Mated (Olde Town Pack Book 2)

by Katie Salidas

  “No one is butt-hurt.” Anger returned to Jordan’s tone.

  “Really?” Brady turned on him so fast it caused others around to jump backwards to get out of his way. “Because that’s all I see here. A bunch of sour faces over a woman they didn’t get. How would you be this morning if one of you had gotten her over the others? Would you shun Matthew over here if he’d bested you and got the prize?” Brady pointed a finger at a wolf who’d already returned to his stew.

  “But you did claim her,” Jordan responded. “Her smell is all over you.”

  Brady had had enough of this conversation. “Then challenge me for her. Go on, if you’re a bad enough wolf. Otherwise sit down and shut the hell up.”

  For a moment it looked as if Jordan wanted to act on the challenge, but then he lowered his head and sat down.

  Brady blew out a breath. He knew he could have handled things better, but hunger had him near feral at the moment. And despite his aggressive attitude, Jordan was a trusted member of his team. Now was not the time to fight among themselves. He needed his people to be ready in case shit hit the fan. “Look. She wasn’t mine to claim.”

  That earned him a few side-eyes and a couple of wolves coughing the word “Bullshit.”

  “Yeah, I slept with her. Be jealous if you must. But she came after me. And I’m not formally claiming her. And that’s the last I will say on the matter.”

  Rachel’s smell did still cling to him like a second skin, even after a shower. Brady more than understood their annoyance with him. But he would not tolerate it causing a breakdown in their group.

  Redirecting the conversation, he added, “She is her own wolf. And she is still in danger. As we speak, more assassins are probably heading this way because the man she was linked to, the Alpha’s son, died at my hands. So if we can all stop fighting amongst ourselves, I need my team. My trusted guys. That’s you all, in case your heads are still too far up your asses to realize that. We’ve got another mission. Who’s up for it?”

  As if the animosity had never been there, the sour faces of the wolves around him faded. One by one they turned to Brady and nodded.

  “Good. Now it seems those wolves I killed last night belong to the Reds. Their pack is going to be sending more wolves in after them, and we still have one final celebration tonight. I need extra eyes and ears out there looking for trouble. Looking for strangers. Our disadvantage is the fact we have more new faces than we’re used to having around here, and that leaves us vulnerable to attack. Add to that the ease of travel our enemies have. It only takes a few hours to fly up north, so those new faces could be filtering into our crowds by early afternoon.”

  “You’re asking the impossible,” Jordan argued.

  “I am,” Brady agreed. “But we have to do it anyway. I want anyone acting questionable brought to lockup immediately. We will allow no room for error.”

  “And what of the girl?”

  “She’ll have to be under guard too,” Brady answered.

  “In lockup?”

  He wanted to say yes, but instinct told him that she would be better used in public view. Not only would she be able to spot members of her former pack, but she would also draw out those who had been sent after her. “She will be with me.”

  The moment he said it, he expected the comments whispered between angry wolves.

  “Unless you’d like to put yourselves in the line of fire. Assassins don’t care who they kill to reach their target.”

  “We’re not afraid of so-called assassins, Brady,” Jordan countered.

  “Never said you were. I was giving you a chance to save face, because I’m not going to argue this point. Rachel stays with me.”

  Joran looked as if he wanted to say something else, but thought better of it and answered with a silent nod instead.

  “We have a job to do,” Brady shouted like a war cry.

  “We will do it. We are the Olde Town!” The wolves shouted back loudly enough for the whole compound to hear.

  “Yes, we are.” Brady answered. “I know you will make me and our Alpha Aiden proud.”

  FOURTEEN

  With the mob distracted by duty, Brady was able to finally grab himself something to eat and the world again made sense. Civil as the human half of him was, the wolf could be equally savage. A bit of meat and some filling veggies, and the beast retreated, allowing Brady a clear head to continue with his assigned mission.

  Still unsure of where to start, Brady retraced his steps with Rachel, visiting all the places he’d taken her.

  With the packs still assembled for the festivities, the lobby was a central meeting place, filled with wolves he didn’t recognize.

  The security corridor, off limits to most, had only one wolf standing guard. Rachel couldn’t have passed without an escort, so he crossed that off his list of places to look.

  He doubted she’d been given one of the cabins to stay in. Packed as they all were in the Olde Town’s nature preserve, the visiting wolves had them booked prior to her arrival. She had to be indoors somewhere.

  He was just about to head toward the council’s personal rooms when the sound of laughter caught his ears.

  Of course they’d be together, Brady thought as he turned toward the infirmary. More giggles and laughter behind the door confirmed that Rachel was inside with Emma.

  His past with Emma was common knowledge. Hell, most of the pack knew he slept around. They didn’t care. Women loved Brady, and he loved them... one night at a time.

  Emma had wanted more. He’d never meant to hurt her; he’d been clear he was not the relationship type. But she’d never really forgiven him for it. If any girl in the pack deserved a good mate, it was Emma. But he just couldn’t be that man for her. And despite his outward cocky arrogance, a part of him wished he could have been.

  Professionally, they never mentioned it. As members of the council, they had to get over their personal issues for the good of the pack.

  Like squeezing lemon juice into an open wound, Emma working so closely with Rachel and protecting her had to be irritating.

  Brady braced himself for the worst as he pushed open the infirmary door.

  Emma had Rachel laid out on the infirmary bed and was drawing vials of blood.

  Apprehension aside, seeing Rachel lying there made him flash back to the evening before. His eyes immediately swept her body, taking time to appreciate the length of her legs and the luscious curve to her hips. For a moment he forgot why he’d come; his mind took a side trip straight into fantasyland while his eyes continued to take inventory of all her gorgeous assets. But by the time he reached her face, reality brought him home. He had a job to do.

  “Glad I found you,” Brady started to say, but Emma’s disapproving roll of the eyes stopped him from finishing his sentence.

  “We’re busy here. Plan your second date later, please.” Emma set the last of three vials of blood into a try and picked up her clipboard as if using it to emphasize her point.

  He bit back the insult threatening to leap from his tongue. No doubt her snarky attitude was born of jealousy. She was entitled to that, given the circumstances.

  Rachel looked as if she’d been caught red-handed. No doubt she’d been gossiping. Women were always good for that. Men were always blamed for being braggarts and pigs when it came to who they slept with, but it was clear who had the loosest lips at the moment. First Fallon, then Aiden, half his security team, and now Emma. Who hadn’t she told about their night?

  But he got treated like the asshole.

  “You know, assassins are on their way. The Reds want you back.” Brady jabbed a finger at Rachel. “You forgot to mention your mate was the son of the Regional Alpha. Thanks for that little bit of knowledge.” Brady tuned his anger to Emma. “But all you ladies seem to care about is gossip. Well, you have plenty to talk about now. Have fun with that information. I’m out.” Brady turned to walk away.

  “Wait!” Emma called out.

  Brady smiled to him
self, but wiped the emotion from his face when he looked back.

  “Don’t be a dick, Brady,” Emma huffed. “Explain!”

  “I don’t know if I should. You ladies are not being very nice to me.” Brady strolled over to the bed and pulled up a stool. “Maybe we should let Rachel do the explaining.”

  Emma set her paperwork down, looking curious but no less annoyed. “Someone better start talking, or it will be yearly physical exam time. Where did I put those rectal thermometers?”

  Brady scooted his seat further away from Emma, chuckling at her abuse of power, but not wanting to be given her special brand of white glove treatment.

  Rachel sighed and turned away from them both, as if ashamed of what she was revealing. “Yeah, Craig was an Alpha’s boy.”

  “The,” Brady corrected. “Craig Marsden was the son of the Regional Alpha over all the South East territories of the United States.”

  “Whatever. He was still a jerk,” Rachel groaned.

  “No doubts about that,” Brady agreed. “But clarifying his exact position puts it into perspective just how bad this situation is.”

  Rachel met Brady’s eyes, and he could see the tears welling up.

  “I was forced to be his mate. And he was cruel.” Rachel’s voice warbled with the strain of keeping her emotions in check.

  “And...?” Brady sat waiting for more. None of this was new information. Painful as it was, knowing the life she had led, there were still gaping holes in the puzzle that needed to be filled in before the truth could be understood.

  “That’s it. I wanted out. I was miserable. They wanted me to be a broodmate.” Rachel’s upper lip trembled as she spoke.

  Emma rolled her chair around to the side of Rachel’s bed and pulled her into a hug. “That’s terrible. I would want out too.” She gently stroked Rachel’s hair and looked up at Brady with the meanest glare she could muster, screaming at him with the power of her eyes for prodding this girl about a painful past.

  Making her cry hadn’t been his intention, but the fact she did gave truth to her words. Still, though he’d be labeled an asshole for pressing on, his job was to find answers.

  “What happened to the wolf on the side?” Brady asked. “Craig’s mistress?”

  That softened Emma’s hateful glare. She pulled back from the hug and looked Rachel in the face. “Another wolf?”

  “He had so many it was hard to count.” Rachel sniffled and wiped her face. “He was part of the big pack and promised whoever gave him an heir he’d make his mate.”

  “But he was already with you,” Brady said. “You were already a bonded pair in the eyes of the pack.”

  “I was reminded of that fact every time he tried to mate with me!” She turned and snapped at him.

  “What about the others?” Brady glared back at her.

  Rachel’s face darkened, turning red with guilt before she buried the evidence of it in her hands.

  “I know I wasn’t your first. Couldn’t be. You were exceptionally skilled.” Brady meant it as a compliment and failed to realize how those words might sound to both women in the room whom he had slept with.

  “Dog!” Emma whispered under her breath.

  He deserved that.

  “You know, when a guy sleeps around, it’s just fine. But when a girl has a sexual appetite, she’s nothing but a slut,” Rachel shot back in defense.

  Brady threw his hands up in surrender. “I’m all for promiscuity among the sexes. Don’t think I’m judging.” Girl after my own heart, Brady laughed to himself, but he kept his face neutral.

  Emma, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and turned away from them both with a huff.

  “See?” Rachel said. “She’s already judging me.”

  “She judges me every day. Get over it.” Brady snorted. “So you had other men? I don’t care about them. What I need to understand is the why, and how it affected the pack.”

  “I didn’t feel I was mated to Craig. I didn’t want him. He clearly did not want me. It was a contract deal between packs so my family could rise in station. We didn’t even have a real ceremony. I was just moved into the big house and Craig threw himself at me.”

  “And you denied him?” That impressed Brady more than anything.

  “I had to do my job a few times. But I did my best to keep a distance. It was obvious I didn’t want to be with him. And my job was making babies. That’s where I denied him... according to the pack.”

  “And the others?”

  He hadn’t meant it to sound so insensitive, but the minute the question left his lips Rachel’s eye widened with anger.

  “The others were just others. Leave it at that,” Rachel growled.

  “Again. No judging here,” Brady said. “I’m asking for clarification. I have to know the facts.”

  “Sometimes others in the family took their privilege,” Rachel mumbled, hanging her head low. “So any child I had would carry the right bloodline.”

  “Wait... they passed you around the family?” Brady asked, shocked.

  “I’d love to say it was horrible, but some were kind to me. They offered protection too...” She trailed off.

  Protection. That key word was not lost on Brady: sex used as currency to ensure safety. It all added up to one sad life he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy.

  Emma turned back around with a sigh. “I have no reason to judge. I can’t imagine the life you had to lead, being mated by force to that jerk and his family.”

  “And I tried to leave multiple times. Even begged Craig to say I was dead and let me go,” Rachel said.

  “But he couldn’t?” Brady asked.

  “He wouldn’t.” Rachel’s tone turned bitter. “I was his prize. His until he said otherwise. He wasn’t a good man. Always sent his goons to come after me.”

  “Then why kill you this time?” Emma asked, before Brady could.

  “Because his latest girlfriend and I got into a fight. And I won.” A note of pride twisted Rachel’s angry voice. “She challenged me openly. It was a fair fight. I won.”

  “Witnessed?” Brady asked, knowing exactly where the conversation was heading and not liking it one bit.

  “Yes,” Rachel replied. “By Craig and his boys. They were taking bets and everything. But when I won, they spun a different tale and had me brought up on murder charges.”

  “So you ran?” Brady asked the obvious.

  “And they followed.” Rachel nodded.

  None of that shit would have gone down in his territory. But that was the problem with the Regional system they had in North America: each pack had the right to rule their territory as they saw fit. And the Reds were a far cry from modern.

  “More are coming,” Brady whispered under his breath.

  “I’m sorry.” Sadness returned to Rachel’s voice.

  “Don’t be. If what you say is true, then you have sanctuary with us here. You’re safe here.” Brady hoped to sound reassuring, but he knew that her story was one of two that would be spun. And even if Rachel swore on a stack of Bibles, it would be the Regional Alpha’s word that carried the weight. Retribution was coming. “Starting now, you stick to me like glue. Get up. We’ve got things to do.”

  “Wait. What?” Emma sounded shocked.

  “If she’s got people hunting her, better she be right next to me where I can protect her than hiding away somewhere on the compound. We still have one more night of revelry to go before this place clears out.”

  “But what if she doesn’t want to be glued to you all day long?” Emma asked.

  “I’m not putting you in the line of fire either by letting you babysit her,” Brady said. Emma might get under his skin, but she was his packmate, and protecting her was just as much his duty as protecting Rachel.

  “Chivalry ain’t dead, I guess,” Emma observed snarkily.

  “It’s fine. I’ll hang with Brady,” Rachel said. “If for nothing else, to shut his male ego up since he clearly thinks we women can’t fight.”
<
br />   Both girls chuckled as if they understood some inside joke he wasn’t getting.

  He didn’t have time to placate hurt feelings. His thoughts were already on security and dealing with the night’s activities.

  “Good. And Emma, please be ready for more injuries tonight. No matter how many times we try to avoid them...”

  “We’re all still beasts. I know. Last night’s bloodbath was evidence enough,” she sighed.

  “Rachel, if you’re ready?” Brady did not wait he turned and opened the door.

  FIFTEEN

  “Where are we going?” Rachel asked, as she trailed behind Brady.

  His mind raced, playing out scenarios of potential assassins infiltrating the evening’s festivities. The ease of travel meant only a few short hours between someone being assigned and arriving to complete their task. He looked down at his watch. Wolves could be landing at the nearest airport at that very moment. He prayed Aiden had played the diplomacy card well enough to buy them more time, but he seriously doubted it.

  If Charles Marsden was running his pack as dirty as it seemed, he’d have sent more killers the moment he learned of his son’s death.

  “Are you going to talk to me, or am I supposed to blindly go where you lead?” Rachel’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

  “Aiden has a farewell party planned for tonight. Hunting parties will be returning soon. I need to make the rounds and ensure my security teams are doubled, now that I understand more about how Charles Marsden operates.” Forcing women to be married off as broodmates was one thing, but allowing his son to run roughshod over them simply for the advancement of his family line was an extra level of despicable. There was no way Charles had been unaware of the assassination attempt; Alphas always knew the comings and goings of their immediate family. Brady would have bet his family’s fortune that Craig’s trip and the assassin both were funded by the Marsdens. No wonder they were mad enough to threaten war – Rachel’s life was not only salt in the wound but proof of their dirty deeds.