Warrior

by Karen Lynch

  “I didn’t know that.” My chest tightened at the thought of the little girl seeing what those monsters had done to her father. I silently cursed Madeline once again for leaving her daughter unprotected and forced to cope with such a horrific ordeal. “The newspaper and police reports didn’t mention Sara at all. Do you know why?”

  “No, and I thought that was strange as well. It’s as if someone went to great effort to hide her.” He leaned back in his chair. “I couldn’t do anything for her back then, but as long as she lives here, she is under my protection. I know she’s one of yours, and I’m not saying this to undermine you. I just want you to know where I stand.”

  “I appreciate that, and I’m glad Sara has the pack watching out for her. Until we take care of the vampire problem in Portland, she’s not safe.”

  Maxwell’s mouth tightened. “No one is. That’s actually why I asked you to come today. I wanted you to know I’ve called in wolves from up north to beef up the patrols around Portland. These guys live a little more segregated from humans, but they are some of the best hunters in the country. I’ve ordered them not to engage your people when they come across them, but there still may be trouble. Some of them still carry the old resentment toward the Mohiri.”

  I nodded. There had been a time, a few hundred years ago, when werewolves were not as civilized as they are now, and some had attacked humans. It was Mohiri duty to protect humans from such threats, which meant hunting down and eliminating the dangerous wolves. Over time, the werewolves learned to control their animal urges and had turned their aggression on vampires instead of humans. A truce had been formed between us, but there was a lot of anger and bitterness on their side. Centuries later, the old animosity remained with a lot of werewolves.

  “I’ll let our warriors know.”

  “Good.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Now, let’s talk about the situation in Portland and how we’re going to clean up my city.”

  Two hours later, I left the Alpha’s office, confident that between the Mohiri and the werewolves, we would soon track down Eli and any other vampires in Portland. Maxwell was a lot more strategic than I’d first given him credit for, and he knew Portland far better than I or the other warriors. Our people had better resources, so we agreed to work together against our common enemy.

  It was Chris’s turn to watch over Sara, but now that I was here, I wanted to see her before I headed back to Portland. As I left the lumber yard, I called him to find out where she was.

  “Nikolas, anything wrong?” he asked.

  “No. I just had a good meeting with Maxwell Kelly about our vampire problem. Thought I’d stop by and check on Sara while I’m here. Is she at home?”

  “You’re in New Hastings?” There was an edge to his voice that immediately put me on guard.

  “You sound worried. Is everything okay with Sara?”

  “She’s fine. But…”

  “But what?” I asked in a hard voice.

  He cleared his throat. “You have to promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

  “Chris,” I bit out. “What the hell is going on?”

  He exhaled slowly. “Sara just left her place with the blond man she was talking to at the party on Saturday. It looks like…they’re on a date.”

  I was unprepared for the pain that pricked my chest. I’d known there was a possibility she dated, but hearing that she was with another male was not easy.

  “Are you still there?” Chris asked.

  “Yes. Where are they now?”

  His bike started. “I’m following them. She’s safe.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “Nikolas, maybe it would be better if you stayed away right now. I’ll keep Sara safe.”

  His unspoken message was clear. Sara wasn’t in any danger, and seeing her with the other man would only agitate my Mori and me. If I had any sense of self-preservation, I’d turn around and head back to Portland. It was the rational thing to do.

  No one would ever accuse a bonded male of being rational.

  “I can’t, Chris.” How could I describe my need to see her, the irresistible pull from the bond between us? A few weeks ago, I could not have imagined feeling this way about anyone.

  He swore softly. “Just promise me you won’t do anything to upset her.” I started to speak, but he cut me off. “I mean it. Sara might be your potential mate, but she’s my family, and I don’t want to see her hurt.”

  “I’d never hurt her. You know that.”

  “Not intentionally, but if you react to seeing her with the other man, you might say or do something you’ll regret.”

  “Unless I see she is in danger, I won’t approach them.” My hands tightened on the bike’s handlebars. “No matter what I see.”

  After a long pause, Chris said, “They’re going into a coffee shop called The Hub. Don’t make me regret telling you that. I’ll be at the waterfront if you need me.”

  I ended the call and headed for the coffee shop. A few minutes later, I parked my bike down the street and walked toward the busy shop. When I got close enough to see the couple sitting on the other side of one of the big windows, I stopped and moved into the doorway of the nearest building, close enough to see her, and far enough away that I couldn’t sense her presence.

  I wasn’t surprised to get a call from Chris barely five minutes after I arrived, and I assured him all was well. I wasn’t happy with the situation, but I wasn’t going to do anything foolish. He offered to relieve me now that I’d seen her, but I said I was good.

  Sara laughed at something Samson said, and I realized I hadn’t seen her laugh much since we’d met, and never with me. Not that she’d had much occasion to laugh with the events of the last three weeks. It bothered me that someone else was able to make her smile when I couldn’t, but at the same time, I was glad to see her happy.

  Samson got up and brought her a notepad and pencil. She wrote on the pad as they talked, so she didn’t see the warm affection on his face as he watched her. But I saw it clearly, and so did my Mori.

  Mine, the demon growled.

  Chapter 8

  I took half a dozen strides toward the coffee shop before I realized what I was doing. I should have turned around and gone back, but I kept walking. Once I sensed Sara, the invisible cord that stretched between us drew me to her. I knew entering the shop was a bad idea before my hand touched the door, but that didn’t stop me. Ignoring everyone else in the shop, I settled in a chair that gave me a clear view of Sara on the far side of the room.

  Neither Sara nor Samson seemed aware of my presence as she finished writing and handed the notepad to him. He smiled broadly, and there was no mistaking the adoration in his eyes as he said something that made her blush prettily and look down at her lap.

  My fingers clenched the arms of the leather chair as I watched him flirt openly with her, and I knew I’d be across the room in seconds if he touched her. Coming here had been a mistake, but I couldn’t leave if my life depended on it.

  Sara said something. Then her shoulders stiffened and she stared out the window at the street. I wondered again if she could sense me as I did her, and I felt a thrill of satisfaction when her head turned and her gaze swept the room as if she was looking for someone.

  Her companion shifted, and my eyes narrowed on him as his hand moved toward her arm to get her attention. My Mori pressed forward, and I fought the urge to leave the chair.

  And then I felt her gaze on me, and I forgot about the other male as I met her indignant stare. Her chin lifted defiantly and her lips pressed together, telling me she was not happy with me being there. My pulse quickened in response. God, even when she was angry, she was beautiful.

  She stared at me until Samson spoke to her. I felt the loss of her gaze when she turned it toward him. They talked, and she kept her face turned away from me, although he looked my way several times.

  I waited for her to look at me again, but she seemed determined to ignore me
. It didn’t bother me at first, but the longer they sat there talking as if I wasn’t in the room, the darker my mood got. By the time they got up and walked out without a glance in my direction, I was ready to bite the head off the first person who looked at me wrong.

  After a minute, I went outside and strode to my bike. Straddling it, I gripped the handlebars, trying to rein in the storm brewing inside of me.

  “Khristu!” I swore loudly as I fought my angry demon. I wasn’t happy either, but there was nothing I could do about it right now. I should have stayed away. I’d seen a few newly bonded males lose it because they couldn’t control their demons. I would not do that to her.

  I was still there five minutes later when Chris called to tell me Sara had just gotten home. Knowing she was no longer with Samson eased my agitation a little, but I still wanted to pummel something. I started my bike and headed out of town. One of Erik’s guys had set up a punching bag in the basement of the safe house, and I had a feeling he was going to need to replace it after I was done with it.

  * * *

  Maxwell’s northern wolves arrived in Portland Saturday night, and by Monday there had been two confrontations between the new wolves and our warriors. The additional wolves sent the vampires into hiding, and the city was quiet for the next few days.

  Chris and I continued to watch Sara, who stayed closed to school and home. There was no sign of Samson, but I noticed her werewolf friends were sticking closer to her than usual. She didn’t look too happy about their constant presence, and I wondered what was up with the three of them. They had been acting strange since they walked out of the mall on Sunday with Sara covered in what appeared to be orange drink. I’d been tempted to ask what happened, but the scowl on her face had warned me against it.

  On Tuesday, Sara’s uncle left on a trip. I didn’t like the idea of her alone in the building, but it wasn’t as if her uncle could have protected her from a vampire. Between Chris and me and the werewolves, we’d keep her safe.

  I was halfway to New Hastings Wednesday afternoon when Chris called.

  “Are you on your way here?” he asked.

  I chuckled. “You in a hurry to get back to the city?”

  “No.” He let out a groan. “Sara gave me the slip at school and took off.”

  My stomach lurched, and I hit the gas, making the bike leap forward. “Goddamn it, Chris! She’s an untrained orphan. How the hell did she get away from you again?”

  “I was waiting for her in front of the school like I do every day, and she must have gone out the back,” he said apologetically. “Her friend Roland is gone too. Peter swears he has no idea where they went.”

  I sped around an eighteen wheeler. “How long?”

  “About twenty minutes. I’m riding around now, looking for her. She couldn’t have gone far without a bike or car.”

  “Are you sure she didn’t go home?” I asked, though I knew better. Sara, what the hell are you up to?

  “I knocked and there was no answer, so I went inside. She’s not there.”

  I let out a few choice expletives.

  “Listen, she probably just wanted some space,” he said in a conciliatory voice. “You know she’s not happy with us hanging around all the time. Peter said Roland went after her, and I doubt they’ll find much trouble here in the middle of the afternoon.”

  “You forget that trouble seems to have a way of finding them,” I ground out. “Keep looking for her. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  When I got to town, I rode straight for the waterfront. The first thing I saw was Peter sitting in a car outside her building. He paled when I pulled up beside him.

  “I don’t know where she is, so please don’t yell at me,” he blurted out before I could speak. “Roland figured she was up to something, and he said he was going to follow her. He told me to wait here for him.”

  “Where would she go around here?”

  He shrugged. “There aren’t a lot of places Sara would go. She likes to go down to the wharves, but she doesn’t need to sneak away to do that. I checked, and they’re not down there. And neither of them is answering their phones.”

  “Give me your phone number,” I ordered, and he rattled off the number. I punched it into my phone and called his. “Now you have my number. Call me if she shows up.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to ride around and see if I can find her.”

  I rode slowly through the streets, trying to feel her presence. With each minute that ticked by, my frustration and worry grew. Where could she have gone without a vehicle? If she was around here, I should have felt her by now. Did her disappearance have anything to do with the last time she took off, or was Chris right and she just needed to be alone?

  Half an hour later, I looked at the dark sky. A storm was brewing, and a bad one by the look of it. She’s too smart to stay out in bad weather, I told myself as I turned back to the waterfront.

  Peter was still in his car, and he shook his head when I pulled up. At that moment, a gust of wind hit me and it began to rain. It was growing darker by the second.

  Fear started to gnaw at me. Abandoning my bike, I began to pace. Where are you, Sara?

  My Mori fluttered, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I spun and looked down the waterfront at the two figures emerging from the darkness. A mixture of relief and worry-fueled anger filled me, and I strode toward them, not knowing if I was going to hug her or shout at her. Maybe both.

  My nose twitched when I got within a few feet of them and picked up the strong smell of fish and brine. Then I noticed the two of them were drenched from head to toe.

  “What the hell happened this time?”

  Roland started to answer, but Sara cut him off. “Nothing,” she replied with a stubborn set to her jaw.

  “Iisus Khristos!” I said under my breath, ready to pick her up and carry her inside whether she liked it or not. “I’ll take her from here,” I said to Roland.

  Her tough stance faltered. “I don’t think so!”

  Relief flashed in Roland’s eyes, even as he protested weakly. “I’m not sure that’s such a good –”

  “Sara and I need to talk – just talk. And judging by the look on your face, I think you agree with me.”

  He looked away, telling me all I needed to know.

  “Roland?” Confusion and hurt laced Sara’s voice when she faced her friend.

  “You won’t listen to me,” he replied weakly. “Maybe it will be good for someone else to…”

  She stared at him for several seconds before she pushed past us. “Traitor,” she uttered without looking back.

  “Sara, wait.” Roland started after her, but I put a hand on his shoulder. I expected him to push me away. Instead, he just watched her walk toward home. “She won’t forgive me for this.”

  “Yes, she will.” It was easy to see how much Sara cared about her friends. She was upset right now, but she wouldn’t hold this against him.

  “Maybe I should talk to her.”

  “I think it would be better for everyone if I talked to her.” We followed her. “Do you want to tell me where you two went and why you came back smelling like the harbor?”

  He shook his head. “You’ll have to ask Sara. If I tell you, she won’t be happy, and I’d rather have you mad at me than her.”

  We reached the bottom of her steps, and he looked like he wanted to say something else. But whatever it was, he decided against it and ran to Peter’s car instead.

  I ascended the steps and reached for the doorknob, expecting to find it locked. I was surprised when it opened under my hand.

  Sara was in the main hallway pulling off her wet coat and shoes, and she didn’t look up when I entered. “Make yourself at home,” she called coolly over her shoulder before she disappeared up a set of stairs at the end of the hallway. A few seconds later, her three-legged Beagle emerged from the living room and followed her as if I wasn’t there.

  I shot off a text to Ch
ris to let him know Sara was home, and then I removed my leather jacket and threw it over the back of a chair in the kitchen. Water dripped from my hair onto my shoulders, so I went in search of a towel in the bathroom on the main floor.

  I was rubbing my hair dry when a shower came on overhead. My hands stilled as my mind suddenly filled with an image of her standing beneath the steaming water.

  My Mori fluttered in excitement. Solmi!

  “Khristu!” I threw down the towel and stormed to the living room, trying to banish my wholly inappropriate thoughts. It was natural for a bonded male to be sexually attracted to his mate, but there was nothing normal about my relationship with Sara. She was young and innocent, and she deserved better than me behaving like a horny teenage boy.

  I took a tour of the apartment to redirect my thoughts. It was a nice place, comfortable and simply decorated. Sara’s uncle obviously lived on the main floor where the wide doorways provided easy access for his wheelchair. Dax’s background check had revealed that Nate Grey had been in the Army until he’d been injured by a roadside bomb in Bosnia. Now he wrote military novels and was the legal guardian to his niece. From everything I’d heard and observed about him, he was a good man who cared for Sara as if she was his daughter. She might have grown up without her parents, but she had never been without a parent’s love.

  Studying the titles in the bookcase in his office, I noticed we shared a similar interest in books, and I grabbed one to read while I waited for Sara. But after forty minutes had passed with no sign of her, I wondered what was taking so long. The water had stopped long ago, and I could hear no sounds of someone moving around upstairs. She wasn’t happy to have me here, but she wouldn’t…?

  I laid aside the book and noiselessly went up the stairs to the third floor that had been split into an attic and a spacious loft bedroom. On the far side of the room, I saw a bed, a desk, and a closed door to what was most likely a bathroom. There was a couch and several overflowing bookcases and not much else. On the walls hung several framed photos of her friends and one of a man who had to be her father, judging by the resemblance.