by Kate Douglas
Tia saw Luc, saw him sitting with a beer in his hand in what appeared to be a small bar. A large, dark hand grabbed a beer next to Luc’s. Tinker. Of course! Tia saw whatever happened in Tinker’s memories from his point of view.
The mellow strains of good jazz played in the background. Dim lights, soft voices wove in and out of Tinker’s thoughts.
Luc wasn’t drunk, but he seemed morose and upset. He stared at his beer, then finally turned and looked at Tinker. For once, Luc’s mind was open, his thoughts unblocked…for Tinker, not for Tia. Now, though, they were clear, each one a shard of glass cutting into her heart.
How can I tell Tia I did it, Tink? How can I ever admit to her I’m the one who killed her mother?
Luc’s words seared themselves on her brain. Tia froze, her body turned to ice, her muscles went rigid. Tinker’s blocks snapped into place and the visual of Luc disappeared.
“Shit, sweetie. What the fuck were you doing in my head?” His voice raised and menacing, Tinker held Tia away from him. His big hands clasping her upper arms with bruising strength were all that kept her from falling to the floor. “You don’t do that. Ever. Do you hear me? That’s a hateful, horrible thing you just did, going into my head without permission.”
At Tia’s shocked gasp, Tinker shook his head. “No, I could never hate you, but a man’s thoughts are private. You stay out of my head unless you’re invited in. Understand?”
Tia expected him to shake her like a child. Furious, his face twisted in anger, he was nothing like the wonderful man who’d loved her so sweetly.
Right now he looked mad enough to take a swing at her. She didn’t care. It didn’t matter if he hated her for what she’d done. All Tia could think of was what she’d seen, the words she’d heard.
She raised her head and glared at Tinker. “Is it true? Did Luc really do it? Did he kill my mother?”
All the steam seemed to go out of the big man. Tinker glanced away and sighed. “I think you need to talk to Luc about it. It’s not my place to tell his story. I should have been more careful with my memories. You’re not supposed to go messin’ in somebody’s head without permission.” He rubbed Tia’s arms where he’d grabbed her but couldn’t—or wouldn’t—look her in the eye.
Tia stepped back, out of Tinker’s reach. Outrage warred with pain, misery with righteous anger and shock. Her body trembled, her heart ached. “I’m sorry I intruded, Tinker, but if I hadn’t, would anyone ever have told me the truth? Believe me, I’d ask Luc in person if I could.” She clenched her fists, breathing hard. “I’d love to ask Luc what the fuck’s going on, but he’s out checking on poor Jake, someone he obviously cares about a lot more than he does me.”
Her decision was made before she thought it through. “I’m out of here. You tell Luc I…I…oh, shit.” She would not cry. Not now, not for a man who’d lied to her.
Not for the man who killed her mother.
Tia slapped her hand to her mouth, suddenly nauseous. Luc? How could he? Bending double, she cried out, a long, low wail of anguish and rage.
Tinker reached for her, but she broke from his grasp, raced up the stairs with Tinker right behind her, and grabbed the sports bag she’d used as a suitcase. Tia threw on a pair of jeans, grabbed a sweatshirt and sandals, and stuffed the rest of her things in the bag.
Tinker was pulling his jeans over his massive thighs when she stalked past him.
“Tell him I—”
“I’m telling him nothing, sweetie. I’m going with you. No way in hell are you driving these roads in the shape you’re in. Now get your stuff. If you’re determined to leave, I’m driving.” He threw a sweatshirt over his head and slipped his feet into loafers without any socks.
Tia tried to take a deep breath, but her chest hurt. Her body ached from so much sex, her heart was a throbbing lead weight barely supported by her ribs. She wanted to run away by herself, she wanted to slap Luc’s face and tell him just how much he’d hurt her, how much she hated him.
She wanted to curl up in a tight little ball and hide from herself, from what she had missed, from what she’d become.
First, though, Tia wanted to talk to her father. If Luc had done this horrible thing, if he actually had killed Tia’s mother and then lied to her, Ulrich’s lies were worse. He’d obviously known what happened all along, yet he’d let Tia live in ignorance of the truth.
He’d known about Luc yet treated him like a beloved son, probably loved Luc more than he loved his own daughter. Even worse, Ulrich had let her fall in love with her mother’s murderer.
That was the greatest sin of all.
Chapter 13
Coward! He was nothing but a coward, chasing after Jake when he should be back at the cabin holding Tia. Loving her, letting her know how much she meant to him. Not nose-to-the-ground, frustration driving him through thick undergrowth and over boggy marshes. Luc forced the stricken look on Tia’s face from his mind and tried to concentrate on his rampant anger with Jake.
AJ and Mik followed, off to his left and a bit behind, loyal backup no matter what was to come. Damn, he loved Jake. Had been brother, lover, friend to Jake for almost fifteen years. How could his own pack mate have betrayed him like this?
How could Luc have betrayed Tia? Damn.
Jake’s actions might be inexcusable, but Luc’s were unforgivable. Tia needed him. Luc could master Jake at any time, could easily remind him of his status within the pack. Besting Jake at battle was a no-brainer.
Winning Tia would take all his skill and more. It would take the truth.
Still Luc ran, following Jake’s trail, avoiding the inevitable, focusing on something he understood, something he could fight out in the open without subterfuge, without lies.
Lies. Everything he had with Tia was based on lies. His love for her might be pure and honest, but the person he presented, the man he wanted her to love, didn’t exist anywhere but in Tia’s heart.
The real man, the Chanku who loved Tia, was a coward. A liar and a craven son of a bitch.
Until he could be completely honest with Tia, there would always be a wall between them. Once she knew the truth, there would be no need for walls…. She’d be so far out of his reach, it wouldn’t matter anymore.
Head down, nose to the trail, Luc focused on what he could handle—he followed Jake’s spoor.
Luc, we got trouble. Big trouble.
Tinker’s mental call barely registered, as though Luc had gone farther from the cabin than he realized. He paused in his search for Jake. Tinker’s mental touch should be much clearer.
Where are you? What’s up?
I’m with Tia, headed for her father’s house. She knows about her mother, about you. I’m sorry, man. She got into my head when I wasn’t paying attention. She’s one pissed Chanku bitch.
Luc’s heart felt like lead in his chest. It was over. Everything he’d dreamed, everything he’d hoped for…over.
Shit. Okay…. AJ, Mik, and I’ll head back. We’ll leave Jake here to cool his heels for a while. Serves him right. And Tink…thanks. Don’t feel so bad. It’s not your fault.
No, it wasn’t Tinker’s fault at all. It was all Luc’s. Why hadn’t he told her when he’d had the chance?
Feeling as if his entire world were spinning helplessly out of control, Luc signaled to AJ and Mik. He turned and headed back to the cabin. They would leave Jake to fend for himself for a while. It was probably better this way. Luc really didn’t feel like teaching anyone a lesson, not when he was the one most in need of learning.
Tia’s heart still raced; her fingertips tingled as if she’d run long and hard. Instead, she sat next to Tinker in the front seat of his SUV as they drove the long road back to San Francisco. She was anxious, verging on tears, and fighting an impossible desire to shift and race through the forest, to run as far and fast from her misery as her Chanku body would allow.
The morning sun was already high in the sky by the time they reached the valley floor and headed west to San Francisc
o. Tinker hadn’t spoken to her since they’d gotten into the car. His mental blocks were high and tight, but Tia hadn’t done more than a cursory mind check to see if he was angry with her.
He wasn’t really mad at all. Just terribly sad and feeling guilty. Why, when Tinker had nothing at all to feel guilty about? He’d done nothing wrong. It wasn’t his place to tell Luc’s story, no matter what he’d known.
Tia’s mind whirled with unanswered questions, anger with her father, with Luc. Had all of them known? Jake? Mik and AJ? Had every man hidden the truth from Tia? How could they call her a packmate if every one of them lied to her?
Tia glanced at Tinker. He appeared loose and relaxed, one arm draped over the steering wheel, his body sprawled to one side in the dark leather seat. He stared straight ahead, skillfully maneuvering the big vehicle through the morning rush-hour traffic. Only the tic in his right jaw showed Tia how upset he was. She wondered what he’d told Luc.
Tia had to assume he’d communicated with Luc. Not that it mattered. She hated Luc, hated the lies he’d told her, the way he’d made her love him. She never wanted to see Luc again, not after what he’d done to her.
Oh, God. Biting back a moan, Tia tightened her arm across her midsection. Her stomach cramped in pain, her heart hurt.
Luc! She’d never be able to trust him, never be able to want his touch, his kisses. His love. Ulrich’s image flashed into her thoughts. She’d always thought her father loved her. He couldn’t, not if he’d been able to live a lie for the past twenty years. She wasn’t sure which betrayal hurt more—Luc’s or Ulrich’s. No matter. Once Tia had it out with her father, she fully intended to give notice at school and head back to Boston.
Run home to Shannon with her tail between her legs and a story her friend would never believe. At least, Shannon wouldn’t believe it until Tia shifted and showed her exactly what a Chanku could do! She would take plenty of the supplements with her, enough to share. Tia wondered if her father was right, that Shannon might be Chanku. Wouldn’t that be something to share with her friend, her longtime lover? It certainly would explain a lot, especially the relationship the girls had shared for so many years.
Concentrating on Shannon, imagining her reaction, kept Tia’s thoughts off Luc for at least another ten minutes…but they still had at least an hour and a half before she and Tinker reached San Francisco.
Suddenly Tinker straightened up in his seat, pulled the vehicle out of the fast lane, and found a wide spot on the side of the road next to a cornfield. Before Tia could ask what was wrong, he’d jumped out of the SUV, leaped over a small irrigation ditch, and disappeared into the field of standing corn.
Tia waited for a few moments, assuming Tinker had merely heeded a call to nature. When he didn’t return, she grabbed the keys from the ignition and followed his trail away from the freeway, across the ditch, and into the corn.
Just a few steps through the dry, dusty stalks took Tia into a totally different world. Even the sounds of the nearby freeway were muted, lost in the crackling, crunchy whisper of dry stalks blowing in the morning breeze.
She turned slowly, amazed at how lost she felt, how alone.
“Tinker? Where are you?”
A low whine caught Tia’s attention. She pushed straight ahead through the stalks and found the huge wolf she recognized as her friend. He glanced quickly at her and then cocked his head, as though listening for something.
Shift. Open your senses. Listen.
Okay. She could do that. Sticking the keys in her pocket, Tia slipped out of her clothes and placed them next to the pile of Tinker’s things. Within seconds she’d shifted.
Her senses were stronger as Chanku, her hearing more acute. Her mind better able to read the mental speech of the pack.
Luc’s voice was there, faint but still understandable. Tia cringed and threw up her mental blocks, unwilling to let him into her thoughts. Tinker snarled at Tia.
Frowning, Tia dropped the block, sat back, and listened.
She heard it then, a faint cry for help. Her father’s voice! Struggling to understand, Tia filtered out the other voices, other sounds. Words caught like filaments of spiderweb on a soft breeze, hung just long enough to tease and then drifted away.
Chanku. Montana. Anton something. She couldn’t understand. Help. Hurry….
Frustrated, Tia whimpered, listened. Felt a sharp pain, as if she’d been dealt a blow to her head. She flinched, saw Tinker do the same. Listened harder, heard nothing.
Luc’s voice broke the silence. She might hate him, but if he had any idea what had just happened…
Someone’s got the boss. Ulrich’s not sure who. Their faces were covered. I sense pain, now nothing. He’s been knocked out, drugged, maybe. AJ, Mik, and I are about an hour behind you. We’ll meet at Ulrich’s and go from there.
Jake? Tinker’s soft question hung in Tia’s mind.
He’ll figure out a way to get back. It’ll give him time to think.
Time to think. Would there ever be enough time to think, to understand what was happening? Learning about Luc’s connection to her mother’s death without knowing any details, fearing for her father’s safety. At the same time, she felt like smacking Luc for lying to her, remembering the soft touch of his lips on hers, her body’s response to his lovemaking.
Remembering her response to sex with all the men. Tia hadn’t allowed herself to think about last night, couldn’t without fighting the tears that clogged her throat, made her eyes burn, her heart hurt.
Now, though, it was the least threatening thing to occupy her mind as Tinker sped down the freeway, taking them to Ulrich’s home. She glanced to her left, noticed that Tinker’s jaw was still clenched, his big football lineman’s body not nearly so relaxed. Now, though, he looked like a man dealing with something he understood.
Tia almost smiled. A kidnapping was familiar; her problems with Luc probably scared Tinker half to death. She reached out and touched his muscular forearm, remembering how gentle he’d been with her last night. He’d made love to her so beautifully, so perfectly, yet they’d not said a word to one another about the experience. When her fingers closed over his arm, Tinker jerked his head to the right, as though her touch had shocked him out of deep thought.
“Sorry. Didn’t meant to startle you. Thank you, Tink. For last night. You helped make what could have been an awkward experience something beautiful, something I’ll treasure in spite of what Jake did. Thanks, too, for taking me home, for being my friend. I know this has to be so awkward for you, and I’m sorry to involve you.”
He laughed. “Last night was all my pleasure, sweetie. That’s something I intend to do again and again…and then again, so get used to it. As far as the other, well, your father’s been like family to me. Luc is my brother. So are AJ, Mik, and even Jake, though I’d like to wring his scrawny neck.” He grinned at Tia. “I never even saw that move of his coming, but Jake’s the quiet type. Don’t always know what the man’s thinking. He shouldn’t have done that. I’m just thankful you’re as quick as you are, or we could have had one hell of a problem. We all know you’re Luc’s.”
Tia looked down and folded her hands tightly in her lap. “Not anymore, Tink. Not any man’s. I’m going to go back to Boston as soon as we get Daddy back. I don’t belong here. I’ve caused trouble between Luc and Jake, maybe even put my father in danger. Maybe what happened to him is my fault, too. I know someone’s been watching me. Doing things in the classroom, in my apartment. Maybe it’s connected.”
“Don’t blame yourself, sweetie.” Tinker reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “There’s a lot of folks out to get your dad. It comes with the territory. There’ve been other attempts, and we’ve never failed him. You’re not going anywhere. You and Luc will work this out. Trust me and trust him. You don’t know the details about your mom. When you do, you’ll understand.”
Would she? Tia couldn’t imagine any scenario where her mother’s death would make sense. Why hadn’t her father tol
d her the truth?
Why hadn’t Luc?
Something Tinker said suddenly lodged in her mind. “Other attempts? What other attempts?”
Tinker at least had the good grace to look ashamed. “Um, you’re aware Pack Dynamics isn’t your typical detective agency, right?”
“Duh. I figured that out right away. Luc confirmed it. What’s with the other attempts?”
“We do quite a bit of secret work for the government—more so, now that terrorist activity has escalated. There’s been more than one attack stopped because of our intervention. Never makes the papers, doesn’t show up on the nightly news. Chanku work so far undercover, even the President hasn’t got a clue.”
Tinker hit the brakes to avoid slowing traffic as they wound closer into the city. He grinned at Tia. “Your dad’s made a lot of enemies over the years. It’s part of the job. There’s always someone wanting a little payback. There’s the risk of someone finding out about Chanku. Lots of reasons for your dad to remain alert. This time he slipped up, but we’ll get him back. We won’t know who’s behind this one until we have more facts, but when we find out, we’ll get him.”
“When we heard him, it wasn’t really clear, but I heard some names I didn’t recognize. Anton something? I think I heard him say Montana. Do you think that’s where they’re taking him?”
Tinker nodded. “Could be, though Anton Cheval is one of the good guys. He’s the alpha leader of the Chanku pack in Montana, a man reputed to have powers that go way beyond the typical Chanku. I’ve never met him, just heard about him. I imagine your dad mentioned him because he wants us to contact Cheval for help. He’s got three packmates…. In fact, I think one of them is your cousin, a woman named Keisha?”
“Keisha? Oh, my God! I remember her…. Our moms were sisters. She’s older than me, but she used to come over to play when I was really little. She would make fun of my hair because it was so blond and frizzy, yet my skin was almost as dark as hers.” Tia laughed, amazed to think Keisha was only a phone call away. “I’d forgotten all about her. She’s Chanku, too?”