by Lacey Thorn
“I wanted to take a look around Lawrence’s house. See if I could find anything interesting.”
“Did you fucking go alone?”
There was a brief pause before Laramie ignored his question and continued, “I followed your trail here early this morning.” He cleared his throat. “Noise carried pretty far in these woods. I gave you all the time I can at the moment. Time to grab your mate and get your asses in gear. We’re not the only ones out here.”
“What?” Declan grabbed Xandra’s arm and pushed her behind him, gaze bouncing all around as he opened his senses. Nothing. There was nothing as far as he could tell.
“Relax,” Laramie ordered. “Human but not a threat. I’m not sure if she’s lost or what, but my guess is she’ll be joining you before I do unless I shift first.”
“She?”
“Definitely a feminine fragrance. Be alert. Head toward me. We need to get home and find out everything Xandra can tell us.”
“You shouldn’t have come,” Declan stated before Laramie could disconnect.
“There are a lot of things I shouldn’t do,” his brother declared. “Even more that I should have.”
“Laramie…” He let his voice trickle off. They’d had this talk too many times to count.
“See you soon.”
The phone clicked off in Declan’s ear, going silent. Laramie shouldn’t have come after them. He definitely shouldn’t have gone to Lawrence’s house alone. His eldest brother might be an asshole, but he was also the alpha. He had to be protected, even from himself it seemed.
“We need to move,” he ordered Xandra.
She didn’t argue. She took the pack from him, picked the blanket up he hadn’t even realized he’d dropped and shoved it inside.
“Holt’s at the car,” Brock said as they joined him.
“He followed Laramie?”
Brock nodded. “Said it was safer to leave Koby at the house since the enforcers are expected with the other surviving females. He thought the women might feel more comfortable if there wasn’t a well-armed human in their midst right from the get go.”
So maybe the Marine wasn’t so useless. His logic couldn’t be argued with.
“Laramie’s heading our way,” Declan said. “There’s a woman out here, too. Have you picked up her scent?”
Brock shook his head. “No offense but all I can smell at the moment is the two of you.”
“We’re not mates,” Xandra stated firmly.
Declan ignored her and was happy to see his brother did, as well.
“What’s Laramie’s take on this woman?”
“Not a danger,” Declan said. “Probably lost or something.”
“Why don’t you two head out, and I’ll scout around. Make sure there’s no threat.”
“I don’t want you wandering off alone,” Declan argued. “You’re still healing from that blow to your head.”
“I’m fine, and we both know it,” Brock said. “If she’s a threat, I’ll take care of it. If she’s lost, I can’t just leave her out here to fend for herself.”
Declan sighed. “That chivalrous thing you’ve got going on is going to get you killed, little brother.”
“Not today, it won’t,” Brock countered. “Now, go. My senses will work better when the two of you aren’t so close.”
“We’re not—”
“Whatever,” Brock interrupted Xandra’s second denial. “Tell your bear that.”
“Find her. Deal with it. Then meet us back at the car so we can head home.”
“If I’m not there, tuck the keys in the fuel door and ride back with one of the others. I’ll catch up.”
“I’ll have Holt wait for you,” Declan said.
Brock shook his head. “Holt needs to keep his eyes on Laramie, not me.”
“None of us should be alone right now.”
“Just go find her and deal with it,” Xandra interrupted, motioning her fingers in a shooing motion toward Brock. “We’ll go meet the alpha then wait for you. No more discussion. Hell, at the rate you two argue, we’d still be here when big brother and the lost girl stumbled onto us.”
“Don’t wait for me,” Brock said again then turned and headed away at a fast pace.
“Ready to meet the head Hollow-dickhead?” Declan asked Xandra.
She snorted a laugh, shook her head then turned to walk ahead of him. “What’s one more at this point?”
He smiled, watching the twitch of her ass as she led the way. Her strong will was what had helped her survive the last few years. It was also what was helping her keep the walls up between them. He didn’t want to knock them down. He understood her enough to know she needed those fortifications to protect herself. What he wanted was to find a way to join her on the other side of the barrier. She’d spent the last five years alone, fighting to survive.
He tried to imagine where she’d been. Seeing her father, mother and youngest sister murdered. Watching over her twin sisters in their den until help arrived. Then going along with a plan she’d thought would keep the survivors safe while they found the person responsible. Instead, she’d found herself betrayed by the man who should have protected her, an Elder who had betrayed them all.
Chapter Seven
The tension in the vehicle was palpable. Laramie Holloway, the alpha, was putting off most of it. Xandra wasn’t sure what she’d expected when she and Declan had joined Laramie, but it wasn’t this. She’d understood from the one-sided conversations she’d overheard that there was a bit of friction between the two brothers.
Physically, the two men were very similar. They were both around six and a half feet with shaggy hair that blended together various shades of blond and brown. Laramie seemed slightly bigger, but whether it was muscle or attitude, she wasn’t sure. As far as she could tell, the man was alpha to the core. He owned whatever space he was in.
Declan was harder to understand. Where Laramie was in-your-face alpha, Declan seemed to wear many hats. While he’d been alpha enough with her and Brock, easily taking charge, he’d fallen into a different role once Laramie had joined them. Not beta. There was nothing beta about Declan. She figured it was probably a safe assumption to make that none of the Holloways were betas. Self-possessed and confident, Declan was a man who didn’t require a leader. He was more than capable of leading himself. He respected his brother, but there was animosity there. She got the impression he’d watch over and protect his brother to his dying breath, but he would do it on his own terms. It was a characteristic she and Declan shared in common.
She knew what her sisters thought of her, what her brother Malachi thought of her. She was the ballsy sister, the risk taker, the second son their mother had never had. Hell, she’d played the role she’d fallen into so well that, at times, it had seemed her family had forgotten she wasn’t a son. Her father had trained her as if she were, especially after Malachi had left. They’d been waiting to hear back from her brother when the attacks had occurred. Once she found Lawrence and made him pay for all he’d done, she’d go after her brother.
Fingers brushed along her cheek, and she leaned into Declan’s touch without thought. She was going to leave him. She knew it. The best thing she could do was to pull away from him now. He thought they were mates. Their animals thought they were mates. She knew better. She was no man’s mate. If she wasn’t careful, she’d destroy Declan when she left. No matter how right he felt, she had to walk away. It wasn’t in her to stay. Staying required sacrifices she wasn’t sure she could make.
“Xandra.” Declan’s voice was low, controlled. “We’re here.”
Time to face the music. She blew out a breath, bracing herself. She’d see her sisters once she stepped out of the car.
“Promise me Jaeda and Sidia won’t be there when I talk to Laramie.” There were things she didn’t want her siblings to know.
“Xandra—”
“Promise me, Declan, or I won’t share what I know.”
He nodded. “I’ll make
sure of it. Let’s head in. Once you’ve seen your sisters, I’ll show you to our room. You can shower and relax while I speak with the others.”
“Our room?” she questioned.
He nodded. “I know what you plan, but know this. When you leave here, it won’t be alone.”
“I can’t—”
“You’re not asking me anything. I’m telling you.”
“I can’t be your mate,” she stated. “Despite what the scent says, what our bears believe, I can’t.”
“Then I’ll just be yours,” he whispered, brushing his thumb down her cheek. He stepped out of the car then pulled her door open. Before she could challenge his comment, she heard a shout followed quickly by another. Next thing she knew, two bodies were launched at her and she found herself rocked back against the vehicle.
“I can’t believe you’re here!”
“Are you okay?”
“We know about Lawrence!”
“Did you know?”
She squeezed her sisters close, hugging one on each side as she had when they were younger, before life had turned their worlds upside down and inside out. She let the noise of their chatter wrap around her. It felt good, normal. As usual Jaeda said more than Sidia. Jaeda had always been the affectionate one, the demonstrative one. Xandra had always loved that about her sister.
She inhaled, noting the differences in her sisters’ scents.
“You’re mated. Both of you.” She glared at Declan. Why hadn’t he told her Jaeda and Sidia were both mated? “Who? Are you mated to Holloways?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
So Sidia was, but Jaeda wasn’t. Then it hit her. She’d encountered the scent surrounding Jaeda earlier. Jaeda’s scent was slightly altered from when they were younger. More mature and modified by the man she’d claimed. Holt. Jaeda was mated to the human who’d followed Laramie. A human?
“Why would you mate with a human?” she demanded. If a woman from their pack was to mate, she should pick someone strong and fierce, a man who would help produce a stronger future generation.
“My Holt isn’t weak,” Jaeda snapped, as if she’d read Xandra’s mind. That or she’d fielded this question before. “He’s better than a hundred bears put together.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” another voice said, joining the conversation.
Looking up, it was easy to see the man was another Holloway.
“Jensen,” he said, introducing himself. She took note of the nonverbal exchange that took place between the brothers. “Holt’s a great guy and a member of this pride now. Decreed by the alpha himself. Your sister made a great choice in mate.”
“Yes,” Jaeda agreed. “Where is my mate?”
“He stayed behind to help Brock with an unexpected interruption,” Declan said, bringing Xandra’s attention back to him. “They’ll be here soon.”
“Unexpected?” Sidia asked.
“Human woman.”
“What was she doing in those woods?” Jensen asked.
“Laramie thought she was lost,” Declan answered. “Brock went to take care of it.”
The brothers exchanged another look that reminded Xandra of Declan telling Brock he was too chivalrous. Apparently, it was a shared opinion.
“Why don’t we move this inside,” Laramie interjected. “There are things we need to discuss.”
Xandra met Declan’s gaze, and when he nodded, she knew he was remembering what he’d promised. She would tell them all she could, but there were things she didn’t want her sisters to hear. She hadn’t been able to protect them from everything, but she would spare them from what was still within her power.
“What about the two of you?” she asked, linking her arms with the twins. “How did you get here? Did the Holloways find you?”
“I was with Uncle Emmett,” Jaeda told her as they walked.
They’d been taught from a young age to show respect to the elders by referring to them as uncle or auntie. Funny how she’d never once used the term for Lawrence. Uncle Emmett was different though. He’d been so close to their family that he’d even taken the Blackstone surname when her grandfather had saved his life long ago.
“I heard about the attack,” Xandra told Jaeda softly when she saw the sadness in her sister’s eyes. Lawrence had taken pleasure in taunting her with how Uncle Emmett had been tortured and killed. What he hadn’t told her was that Jaeda had been with Uncle Emmett. “How did you find your way to the Holloways?”
“Uncle Emmett told me to go to them if anything ever happened. He said they’d protect me. After…after he was gone, I fled. I took a Jeep through the national park hoping the hunters wouldn’t follow me. They did. Took my Jeep out and hit me with a dart to keep me from shifting while I ran. I was almost to Holloway land when they hit me with a tranq dart. I didn’t think I’d make it. Then I looked up and saw my Holt. I knew if I could just get to him, everything would be all right. And it was.”
“I’m so glad you made it and that he was there to protect you,” Xandra said and meant it. If Holt had helped save her sister, still helped to keep her safe, then she couldn’t fault him or the mating her sister had made.
They entered the enormous lodge that served as the main home of the Holloways. There was a wide entryway with a desk off to the left and a sitting area to the right. A staircase was straight ahead. It was a large, sprawling building.
“And you?” she asked Sidia as they ignored the men and moved toward the sitting area.
“I was on the mountain with Uncle Nicholas,” Sidia told her. “We were getting ready to head here when we were attacked.”
“Nicholas?” Xandra questioned, but she saw the answer in Sidia’s gaze.
“He didn’t make it. He’d figured out one of the elders was behind things. That’s why we were headed here. When we heard Uncle Emmett was killed, he knew it was Lawrence.”
Xandra nodded. Lawrence hadn’t told her about Nicholas, but he’d been busy making other plans lately.
“We can move this back to the office,” Laramie said, striding toward them.
“I’d like to visit with my sisters first,” Xandra stated. “I haven’t seen them in five years, and the last time wasn’t under the best of circumstances.”
“Later—” Laramie began, but she cut him off.
“Now,” she snapped. “I will speak with them now, and you later.”
“Do you forget who—”
“You are? Who my alpha is? No, I forget nothing.” She surged to her feet. “I remember every moment of that day five years ago and every moment since then.”
“So do I,” Laramie countered, anger seething from him. She understood anger. It often rose from a place of guilt. She knew that well, and because of that, she would temper her own anger.
“I’m not stating otherwise. I’m reminding you that I do, as well. You’ve had your brothers at your side this entire time, while my siblings have been kept apart. Give us a little time together.”
He nodded slowly. “An hour. It’s all I can give you for now. I’ve got the other four women who were held with you arriving over the next few days. Not to mention I’ve called for an Allegiance Ceremony. People will start showing up soon. I need to know everything you can tell me, Xandra. You were with Lawrence.”
“Yes, I was,” she agreed. “An hour and I’ll tell you what I know.”
Laramie nodded then turned and left the room. Declan stared at her for a long moment before following his brother. With every step he took, her heart ached. Of all the people she’d lost or been separated from, leaving him would be the hardest.
“Are you okay, Xandra?” Sidia asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“I’m fine,” she answered, ignoring the little voice in her head that whispered liar. “You said Nicholas didn’t make it. How did you get here?”
“I was already in the mountain den when the house blew with him in it,” Sidia told her. “I hid for several days inside the mountain. When I didn’t sense
the attackers around anymore, I climbed up into a cave access and went out that way. There were two hunters waiting.”
“You didn’t scent them?” Xandra demanded.
“There’s was smoke. It was all I could smell.”
“What happened?”
“I ran. Figured I was dead either way. I wasn’t going to make it easy for them. They shot at me a few times then finally hit my shoulder with a dart. I made it as far as I could and collapsed by a tree. That’s where Jensen found me.”
Xandra tilted her head, inhaled. “He’s not the one who shares your scent.”
Sidia shook her head. “Jensen found me, but it was Koby Holloway who tracked the men who were hunting me. He killed them.”
“Koby Holloway is your mate?”
“I knew the moment I saw him that we were mates.”
“I’m happy for you,” Xandra told them. “For both of you.”
“What about you and Declan?” Jaeda asked. “Is that what took so long for you guys to get here?”
“What do you mean?” Xandra asked.
“You’re mates,” Sidia said. “Your scent is all over him.”
“We’re not mates,” Xandra said.
“Of course, you are,” Jaeda disagreed. “You’ll stay here with us now. We’ll be together again. Just like we were before the attacks.”
Xandra didn’t say a word. She wouldn’t disillusion her sister. As for herself, she knew nothing would ever be the same.
Chapter Eight
Declan shoved into the office after Laramie. His brother ignored him until he’d reached the desk and sat, placing his elbows atop it and lacing his fingers together.
“What do you want, Declan?”
Laramie sounded tired. Declan couldn’t remember a time his brother had ever sounded that way.
“Xandra doesn’t want her sisters in here when we talk.”
“Why the hell not? Does she think they haven’t been a part of everything going on? That they haven’t seen death up close and personal?”
“She wants to protect them.” Declan dropped into one of the chairs in front of the desk. “I don’t know everything. She hasn’t told it all yet. But I know Lawrence kept her hostage.”