As Jared’s pregnant widowed mate, Samantha Alpine had stepped into the alpha prime role in Alpine Pack when her partner was killed. Not many knew of the discussion she’d had with him prior to doing so. Nobody else knew she’d offered him the prime position. He clenched his teeth. He couldn’t accept, though. He had been Jared’s guardian prime, and Jared had died under his service. He wasn’t fit to be an alpha prime, but he sure as hell wasn’t about to leave Samantha defenseless while he avenged his alpha’s death.
“Do you think a squad is enough?” Zane asked, his brow furrowing.
Matthias grinned. “Sometimes you need a better weapon than sheer brawn,” he said, and glanced over his shoulder at Trinity, now playing a game in the dirt with the pup.
Zane sighed. “Fine. So we have the Woodland tracker—what if we use her as a bargaining chip? Exchange the tracker for the alpha prime?”
Matthias had to clamp down on his instinctive refusal. It was reflexive and purely selfish. He wanted to spend more time with the tracker, although Zane’s proposition had merit. If Woodland’s alpha prime agreed, then it would mean limiting the risk of casualties and deaths on both sides. And it meant that the alpha prime could save face. He’d be saving one of his own, an honorable surrender.
He sighed. “Fine. Send a message through to Woodland proposing the exchange. In the meantime, let’s get those extra guardians down here.” He glanced at Nate, who nodded.
“How are we going to get the squad through Summercliffe? That’s Nightwing territory. I know Marchetta’s granted us access, but don’t you think she’ll balk at the number of wolves going through her zone?”
“I’ve already negotiated with Vivianne,” he stated, and didn’t hide his distaste. The woman was a shrewd bloodsucker, as powerful as she was coldly beautiful, but his skin had crawled at having to do business with the vamp. “She’ll let you through.”
Nate grimaced. “What’s the deal?”
“Nightwing are allowing us safe access, on the condition that none of their vamps are harmed by any werewolf. In return they get one percent of the iron mine’s royalties for the next one hundred years.”
Zane shook his head. “I’d prefer to just bite them.”
Matthias smiled grimly. “Well, I did offer that, too. We don’t have the manpower to wage a war against Woodland and the vamps. Let’s keep it friendly with our neighbors for as long as we can.”
“One percent, huh?” Nate shook his head. “I hate doing business with the bloodsuckers, but even I can see that’s pretty reasonable for them to allow us through—considering all we’d have to do is bite them and it’s lights-out for the vampires. What’s the catch?”
Matthias shook his head. “There’s no catch. That dentist and his lawyer were snatched by Woodland guardians from Nightwing territory. Either Marchetta is slipping and her borders are getting lax, or she gave them access so they could try and cover up Jared’s murder. Either way, she owes us.”
Zane chuckled. “I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when you told her that.”
Matthias shuddered. “Ugh, no. Trust me. Marchetta is definitely a cold-blooded bitch. Fortunately, not all of the Nightwing vamps are so difficult to deal with. Vassi Verity was part of the negotiations.”
“Verity? Isn’t she that vamp lawyer who defended the dentist?” Nate asked, frowning.
Matthias nodded. “Yeah, she and Ryder Galen uncovered Rafe’s part in Jared’s murder. She works for Marchetta now.”
Zane shook his head. “Pity. I thought she was half-decent. Now she’s one of the devil’s minions.”
Matthias shook his head. He’d met Vassi in her efforts to clear her client’s name. She might be a vamp, but she was a decent one. “Vassi is fair. She’ll do her best to keep the devil honest.”
“Didn’t she and the dentist end up together?” Nate asked, rubbing his chin.
Matthias nodded. “Yep. She reminded me that his offer to assist us still stands. I think we can manage, though.”
He jerked his chin back to the map. “We need to find the den. The best way to stop this war before it starts in earnest is to take Rafe Woodland.”
“Then the legendary Woodland tracker will most definitely come in handy,” Zane commented.
Matthias nodded as he rolled up the map. “Tomorrow, we’ll get her to show us the way.”
* * *
When a shadow fell over the track she’d drawn in the dirt, Trinity used her boot to scuff the markings she’d drawn for Jax before looking up.
Oh. It was him.
She should have known. Her heart was pounding, and she tried to convince herself that it was probably fear and wariness. She would not accept that she was feeling any kind of sexual attraction that was making her senses go on full alert.
“Come with me,” he told her brusquely, holding out his hand. He’d cleaned himself up, his chest bearing some slight grazes, and his scar that slashed across his abdomen shone silver against his golden skin. The chain he wore glinted with each movement, drawing her gaze to his chest. Darn it. For once a bare-chested lycan caused her to feel self-conscious—and incredibly conscious of said lycan. She rose to her feet, brushing the dust off her jeans and ignoring the outstretched hand. He’d returned her belt as soon as they’d reached camp, and hadn’t come close to her since, a fact that she’d noted with something that bordered on disappointment. She folded her arms. No. She couldn’t be disappointed, shouldn’t be disappointed. She knew she’d offended him with her remark, but she’d been taken by surprise. Lycans liked to get physical. Touching, stroking, wrestling...but she hadn’t been touched, stroked or wrestled with by another adult lycan in what seemed like an age.
His contact, and her reaction, had stunned her. Her lips pressed together tightly. She hadn’t realized how long it had been since she’d shared contact with her pack, or how desperate and vulnerable their not-so-subtle shunning had made her. But she was stronger than most thought, and she wasn’t about to let the guardian prime of an enemy pack turn her head. Nope.
“Where are we going?” she asked, trying to match his brusque tone. She wasn’t about to leave Jax alone. She had no doubt that he was physically safe, and the kid was treating this somewhat like an unplanned adventure. But she wasn’t about to surrender him to Alpine. She would protect him until she could get him home to his mom.
Matthias indicated one of the makeshift tents that had been set up a distance from the fire. “The boy is tired. It’s time he retired for the night.”
She glanced down at Jax, who shook his head. “I’m not tir—” he was interrupted by a large yawn “—tired.”
Matthias’s lips lifted in a smile, and she was surprised by the gentle humor she saw in his expression.
“You’ve had a big day, pup, and tomorrow will be even bigger when your tracker shows us the way to your home,” he stated, his green eyes flicking up to her with grim intent before his gaze returned to the young boy. “You’re going to need some rest.”
Trinity dropped her gaze. She was expected to save the boy by betraying her pack. Like that was going to happen. The guardian prime didn’t need to know he’d chosen the wrong she-wolf to abandon her family. She knew what her pack mates thought, but despite everything, she would not break trust with Woodland. She had a lot to make up for.
Matthias led them over to the tent and lifted the flap, gesturing inside. She eyed him. “Where are you sleeping?” If he thought he could pull some more of that alpha woo-hoo on her and have her panting for him, he had another think coming. There were always alphas in a pack, mostly serving the alpha prime as a guardian, and she’d dealt with her fair share of them. He may be the most charismatic alpha she’d ever met, but she could control herself. She could—would—resist.
His lips lifted in a wickedly sensual grin. “Oh, you are not leaving my sight, tracker.
” She kept telling herself she would resist. He leaned down to wink at Jax. “We’ll keep her safe, won’t we?”
Jax nodded, a smile on his face as he darted behind the tent flap. Trinity’s brows dipped. Since they’d arrived in camp, Jax had actually relaxed. The other guardians had treated him kindly, gently. She was surprised. She didn’t want to think how her own alpha prime would have behaved under similar circumstances.
“After you,” Matthias said, extending his hand toward the tent flap. Her eyes narrowed, and she shot him a steely glare in warning. If he tried anything...
As though reading her mind, he frowned. “I won’t touch you. We all need to sleep, and I don’t want to have to set guardians to watching you when they could be resting.” He folded his arms, and the action added bulk to his shoulders. “For what it’s worth, my pack didn’t kill another’s alpha prime, nor did we break parley. Woodland are the ones who act without honor, not Alpine.”
Trinity’s cheeks warmed at the words, and she ducked her head and entered the tent to hide her embarrassment. All her life, she’d been taught to take pride in her pack, to be loyal, and to walk with honor. Matthias’s words brought shame on her pack, shame on her. She didn’t raise her head once she was inside the tent. She hadn’t thought she could possibly live with more shame but, well, Matthias had proved there was always room for more.
She hustled over to the far side of the tent, around the curled-up figure of Jax. He smiled at her sleepily, then his smile broadened when Matthias swept into the tent. She made herself comfortable, scooting as far away as she could from the large alpha as he took up a position lying across the front of the tent—effectively blocking any attempt to leave it.
He lay on his side, his arm pillowing his head, and for a moment she couldn’t help herself. She stared at him, at the bunched biceps, broad shoulders and muscled chest, his pants loose and comfortable and low on his hips.
When her gaze rose to his face, she realized he was staring at her, and the smoldering heat in his eyes called to an answering warmth deep within her. His regard was unsettling, patient and dark with sensual intent. She swallowed and lay down, rolling to face away from him. Even though she closed her eyes and had her back to him, she could still feel his gaze on her. The knowledge that he was prepared to watch her sleep set her heart pumping, and the muscles in her arm tightened with tension. She didn’t think she’d be getting much sleep at all tonight. She sucked in her breath as she heard him shift position behind her.
She was attracted to the guardian.
Chapter 5
Matthias stiffened, his senses on alert as he awoke to the eerie sensation of someone watching him.
He slowly opened his eyes, then blinked, rearing his head back a little to allow his eyes to focus. Two blue eyes, innocent and watchful, hovered an inch from his face.
“I need to pee,” Jax whispered.
Matthias blinked again, then nodded. “Okay,” he whispered back.
He rolled to a sitting position, and looked at the other side of the tent. It was still dimly lit inside, but he could make out her form. The tracker lay curled up on her side, as though she was trying to roll into herself. Her chest rose and fell in a regular rhythm, and his lips tilted at the softest snore she emitted. She’d turned over during the night, and now lay facing him, her face softened and flushed with sleep.
Something unfurled deep inside him, a warmth that battled momentarily between lust and protectiveness, and he was surprised when his urge to safeguard won. He didn’t want to care. It felt wrong, to Alpine, but most of all to Cara. He backed out of the tent without his usual grace, anxious to get away from the threat to his peace of mind. Outside, the night sky was lightening to a golden gray, and most of his guardians still slept.
“Come on,” Matthias said to the kid, jerking his head toward a trail. He walked toward the ring of trees, and startled when a little hand slid in to hold his own. For a moment, something hard and brittle rose within, but when he looked down, that brittleness shattered when Jax looked up at him and smiled.
“Can we go hunt?” the boy asked.
Matthias arched an eyebrow. “I thought you needed to pee.”
“Then can we hunt?” Jax asked eagerly. He dodged a branch, pulling down on Matthias’s hand as he jumped over it. “I didn’t break it,” he told Matthias proudly.
He frowned. He had no idea what the kid was going on about. “Didn’t break what?”
“The branch.” Jax ducked around another one. “Trin says the less you break, the harder it is to track you.”
“Really? What else does Trin say?” He kept his tone casual as he led the boy over to a tree, and gestured, turning his back to go and relieve himself a little distance away. He couldn’t deny that he was fascinated by the tracker.
“She says the forest can be your friend.”
“Uh-huh.” He supposed a tracker would see it like that.
“She says not to hit Mia, even if she’s asking for it.”
Matthias finished zipping up his pants and waited for the boy to join him. “Who’s Mia?”
Jax frowned. “She’s in my class, but she’s mean. She’s always going on about her dad.”
“Why is that a problem?” Matthias asked as he led the boy through some more trees, until he reached the bank of a river. He could smell the sweet scent of the water, and they both knelt down. Matthias leaned forward to wash his hands.
“She’s always rubbing it in, that’s all,” Jax muttered, his lips turned down in a pout. An air of sadness crept over the little boy, one that Matthias didn’t fully understand but could easily recognize.
“What does your dad say about it?” he asked quietly, and found himself thinking for the first time what the boy’s parents must be going through, with their pup held by a warring pack, what Trinity’s family would be experiencing. He could easily remember that panic, that agonizing, gut-wrenching dread that could be so consuming as to drive all rational thought out of a parent’s mind.
“My dad’s dead,” Jax said quietly.
Matthias paused, then sank back on his haunches. “How long?”
Jax shrugged. “Not long.”
“And your mother?” Matthias found himself asking, a little knot of tension solidifying like a stone deep in his gut.
Jax blinked and ducked his head. “She’s sad.”
Relief, slow and cool, swamped the stone to bury it. At least he still had his mom. “I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at the sandy-haired boy. “It’s hard when you lose family.” He almost rolled his eyes. What a damned understatement. He tried again. “I mean, I get it.”
Jax lifted his head to look at him, his eyes luminous with unshed tears. Something passed between them, a recognition of shared misery that traversed ages.
Jax nodded, then blinked furiously as he looked down at the rippling waters of the river. Matthias didn’t know what made him do it, but he flicked a small amount of water at the boy. Jax squealed as he leaned back, gasping at the chill of the water, and Matthias smiled.
“This river comes down from my territory,” he told the boy. “It tastes good, too.”
He leaned over to scoop some water up in his hand and took a few sips. Jax watched for a moment, then tried to do the same. Matthias’s arm flashed out and caught the back of his sweater as the boy nearly toppled into the river. “Like this,” he said, and showed the boy where to plant his feet, then nodded approvingly when Jax successfully sipped water from his own cupped hands. “Good job.”
He sat back against the sandy bank, drawing his legs up and resting his arms loosely across the tops of his knees. The river flowed quietly past, with an occasional gurgle as it tumbled over rocks. The sky was turning a peachy orange as the sun began to creep over the tops of the mountains in the distance, and birds twittered as they swooped down for
a drink.
Matthias sighed. He enjoyed this time of the day, so peaceful. So tranquil. It gave him a chance to breathe, to thin—
“Oof,” he wheezed as a little body launched at his back. Jax held on with his legs, his hands covering Matthias’s eyes from behind.
“Gotcha,” the boy chortled.
Matthias twisted, pulling the boy up over his shoulders and flipping him over, making sure he landed on his feet. For a few moments they wrestled, and Matthias enjoyed hearing the boy’s giggles. The memories they brought forth were bittersweet, but today, they were bearable.
He smelled her before he heard her, turning around as Trinity burst through the reeds that lined the river. Her panicked gaze subsided into relief when she saw Jax was safe and sound and doing his best to trip Matthias over. Zane crashed through the undergrowth behind her, his gaze fierce until he saw his guardian prime. Matthias set the boy back a little, and adopted a stern expression. Jax grinned back as he turned to face his teacher, breathless.
“Good morning,” Matthias said smoothly, folding his arms.
“Hey, Trin,” Jax said, giving her a little wave.
“Jax, I was worried about you,” she said, and Matthias could hear the edge in her voice. He arched his brow.
“He was with me,” he told her. That should have soothed her fears. She glanced away, toward the river, as though trying to hide her reaction.
“I needed to pee,” Jax told her.
She nodded, holding up her hand. “Fine. Just—just don’t go anywhere without telling me, okay, Jax?” He nodded, running over to hug her. She sighed as she bent down to enfold her arms around him, and smiled at the lad. “You are giving me gray hairs, boy,” she said, and ruffled his sandy-blond hair.
“Jax, go back to camp with Zane. He’ll get you something to eat,” Matthias said, and Zane nodded, then reached out to take the boy’s hand. Trinity turned to follow, but Matthias shook his head. “No, you can stay.”
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