The Fire Inside

by Virginia Cavanaugh

  “How so, Father?”

  Thanasis stabbed his legs into the pair of jeans he’d left a few miles away from the clearing. He’d shed them in hurry when Xabier had called with the news of Konrad’s woman drawing near his den. Too bad the dumbass human male hadn’t brought her a little farther. Things could have gone a lot differently had she trespassed on his land. “I killed her parents during the raids our pack completed when you were a boy. If she remembers who I am, then she could have Konrad backpedaling before we seal the deal on the land purchase.”

  “So we push the meeting up. Make him deal before Tyra has a chance to remember. The full moon is only a few days away. We can push the meeting with Konrad up to next week. Tell him someone else is interested in the land.”

  Thanasis rubbed his hand over his smooth scalp. Moving the meeting forward would have him striking before he wanted. His new recruits would barely have time to become accustomed to their new existence. If only he didn’t have to wait ’til the full moon. The extra time to train the men Xabier had tracked down would be a plus. But the full moon was the only time an alpha’s bite could trigger the human to were change. “How sure are you about the human recruits?”

  “They were military trained. I would say the added bonus of their change will only make them stronger.”

  “I need the funds that Konrad is going to transfer, so we don’t have much choice but to move the meeting forward and put pressure on him. He won’t believe that someone else wants the property, not at the price he’s willing to pay, so we shall increase the price the longer he takes to make up his mind. That should be enough to force his hand. Also bring the recruits to the den now. They may not be able to move like a wolf yet, but we will need the extra training time to prepare them. As much as I hate it, we are going to have to progress faster than I planned.”

  But his plan was brilliant, as long as they didn’t leave any survivors this time. He would sell the land to Konrad, at twice its market value, and then take out his pack. When the land was repossessed because of failure to pay taxes, Thanasis would be able to buy it back up cheap. He’d already made sure he would get first pick at the land, by biting the County Assessor. The poor bastard had screamed and cried for days, but it didn’t take long for him to start discovering the benefits of being a wolf. Now his full allegiance lied with Thanasis. As soon as the land reverted, Thanasis would get it back.

  Thanasis turned and looked out over the rolling hills, seeing the edge of his den on the horizon. The dilapidated houses were an eyesore. He’d never been good at playing the market, but with the crash of the human economy, he had lost millions. And he couldn’t gather an army without money. He’d be damned if he let that little bitch Tyra cost him this golden opportunity.

  “May I request something, Father?”

  Thanasis turned to look at Xabier, waiting for him to continue.

  “I want the woman. I want Tyra.”

  Thanasis smiled. “Of course.” As soon as he tired of her.

  * * * * *

  Konrad pulled Tyra into a tight embrace and rested his chin on the top of her head. He couldn’t understand her fear. Something had obviously happened to cause it—and her lone wolf status—but what? She tucked her face into the crook of his neck and her warm breath caressed his skin. He wouldn’t press her right now. When she was ready, she’d tell him her story. But damn if it wasn’t going to be hard. Every instinct in him had him raring to fight for her. He wanted to destroy whatever had done this to his mate. But for now, all he could do was comfort her.

  Holding her in his arms felt incredible. Yes, his body ached to claim her, but having her close seemed to soothe him as well. Several minutes later she stirred against him and he loosened his hold, allowing her to pull back slightly from him.

  A yawn parted her full lips and her delicate hand came up to cover it.

  “I shouldn’t have kept you out here.”

  “I’m not complaining.” She yawned again.

  He smiled down at her and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad you’re not complaining. Come on. We’re not far from my house.”

  He released his hold on her and watched as she stretched, hands above her head, her breasts straining against the fabric of her dress. The hem line rose, showing him more of her shapely legs. It would be a long night. He found himself gritting his teeth over the thought of leaving her. He halfway hoped that she would change her mind once they got to his house, but he wouldn’t hold his breath. At least she would be in his den, his home, where he knew she’d be safe.

  Tyra seemed adamant about living by herself, and he should just be thankful for the concessions she’d made. He might not get to sleep in a bed with her tonight, but at least he would be sleeping in a bed tonight. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept in his wolf form. In his younger years he’d done it a lot on patrol, but there hadn’t been much need to do it in the last several years. His pack was strong and secure. Only a fool would try to cross him.

  He took Tyra’s hand in his and escorted her over to the truck. While he liked the fight in her, he enjoyed this more. She looked over at him and smiled and he couldn’t help but smile himself. He opened the truck door and lifted her inside, shutting the door before he made his way around to the driver’s side.

  Once he sat behind the wheel, he turned the key over and the engine revved to life. On the short ride to his house he noticed something changing in Tyra. He stole a few glances at her and he swore her posture began to grow stiff the farther he drove. Her gaze remained fixed; never once did she look away from the view the window offered. He’d hoped she would like this first glimpse into the den, but her body language spoke differently. Tension seemed to roll off her. Something had displeased her.

  “Is something wrong, Tyra?”

  She continued to stare out the window. “It’s nothing.”

  His grip tightened on the steering wheel. In so little time, she had reconstructed her walls. And for some reason he had a feeling it would be even harder to break through to her this time than it had been earlier. He continued on, neither of them speaking a word as he passed several brick homes with well-manicured lawns. A few blocks later, he pulled into the driveway of his home. Their home. “This is it.”

  He put the truck in park and killed the engine. She continued to stare out the window at the red-brick, pitched-roof home. When she didn’t make a move to open her door, he got out and walked around and opened it for her. “Come on, let me show you around.”

  He reached up and assisted her out of the truck, but she pulled out of his grasp as soon as her feet touched the pavement. Suppressing a growl, he followed behind her as she walked toward the front door. What in the world had she seen that shut her down? He reached around her and opened the door.

  She turned and looked up at him. “You don’t lock it?”

  “No. This area is secure and patrols are run on a timely basis. Besides, there isn’t anyone here that would dare steal from me.” He watched as she gave a tight nod and walked into the house. His own irritation began to grow as he walked in behind her. What had happened to her to make her wall herself in like this?

  She stopped in the living room, turning in a slow circle as her gaze took in everything. “You have very nice things.”

  He looked around at his tan walls adorned with landscape paintings. His sofas were comfortable, overstuffed brown leather. He never really paid any attention to it. “I paid one of the females to decorate about ten years ago. It’s comfortable.”

  She glanced at him then back toward the flat-screen television on the wall. “Well…she did a good job.”

  Konrad tried to ignore the fact that her voice was low, and that he could smell the slight bitterness of fear lacing with her scent. Without thought, he walked over to her and raised his hand to caress her back, wanting to soothe her. But she stepped away before he could touch her. His hand fisted as he lowered it.

  She walked toward the kitchen. “I need you to ta
ke me to my apartment so that I can get some things.”

  There was no way in hell he’d take her back to her apartment right now. He could see her riding the fence and had a feeling she would back out of staying here if she walked into her apartment right now. “You can take anything from my things you need for tonight, and I will have Luken gather the things you need tomorrow.”

  She spun around to look at him. “I’m capable of getting my own things.”

  He bit down hard, taking a second before responding. His dominant nature rose to the forefront at the challenging tone of her voice, but he beat it back. “Then I’ll take you tomorrow to get your things.”

  “And what if I want to go now?”

  He sighed. Sadness crawled over him, and the wolf inside didn’t like it much. All he needed was a target. If she’d just point him toward whatever object or person was responsible for her fear, he’d destroy it. How did he win a war with an unknown enemy? “Then you will most likely choose to stay there instead of here.”

  Her teeth sank into her bottom lip.

  “I can smell the fear coming from you, Tyra. But I don’t understand it. I’d never let anything happen to you.” He held her stare, hoping she could see the sincerity of his words.

  She looked away. “I can wait ’til tomorrow.”

  Defeat now mixed in with her scent. He wanted to hit something. She apparently wasn’t going to tell him what was wrong, and he couldn’t stand the fact that she felt fear and sadness here. “Tyra, if you want to go back to your apartment, we can. Or tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.” He continued to stare at her back as she stood, shoulders back, tension visible in every muscle of her body.

  “I just need to be alone.”

  Frustration filled him as he walked past her to a notepad he kept on the fridge. He pulled the pen from beside it and began to write. “This is my cell number. There are phones all over the house. If you need me, you call me.” He looked back at her and noticed she still stood with her gaze averted from him. Anger over the unknown obstacle that had her pulling away from him rode him hard. Leaving would probably be best, before his temper had him lashing out at the wall she seemed so preoccupied staring at. That type of display sure wouldn’t help to reassure her. His steps ate up the distance between them. She didn’t move to look at him. He bent down and placed a light kiss on her hair and then headed for the front door.

  Everything in his nature screamed at him to turn around as he opened the front door. Leaving her alone in this state clawed at his insides. He heard her steps behind him and as he crossed the threshold onto the front porch, he turned to look at her. Were those tears shimmering in her eyes? He opened his mouth to say something, but she closed the door. When the lock slid into place, he wanted to roar. She didn’t feel safe. It was his job to make his mate feel safe and he was failing at it.

  He strode toward the truck, pulling his cell from his pocket. As he got into the truck, he punched the preprogrammed number that would ring into the den’s control station.

  “Hey, boss. What’s up?” Trent asked.

  “I need you to send someone to watch my house.” He would have to have someone else do it, because the longer he sat here, the harder it became not to go break the damn door down and hold her close whether she wanted him to or not.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “My mate is there. Her name’s Tyra, and if she leaves that house I need to be called immediately.”

  “Anything else I should know about?”

  Luken would have already filled them in on the tension rising among Thanasis’ pack. “No.”

  “Consider it done.”

  Konrad hit the End Call button and pocketed the phone as he started the truck. Luken’s house sat down the street a few blocks, and Konrad knew he had a spare bedroom set up. He banged his fist against the steering wheel as he drove down the street then pulled into Luken’s double driveway. Before his feet touched the ground, Luken had opened the wooden front door.

  All the frustration and the anger from tonight’s events returned in a flash and had Konrad charging toward Luken. His second-in-command braced for the charge and Konrad’s shoulder connected with Luken’s abdomen, sending both of them to land on the hard tile floor. A whoosh of air escaped both of their lungs at the impact. Konrad recovered quickly as Luken went on the offensive. They were equally matched as they threw punches and kicks at each other until they fell to the ground with exhaustion. Konrad lay on his back, breaths coming in pants. He would soon have to release Luken from his pack. He’d known Luken had the makings of an alpha for a while. He also knew Luken would never challenge him. They were too good of friends to ever fight to the death with each other.

  “So are you going to tell me what in the hell has you twisted in a knot so bad, because I know you weren’t that mad about me not saying anything about the human.”

  Konrad turned his head to look across the debris-riddled living room at Luken. Frustration began to build in him again, but at least now it didn’t threaten to choke him as it had earlier. He sighed. “She’s afraid and sad, and I have no idea why or how to fix it.”

  “Ouch. I can only imagine how that feels.” Luken sniffed the air and laughed. “But I can tell you made at least some progress with her.”

  Konrad picked up the table leg next to him and threw it at Luken, who rolled, dodging it as he laughed harder. Tyra’s scent hung on his clothing, and he tried to let it soothe him. At least she now resided in his den.

  “So why are you here? And you owe me a new living room.” Luken stood up, picking pieces of sheet rock out of his hair as he surveyed the damage. “In fact, next time call ahead and I’ll meet your ass outside.”

  “You know I’m good for it.” Konrad rose to his feet. There were holes in the textured light blue walls, and none of the furniture had survived. “I guess I should call the contractors and have them start earlier.” He sighed. “I’m going to need your other bedroom.”

  “Hmm.” Luken stared at him for a moment as if he wanted to say something and then shrugged. “You know where everything is.”

  “Yeah.” Konrad twisted to the side and winced. “Damn, if that wasn’t a dirty kick to my ribs.”

  Luken laughed. “Hey, I don’t want to hear it. You came really close to depriving me of any chance at little Luken juniors.”

  “It wasn’t my fault the sofa spilt that way. Maybe you should go on a diet.”

  Luken gave him the finger and laughed as he walked toward his bedroom.

  Alone again, Konrad headed for the bathroom in the hallway. A solid coating of sheet rock dust covered his black slacks, and his shirt hung in tatters. Once inside, he closed the door and turned on the water. As he went to take his slacks off, his phone rang. His heart increased its tempo as he pulled it from his pocket. The face showed his home number. He hit the answer button and was talking before he could even get the phone all the way to his ear. “Tyra? Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I just…”

  Her quite voice reached his ears and he sighed. The sadness he’d felt coming from her earlier now seemed to leak out in her words.

  “It’s not you…okay?”

  “Okay.” Before he could say anything else, the call was disconnected.

  Chapter Seven

  A knocking sound brought Tyra away from the fog of slumber. She lifted her head from the pillow and a hank of dark hair fell in front of her face. She swiped at it, pushing it behind her ear as she squinted, trying her best to block out the shafts of sunlight streaming through the gap in the blue curtains. Sleep had evaded her most of the night. Several times she’d contemplated leaving, but with effort she’d brought her fear to heel. With a groan, she plopped her face back into the pillow. Konrad’s scent filled her nose. Sleeping in his bed, surrounded by that wondrous smell, had been soothing to her emotions and torturous on her body.

  The knock sounded again and she sat up, scooting from beneath the covers and across the bed as she realized so
meone had knocked on the front door. On bare feet she padded through the house to the entryway, rising up on her tiptoes to look through the peep hole. Her eyes widened as she stepped back, flipped the lock and yanked open the door. Konrad stood in front of her, his clothes from the night before ripped and ruined. Through the tears in his shirt she saw a faint bruise on his side. “Holy hell, what happened to you?”

  She backed up and he walked inside, closing the door behind him. Dust of some sort had turned his black slacks gray. Had another pack attacked in the middle of the night? “I thought you said that your den was secure?”

  He grimaced. “It is. This is nothing. It’ll be gone in a few hours.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest and pursed her lips. “This sure as hell doesn’t look like nothing.”

  He stepped toward her. “Why are your eyes swollen?”

  She turned away from him and retreated into the bedroom. “It’s nothing.” She sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him that she’d cried half the night. They’d both drawn the evasive line, and she felt fine with not crossing it. She had no wish to open that can of worms right now. The memories of the past had plagued her enough last night.

  She knew he’d followed her. Without turning, she asked, “So, when do you plan on taking me to gather my things?”

  “Whenever you’re ready. Do you have to work tonight?”

  She turned to look at him; displeasure had laced his last question. “No. I’m off this weekend. I won’t go back ’til Monday.” The smile that lit up his face had her insides doing funny things.

  “Good. I want to show you around and introduce you to some of the pack members today.”

  Her heart fluttered as a mix of fear and desire warred within her. The realness of the situation slammed into her.

  Konrad walked toward the doorway leading into the walk-in closet. “I’ll let you think about it while I get dressed.”