by M. Ekman
“Ruth,” Tyler softly called.
She hung her head in resignation as she turned to see how furious he would be to see her there. Surprisingly his eyes were not blazing in her direction, but instead were closed. As her eyebrow curled up in confusion she heard it again, “Ruth.”
It struck her that Tyler wasn’t speaking, but rather calling out to her through the mindlink. Ruth’s heart fluttered as she tenderly replied, “It’s alright Ty. Your little warrior is here.”
She heard a low sensual growl. Ruth wasn’t sure if the sound was caused by her using the shortened version of his name or due to her referencing his old pet name for her. It didn’t matter though, as she felt his warmth flow through the link and Tyler’s breathing deepen once again.
Ruth felt that she deserved a good meal followed by her own restful night’s sleep. Who knew that sneaking around could be so thrilling and exhausting at the same time?
CHAPTER 28
Bright sunlight spread out from Tyler’s window and onto his face, causing him to roll over in an effort to escape its brightness. His arm reached out only to feel nothing beside him, which made Tyler suddenly anxious. He shot awake before his brain registered what he was doing. Why was he expecting someone to be there?
Tyler tried to shake his head to clear it only to be hit with the powerful smell of cinnamon and fresh mint. He would know that particular combination anywhere. When he’d first met Ruth she only had her natural mint-like odor, but as time passed, somehow the smell of cinnamon became mixed in there. He didn’t know how a wolf’s scent could change like that for anyone other than his or her mate. Yet, somehow the alpha found himself positively coated in the cinnamon/mint mixture, along with every inch of his bed.
Tyler wanted to be angry at the conniving she-wolf, but even he had to admit that that was the best night’s sleep he’d gotten in a long time. Trying not to dwell too much on the fact that Ruth was in his bed last night, Tyler made his way to his bathroom. However, her odor seemed to follow him even there. With a grumpy ‘humph’ he quickly jumped in the shower to wash off Ruth’s tantalizing fragrance.
After he finished, Tyler reached for a towel on the hook by the shower door and dried off. It took him a few minutes to realize that, not only did his towel smell like Ruth, but so did the entire bathroom. He could see her silver wolf hairs everywhere. Getting Ruth out of his head wasn’t going to be easy.
“Females,” he muttered, angrily tying his useless towel around his waist. Quickly leaving the bathroom before his frustration could get the better of him, Tyler went in search of something to wear. Tyler’s jaw practically dropped to the ground when he saw the huge mess that littered his closet floor.
“Ruth,” he growled out before he randomly grabbed a pair of clothes from the ridiculous pile. Storming across the hall he entered her room without so much as a knock.
He found Ruth sitting on the edge of her bed cleaning her fingernails of all things. She glanced up at Tyler, “Is there anything I can help you with, Alpha?”
Tyler floundered for a second unable to find the words, “What are you—why would you—”
Slowly, Ruth rose from her seated position and sauntered up to him, “I thought that you liked that I was a fighter, Ty. What was it you called me? Little Warrior?”
The alpha’s lips parted slightly and his wolf tried to surge forward with a vengeance. His wolf side loved Ruth’s forwardness, and wanted nothing more than to halt her progress by kissing her senseless.
“To hell with it,” he snarled as he took slow deliberate steps, stalking towards her menacingly.
The grin slid off of Ruth’s face, “Now, Ty. Um, maybe we should talk about this.”
She backed up until she was pressed against a wall with his arms caging her in. He heard Ruth’s heart begin to pound, but could not scent any fear.
“What are you trying to do to me woman?” He growled out.
Ruth slowly brought trembling hands up to grip the front of his shirt. “I told you,” she muttered breathlessly, “I’m not giving up.”
For a moment they stared at each other with fire in their eyes, neither willing to retreat. The tension was broken as Ruth locked one of her arms around the back of his neck and smashed her lips to Tyler’s. He lost all control as his arms slid around her waist and forcefully crushed his most precious mate to his chest. He pulled her up, supporting her weight between himself and the wall.
Tyler knew he was kissing her with fevered desperation, but he couldn’t get himself to stop. He had held back for so long. Nothing would be able to tear Ruth away from him now. She’d made her bed, and Tyler just hoped she wouldn’t come to regret it.
He was broken out of the moment as he felt Jason try to forcibly enter his mind. He easily flicked his beta aside, but slowed his kisses all the same. With a final peck to the tip of her nose, he pressed his forehead to Ruth’s.
“You will be the death of me, you know that?”
“Yeah, but don’t tell me that a little part of you isn’t happy about it. At least death by my hand is fun,” she arrogantly added with a huge grin.
Tyler groaned, “Why Ruth?”
She bit her swollen lips and dropped her eyes to the floor, but before she could reply they heard stomping footsteps in the hall. A second later, there was a knock at the door. He released her with a sigh.
“Jason,” he barked.
The door opened slowly, but Tyler found himself being ignored by his beta. Instead, Jason has a strange light in his eyes as he stared at Ruth. “Did you know the wolf that attacked you?”
Her eyebrow rose in confusion, “No. Why?”
“This morning, when I went to interrogate the rogue, I found him dead,” Jason finally turned to look at Tyler, “he had enough concentrated wolfsbane in his back molar to take out 3 men.”
Tyler’s body became stone, eyes flashing a dangerous amber color as he glared at no one in particular. Ruth grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze, causing the angry alpha to turn his gaze onto her.
“He could have been targeting me or he could have been a rogue totally off his rocker. Now that he’s gone there is no sense in worrying over what we don’t know.”
Softening, Tyler laced his fingers through hers and gazed at her in adoration, “Perhaps not. But it definitely makes me hesitant to leave you alone. I’m afraid you will have to have guards assigned to you from now on.”
Ruth opened her mouth to protest but Tyler cut her off with a quick peck. “It’s especially important now. As you are mine.”
Jason mumbled something about taking care of the rogue’s remains. Tyler nodded but couldn’t take his eyes from Ruth’s full lips that were now drawn into an ear splitting smile.
He caressed her cheeks and uttered softly, “I want to be with you. However, I can’t give you everything a normal wolf could, so I want you to know that when it becomes too much I won’t stop you from leaving.”
Rolling her eyes Ruth retorted, “There’s no ‘when’ about it, buster, so stop it.” A teasing smile pulled at her lips as she continued, “I assume that that asinine drivel spilling from your lips is being caused by improper nutrition. Let’s go to the mess hall before you spout something even more ridiculous.”
Despite her poking fun at him, Tyler couldn’t help but grin down at the pouting she wolf. For the first time in a long time he felt lighter, like his burdens didn’t weigh him down quite so much. Tyler tugged on the hand of his beautiful girl, which he hadn’t released since she’d reached out to him, and walked with her out of the room.
Even before they’d made it to the landing, the couple suddenly stiffened as they felt a shift in the pack. Jason called to the both of them through the mindlink, “There’s another rogue. He isn’t attacking anyone but if anyone approaches him he takes them down.”
They hurried down the stairs, and with his body blocking the exit, Tyler turned, “Ruth, you can’t—”
“Don’t even bother. We both know it’s a waste of breath
. I’ll be with you and the rest of the pack enforcers. I doubt he’ll be able to get at me,” Ruth deadpanned.
“Fine,” he ground out, “but you do not leave my side.”
She nodded before they simultaneously shifted into their wolves and raced towards the location Jason gave them. Tyler was surprised at how quickly she changed forms, but wasn’t able to dwell on it as they came upon Jason and the other enforcers.
Parked alongside the well worn dirt path was a beat up black sedan, and next to the vehicle was a beefy looking wolf with a midnight black coat. The wolf sat on his haunches with an attitude of someone who had not a care in the world. This raised Tyler’s hackles, but before he could get worked up, Ruth suddenly shifted back into her human form.
“Dad,” she whispered shocked.
Everyone froze, including Tyler, except for the midnight wolf that looked up at Ruth with sad eyes. Slowly, with Tyler only one step behind her, Ruth made her way to her father’s side, “What—Why are you a rogue?”
The scent, or lack thereof, was unmistakable. Her father was no longer a part of any pack. However, instead of answering her question, Ruth’s dad shifted into his human 6’ 4” frame towering above her and Tyler.
At the sight of his bruises and bloody clothing, Ruth gasped.
“We have much to discuss,” her father interjected blank faced.
Suddenly Tyler was in his human form standing between Ruth and her father growling menacingly with amber glowing eyes.
“You must be Alpha Tyler Stone. I have information you might want to hear before you try to rip my head off. I apologize for my appearance, but the only way I could get here to you was to go rogue and escape my pack. I promise I’m not here to hurt anyone, especially Ruth.”
CHAPTER 29
Tyler stood behind his 175 lb desk to wait for everyone to get situated. Ruth went to take the unoccupied seat to his right, but he growled a warning at her. She turned to look at him questioningly.
He mindlinked, “I know your father said he is not a threat, but as long as a rogue is near you, my wolf won’t be comfortable. Please, sit with me.”
Knowing that now was not the time to test him, she took a seat on the arm of Tyler’s large desk chair. Once all four of them were settled Tyler finally spoke, “What is your business here, Mr. Osbolt?”
Her father dropped the tough guy act he’d been projecting as he suddenly slumped his shoulders and sighed in defeat. He now seemed more like a man who was beyond weary by the tidings he brought.
“Alpha Tyler Stone, you will soon be finding yourself under attack.”
Tyler’s eyes glowed amber and he almost started to shift at the threat when Ruth lightly placed her hand on his arm. “What are you talking about?” she asked.
A pained look crossed her father’s face, “Ruth, I know that I have failed you all your life—”
“Failed me?” she interrupted.
His head dropped, “I know you haven’t been able to stand the sight of me since your mother. Her death was my fault. It was idiotic of me to keep you both so far away.”
Ruth looked at Tyler shocked, but soon tore her gaze back to her father. Her mind reeled as she tried to make sense of the conclusions she’d made about her father her entire life.
“But I thought you blamed me.”
His head snapped up as her father took on a dumbfounded expression, “What on earth would I blame you for? You were a child.”
Seeing his reaction, Ruth abruptly burst out laughing, though there was more hysteria than actual humor in the sound. She laughed so hard that tears began to pour from her cheeks, and soon that laugh morphed into a sob. Tyler put his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap.
After a few minutes of him whispering soothing words through their mindlink, Ruth gained control over her emotions. Unburying her face from Tyler’s neck, she looked at the apparent stranger before her as she wiped away her tears.
“Dad, do you realize that all this time I thought you blamed me and you thought I blamed you. Instead of talking about what had happened, we both just assumed we knew what the other thought and felt.”
Her father, who had watched the exchange with worry, let out a soft self-deprecating chuckle, “Well, I definitely lost the father of the century award.”
Tyler interrupted the father/daughter moment, “What happened in your pack Mr. Osbolt? Why did you have to escape it to get here?”
Taking on an embarrassed look, her father nervously ran a hand through his dark hair. “Ah, that...When I came home after the council with Alpha Brax and found Ruth gone I panicked. I hunted everywhere for you, and eventually went to Alpha to see if he could sense where you were. When he couldn’t find you I lost control. He had to lock me up in one of the rogue cells because, in that state, I would’ve killed anyone between you and me without thought. I thought I’d lost you like I’d lost your mother, and was in my own personal hell.”
Tyler nodded accepting this, but Ruth was stunned. Everything she’d thought, her hurt over her father not coming for her was all so wrong. His revelations continued to batter her mind and heart.
Oblivious, her father continued, “After Alpha Brax returned claiming you were fine, I was able to gain some control over my wolf and resume my work. I couldn’t fault you for leaving, especially since you were of age and despised me.”
At Ruth’s indignant squeak of protest he chuckled, “At least that’s what I thought at the time. However, I wasn’t the only one unaffected by your pack change. Nathan was somehow darker, for lack of a better term, when he came back and began training with a single-minded vigor that bordered on dangerous.”
“Then two days ago he did the unthinkable and attacked his father. Alpha Brax wasn’t strong enough and, after killing his father, Nathan and his brother fell into a bloody battle. Despite his extra training he couldn’t defeat his brother. The coward fled the flight, along with about a third of the pack. I told the new alpha that he had to go after Nathan and destroy him, but in his arrogance, he refused.”
“Wait,” Jason interrupted from his vigil by the door, “What does all of this have to do with our pack? Your tale is a horrible one, but I fail to see how it effects us.”
Her father turned to catch Ruth’s eye meaningfully, causing her to blurt out, “You can’t mean—you think he is after me?”
Tyler pulled Ruth even closer to him in a grip that was nearly painful, “Not possible, the link was severed.”
“Yes. It took depressingly long amount of time for me to realize that you were ma—” he was cut off by Tyler’s warning growl.
Snorting the older man continued, “Despite Nathan’s reluctance to look for her, he was simply too good at tracking Ruth. Alpha Brax crowed over the swiftness and surety with which Nathan was able to trace her nearly depleted scent. His withdrawn behavior reminded me of myself when I’d lost Ruth’s mother. If his father had been paying attention he would have noticed and believed me when I went to him about it a week ago.”
Ruth’s spine had stiffened as her father’s story progressed, “All of that may be true Dad, but how do you know he is coming after me now?”
“To be honest, it's only a hunch,” her father sighed, “Nathan already killed the father who rejected his petition to fight his brother for the title of alpha heir again and again. It would be natural for him to begin to seek out and destroy all others who rejected him.”
At the look of confusion and repugnance on Ruth’s face, her father chuckled darkly, “I don’t think he sincerely believed that you’d have the gumption to just up and leave. As disgusting as it may be, Nathan might have thought he could have his cake and eat it too.”
“What?! So, he was just going to keep me around like some kind of—”
Tyler’s loud roar cut Ruth off as he jumped up unceremoniously plopping her onto the floor. He was barely holding in his desire to shift, but as her father’s words put Tyler’s need to kill into overdrive.
Jason and her fat
her dropped their faces to the floor in an act of deference. Ruth, however, slowly stood and faced her alpha eye to eye. Softly she placed her hands on either side of his face forcing his focus solely on her.
“Ty, I am right here. I’m yours.”
At her final admission, Tyler’s eyes practically burned her. Before she could react, Ruth was swept up in a fiery kiss that she was helpless to stop. Jason let out an awkward cough, which finally broke them apart. Her cheeks glowed red, but instead of letting her pull away Tyler tucked her into his side.
Suddenly all business, he turned her father, who was also blushing but didn’t seem surprised by their display of affection, “What do you suggest we do from here, Mr. Osbolt?”
There was a sudden light in Ruth’s father’s eyes, “Well first, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to join your pack. Especially since it seems that my daughter will be staying here permanently.”
After Tyler gave his ascent the rest of the day passed in a blur. Tyler, Jason, and her father began calling the packs between Ruth’s old territory and the Blood Mountain Pack. Disturbingly, there were numerous packs that either had members missing or had scented rogues in the area. True to Ruth’s father’s theory, it seemed that Nathan was heading more or less towards them.
All too soon night descended, and everyone who was able, gathered together to witness the pack joining ceremony. Alpha Tyler’s voice boomed out, “John Osbolt, formerly a rogue, will you be loyal and faithful to your new pack, putting your fellow brothers and sisters before yourself?”