Bound to the Tribe (Bound to the Pack, #2)

by Morelle, Sonja

  Reluctantly I put the empty plate down and let Liam help me up. I didn’t really need the help but he obviously felt the need, so I let him. Any excuse to be against that muscle bound body of his.

  Liam leaned in and nuzzled my neck as his hands traced their way down my curves to wrap around my lower back and pull me against himself. I could feel his hardness pressing against me and hear his desire in the low rumble of his throat.

  “Easy boy, you’ll tear your pants apart if you don’t keep that thing in check,” I breathed the words into his ear.

  “Hey! No!” Kristen came stalking over to us and swatted Liam on the nose as he looked up from me. “Bad dog!”

  “Sister.” His voice was low and gravelly as he looked angrily at Kris.

  “Save it. We don’t have the time. Oh, and before you get any ideas, there isn’t room in the car for it either. So keep it in your pants. And you.” Kris caught my gaze. “Stop teasing him.” Kris turned and I stuck my tongue out at her back.

  Liam stepped back from me and whimpered. Whimpered! Apparently I was teasing him and he was having trouble waiting. Hell, he probably never had to wait for release his entire life, who knew what shifters thought was ‘proper?’ Teasing would drive him crazy.

  Looks like I knew what I’d be doing for my entertainment on this road trip.

  Chapter Three

  Jen

  Finishing the last taco I crumpled the wrapper and tossed it into the bag at my feet in the passenger seat. It felt strange to be on this side of my own car, but at least I could eat while we made our way to Troy’s place.

  Thankfully, I wasn’t hungry any more. Terrifyingly I had eaten a half dozen burgers and had made Kris stop so I could pick up a full family value meal at the local Mexican place. All of which was now resting contently in my stomach.

  I didn’t even want to think about how that was possible. The sheer poundage of food was impossible for one person to have eaten in one sitting. It was a sign of how ridiculous it was that Kristen had stopped making jokes about it going straight to my hips. Whatever was happening to me wasn’t normal for human or shifter, apparently.

  It was starting to scare the hell out of me.

  “Are you finally full then? Need me to stop somewhere else?” Kris asked, no humor in her voice at all.

  “Full? No.” My words had Kris looking at me worriedly and she nodded before looking around for another fast food joint. “Kris, it’s ok. I’m not hungry any more, either, let’s just get to Troy’s.”

  “Are you sure? It’s not a problem to stop again. Terrifying, but not a problem.” Kris was definitely worried and I couldn’t blame her. I was too.

  “It’s fine. If whatever it is comes back I’ll let you know and we can find some place then, ok?” I felt Liam shifting around in the back seat. He clearly wanted to go get or, more likely, kill me something to eat. I had to admit to myself that the idea of more meat was appealing, but I was already scared about how much I had just eaten.

  “How much further before we arrive at Troy’s?” Liam’s voice rumbled from behind me.

  “His house is just a few streets over from here.” Kris seemed to be on auto pilot as she drove through a quiet area of town. Now that my hunger was, hopefully, sated, I looked around at where we were.

  I had only ever been to this end of town when I was trying to cut around the traffic on the main road. Beautiful homes sat on perfectly manicured lawns. All clear of leaves even though the trees were well on their way into shedding them. The people that owned these houses didn’t take care of their yards themselves, they could clearly afford to have others do it for them.

  “Troy lives here?!” It had to just be the fastest way to his place, though I didn’t know of any parts of town past this.

  “Hmm? Yeah, one more turn and we’ll be at his place.” Kris was focused on the road, not wanting to miss the right street. Sure enough, a moment later we turned onto a hidden drive and drove down a wooded lane. Troy’s fucking driveway.

  The lane led to a monstrously large house, all windows and columns, with a full wrap around porch. We drove to the back, passing the obligatory pool and tennis court, before finally reaching a four car garage.

  “Kris, you never told me Troy was loaded.” Some part of Kris’s attraction to the feminine man became obvious.

  “You never asked. It’s not really important anyway.” Kris shrugged as she parked in front of the garage. She turned the engine off and got out, Liam and I following suit as Kris walked towards a door on the side of the building. She pulled a key out of her purse and unlocked it, letting us all in.

  “This seems like an odd home. The building in front of this one seemed more suitable. Does Troy’s pack live there?” Liam asked as he looked around the heated garage. Heated!

  “Troy lives alone, let’s go up and see if he’s ready to leave yet.” Kristen began walking to a set of stairs at the far side of the garage, passing her car, a couple motorcycles, a pickup truck, and the covered shape of what had to be a sports car.

  “He lives alone in the larger building? What is this one for then?” Liam asked, clearly confused, as he followed after Kristen. This was probably the first time he’d been inside a garage.

  “This is just where he parks his cars,” I said weakly. Troy being rich was just something I hadn’t been prepared for.

  “A building whose sole purpose is to house his cars? These vehicles are all his?” Liam looked over the assortment in the garage as we walked past and I nodded back at him, numb. “A house for his cars to live in? Wasteful.”

  Kristen was waiting for us at the top of the stairs and gave us a quick look before turning to the door and pausing with her hand on the knob. “Troy doesn’t like talking about his money. Not even with me. Please don’t bring it up.”

  Liam shot a confused look at me and I just shrugged. Kris walked out onto a covered walk that led to the house. Troy being touchy about his money was much easier to understand than him having so much in the first place.

  Kris unlocked the side door with her spare key and stepped inside, holding it open for us. “Troy, we’re here!” she called as she gestured us down a short hallway. I gave her space enough to close the door and waited. She may be comfortable here, but I wasn’t about to just wander off.

  She gave me one of her patented wry smiles as she locked the door and passed Liam and I to take the lead. “The living room is this way.”

  As we walked down the hall, my shoes clacking on the marble floor, I found the first thing I could appreciate about Troy; the house was immaculate. He had to have someone doing it for him, but their work wasn’t usually as good as if you had done it yourself. Not so here. Troy obviously valued cleanliness and had clearly paid for the best.

  I felt Liam’s arm wrap around my waist before he leaned in. “This house is not that impressive. If this is something you like I will endeavor to provide you with one more elaborate.”

  Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, I watched him looking around, taking it all in, doing a good job of not looking impressed. Something in my manner must have given off that I was enjoying being in the house and my ‘husband’ felt threatened. It was something that he couldn’t provide but Troy could.

  If only he knew how much something like this cost. But Kris was right, money didn’t really matter. Liam would always do everything he could to see that I was happy, he would never leave me, and never cheat on me. Bonding a shifter certainly had its perks.

  I could love him for that alone.

  My breath caught, was I in love with Liam already? I’d only known him for over a week. I was never one for love at first sight and even though we were bonded, it had been an accident. A possible one night stand that ended in marriage like some alcohol fueled night of bad decisions in Las Vegas.

  I didn’t know what I was really feeling, the past few days had been pure chaos and it didn’t look like I’d have time to sort through my emotions any time soon. One thing was for sure,
I wasn’t going to let him know how I felt yet. Not when I didn’t know if I really felt that way and definitely not until I had some idea of how he really felt as well.

  He had been surprised by this as much as I had.

  Entering the living room we found Troy rummaging through a well-worn, army green rucksack. Kris walked over to him as he finished up and closed the ruck before standing. He gave Kris one of his false smiles and a quick hug, but his unsettling eyes found me and locked on.

  For the briefest moment I felt as if I could read something behind those eyes, but whatever it was left in a flash. Liam’s arm tightened around me possessively and I could feel a low rumble from his chest.

  Troy let Kristen go and spared Liam a smirk as he walked closer to me. “You look well, Jen. Far better than the last time I saw you. Are you all right now?”

  The concern in his voice never touched the predatory glint in his eyes and I shifted uncomfortably. Liam’s hold on me tightened and it was him that answered Troy’s question. “My bond mate is well. She simply required food.”

  “I’ve seen hungry humans before and I really doubt that needing to eat was the only problem.” Troy continued to smirk, his eyes never leaving me.

  Something clicked in my mind and I suddenly realized that Troy was trying to prove himself ‘better’ than Liam for some reason. The huge house already had Liam off balance and now Troy was subtly telling him that he knew far more about his own mate than he himself did.

  Always the pissing contest between these two.

  Kristen spoke as she walked up to the rest of us, breaking some of the tension. “I wouldn’t say she ‘simply’ needed to eat. She ate more food than should have been physically possible. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never even heard of anything like it.”

  The three shifters were all staring at me like I was some kind of puzzle they needed to solve. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’ve been human all my life and I’ve never heard of or done anything like that before either.”

  “If it is neither a human trait nor a shifter trait, what then is it?” Liam asked quietly, curious or worried. Probably both.

  “Irrelevant,” Kristen said matter of factly. “We need to leave.”

  “Your bags are in the trunk of your car,” Troy said as he fished the car keys from a pocket and handed them to Kristen. “We should take Jen’s car since it isn’t registered to any clan.”

  Kristen took the keys and nodded before leading us back to my vehicle while Troy went over to get his own bag. A few minutes later, Troy and Kristen’s luggage was in the trunk, next to mine and Liam’s.

  “Jen, I’ll keep driving, ok? Just in case you have another episode.” Kristen didn’t even wait for me to answer before opening the driver’s door and getting inside. Troy took the passenger seat, leaving Liam and I stuffed in the back. After some adjusting of seats so that Liam wasn’t eating his knees, we left, heading north towards Canada.

  The lights of town, of home, slowly grew dimmer behind us as we drove further and further away. The hum of the engine and quiet inside of the car had me feeling sleepy immediately. Closing my eyes, I leaned against Liam who put his arm around me to hold me close.

  Wrapped in a cocoon of warmth and protection, I fell asleep.

  Chapter Four

  Liam

  Jen’s head lay softly on my lap as she slept, my hand resting on her side. I thrilled in the feel of her body against mine, all luscious curves and smooth skin. The need to have her fully naked again tore through me and was forced down. This was not the time, nor was it the place.

  I was unaccustomed to waiting.

  We were parked, engine still running, near a small cabin on the side of a dirt road. I watched warily as a large man approached us, waiting for the wind to blow our way so that we could confirm he was a shifter. As he had already done with us.

  There.

  The musk and earthiness that identified all shifters came in lightly. The nuances of his scent told me the large male was a Kodiak, border ‘officers’ were usually bears. It was rare that anyone would challenge, or even push, one of that clan’s notoriously cantankerous members.

  Without a word the inspection began. A slow walk around the car, all our windows open so he could test the air, before leaning in on Kristen’s door. He made a show of breathing each of our scents in turn, lingering as he faced Jen’s prone form. The entire purpose of his position was to ensure humans didn’t know about border crossings like this one. Even his uniform was the same as the human officials wore.

  Fortunately Jen was asleep and obviously had no idea where she was, so her telling other humans was unlikely. She was also carrying my scent which marked her as my mate, which took time to build.

  Without taking his eyes from Jen he moved to my window and went so far as to lean inside to get the best possible scent from her. If we had drugged or kidnapped her for whatever reason, he’d be able to smell it. Doing so wasn’t completely unheard of, though it was frowned upon. He would have to alert the local tribe at the least.

  Surprisingly, he reached in as if he were going to touch her. More surprisingly I found my wolf taking over and I growled challengingly, staring him down. So much for that being a rare occurrence.

  But I’d be damned if I would let anyone touch my mate.

  Troy and Kristen were staring back at me in shock. Fortunately the guard just snorted, gave a nod, and withdrew from our car. Stepping back he waved us on, turning to his cabin without a single word spoken.

  “That was a stupid thing to do, I thought we’d be scraping what was left of you off of his cabin.” Kristen’s nervousness came through in her words as she rolled up all our windows.

  Troy still stared at me, shock clear on his face. The coward likely wouldn’t stand up to a mouse, even one about to touch Kris.

  I said nothing and we continued on our journey in silence. Internally I marveled at how much my life had changed in such a short time. From being the next clan alpha and starting a pack of my own, to breaking one of our oldest laws and going into hiding to delay my execution.

  All for a human.

  Jen was hardly ‘just’ a human, though. She ignited something inside of me that I hadn’t known existed, and that made all the difference in the world. Never before had I met someone who could feel so many emotions so strongly, yet retain control over herself as she experienced them. She was full of a passion for life and possessed an inner strength many shifters lacked.

  It didn’t hurt that she was stunningly beautiful, either.

  I drank her scent in deeply, greedily, thrilling in the mind-spinning complexity of it. Even while she slept she gave off such an intoxicating array that it was easy to understand how I had become addicted.

  Lost in my thoughts of an impossible future with my bond mate, I didn’t notice when we had reached our destination until we were parked in front of a tall building. Our hotel, apparently.

  “I’ll go see what they have available.” Troy opened his door and stepped out, disappearing into the building.

  “Hopefully we’ll be able to get rooms here. I’m ready for bed, not a ride around Montreal looking for open rooms.” Kristen’s voice was muffled. I looked around the seat and found her resting her head on her arms across the steering wheel.

  It had been a long and exhausting few days for everyone.

  Unfortunately, the hotel was full. As was the next, and the one after that as well. Troy disappeared into the fourth one, I didn’t even look at the name.

  “If this one doesn’t come through, I’m going to sleep in the car.” Kristen was getting progressively more exhausted. She had even lost some control of her emotions and I was catching uncharacteristic scents from her, all of which were covered in loss.

  I had been so wrapped up in my own concerns that I hadn’t given any thought to hers. She had lost everything as well, more than she had planned on. If it had just been her and Troy on the mountain last night, she would have just been exile
d. For her that would have only meant moving in with Troy since the tribe would no longer pay for her house in town.

  Everything else would have remained the same.

  For the first time, I realized that what I had inadvertently done by bonding Jen had uprooted my sister and Troy as well. I suddenly hated him a little less, he had left his life behind as well.

  All because of me.

  “Kris... I apologize for everything.” My voice was quiet, I rarely felt as if I needed to be sorry for my actions. “You and Troy should return to your homes. This is an issue of my own, neither of you need to be here.”

  “An apology? Jen has had a positive effect on you, Li.” Kristen sat up and sighed heavily, sadness rolling off of her in waves. “Who knows how much time you really have before... Well, I want to spend it with you. You’re the only family I have left.”

  Yet another thing I hadn’t given thought to, my execution would leave my sister with nobody. She would lose her last connection to the tribe, exile likely had seemed a blessing to her before.

  Troy opened the door, disrupting the moment. He eyed us both, obviously aware of Kris’s sadness, but let it pass without comment. “We have rooms here. We need to bring our bags up first, parking is a block away.” Troy’s voice seemed strained as Kristen handed him the keys to unlock the trunk.

  “Jen, we’re here,” I said as I gently shook her awake. Mumbling incoherently she shifted in the car seat and rubbed her face deeper into my lap. “Mate, as much as I love where your head is currently at, we do need to get out.”

  “Mmm. What?” Jen sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

  “Enjoy your nap?” Kristen asked from the front, grinning back at us. “We’re here.”

  Jen looked around, surprised, and nodded as she yawned before leaning her head against the car window. Her hand fumbled around awkwardly before she found the door handle. Getting out of the car she stood, stretched, and immediately began to shiver.

  I left the car as well, but thoroughly enjoyed the cool northern air. Small flecks of snow danced in the atmosphere as I walked to the back of the car and retrieved the bags for Jen and I.