by KH LeMoyne
“It probably is the best option,” she muttered and then nodded to Breslin. “No one would ever expect us to go there.”
“No one survives those caves,” Quinn snapped out before his expression shut down and he shrugged. “I mean—”
“You know I have more than once. Now please give me a few moments. I’ll meet you at the car.”
Quinn folded his arms. “I’m not leaving you with him.”
“You don’t get to make decisions for me.” She dragged in a deep breath. Really? Heaven save her from overprotective males. “Besides, he’s not going to rip out all the beautiful stitches he put in.”
For a long moment, she wondered if Quinn would actually refuse. Then he jerked a nod. “Five minutes.”
With an eye roll, she turned back to Breslin, her muscles tightening at the sudden stillness that had come over him. “What will you do until we rendezvous?”
The tight line of his mouth twitched, not with humor this time. Definitely anger, though she couldn’t tell if her discussion of the caves had incited him or if it was Quinn’s responses. “I’ll be laying false trails to cover your tracks. We can’t have them following us this time.”
Right, strategizing was a good idea. One she’d have come up with if every muscle in her body wasn’t throbbing with pain—and odd anticipation.
Before she could react, he moved closer, grasped her jaw with unexpected gentleness, and closed his lips over hers. Soft and yet dominating, his tongue slid over her lips until she opened for him. Some part of his beast claimed control as he delved with a kiss that consumed and burned for more. She swayed into him, her pain suddenly almost unnoticeable. She bit back a whimper as he lifted his head. His breath heated her lips, and from the hot gleam in his eyes, she wondered if he’d kiss her again.
“He was right about not leaving you alone with me.” He moved away and picked up two of the still unconscious and bound men, hauling each one over a shoulder. With a quick backward glance, he looked at her lips as if he might kiss her again. She’d let him. “Four hours.”
Then he disappeared into the woods.
Jacob entered the bar and scoured the dimly lit interior until he caught sight of Rebel sitting in a back corner booth. Dread worked into a fierce knot, bunching the muscles between his shoulder blades, but he kept his expression blank and stalked past tables filled with the after-work crowd.
Rebel didn’t look at him but finished whatever call she was making on her phone. Then she placed it before her on the table, her palms down and her face averted.
He sank onto the bench across from her and raised a finger to the bartender across the room. “Sam has Rayven, and we should have the Wilsons within the hour,” he offered, not quite able to pin down what was sending his wolf into a tailspin.
One thing he knew, he hated being beneath her thumb and reporting in like a juvenile.
She turned her gaze to him with an icy glare that froze him in his seat. It was all he could do not to squirm even as his anger boiled. He resented how easily she made him feel both incompetent and emasculated.
“It would seem you’re wrong on both counts. Black’s enforcer freed Rayven from Sam and his men. And I suspect she is headed, as we speak, to hide the Wilsons—again.”
Jacob swallowed hard and tried to figure out what he had missed in the last several minutes. “That’s not possible.”
Rebel slid her finger across her phone and turned it for him to see. He wasn’t familiar with the software program, but the rows of green dots interspersed with an occasional red seemed self-explanatory. With one pearlized fingernail, she tapped a red dot. “That used to be one of the men assigned to assist Sam.”
Shit. She had them all chipped with tracking devices? Had she managed to get one under his skin? The odds were low since he hadn’t slept with her in months. But still.
Sliding the phone away from him and tucking it in a pocket of her formfitting vest, she sank against the backboard of the booth and stroked a hand over the talisman strung from a silver chain around her neck. Ugly thing. He glanced quickly away as he caught her eyes narrowing on him.
He ran several scenarios through his head with the new information. The conclusions left a bitter taste in his mouth. “What do you want done about Rayven?”
“She’s still expendable.”
Expendable to Rebel, perhaps, but he had every intention of finding the alpha’s daughter and making her his. The only reason he’d bothered to deal with this bitch was to rid them all of Gauthier. Frankly, he’d expected Rebel to fail and take the fall.
Even as he considered his reasoning, a chilling wave of power washed over him, sinking down into his pores and rooting him to his seat. He balked and tried to move. It was as if a thousand tiny barbs pinned him in place. With extreme effort, he might be able to lunge, though better to keep what strength he had a secret since Rebel’s smirk claimed she took credit for his discomfort.
She leaned forward, her black eyes glistening. “She’s worthless to me. As you can tell, the alpha’s mantle is almost mine. All I need are a few more youngsters to complete the studies, and my backers will be satisfied. Money and power will be mine. Then I can publicly claim the alpha position.”
Alpha power? Rebel’s little sideshow was impressive. Still, if she thought she was anywhere near her father’s former strength, she was delusional. He growled the first thing that came to his mind. “Who are you working with to create this magic, shifters or humans?”
His throat constricted until only a wheezing breath escaped his lips and his lungs fought for air.
She leaned across the table and tapped a nail to his cheek, digging in with the sharp tip. “I won’t tolerate insubordination, Jacob. Who I choose to associate with is no concern of yours. The only thing you need concentrate on is the capability of increasing our numbers with my new soldiers and protecting our borders. Your role is to lead my troops, not make decisions.”
He gritted his teeth and forced the words. “If others find out, the alphas will retaliate.”
A wide smile broke across her face, pulling tight across her cheeks in a way that displayed sharp teeth at their most feral. Her long black hair pulled into a harsh bun added to the severity of her expression.
How had he ever thought her attractive? Like a shot, he realized how much she’d changed from even a few weeks ago. Until recently, she’d kept her glossy hair shoulder length—like Rayven. Her cheeks and lips no longer bore the dusting of color that mimicked Rayven’s natural hue and hinted at her heart-shaped beauty either. He flashed back in dismay, realizing Rebel had adopted the same hand gestures and body movements, trying too hard for things that came naturally for Rayven, natural for offspring born to an alpha by his mate. All affectations Rebel had now dropped.
She’d lured him in and snagged him. Fury built inside him.
Just as well she’d shed the façade. No matter how hard Rebel tried, she couldn’t erase the fact that she was born a half-breed to an unmated mother with none of the privileges and status, she craved. A child Gauthier had sentenced to death as an infant with her survival credited to a lack of follow-through on the alpha’s part. That fatal piece of information was the key to his downfall.
Jacob didn’t regret Karndottir’s death, but given the new monster seated before him, he regretted that Rayven remained unaware of her half sister’s existence. And of the hatred brewing inside her.
Too late he realized how dangerous that was, to himself, and to Rayven. And to anyone who stood in Rebel’s path. Because while she paled in comparison to her half sister, Rebel would control immense power once she solidified her final hold on the alpha mantle. Potentially rivaling or exceeding Daddy Dearest as the most vile and ruthless.
However, one key thing held true. Jacob was a survivor, more so than Rebel or Rayven. The alpha tribunal could fall off the face of the planet for all he cared.
Showing his shock at the reach of Rebel’s plans was stupid. But he’d recover his standing with
her if he hadn’t already damaged his chances. “How do you want me to proceed?”
She watched him as if reading his mind. “I want you to contact Deacon Black’s assistant and request tribunal attendance for yourself and two guards to represent our clan.”
“You can’t be afraid they’ll find her innocent.” He winced as his lungs compressed.
Her features drew together in an ugly frown. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
Unable to respond, he dipped his head and choked out, “Poor choice of words.”
“Yes. However, if that slim chance comes to pass, then you will immediately find a way to kill my sister. Or I will kill you.”
11
“We can get you on a private chartered plane and halfway to the other side of the planet by tomorrow.” Quinn pressed the accelerator around a curve, and Rayven grabbed for the door handle to keep from pitching against him. “You’ll be far enough out of his reach and miles away before the enforcer figures it out.”
“I’m not running.” Rayven couldn’t believe Breslin had agreed to let her go. Still, she wasn’t about to question her luck, much less break the small bit of trust they’d built between them by running. “I was serious about getting Alpha Black’s help.”
She brushed her fingers over her lips, a residual tingle of Breslin’s kiss still a memory there. Not that it meant anything.
It was his job to get her to his alpha in one piece. She’d consider herself pitiful for being grateful for his help if she hadn’t witnessed a crack in his normally implacable armor. He might be hard to read, yet anger had blazed from him during the fight earlier. Anger that had built as he’d stitched her wound. Anger somehow connected to her situation and not her actions. Quinn’s idiocy siphoned off a fraction of Breslin’s burn. But more than his annoyance with her clansman fueled Breslin’s irritation.
She’d survived on her abilities to read people, and what she’d read in Breslin told her they’d somehow passed a milestone. Now if she could just figure out why.
She gestured toward the right side of the road. “Pull over into the library parking lot. And don’t bring up my situation while we’re here.”
Quinn frowned at the cars. “Why are all these people here when the library is closed? .”
“Overflow from the gas station and service repair next door. Which, before you ask, always has a closed sign visible,” Rayven said, though the station’s main lights were all dark. Only the red lights above the doorway in the rear of the building and a faint flicker behind the blackened repair bay doors indicated there were people inside. The number of cars indicated many people were inside. Both factors hinted that the station owner was running a gaming joint that made more money than his day job. Which worked in her favor since no one would pay them any attention.
“You’ve used this location before?” Quinn asked as he turned off the car and scanned around them.
“I’ve used lots of places. But this is where the Wilsons’ contact was to wait for me for a few hours before they headed to Calgary.” Rayven was already shutting the door and heading toward several people sitting on a partially secluded bench to the side of the library. One woman with honey-blonde hair escaping from beneath a ball cap detached herself from the group and rose to meet Rayven. “Aubrey Bouchard, I should have known you’d be early.”
“I’m always early.” One hip cocked and her arms crossed over her chest, Aubrey frowned. “What is he doing here?”
The Wilsons had stood at her arrival, projecting equal parts fear and disbelief. Olivia clutched her daughter to her side. Her younger son’s eyes widened though he stepped forward.
Liam Wilson seemingly pushed through in a slow-motion haze, finally recognizing Quinn, and grabbed his son back against him. “Rayven, we’ve trusted you. I know you’ve done everything you can for Nathan, but that man works for Jacob.” The last came out in a hiss.
Quinn held his hands up as if about to explain. “I—”
“Don’t.” Liam shook his head. “It won’t matter what you say.”
Stuffing his fists into his jeans pockets, Quinn pressed his lips together and turned toward Rayven with an “I told you so” look.
Taking in everyone’s reaction in those split seconds, Rayven tried to piece together a way to defuse everyone. The Wilsons were visibly rattled. Aubrey, her best scavenger and guardian from the network of spies she collected throughout her father’s clan, appeared openly defiant.
And with Jacob’s team getting closer and Sam likely on their tail, time was running out. The first thing to resolve was the distrust blanketing everyone. “I know you have some concerns.”
Liam’s lips curled back, showing teeth. “Concerns don’t begin to cover it. He had Nathan’s trust. Encouraged a relationship with our son, and then suddenly, our boy was gone.”
“I had nothing to do with Nathan’s abduction.” Quinn gritted his teeth and shook his head at Rayven. “You know I didn’t. I would never harm any of the children. Exactly the opposite, I—”
“You just showed up in our town, encouraged a bond with our son, and, coincidently, he disappears from the training site where he spends time with you. And then you are nowhere to be found either,” Liam continued.
Quinn hung his head and released a harsh breath. Then he glanced up at Liam and Olivia Wilson. “You’re right about one thing. I did target him.”
Olivia sucked in a deep breath and pressed a fist against her mouth. Quinn shifted on his feet, and the Wilsons jerked, their gazes skittering around the parking lot as if they were preparing to run.
Hands splayed, Quinn stepped back. “He fit the profile too closely of a boy I knew who was kidnapped. I wanted to find others at risk before they became victims. I also hoped training Nathan would give him a chance in case he was targeted.” His look implored the couple, and even Rayven could feel his exasperation wrap around her. But the Wilsons were having none of it.
“Tell them the rest of your story,” she said.
Quinn held back, jawline rigid. “It won’t matter to them.”
“Awfully big coincidence,” Aubrey said.
Rayven bit back the urge to tell Aubrey to stay out of this, but it wouldn’t do any good. Perhaps now was the best time for everyone to clear the air. Aubrey’s normally soft brown eyes hardened as they trained on Quinn. Her lithe body tensed, though her fingers didn’t tremble the way Rayven knew they would right before she shifted for attack.
“Quinn, that wasn’t a request. Tell them about your background,” Rayven snapped. “About your younger brother.”
He pursed his lips but nodded. “My kid brother was taken several years ago by the same group. I finally found him—with Rayven’s help. But not in time.”
At Olivia’s gasp and choked sob, he stiffened and glanced away. Rayven rubbed at her face but couldn’t dispel the image of Nyle Regan caught in a painful and impossible midshift at the age of ten with Quinn at his bedside. Shifter doctors didn’t exist in Rayven’s clan. And she doubted even alpha power could change the boy back, not that Karndottir would have bothered. The bottles of chemical cocktails she and Quinn had found in the run-down shack where his brother had been abandoned as an experiment gone wrong didn’t have names and labels, only numbers. Hell, it was all they could do to leave before the shack had blown sky-high.
They’d put miles between the boy and his abductors, but the only help she’d been able to provide was some high-dose painkillers stolen from the medical storage in an all-night clinic.
She flashed to Breslin breaking into the trunk of a car and taking clothes for her. Guess they had breaking and entering in common.
Sadly, even the drugs she’d stolen didn’t stem the child’s pain. Before finding him, she’d considered returning him to his family a success. But watching him die in his brother’s arms and be buried in a remote and hidden grave to keep human curiosity away from shifter business didn’t equate to any form of success.
“Look, I understand how bad the situ
ation seems,” Rayven said softly. She moved past Quinn and closer to the Wilsons. “And part of this is my fault. I’ve actually worked with many people in this clan. People who hide and need help because our clan doesn’t offer equal opportunity. None of you knows each other, and by default, none of you trusts one another. I get it. We had no choice. Secrecy kept people safe.”
She rubbed a hand at the back of her neck and glanced toward the sky. No help there. “But my father’s gone now, and the risks are still increasing. I need each of you to understand that I’m not going to give up on finding Nathan or helping make changes. But I can’t do this alone anymore. What we need is a team of people who can work together.”
The Wilsons leaned together, their faces still tense, but she had their attention. Aubrey’s posture relaxed, her weight settled back on her heels and her arms crossed over her chest. A defiant look still there, perhaps, but she was at least listening.
“Quinn said he was trying to help Nathan. He’s also tried to help me out of a tight jam.” She waited, allowing that to sink in. “If I can save kids because of the information he gathered while working for Jacob, then I’m okay with the risks he’s taking if he is. He may even be able to find Nathan.”
Quinn cut a look her way. “You are not sending me off while you go back to that—”
Rayven raised her palm, then jabbed her forefinger at him. “I am going to do what is in the best interest of the people who need me. The part only I can do. You are going to take the Wilsons to Calgary. There you’ll meet up with Elijah at his bar and continue your search for Nathan.”
As the Wilsons started to shake their heads, she continued. “The very fact that you all show up together will be Elijah’s confirmation that I sent you. He will make certain that you’re hidden together,” she said to the Wilsons. “And if he has any information on the movement of the abducted children, he’ll give it to you,” she said to Quinn. “Because Aubrey will be there by that time to confirm what I want to have happen.”