Mated (Olde Town Pack Book 2)

by Katie Salidas

  Injured wolves, those who clearly had already lost their shot, sat licking their wounds on the sidelines. A frazzled Emma scurried around them, handing out bandages and ointments.

  Brady did not envy her for having to take care of them, but fights were an occupational hazard among their people. At least they healed quickly enough. Angry as she might look, Emma loved caring for the sick, and she was good at it.

  Brady came up the back stairs to the wooden deck where his brother had stood as presiding judge over the fights. “One down. We’re still missing the other.” He laid the dead wolf at Aiden’s feet.

  Aiden’s lip quirked up at the corner, but the Alpha did not look down at the dead wolf. “Do you know who he was?”

  “No clue. But perhaps she does.” Brady angled his head to Rachel.

  “Identification will have to wait. Get dressed and get back out there.” Aiden pointed to a pile of clothes sitting on the table next to him.

  “Let me just talk with her quickly,” Brady protested.

  “No. If you plan on joining in this mess, you can’t be seen with her. Might look–”

  “I’ve been around her all day,” Brady interrupted, as he pulled on a pair of sweats.

  “All the more reason you’d want to fight for her now. But you can’t be seen as sampling the merchandise ahead of time.”

  “A bit rude there, brother.”

  “You know what I mean. They’ll think you’re taking advantage of your position.” Aiden indicated the remaining wolves waiting for their chance to fight.

  “How far are we going to let them bloody themselves for her?” Brady asked.

  “Until they submit, or cannot get up on their own steam,” Aiden responded, with a resigned sigh.

  “Emma’s already got her hands full tonight, by the looks of things.” Brady all but rolled his eyes watching how quickly his people had turned into a pack of rabid dogs over the chance at taking Rachel to mate. No wonder the practice had lasted so long among the wolves: any chance to fight had them all foaming at the mouth.

  “I don’t like this.” Aiden’s eyes remained fixed on the fighters below. “Our people are hurting each other. We need to get to the bottom of this now, before our whole pack is out of commission.”

  Brady’s thoughts should have been on his pack and their wellbeing, but he couldn’t help turning his focus elsewhere. He glanced over to see how Rachel was handling the whole ordeal. She’d been seated next to Fallon and was guarded by two of his most trusted security team.

  While Fallon cringed, watching the wolves below like a train wreck she couldn’t take her eyes away from, Rachel seemed to be transfixed on a group of waiting wolves. Her eyes were locked on them. A slight tremble to her lip made alarm bells ring in Brady’s ears.

  If only he could go over and confirm what was bothering her... but Aiden had already said no. Brother or not, he couldn’t disobey a direct order from his Alpha.

  He’d have dismissed her look of concern if it had been just a fleeting glance, but as he studied the way she sat rigidly still and almost unblinkingly watched them, his own wolf rose up protectively. She feared them. Or at least one of them.

  Even more concerning, the pack of wolves she was watching appeared to be doing all they could to avoid looking back at her. Sixth sense would have had them glancing up at least once, feeling the weight of her eyes on them.

  Suspicious for sure. Something was happening; Brady felt it in his bones.

  “What do we know about those guys over there?” he asked Aiden. “The ones waiting by the edge of the bonfire. Three of them.”

  Aiden’s head turned slowly. “Hard to say. We have so many packs here tonight.”

  “They aren’t ours, for sure. And they look almost too casual, neither fighting nor chatting up the other single ladies in the crowd,” Brady commented.

  “You think they’re lying in wait?” Aiden asked.

  “Certainly worth finding out.” Brady cracked his knuckles, ready for another fight.

  “You stink of blood, brother.”

  “Good. Because it isn’t mine.” He smiled back. “It will give them more reason to pay attention to what I have to say.”

  “You were born for this, you know.” Aiden chuckled and waved a hand to give his brother leave to go.

  “That’s what everyone keeps telling me.” Brady stepped down into the crowd. As he walked, he nodded to his security team, those wolves who’d been loyal to him and had been made privy to the plan earlier in the day.

  They returned the nod, and Brady signaled to them where he was heading, holding two fingers up and pointing to his eyes to tell them to keep watch. One-on-one, he was a sure winner, but three-on-one was a gamble he’d rather not take.

  He passed by a beer keg and filled up four glasses before heading to talk to the trio.

  They hadn’t moved from their spot and were still avoiding looking up to the area where Fallon and Rachel were sitting.

  “First round’s on me, boys.” Brady greeted them with a friendly smile and held out the beers in offering.

  Their looks paled in comparison to his gregarious welcome.

  The tallest of the trio, a dark-haired guy of Spanish-looking descent, snorted loudly. “Don’t bother us with your cheap beer. Keep moving.”

  Arrogant and condescending, Brady laughed to himself. Just the kind of guy he expected to be playing Alpha of this trio.

  “Now, that’s not the spirit of this gathering. We’re supposed to be forging bonds of friendship and all that bullshit. Am I right?” Brady held his smile as best he could.

  “If I take your beer, will you go away?” the lead wolf responded.

  “They have to take some too.” Brady chuckled, offering the beers again.

  The other two remained quiet. Clearly Dark Hair was their leader, though he wasn’t the largest of the group. To his right, a mountain man with a beer keg of his own stood at least half a foot taller. He might have been bigger around, but as Brady sized him up, he still felt he could take him in a fight.

  The other wolf was lean and sharp of features, with a nose like a hawk and manicured nails that had been filed down to claws. Those were probably his best weapons, Brady guessed, as he sized that wolf up for battle.

  The trio took his offer of beer grudgingly, and each chugged their cup before tossing them aside.

  “There,” Dark Hair replied. “We’ve had beer. Now go away.”

  Brady took a nice long chug of his beer, finishing with a loud belch. “Yeah. This is definitely an eye-opening experience, pulling so many wolves together from different packs.” He completely ignored their request he leave, choosing to pull something slimy out of his hair – leftover gore from his previous kill, he hoped they’d notice. Subtle hints to make them understand he was not one to be trifled with. “You learn a lot from seeing how other wolves act, especially when there’s a game like this one.” He pointed to the fighting pit still active with the battle for Rachel’s affections.

  “We don’t care,” Dark Hair growled, clearly unimpressed by Brady’s attempt at intimidation.

  Brady turned on him, looking the wolf dead in the eye. “Exactly. Why don’t you care? When every other eligible male out there is knocking themselves senseless for a piece of tail.”

  Dark Hair lowered his eyes for a fraction of a second before he answered. “Maybe she’s not my type.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second.” Brady snorted. “She’s way out of your league. You should be so lucky.” His eyes bounced between the other two wolves. Strong, young enough to be eligible, and in prime physical form. But the way they glanced at each other and the protective stance of the larger wolf told him all he needed to know about them.

  “Them I’d believe,” Brady continued. “They’re clearly lovers.” He hoped he’d assumed right about the lumberjack and the twink, but even if he hadn’t, his revelation evoked the right body language from Dark Hair to confirm his suspicions. “You, on the other hand, ha
ve no reason to act as if she doesn’t exist.”

  “Is it a crime to not want to fight for some plaything that’s being dangled in front of me?” Dark Hair responded.

  His phrasing had Brady’s wolf clawing up to the surface, ready to make him eat those words. Rachel was no plaything. Far from it. Gorgeous, strong, and braver than most to allow herself to be put into this position. That girl was more woman than Brady had ever come across, and he nearly lost himself with anger at that moment. The beast was close, but knowing that he’d have retribution soon allowed him to breathe down those killer instincts and continue his conversation.

  “Most men would jump at the chance to prove how badass they are, if not to the woman up there, then to the others available in the crowd. You, however, have more interest in my security detail than the hot piece of tail up there. Unless you’d like me to arrange a date for you and one of my guys.”

  “I don’t care about your hot tail.” Dark Hair shrugged, though the twitch of his lip proved Brady had struck a chord.

  “My tail is pretty impressive, but I don’t swing that way, man,” Brady chuckled.

  “That’s not what I meant,” the other wolf blustered.

  “Then why are you here?” Brady speared him with another glare. Fun and games time was over. He would have answers now.

  “I’m here to be part of a grand celebration. Pack unity and all that bullshit, as you so eloquently put it earlier.” Dark Hair spoke with the cockiness of someone who’d won the argument. “Doing my duty for my pack. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  That gave Brady more satisfaction than if he’d punched the arrogant wolf in the gut. “Then you should join me for something a little more interesting than squabbling over some girl.”

  “We’ve already told you to go–”

  “Surely you wouldn’t deny a second son of the Olde Town.” Brady flashed a toothy grin that showed off the sharpness of his canines. Even in his norm form, they were larger and much sharper than any human’s should be. As he let his words sink in, he finished with a wink.

  As second to the Alpha of the Regional pack, Brady outranked pretty much everyone assembled, and Dark Hair had to know that. Even from a foreign pack, the pecking order was a well-established line that if crossed meant more trouble than it was worth.

  Silence fell between them, only broken by the outside noise of the fights going on behind them.

  Brady waited for them to speak, any of them, but it was as if their throats had dried up. Each one had the deer in the headlights look of fear, and none offered up so much as an excuse to back out of Brady’s proposal.

  “You already said you don’t care about what’s happening here. So let’s find a way to make you care.... about something. Who’s your Alpha? What pack do you come from?”

  “Look. We don’t want any trouble,” the bigger guy said, holding his hands up and taking a side step toward his skinny counterpart.

  “What are your names?” Brady continued his interrogation. With a nod, he signaled the wolves on his security team, who’d been watching from the distance, and they slowly walked toward the trio.

  Brady kept his eyes locked firmly on Dark Hair.

  “We should probably–” Lumberjack began to say.

  “By now, you’ve realized that with a nod, I can bring my entire pack down on you. No doubt you’ve seen the wolves on security detail tonight. Eye candy for some of you; opponents for others.” He nodded at Dark Hair. “You’ve been keeping close watch on them, from what I can tell, so let’s drop the bullshit. I want to know what you’re doing here. Truth. Or this will be the last night you see. Understood?” Brady prepared himself for the strike that would come.

  Back a wolf into a corner, and Beta or not, it will try to fight for its own survival. What he didn’t know was who’d be the first to make an attempt.

  “He’s Craig, I’m Louis, and the big guy is Mark,” the skinny one offered up. He dropped his hands to his side and assumed a submissive position, lowering his head.

  “Fucking Beta wolf,” growled Dark Hair, the one called Craig. “Just tell them our whole life story, why don’t you?”

  “Dude, he’s an Alpha. We’re in his territory. I’m not dying for your dumb ass,” Louis responded.

  “Smart man,” Brady quipped.

  Mark crossed behind Craig and came up right next to Louis. “Me neither, man.” He turned to Brady. “We’re cool, dude.”

  “Hardly,” Brady growled. “What are you doing here?”

  “We came to find–”

  Craig’s hand went up with surprising speed, popping Mark in the mouth, but before his hand came back down to rest, Brady lunged forward and grabbed hold of it. Brady spun Craig around and forced the wolf’s hand up hard behind his back.

  Craig swung wildly with his free hand, but his limited range didn’t allow him to land a hit.

  “Came to find your mate?” Brady growled in Craig’s ear. “Surprised to see her alive?”

  “I’m not telling you shit,” Craig yelled.

  Brady forced his hand up so hard he heard a pop from the wolf’s shoulder.

  Craig yelped in pain but continued to flail around, trying to break free of the Alpha’s grip. “Fuck you!”

  “No, thanks. I’m only into girls.” Brady laughed.

  His security guards reached Mark and Louis, but waited for their Alpha’s order before seizing them.

  “Now, we’re going to hear the whole story, or I’m going to pass judgment right here and now,” Brady warned. “And trust me when I say no one will raise a claw in your defense.”

  Craig growled in frustration but stopped struggling.

  Brady eyed Louis, as he’d already proven he would be easiest to extract information from. “Who wants to go first?”

  Louis sighed. “I don’t understand what the big deal is here. Craig tells us his mate went missing, and we came up here with him to find her. And what do we find? She’s being offered up as a prize.”

  “You don’t honestly expect me to believe that,” Brady snarled. “If any of it were true, why did no one bring this up to the Regional Alpha? Why has no one made a formal protest? Instead, you’re casing the place, keeping an eye on security.”

  “Three guys against how many packs?” Louis wagged his head as he snapped back at Brady. “Doesn’t take genius to work out the odds on that fight.”

  Mark nudged his partner, and Louis’s attitude faded.

  “So you’re admitting your cowardice?” Brady quipped.

  Louis opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

  Mark sighed. “We’re telling you what we know. We’re following the orders of our own Alpha here. You know how that works, bro.”

  At least one of them was smart enough to play nice.

  “Now. Let me tell you another story. I find that girl beaten and bloody, left out in the woods to die in the snow. She’s on the run from a dangerous and unscrupulous mate. I’ve already taken care of the hitman responsible for her death, but not the one who ordered it. And I’m not one to leave loose ends dangling.”

  Brady let his words sink in, eyeing the two wolves in front of him. Craig stood seething with so much anger that his body trembled, but he refused to utter a word either in defense or to give a reason why. Guilty as charged, as far as Brady was concerned. Even if Craig tried to fabricate a lie, wolves were exceptionally good at sniffing them out.

  The other two shook their heads. Rather than meet with Brady’s accusatory glare, they reflected the same back at Craig.

  But when silence had gone on long enough, Brady broke it with the rest of his judgment. “You three, reeking of cowardice, skulking around my pack like criminals who botched a job, complete with your half-assed story, are loose ends... what do you think I’m going to do with you?”

  Louis’s eyes widened with realization.

  Mark sighed and put a hand on his mate’s shoulder. “We didn’t know about what happened the forest. Honestly. Craig asked us to he
lp find her. It’s not the first time she’s tried to escape him.”

  “What happened the last time?” Brady asked.

  “Nothing. Nothing. We just brought her home. I swear.” Mark’s tone betrayed his fear.

  “Why would she run?” Brady asked the obvious.

  Louis rolled his eyes and said in exasperation, “She was forced to marry him.”

  “Obviously.” Brady snarled at the show of attitude.

  “She refused to submit to him,” Mark added as calmly as he could. “And he’s a bit of a bastard. But he’s the Alpha’s son in our pack. So she was supposed to... continue the line.”

  “And only in death could Craig be free to find a happier, more submissive wife? Does that about cover it?” Brady’s blood had begun to boil again. Rachel deserved so much better than to be a broodmate to this piece of shit.

  Mark looked as if he had already been condemned to death. “Look, bro. I don’t know anything about that part.”

  That Brady believed. “No. You were just supposed to witness her death. Isn’t that right, Craig?” He twisted the arm just slightly, and Craig yelped again.

  Brady nodded to his wolves standing guard. “Take them into custody. This one is coming with me.” He put a hand on Craig’s shoulder while keeping the other firmly in place, putting pressure on the dislocated arm, and led him up to where his brother stood keeping watch over the fights.

  “I’m the son of an Alpha. You can’t kill me. You’ll start a pack war,” Craig whimpered as he walked.

  He spoke the truth to some degree, but the law was clear. He’d ordered the death of an innocent wolf, and he would have to pay the price. Whether or not the repercussions would ripple into aggression between the territories was something Aiden could deal with. Benefit of being a second son; Brady could avoid diplomacy.

  Brady brought the wolf up to Aiden. “Here’s the mate. Guilty as charged. What will we do with him, brother?”

  Aiden cast his eyes over the guilty wolf with contempt. “You make me sick.”