“Tallow, this isn’t her fault. You’re being emotional and—”
“So you’re taking her side? What gives her the right to come barging into our room like that?”
A moan from Marl drew their attention back to the floor. Tallow pulled Marl into her lap, her voice softening.
“Marlie, are you okay?”
Marl’s face was a mask of pain. “My hip…”
Tallow pulled back Marl’s coat and gave her hip a once over before prodding at it with her index finger. “It seems fine.”
Marl howled in pain, and Ginnifer couldn’t stand by any longer.
“Stop that,” Ginnifer said, smacking the shifter’s hand. Tallow gave her a scathing look, but Ginnifer gave one right back to her. “There’s probably internal damage. Her bones are frailer than yours. What she needs is a doctor.”
“Fine,” Tallow seethed. “Then you go get Indigo.”
“Indigo?” Ginnifer asked doubtfully.
“Did I stutter?”
***
Zane slept horribly, and when he woke, things only got worse. Coral was beneath his pelts, rubbing herself against him. He wasn’t completely immune to the fact that she was a woman, but while her antics could sometimes arouse him, he had almost infinite self-control when it came to disengaging with her.
Putting a hand to her shoulder, he gently pushed her back.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in a voice still thick with sleep.
She pushed his hand away. “I shouldn’t have to explain why I’m in your room.”
Moving quicker than his tired reflexes could stop her, she climbed on top to straddle him. They were both naked, but she knew better than to try to mount him without his consent. She’d tried that at the beginning of winter, when she’d come back from her visit to Sedna, proclaiming that her mother thought it was high time they became mates. It wasn’t the first time Shale had said this, in fact, if the Sedna alpha would have had her way, they would have mated the first time Coral had been fertile, nearly three years ago.
The thought turned his stomach and dampened whatever small amount of arousal had stirred in him.
“I have needs, Zane,” she said, jabbing a finger against his chest. “Or shall I go find a human pet of my own?”
Zane almost told her that she had no idea what needs were. He couldn’t imagine being anymore sexually repressed than he already was, and while Coral had been on her best behavior at Siluit, he knew for a fact that when she was at her own den, she was no more chaste than he was. He suspected that part of the reason Shale was so desperate they be mated was that she was afraid Coral would end up pregnant by another male.
“We’ve been through this—”
“Yes, we’ll mate during the thrall,” she said, looking away. “Why is that? Is it because you can’t bear the thought of being with me when your instincts aren’t compelling you?”
Her tone was hard, but he knew her well enough to know that she was upset. He almost asked what had gotten into her, why she’d picked today to come into his room and try to…
I’m not exactly sure what she’s trying to do.
He found it amusing that she thought she could seduce him simply by rubbing herself against him, like he was some juvenile male. Then, he thought of Ginnifer, and what would have happened if it had been her he’d woken to, her warm skin rubbing against his. Then, he recognized what was different about today—he was still covered in Ginnifer’s scent.
Zane was about to address that, but when he looked at Coral again, a smile had spread over her lips. He realized that thinking about Ginnifer had caused him to become aroused, inordinately so, and Coral must have assumed it was her own doing.
“Coral—”
She bent to kiss him, but stopped short at the sound of commotion from somewhere down the hall. Before she could resume, Zane shot up, glad for the distraction. Coral slumped back, and made an impatient sound.
“Whatever it is, ignore it,” she said, trying to push him back down. She might as well have been trying to move a wall of stone.
Coral tried to complain again, but he put two fingers over her mouth while he listened. He couldn’t make out what had happened, but instinct told him something was wrong.
He got up and threw his pelt around himself. He left his room and made his way down the hall, Coral chasing at his heels. A small group had congregated around Tallow’s room, concerned looks on their faces. His gut clenched as he recognized Ginnifer’s scent, but as the path opened up for him he could see that she was crouched down, appearing worried but otherwise fine.
Across from her, Tallow was crouched beside Indigo, who was gently fingering Marl’s hips. All except Indigo looked up at him as he arrived. Before he could say anything, Coral came up alongside him, pushing the others out of the way.
“What happened here? What did you do?” she asked Ginnifer.
“Shut the fuck up, Coral,” Tallow said, leveling a glare on the younger woman.
Zane put a hand on Coral’s shoulder to calm her. “Why don’t you get the pups out of here?”
She made a sour face. “Why me?”
“I’ll do it,” Ginnifer said, pushing up on her thighs to stand. One by one, she rounded the small ones up, leading them away with promises of chocolate.
Tallow slumped against the wall and sighed. She looked up at Zane, appearing exhausted. “I threw a candlestick at your human and it Marlie. I didn’t kill her, but…”
She motioned towards the older woman, who was breathing heavily with her eyes squeezed shut. Marl seemed oblivious to their conversation.
In light of the situation, he held in his irritation at Tallow, and resisted the urge to ask her why the fuck she was throwing things at Ginnifer. Coral had no such reservations, and beside him, she began to bristle with anger.
“She is not his human.”
Zane gave Tallow a sharp look, cutting short whatever retort she’d been planning. Given that tempers were high between the females, he looked to Boaz for an explanation. By the time he’d relayed what had happened, Indigo was finished her examination.
“There isn’t much I can do, aside from giving her something for the pain,” Indigo said. “She’s going to need medical attention.”
“She is our medical attention,” Tallow protested. “You have to figure something out.”
“I can mend a wound, maybe fix a simple fracture, but what Marl needs is an x-ray, possibly a CT, and fast,” Indigo said. “We’ll have to take her to Port Trent.”
Tallow gave a reluctant nod, and then looked to Zane. “I’ll leave with her now.”
Zane almost agreed with her, but then reconsidered. “I’ll take her through the south road.”
Indigo stiffened. “Are you sure about that? If you go attracting the wrong kind of attention…”
“Let me worry about that,” he told her. “If it’s as bad as you say it is, then she can’t wait for us to take her through the eastern pass.”
Coral was looking between them all, her brows drawn together. “Wait, why do you have to go, Zane? And what’s so bad about the south road?”
“Seriously, Coral? How many winters have you lived with us now?” Tallow huffed. “The south is all bear territory. If a wolf gets caught wandering through there, they aren’t going to stop to listen about his sick granny. They’ll kill him.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“…and if she runs a fever, you can give her a dose of acetaminophen,” Indigo told her, handing Ginnifer the last bottle of medicine. “Oh, and while I’m thinking of it, add ibuprofen to the list I gave you. Get four of the big bottles.”
“Okay,” Ginnifer said, struggling to stuff the medicine bottles into her bag without a free hand.
They were standing outside the den, finishing up preparations for the trip. Behind them, Marl was being secured onto a sled that was lined with fur. Indigo had given her something to sleep, but she still turned her head back and forth fitfully.
Zane to
ok the bag from Ginnifer and held it open.
He said, “She’ll get one bottle, and you can forget about the list. We’ll make another run when I get back.”
“At least get my shaving cream,” Indigo said, casting Ginnifer a desperate look.
Before Zane could shoot down the request, Ginnifer said, “I could really use a good shave myself.”
Indigo smiled in triumph. “Ha! Two to one, you lose. How about lotion, the kind that smells like honey, do you need that—”
Zane put a hand over Indigo’s face. “This isn’t a supply run.” To Ginnifer, he said, “And for the last time, you really don’t have to come.”
Indigo pushed her brother’s hand out of the way. “Who’s going to remember Marl’s medicines?”
“Enzo will,” he told her.
“Enzo doesn’t know the half of what she takes. One wrong dose and a bum hip will be the least of poor Marl’s worries.”
Ginnifer didn’t know the half of what Marl took either, but Indigo had slipped her a list of the older woman’s meds an hour prior, when she’d told her “the plan.” According to Indigo, her brother would be looking for any excuse not to bring Ginnifer along for the trip to Port Trent, so they had to find a way to make her indispensible. Ginnifer wanted to get in touch with Aaron as soon as possible, before she lost her resolve, but she could only speculate as to why Indigo wanted her to go to Port Trent so badly. She hoped it was because Indigo wanted shaving cream and lotion, and not because she wanted to get Ginnifer alone with her brother.
We won’t be alone, Ginnifer reminded herself. Marl might have been out of it, but Enzo was coming, as well as Boaz.
Speaking to Ginnifer again, Zane said, “It could be dangerous. I can arrange for Breeze to take you along the eastern pass next week.”
It sounded reasonable, and was probably for the best, but Ginnifer saw Indigo give a minute shake of her head. Ginnifer inwardly sighed, but for Zane, she put on a coy smile.
“Even with the bears, I think I’m probably safer with you than with anyone else. Besides,” she gave a quick twirl, “I’m already dressed.”
She expected Zane to see right through the overt manipulation, but he looked away, swallowing hard and rubbing the back of his neck.
“I have to go speak with Breeze and Kuva before we go.”
He headed back into the den, and once he was out of earshot—at least, she hoped he was out of earshot—Indigo let out something akin to a squeal.
In a low-pitched shout, she said, “You made my brother blush!”
“I didn’t see that,” Ginnifer said, waving her hands to shush the shifter.
“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it,” Indigo said, losing ten years off her age as she jumped around Ginnifer. “He likes you. No, he more than likes you.”
Ginnifer finally realized why Zane was always putting his hand over his sister’s face. She cupped a hand over Indigo’s mouth and hissed at her.
“Can you say that any louder?” She looked around, but only Marl and Enzo were within hearing range, and Enzo only had eyes for his mother. She removed the hand from Indigo’s mouth. “So what if we like each other, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to be with Coral.”
“Unless we come up with a plan for—”
“There’s not going to be a plan, Indigo,” Ginnifer huffed.
“Even if I knew a way to take Coral out of the equation?”
Ginnifer’s mouth opened, and then closed, as she forgot what she’d been about to say.
Indigo was grinning like a bandit. “Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of everything. You and my brother just have a nice trip together.”
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but don’t,” Ginnifer said, shaking her head. “Even if Coral wasn’t in the picture, and even if whatever you did didn’t have major repercussions for the pack, I still wouldn’t stay here and take her place. I have a family and a career that matter a whole lot to me, and I’m not going to give them up for anything, not even Zane.”
She gave Indigo the firmest look she could muster, and the younger woman backed down with obvious reluctance.
“Whatever you say, big sister.”
She walked away, before Ginnifer could strangle her.
Ginnifer watched as Indigo squatted beside the sled, putting a hand to Marl’s forehead. She tried not to think about what Indigo had said, tried not to even contemplate what sort of plan could be hatched to get Coral out of the way.
When Boaz came out of the den, dressed head to toe in white and grey furs, it hit her that the one thing she’d forgotten in all of this mess was her integrity as a filmmaker. She’d criticized Boaz for being unethical in his relationship with Tallow, while she herself teetered on the brink of causing a pack war with her clandestine relationship with the pack’s alpha.
Boaz gave her a smile that didn’t touch his eyes. “Hey. Sorry about earlier.”
Since coming to Siluit, his voice had seemed deeper and his gait, more confident. She thought that if he stayed in the pack for a few more weeks, he might finally start to seem his age.
“No worries. I should have known better than to barge in like that.”
“Yeah,” he said. “But Tallow’s reaction was way overblown. She gets like that when we’re…um, together. Really possessive and….territorial. You, especially, seem to bring it out of her.”
“Me?”
Boaz cringed. “It drives her nuts when I come back from working and I smell like you. She’s always making up weird excuses for me to stay away, and when they don’t work, she…” He trailed off, rubbing the mark on the side of his neck. “Anyway, she doesn’t want me going to Port Trent with you. That’s part of the reason she was in such a bad mood today.”
Ginnifer’s stomach turned, and finally realized what it was that bothered her so much about Tallow and Boaz’s relationship, though she hated admitting it.
“That’s really shitty of her, if you ask me,” she said, irritation making her words sharp. “We’ve been friends since we were kids. If I wanted to sleep with you, I wouldn’t have waited this long.”
It wasn’t until Boaz’s face reddened that she realized how badly that had come across. Her hand lifted as though to reach for him, but he froze her with a look.
“Because you’ve always known how easy it would’ve been,” he said, and there was more bitterness in his voice than she could have imagined he was capable of. “To get me to roll over for you like a dog.”
“Boaz, you know that’s not what I meant.”
“Isn’t it, though?” He shook his head, blinking slowly. “The reason Tallow is jealous of you is because she knows that I’ve spent half of my life being obsessed with you, thinking that one day you’d see me as more than a friend. You must think I’m pretty damn stupid, don’t you?”
Ginnifer couldn’t work the knot out of her throat to speak.
Boaz turned his back on her. “Do me a favor and call my mom for me.”
“You’re not—”
“I’ll go next week with Tallow and Breeze.”
“Boaz…”
He hesitated, waiting for her to say something more, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t make the situation worse. He seemed so prickly right now that she thought even an apology would piss him off, though she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to say sorry.
She heard him scoff, and then he walked back towards the den, shouldering past Zane as he went. The alpha turned to narrow his eyes at Boaz, but Boaz didn’t look back to see it.
Ginnifer was still standing, rocking slowly on the balls of her feet as Zane came up to her.
“Are you all right?”
She felt sick to her stomach, her nausea compounded by knowing that Zane, and probably Indigo as well, had witnessed Boaz crucifying her.
“I’m okay,” she said, and she managed a smile when she heard how convincing she sounded. “Just a little spat, nothing we won’t work out.”
Zane put a finger un
der her chin. His skin was warm and a little rough. His thumb brushed her cheek, wiping away a tear.
***
From his perch on the mountain bluff, Zane could see nothing but snowy flatlands. He knew that another day of travel would bring them to the southern forests, and into bear territory.
There were a handful of smaller white bear tribes that still lived in the north, farther up than even Sedna. But the vicious territory disputes of the previous generation had pushed most to the south, while human development had pushed the brown and black bear tribes farther north. They had all met in the middle, inhabiting a narrow, but long stretch of territory where the forests had yet to give way to tundra.
The bears had enough difficulty coexisting with one another, and the uneasiness of their lives made them highly aggressive. They didn’t tolerate other shifters in their territory, particularly wolves, who were the only ones besides other bears that could pose any sort of threat to them.
On his own, Zane’s speed and maneuverability could overcome a bear of moderate fighting prowess. Any more than that, and he would need the coordination of a pack. That meant that if they did encounter any bears, he’d be relying on Enzo.
Zane looked back at the camp, where Enzo lay a short distance from the fire, his long body curled around his mother’s sleeping form. Enzo was only a few years younger than Zane, but in terms of combat experience, he might as well have been a pup. It was not his fault. Threats to their territory were few and far between, usually nothing more than minor skirmishes with the western wolf pack, Amarok. They rarely called for more muscle than Zane and Kuva, and as such, Enzo and most of the Siluit wolves had never fought anything outside of prey.
He should have brought Kuva.
The large beta male had been part of a smaller pack that had been decimated when Amarok rose in the west, almost ten years ago. Kuva had survived alone for some time before Zane had taken him in, and it had been time in which he’d honed his fighting skills. If there was anyone he should have brought with him to guard against bears, it was Kuva.
That would be too rational.
Zane was looking at Ginnifer now. She sat beside the fire, twirling a piece of staked meat in her fingers, but not eating it. If Kuva were there right now, he’d be beside her, probably trying to feed her from his hand. When her eyelids began to droop, Kuva would offer to keep her warm with his body, and any protest Zane made would be painfully transparent.
Capturing the Alpha (Shifters of Nunavut Book 1) Page 13