Brice glanced at the tree line and saw the red wolf shrink into the darkness. “Go home, Dad. I don’t need you.” Brice would rather talk to Rafe. He, more than anyone, would understand Brice’s pain.
“Maybe not.” Gavin’s voice cracked. “But I need you.”
“You never even wanted me.” Brice’s usual fury failed to erupt. Now that the physical pain of Cassie’s rejection had subsided, nothing but a hollow clang clamored inside him. “You only need me now because Mason is dead.”
Gavin shook his head and walked stiffly to the cliff’s edge.
“You were only a week old when I brought you to Walker’s Pointe.” Gavin’s eyelids slid shut. His head tilted back, and the faintest smile breezed across his lips.
“As soon as I stepped in this very spot, you opened your eyes and reached your hands out to gather the territory into your tiny fingers. Then you threw back your head and howled. A happy little howl that I can still hear.”
“Is that why you decided not to throw me over the cliff?”
When Gavin whipped around, there was no disgust or disapproval in his eyes. Only sorrow and pain.
Brice lowered his gaze.
“If I ever find out who put that lie in that hard head of yours, I’ll kill them,” Gavin snarled.
Truthfully, Brice couldn’t remember. Maybe as a child, his impressionable imagination had manufactured the detail as an explanation for the missed birthdays, overlooked accomplishments and general indifference.
None of it seemed to matter now.
He couldn’t change the past, and since his happily mated future had crashed and burned before his eyes, he had only one option left.
Brice picked up the blanket his father had left on the ground, wrapped it around his shoulders and stood. “I’ve been offered an apprenticeship with the Woelfesenat. I’m going to accept.”
“Like hell you are.” Anger rolling off him in waves, Gavin stood nose to nose with Brice. “You never thought much of me as your father, but I am, and I will not allow you to separate from Walker’s Run.”
He grabbed Brice’s jaw. “I know that look. Your eyes would flash that same defiance whenever you spouted that nonsense, Always the Alpha, never my father. Well, let me tell you something. As Alpha, I would kick your ass out of the territory for turning your back on us for political notoriety. But as your father, the only way you’ll join the Woelfesenat is over my dead carcass!”
Gavin forcefully released him. Brice stumbled backward, muffling a grunt of pain as he stepped too hard on his right leg.
Concern flashed in his father’s eyes, and Brice knew the shove had been unintentional. He straightened.
“I can’t stay in Walker’s Run.” Not without Cassie.
“How miserable were you in Atlanta, believing you’d lost your family, your friends? Your entire pack?”
Pretty damn miserable, if that was any measure.
Gavin’s scrutiny bore into Brice. “I thought so. Now imagine the agony of that loss magnified across the span of your lifetime.”
Brice’s mind raced with blurred memories, his consciousness honing in only on the restlessness, isolation and loneliness. The burden on his spirit became heavier and heavier until he sank to his knees beneath the weight.
“You are the true heir to Walker’s Run.” Gavin’s hand rested on Brice’s head. “Mason’s path was the Woelfesenat, not yours. Leaving will destroy your spirit.”
Hadn’t Tristan tried to tell him as much?
“Did Mason abdicate the Alphaship when I was born?” Brice looked at his father, ready to listen.
“Yes.” Gavin squatted in front of Brice. “Walker’s Run never gripped him the way it does me, or you. Your destiny is, and has always been, to lead this pack. Your brother gave his life to protect you because he loved you and believed in you. Don’t waste his gift.”
“This is unbelievable.” Brice massaged the furrows in his forehead. How many times could his world turn upside down?
“Easy, son.” Gavin touched Brice’s shoulder. “No one expects you to take over right away. There’s time to build your family.” He paused. “Do you still believe Cassie is your true mate?”
“Yes.” Brice wove his fingers through his hair. “I know you don’t think she’s an acceptable choice, but she is my choice.”
“Only a true mate is acceptable to a Walker, son. I wanted to be sure you hadn’t chosen her out of convenience.”
“Cassie is many things. Convenient isn’t one of them.” A harsh laugh broke in Brice’s chest. “I feel her in my soul. I’m anxious when we’re apart and at utter peace when we’re together. Except when she doesn’t listen to me, and then I’m all out of sorts.”
“Having a bonded mate isn’t an easy road, but I wouldn’t trade the journey for anything in the world.” Gavin chuckled, but he looked as tired and worn-out as Brice felt. “When you reach my age, I’m sure you’ll feel the same.”
“I won’t get the chance, Dad. Too many things have gone wrong. Cassie rejected the mate-bond. I’m losing her.” Brice rubbed the throb in his calf. Her fingers did a much better job than his to dispel the pain. His heart squinched at the thought that he would never again feel her touch.
“You haven’t lost Cassie until she goes somewhere she can’t come back from.” Gavin reached down and helped Brice stand. “Tonight you rest. Tomorrow you win back your mate.”
A shiver rippled through Brice’s being. With Cassie, things were never that simple.
Chapter 36
At 6:55 a.m., Cassie placed the cell phone on the kitchen counter next to the pancakes she’d wrapped in aluminum foil for Brice to eat later.
He’d called last night. First on the landline, asking her to pick up the phone. When she didn’t, he called the cell and left a message she replayed all night long.
Stupid, really. He hadn’t professed undying love, only said that he would stay with his parents unless she invited him to come home. He also confessed that he missed her.
Her heart latched onto those words because she missed him, too.
Throughout the lonely night, she rewrote her goodbye letter a dozen times before settling on something nonpersonal. Giving Brice an indication of how bad she felt might encourage him to seek her out. To bring her back.
Under no circumstances could that happen. One day her future self would thank her for the sacrifice.
Yeah, right.
Twenty minutes later, Shane hadn’t arrived. Cassie wiped down the counters for a third time. She wanted to be gone before Brice came home. Neither of them could afford for her to change her mind. A high probability if he intervened.
An engine hummed outside and then subsided. Cassie ushered Shane inside before he had a chance to knock.
“Sorry, I overslept.” Sleepy-eyed, he wore wrinkled cargo shorts and a shirt turned wrong side out.
“It won’t take long to load up.” She led him into the living room, where her meager belongings were stacked.
“Is that it?” Shane scratched his mussed hair.
“Yep, everything I own.”
A strange expression crossed Shane’s face, though he said nothing. He grabbed the boxes and headed outside. Cassie followed, toting her suitcases.
Shane piled the items in the truck bed while she went inside to collect her purse and comforter bag. She glanced around the cabin that, in a few short days, had become a real home. Heartsick, she closed the front door and locked it.
She climbed into Shane’s truck and buckled her seat belt.
Shane shuffled through his backpack. “Damn. I forgot the library books due today.”
“We can pick them up on the way.” Cassie ignored her sour stomach. “Oh, I almost forgot. Can we make a quick stop at the resort? I need to hand in some paperwork.”
“No problem.” Shane backed out of the driveway. “It’s on the way.”
Neither spoke as he drove down the winding mountain road and pulled into a parking spot close to the entrance.
Before Cassie climbed out of the truck, Shane touched her arm. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“I need to do this,” she replied, because she honestly didn’t want to do it at all.
Thankfully Hannah and Natalie were busy behind the guest services counter. Cassie hurried to Abigail Walker’s dark office and laid her resignation letter and house key on the desk. She felt a twinge of regret as she waved to Hannah instead of personally saying goodbye.
“Let’s go.” Cassie hopped into the truck and closed her eyes as Shane pulled out of the parking lot.
She’d expected to leave someday. But now that someday was here, Cassie didn’t want to go. Of course, having no future at the Walker’s Run Resort, she had made the best choice possible.
Shane parked in front of an old U-shaped brick building that stood three stories high.
“Want to come up?” He shut off the engine. “It might take me a while to find the books.”
Cassie followed him up the concrete stairs to the third floor, fourth door. He looked over his shoulder, grinning.
“Ignore the mess.”
She stepped inside. Clothes littered the couch, and an open cereal box sat on the glass coffee table. Shane moved through the room, shuffled through some books on the floor and moved to the kitchen before he disappeared into the bedroom.
Cassie perched on the arm of a worn recliner. A gaming console and television filled the tabletop entertainment center. A baseball bat and glove were propped in the far corner. Candid pictures of Shane and his friends decorated the walls.
From the look on his face in the photos, Shane was genuinely happy. And he should have been, because he fit in.
“Got ’em.” He emerged from the bedroom waving two books. “Thank God. I didn’t want to pay another fine.”
“How many have you lost?” Cassie trailed behind him.
“Four, but Zach borrowed two, so technically he lost those.”
The door banged open. Shane stopped short, and Cassie plowed into his back.
“Two for one.” Vincent Hadler towered in the doorway. “My lucky day.”
Shane dropped the books. “Get out,” he shouted in a vicious tone Cassie had never heard him use.
“You need a lesson in manners.” The older man slid his leering gaze from Shane to Cassie. “So do you.”
“You’re the one who needs to learn manners,” Cassie said, forcing her voice to remain steady.
“You won’t keep that sass for long, babe.” Hadler’s sneer scraped her nerves.
Cassie rubbed her arms to soothe the sting.
“You won’t lay a paw on her.” Shane stepped ahead to shield Cassie.
Hadler flicked his open hand toward Shane’s face, causing him to wince. Hadler laughed. A cold, spiteful laugh that slithered down Cassie’s spine and coiled into the pit of her stomach.
Shane’s head snapped up, his face twisted in an ugly snarl. Thrusting his shoulder into Hadler’s chest, he slammed the bulkier man into the door frame.
“Run,” Shane yelled at Cassie, but the two men blocked her exit.
Hadler rammed his fist into Shane’s side. Shane doubled over, gasping. Hands clasped, Hadler hammered Shane’s back until he dropped on one knee.
Cassie snatched the library books off the floor. The first one skimmed Hadler’s shoulder as he lunged for Shane. The second landed with a solid smack against Hadler’s ear.
Bellowing, he turned and stalked toward Cassie.
Now she understood why Vincent Hadler gave her the creeps. He was crazy dangerous and mad-dog mean.
“Cassie!” Shane grabbed Hadler’s waist. “Run!”
Heart thundering, she raced toward the open door. As she reached the threshold, her head jerked violently.
“You aren’t going anywhere.” Hadler’s fingers corkscrewed through Cassie’s hair. He hauled her back inside the apartment and kicked the door closed. “Yet.”
Shane pushed to his feet. Blood oozed from a jagged cut at the edge of his mouth. “Let her go.”
“She owes me a dance and my balls an apology.” Hadler pulled her close and yanked her hair so that her head tilted backward to touch his chest. He leaned down, running his nose along the curve of her jaw, then licked her ear. “I intend to collect.”
Disgusted, Cassie refrained from kicking her heel into his shin, afraid he’d snap her neck.
“Leave her the fuck alone before I snatch that cocky smile off your face and shove it up your ass.” Shane stepped forward, his hands clenched. Gone was the carefree young man Cassie had known. If someone could drop dead from a look, this Shane McQuarrie would definitely be a killer.
“Don’t be stupid, boy. This fight ain’t about you.” Hadler released Cassie’s hair, snaking his hand up her stomach to squeeze her breast. “Walker took something from me. Now I’m going to take something from him.”
“You’re insane.” Cassie slammed her sneakered foot down on Hadler’s ankle.
He cried out, loosening his grip. Cassie wrenched free. Shane charged, and the two men crashed to the floor.
Cassie bolted into the bedroom and locked the door to the sound of shattering glass. She rushed to the window. There was no ledge or balcony to climb. Just a straight drop from the third floor to the graveled ground. Her heart pounded, ready to make the jump with or without the rest of her.
The door splintered open.
“Come along nice and quiet,” Vincent Hadler panted, sweat-streaked and bloody from the nasty cuts on his face and arms. “Or Shane dies.”
* * *
Brice froze in the kitchen. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak.
Not that Cassie would hear him if he did.
Shane’s scent lingered in the cabin, so they couldn’t have been gone long.
The handwritten note slipped from Brice’s cold, stiff fingers. A snarl, so deep, so vicious, so ridiculously primal erupted from his chest and thawed his nerves.
Heading out the door, he shouted into his cell phone. “Where is Shane’s den?”
“Chatuge View apartments, number twenty,” Gavin answered. “What’s wrong?”
“He took Cassie.” Brice climbed into his Maserati and spun out of the driveway.
Cassie had left him. Packed her things and left.
The raging fire in his heart flared to such an intensity that he feared his chest might spontaneously combust. He had to make this right. Make Cassie understand how much he needed her. Walker’s Run coursed through his blood, but Cassidy Albright inhabited his soul.
Turning sharply into the apartment complex parking lot, the wheels squealed on the dusty asphalt. Tristan paused at the outdoor stairs.
Brice slammed to a stop beside Shane’s vehicle. Cassie’s suitcases were visible in the truck bed.
Tristan loped over, concern shadowing his smile. “You here to see me?”
“Shane,” Brice answered through gritted teeth.
“Me, too. I’m responding to a 911 call from a neighbor who reported a disturbance in his apartment.”
“Dammit! He has Cassie.” Brice darted up the stairs three at a time.
On the third floor landing, Tristan shoved past Brice and planted himself in front of Shane’s door. “I’m here on official business. Wait outside until I say it’s okay for you to come in.”
“I’m not leaving without Cassie.”
“I know.” Tristan rang the doorbell. “I’ll make sure Shane doesn’t do anything stupid.”
Nothing moved inside the apartment. “Shane, open up. It’
s Tristan.”
“For chrissakes.” Brice shoved open the door. The stench of sour milk nearly curdled his stomach.
“Cassie?” Brice yelled, weaving around the overturned recliner. Glass littered the carpet. Something or someone had smashed the coffee table.
“Brice.” Tristan yanked him by the collar. “Go outside or I’ll drag you out and handcuff you to the rail.”
“Tristan,” Brice growled.
“Until I know different, this is a sheriff’s office matter. Now go.” Tristan’s hand landed squarely on Brice’s chest. “The longer you stand there and glare at me, the longer it will take for me to clear the scene. Do you understand?”
Though it nearly killed him to do so, Brice backed out of the apartment. He had no idea how long he stood outside, because his thoughts ran rampant with the images of what he’d seen in Shane’s living room and the fact that Cassie hadn’t answered when he called. She would have if she were there and in any condition to respond.
Brice’s heart drilled his chest. The high-velocity vibration nearly drowned out Tristan’s all clear.
Brice sprinted inside. Cassie wasn’t in the bedroom, bathroom or closet. He dashed into the kitchen where Shane, sprawled on the floor, moaned. Tristan helped him sit up. The pup’s right eye had swollen shut. He bled from his nose, mouth, a large gash at his temple and various minor cuts on his body. He’d taken a beating but had no apparent life-threatening injuries.
“Where is Cassie?” Squatting, Brice grabbed the young man by the shirt.
Shane’s glassy eyes were vacant, and he had trouble focusing.
“Give him a second.” Tristan gripped Brice’s shoulder. “Someone knocked him cold.”
“Cassie?” Shane’s bloodied mouth twisted. He pushed against Tristan in a discombobulated effort to stand.
“Dammit! Where is she?” Brice clutched Shane’s arm, helping to steady him.
“Hadler,” Shane said, thick and slow.
A tremor rocked Brice’s soul. Vincent Hadler had a reputation for cruelty, among other unmentionable things.
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