by Cat Kalen
Exhausted, and unable to communicate during the crossing, I take that quiet time to sort through matters and work on a plan to free the others.
A long time later when darkness is upon us Logan negotiates his car off the ferry. He travels along the highway and when the traffic slows he pulls his car over.
I take that time to morph back. “Hey,” he says in a soft voice. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” I say as his warmth wraps around my heart.
With that he reaches into the back seat and hands me a t-shirt and pair of sweat pants. “They’re big, but they’ll do the trick.”
After I hurry and dress in Logan’s clothes, he pulls back onto the road. Both lost in our own thoughts we don’t talk about what happened, and we definitely don’t talk about Stone. Perhaps neither of us is ready for that just yet.
A long while later he drives through a street lined with houses. I sit up and look at all the quaint homes and when I hear children playing on their lawns or passing a puck on the pavement, my heart turns over in my chest.
“We’re here,” he says as he pulls into a driveway.
I blink up at him, and we exchange a look before I take in the two-story house in front of me.
“Ready?”
I nod but nervousness invades my stomach. Logan comes around to my side of the car and opens the door. He grasps my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.
“Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.”
He leads me up the walkway but the front door swings open before we even reach the landing. We’re instantly bombarded by a group of anxious people who are all talking at once and ushering us inside.
It’s so overwhelming that I find myself moving closer and closer to Logan. He pulls me in tight and does a quick round of introductions. Everyone is watching me, like they’re waiting for some sort of reaction.
Logan senses my distress and leads me down a long hallway and into the sitting room. He guides me to the sofa and sits down next to me as everyone fills in the seats around us. The lady he introduced as his aunt comes in with trays of food and sweets. And all eyes turn on us, anxious to hear about our journey as the food is passed around.
As Logan begins to fill them in on our run, my thoughts return to Stone, Jace, Clover, and the puppies and anxiety wells up inside me.
I look at the people smiling at me, and understand those still trapped at the compound have offered me this life. They wanted me to have my freedom, even at their own expense. A wave of unstable emotions makes me feel light-headed. I’m not about to let them suffer while I lavish. I have to go back. I have to fight. I have to put a stop to the brutality once and for all.
As I look around Logan’s pack—a loving family who, without question, have welcomed me with open arms, I know I can’t ask them to risk their lives by joining me in my dangerous pursuit against my master. It’s my fight and I have to fight it alone.
I have to say goodbye to Logan and I have to do it now before I get in any deeper. I sniff and when I brush at my face, my fingers come away wet.
A hush falls over the room and Logan gestures for everyone to leave. After they all exit the room, he turns to me and pulls me closer.
His voice drops to a whisper, “Are those tears, Pride?”
“No,” I say, and give a big hiccupping sob.
“Ah, you’re not so tough after all,” he teases, trying to lighten my mood as he uses his thumb to brush away the moisture.
“Weren’t you the one who said I should never be underestimated?”
He pulls a face and quivers, feigning fear, “Oh, yeah. You’re right.”
I pound his chest. “Logan, you don’t understand.”
“Hey come on.” He shackles my wrists and holds them to his chest. Heat and strength radiate from his body and only makes what I have to say harder. “What is it?” he asks.
“I have to go back.” Contrary to my words I lean into him and my heart aches so much it feels like it’s going to explode. But I know what I have to do, and I’m determined to do it.
Still, it doesn’t make leaving Logan, his family, and the chance to live a normal life any easier.
“I have to go,” I say again and climb to my feet.
“I know you do, Pride.” Logan stands and pulls me into him. “I know you have to go.”
I swallow and blink up at him. “You do?”
“Of course I do. You’re smart, strong and whether you want to admit it or not, you’re the most compassionate girl I know.”
I sniff and as I force myself to take a step back I work hard to desensitize. “Please say goodbye to your family for me. They seem so—”
Logan shakes his head, pulls me hard against his chest and cuts me off. “Don’t you see, Pride. I was waiting for you that night at the pub. Waiting for you to come find me.”
My mouth drops open and equal measures of shock and confusion rush through me. “What are you talking about?” I recall our initial meeting and remember those fleeting moments when I felt like he’d known who I was, like he’d been waiting for me.
“Because I needed the smartest wolf in the compound at my side.”
“To make it through the woods?” I ask and give a quick shake of my head. “I don’t think so. You were the one who kept me alive.”
“What I was doing was training you.”
I have no idea what he’s getting at. I look at him, confused. “For what?”
“You have all the makings of a great hunter, but what you lacked was real life experience. I was there to give it to you. If we’re going to retaliate against our masters, we have to be prepared for anything and everything.”
I gasp, shocked. “You mean…”
“Yes, I mean we’re all going back.” He waves to the group of men and women hovering near the door watching us.
“Logan, I don’t understand.”
“We heard rumors about wolves who were being imprisoned, and my pack sent me to investigate. I allowed myself to be captured on purpose so I could better understand the workings of the system. I broke you out because at the estate where I was held we all heard stories about Pride. Smart, lethal Pride who even the handlers are afraid of. If there was one wolf that could help us break back in, and free the others, I knew it was you.”
I shake my head and I try to take it all in. “So you actually wanted the handlers to find you at the pub.”
He shivers. “I practically lit myself on fire to be found. What I hadn’t expected, however, was for the PTF to show up. Although I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d been running around town in wolf form and causing a load of trouble, hoping to get the attention of our masters. They knew I’d removed my microchip so I knew they’d send their best tracker after me.” He grins and taps my nose. “And they did.”
“Is that why my master was so angry? Because you figured out how to remove the microchip?”
“I suspect he knows who I am and is worried about a retaliation from my pack. He wanted me stopped before I reached the border, and he wanted me alive so he could interrogate me.” He goes quiet for a moment and his voice drops, to showcase the seriousness of the situation. “I believe he knows we’re going to come for him, Pride, and that makes our rescue mission much more dangerous.”
I realize what he’s saying fits in with Stone’s theory. The master rewired the estate with a new system not to keep his wolves in, but to keep an army of wolves out.
I lower my voice and ask. “Why have you kept this from me?”
Logan looks past my shoulder, a silent signal to his family and a moment later we’re all alone. “I wanted you to come to me on your own terms. I wanted it to be your decision.”
“How did you know I would make the right one?”
He grins and the warmth in his expression becomes my undoing. “Because you’re a wolf who lives up to her name.”
“So it’s not because your name is Logan and you’re so smart?” I question and eye him skeptically, want
ing to get to the bottom of what his name really means.
He grins. “Ah, yes, that.” He hugs me and my pulse leaps. “If you must know the truth, Logan means hollow.”
My head comes up with a start. “Hollow?”
“Yes, hollow.”
I wave my hand around. “Like empty space or air.”
“Pretty much,” he says.
I laugh. For the first time in my entire life I laugh and as a rich, musical sound fills the air it surprises us both.
“Why didn’t you tell me what your name really meant?”
“Would you really have trusted a wolf who was named after empty space?”
“Come on, Logan, there must be more to it than that. Your parents would never have given you a name that was so…undignified.”
Logan taps me on the nose a second time and says, “Such an astute little girl. Okay, it also stands for tree hollow,” he explains.
When I give him a puzzled look, he continues. “A tree hollow is a branch or trunk that provides a habitat to others. Like you, I’m a protector. As the alpha, it’s my job to oversee the pack and make sure all needs are being met.”
We stare at each other for a long, thoughtful moment and I think about how much we’ve been through over the last few days and how much more we’re going to go through in the upcoming weeks, and I can’t help but think how happy it makes me to know we’re going to go through it together. An invisible band tightens around my heart.
In the span of a few short days my life has been turned upside down. Since I met Logan I’ve learned a great deal about myself, and about others. I’ve learned to trust in myself, to use my size as a strength, and to fight with my heart as well as my head.
But most importantly, I’ve learned about trust and companionship. Although deep in my heart, I know what I feel for this strong alpha goes much deeper than casual friendship.
My pulse races as I stare at the boy who always believed in me—a boy who has taken me from a strong wolf to an even stronger girl.
“Logan,” I murmur under my breath as our glances collide.
He dips his head and wets his mouth and I know he’s going to kiss me. “Yes,” he whispers in the softest voice.
I part my lips, welcoming his mouth to mine. “I think it’s a great name. It suits you.”
“So does yours.”
As his lips settle firmly on mine, I don’t refute because I know Logan is the only wolf—the only boy—who knows me well enough to say that.
Well, with the exception of Stone, maybe.
# # #
Don’t miss Cat’s next exciting story, PRIDE UNLEASHED, coming early 2012.
Seeking revenge on her cruel master, Pride is headed back to the compound. She’ll stop at nothing to free the enslaved wolves still caged in the estate’s underground prison. Knowing there is only one way back inside the heavily guarded mansion, Pride allows herself to be captured.
Armed with a plan, Logan joins her on her mission, but when spirited wolf Gem is captured in the crossfire, and Pride’s plan begins to unravel, she once again finds herself at the mercy of her master. Except this time she knows she has two wolves on her side, Logan and Stone—powerful alphas who will both fight to the death to free her.
Except the compound hides secrets that threatens both her heart and her identity and when bonds are tested and bloodlines are revealed, Pride realizes if she completes her mission she’ll be releasing her pack into a world where no one, least of all Pride, is safe.
Pride Unleashed
by Cat Kalen
The night is thick, dark, and ominous—much like my current disposition. All around me the vineyard’s nightlife falls mute, the cacophony of familiar sounds muffled beneath the heavy, menacing mood. Tension hovers overhead like a threatening rain cloud and my flesh tightens, waiting for the sky to crack open and fracture the silent night. Even the crickets stand down, their chorus hushed as they sit watching, waiting, listening for the hammer to fall, or in this case, the silver to pierce.
It’s unnerving to think that the nocturnal creatures surrounding the estate—a mansion where I’d once been imprisoned—instinctively know that I, along with the pack of wolves at my back, are walking head first into danger and chances of survival are slim at best.
Not unless I can deceive him–the master.
I’ve spent the last seventeen years under the master’s control. He taught me to trick, to lure, to embrace my primal side in an effort to hunt the ruthless drug dealers who dared to cross him. But I’ll have to put on my best performance yet if I want to fool the man who can easily control us. A man who is as cunning as he is lethal, a man who is never, ever to be underestimated.
The second I surrender and he slaps a collar around my throat, I know what I will have to do—convince him that I hadn’t run away from the compound and that I’d only been following his orders to hunt down a rogue wolf.
But showing no emotion in the face of my enemy might not be as easy as it once was. Not after everything I’ve been through. The fact that I’ve changed while running in the Olympic National Park with the rogue wolf in question, however, is a point in my favor. My master no longer knows all my weaknesses or any of my strengths.
I angle my head to see Logan, the boy/wolf who wound himself around my heart and helped me learn so much about the world, about the girl inside me. When my eyes lock on his, my stomach punches into my throat. I know Logan’s fate, know what will happen to him once I hand him over to my master like he’s nothing more than a tick on my ruff. Or that what happened between us in the cave two weeks ago during the full moon was nothing more than a diversionary tactic. Despite that, I also understand I have no choice in the matter. But it still doesn’t make feeding him to the wolves—ironic I know—any easier.
I smile at him but my expression slips when I turn away. The truth is I’m frightened. Frightened for Logan. Frightened for the pack of wolves at our backs, for the pack still trapped inside. And I’m frightened for Stone, the Alpha who pretended to be enemy but who risked his very life to save mine.
What will happen if I can’t get them out?
I suck in a sharp breath and work to desensitize. I can’t let emotions get the better of me. Not now. Not after I’ve come so far.
Keeping to the shadows and camouflaging ourselves in the black night, my steps slow as we reach the long winding driveway leading up to my master’s estate. With my sight unhindered by the darkness, I glance past the thick iron gate defending the perimeter and take in the sprawling mansion nestled at the foot of Mount Sirren. On the south ridge of the mountain, overlooking the estate, fields of grapevines provide a gorgeous backdrop to the majestic manor. As I inhale the familiar scents, I struggle to tame the wolf pacing restlessly inside me, but I can’t seem to marshal the unease seeping from my every pore.
Our plan is risky, dangerous, and the scars marring my body are a constant reminder that disobedience comes with a price. If I make one wrong move, one small mistake under the master’s watchful eye, not even alpha beside me, or that pack of werewolves shielding us from the rear can step in to crush him.
Something I long ago vowed I’d do.
My ears perk for sound, and I note that the propane fired cannons, a device used to scare birds from the vineyard, are quiet tonight. But come tomorrow they’ll blast again. At least they’d better blast, because my plan to get the others out alive hinges upon it.
Floodlights sweep the area, splashing shadows over the manicured lawn. As my heart thunders and my blood pumps faster, Logan moves closer, sensing my discomfort. Unwilling to give in to my fears, I breathe in his comforting scents, pulling them deep into my lungs. The heady bouquet of clean earth, a fragrance that reminds me of cool, sunny days, mingles with the fresh aroma of pine needles. The aroma seeps under my skin and as it travels through my veins I suddenly can’t help but wish I was facing the master alone. I hate the risk Logan is about to take. Hate that he’s so sure of me that he’s willing to put his
life in my hands.
Aware of the security cameras, I take a tentative step closer to the intercom outside the gate, and my stomach rebels as the bulging black button taunts me. I want to reach for it, but I can’t seem to move, my mind and body no longer functioning on the same wavelength.
Logan curls his hand around my waist, and I jump at his touch. He slides me a look, his blue eyes moving over my face.
“It’s going to be okay, Pride.”
I force a smile and my wolf bristles, but I don’t let her take comfort in his touch, or the warm strength of his body. Right now I need to draw on my anger, because it’s that anger that’s going to keep my wolf sharp, and keep us alive.
“Pride,” he says again, then pauses to add depth to his words when he adds, “We’ve all got your back. Nothing is going to go wrong.”
“I know,” I lie as I work to keep my voice from sounding uncertain. Although Logan is smart, strong and skilled, we’re no longer playing in his territory. While his world might have dangerous black bears, birds of prey, and wild, feral animals, the King of my jungle is far more deadly.
And we’d be wise to remember that.
With life and death hanging in the very balance, a dark shiver pulses in my blood as I reach out and stab the big black button. As my mind runs through various scenarios, wondering how the master will receive us and knowing that the next few minutes will determine our fate, I pull a gun from my pocket and aim it at Logan’s head.
Cat Kalen is a multi published author in the romance genre under two pen names. Cat is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie), pizza and watermelon. She has two teenagers who keep her busy with their never ending activities, and a husband who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan. Cat can never find balance in her life, is always trying to find time to go to the gym, can never keep up with emails, Facebook or Twitter and tries to write page-turning books that her readers will love.