The leader growled loudly, and Kara took a quick step back. Jack tensed but didn’t move and Hunter growled back just as loudly. The leader clearly didn’t want to give in too quickly and appear weak. Hunter gave a round of barks, a confirmation that they were friendly but would fight if necessary. Fight and win.
“Please, alpha,” Kara begged. “This isn’t a group to battle. They have helped us.”
Jayda nodded. “And they aren’t even really a pack. Just a group come together to help females who’ve fallen to Ulric.”
Huffing and grunting the leader appeared to consider. Mikayla noted Jayda rolling her eyes and relaxed a little. Maybe this was only posturing and the big wolf wouldn’t do anything excessively stupid.
Finally, the leader inclined his head and Kara murmured, “Thank God.”
The leader gave a bark and the other two pack males turned to lead the way up to the cabins. Jack remained in human form, carrying his harness bag, and followed, as did the rest of their group. The alpha went last, watching them closely.
Mikayla forced herself to walk slowly, even though she was anxious to get inside and make sure Brooke was okay. The girl should have stayed back and helped smooth things over with her pack members. The way she’d taken off like that probably hadn’t helped the alpha think of them as friendlies. Still, she could understand the girl’s eagerness, and Mikayla had definitely engaged in her fair share of stupidity as a teen. Hell, she sometimes even managed some of it as a fully grown wolf.
* * * *
Brooke had talked a lot about her home, so Mikayla wasn’t surprised to find only five cabins on the pack’s territory. She was, however, shocked at the state they were in. They had a significant patch of land to live on, which was a good thing for any shifter, but the porches were littered with broken-down lawn chairs and rickety tables, and the outer walls of the cabins looked rather old and decrepit. Mikayla couldn’t help but wonder why they were in such poor repair. The wear on them didn’t look recent, and as far as she could tell, they had at least three somewhat able-bodied men. And of course their women would be strong, too.
Jack didn’t stop to open the harness bag and dress himself until they climbed the stairs of the porch Brooke had run to. Mikayla couldn’t fathom why he wanted to walk across the half-frozen ground in his bare human feet, but she guessed he must have a reason. Once they were on the porch, he dressed quickly, in jeans and a pullover shirt, then looked to her.
Sighing, she shifted on the spot. Not so happy to bare her more sensitive human form to the cold once again, she aimed for a burst of speed in pulling her jeans and shirt on. He tossed over her hiking boots, and she was grateful to slide them on and warm her feet. With the exception of Mikayla and her men, no one else in their little traveling group had managed to bring along footwear, which would suck for them if they were forced to spend any length of time outside in human form.
Dressed and at least partially warm, they stood on the porch and waited. The women they were returning opened the door and went inside, but as visitors, the rest of them had to observe protocol. This meant waiting for an invitation to enter, either from the owner of the cabin or the alpha himself. The two smaller male wolves who’d accompanied the alpha sat back on their haunches at either end of the porch and waited. For her part, Mikayla stifled the urge to sigh, frown, and tap her now booted foot.
She was used to the posturing alphas did. They had to let everyone else know how they important they were, and one sure way to do that was to keep other wolves waiting. But Mikayla was impatient to get inside where it would be warm, and her concern for Brooke hadn’t waned. The others could likely scent her impatience, but there was no help for that.
The alpha finally half grunted, half growled, and shook himself briskly. Then he mounted the stairs like a king taking his throne. And, of course, he did that slowly, too. He took up a position toward the center of the porch and just stood there, not shifting so they could talk, not welcoming them, just standing.
She tried to be patient, but her self-control finally just snapped. Mikayla stepped forward. “Alpha, it’s cold and I need to—”
No! The thought came sharply to her from Hunter just as Jack pulled her backward into his strong embrace.
He was right, of course. Mikayla just didn’t like it. She grew tired of waiting for the men to do things, and she’d had her fill of dealing with the stubbornness. Fortunately, their alpha seemed satisfied. He let out a long, deep but not particularly menacing growl, clearly just calling for attention, and finally shifted into someone they could have a conversation with. Unfortunately, he did that slowly, too, but she began to wonder if his lazy speed stemmed from a lack of energy more so than the usual posturing.
“I am Jensen, alpha of the Howling Moon Pack.” He was tall and moderately handsome, with brown hair that would probably be attractive if it had been clean. It looked nothing short of neglected and stringy. His eyes were really something to behold, though. They were a dark brown with an odd golden ring around the irises. “Welcome.”
Jensen’s “welcome” held a grave note, but that was to be expected, too. Wolf shifters were by nature suspicious of male newcomers. After all, a newcomer might issue a challenge for leadership of the pack. If that happened, the alpha would have to fight to the death, and Jensen didn’t look up to the task. If he’d been skinny in his wolf form, he was practically emaciated as a human. The most impressive part of him seemed to be what hung between his legs, and that wasn’t even erect.
Ugh. Mikayla snapped her eyes back up to his face and cringed with the knowledge that he’d been watching her appraisal of his body. It had all been academic, really, but the slight smirk he wore said he thought otherwise. The man was cocky, even in his physically weakened state, and Mikayla had to wonder if that had anything to do with the state of low-level arousal she had been stuck in since her mates had claimed her. Surely, he could scent it.
Brooke saved her from further embarrassment by picking that moment to poke her head out the cabin door. “Mikayla, come on. I want you to meet my mom and dad.” The girl’s head disappeared as she let the door clatter shut.
Mikayla took a deep breath of relief and immediately stepped toward the girl. She’d been afraid, so afraid that Brooke would get home only to find one or both of her parents dead. It was one of the reasons she’d insisted on coming along for the trip.
She didn’t get far, though, as Jack’s arms tightened around her, preventing her from rushing forward into the cabin. She looked up and met the alpha’s eyes and he nodded once in permission, but when she tried to move again, Jack once again arrested her progress. “What?” she hissed.
Jack spoke lowly with his mouth a hair away from her ear. “Their alpha gives his permission, but you are my mate, and I do not.” Then he addressed Jensen. “Alpha, this is my mate, if you haven’t already guessed, and I would check the cabin before she enters.”
Great. More posturing. Mikayla should be used to it by now, but it still managed to irritate her. The alpha had established his dominance, and apparently Jack felt the need to do the same, demonstrating his dominance over her and the rest of the group he led. Mikayla forced herself to relax instead of yanking herself out of his arms like she wanted to. Just once she’d like to see a woman lead a group of shifters. A woman would be much more reasonable.
Obviously, Brooke wasn’t going to lead her into an attack. She had to bite her lip to hold onto her patience as the alpha nodded his permission.
“One man. Then your mate may enter.” Jensen’s voice held no detectable note of friendliness. “The men will remain outside to discuss your presence here.”
The eye roll wanted to happen, but Mikayla controlled herself, waiting in Jack’s arms as Hunter opened the door and went to check the cabin. If the alpha wanted to keep up the pretense that he was in a position of power there, she guessed they all had to play along. But unless they had a few well-fed male wolves inside, their pack was pretty much outgunned.
/> Hunter returned after a few minutes and nodded to her, or maybe his nod was intended for Jack. Either way, Jack released his hold on her and Mikayla walked toward the door, noting the goose bumps that covered the alpha’s flesh.
Clothes, man, she thought. Winter calls for clothing, even if you are the alpha.
* * * *
The inside of the cabin was in far better repair than the outside. It was clean and furnished comfortably. Actually, it was quite cozy and blissfully warm thanks to the fire burning in the family room’s fireplace. Brooke’s family welcomed her as if she was their queen, ushering her to sit down and trying to ply her with food and drink. It was food and drink she felt sure they couldn’t spare, given the state they were in.
Brooke’s parents were even more gaunt than the alpha and the other two out there, yet Brooke’s mom offered her strips of jerky and hot tea.
“The tea sounds great. I’m not really hungry, though.” It was a lie. She was typically always hungry and could put away food with the best of the men. She just couldn’t take food from them. Asking for tea allowed her to decline without making the reason obvious.
Brooke’s mother hurried away while her father leaned forward in his chair, watching her intently. “We’re grateful to you for bringing Brooke home to us. We were worried…we thought that…” The big man faltered and cleared his throat. “We didn’t know if we would ever see her again.”
Mikayla smiled at him. He was large, like most wolf shifters were, and she could see where Brooke got her blonde hair and blue eyes from. But as big as the man was, he looked like he was fighting tears. He was like a huge teddy bear that she just wanted to comfort. “I can’t take credit for that. I just came to really care for her, so I wanted to accompany her home. The men outside, and…the others, they found her and kept her safe.”
“I looked for her for weeks,” he said. “I tried to track them but after a while I lost their scent. It was just me. The new alpha and the others had to stay behind to protect our territory and our women. Ulric killed most of the other men and left me and several others who remained behind badly wounded. It was days before I even had the strength to go after them.”
“He’s been attacking the smaller packs for months,” Mikayla said, nodding. “He’s even been starting battles with some of the clans, despite the fact that they outnumber his pack. I think his plan is to kill as many men off as he can until the clans are vulnerable enough for him to attack head-on.”
Ulric had picked more than a few battles with her clan’s men over the past months, but thankfully none on River’s Bend soil. He could easily just challenge the alphas instead of picking fights and causing so much death, but Mikayla thought he didn’t want to risk his own neck. The alphas of a clan were typically the strongest and most deadly, so challenging meant risking his own life for a change.
Brooke’s father shook his head, then ran one of his big hands roughly through his already ruffled hair. “I don’t know what I could have done, even if I had caught up to them. One man against the Crimson Moon Pack? But I would have done anything to get my girl back.”
“It’s okay, Daddy.” Brooke sat on the arm of her father’s chair, and wrapped her arms around him. “I know you looked for me. And they didn’t hurt me. Not like they did some of the others. I wasn’t with them long anyhow.”
Mikayla blinked back the tears that tried to form in her eyes. She did love a happy reunion. “How many are you now?”
Brooke’s mother returned and handed Mikayla a steaming mug of tea, then took a seat across from her on the couch. “We’re only fifteen now. Now that you’ve brought Brooke and the others home, that is. The few others alive and well after Ulric left chose to leave in search of another pack to join. It’s what we’re planning, too. But we couldn’t leave without Brooke, without getting her back. The alpha and a couple of other males chose to stay with us.”
“We were planning to search again, as a group this time.” Brooke’s father coughed. “But food has been scarce and we weren’t strong enough to fight if we did come across Ulric’s pack again.”
“You haven’t been hunting?” Mikayla asked. She was pretty sure they weren’t the shopping type of pack.
“Only close to home.” He stood up and stretched, then walked to the window. “With so few of us left, and so few of us males, we haven’t wanted to travel too far in search of food. The time I was away looking for Brooke was risky enough.”
“Why didn’t the others wait with you?” There was strength in numbers. More mouths to feed but also more people to hunt for food.
“With our alpha killed, Jensen took his place, but it was a frantic time. He allowed those who were too frightened to stay to leave right away. And then, as in any pack, there were those who weren’t pleased with the new leadership. They were anxious to go, too.”
Brooke’s mother stood to join him at the window. “And now that Brooke and the others have returned, we can move on. Maybe go join my cousin’s pack.” This was a woman still very much in love with her mate. It was written all over her face.
Mikayla looked away from them toward Brooke, who didn’t seem so interested in her parents’ embrace but couldn’t quite hide her smile. “I’m so happy for you, Brooke,” she said quietly. “I know you were worried about them.”
Brooke’s grin widened. “Everything, all of this had just been so scary. When they took us…I didn’t think I’d ever see them again. But we’re fine. I can’t even believe it, but we’re all okay.”
Mikayla took a sip of her tea. It was some kind of herbal blend. It lacked sugar or honey, but it warmed her insides. Brooke was young, so she didn’t see what Mikayla saw. Or maybe she was used to this. Either way, her loved ones were not quite okay. It was obvious they didn’t have the money to shop in the human stores, and with them weak and unprotected like that, she couldn’t blame them for not venturing far to hunt. It shocked her to see wolves so undernourished. Brooke didn’t look the same. Either she’d fattened up since being taken or her parents made sure she ate, even when they didn’t. Mikayla guessed the latter.
Seeing the family’s closeness, despite their troubles and how generous they were in offering to share what little they had touched her and led her to another decision. She wasn’t leaving their camp until she knew they had enough sustenance to not only regain their strength but also undertake the trip to the pack they’d mentioned. Jack and Hunter weren’t going to like it. She knew they’d be anxious to get her back to the safe house, but they’d just have to understand. Mikayla just couldn’t walk away from someone in need.
* * * *
After drinking her tea and engaging in a little small talk with Brooke and her parents, who wouldn’t stop thanking her as if she’d somehow single-handedly rescued their daughter, Mikayla excused herself to see how her men had fared. One wolf walked toward the edge of the camp and she couldn’t see any of the others. Only Jack and Hunter remained on the porch.
Jack looked her over. “How’d it go in there?”
“It’s fine. Her parents are…all right for now. How’d it go out here?”
Hunter opened his arms and she walked straight into them. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.
The others were welcomed into Jayda’s cabin. We stayed behind to deal with the alpha. He had a lot of questions, and he had to be sure we weren’t a danger to the pack.”
“What would he have done if you had been?” Mikayla shook her head. “They look to be starving or damned close to it.” She buried her nose in Hunter’s neck, breathing in his rich scent, gathering her strength for the argument that was sure to come when she told her mates they couldn’t leave. Not just yet.
Jack’s scent surrounded her as he joined them, blanketing her with his body from behind. “We’ll stay here tonight.”
She looked up at Hunter. “What?” She hadn’t expected Jack to say that and thought, for just a second, that she had imagined it.
Hunter nodded. “We’ll make camp here with them
and get back to the safe house in the morning. We know you’re anxious to get back so we can plan the trip back to River’s Bend, but we’re needed here now.
Jack sniffed at her hair and then stepped back with a sigh. “We’re going to hunt for them.”
* * * *
Mikayla hadn’t spent much time wondering whether fate had sent her the right men. Her body was sure of it, and she had many reasons to thank God they were hers. But as she lay down between them that night, she added pride to her list. She was utterly and overwhelmingly proud of the men they were. They’d not only gone out and hunted for the pack, but they’d also helped prepare some large cuts of meat for them. There was enough meat to get the pack through at least a week, and by then they should be on the way, bound for a new home.
And she’d felt so much pride when they’d returned from the hunt. They’d left all of the men from the underground behind to help guard the camp and then struck off, just the two of them, to hunt. When they’d returned, each carrying a deer, and Jack with a couple of rabbits to boot, they could have raised up a call and received a hero’s welcome, but they hadn’t done that. They’d turned their kills over to the alpha and let him present the meat to his pack.
She’d smiled at the gesture, knowing what they’d done and realizing they’d given her yet another reason to fall in love with them. As if she needed more. Of course, that also gave her another reason to fear. She couldn’t lose them. She wouldn’t. They had to see that a mated wolf belonged with his mate. They’d done enough for the underground, and as for the vampires… They couldn’t get revenge if they were dead.
Brooke’s mother set up a pallet for the three of them on the family room floor by the fireplace. Jack and Hunter had crashed there soon after dinner. Mikayla helped clean up after the meal, washed herself in the outhouse, and then hurried back to take her place between them. They had to be exhausted after the long day and then the hunt.
Fated for Mikayla [Wolves of River's Bend 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 13