“Just tell me you aren’t a douche nozzle,” Archer told the voice on his speakers.
“Rude,” Gage said, drawing out the word. Silence fell again. Hesitation stretched and dropped pins in Archer’s stomach. “I’m not a douche nozzle, dude. I just… this wasn’t our problem for a while and now that we’re back, we’ve got to pick up their pieces. I won’t say I’m not mad. I’m pissed at them for being hypocrites, but… I don’t know, man.”
“Then you stand tall and prove to them why they’re hypocrites. Karma has caught up with all of us. Let’s just hope karma brought something nice with it, too.”
Archer’s mind immediately flipped to Joanna. He wanted to hear her laugh again. It’d been such a pure and vibrant sound, lighting her face with emotion he hadn’t seen on her since he’d come home. He would fix her life and what he’d fucked up.
He turned the SUV into the muddy driveway, gliding past the bent and broken gate that was stuck open. It wasn’t like the damned gate would really keep anyone out, he thought.
He put it into park and kicked open the door. Gage appeared outside, a beer bottle in his hand that never would have held such a frilly coffee drink. He narrowed his eyes at his brother.
“Did you enjoy your date?”
Archer froze. Gage smiled over the mouth of his beer bottle, like the mom that bought the gift she said she’d never get you. Archer wanted to punch the smug smile off his face, but didn’t.
“It wasn’t a date.”
“Sure, it wasn’t. I didn’t look up Joanna’s favorite drink on social media and tell you to order it for me at all. I didn’t catch her outside the coffee shop by accident after all.”
“I hate you.”
“Love you too, bro.”
Archer stormed past his brother. He stomped through the house. It hadn’t been a date. There was no reason to go on dates. His bear hungered for Joanna, for the taste of her, the feel of her. It begged for more. It begged to protect her, but that was the animal instinct talking. There was no affection attached to the attraction he felt.
Upstairs, the sound of coughing echoed down the stairs. It was a haunting sound, bringing unwanted emotions and thoughts to the surface. Archer didn’t have the time or energy to process it all. He reached for the bear inside of him and dragged it to the surface. The creature was sated, but it could see the struggle the human part of him was having. The bear took over and his body grew until a chocolate colored beast appeared.
Archer settled down on the cold ground and looked out over the woods beyond. The trees he’d wrecked on day one were still golden and raw. They lay like toppled soldiers. He hoped the battle between him and Killian would not look like that. The fight would be won if he and Killian were the only two casualties.
Chapter Eleven
Joanna knew she should have been home, but when her Pack was safe elsewhere, she had no reason to stay. The way Killian watched her that morning worried her. She’d felt his gaze like pin pricks along her back. There as something he knew that he wasn’t letting on. One way or another, his days were numbered.
He just didn’t know it.
She found herself walking along the border between the Bart and Vancourt territories. Her feet kicked through the last of the snow, stubbornly clinging to the earth in dirty patches, as she walked along the edge of the woods. On one side of her was a small, quiet pond that glimmered with the reflection of the night sky above.
The boys had been home only a meager handful of days and she could already hear the roars of bears fighting in the stone house. She kept her distance, knowing the pack meeting was not her place, even if she wanted to know every detail. Joanna yearned to know why the pack would barely lift a hand to help her family, why they wouldn’t tell Sampson what was happening to her.
Joanna shook her head. No, she didn’t need them. Already, they’d proved incapable of putting a stop to this. If there was anyone she could rely on in this world, it was herself. She would have to find the strength to end Killian on her own.
She just didn’t know how to go about doing that yet. Options bounced through her mind, things she wished she didn’t have to think of. Things that might stain her soul. But, wasn’t it already stained with the events of the past four years? She’d lived through too much horror already, watched one man come into her life and destroy it all. What was left of her family’s Pack cowered before Killian and the new shifters he brought in.
Killian was collecting those who thought like him, shifters with a taste for the violent. They did his bidding with glee, destroying the world around them. They were coyotes and hyenas. Where he’d dug them up, she didn’t know. What would she do with his flunkies once she ridded the world of Killian? Did she have the power to deal with them, too?
“Do you think they’ll do it?” Ashe’s voice asked.
In the dark, her figure glowed. The psychic had projected again, a quick way of finding her friend when she hid from the world.
Joanna rolled her eyes at the astral projection. “Why are you putting your faith in them? They did squat for you when they were still part of the Vancourt pack.”
“What did the Pack do for them back then?” Ashe countered.
She had a point. Joanna didn’t want to admit it, but she did. The Vancourt pack had stuck so steadfastly to their rules and traditions that no one thought twice about casting a bunch of teenagers into the human world. Did none of them think about how that might change them?
“They’re going to bring change, Jo. I’ve seen it.”
“Uh huh. Did you see Killian in your cards, too?”
Ashe looked stricken.
Joanna’s chest fell. It’d been a low blow, but she was running on empty. Being a mouse in Killian’s game, struggling with the pull she still felt toward Archer, it sucked the life out of her.
“You know I would have done everything in my power to make sure that didn’t happen if I’d seen it,” Ashe said, her voice low. It fluttered between the naked branches and made the green buds tremble.
“Yeah. I know.” Joanna knew she was the one who had to fix this. There was no one else to blame, as much as she wanted to blame Archer. They’d both been foolish kids with the hearts of dreamers. His mistake seemed to have played out alright for him, but hers had destroyed the lives of so many.
She let her head fall into her hands. Soon, it would be over soon. The words repeated like a mantra in her head as she saw visions of what life could be like after. It wouldn’t be the best, but it was something to hope for. The rest of her Pack could get on with their lives, even find a new Pack if that was what they wanted.
Ashe yawned and stretched. “This is draining. I should go to bed.”
“Do what you have to do,” Joanna said softly. She wished she could see her friend in person, but the woman had lived such a rough life that the current state of the Packs terrified her.
Joanna kicked a rock in her path. It skittered against the ground before plopping into a mud puddle. She could do this. All she had to do was think. Create a carefully calculated plan. That was it. But, the weight of it sat against her chest. It made even the airy sky, studded with silvery stars, feel heavy and oppressive.
“What are you still doing here?”
Joanna spun to find a bloodied Archer standing behind her. He cocked his head and spit out a mouthful of blood, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. He looked like he’d just finished round three with a boxer, one that had spiked gloves.
“What the hell happened to you?”
“Attempt two on Dad’s life,” Archer said as his wounds slowly closed. “Never thought I’d be protecting the old man from his own.”
“He’s weak now; it makes him an easy target to those who crave power.” She knew a lot about those types now. “I’m not saying what they’re doing is right. Just that I’m not surprised.”
Archer scowled as if the idea hadn’t occurred to him before. “I guess. The whole pack is a damned mess.”
“Ev
erything is a mess,” Joanna corrected. But, she would fix it. She was the only one who could.
She knew she should be on her way home soon. Killian would start asking questions and become suspicious if she lingered any longer, but she couldn’t seem to pull herself away from the man before her. If anything, she felt her feet pulling her closer to him.
Lifting a hand, she wiped away the last of the blood from his cheek, brushing the soft hair of his beard in the process. She might have been mistaken, but it almost felt as if he leaned into her touch.
“Anyone tell you that you smell damn good?” Archer grumbled.
Joanna jerked her hand back. Cold slapped her body, making a small shudder ripple through her. That’s what Killian said every time he crawled to her bed.
You smell good, Kitty Cat. Purr for me, Kitty Cat.
“Nope,” Joanna lied, but the word was too quick and Archer caught it.
Archer’s brows knit together, as if he sensed the fear that slipped over her in that moment. Even if he had sensed her fear, he said nothing about it. Instead, he looked past her and let out a small growl. She glanced back, fear slicing through her as she wondered if Killian stalked her through the dark woods, but the feeling of being watched wasn’t there.
“Do you think you’re here for good?” Joanna ventured. She could hope that the three brothers would stay and bring peace to the territories like they were supposed to. She could hope Archer would decide to finally put down roots somewhere nearby. “The marriage proposal is long gone, but there’s room for you here.”
Archer snorted, pulling his attention back to her. His sharp eyes pinned her to the spot. “Did you even want to be tied to me? It would have been a loveless arrangement. You would have been chained to me like a dog on a leash. And, me to you.”
“Is that how you felt about it? Like I was some sort of restraint?”
Archer shook his head. “Marriage is the restraint. It binds people to a lie that no one can live up to. Why even bother with something that painful?”
Joanna’s brows shot toward the sky. The man who’d run away from his family for the love of a human woman had just called marriage a lie. No, he’d called love a lie. How could anyone believe that? She glanced toward the house in the distance, the yellow lights glowing in the narrow windows.
She might have thought love was a lie if she grew up with Sampson Vancourt, too. No matter what she’d gone through, Joanna didn’t want to believe such things. She’d known the love of her family, seen love between her parents, the way her father made her mother’s favorite meals for her or the way her mother brought home his favorite game-time snacks. Maybe love wasn’t meant for her, but it existed. It was possible and it could help the hurt move forward, at least she hoped it would help what remained of her Pack.
“It doesn’t matter if we didn’t love each other in the beginning,” Joanna said, her throat tight. “That might have happened in time, but I know one thing for sure. Killian never would have happened if you’d stayed.”
She closed her eyes against the peaceful night while a battle raged inside her. The lynx let out a ragged sound, half roar and half whimper. She was a small cat, barely able to protect herself from the larger shifters like Killian. Her mind told her that if she’d had the big bear of a shifter, her life would have been peacefully blissful. She wanted to shove the weight she’d been carrying onto Archer.
“I’ll be here just long enough to fix it,” Archer said. Her eyes snapped open to meet his somber face. He held her gaze and the world shrunk until it was just the two of them. Electric sparks danced from her chest to her core. “I promise you that.”
Her throat closed. She couldn’t rely on his promises. They’d gone through this once before and she knew how it would end. As serious as his voice was, it meant nothing. That was what she had to remind herself as her body relaxed around him. The lynx wanted to believe him. She wanted to purr and roll at his feet.
“After that…” he hesitated. When he spoke again, his voice was little more than a muttered whisper. “Well, don’t wait around for me.”
Stupid cat, she thought.
“I do regret not sticking around long enough to know what you taste like, though.” Archer’s voice rumbled up her spine and sent a new kind of shudder through her. He shifted closer to her, the heat of his body dancing along her exposed skin. “I regret being unable to teach you what a real man looks like.”
She shook her head. “You think an awful lot of yourself, Archer. Your Vancourt side is showing.”
Even while she rebuked him, her face warmed and her core tingled. She wanted to know what he felt like, too. The kiss they’d shared earlier had left her head spinning. She hadn’t been able to tell if it was the surprise of it all or if it was Archer Vancourt who made her feel that way. Joanna reminded herself she would not find out.
He wasn’t going to stick to his promise. He wasn’t going to stay.
Even so, Archer attempted to close the distance between them. He pressed closer and Joanna waged a war with herself. Logic said to step back, but her body begged her to stay put. It begged her for his touch once again, fulfilling the long dormant dreams of a teenage version of herself.
“You think I can’t deliver on my promises?” He whispered.
Her body shook, the tremor leaving her core pulsing. There was an invitation between them. He’d made it clear several times over. She imagined their clothes torn away, her back against a tree as he rammed home inside her. It was a tempting idea.
His nostrils flared, and a crooked smile touched his lips. She bit her lip, realizing he could smell her sudden desire. What could it hurt, she wondered? She shoved the idea from her mind.
Killian could smell him on her, she reminded herself. The threat of being found out was enough to make her run back to the store for a toothbrush after he’d kissed her. She washed the smell and the taste of Archer from her body to keep anyone from finding out. There were secrets Joanna had to protect, and no man was worth the risk.
Joanna turned away from him, drawing her shirt over her head and revealing her skin to the moonlight. Behind her, Archer let out a sound of appreciation, one that turned into a growl of anticipation. He took a few steps toward her, but she wasn’t about to give him what he wanted.
Her lynx flowed forth, body bending and breaking into form. Her teeth gritted against the tingling pain. She was bigger than a natural lynx, nearly double its size. Her heavy paws slapped the muddy earth and crunched through the small patches of snow as she shook out her new fur.
“Tease,” Archer growled, his voice low. The small show had roused him, and it made the lynx laugh with joy.
She danced across the ground, begging him to come out and play with her. Joanna didn’t know the last time she’d felt so alive. Maybe it was the animal pushing back her human concerns. Maybe it was the clear, night sky. All she knew was that she wanted to play. She wanted to leap and pounce and enjoy herself for once.
Archer smiled, a crooked thing that warmed her heart, before he tore off his own shirt and bent forward. The bear inside him was a great, massive thing. All three brothers had grizzly bears, but Archer was the largest of them all. Once his shift finished and he leaned back on his hind paws, he stood near eight feet tall. His paws were big enough to wreck trees, something she’d watched in person now, and his muzzle could have contained her head.
She let out a rumbling yowl and leapt into the woods. It was hard for the massive bear to keep up. His form wasn’t meant for the quick play that she wanted, so she circled back before he could find her, and slapped his flank with her paw.
He reared up, twisting to find her, but she was gone again. Her grey and brown fur blurred with the woods around them, disappearing into the darkness. Archer dropped on all fours again with a huff. Unable to follow her, he continued forward.
When he reached a small clearing, Joanna jumped from the tree line. She pounced on his form, biting the thick layer of fur as she growled. He wasn’t s
mall prey, but he was a great big target.
Archer twisted and clamped both paws around her, lifting her from his body. She writhed and struggled, but he held her tight. The sound that came from him was like a laugh, if bears could laugh. It was a series of huffs that made the lynx purr until she calmed in his grip. Joanna hadn’t realized how much she needed this. Here, in the woods on the Vancourt territory, she felt truly safe. No one was hunting her or stalking her through life like they did when she was on her own territory.
Archer pulled her into his body, wrapping his bear arms around her. Joanna paused. She considered the bear holding her like a child’s toy. Anger moved through her, hot and sudden. If he’d stayed, this could have been her life. Maybe he was right, they might not have loved each other, but she would have been happy.
Was that too much to ask? Just happiness and safety?
Before Joanna could let the thought fester, a sound split the night air. Both of them shot up. She rolled off the bear’s body and landed on her own feet, heart pounding. Archer rose to his full height, putting his weight onto his hind legs. He scanned the woods around them, confused.
But, Joanna knew what was happening. She’d stayed away too long, and Killian had sent out his shifters to find her. She cast a glance at the bear beside her, ready to fight. He might be ready to make a stand, but she knew if she fought alongside him, the shifters would go back to Killian. They would tell him she’d betrayed the Pack and it would be the end of her life.
***
Archer could see it in her body. Joanna was tensed to run. As much as Archer wanted to use this moment to rid the world of some of Killian’s shifters, he knew now wasn’t the time. It was one of those moments that would make or break a future.
He remembered seeing her enter Paul’s Mart, her eyes on the floor like she’d been broken. Rage made his lips curl. Killian had held onto her, not once letting her go. The monster had even dared to call her his mate. His heart clenched, and he made a quick decision. He would probably regret it later, but it seemed right in the moment.
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