Hunter reached a hand up to stroke the back of her neck, gentling her. “He’s part of our mission. Part of the underground.”
The eyes retreated, though the smell of panther lingered. “Who is that?”
“Follow me.” Jack tugged her forward a few steps until they were in the mouth of the wall opening. “We’ll explain more once we’re below.”
Mikayla dug her heels in. He was much stronger than she, and he could drag her if he so chose, but she wasn’t at all sure she wanted to follow him. Besides the smell of other types of animals, she detected the stench of death even stronger inside the opening than in the rest of the ransacked house. Jack didn’t try to force her, though, and neither did Hunter.
“Do you trust us?” Jack asked. “Because if you do, you’ll know we wouldn’t bring you here unless it was safe. But we can’t stand here talking about it. Part of the point of this above-ground part is that it doesn’t have our scents. So, decide. If you trust us, follow me. If the answer is no, we’ll take you away from here.”
It was a reasonable question and Mikayla blinked in the darkness, looking up at Jack and then at Hunter. It wasn’t something she really had to consider. They were her mates, her fated, and she’d allowed them to claim her. While she wasn’t quite ready to say she’d follow them into hell, she would follow them into whatever lurked inside the wall. Because fate had decided she belonged with them, and her gut said that, yes, she could trust them. “I don’t like this…but let’s go.”
Inside the wall was an unlit tunnel. No human would have been happy down there, even with a flashlight, but Mikayla’s eyes adjusted quickly. They walked single file through the tunnel that seemed to be constructed out of steel.
They descended deeper and deeper into the earth, and Mikayla found that the further they walked, the less pungent the smell of death became. However, the smell of the panther ahead remained as he walked no more than several feet ahead of them. And that wasn’t all. The further they walked, the more scents wafted to her nose. If she wasn’t mistaken, there were multiple wolves ahead as well as at least one other panther, a hawk, and maybe even…maybe even a bear.
After walking for what couldn’t have been very long, she saw the panther ahead stop. Jack stopped, too, as did she and Hunter. The panther gave a strange whistle and Jack again made the sound of the hawk. A moment later, light hit the tunnel as some sort of panel swung inward. A few steps more, and her eyes were adjusting to bright indoor lighting. She couldn’t have been there for more than a few seconds before a blur of blonde hair hurled herself into Mikayla’s arms.
“What are you doing here?” Liz squeezed her so tightly, breathing became hard.
She had to wait for her friend to let go to speak properly. “I went to your apartment looking for you, but beyond that? It’s a long story, and I’m more interested in what you’re doing here and why you aren’t back in River’s Bend.”
“That’s a long story, too.” Liz examined her face. “How do you know Jack and Hunter? Were you attacked? You have an odd glow. Are you mated?”
Mikayla was conscious of the stares of the others in the large but sparsely furnished underground room, but she couldn’t help breaking into a huge grin at this. “I am.”
Liz let out a happy shriek, obviously unselfconscious around the others. “Which one?”
“Both.”
She’d lost track of the panther during this greeting, but he made himself known again, standing by Liz’s side and putting his arm around her with a decidedly possessive air.
Mikayla studied him. He was tall, like many shifter men were, with an exotic coloring, not really tanned looking, almost golden. He had long, dark hair, and slanted brownish-gold eyes set in a face that danced the line between fierce warrior and a masculine type of beautiful. Liz leaned into his touch, and Mikayla only then realized what was going on. “You’re mated, too?” She bit her tongue on the “to him” part that she’d wanted to add, thinking it best not to offend the panther already.
Liz looked up at the big cat with something like adoration in her eyes. “Not exactly.”
* * * *
It was longer than Mikayla liked before she got any kind of reasonable explanation out of Liz. There were a lot of others to meet first. The man who couldn’t seem to take his eyes or his hands off her friend introduced himself as Gavin. Then there was the panther Gabe, dark and fierce-looking like Gavin, and Zane, who had to be the largest panther she’d ever seen, with the same piercing golden eyes and long golden hair to match. There were two hawks, Shane and Dylan, who had deep, thoughtful brown eyes, short, spiky, dark-brown hair, and killer smiles. Besides Jack and Hunter, there was only one other male wolf, Noah. He was a large, attractive man with flinty gray eyes and thick black hair. His eyes stood out, though, far more than anything else about him. His eyes said he’d seen the world but hadn’t liked much of it. And that seemed confirmed by his lack of a smile. All of the others males smiled at her in greeting. Noah took Mikayla’s hand and firmly squeezed it twice in greeting, but he didn’t produce even an echo of a smile.
Besides the men, there were three women in the shelter besides Mikayla and Liz. They introduced themselves as Layla, Callie, and Mira. Layla and Callie were of the Red River Pack and Mira was of the Wolves of the Dusk. Mira’s pack had been decimated by Ulric’s wolves, and she was awaiting a pack to take her in. Layla and Callie would be escorted home to their pack as soon as the men deemed it safe.
Mikayla spent some time recounting the story of meeting her mates, omitting the part of how she’d managed to knock herself out. The women seemed genuinely excited for her, despite the fact that they’d only just met, and with the exception of Noah, who’d wandered off at some point, the men got in a fair share of off-color jokes aimed at Jack and Hunter. Apparently, they’d been expected back at the safe house much sooner, and the men seemed to enjoy teasing them over how they’d spent their time.
Story told, Mikayla mentioned that she needed to relieve herself, and Jack and Hunter immediately offered to take her to the shelter’s bathroom. Both of them. She thought about it, but she really wanted to get the scoop on Liz and the panther, so she asked Liz to take her. Five minutes later she’d finished using the facilities, which consisted of just a basic wet toilet and a sink, then prepared to grill her good friend.
Liz started walking back toward the main room. “Come on. I’ll take you back and show you where we sleep.”
Mikayla stayed put. “You know, I missed your sense of humor.”
Liz stopped and turned around, an exaggerated look of innocence on her face. “Whatever do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. What’s with you and the panther, first of all? And why aren’t you back in River’s Bend? Didn’t you get the order from the alphas?”
“What order? And why did the alphas send you instead of one of the men?”
“Nope. You first. Spill.”
“Well, it’s like this. A few weeks ago, I was walking back home after picking up some groceries. My apartment building, well you were there, there’s really just no security to speak of, but I’ve never really worried about it. Because…wolf, right? But this time I’m halfway up the stairs when I catch the smell of other wolves. That by itself might not have scared me, but then the hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. I knew whoever was there wasn’t friendly. But I figure I just need to get to my apartment. So I’m running by this time, and I get my key in the door only to find that there are wolves already inside. Somehow they managed to get in while I was gone. They came at me, two at one time, still in their human form. I know we aren’t supposed to shift anywhere near humans, but I couldn’t help it. I dropped the groceries and shifted.”
Mikayla nodded. Laws or no laws, it was exactly what she would have done.
“So, they shifted, too, and they were huge. You know how our men are. I knew I was going to lose.”
“Did they hurt you?” She didn’t look any worse for wear to Mik
ayla, but wolves did heal rapidly, and according to Liz, this all happened weeks ago.
“No. I still can’t quite put my finger on where they came from, but the next thing I knew these giant panthers came out of nowhere. I hadn’t closed the door and two of them came right up behind me. I found out later they’d managed to sort of cloak their scent, but in the heat of the moment all I could do was gape at them.”
“What happened then?”
“What’s that expression the humans use? Oh yeah. I almost shit myself. So they shift and go straight for the wolves, and I figure I better get the hell out of there. Of course, I’d shredded my clothes when I shifted and I couldn’t just go running through the streets naked or as a wolf, so I shifted back and grabbed a coat I had hanging near the door. I’m running down the stairs barefoot and naked under this coat, and the next thing I know, this huge arm grabs me.”
“None of your neighbors tried to help you?”
“No, I’m sure they heard, but they probably thought it was just someone’s TV blaring. Even if they didn’t, my neighbors are the type to ignore the sounds of screaming and fighting. I bet I could stand in front of them with my hair on fire and they wouldn’t care.”
“So what happened then?” Mikayla guessed this might have been how her story went if she hadn’t knocked herself out.
“Okay, so he’s telling me the whole time that they’re not going to hurt me, and not to struggle. I’m like, fuck that, but then I hear the other two coming, the wolves. So he’s racing through the building, naked I might add, and slams out of the back door. The other one, Gabe, is already back there and they literally throw me into a car and take off.”
“You must have been terrified.”
Liz nodded. “Yeah, my heart has never beat so hard. But then, at the same time, I felt safe. I don’t know, it was weird. Gavin was pulling on clothes as Gabe drove, and then Gabe pulled over and they switched places, but the whole time, they were explaining what Ulric’s been doing to women and telling me about the underground.”
“They could have been kidnapping you for themselves.” Mikayla was content to ignore the fact that she’d easily swallowed the same explanation from Jack and Hunter.
“I can’t explain it. I had a good feeling about them, and they’d saved me from those wolves.”
“And you were attracted to Gavin.”
Liz had the grace to blush. “Yeah. I can’t deny it. I mean, have you seen him?”
Mikayla had to laugh at that. “Okay, so they brought you back here and…”
“So they brought me back here and there were other females waiting. They’ve all returned to their packs since then. Gavin gave me clothes and offered to take me back to River’s Bend once the way was clear.”
“So why didn’t you come home?”
Liz’s quick trust of the panthers aside, she should have been chomping at the bit to get home.
“I fell for him, Mikayla.” She shrugged, looking shocked herself. “I fell head over heels in love with a panther.”
“Okay…I get that. It’s not like fate gave you a choice.”
“Oh, that. This is going to shock you, but Gavin’s not my fated. What he is, is everything I want in a mate.”
This Mikayla understood. Liz had fallen in lust or maybe even in love with the panther, and that had kept her there, temporarily. “Zion has called all clan members home, Liz. If you’ve been here a few weeks, I guess you missed that call. I came for you because I was worried.”
“The alphas sent you?”
“No.” For some reason Mikayla didn’t want to share the response she’d gotten from Zion, or Grey for that matter. “I came on my own.”
“If they’re calling everyone back, why would they allow you to travel alone?”
“I stole a car and left without their permission.”
Liz stared at her unblinking for a few moments. “I always knew you were out of your mind. Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in?”
“Not as much trouble as I thought you were in. Do you have any idea how worried you had me? Nikki and Robyn, too?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just…We’re not allowed to have phones here and…”
“Why not have one of them call for you when they’re out on a mission.”
“Don’t be mad at me, Mikayla.” Liz looked down at her feet for a long moment before meeting her eyes again. “Having them call would have meant facing the reality that I had to go back, that one day, I’d have to go home. And that’s the last thing I wanted to do.”
* * * *
Liz’s revelation that she didn’t want to return to River’s Bend had knocked Mikayla for a loop. While wolves did leave clan territory for various reasons, including mating to wolves of other clans and packs, Mikayla considered her closest friends more family than anything else, perhaps because of the fact that she no longer had any siblings. She could tolerate their absences, such as Liz spending over a year in the city to gain experience and connections. Permanent absences due to mating with a panther who wasn’t even her fated? Mikayla was much less happy with that whole idea. Then there was the fact that she had to go home to face not one, but two angry alphas, and she’d clearly defied them to rescue someone who didn’t need or want her help. Of course, if she hadn’t made that impulsive decision, she still wouldn’t know for sure that Liz was safe and she wouldn’t be sitting cross-legged on the floor sandwiched between two incredibly sexy wolves who now belonged to her.
Hunter squeezed her thigh. “How do you like it?”
For a moment she thought he was asking about the way he’d been stroking her inner thigh. Then she realized he meant the deer. “Oh, that’s good…too.” She stared pointedly at his hand until he gave her a slow, sensual smile and resumed his caresses.
Jack leaned over, catching her attention. “You don’t have to humor us.”
“I’m not. It’s just different…” As far as food went, Mikayla was somewhat domesticated. Her clan did the whole grocery store thing and ate pretty much what humans did, except for things like junk food, soda, and coffee. They even ate some fruits and veggies. Tonight, Jack and Gavin had gone out and come back with a fat deer, which they’d butchered and fried up on the shelter’s stove.
“It’s actually lean and moist inside.” She liked her beef on the rare side, and this was a bit tougher than what she was used to, but she liked it okay. “It has a distinctive flavor, and the fact that one of my big, strong men caught it? Just makes it better.”
It hadn’t bothered Mikayla to see Jack and Gavin return with the big buck, nor to know that they’d butchered it in a room not too far from where she sat. Her wolf recognized the necessity of such things when observing human conventions, such as buying already butchered meat, wasn’t a possibility. But beyond that was the idea that he’d gone out and caught food with his own jaws to provide for her. Something about that brought out her cavewoman to his caveman. “Honestly, I like knowing you caught the buck…with Gavin’s help.” Mikayla didn’t know what Gavin had done exactly, since Jack had been quick to brag about bringing the animal down, but really, what did it matter? Her lips parted on the thought and Jack pressed his up against hers in a kiss that curled her toes.
“Remind me to never miss another hunt,” Hunter said, amusement in his voice.
She laughed as Jack broke their kiss. “Don’t worry. I was just as impressed with your massage.”
“What? He gave you a massage?” Jack asked, looking as if he’d missed out on some amazing event.
“Just a little one…of my back.” Mikayla had been a tense after her conversation with Liz. It was hard to stop herself from questioning her friend’s choices. The part of her that still wanted to ask Liz if she’d lost her mind hadn’t liked being suppressed and had left her with knotted muscles. Hunter had been quick to come to her rescue, spreading out some blankets and massaging her until she was breathing deeply and almost falling asleep.
Jack gave her a half grin. “I’ll see t
o the rest of you later.”
Hunter nuzzled her neck from the other side. “We both will.”
A chill raced up and down her spine, and not for the first time since they’d arrived at the safe house, she wished they were well and truly alone. Liz and Gavin had gone out for a run with Gabe and Noah in tow to watch for signs that anyone else was about. The other women had already finished eating and gone to take care of the dishes. Mikayla had gotten to her feet to help, but Jack had pulled her back down grumbling about wanting her with them. She’d acquiesced, saying she’d would help next time. The women weren’t her servants and she didn’t want them feeling as such. Shane still stood guard by the door that led from the tunnel into the main room. He’d eaten where he stood.
“Where did Dylan go?” She’d meant to ask earlier, but she’d gotten sidetracked by the two men who couldn’t seem to stop touching her. “I didn’t see him leave.”
Jack cocked his head toward the door. “He’s standing guard at the other end of the tunnel. We take it in turn to stand guard, just as we take turns going out on missions. We really lucked up on this place. Apparently, Gavin had been scouting for abandoned houses and did a little detective work to find one that had formerly been owned by preppers. Once we all started working together, we did the same thing with other houses.”
“No one gets in without the signals, even if we do recognize his scent.” Hunter stretched and yawned. “But if anything did go wrong, if we had a breach, the two guards at either ends of the tunnel would be the first line of defense.”
She hated to say it. They both seemed so sure of the plan, but she saw a gaping hole in it. “It’s great what you’re doing. It really is, but I don’t see how this place is defensible. I mean, all it would take is a pack of say, fifteen, and everyone down here would be cornered and as good as dead.”
They didn’t seem to take offense. It was Jack who answered. “Well, we take steps to ensure that no one comes sniffing around here, but of course, we take a risk each time one of us leaves. So we have weapons to help even the odds if we’re overwhelmed.”
Fated for Mikayla [Wolves of River's Bend 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 6