She rushed to his side and grabbed his wrist, pulling with all her might. His arm was rigid with tension, but as she peered with wide eyes at his mangled hand, he began to relax.
“I have to find them,” he said softly.
Allison nodded her understanding and said, “I’ll be alright here.”
“No, I can’t leave you,” he argued.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Now is no time for obstinacy! Go! Bring them back!” Allison said.
“I can’t leave you!” he shouted. “Don’t you understand? I can’t… I can’t lose you.”
Speechless, Allison’s eyes turned toward his. She could see the concern that looked back at her.
“Then we’ll go together,” she said softly.
“I can’t endanger you,” he said. “Victor and his pack are still out there, and they’ll stop at nothing to....”
“Michael, we go together,” she interrupted him. “They’re your brothers. You can’t just let them go.”
For a long, tense moment, Michael was silent. His eyes studied the bloody wall. Then he hung his head in defeat.
“Then we go,” he said.
Chapter Seven
The leaves crunched heavily under their feet as they walked. Allison was hardly dressed for such terrain, wearing nothing but a tank top and shorts that they’d obtained for her the first night she stayed with the pack, and her feet were bare. Until this moment, she’d never realized that her shoes, inappropriate that they might have been with their spiked heels, had been lost at some point during her abduction and rescue.
“Are you alright?” Michael asked her, glancing down at her tender feet.
“I’ll be fine,” she lied, eager to find Luke and Logan as quickly as possible.
In truth, her feet felt as though they were being ripped apart. Every jagged stone, every briar, every sharp twig tore at her delicate flesh, so used to wearing fuzzy slippers and being moisturized nightly. But she said nothing. The pack was far more important.
Michael was careful to slow his pace, allowing her to keep up despite her aching feet. He knew she must be in terrible pain. He could see her wince now and then, and he could hear the occasional sucking of air between her lips. But he would not belittle her by asking if he could help her.
“Do you have any idea where we are going?” Allison asked.
“I go based only on pack instinct,” Michael said. “Unfortunately, I can no longer sense their location.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve been disavowed. They no longer recognize me as Alpha because of my betrayal, and as a consequence, our pack bond has been broken,” Michael explained.
“Oh, no,” Allison murmured. “Because of me. Michael, I’m…”
“Don’t,” Michael shushed her. “This is as much my responsibility as it is yours, if nor more so. As Alpha, I should have had the strength to resist. This is my failing.”
Allison bit her lip and struggled against her emotions as her eyes began to well with stinging, bitter tears. No, she told herself. Don’t you dare cry!
Crying would do no good. Crying would weaken her, and Michael needed her to be strong. The whole pack needed her to be strong. They were broken, and it was all because of her. She couldn’t let them down.
She swallowed hard, and the lump of raw emotion that had become lodged in her throat was pushed into the pit of her stomach. She took a deep breath, willing herself strength she feared she didn’t have.
“This pack instinct… can it really help find them?” she asked.
“I hope so,” Michael said.
She wanted to tell him how little confidence his hope inspired in her, but she knew that he himself might be lost in a quagmire of hopelessness if she did. So she did the only thing she knew to do. She lied.
“We’ll find them,” she said. “I know it.”
Michael said nothing, but she could see that his jaw muscles were tense and twitching. Not wanting to put him under any more stress than he was already bearing, she walked beside him in silence.
After several long, painful miles, Allison’s feet felt as though they were on fire. Michael sniffed the air and glanced down, noticing a path of blood trailing behind them.
“Your feet!” he gasped.
She froze and looked down, noticing the leaves beneath her mottled red. She glanced behind her and saw the trail. Her skin tingled, and her whole body began to shiver. She felt herself sinking.
Michael caught her just as she was falling. His thick arms wrapped around her and held fast, and she struggled to remain conscious.
“No, no, no…” he pleaded with her. “Don’t you faint on me!”
He needed her. He needed her to be strong. The pack needed her to be strong. She kept repeating it, and she shook her head rapidly to chase away the fog that threatened to pull her out of reality.
Her hands gripped his forearms, and she pushed herself back onto unsteady feet. Her head swam, and she swayed, but she managed to stay upright.
In the distance, thunder bellowed ominously. Even Allison, with her human sense of smell, could detect the scent of rain in the air.
“We need shelter,” Michael said.
Then, without a thought to propriety or her silly pride, he scooped her into his arms and scanned the area through narrowed eyes.
Allison, too weak to argue or protest, allowed herself to be nestled in his embrace. She laid her head weakly on his shoulder and noticed his musky scent for the first time. Perhaps it was imperceptible before, but now it was familiar and soothing.
The thunder rolled over the hill and droplets of rain thumped on the leaves. At first, the pitter-patter was soothing. Soon, the downpour was a drenching, driving force that beat down on their heads unrelentingly.
Michael’s pace quickened, jostling her as he jogged. She could hear the babbling of running water nearby, even over the torrent of rain. A creek. Michael dropped to his knees and began dragging her underneath an outcropping just feet from the creek bank.
The opening was narrow, but the two of them could just barely fit inside the tiny cave-like structure. There was nothing but soil underneath them, but at least it was dry. Bare roots formed a natural wall in front of them. They were almost entirely hidden from sight.
Michael wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him. His warmth calmed her shivering, and shielded her from the chill that crept in from every angle.
Pictures crept into her mind. She fought to keep them away, but they were vivid and real. His body pressing her against the rock wall of the cave, his kiss on her tender lips, the taste of him. She couldn’t keep those thoughts from invading her head, but she knew she had to. She couldn’t let him betray the pack again. She wouldn’t.
She could feel his breath hot on the back of her neck. His lips brushed against her flesh, and her skin erupted in tiny goose bumps. His nose nuzzled against her neck as he breathed in her scent. She closed her eyes and tried to picture something else, anything else. But it was no use.
“How do I fight this?” she whispered. It was meant to be a silent prayer, but it somehow slipped from within her.
“If I knew that then I would be able to do it, too,” he whispered back, his lips pressing against her neck, tasting her skin. His arms squeezed her more tightly.
“Michael, I…”
“God help me, I need you,” he said, his breath ragged behind her.
Her throat swelled with suppressed desire. The creek rushed by, filling higher and higher with water, threatening to swell over the bank and into their shelter.
“Michael,” she said.
He paid no heed, and he continued to kiss the sensitive skin below her hair. She closed her eyes and murmured pleasantly, but upon opening her eyes, they widened with alarm.
“Michael!” she shouted, and he looked over her shoulder, noticing now the flow of water inching dangerously close to them.
They both began to scramble from behind the curtain of roots as the creek began to
rush around their feet. Michael clutched her hand and dragged her up the bank and away from the rising waters. They collapsed into the leaves, breathless and in disbelief. There was nowhere to go as the rain surrounded them and the wind gusted heartily. Trees swayed heavily, and thunder grumbled following lightening that streaked across the sky.
Allison made the mistake of turning her eyes toward Michael, and the moment their eyes locked, they were overcome by a force of nature far more powerful than the thunder, the wind, and the rain combined.
She flew into his arms, wrapping them around his neck and throwing her leg over him, straddling him as she kissed him passionately. Her hands rested on his cheeks, and as the rain washed over them, they embraced and escaped into one another.
Michael’s hands wrapped into her hair and tugged hard, and she moaned against his lips. She could feel him swelling underneath her, and she was desperate for him.
His hands clutched at her shirt and pulled it over her head, letting it drop in a soggy pile on the leaves beside them. His eyes traveled over her, drinking her in, and then he pulled her back into the kiss, their bare skin boiling so hot it nearly steamed in the torrent of rain.
His lips trailed slowly down her neck, and he lapped at the skin, drinking the water that flowed down her body in streams. She arched her back, and his head dropped further to take one of her nipples between his lips. She moaned softly and cradled his head in her hands, pulling him against her.
His hands began to caress her breasts, fondling them gently. His fingers pinched her nipples lightly, and she gasped.
In one deft movement, he grabbed her body and twisted her onto the soggy ground. He scrambled to remove her shorts, which he dumped atop her tank top in the mud. Then his head dipped to kiss his way down the curvaceous mound of her stomach, which quivered with delight.
His tongue slipped between her labia, warm and soft, sliding across her clitoris and sending thrilling jolts of electrifying pleasure over her trembling body. His finger slipped inside her, curving upward to tease her G-spot as his tongue worked masterfully on her ever-swelling clit.
Her whole body quivered with tension. She wanted him inside her. She wanted to feel herself clenching around him.
“Take me,” she pleaded. “Please take me!”
Michael freed himself from the constraints of his shorts, and she eyed his erection with wide-eyed lust. She licked her lips, wishing for the opportunity to take him between her lips, but he was just as eager as she to feel the pleasure of full penetration.
He grasped his cock and positioned it between her legs, rubbing it through her glistening slit, gathering her hot slickness on the head. His eyes captured hers, and she bit her lip with anticipation.
She felt the head pressing against her, and she reached up and grabbed his buttocks, squeezing their muscular fullness and pulling him into her.
He entered her in one smooth thrust, slipping inside her and filling her, plunging so deep she could swear she felt him within every inch of her body.
Michael, never breaking eye contact, grabbed her wrists and pushed them harshly onto the muddy ground above her head, restraining her. She surrendered herself to him willingly, matching his thrusts with her own as she began to grind against him.
His expression was far more than masculine eroticism. It was primal, animalistic. As he thrust inside her, his lip curled into a snarl that thrilled Allison delightfully. His eyes were wide with some savage hunger for her, and he began to groan a with a fierceness that resembled a growl.
Pleasure was mounting inside her. Her flesh quivered at random points, and she clenched around his cock as he plunged inside her and withdrew. Her orgasm began to ripple, and then it swept across her body like a tidal wave of intensity. She cried out and clawed his back, arching her head backward as her eyes rolled back into her head.
“Oh, Michael!” she cried. “Michael, yes!”
His voice was low and savage, snarling. He began to pant, and his head dropped to her chest, his forehead resting there, rising and falling with each breath she took. He thrust faster now, and his arms began to tremble. His cock twitched, and then his thrusting became erratic, his timing lost. He moaned loudly, and he pulsed inside her, spilling his seed into her in hot, sticky spurts.
Finally, his weight collapsed on top of her as he struggled to catch his breath. His hand grasped her face, squeezing firmly and bringing her mouth to his. He kissed her harshly, and she wrapped her arms around his quivering body and held on as though she would never let go.
As the rain fell around them and the thunder echoed its lonely rumble in the distance, they lay entangled, their breathing slowly melding into one. Michael closed his eyes as he rested his head on her chest.
Then his eyes popped open and he sat up with a gasp.
“What have I done?” Michael moaned.
Allison finally realized the gravity of their situation, and the faces of Luke and Logan stared at her through the haze of passion from which she was just beginning to emerge.
“Oh, my god,” Allison murmured.
“They’ll never come back, now” Michael lamented, running his hand harshly through his dripping hair.
“We won’t tell them,” Allison suggested.
“They’ll know,” Michael said.
“But, you said the bond was broken,” Allison argued. “Maybe they won’t know.”
“They’ll know,” he repeated. “They’ll know, and they’ll hate me forever.”
As the clouds began to part and golden sunlight peeked through the trees in streams, the two of them sat in silence. What could be done? Was the pack forever broken? There had to be some way to mend it.
“I know!” Allison suddenly gasped, her face lit with excitement.
Michael looked at her with an eyebrow lifted quizzically.
“I’ll let myself get captured by Victor!” she squealed with glee.
“What?” Michael’s voice boomed more loudly than the thunder ever had. “Absolutely not! I forbid it!”
“You can’t forbid me! You don’t own me!” Allison shouted.
“I most certainly can, and I do!” he shouted back. “You cannot do that! What if they… what if…”
“Michael,” she said softly, her hand brushing his cheek. “It’s the only way. They’ll come back if they think I’m in danger. Won’t they?”
“Well, yes, I’m sure they would,” he agreed, clasping her delicate wrist. “But at what cost? And even if they do come back, there’s no guarantee they’ll forgive me… or us.”
“But it’s possible,” she said. “I don’t see any other way. Do you?”
“I don’t,” he admitted.
“Then we must do what we must do,” she said. “I trust you.”
“I can’t help but think of the what if,” he said.
“Well, I can’t help but think what if we don’t,” she said. “There is no other way.”
Michael’s skin turned a sickly shade of green, and he looked as though he might lose his lunch at any moment. Allison could think of nothing else to say, but she snuggled close to him and stroked his arm.
“No,” Michael said suddenly.
“Huh?”
“I said no,” he repeated. “No, I won’t risk you. There has to be another way.”
“But you said…”
“My decision is final,” he said. “I refuse to put you at risk. We will find another way. We must.”
She meant to protest, and her mouth opened to do so, but the stony look on his face told her he would not be swayed. She sighed heavily and sat back resignedly. Retrieving her soggy clothing, she began to wriggle into it.
“Thaddeus,” Michael said suddenly.
“Who?” Allison asked absently as she struggled to yank her shorts over her wet skin.
“Thaddeus was the Alpha of our pack before…” he paused, and she stopped struggling with her clothes to stare at him. “Before he died.”
“What happened to him?” she asked g
ently.
“Victor.”
“Oh. Well, what about Thaddeus?”
“On his death bed, he beseeched only one thing of us,” Michael said. “And that was to remain a pack and always look out for one another. An oath made to a dying Alpha can never be broken. So you see, they have to come back! They’ve simply forgotten about their oath in their distress.”
“Well, how can we remind them?” Allison asked.
“We have to find them, first.”
“You said you could use pack instincts to find them,” Allison reminded him.
“Normally I could but…” he paused.
“What, Michael?”
“My instincts seem to be severely hampered at the moment,” he admitted, hanging his shoulders dejectedly.
“By what?” she asked. Then she saw it in his eyes, and she added, “By me.”
He nodded.
“It’s not supposed to happen this way,” he told her. “We live as a pack, we love as a pack, we often die as a pack, though that’s obviously not always the case. I don’t know what came over me.”
“You really should just forget about me,” Allison said. “I’m nothing but trouble for all of you. You should just throw me to the wol… um… dump me off somewhere and go on with your lives.”
“You know we cannot do that,” he said. And then he added, “I cannot do that.”
“So what’s the solution to all of this, then?” Allison asked.
“We bring them back, apologize profusely, and remind them of their oath to Thaddeus,” he said. “Failing that, I don’t know.”
“How will we find them?” she asked.
“We let them find us.”
Chapter Eight
The grave was on a hill underneath an ancient laurel tree that stretched its arms in a vast canopy that shaded the surrounding area, marked only by a stone wolf statue that sat with its haunches buried slightly in the damp earth and its neck craned high as it howled at an imaginary moon.
Michael approached it with solemn reverence, his head bowed. He stopped beside it and kneeled.
“Hello, old friend,” Michael said.
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