Payne

by Kimber White

  “Payne!” she cried. Sliding through the mud, she lost her balance twice then fell against me in an ungraceful heap. I pulled her to me. We both staggered to our feet. I pushed her behind me and turned toward the water.

  He was there. Standing on the opposite shore, Able Valent loomed like a colossus. His hands on his hips and his legs parted, his blue eyes cut across the distance like laser beams.

  “Let’s go!” Lena shouted. I could feel his pull on her as well. Her knees buckled. I held her close. Turning, she came to my side. With her hair slicked back, I could see her mark plainly. It was jagged, raw, flaming red. Able was trying to use it against her.

  I could end it. Right here. Right now. I could mark her right in front of him. Focused on Lena and me, his betas had dropped back. The current took them far downriver. I could barely see one silvery wolf head bobbing like a cork in the churning water.

  She’ll never be yours. She’s tainted. Scarred. Impure. The best gift you can give her is death. She even wants it. Can’t you feel her pain? Do what you’re best at, Payne. End it for her.

  I closed my eyes. There was such power in death. It was an intimate dance. Like sex. Able was right about that. It had been my calling. Or so I thought.

  As my eyes snapped open, a green haze clouded everything as my wolf stirred. Lena met my stare. She put a hand to my cheek then kissed me. My heart started to beat again in perfect synchrony with hers.

  Once again, I knew the truth. Lena was my calling.

  “Come on,” I said, my voice ragged.

  As I pulled her with me and we climbed the soft embankment, something broke inside of me. A dam burst and my heart soared. Able’s grip on my mind receded with each step I took with Lena at my side.

  I’d told her I could set her free from him. But, her power to set me free from him was even stronger. The mark didn’t matter. My past didn’t matter. I held her close as we made our way to the top of the ridge.

  The lights of an oil refinery blinked ahead of us. Banchory. It wasn’t pretty, but it meant freedom. We had crossed the border. If I had my way, Lena would never have to go back.

  “We’re almost there,” I said, gasping for air. Lena’s legs were like rubber. I wanted to carry her, but she wouldn’t let me. Her stubborn strength propelled her forward as she tasted the first breath of a new kind of freedom.

  With each step we took, the next became easier. Fighting through the woods, we nearly made it to the highway. From there, we’d head into town and try to find one of our old contacts. This was as far as Mammoth Forest intel would likely take us.

  As a semi rolled past, and the woods grew eyes.

  “Payne?” Lena said, her voice filled with new terror. “Payne, we’re not alone.”

  No sooner had she said it than ten pairs of wolf eyes surrounded us. There was no mistaking the threat in their low growls as they drew nearer. As I spun around with Lena in my arms, the wolves came from all directions and closed in.

  Seventeen

  Lena

  A thunderstorm raged inside me. Payne held me against him, trying to put his body between me and the circling shifters. He couldn’t. They were everywhere.

  “Payne,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. My heart drummed inside me along with Payne’s. He was coiled fury, ready to strike. Except, if he did, we’d both be dead. Ten wolves became fifteen. Fifteen became twenty. I’d never seen this many in one place before. These boys were nothing like the usual Kentucky Pack shifters. They were larger, stronger. Payne was still the largest of them all, but they’d quickly overtake him if he made the first move.

  “Do. Not. Shift,” I said to him through gritted teeth. I could feel his wolf clamoring to get out. He’d die for me. He’d make them go through him to move even one inch closer.

  “We’re asking for sanctuary,” I shouted. It sounded good in my head. When the words tumbled out, I wanted to swallow them back. We’d spent so much time planning for the border crossing, we hadn’t really figured out what the hell to do once we got here.

  One of the largest gray wolves snapped his jaws and took a cautious step closer. The others followed, standing shoulder to shoulder in an unbroken line.

  “Who’s your Alpha?” I tried again. “My name is Lena Morris. This is Payne Fallon. My brother is Mac Morris. That should mean something to the wolves of Wild Lake.”

  “We’re not in Wild Lake,” Payne muttered.

  “Well,” I whispered. “These guys aren’t Kentucky Pack. Where the hell else could they be from?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.” Payne pulled me even closer. His body heat scorched through me. Even with the looming threat all around us, I wanted him. Desire flared through me. It had been constant since Payne first touched me. Giving in to it on the other side of the river had done nothing to sate me. The sensitive skin at the base of my neck throbbed with the same wanting as my sex. What’s worse, I knew he could feel it too.

  The wolves parted. The air changed and a man came through the shadows. He was big and brawny, wearing a checkered shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Dark hair curled over his massive forearms. His face was stern and the fading light caught his eyes, one blue, one brown.

  “Mac Morris,” he said. “You say he’s your brother?”

  Swallowing past a dry throat I nodded. I took a careful step away from Payne. He kept a protective grip on my arm, ready to throw me behind him if this guy took one false step.

  “He is,” I said. “My name is Lena.”

  I held my head high. The man’s eyes narrowed as they flicked over my face. He saw the scars. He knew instantly what had made them.

  “Where are you from, Lena Morris?” he asked. He was ignoring Payne. It seemed disrespectful, but this was wholly new territory for me. I’d never been around another pack before. The Mammoth Forest Alphas were rogues. The Kentucky Chief Pack wasn’t...normal.

  I hesitated before answering. If I said Mammoth Forest, that would be giving something vital away. We had no way to trust who or what these men were.

  “I can’t tell you that, and I think you know it,” I said. “Are you the Alpha here?”

  A smile lifted the corner of the man’s mouth. Some of the wolves around him snorted.

  “He’s no Alpha,” Payne said through a snarl. God, he was so close to letting his wolf out. I tried to transmit a message to him telepathically. Of course, that would only work if he’d marked me. Still, Payne and I had grown close enough he took my meaning.

  “No,” the man said. “My name is Callum. My Alpha is Alec Martel, and you’re on very thin ice here, Ms. Morris. Crossing the borderlands alone might be considered an act of war.”

  “The same goes for you,” Payne said. “We’re here because there’s a Wild Lake wolf who owes a debt to Lena’s brother and some friends of ours. I need to talk to Derek Monroe.”

  A tremor ran through a few of the wolves surrounding us. Two of them broke ranks and disappeared into the shadows. A moment later, they returned as men. One was very young, maybe still a teenager, with thick brown hair. The other was older and taller with the same hard stare.

  “Derek Monroe is our Alpha,” the older man said. “My name is Cameron. This is Owen. Why don’t you tell us what the hell you want?” He pointed to the younger boy beside him. For the first time since we’d broken the border, my heart began to ease.

  “That’s for me and Derek to discuss,” Payne said. “But, I told you, we’ve been sent by Mac Morris. He also knows two other friends of mine, Liam McConnell and Gunnar Cole. There’s a debt to be paid and we’ve been sent to collect it. I think we can all agree that staying here is dangerous for everyone. I’m not with the Kentucky Pack, and you know it as sure as you’re standing there.”

  Payne grew bold. He straightened his back and took three steps toward Cameron. Payne outweighed him by an easy twenty pounds and had a few inches on the man. One on one, there’d be no contest. Cameron was big and powerful, but he was a beta. Payne would rip him to
shreds.

  Cameron and Owen retreated. They put their heads together and both sets of their wolf eyes flashed. I caught Payne’s eyes. Keyed up as he was, his curiosity flared. These two men were speaking to each other without words. They were linked. They were pack.

  Cameron jerked his chin toward Callum. The circle of the wolves responded instantly, dispersing. Six of them stood their ground near us. The rest disappeared into the woods. A moment later, they all returned as men. I let out an audible sigh.

  Quick instinct took over and I reached back, clasping Payne’s hand in mine. His was strong and solid. Eyes flicked all around. These wolves knew exactly what I was to Payne. Fear streaked through me. That knowledge might give them power over us I wasn’t willing to give.

  Three of the men stepped forward. They took their lead from Callum. Though I didn’t think he was their Alpha, he held some position of authority in whatever pack he belonged to.

  “You’ve earned an audience,” Callum said. “That’s all. I make you no promises. But, you’re right. Banchory isn’t safe. We caught word that Kentucky wolves might be trying to break through. That’s why we’re here...to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “Right,” Payne said, his tone thick with sarcasm. “Except you hadn’t bargained on her, had you?” He jerked his chin toward me. His entire body rumbled with a low, predatory growl. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d whipped his dick out then and there and pissed a circle around me.

  “Easy,” I whispered.

  “Listen to her,” Callum said. “I said you’re on thin ice. But, we’re going to sort this out. Our way.”

  The three men from the woods stepped forward. My eyes widened as I realized what they carried between them. Each held loops of heavy, metal chains. They eyed Payne as they approached.

  “Wait a minute!” Payne and I shouted together.

  “No fucking way,” Payne said. He growled and bent at the knees. Fuck. He was going to shift. The men didn’t back off. They drew closer and spread out.

  “This is the only way you get to talk to Derek,” Callum said. “You think we’ve gotten where we are today by being stupid? Either you get in the dragonsteel, or we throw your ass back across the river and let your Chief Pack sort you out.”

  “That is not my Pack,” Payne’s words seemed to drip with acid. His neon-green wolf eyes flared bright and claws sprang from his fingernails.

  “Relax,” Callum said. “You are who you say you are, you’ve got nothing to worry about. And the chains are for you, not her.”

  “I can’t protect her if I’m in those!” Payne shouted. His voice vibrated through me.

  “You don’t have to protect her from us,” Callum said. He got in Payne’s face. “You guessed right about who we are. We are Wild Lake wolves. You know we don’t do things like the Chief Pack does. Your mate is safe from us. And as long as you’re in our chains, she’s under our protection. We’re not savages. This is the best offer you’re going to get, asshole. Better take it.”

  “Payne,” I said. I put a gentle hand on his arm. “Maybe we do it their way.”

  I stepped away from him. Payne’s low growl still cut through the air. “Call your Alpha,” I said to Cameron. “Call Derek right now. Tell him Mac Morris’s sister seeks an audience with him. He and his mate would be dead right now if it weren’t for my brother. Unless the Wild Lake wolves don’t honor their word.”

  Cameron snorted. Shaking his head, he reached into his back pocket and whipped out his cell phone. He stepped out of earshot. I shot a look at Payne and shrugged.

  When Cameron came back, he’d set his mouth into a grim line. “Derek wants to see her.”

  “She’s not going anywhere without me!” Payne shouted.

  Callum and Owen moved as a unit. They got right in Payne’s face. This gave the other men the opening they needed. They surrounded Payne and threw the dragonsteel chains around his legs. Payne dropped to the ground, twisting to get out of them. It was no use. No shifter could break through that metal.

  “Payne,” I said. I crouched down until my face was the only thing in his line of vision. His wolf eyes flared hot and his nostrils flared. I put a hand on his cheek. “It’s going to be okay. It has to be. We’ve come this far. And we’re not in Kentucky anymore.”

  I let my last words sink in for both of us. Even in chains, Payne was freer here than he’d ever been in his life. Still, the tortured look in his eyes gutted me. Again, instinct took over. I leaned forward and kissed him. Payne let out a groan of desire that only I could hear. I quickly recovered and vaulted to my feet.

  “He’ll behave,” I said. “But let’s get moving. How long will it take to hike to Wild Lake?”

  A look passed between Callum and the others. “Hike? What do you mean hike? Our SUVs are parked along the highway about a quarter of a mile that way. I won’t kid you. We’ve got a five hundred mile drive ahead of us, but you’ll be in Wild Lake by morning. We’ve got neutral turf we can take you to.”

  “Neutral? Nothing neutral if you’ve got to drag me there in chains,” Payne snapped.

  “Pipe down,” I said through tight lips. “Then let’s get going. The more distance I put between me and Kentucky, the happier I’ll be.”

  With that, I stepped away from Payne. Wrapped in dragonsteel as he was, a different kind of bond tied me to him. My heart lurched at the idea of not really being able to touch him for hours. As we walked to the fleet of SUVs the Wild Lake wolves promised, Payne got even more agitated. They put him in the back of a black, windowless van. Callum smiled and gestured toward a different vehicle for me. He opened the front passenger door and held it open.

  “I thought…” My voice caught. I coughed to clear it. “I just thought it might be better if I rode with Payne.”

  “Not tonight,” Callum said. “It’s going to be okay. We are who we said we were. If you’re who you say you are, there’s nothing to worry about. Still, your friend Payne is going to be better motivated to behave if you’re sitting up with me.”

  I raised a brow. “So this is a polite kind of kidnapping.”

  Callum broke into the first genuine smile I’d seen. “Something like that. Come on. We’ve got blankets in the car and you look like you could use one. It’s going to be a long night. You might even want to try and get some sleep along the way.”

  The mention of a fresh blanket made my knees buckle with longing. When Callum wrapped it around me and helped me into the car, I almost cried. But, sleep was the last thing on my mind as we got underway. Payne’s distress transmitted straight to me. They had him subdued, but not calm in the least. But, I could barely hold back laughter as I heard Payne cuss out some of the Wild Lake boys as soon as he realized I wouldn’t be riding with him.

  Callum started the car and took the lead. I settled into my seat. It was heated and Callum showed me the controls. As we took to the highway, my heartbeat found a normal rhythm. Even from two cars away, I knew Payne could feel it. His own heart eased because of it.

  I hadn’t meant to do it. But, with every mile we put behind us, I started to relax. As the mile markers whizzed by, my eyelids grew heavy. Before I knew it, I’d settled into the deepest sleep I’d had in years.

  When I woke, full daylight smacked me in the face. I shielded my eyes and brought the visor down. Yawning, I looked at Callum. He shot me a wicked smile.

  “You snore,” he teased. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. At least I hadn’t drooled. Instinct kicked in again and I reached out with my heart, searching for Payne. He was right there. I knew instantly he hadn’t slept a wink. He’d been watching over me with his mind. My heart swelled just a little.

  “How much farther?” I asked. As my eyes adjusted, I peered under the visor. We weren’t on the highway anymore. Callum had taken a long country road. The woods grew thicker and pine branches scratched against the car’s window.

  He pulled up a long, winding gravel driveway. At the end of it, was a large, yellow far
mhouse with a white picket fence and wraparound porch. Off to the side, there was a huge, red barn. Two horses jumped and brayed in the paddock.

  “We’re here,” Callum said. “Welcome to Wild Lake, Miss Morris.”

  Eighteen

  Lena

  The van carrying Payne kicked up gravel and dirt as it screeched to a halt beside me. The shifter named Owen got out and slammed his door. His wolf eyes shone with bright menace as he charged to the back.

  “Let that maniac out,” he called. “That is if the damn doors still open.”

  Callum raised a suspicious brow but didn’t stop me as I moved to the back of the van. Two huge dents in the perfect shape of feet bowed out the side of the vehicle. The backdoors twisted on their hinges. Somehow, Payne had done it all without raising an alarm in me.

  “He’s lucky his ass didn’t fall through the floor,” another of the shifters said as he yanked the doors open. Wrapped in chains from his shoulders down to his knees, Payne rolled and spilled to the ground. His hair stuck out in wild peaks. His green wolf eyes blazed hot as he still managed to get to his feet. He let out a fearsome growl that blew my hair back. He locked eyes with me and I felt his pulse quicken. I went to him, putting a hand on his cheek. His skin felt white hot as his wolf strained to get out.

  His nostrils flared with hard breaths as he looked from one Wild Lake shifter to the other. “If you hurt her…” he said with a low growl.

  “They didn’t,” I said quickly. “Payne, look at me. I’m okay. We’re both okay.”

  I tried to transmit calm to him even though my own heart fluttered as we touched. A rising heat made my knees weak. Even here. Even now.

  “What the hell’s all this ruckus?” A sharp, feminine voice cut through the air. I took a cautious step away from Payne as he twisted toward the sound. The heavy, dragonsteel chains clanged together. The weight of them would have dropped a human man.