She nodded. The look on her face tore Curragh up. With a slightly more civil tone, he ordered, “Just get in there and stay put. We need some privacy.”
Kara stumbled over to the driver’s side and did as she was told. She jogged her eardrums with blunt fingertips, throwing him a look before she dipped inside the car. He waited until the door closed and she was staring numbly ahead before he strode to the back of the cavernous space. Xavier was by his side, deep in thought. He glanced over and said, under his breath, “I didn’t realize until just now.”
Curragh shot him an irritated look. “What?”
Xavier focused ahead as they neared their third packmate, and didn’t answer.
Draik sat cross-legged on his mattress, naked with a blanket haphazardly thrown over his waist. Gauze patchwork was on the wounds of his torso, wrists and arms. His head was carefully shaved with new bandages on the cuts. As they joined him, all kept their conversation so low only wolves would be able to hear. “Is that the cop?”
“She’s not a cop anymore,” Xavier reminded Draik as he and Curragh stood over their friend. Both crossed their arms with feet spread. “I didn’t expect this.” He seemed to be talking about more than her request to join them.
“Does she know what we are?”
Curragh scoffed, “Of course not.” His eyes landed on Xavier. He wanted to know what his friend was thinking. He was after all, the more levelheaded of the three, with his instincts usually on point. Curragh relied on Xavier ever since he’d returned to the fold, though his ego would never let him admit it aloud. With the confusion he felt now he needed objective guidance—his wolf was ready to tear this place apart if she left. And that made no fucking sense at all.
“Okay.” Draik glanced over to the car. “What are the odds she’ll leave quietly?”
The answer was unspoken but known.
Curragh’s skin was on fire, and he couldn’t calm down. “Fucking hell.”
“What?” Draik asked with narrowing eyes. “You okay?”
Xavier was watching him keenly, too.
Confession was the only option. Curragh’s chest heaved on a grumbled, “Something’s happening to me.”
“I thought you must have known.” Xavier cocked a black eyebrow at him. “You’re just now realizing?”
“Realizing what?”
Xavier huffed and shook his head on a knowing smirk. “Your wolf, Cur. He’s found her.”
His blood tingled oddly as goosebumps trickled down Curragh’s arms. He fucking never got goosebumps. “No.”
Draik’s eyes widened and his pale eyebrows knit together in amusement. “You’re kidding me. All this happened while I was sleeping?”
“Nothing’s happened. She’s not my forever mate.” Curragh muttered a little more loudly than everything else they’d said, “He’s wrong.” Xavier smacked him to remind him to keep his voice down. The empty space had an echo like nobody’s business.
“I’m wrong, huh? Am I?” Xavier asked with fake, annoying innocence. He pointed at Curragh’s eyes. “Then why, when I said it, did these start glowing? Huh? Half-shift much?”
Curragh looked at the hard cement floor. He hadn’t even known they were doing that. “Fuck. It’s not true. I don’t want this.”
“You keep telling yourself that.” Xavier pointed down. “You’re hard as a rock.”
Curragh’s gaze shot to his crotch and he adjusted himself, aware of the bulging tent for the first time. It was just the cherry on how the rest of his body felt. “This can’t be happening. I thought this shit was for fairy tales.”
Pale brown eyes danced—it was the first time Draik had looked happy since the torture. “You know what I think?” His friends looked over at him. “I think we just got a female pack member.”
What swam over Curragh could only be called stifled elation. He raked stubborn fingers through his hair and looked at a wall. He’d never wanted to mate. He’d thought all that shit about finding one female who was meant for you and only you, was a crock. But the pieces clicked together like that lever opening the garage door to sunlight. The confusion and struggle that had been his existence since spying her through the glass at Dusek’s, vanished. He stood up straighter and his wolf slowed its furious pacing, wondering if it had finally gotten through. He cracked his neck as he felt the calming, disbelief and a release drifting over his cells like slow-moving water.
“A female pack member, huh?” Xavier repeated, shaking his head and keeping his eyes on the floor.
Curragh smirked at his friends. “I thought I was clear. Howard’s not joining us.”
They busted up. Draik stopped laughing as his stitches pulled at the wounds. With normal volume and a half-grin, he told them, “Ouch. Fuck. Don’t do that to me.”
Xavier asked, twiddling his fingers with comical excitement, “Can I tell her she can stay?”
“No you fucking can’t,” Curragh chuckled, smacking his friend in the chest. “You stay right where you are.” Turning on the heel of his worn leather boot, he headed for the car. Xavier reached out and stopped him.
“Hey, wait. She’s going to have to learn the truth.” He locked eyes with Curragh, his tone darkening with warning, “Draik’s getting stronger every minute.”
“She doesn’t look stupid,” Draik added, the mirth gone. “She’ll catch on to other things, too.”
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Curragh thought about it. “She’s not stupid. But you can’t lay this on me all at once.” He looked from wolf to wolf.
“We don’t have a choice,” Draik said.
“Well, give me a minute! One thing at a time!” He shook his head once at the oddness of what he’d have to do. None of them had ever told a woman what they were. Here he was realizing he’d found a veritable unicorn—his true mate—and now she’d be living with them, something he’d never thought would happen. Not only that but they were in hiding? And he had to tell her he wasn’t human? “Dammit. Okay. Look. I’ll tell her, but not right now. I’ll know when…when it feels right.”
“Or I’ll tell her when the mood hits me,” Xavier said with a wink.
Curragh’s glare changed to a smirk. “Put your love of pranks away, fucker. This is no game.”
Draik chuckled—a nice sound after all they’d been through. “She’s waiting.”
Curragh stared at the ground a moment and looked down at his crotch again. His wolf had relaxed now that he’d gotten through. It was up to the man now. Curragh glanced over to the car and mumbled to his packmates, “Here goes nothing.”
Kara’s eyes were cast down, but as the sound of footsteps echoed toward her, long dark-brown eyelashes fluttered upward. Her lips were parted as she sat behind the wheel, hands clutching it, knuckles white.
In an entirely new way he visually drank her in. She no longer looked like something he had to resist. Now she looked like his future. It was staggering and empowering. The room around him, the sound of his boots, even the beating of his heart, faded away as Curragh got closer. He memorized bits of her he hadn’t noticed before. How her large eyes curved down a little at the sides. How her fingernails were bitten rather than clipped. How her bottom lip was fuller than the top one.
How she got very still when she concentrated.
As he arrived at the door and opened it, staring down at her naked vulnerability, she released the wheel and turned to him. Pulling her from the vehicle, he wrapped her in his arms, and held the small of her back as they stared at each other.
Feeling the weight of something different in him, she asked, “Is this goodbye?”
He smiled a little. “To your old life? Yeah.” Before she had a chance to reply, he crushed her lips in a deep kiss that said so much more than he was capable of. It took her a surprised second to respond. When she slipped tentative arms around his neck and gave him back everything he gave her, he felt proud and happy, as he never had before. They fell into each other for a few heated moments until he remembered they had an audience.
It took a lot to release her, but now they had all the time in the world. “Let’s introduce you properly.”
He took her hand and walked her back to meet Draik.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kara sat on the queen size mattress Curragh claimed as theirs, talking to Draik.
“How’d you get those bruises?” he asked, motioning with bearded chin. It was the only hair left on his head.
“They’re still there?”
“Barely. But I can see a yellow outline, and I’ve had my fair share of shiners.”
“Curragh hit me.” She laughed at Draik’s expression. “I asked him to,” she added with mischief.
From where he dragged an enormous brick-red rug Curragh shouted over, “He won’t know you’re joking.”
“I’m not joking,” she called back, then turned to Draik whose light brown eyes were narrowed under a scrunched up forehead. “It was the only way I could convince my team I hadn’t let these two get away on purpose.”
“Oh!” His eyes cleared and his skin smoothed out. “When was this?”
She filled him in as Curragh and Xavier set up the rest of their new furniture. She kept the details minimal since she didn’t feel like reliving it. What was really on her mind, she asked point blank. “How come you’ve healed so quickly?”
Draik glanced to his friends. She looked over to see their reactions. They didn’t have any, which could mean nothing. She had a feeling it was quite the opposite. “I come from a strong Nordic line of Vikings. We don’t break.”
Kara smiled and couldn’t argue. His ancestry was all over him. She could picture him disembarking an ancient ship, sword in hand, shouting a warning that would make any man cower. If the other two men were his coloring, she’d imagine the same of them—three more intimidating male specimens she’d never known before. She could see why they’d befriended each other—men of normal size would have egos that couldn’t endure the comparison.
“Good thing we got a dresser,” Curragh smirked, carrying it to a nearby wall.
“Well we don’t have clothes yet, so she can have it,” Xavier joked. “I’m just glad there’s a shower here. These took one with me.”
They were in wrinkly jeans and t-shirts, and Draik had on nothing but a blanket. She was in heaven, if she had to admit it. “Why don’t you put those uniforms back on?” Kara offered with a grin. But then Curragh nixed the amusement.
“If anyone’s going to turn you on in one of those painted-on white get-ups, it’ll be only me.” He stood looming over her and crossed his arms.
She was going to laugh, but she saw he was dead serious. Softening immediately, she outstretched a hand. “I was kidding. Come sit with me.” He hesitated so she shook her hand a little, beckoning him, “Come on. I was only joking. I swear. I won’t do it again.”
The hardness of his jawline relaxed and he swept down to sit down beside her, but he wouldn’t look at her. Her instinct told her he didn’t know how to handle his feelings, and it was up to her to help. She wrapped an arm around his hunched back and laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
He grumbled, “I knew you were joking.”
Draik’s next question brought her head up. “So, are we going to tell her?”
She looked around the handsome faces. “Tell me what?” They’d said she could stay, which was a miracle. What else were they leaving out? Xavier stared at Curragh like it was up to him. She tried to get Curragh to look at her by leaning forward but his eyes were locked straight ahead. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“That we need you to go back to work.”
Her hand dropped from where it had been stroking the cotton over his shoulder blades. “I can’t do that.”
“I thought she was going to be living here with us,” Xavier said. Kara looked at him, surprised.
Curragh abruptly got up. Raking fingers through his thick hair, he walked a few steps away. “We don’t have a way to know what Kruglov’s doing. We need her on the inside.”
“Why do I have a feeling that’s not what Draik meant?” Kara demanded. Over his shoulder, he glared at her. Irritated, she jumped off the mattress. “If he asked ‘are we going to tell her,’ that implies you three already knew something I didn’t. But Xavier obviously was not clued into your plan. So what are you hiding from me?”
“If I’m hiding something, it’s for a reason. Don’t push it,” Curragh warned her.
“Just minutes ago you’re acting like…” she stammered, not wanting to say like you love me, “…and…and…now you’re acting like a dick again!”
Xavier stifled a laugh, but Curragh and Kara both shot death-looks over that shut him right up.
“Look, woman. I’m not like some of the pussies you’ve dated. You better get used to having a man hold his ground.”
Fire rushed through her. He had a point about the men of her past, especially Mike, but still. “First of all. My name is Kara. Don’t call me ‘woman.’ And second, you better get used to being honest with me because honest is all I know, and I’m not about to give that up just because I’m in love with you.” As soon as she saw his expression change, and heard the words fall from her sharp tongue, she clamped her gaping mouth shut.
He covered the distance between them in two urgent strides and yanked her off the ground to kiss her hard. Her legs dangled, and she was very aware that his friends were only feet away from this spectacle. Kara wasn’t the romantic type. She’d never ever said I love you first, before. But the kiss that Curragh planted on her melted all of her reserve away and soon only applause could pull them apart.
Draik and Xavier were hooting and hollering and Curragh grinned as he set her back on her feet. “Anything to win an argument,” he called over to his buddies. Kara knew her face was ripe-tomato red.
Draik slowed his claps, agreeing on a grin, “Women will say anything to win.”
She was glad they were making light, because the occasion for her was anything but. With one of his arms around her, she leaned into Curragh’s side. “Were you serious about me going back?”
Xavier answered this time. “We do need inside information. Our old way of getting it is…well, it’s been disabled.”
Kara looked up at Curragh who was smiling at her like he’d just won a prize. She realized he hadn’t said the three powerful words back to her yet, but it was all over his face.
“I don’t know if I can do that.”
“You’ll have to lie to them.”
“I hate liars,” she said, somberly. “To be one…I don’t think I can stomach it.”
Draik interjected, “You hate murderers more? How about rapists?” His face was grave.
Xavier added for his friend, “What about people who torture men in their own homes? Would you lie to bring them to their knees?”
Kara looked around, knowing the only answer was yes. “Okay. I’ll do it.” Curragh’s grip tightened around her. She met his resolute stare. “But not just yet, okay? I won’t be able to see you again, then. I won’t be able to stay here.”
A sly smile spread Xavier’s beard. “Oh, I think we’ve got that all taken care of.”
Kara looked from him over to Draik and then up to Curragh.
They all had the same secret dancing in their eyes.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The initial exploration of their new home had been superficial. It took place right after they’d made sure Draik was as comfortable as he could be on the gurney’s thin mattress.
The next couple days brought boredom, often the mother of discovery.
Since there was nothing else to do, they searched the place again last night, this time for hours hoping to uncover some clue the Russians may have left behind. They had no way of finding Viktor without their connection to police activity, their contraption disemboweled, so they poked and prodded every square foot. They didn’t expect to find anything, but then Curragh found a crack in the bathroom tile. It looked like only normal wear and tear from
a leak in the shower. The place was anything but luxury and the layer of grime from years of non-use had hid the flaw at first. Even upon closer inspection, it seemed like nothing.
But bored and annoyed, Curragh picked at it. He wasn’t particularly surprised when it gave under his strong fingers. Water has a way of destroying even stone when given the chance, and Curragh’s strength could easily have explained the loosening. But it was the growing length of the crack that got him curious so he pulled with more vigor. Seconds later he uncovered a secret door plastered shut by the Russians.
“Where does it lead to?” Kara asked as she kneeled down looking into the tunnel.
“How long before I can rip those clothes off you?” he grumbled, momentarily distracted. The black jeans hugging her body like that was killing him.
She glanced up, her interest shifting to a reproachful smile. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
Curragh chuckled as Draik, wrapped in the blanket, answered, “All the off-shoots were boarded up, except for one.”
They all stood around the tunnel’s entrance. Curragh’s eyes were on the stairs leading down.
Xavier announced, “It leads to the bar outside the front doors of your precinct.”
Kara stood up slowly. “Why?”
“Why do you think?” Curragh waited for her to guess at the reason. He knew how smart she was, and he wanted to watch her brain working.
Her eyes flitted a little and then she had it. “It was one of the old speak-easies?”
“That’s what we’re thinking,” Xavier said. “This was the warehouse, and from it they carried the booze there.”
She frowned. “I’ve been in that bar. Maybe they had the game room here, with part of the warehouse partitioned off from the stock.”
“It’s a far distance to come for a party,” Draik muttered.
“True,” Kara said. “You’re right. This was probably just the warehouse.” Staring into it again, she said thoughtfully, “If the Russians were here, then this is also how dirty cops got to them. And the other way around. That bar is the one the cops go to after work.”
Werewolves of Chicago: Curragh (Werewolves of... Book 6) Page 12