by Lori King
Whitney laughed loudly and moved into hug him. “Wolf-man, you can talk to me any time you want to in my head. Why would I need to carry a phone?”
He looked puzzled for a moment and then smiled. “I don’t know, in case the mind chat doesn’t work for some reason? Just promise me you’ll keep your phone on you, and I’ll try to keep my wolf at bay.”
“Deal,” she whispered, kissing the underside of his chin before she turned to Mateo and kissed him, too. “I’ll be down by the lake after I check on Tawny. That’s the best place to take photos.”
She collected her camera and gear from the cabinet near the front door and smiled when their eyes widened at the oversized bag. It was a splurge for herself, and it didn’t exactly suit the gear that was inside, but then did it really matter what a Coach bag was used for as long as it was loved?
The two men followed her out onto the front porch, and she felt their eyes on her as she went around the bend toward Tawny’s house. Loving them was the easy part. Living with the two of them was clearly going to be a challenge.
When she reached the lawn she paused, her eyes darting to the bent grass left behind from the violence of the night before. How could any of them ever step foot on this ground again without remembering the horror that happened here? Giving herself a firm scolding for struggling to get past what Tawny herself had managed to overcome, she focused her eyes on the wood grain of the front door and walked forward.
Tawny and Chance were seated at her dining room table when Whitney pushed the front door open. Her best friend still looked very pale, but she offered up a warm smile. Dropping her bag to the floor, she hurried to hug her.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Tawny. I don’t know what I would have done…” Her eyes filled with tears as she inhaled Tawny’s coconut scent as deeply into her lungs as possible.
Tawny clung to her. “I’m okay, Winnie.”
Pulling back to stare into Tawny’s pale green eyes, she frowned. Usually the color of lemongrass, today they were more like honeydew, softer and more vulnerable. Even her glorious white-blonde hair seemed lackluster, and it broke Whitney’s heart.
“Sweetie, I love you so don’t take offense, but you look like hell. Have you eaten anything?”
Chance piped up. “She swears she’s not hungry.”
Whitney turned to face him. “She’s lying, so don’t give up. I haven’t really had a chance to thank you, Chance. For what you did for Tawny, and for today.”
“Today? What did you do today?” Tawny asked, narrowing her eyes at Chance. He grimaced and stared down into the glass of tea in front of him, shrugging.
“Don’t thank me. I would have done it for anyone.”
“Chance?” Tawny asked. The hurt and disappointment in her voice had red flags going up for Whitney and suddenly her heart twisted. There was something between Chance and Tawny. A bond had formed between the knight in shining armor and the damsel in distress, but it didn’t feel like a love match. They weren’t true mates, but they were more than friends. Forcing aside her matchmaking thoughts, Whitney focused on the conversation around her again.
“I had to do it, Tawny. I’m sorry it upsets you, but I couldn’t let the opportunity to get some payback on that family go,” Chance said, stiffening his spine and crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed much older today than he had just a few days ago when he arrived, and Whitney pitied him a little. No one should have to grow up so quickly.
Tawny was quiet at her side, but Whitney could virtually see the gears turning in her head. She finally nodded. “Okay, but I don’t want to know about it. It’s over. They are all dead, and now I have to move on. Please, no more sympathy, no more coddling. Someday I’ll be strong enough to face it, but not now. Not today. Just let me move on.” She reached a hand out to each of them. “Both of you, please?”
Whitney swallowed back the argument that formed on her tongue and nodded when Chance did. If Tawny needed them to forgive and move on so that she could, then she would do her absolute best to do so.
“Thank you,” Tawny said, her eyes taking on a bit more life. “Where are you off to with your camera bag?”
Whitney glanced at the burgundy bag near the front door. “I have to get those photos done for the nature magazine. Cadence and Mateo would like to leave for Chicago this weekend. With the Quiver Creek pack arriving so soon, the den will be full to the brim.”
Tawny frowned and looked around her small cabin with worried eyes. “I’m not sure I can pack that fast.”
“I’ll help, and I know August will if I call him. Silas and Martin, too,” Chance said, still holding Tawny’s hand in his own.
“I have a feeling pretty soon we’ll have dozens of pairs of hands around here to help with whatever we need. You don’t have to go if you’ve changed your mind, Tawny. I would understand,” Whitney said softly, scared to death that she might have just given her best friend an opening to stay in Kansas City.
Tawny smiled faintly. “No. This place holds too many nightmares for me now. I need a fresh start more now than ever before. I’ll never be able to walk up to my own front door without remembering…”
The silence was deafening as they all fought with their emotions over the events of the past. Whitney wrapped Tawny in a big hug and whispered, “I know, and I’m so glad you’re still coming with us.”
“Me, too,” Chance murmured, still clinging to Tawny’s hand even as the two women clung to each other.
Wiping a stray tear from her cheek, Whitney let out a deep breath. “I guess I better get to work. I only have so long to get this done. I’ll check on you soon. Chance, will you keep an eye on her?”
“Two of them,” Chance said, never looking at Whitney once as he spoke. Tawny blushed under his scrutiny and Whitney laughed.
“You’re in good hands then. Love you, girl.”
“Love you, too, Winnie.”
As she left, Whitney could hear Chance insisting that he was going to make Tawny something to eat and she smiled to herself. Fate sure seemed to work in mysterious ways. Perhaps true love was more than body chemistry and mating marks.
Chapter 14
It was ultimately decided that the Gray pack wolves should meet the newcomers alone the next morning, and the Diego wolves would meet them later in the day so as not to overwhelm them. Cadence wasn’t put off by the cold greetings he received from Whitney’s brothers, Rafe and Ryley, as he figured he would react the same way when Mateo’s sister Cara finally found her mate.
Once they had given him and Mateo the third degree and were assured of their sister’s safety with them, they filled them in on what had happened in Quiver Creek. Cadence was surprised to discover how much the Quiver Creek wolves reminded him of his own family back home. They had been traumatized for years by the Kaplan pack, and they were just now breathing a sigh of relief as they finally felt safe. He could only hope that his family back home would echo that same feeling of safety when he took the reins.
“I guess what I don’t understand is why this has continued for so long?” Mateo asked Rafe the question that was haunting Cadence’s brain, too. When the Whetstone brothers hesitated to respond, he knew that they didn’t have the whole story.
“Evan and Nicolas Kaplan had to have had some sort of reason to spend devote so much time and manpower to finding Tasha,” Cadence said, pushing the brothers for more information.
“Nicolas wanted her as his mate,” Ryley supplied, but Cadence narrowed his eyes at the blond man, and he dropped his gaze. Fighting back a smile, Cadence waited patiently. “Tasha’s father owned a goldmine in the Klondike half a century ago. Apparently Tasha and now KJ are the man’s only living heirs. Kaplan wanted to get his hands on the gold in that mine.”
“So why not just take control of the mine?” Mateo asked.
“No one knows exactly where it is,” Rafe said, shrugging his shoulders. “The man had thousands of acres of land, and it would take years to search it all by foot. It is in Alask
a, remember? Nico believed that Joe Raullins had given the location to his daughter and possibly to his granddaughter.”
“Wow.” Cadence stared at them in horror. “Nicolas was willing to force KJ to mate him to get her inheritance.”
“Sums it up,” Rafe said with a nod.
“What the fuck is this world coming to?” he asked, rubbing at his temples. “My father ruined so many lives, just like Nicolas. It seems to me that there should be some sort of system in place to protect the packs from this sort of demented leadership.”
“Like law enforcement?” Ryley gave him a screwy look.
“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to think on it more, but it seems to be that some sort of council or enforcement team made up of wolves from each pack, would give packs a safe place to seek assistance when necessary,” Cadence said.
Before they could delve further into his crazy idea, Shandi appeared with a bundle of little boy and terry cloth towel. Jordan gave Rafe and Ryley a brilliant smile and giggled as Shandi tried to dry his hair.
Whitney and Victoria were in the living room getting to know Axel, the other little boy that Rafe and Ryley had brought home. At only three and four, the two boys were orphans because both of their parents had been killed by the Kaplan pack during the last attack on their den. Shandi, Cadence had learned, had survived cancer and couldn’t get pregnant. She and her men had every intention of adopting in a few years, but the opportunity to take on the two Quiver Creek boys fell into their laps.
When Cadence and Mateo had first entered their home with Whitney, they were immediately bombarded by Axel with the story of how Rafe and Ryley married a princess and needed two sons to help them make her happy. It was clear that the little family was already bonding, and Cadence longed for the day when he held his own son on his knee and shared stories.
“Okay, both kids are clean and fed. I thought Jordy might take a nap, but I guess the car ride has him too wound up,” Shandi said, holding the squirming boy between her knees as she tugged a tiny shirt over his head. He wriggled desperately when she put pants on him, and before she could cover his feet in miniature socks, he escaped her grip and ran off giggling to join his older brother.
“Fast little mite, isn’t he?” Rafe said, tugging Shandi into his lap.
She nodded and smiled, “Slippery, too. Thank you for finding him for me. He and Axel are perfect little angels.”
All of the men were laughing as Liam and Devin came through the front door. The serious look on their faces cut off all sounds of merriment.
“Devin?” Ryley asked, rising to his feet and bracing for whatever was coming.
“We have a situation, and it’s going to take all of the Gray and Quiver Creek men. Actually, Cadence, I could greatly use a hand, would you and your guys mind coming, too?” Devin asked quietly.
Cadence was surprised, but he nodded. “Of course, Devin. Whatever you need.”
“The Kaplan wolves are on Gray pack land. I’ve sent the word out that everyone is to remain in their homes, but me and all of my guys are going to confront them. I’m afraid this might turn bloody, and knowing I have you and your wolves at my back would be comforting,” Devin explained. Damon moved up to his side and nodded.
“Heath just texted that they crossed Henley and Victoria’s backyard. They will be at the Alpha cabin in about five minutes if we don’t intercept them,” Damon warned.
Cadence dug his phone from his pocket and hit send, dialing the last number called. When Chance answered, he gave instructions. “We’re running backup for the Gray pack. I’m leaving the Whetstone cabin now and we’re on our way to the woods on the…”
“East,” Devin supplied.
“East side of the Alpha cabin. Meet us there.” He clicked the phone off and tucked it back in his pocket as he and Mateo followed Devin and his men out the door.
A hoard of large men gathered astonishingly quickly and silently. There were easily fifty men between the Gray pack, the Quiver Creek pack, and the Diego pack, and the nerves of going into a battle against unknown adversaries kept them all quiet as they scanned the dark shadows of the trees closely upon arrival outside the Alpha cabin.
Just moments after they spread out through the forest, the pack of strangers appeared. Approximately twenty Kaplans stood tensed and ready for a fight. Their scent was unique, and Cadence filed it away in his brain so that he would know a Kaplan wolf by scent from here on out.
“You’re trespassing,” Devin said in a loud, commanding voice that stopped the Kaplans in their tracks.
Out the corner of his eye, Cadence noted that their people bled out of the trees behind the Kaplans, virtually surrounding them with enemies. The sweet scent of fear permeated the air, and Cadence fought back a grin.
“We’re tracking a missing pack member. His scent led us onto your land. We mean you no harm, just return him to us.” The spokesman for the group was tall and lanky. His hair was cropped short, but he wore a long pointed goatee that made his face look even narrower than it was. There was no air of Alpha to him, but clearly he had some balls if he was willing to be the spokesman for this group.
“Really? One of your pack was on my land? Why would that be?” Devin asked. The big man really did epitomize the Native American warriors of old, with his broad stance and reddish brown skin. He had an angry tilt to his chin that conflicted with the nonchalant slump of his shoulders.
“He got lost.”
Everyone but the Kaplans laughed at that, and those twenty wolves shifted awkwardly as they realized that no one bought their story.
“What is this wolf’s name, and where is your Alpha?” Devin snapped, ending the taunting laughter of his wolves.
“Bryson Samuels. He’s about six feet tall, blond, blue eyes. And my Alpha is back home in Alaska, but his second is also in the woods searching for our missing friend.”
“Friend? Seems to me if you’ve tracked him all the way from Alaska, he must not be trying very hard to get back to you,” Devin said.
“Be that as it may, the Alpha wants him returned, so we must find him. Now, have you seen him?” The man was growing more and more agitated, and Cadence could see his wolf in his dark eyes. If this kept up he would shift.
The sound of rustling leaves and the scent of the man they said they were searching for drew everyone’s eyes. Bryson burst through the trees into view, panting, and one hand was covered in blood.
“Ah, Bryson there you are. See, these gentleman tell me that they are here on Gray Pack land in search of a lost wolf. Did you realize that you were lost?” Devin asked. This was the first time he smiled since confronting the wolves, but his smile conveyed to his wolves that he wasn’t concerned about their safety against this group.
Bryson responded, shaking his head. “I’m not lost, but I appreciate the thought. I didn’t figure many of them even knew my name.”
“Traitor!” The words were yelled by one of the Kaplan pack, and around them the home team shifted angrily.
“Traitor? Really? Just who exactly did I betray?” Bryson asked. “The way I see it, with Nico dead, there isn’t anyone left to give out commands, which means that I’ve betrayed no one.”
That explains the blood on his hands, Cadence thought.
“I would agree with that,” Damon yelled from across the group of Kaplan’s. “So, boys, now that the worm has been removed from your apple, are you going to get the fuck off our land, or are we going to have to force you out?”
“How do we know that Nico is really dead?”
Bryson lifted his hands, and the other wolves sniffed the air. Cadence could tell by the anger that rose in the group that they knew Bryson spoke the truth.
“That’s the scent of death, and it’s all over my hands because I cut his throat myself. No one will threaten my mate and live to tell about it,” Bryson said coldly. Cadence’s respect for the man shot up as he watched him calmly face his old pack with the blood of his leader on his hands.
“Done.” Devin shouted out directions for his Betas to retrieve the body, and then he faced the Kaplans again. “If you’re not at least ten miles from my land by sunset, we’ll finish this the hard way.”
Turning away, Devin slapped Bryson on the back as Cadence moved closer to them.
“Slit his throat before he could even blink,” Bryson explained proudly.
“What kind of a moron thinks he can sneak into a pack den?” Mateo asked as he moved closer to the two men, too. Cadence was still trying to wrap his mind around the Kaplans’ stupidity. He knew that Nicolas was Evan Kaplan’s Beta, and based on what he had gleaned from the Gray pack he knew that the man was hell bent on obtaining Tasha or KJ Whetstone, but he had yet to find out why. The Kaplan wolves who at first seemed lethally loyal to their leader, were disappearing into the darkness of the trees fast. Hopefully Nicolas’s death would be the end of the Whetstone family saga.
“Is your pack always so dramatic, Gray?” he asked Devin, who just laughed.
“Sure has been lately!”
Another man responded. “See what happens when you add women to the mix?”
Cadence shook his head and pointed at the man. He knew that he was a Gray pack wolf, but he couldn’t remember his name at the moment. “Don’t say that, you’ll jinx yourself.” Facing Bryson, he held out his hands. “Hello to you, Bryson Samuels. I’m Cadence Diego.”
“Nice to meet you, Diego. Congratulations. I heard you snagged a mate as well.” The blond man was friendly and solid. Cadence liked him immediately, and chuckled.
“Snagged, stole, coerced, seduced…whichever word fits. Although I’m not sure if it was Mateo and I that did the convincing, or if it was Whitney. Where is your mate now?”
“She better be at Shandi’s place. That’s where I sent her,” Bryson responded, and Cadence nodded.