Lycan Packs 1: Lycan Instinct

by Brandi Broughton

  “Anyway, Ariana and Anton became engaged. With my approval, albeit reluctantly. She wanted time to plan a wedding, so the ceremony and mating would take place the next spring.”

  “They were married?”

  He shook his head. “A month before the scheduled date, Gabriel uncovered some disturbing information. We’d recently changed to a new, secure, tracking system that monitored file access within our research facility. That was the tip that led to the discovery of a plan to sell trade secrets.”

  “And that evidence fingered Anton,” she said with conviction.

  Rafe nodded. “Some other data had already gone missing, but we couldn’t prove who was responsible. With the new information, however, that changed. I planned to confront him at work the next day and break it to Ariana later. But she must have overheard our conversation, because we found a note telling us she’d handle it. By the time I made it to Anton’s place, my sister was gone...and so was Anton.”

  “This Lycan. He’s the one you think is doing all of this?”

  He nodded and sipped his coffee.

  “Thank you for telling me. I’m sorry about what I said before.” She waited for him to look at her. “I should never have implied you were at fault in any way for why he’s out there killing.”

  “In a way, I am. The truth is she was my responsibility.” His gaze was hard. “Don’t think for a minute that I don’t have blood on my hands.”

  “Don’t blame yourself. You couldn’t know what would happen.” Even as she said the words, she felt like a hypocrite. Hadn’t she blamed herself for not being there for her mother? Hadn’t her own actions caused her father’s death? She was making up for that now, doing the best she could to put other predators behind bars. She’d just have to work harder to catch this one.

  But first things first. Mackenzie saw the pain in his eyes, the grief still there despite the passage of time, and decided to change the subject.

  “Speaking of blood, we really need to talk about your penchant for hickies.”

  He blinked and raised a brow.

  She gave him what she hoped was a seductive smile and pulled her T-shirt over her head.

  His reaction was unexpected. Concern replaced the sadness as he looked at her left breast. In a tender—almost reverent—move, he touched the mark. “I was rough before. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

  “I didn’t...I felt a little pain, sure, but I also felt a lot of pleasure.” She laid a hand on his cheek. “You didn’t hurt me. Just be careful where you put them, okay? I mean, at least this one’s easier to hide than the last time.”

  “I’ll try to curb my urges.” His lips curved into a smile so sexy she ached.

  “Well,” she said, tugging him closer, “I really like the pleasure, so don’t curb them all.”

  Mackenzie awoke the next morning with a warm, hard body curved along her side and a heavy arm draped across her middle. Slowly, she turned her head so she could watch Rafe sleep. A tender smile played with her lips. This was her first opportunity to observe him up close and at her leisure. He slept peacefully, his face softened in slumber.

  He was an amazing man. As she’d suspected when she first met him, he was much more than what he presented to the world. Burdened with a secret, he still faced life openly. Successful, powerful, and arrogant to a point, he’d overcome adversity to build an empire that protected both his family and the animals he championed. A personal nature preserve, he’d said of his home.

  He loved his family; that was obvious. He cared about his own as well as others. He’d suffered loss and survived without becoming bitter.

  She’d thought he would be like others she’d met in his position. Wealthy, ambitious, shallow, and selfish. Money made people greedy. Power made them prideful. Hadn’t her last boyfriend proven that? Kenneth Hahn sought fame and fortune, and in many cases, he achieved his goals. He had money and power. His pride made him bitter over his one loss. Her.

  He’d planned their future together after college. Him on the bench someday. Her on his arm...not by his side. They were never a team, although he’d presented it to her that way at first. It had taken her a while to realize she’d been part of the team only when she did everything his way. In the beginning, she’d tried to fulfill his desires, be what he’d wanted her to be, but that had led to more demands, more control.

  Hahn had even wanted her to have plastic surgery to remove the scars. He didn’t understand that she kept them to remind her of what happened when she made mistakes, disobeyed, or broke the rules. She’d been unable to live up to his ideal, learned it was futile to even try, so she’d ended the relationship.

  Rafe, on the other hand, showed a willingness to look beyond the surface of a person. Even though he questioned the limits she’d set in life, he did show some respect for the law and what he called pack protocol.

  And because of that, she’d have to let him go when the time came. She’d taken the step with eyes wide open and known then that nothing permanent would come of it. She shouldn’t feel upset now with the realization that she’d been right.

  When the case was solved, the thrill would be gone. The challenge over. He’d move on and someday find his Lycan mate. She’d have her job, another case, another criminal to track down, and maybe one day the trail would lead to her mother’s killer.

  If she kept that in mind, she’d be okay. And they could enjoy each other’s company as long as it lasted.

  He mumbled a protest when she moved to get out of bed, but his eyes remained closed. Quietly, so as not to disturb him, she grabbed some clothes and made her way into the bathroom.

  Deciding on a bath, she filled the tub and pulled her hair up in a loose bun before slipping into the warm bubbles. By the time the water cooled, she was relaxed and ready to start a new day.

  She’d planned to go into the station even though today was her day off; however, she could spare some time this morning to repay Rafe for his dinner. She couldn’t cook a gourmet meal, but eggs and toast weren’t beyond her abilities.

  With a smile splitting her face, she dressed and then opened the door. The bed was empty. He better not be ruining her chance to surprise him by making breakfast already.

  Still barefoot, she eased down the hall and heard his voice, soft at first, then clearer.

  “Yes, I can talk. She’s in the bath.”

  Mackenzie stopped to listen. He’d pulled his pants on and stood in the kitchen, his hip propped against the counter, his back to her.

  “Luc,” Rafe said, his tone dropping to one of warning. “Get your mind on business. It’s gone beyond supposition. From what I saw of her notes on the case, I’m almost certain Anton’s involved. You know how he uses A.S. or T.S. as initials for all of his aliases?” He paused, switching the phone to the other ear. “She had a copy of an auto rental receipt with the name, Tony Soprano. Yeah, I watch TV, too. So he’s not very original. He probably got a kick out of it. Just run down the name. See if he used it anywhere else.”

  Rafe’s words sliced her heart. He’d kept that observation from her.

  “No, I need you on this. I can’t stay with her every minute. She’ll want to go back to work tomorrow, and I’ve put off preparations for this week’s Securities Conference long enough. We’re unveiling the Cyber-Guard software. What?

  “No, leave the GPD on her car for now, but as soon as this is over...right.”

  Her hands fisted. Her mind went numb. Rage. Pure, overwhelming fury flowed in her veins.

  “I’ll debrief Gabe at L.I. today. See you then.” He flipped the phone closed.

  Mackenzie’s legs felt like overcooked noodles. She’d wonder later how she had the strength to stand much less move, but she stepped forward, this time not bothering to remain quiet.

  “You lying bastard.” The words were all the more venomous for the softness with which they were uttered.

  “Mackenzie.” He turned—lines of surprise, then concern, were evident in his expression. He moved toward h
er.

  “Don’t touch me.” She held up her hands even as she fought to hold back the tears. “You recognized an alias and kept that fact from me.”

  He stilled under the force of her accusation.

  “All this time I thought, he trusts me. Look at what he’s shared with me. I mean, what secret could be bigger, more important, than being a wolf? Why not trust him? Tell him about the case, my fears, and my family. But you were just playing me.” The words caught in her throat. “Using me. Did you investigate me, too?”

  He didn’t wince. Not an eyelash moved and that told her all she needed to know.

  “You spied on me. You bugged my car. How long?”

  “Mac—”

  “How long?” Like a gunshot, her voice exploded for the first time.

  “When Luc drove your car to the hospital. Mackenzie, I—”

  “I want you out of here. Get the rest of your clothes and get out.” She walked to the door and stared out the window while he went to her room to retrieve his things. When he reappeared, she ignored the pained look on his face and let the pain in her own heart fuel the anger.

  His hand rose to touch her. She stepped back.

  “I won’t let it end like this,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

  “It’s not your decision to make. I want you to leave. Now.”

  She collapsed to her knees the moment the door closed behind him. Untold minutes and a flood of tears later, she dragged herself to her feet. After slipping her shoes on, she went to her car and, like a woman on a mission, searched the vehicle from headlights to tailpipe. When she found the GPS device, she removed the tiny black box, carried it back to her apartment, and beat it into a soup of plastic shards and wires.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Luc handed Rafe a fax sheet and cast an inquisitive glance at Gabe before reporting, “One Tony Soprano landed at O’Hare the week prior to Robertson’s murder. He rented a nondescript sedan, which has since been returned.”

  The brothers were in a soundproof room beneath the Lykos Institute. Outside the door, an army of men and women, all Lycans, manned the best money could buy in high-tech surveillance and communications equipment. Moments earlier, they’d paused in curious observance as Rafe stalked through the area, his usual unshakable demeanor obviously cracked. He was looking for a fight and made sure everyone there knew it.

  “I talked to the rental agent,” Luc continued in a cautious tone. “Physical description fits. He hadn’t changed his look since Atlantic City, at least not yet. Probably has by now though.”

  “That explains how he got here,” Gabe said.

  Rafe snarled. “But it doesn’t answer the damn question of where he is now.”

  “No,” Luc admitted. “It would’ve helped knowing how your lady lion came by the rental info.”

  Rafe thought of Mackenzie, how her once passion-filled cries had turned to angry accusations, and how those warm blue eyes had become cold, dark sapphires. He’d caused that change, seen the hurt. He’d made her luscious lips curl into a furious sneer. Lady lion. The description fit. His mate had teeth.

  Rafe stiffened beneath the fierce flood of pain, longing, and self-disgust. He wanted his mate, wanted to force her to listen, to accept him. His alpha instinct wanted to dominate, but he knew she wouldn’t accept any highhandedness. Look how she reacted when he’d done what he thought was best? Did she understand? No, she’d dropped those damn walls between them again without giving him a chance to explain.

  Denied, he took his frustrations out on his brothers.

  “If you’d found the bastard before now, that information would be irrelevant.”

  Luc growled. “Fuck you. I’m not a damned miracle worker.”

  Rafe took a menacing step forward. In a typical move as mediator, Gabe stepped between them and handed Rafe a balloon of brandy. “Calm down,” he told them, looking at Luc. “I don’t want to replace office furniture again.”

  “Calm down? Tell that to him.” Luc pointed at Rafe. “What the hell’s gotten into you anyway?”

  Rafe sipped the brandy, feeling the bite of the liquor as it warmed his throat. It did nothing to soothe the angry current running through him.

  “I’m tired of excuses.” He pinned Luc with a steely stare. “You had a chance last year, too, and failed to stop him in Atlantic City. Now, a new detective with no experience tracking Lycans finds the trail before anyone here.” And put herself in the line of fire, he thought.

  Luc’s hands balled into fists. “Excuses? I’ve waded through every sleaze-pit in the city while you’ve been sniffing around that human detective like a lost pound puppy. Not to mention having to stop the search every time you needed a ride or clothes or her car transported somewhere. You should’ve thought of that before putting us all in danger over a piece of a—”

  “Luc,” Gabe cut him off and shoved a beer in his hand. “Watch it.”

  “Don’t tell me to watch it. I’m not his goddamned flunkey, so don’t expect me to leap every time he yells, ‘Mush!’”

  An opening door stopped any retort from Rafe and made Gabe sigh in relief, until he saw the worried expression on the messenger’s face. He took the note and waved him away, watching the grateful messenger scramble to close the door between them. After reading it, Gabe took a deep breath before announcing, “The GPS on Lyons’ car’s gone offline. Any idea how that happened?”

  Hadn’t taken her long to find the device, Rafe thought, or get rid of it. He swirled the brandy in his crystal balloon. His insides had been churning in like fashion since he’d left Mackenzie’s. He wanted to curse her for ripping him apart, leaving him shaken and hollow inside. Instead, he cursed himself for marking a human as his mate, for foolishly falling in love with a self-reliant woman.

  He surprised them all by sending the snifter crashing into the wall where it shattered in a mirror image of his heart.

  “I’d say he has a clue,” Luc said after a moment, his tone half-amused, half-mocking.

  “Luc, find her. Stay close. Wherever she goes, you go.”

  Lucian smirked. “In other words, mush?”

  “God damn it! I don’t have time to soothe your alpha ego. Do your fucking job. And if it’s a choice between your life or hers, you better choose correctly.”

  “Rafe, that’s—” Gabe began, but Luc’s snarl cut him off.

  “Son of a bitch.” Luc launched himself at Rafe.

  The battle Gabe had hoped to avoid ensued. Fists and bodies flew as Rafe and Luc grappled. A lamp crashed to the floor. The table it had sat on splintered under their weight.

  Rafe proved why his position as pack alpha was not an honorary title. He was the first to gain the upper hand, but it was not easily obtained. Unlike past challenges, his opponent this time was his brother, and they were equally matched.

  He’d wanted a fight, a chance to release some of his pent-up aggression. So he’d pushed them until one finally responded.

  He’d asked for it. Now he had to deal with it.

  Luc showed remarkable skill, forcing Rafe to use every ounce of energy and strength to combat him. He took a blow to the gut that stole his breath, and punched Luc hard enough to send him slamming into Gabe’s desk, where he toppled a priceless jade statuette.

  Cursing in a rather creative way, Gabe hauled Luc back and narrowly dodged a right hook for his efforts. “Stop it! He didn’t mean it that way.”

  “The hell he didn’t.” Breathing heavily, Luc wiped away the blood dripping from his nose.

  Gabe’s look urged Rafe to admit to the misunderstanding. “And you say I have a touchy trigger on my temper. Tell him you didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  Rafe remained silent. He licked a drop of blood from his split lip.

  “You heard him correctly,” Luc said. “You’re just too damn slow to realize it.” He smirked when Gabe turned an angry glare on him. “Think about it. When have you ever known our big brother to misspeak?”

  Gabe s
hook his head stubbornly. “Rafe wouldn’t choose a human over his pack, Luc. Where’s your loyalty to the alpha?”

  Luc gave a bark of laughter. “Loyalty? Maybe you should ask the alpha where his loyalty to the pack was when he mated with a human. It sure as hell wasn’t above his shoulders.”

  A worried frown appeared on Gabe’s forehead. “Mated? He’s not mated... He wouldn’t, not without pack approval.” But when Rafe didn’t move to deny Luc’s claim, the truth sparked Gabe’s temper.

  “Off-limits, my ass. She’s the ‘last person you’d want to find out about our secret’. That’s what you said. What happened to that? A human, a detective, for Pete’s sake.”

  Rafe faced his brothers and pressed further. “A detective who’s kept my identity a secret since she learned about it.”

  “For how long?” Gabe asked. “You can’t have a human as a mate.”

  “I don’t see why not. Lycans have mated with humans before.”

  “Not the alpha. You expect a human female to hold the position as alpha mate? You’re asking for trouble. The pack would never approve of a human—”

  “Mating requires the alpha male’s approval, not the entire pack.” Rafe let his words sink in. Since he was the pack alpha, he didn’t need their approval. “She may not be Lycan, but she is my mate.”

  “You’re choosing her over the pack?” Gabe’s hands fisted, punctuating the mix of anger and disbelief in his question.

  “Not at all.” Rafe saw Gabe relax a bit at his words, but the reaction was short-lived. “As my mate, she’s part of this pack.”

  Luc snorted. “Does she know that?”

  Rafe bit back a retort and kept his face blank. Truth was Mackenzie didn’t know, so what could he say? Lucian, as was his way, hit a bull’s-eye and brought them back to the crux of the problem.

  “She’s already proven trustworthy in keeping our existence a secret. She’ll come around to the rest.” She had to. His heart and future within the pack depended on it. “Meanwhile, I want her protected. As my mate, she’s in more danger now than ever before.”