by Cara Carnes
The bluster abandoned her the moment Ryker left. Determination and fierce protectiveness fled her stance, and she crumpled against Thane a moment. Then she tensed, as if recalling whose arm was around her.
“Let me go, Thane,” she whispered. “I’ll go home. For now.”
“Thinking I’d better make sure.”
“What?”
“I’m pretty sure I spoke English. I’m taking you home.”
“No you’re not.” Her voice rose. “I know where I live.”
“So do I, Dani. Let’s go.”
***
Shock had settled in. It was the only logical reason Dani could grasp as to why she hadn’t argued longer, fought to either remain on the scene or leave alone. Thane had changed over the years. Any softness she’d once glimpsed within the warrior had been battered and sharpened into an inflexible exterior.
A very, very hard exterior. She swallowed as her gaze roamed from his impossibly broad shoulders and down his massive biceps. No man needed that many muscles. He should be deemed a weapon against womankind. A shiver rushed through her.
He’d once been hers.
Two years had passed since then. Although a lot had changed, so much hadn’t. The invisible connection, the one which latched onto her heart and soul and suckled greedily, still hummed with awareness. Her skin itched, and her body pulsated with a primal need to rub against him, cover every inch of his sinewy flesh so every woman daring to visually molest him knew he was hers. He may have left her in a million shattered pieces, but a part of her wanted him more than ever.
She’d moved on over the last year, finally accepting the fact no amount of sweat and tears could salvage the familial homestead her pops let rot. Pride had kept her there far longer than common sense dictated, but she owed it to her mom’s bloodline to try.
Thane maintained a silent, steady pace several yards in front of her—as if sensing she’d needed time to reconcile her mind to tonight’s shocking turns. Sonya was dead. Slaughtered, they’d said.
Tears fell as Dani mourned the woman’s loss. She hadn’t lied earlier. Charles had changed so much because of his newfound mate. The woman had somehow navigated the impossible scarred terrain of her brother’s soul and found the terrified young man cowering within.
Sweet Sonya had deserved to live.
Poor Charles.
No matter what Ryker or Thane or anyone said, Dani wouldn’t stop until she found her brother. She owed him that, and so much more.
As they neared the fork she halted, surprised when he didn’t veer left for the abandoned homestead—the one she’d sworn to never leave while he was in Los Lobos. The more twists and turns they made along the unnamed streets and paths, the more suspicious she became.
“Someone told you I moved.”
“You could say that,” he replied.
“I just did. Care to fill in the blanks?”
“Depends.”
He halted and turned. A swoosh of awareness flooded her belly when he stepped close enough for her to inhale the heady scent she’d missed for too long. The green cotton shirt stretched over his massive chest. Her hands itched to settle there, just above his heart. It’d once been hers.
She hadn’t been wolf enough to keep him in Los Lobos. Accepting the obvious had been simple enough, mainly because so many in her pack suffered from the same problem. Magnum’s reign had destroyed many relationships. Lives.
Dani couldn’t even fault Thane for his choice. She’d been naïve then, so regimented in her ideals to save her mom’s land she hadn’t held on and fought for what mattered most.
More importantly, she hadn’t realized how dangerous staying would’ve been for Thane. The past few months, she’d heard enough whispered secrets from back then to have a better understanding. A part of her still blamed him, though.
He hadn’t trusted her with the truth.
She hadn’t mattered enough for him to bother.
He’d been her world, the sole reason she smiled every day no matter how ugly reality turned around her. Picking up her shattered pieces after his abrupt departure had nearly destroyed her. No matter how much she longed otherwise, Thane was one wolf she had no business messing with.
“Depends on what?” she asked, willing her mind back to the conversation even though her brain was still refusing to accept he was real. She’d stumbled into an alternate world, fallen into a heady dream where second chances were possible.
“Why does it matter how I found out?”
“Why did you?”
“Does it bother you I did?”
“Does it upset you I want to know why?”
A growl punctured the air as he charged the distance between them and dragged her against his body. Her hand hovered over his chest. Not hers to touch, to claim.
“Let me go, Thane.”
“Now’s not the time to play games, Dani. I asked you a question.”
“I asked you a question, too.” She dared a hesitant glance up, and the breath she’d held tumbled from her lungs.
His scent wafted in her nostrils; goose bumps formed wherever their skin touched. And those lips. She’d missed them the most, the way one kiss from him carried her into a world where no one existed but them. He’d kissed her often, too. Everyone said she lived in a Thane-induced haze.
“Just because I left doesn’t mean I left you, Dani. I did a lot of messed up things back then and my staying could’ve had a backlash. You would’ve felt it.”
“I did,” she whispered as her fingers settled against the cotton stretched across the groove between his pecs.
He grasped her hair and tugged until their eyes locked. Her pulse pounded wildly in her ears; her body tightened against him. “Why did you cut your hair?”
Because it reminded me of you.
The response remained lodged in her throat, a pained memory she didn’t want to share. He dragged her closer and leaned down. Anticipation threaded within her breaths. “Sexier than silk, softer than sin.”
“Thane.” She clutched his shirt and battled the need rising within her. It’d been too long. Too much had happened for her to pretend whatever was about to happen was okay. “We need to find Charles.”
He tensed and released her as though her touch burned him. His vacant stare regarded her in a tense silence. “We aren’t finding Charles, Dani.”
“We are. I need to help. I owe him.”
“Is that why you’re all sweet and soft now? Are you working me so I’ll let you have your way?” He pulled on her hair and chuckled. “Here’s a little hint, darling. It’ll take a hell of a lot more than a few sexy words and your sweet scent to get your way.”
What the hell? Shocked, she remained silent as he set her back a couple of feet.
“You should probably work on your strategy tonight. A girl like you, a body like that, there’s a hell of a lot better ways to handle me.” When she gasped, he continued. “I promise whatever you come up with won’t work, sweetheart. You can’t get underneath my skin like you used to. My wolf forgot you the day we left Los Lobos.”
Her hand burned from the impact against his face. Anger made her repeat the action, but he grasped her wrist.
“You get one hit free then I react.”
“You have a lot of rules. One hit, three jabs. You don’t have the right to dictate what goes down here, Thane. And fuck you for thinking I’d work you for anything. Here’s a newsflash for you. I moved on. You’re an outsider here, and I want to keep it that way. My mom told me to never sow the same ground twice. She was right.”
“Funny, didn’t look like you had problems sowing my ground a few moments ago.”
“Yeah, I’ll admit, seeing you here, now, sucks. The only thing I give a damn about right now is finding Charles. He matters, not you. He’s my pack. My blood.”
She seethed a couple of moments, waiting for a response, but he remained silent. She shook her head. “Just like always—yo
u never have a damn thing to say when it matters, Thane. I think I can manage to find my house now.”
She charged up the long driveway. To hell with Thane. She’d find Charles by herself. It’d always been her and her brother, alone against everyone.
Chapter Two
As far as bad ideas went, Dani figured hers was in the top ten, maybe even the top five. The farther she followed Thane, the more agitated her wolf grew. She’d never ventured so far from Los Lobos alone before. Okay, technically, she wasn’t alone since she shadowed her quarry from a safe, undiscernible distance. Or so she hoped.
Dominants were a law unto themselves when it came to their tracking and scenting skills. Thane remained in wolf form most of the morning but had reverted to sinewy flesh a couple of hours before. The sun battered down from high in the sky and each step pulsated through her weary limbs. He’d yet to stop, which meant neither had she.
Six foot something of beefy male moved at a hurried pace compared to a five foot and a bit of change female who rarely hiked more than a mile. Would he ever tire?
What felt like forever later, but was probably less than an hour, Dani surrendered. She’d never keep up with Thane. She collapsed on the ground and rubbed her weary calves.
“What the hell are you doing here, Dani?”
“Resting. You walk too fast. You know, I bet you’d scent things better if you slowed down. You ever thought of that?” She tugged off her left shoe and rubbed her foot with the pads of her thumbs. A soft groan escaped her. So good.
The growl rose from his throat and somehow knotted her insides. Don’t look at him. Don’t look. Their gazes collided and her pulse swooshed in her veins.
“Why are you following me?”
“You know why.” She continued rubbing her foot, easing the knots. “I need to be there when you find Charles.”
He sighed and sat on the rock across from her. Leaning over, he dragged her foot toward him and settled it in the dent between his thick thighs. She swallowed, her attention drawn toward her toes. If she flexed them forward, they’d touch his….
She gulped. Amusement glimmered in his eyes. Lips turned up in a lazy grin, he squeezed her foot.
“What makes you think I’ll find Charles first? Ryker has others searching, too. What if they find him while you’re out here, following me around?”
Damn. The odious man didn’t need to know the truth. Thane was the best at everything in Dani land. Curling her toes inward, she sighed heavily as he massaged the way only he could—hard and intense.
“You have blisters. You’ll need to summon your shift then put some of Gee’s ointment on them when you get back to Los Lobos.”
“I’m not going back.”
Fingers halted. The squeeze returned. Awareness trickled upward in bone-melting tingles. No matter how much time passed, he still fueled her arousal faster than anyone.
“Dani, you heard Ryker. Until further notice, everyone is housebound—or at least to remain where they were—and he sent you home. That means you’re marching your cute little ass back right now.”
The luscious hormonal bursts vacated, replaced by anger. “All you dominants think you know how to handle things. I’m not going home, Thane. I have to be there when you all find Charles. Do you have any idea how devastated he must be right now? He lost his mate.”
“As far as we can tell, he killed his mate and damn near killed Drew in the process.” Her wolf flexed beneath her skin at the challenge in his gravelly tone. How many times had she submitted to the rumbly huskiness?
Don’t. Charles needs you. Focus.
“Funny. It didn’t sound like you all knew much of anything. Charles may have answers, may have seen something. But the longer we waste arguing the irrefutable fact I’m on your ass like superglue until he’s found, the more likely he’ll be feral. You haven’t been here, asshat. She became his world, his entire existence.”
Thane didn’t relinquish his hold on her foot. Breathing ragged, she inhaled his scent and realized she’d leaned forward, closing the distance between them. He captured her gaze and dragged her other foot into his lap. He shimmied closer.
Shocked, she gasped as he lifted and settled her, palms on her ass, across his thighs. “That’s two, darling. Care to take your last one now, or are you done?”
Two? Shit. “You were serious about the whole three jabs at your leaving me?”
“The pack. Never left you, Dani.”
“Bullshit. You leave Los Lobos, you leave everyone. The Tao pack. Me. Us.” And there it was. The hurt, the sting she’d harbored too long. “You didn’t even give me a chance to go with you.”
“You never would’ve left your brother and no way in hell he would’ve raised stakes. Besides, you were hell bent on keeping your homestead.”
“Fat lot of good I was.” She pushed on his shoulders. “Let me go, Thane.”
“Walking away from you was the best thing I could’ve done back then, Dani. I wasn’t a good man, did things I wasn’t proud of. You needed better, deserved more.” He studied her a moment. “You were my next stop.”
“What?”
“Before the shit at the barn went down, before Ryker turned over the hunt to me.” His hands wandered to her waist. “I’d intended to make amends, see where we stood.”
“Where we stood,” she parroted.
“I heard you haven’t had a man around.”
“Where we stood,” she repeated.
“I screwed up, Dani. Walking away from the pack was screwed up.”
“Yes it was.”
“I thought it’d keep you safe, away from me and the toxic crap in my head at the time.”
The ball of angry regret unfurled in her. Her pulse rattled around as her mind fought to understand the confession. “The toxic crap in your head?”
“Magnum. The things he had me doing. The shit he forced Ryker to do. None of it was the hearts and flowers you deserved.” He brushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear. Her skin tingled from the brief contact. “But I left you alone.”
“Charles was here.”
“And that’s why you’re so set on having his back, even though he may have killed our alpha.” He growled and grabbed her neck. “This isn’t a game, Dani. You don’t get to dictate to our enforcer what you will and won’t do, not when Drew is down. March your ass home and hole up until you get the all clear or so help me I’ll….”
He looked away; his jaw twitched. Heat suffused her skin where he touched. The day’s growth along his jawline rubbed her palm when she settled it on his cheek.
The need to comfort him almost overweighed common sense, but then she remembered the anguish, the debilitating loss. He’d carved out a part of her only he knew existed. No matter what sweet words he uttered, despite any promises or vows he made to never do it again, she couldn’t take the risk.
She’d recovered once, mainly because Charles hadn’t given her a choice. He’d bullied, forced, and otherwise beat reality into her until she finally surrendered to the fact life moved on despite Thane’s absence.
Now Charles had been shredded by a real loss. Sonya wouldn’t wander back into Los Lobos a couple of years later, wanting to know where things stood. She was dead. Killed. And the idiots in Dani’s pack wanted to set blame at her brother’s door.
“Look at me, Thane.”
“Go home, Dani, where you’ll be safe.”
“You expect me to sit back and do nothing while the only person who’s been there for me no matter what is out there, is probably out of his mind with grief.” She pressed her fingertips into his skin. “Maybe you forgot who I was. Maybe you never knew, but I’m not a woman who turns her back on those she loves. I will never be that woman.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is that another jab at me leaving?”
“My world used to revolve around you. Now I can’t even figure out what universe you’re living in.” Shaking her head in disbelief, she shoved
from his hold. “I’ll go ahead and summarize where we stand. Nowhere. You don’t get to wander back in my life a couple of years after gutting my heart and think you stand anywhere. Jesus, you’re delusional.”
Dani turned and headed away. The destination didn’t matter. Getting away from Thane was the goal. To hell with him and his holier-than-thou attitude. The hound dog really thought she’d fall for the whole “I didn't leave you, I left the pack” line?
Rocks crunched against her bare feet. She stopped and turned, glaring at Thane, who stood with her socks and shoes held up in one hand.
“Forget something?”
Hobbling back to the boulder, she sat down again and sighed. “I can’t go through this again.”
“Go through what?” His warmth settled alongside her and something in her stirred.
“I only have one jab left. I should probably reserve it for later.”
“Consider this a free pass.” He rubbed her knee. Heat rushed from where he touched through her bloodstream. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know.” Hurt replaced anger. Her emotions had been shoved into a blender set to crush. “I’m not strong. Losing someone important wrecked me. I can’t handle that again. I won’t take the risk.”
“I wouldn’t ever hurt you, not intentionally.”
“You already did, Thane.” She studied his darkening eyes. “What was your plan? Before Sonya and Drew, what was your timeline for being here? Were you back back, or just around for a little while?”
His jaw twitched and his attention diverted to the left.
“So the point of you coming by to see where we stood was what exactly?” Disgusted by the unspoken truth, she snagged her socks and shoes. “I should let my wolf loose on your miserable ass.”
He chuckled and stepped back a few feet. “Go ahead. Mine could use a good chase.”
“You’re crazy. I’m not stupid enough to think I could outrun a dominant wolf.”
“We both know you wouldn’t want to.” A flutter rose in her stomach. He prowled toward her. “You need to summon a shift to help your feet. It’s clear you don’t think we have anything to salvage from before, so why not give me this one run? Then I track down your brother and once his shit’s sorted, I'm gone. I won’t darken your life anymore. If that’s what you want.”