right?”
Cassie nodded, but didn’t speak. She wasn’t sure she was capable of thinking, let alone talking. Not with him so close to her, his heat and scent teasing at her senses.
An image flashed into her mind of the hospital. Of her pulling at him, trying to drag him onto the bed with her, of begging him …
“Oh my god!” She wrenched herself out of his arms and sat up, twisted around to look at him. “Did I try and jump on you in the hospital?” she demanded.
Shaun’s eyes widened and then he began to laugh.
“Stop laughing at me. Did I really do that?” She punched his shoulder.
Still laughing, Shaun reached out and pulled her back down, so she was sprawled on top of him. “Yes, you really did.” His arms tightened as she tried to wriggle away. “It was the mating bond. When it first settles in, it causes a … a need, I guess, to establish a link between us. Intimacy lowers defences, allows the mate-link to settle.” He rolled, so he was above her and settled himself in the cradle of her thighs. “The more we connect like this.” He rocked his hips, and she moaned at the sensation. “The stronger our mate-link becomes.”
The eyes met, locked, and Cassie was reaching for the button on his jeans, even as he pulled his t-shirt off over his head.
“Will have to make this quick,” he warned, as he yanked down her jeans, then stripped off his own.
“Quick, yes,” she agreed, her legs wrapping around his waist as he came back down on top of her.
“We didn’t find anything,” Shaun told her as they’d showered together. “Mac wants us to go into town, see what we can discover. Find out if anyone new has arrived. I want you to come with us, but only if you think you can act like nothing is wrong. The fewer people who know Gemma is missing, the easier it’ll be for us.” He paused to steal another kiss. “Can you do that?”
Cassie agreed, promised to act as normal as she could, and they returned downstairs to meet with Cormac and Deacon.
They travelled into Greene Valley in two cars. Shaun, Cassie, Deacon and Asher took Shaun’s SUV, while Cormac, Isabella and Jaden went in his car – a low, sleek black Aston Martin. Chase had arrived while Shaun and Cassie had been upstairs, and he agreed to stay behind and wait for the rest of the pack. Before leaving, they agreed to meet at Gemma’s house and then head to the local bar – a place Shaun hadn’t visited since the night Cassie had invited him to Karaoke.
Had that only been two weeks ago? Shaun asked himself. It felt like months.
He checked the rear-view mirror. Deacon and Asher were sprawled across the backseat, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. Shaun could feel Deacon’s knee bouncing restlessly against the back of his seat, a sure sign that he was agitated. Asher, on the other hand, was still – his eyes focused on the scenery as it flashed by.
As for himself, he was tapping out the beat of a song on the steering wheel. He smiled inwardly – it seemed they all had their ways of dealing with stress
He glanced over to where Cassie sat beside him, her feet on the dashboard with a notepad she’d taken from his bedside table balanced on her knees. The pen she was holding moved across the page quickly and he could see from where he sat that she was drawing wolves. His mind went back to the first time they’d met, to a painting he’d seen hanging on her bedroom wall.
“Did you paint that wolf picture in your bedroom at the apartment?” he asked.
She turned her head to look at him. “Yeah, it was from a memory of a wolf I see … saw a lot. I think he must have died as I haven’t seen him for a while now. He’d skirt the edge of town. Didn’t seem too bothered by people.”
Shaun frowned. “Sure it was just a wolf?”
Cassie’s jaw dropped. “You mean … another one like you could have been here?”
Shaun shrugged. “It’s possible.” He reached out and took her notepad to glance down at the picture she was drawing. “You’re really good, you know that, right? I found the sketch you did of me before the accident.”
“I wondered where it went.” There was a tone to her voice Shaun couldn’t read.
“It’s in my wallet,” he told her, and her eyes widened. “What did you think I’d done with it?” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and he groaned. “You thought I’d thrown it out, didn’t you?”
“I’m –”
“I swear, Cassie, if you fucking apologise to me, I’m going to pull over right now and spank your ass.”
“Kinky,” Deacon murmured from the back seat, and Shaun threw him a narrow-eyed glare in the mirror.
“Keep your mouth out of this,” he warned his brother, who snorted. He handed Cassie her notebook back. “Stop apologising for shit that isn’t your fault,” he told her.
“I’ll try,” she threw him an arch look. “But threats of spanking might just make me do it more often.”
Shaun’s hands jerked on the wheel and the car veered sideways. “Fuck,” he whispered, while Deacon chuckled behind him.
“You’ve got yourself a live wire there, brother. I’d watch yourself,” Deacon told him.
When Gemma’s house finally came into view, Cassie straightened in her seat, flipping the notebook closed. Her anxiety hit Shaun without warning, and he flinched from the wave of unexpected emotion coming through their newly formed mate-link. He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it in response to the question in her eyes.
“We’ll find her,” he said, gave her hand one more squeeze before he let it go and returned his grip to the steering wheel.
“But what if –”
“There is no what if,” Deacon growled from the back seat. “We will find her.”
Shaun’s eyes met Deacon’s in the rear-view mirror. “Is there something going on between you and Gemma?” he asked.
“No.”
&nb
sp; Shaun frowned. His brother’s denial had been too fast, too abrupt, too aggressive. Something was going on, he was sure of it. But now wasn’t the time to pursue the truth. Instead, he focused on parking the SUV. Deacon was out of the vehicle almost before it rolled to a stop, his nostrils flaring as he looked around.
Shaun exited more slowly and moved past his brother as he headed toward the passenger side.
“Her scent is old. She didn’t come back here last night.” Deacon’s voice stopped him, and he glanced over.
“Did you expect her to?” Shaun continued on his path and opened the door for Cassie.
“Not really, but there was always a slight chance,” Deacon said.
“She would have called me,” Cassie joined the conversation.
“Maybe,” Deacon murmured, as he strode past her to the front door.
He had the door open by the time the others joined him, and they all trooped inside.
“Did Gemma give you a key?” Cassie asked Deacon as she filled the kettle to make drinks.
“Don’t need a key,” he grunted. “The security on this place is shocking.” He disappeared out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
“What is he doing?” Cassie asked Shaun.
“Hunting,” he replied. “He knows yours and Gemma’s scents. He’ll check for any he doesn’t recognise.”
“And then what?
“We’ll head over to The Corner Pin and see what we can find out.” Shaun watched as she pulled mugs out of the cupboard and placed them on the counter-top. “Cass …” He moved up behind her and wound his arms around her waist, pulling her back against him. “We’re not here for coffee.” He felt her tremble and tightened his hold. “You’re dealing with a lot. It’s okay if you need to take a moment.” His lips found the curve of her throat and he kissed her. “Just breathe for a minute.”
“I can’t,” she whispered. “If I stop and think, I won’t be able to walk in there and act like it’s just another night out.”
“Do you hear that?” Asher spoke up from behind them.
Shaun twisted round without releasing Cassie. “I can hear lots of things. You’ll need to be more specific.”