by Michele Hauf
After soaping up, he dug in the linen closet for a clean towel and managed to erase the evidence of his wicked encounter with something that was so beyond his realm of understanding, he could but stand in front of the mirror and stare at his skin, reddened from the rough scrubbing.
“Rhys,” he whispered. He needed to call his father and ask him about this.
But even more, he needed to find Liam and insure the others had been found. And to do that without running into the one wolf who had a death wish aimed directly for his heart?
Watching the water run pink down the drain, Tryst punched a fist against the mirror. The glass cracked but did not shatter.
“What the hell are you?” he asked the distorted reflection. “Have you been a monster all your life?”
Curling his fingers against the mirror, he sought the answers from the silvered glass. Silver, the werewolf’s bane. He wondered if Lexi had learned anything about the suspicious poisoning. So many thoughts polluting his brain and the one that rose to the surface was hideous, like a piece of refuse stained with muck.
He had never discriminated against any breed, and had always accepted his father and mother. But growing up believing he was wolf, and now to learn otherwise, was mind-blowing. And the stress was only going to increase the longer he went without answers.
He thought of Lexi and her inability to shift like the rest of her breed. It must be what she had felt all her life. And then to finally be given the power to transform last night? Her world had changed for the better.
And his had just fallen off a cliff.
Chapter 18
He had to put aside the fact his whole life had been a lie. Sorting out the rights from wrongs would have to wait. Right now, there could be wolves trapped out in the snow. Tryst dressed in the stained outerwear—he rubbed off Lexi’s blood as best he could—and ran down the hallway and outside. He spied a team of four near the new snow cover opposite of the stadium. It hadn’t come close to the castle this time, about a quarter of a mile off, and he raced across the snowpack.
Liam stood near three wolves digging frantically in the snow. Tryst spied the leg slowly being revealed. “How long has he been under?”
“Maybe an hour,” Liam said. He stared off over the landscape that the avalanche had altered. “He’s the only one. The rest are accounted for.”
“Thank the gods for that.”
Liam nodded. “I can get behind that thanks. How’s Lexi? You did find her?”
“Battered and bruised, but she’s going to recover. I took her to the keep.” Tryst swallowed back his rising heart. Every pulse of it returned the taste of Lexi’s blood to his tongue. He felt like the worst kind of outsider not telling Liam the whole truth. “I thought I’d lost her.”
Liam slapped him across the back. “We’re a tough breed. Where’s Sven?”
“I don’t know.”
“We need to keep an eye on him. He’s been hanging around Principal Connor’s room.”
Tryst turned his back to the men digging out the man under the snow and spoke softly. “Lexi seems to think her sister may know the truth. That she might be inadvertently involved in her father’s sickness.”
“Lana would never do such a thing.”
“I know, man, but you also know Sven. He could be forcing her, or using her in ways she can’t even imagine.”
“I’ve got to put a stop to this.”
Tryst put a hand on Liam’s shoulder, surprised at the man’s sudden anger. “Are you going to accuse him without proof?”
Liam shook his head. “No, that would be foolish. How can we obtain proof?”
“I think Lana is the key. We need someone to talk nice to her.” Tryst eyed Liam’s tight jaw. “Someone who cares about her, and has her best interests in mind.”
Liam got the hint and, with a nod, silently conceded he would take the task in hand. He turned and bent to help the rescue team, while Tryst offered to run for a stretcher to carry the wolf inside.
He bounded through the castle halls, remembering he’d seen a stretcher in the keep. That the avalanche had only claimed two victims this time—and both had survived—was something to be thankful for. Tryst realized he already held pack Alpine in close regard. He knew only a few pack wolves, yet he counted each and every one as family. If they hurt, he hurt.
Hoping to check quickly on Lexi while in the keep, he raced toward the inner stronghold. But when he heard the angry growl behind him, he knew he didn’t want to take that trouble into the keep with him. Curving around, Tryst came up with his fists to meet the charging Sven.
“You are going out in a body bag,” the wolf growled. “Today!”
* * *
“They’re beating him again. Sven wants him dead. I can’t stop him!”
“Tryst?”
Lana nodded frantically.
Lexi grabbed her sister’s arm and stood, a little wobbly and light-headed, but she was on two feet and that was all that mattered. “I talked to Natalie. The wormwood was missing from her supplies. She said silver could be infused in it and delivered in small amounts. Go to Father,” she said to her sister. “Tell him what you know about Sven and the silver.”
“I can’t.”
“You have to! Lana, I will protect you from Sven.”
“You can’t! He’s too strong. He’s pummeling your man right now. And I’ll be next if I tell Daddy anything.”
Clinging to her sister’s arm, Lexi forced her to meet her eyes. “Don’t you want our father to live? By not telling him, you wield the killing blade as much as Sven. Lana, please.”
Behind them, Lexi saw Liam enter the keep. He made eye contact with her.
“Liam, where’s Tryst?”
“They’ve thrown him out. He’s still alive. I wouldn’t allow the pack to follow Sven’s murderous commands. But I had to fight them back when they tried to go after him.”
“Thank you, Liam.”
“He can’t be here, Princess. He’s not right.”
“You see?” Lana looked Liam up and down. “Even he wants Tryst out of here.”
“Who told you he’s not right, Liam?”
“Sven said he’s half-breed—that his parents are vampires—and Hawkes didn’t deny it. Is it true? Is he half-breed?”
She had known it would come to this. And with Tryst biting her earlier out in the snow, she knew he could no longer deny his wicked truths. The pack would never see beyond their ignorance to the good-hearted man Tryst was. And with good reason. Werewolves and vampires simply did not mix.
“It’s something he just discovered hours ago. We don’t have any answers right…” she faltered, her head feeling light “…now.”
“Princess, you should be lying down,” Liam said. “Let me help you back to a cot, and then I’ll escort Princess Lana to her room.”
“I don’t need an escort anywhere.”
Lexi pushed away Liam’s arm as he tried to put it around her shoulder. “Do you really believe that between Sven and Tryst, Sven is the better man to keep in the pack?”
Liam shook his head. “If I were principal, Tryst would be my scion. I would not question his heritage. Well, I would, but I know he’d give me all the right answers. It is the man’s honor that impresses me.”
“Don’t forget you said that. Lana.” She hugged her sister more for support, because her legs still felt weak. “I want her to tell father about Sven. He has a supply of silver in his room and Natalie said it can be used with some herbs that were stolen from her. Lana needs to tell Father what she knows, but she needs some encouragement. A strong arm to lean on.”
“I offer you all my support, Princess.” He made a bow before Lana.
Lexi felt her sister squirm in her arms. She couldn’t do this alone, but with Liam by her side it would be less frightening.
“Let me help you?” he entreated Lana.
Lana sighed. “I just need to think about this a bit. Can I do that, Lexi? Please?”
They didn’t have time for Lan
a to think and back out because she feared Sven’s wrath, but catching Liam’s stern gaze, Lexi conceded. The big wolf, with an offer of his hand, led Lana out of the keep. Liam would convince her to talk. She hoped.
Tryst had been thrown out? He couldn’t have gone far, and most likely he’d been beaten again. That man was a glutton for punishment. At the same time, she knew he kept taking those beatings because he didn’t want to leave her.
Slapping a hand against the wall for support, she made her way down the hall toward the foyer. She approached a gang of bleeding yet triumphant wolves who were high-fiving each other while congratulating themselves on ousting the half-breed outsider.
She marched right up to Sven, who stretched tall and sneered at her. “What do you want, bitch?”
He certainly was going to fall hard, she thought.
“Take a look at this, guys.” Sven gripped her jaw hard. “Her eyes have changed.”
“She’s shifted,” one of the males said.
“It—it happened after the avalanche.” She hated the lie, but it felt necessary now as her nape stiffened and her heartbeats increased.
She struggled from Sven’s grip and backed away, sensing the testosterone humming in the air was not to her advantage. And she was still so weak. “Your days are numbered, Sven. And anyone who follows you should heed that warning.”
She cast her gaze over all the men, who met hers with an aggressive lift of head or a derisive snort. She wasn’t about to bow to any of them. Yet she smelled their power, their aching hunger. For her. She should walk away, calmly, without looking back....
“We tossed your vampire lover in the snow,” Sven said. “I’m going to get the plow out and drive over the longtooth’s body.”
“He is not a— You go near him, and I will fight you to the death,” she said, ignoring her instinctual need to flee.
The males grunted and eyed Sven.
“I look forward to tussling with you, little blue-eyed one. You might have more spunk than your sister.”
“If you ever touch Alana again—”
“What? You’re going to fight me to the death? Don’t you know, you can only participate in a death match once, sweetie?”
The males chuckled.
“You are not worthy of this pack. And it will be known soon enough.”
She turned and Sven caught her with an arm across her chest, easily wrangling her into his grasp. When another wolf grabbed her leg and the howls began, Lexi knew she had walked into the worst situation of her life.
Chapter 19
Their hands were all over her. Her muscles, weak and sore from being trapped in the avalanche earlier, had not the strength she needed to fight. Pushed to the floor, Lexi’s arms were held back and her ankles secured by hands. Sven stood over her, his split lip bleeding as he cracked a wide, vicious grin.
And in that moment Lexi thought that if she could detour this horrid wolf’s sights from her sister, then let him do his worst. At least Lana would be safe from him now.
“Say, please, blue eyes,” Sven said on a growling rasp. “And I’ll make you mine. We can lead the pack together. You’re much stronger and smarter than your sister.” He bent and clutched one of her breasts through her shirt. “Bet you like it rough, too.”
She tried to kick, and shouted as loudly as she could. And then one of the hands at her ankle let go. And the other hand. She heard men shout, and one of them yipped in pain.
Sven’s head was yanked back by his hair, his arms flailing out for balance. Behind him Lexi saw Tryst, his face bloodied from a beating. His snarl revealed long, sharp fangs that were not indicative of the werewolf.
The hands holding her arms suddenly transformed and talons cut through her skin. With a howl, Sven began to shift, and his henchmen joined ranks. Lexi used the distraction to scramble away along the wall.
“You all right?” Tryst managed, even as his body began to shift.
She nodded.
“I love you. Don’t forget that. This is what I have to do.”
He’d said that before: he’d always do what he must to make things right. No matter what. With six wolves shifting around him, Lexi feared for her lover’s life, but she would not beg him to hold back the rage. Indeed, this was what he had to do.
Tryst’s werewolf took over his were form, and turned to meet the brutal attack of five werewolves. Lexi couldn’t watch. He would be torn to shreds this time, no doubt about it. Tryst had not gone up against any of the pack in their werewolf form—their most powerful shape. He may be strong, but against five?
He slashed an arm about, catching a charging wolf in his talons and brutally slamming him to the floor. Deep slashes cut through the fallen wolf’s furred chest, but he did not stay down for long.
Two wolves jumped Tryst. Lexi noticed Sven stood back, observing. She hated him and wanted to kill him herself. The urge to shift came upon her.
“No,” she gasped between tight jaws. Clenching her fingers, she fought against the overwhelming compulsion. “Too dangerous.” She had to let Tryst do this on his own.
A long and rangy wolf howl echoed down the hallway. One of the pack members stood back from Tryst, clutching his throat where the sinew had been torn and the artery shot out blood. The other wolves stepped back, suddenly fearful. They moved behind Sven, who maintained position yet did not approach Tryst.
Lexi’s lover stood before the pack, arms flexed and talons bloody. His chest heaved. From his mouth dripped blood, his inordinately long fangs revealed. Not a werewolf or a vampire, Lexi thought. But something even more powerful, born of the two and forged into some sort of hybrid.
“That is enough!” Liam, the originator of the warning howl, rushed onto the scene, a length of chain in hand. Behind him he was flanked by a group of pack males, the ones Lexi knew went out with him for midnight runs. He took in Lexi on the floor, blood splattered over her legs and face, then cast his gaze over the offending wolves. “I’ve orders from the principal to take you under house arrest.”
The werewolf Sven shifted to were form, laughing, as he assumed Liam had meant Tryst. His cohorts all shifted in kind, some fully naked while others wore shredded jeans and bits of shirt hanging from their shoulders.
Tryst remained as werewolf. Or vampire.
What was he? He looked werewolf, yet those fangs were not right. They were designed for piercing, not tearing, as were the wolf’s canines.
“I’ll help you with the chains,” Sven said, stretching out a bloody hand toward Liam.
Liam stepped up to Sven, followed closely by the group of males who had not shifted. “My orders are to take you under arrest. Do you come peacefully or are we going to have to do this the hard way?”
“Me? Look at that monster!”
Tryst lifted his mighty head and clenched his talons.
“He’s destroyed the peace here at Wulfsiege,” Sven argued.
“You’ve had a hand in the destruction long before Hawkes ever set foot on this property.” Liam handed one of the males behind him the end of the chain. “Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”
“You’ll never take me.” And, with that, Sven was running out the foyer door.
The wolves who had helped him attack Lexi now backed away and rushed off.
“Come on!” Liam led the chase after Sven.
Lexi pulled herself up against the wall and cautiously approached Tryst. He stood well over two heads higher than her, and his ginger-furred form was taut with muscle. The talon slashes across his chest had already begun to heal.
The werewolf reared from her hand and stepped back. “Tryst, it’s all right.”
He growled, and it was more warning than kind. Did he not want her to see him like this? Those…teeth?
“Sven is going to get what he deserves. You’re safe now.”
The wolf charged her, pressing her against the wall and pinning her in with a paw to either side of her head. He towered over her, his maw speckled with blo
od and those long fangs taunting her. He wanted her to look at him, to see his distorted truth. And in that moment, Lexi’s newly warm heart wasn’t sure how to feel. To love him? To fear him? To pity him?
She felt each of those things at once.
Touching the fur under his jaw, she slicked her fingers through the blood that belonged to one of her pack members. A pack member who would have raped her had Tryst not come to her rescue.
And yet, what breed had her rescuing knight become? Would he crave her blood? Insist upon drinking it, which would, in return, give her a nasty craving for blood? She didn’t want that. But she did want him. Yet how to make that happen baffled her.
“I don’t know what to say,” she finally offered.
With what looked like a confirming nod, he stepped back from her and ran off toward the south wing, where a back entrance opened and didn’t slam shut behind him.
* * *
Lexi returned to her room, stripped off her clothes and got in the shower. She wanted to erase Sven’s touch but made the shower quick because she had too many things with which to deal. She’d been mentally bruised by the near rape, but she had to stay strong—too many people needed her right now.
After cleaning up, and talking to Liam to insure Sven had been chained in the dungeon, Lexi joined Lana by their father’s bedside. Lana gave her a questioning look when she sat down in the easy chair by the window, but Lexi was determined not to tell her about what had happened in the lobby. Lana knew Sven was mentally unstable; no sense in making it even worse.
Their father slept, so Lana had gone to talk to Natalie with Liam at her side. After Lana had confessed her belief Sven was poisoning him with silver, Natalie had known what to do. She couldn’t fight silver poisoning with the wolfsbane as it had been delivered by Tryst, so had mixed a special blend of herbs into the wolfsbane she promised would bring improvement and fight the poison. Holly repelled evil, and Natalie had named that as a key ingredient.
“Where’s Tryst?” Lana asked quietly.
“I don’t know.” It was the hardest thing to keep tears from her eyes as Lexi looked out the window and across the darkening grounds below. Snowflakes fell silently. All the energy put out earlier had subsided and it was as if the universe cried now. “I think he left Wulfsiege.”