Hayden snarled. Before the brothers attacked one another, Damien signaled to Blade to get Hayden away from Drake, far away.
“I returned your shifters from the facility,” Damien said as he faced Drake once more. “Did you even speak with them? How can you dismiss what’s going on up there?”
“The WSSO is experimenting on shifters,” Drake said with a casual dismissiveness. “Before you start poking the bear, Damien, take care of the traitors in your midst. After you clean your den, we will talk about how to handle the WSSO.”
“Your brother is part of my pack, and he’s my concern, not yours.”
“What brother?” Drake asked, donning a dark smile as he strode off with all the confidence of not merely an alpha, but an alpha with a plan. As he reached the trees where two of his wolves waited, one of Drake’s shifters emerged, pulling a human behind him.
“Tess!”
Damien started to run forward, until Callen grabbed his arm. “The border, Damien.”
Drake’s fingers dug into Tess’s upper arm when she tried to run to Damien. Her hands weren’t bound, and she was dressed in an elegant, red blouse and jeans with boots, not the clothing in which she had disappeared. She moved with a stiffness, as if she were shell-shocked, but worst of all, she wouldn’t meet Damien’s eyes as Drake’s arm snaked around her midriff.
Damien thrashed, trying to break free of Callen’s hold, but Callen pinned Damien’s arms behind him.
“Damien!” Hayden shouted in the alpha’s face to get his attention. Hayden hadn’t left, despite orders. “If you attack him here, Drake will make Tess suffer.”
Tess’s face was stark white, devoid of emotion, as Drake whispered in her ear. Hayden was right. She was still on Drake’s land, in Drake’s grasp, surrounding by his guards.
“Your present, Damien. I found her wandering in my territory. She says she belongs to you.” Drake cupped one breast as he kissed her full on the lips. Damien’s wolf howled within, and the fire in Damien’s blood nearly made him give in to his wolf.
Drake patted Tess’s ass and pushed her forward. “Don’t say I never did anything for you. She’s untouched, more or less.”
The second Drake and his wolves disappeared from sight, Callen released Damien, who ran to Tess. When Damien pulled her tight into an embrace, she flinched. “Take me home, please.” Her voice shook, and she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, look him in the eyes.
Damien was going to kill Drake for whatever he did to Tess.
* * *
“I will kill him, I swear it,” Damien said as he paced in the living room of his house.
“I’m not saying I doubt he took her,” Callen said, eyeing the upstairs where Pryce was examining Tess. “I’m saying you have no proof. You were too far away to get a good look when Drake blindsided Frank. And Tess hasn’t spoken out against Drake.”
“I don’t need proof to kill him.”
“You need to calm down, Damien.”
Damien got up in Callen’s face. “You don’t get to tell me to calm down. Drake slipped through our defenses and kidnapped her. I don’t know what else he did to her because she won’t talk to me. She won’t talk to anyone.”
“She’ll talk to me,” Hayden said.
“You? You’re the last one I want near her right now.”
A vein pulsed in Hayden’s neck as the shifter rose, fists clenched at his side.
“I’m not Drake,” Hayden ground out.
“But you look like him.”
“And you look like an asshole, yet I’d still defend you in a heartbeat if anyone threatened you because I don’t go by looks.”
“Fuck!” Damien said. He needed to punch someone or throw something. He was losing control fast, doing and saying everything wrong. And the only one who could calm him right now was the one person for whom he needed to pull himself together.
“Always such language,” Tess said, leaning over the banister from above. “Is it necessary?”
“For Damien, yes,” Hayden said, with an easy-going smile. “He’s always been very eloquent. You should see the offers he gets for motivational seminars.”
Her smile wasn’t as full as in the past, but it was a genuine smile, for Hayden. Always for Hayden or Blade or even Pryce. Not Damien. Hell, now he sounded like a jealous boyfriend. She was staring at him, waiting for something, and he was at a loss.
Hayden shoved him forward. “Say something.”
Damien kind of deserved that. He searched her eyes before letting his gaze drift over the rest of her. There was a slight scrape that hadn’t been there before she had been kidnapped, but there was a distant look in her eyes that worried him.
“Hi.” Damien said.
Hayden clapped. “Sheer brilliance.”
Damien growled at his best friend.
“I’m leaving.” Hayden grabbed hold of Callen by the sleeve, and the two of them headed for the door.
“No, wait.” Tess tore herself from Damien and ran down the steps. She slowed her pace as she sidled past Damien and ran up to Hayden. “You’re nothing like him,” she said, and then she rose up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.
Hayden didn’t smile or frown, almost as if he didn’t know what to make of what she’d said. He simply nodded his head and left, Callen in tow.
“That was nice of you,” Damien said. “Hayden deserves better than I can give.”
“Agreed.” Her tone was cold.
“I failed you, yesterday.”
“No, you didn’t, and I’m sorry if I’m distracted. Drake didn’t hurt me, but he gave me a lot to think about.”
“What exactly?”
“He says I’m not a shifter anymore.”
“And you believe him over me?”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
Damien kissed her hard and deep. She stirred a fire in him that went right to his cock, but his need for her went beyond the desire to have her writhing beneath him. His whole world changed when she was near. The sun seemed warmer, the woods more alive, and the restlessness inside him faded. Even his wolf was prancing as if he had found his mate. They were right for one another. He was sure of it.
“Tell me you didn’t feel anything just now, Tess?”
“Of course I did. It was nice.”
Nice? Nice? “What the fuck? Another alpha kidnaps you, spends a day preying upon your fears, and suddenly you’re like putty in his hands. Did you spread your legs for him, too, or just let him suck your tits?”
He fully expected her to slap him. In fact, he wanted her to, so he’d know her fire was for him and not that asshole, Drake. What he didn’t expect was that she’d break down crying, each tear ripping another hole in his heart.
“Ian tried to force me to shift, but that was after the injection.”
What injection? What the fuck was she talking about?
She turned into him, sobbing against his chest. Her entire body was shaking so violently he worried she’d start hyperventilating.
“Drake said the WSSO’s reports confirmed the drug can destroy the wolf in shifters. Apparently, I’m the first success story.”
Hell, hell, hell. Drake had no reason to lie about that.
“She’s gone, Damien. My wolf is gone!”
“We don’t know that,” he said, holding her tight against his chest. It was all he could do as she sobbed. To try to convince her that Drake lied, that he was playing mind games with both of them, as he was prone to doing, would not change the fact that she had not heard from her wolf. In all likelihood, her wolf was dead.
“What am I going to do?” Tess sounded so utterly lost. “How do I live without her? What will happen to me?”
“We’ll figure it out, together. Even if your wolf is…” Damien couldn’t say the word. The very concept of losing one’s wolf was horrifying. What could he possibly say that would help? Nothing. He didn’t have the words, even the wrong ones that she knew how to read through. He just had nothing.
*
* *
“Gone?” Blade asked. “As in dead, not just healing slowly?”
Damien nodded. He still couldn’t bring himself to say it. The shock was still too fresh, too raw, and it wasn’t even his wolf. How Tess was handling it so well after only one night’s sleep was beyond him. She’d gotten up early, showered, and was headed out to accompany the kids on a field trip to the falls when he had stopped her to talk about all that Drake had said. She brushed Damien off like nothing had happened. Then she left, to find that asshole teacher, Trent, to help him with the kids.
Damien had sent Frank along to guard her, to make sure Trent didn’t have a change of heart after Damien’s little talk with the teacher. Damien had placed the teacher on probation. One wrong move and Damien wouldn’t hesitate to exile the asshole, an action Damien had never taken before. He wouldn’t gamble with Tess’s life, which is why he was about to forbid her from going anywhere near Trent, until Damien realized helping with the kids lifted her spirits. He wouldn’t deny her that, but that didn’t mean he’d let her go unprotected either.
Hayden blew out a deep breath. “My brother isn’t stupid, Damien. He knows he can’t take the WSSO down on his own, that we’re going to have to work on this together. I’m sure that’s the only reason Drake gave her the info. He doesn’t do anything out of the goodness of his heart.”
“He’d have to have a heart first,” Callen quipped. “We need to strike, soon, Damien. The WSSO has a viable weapon now.”
“But is it chemical, viral, or something else? We need to test her blood,” Pryce spoke up. “And yours, Damien.”
“Why me?”
“I mean, if you’ve had any intimate contact—”
“Do whatever you need, Pryce.”
“I won’t be able to analyze it myself, but I know a shifter over in Boulder who can. Dr. Alex Kerns. I’ll collect the blood, and a few other samples from each of you, and head over to Alex today. I’m sure he can tell us what we’re dealing with.”
Damien thrust his chin toward Blade to get his attention. “Can you get in and out of the lab without being seen? We need information on Tess in particular. You have her… test subject number.” Damien really hated referring to her like she was a lab rat.
Blade was up and pacing, more restless than usual. It had Damien questioning if Blade was the right one for this job, if his wolf was making him too unstable. Damien and Hayden were only guessing that Blade’s wolf was giving him trouble. Blade hadn’t said a word to anyone. After all these years, Blade still didn’t trust that Damien wouldn’t kick the scout out of the pack.
“Are you sure you want this, Damien?” Blade asked. “Whatever we find is only going to hurt her, you know that, right?”
“Just tell me if you can do it. You’re my top scout for a reason, but if you can’t or won’t, I’ll find someone else. I’ll go myself if I have to.”
“I’ll go,” Blade said, finally.
“Good. And keep this quiet. I don’t want Tess or anyone else finding out, at least not until we know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
* * *
TESS
Tess spent the day in the woods helping the eight- and nine-year-olds with their scavenger hunt. The kids were sweet, smart, devilish, and all around wonderful. The parents were another matter. At the end of the day, when she and Trent were escorting the kids to their homes, she overheard more than one parent laying into Trent for allowing “that human” near their child.
When she headed back to Damien’s house, Damien was sitting outside on the porch steps, waiting for her. His big, goofy smile melted her heart, almost making up for the reaction from so many of the parents. The old prejudices against humans were not easy to combat, especially since she wasn’t really human. What would a human say or do in this situation? She had no idea. Her instincts, her way of thinking, were still shifter. Or she was human now and had to learn how to think like one.
She didn’t know who she was anymore. Regardless, the pack didn’t want her, and that big lug sitting on the steps was clueless when it came to his pack members and how nervous, how frightened they were to have a human in their midst.
“Hi,” she said, trying to smile for his sake. This wasn’t his problem, and she didn’t want to drag him down with her.
“Hi.” His mouth curved into a delicious grin. “How was the field trip?”
“Wonderful. They’re a great bunch of kids.”
“And their asshole of a teacher? What’s his name, Tim, Thom, Thurman?”
“Trent,” she said, laughing. Sometimes she wondered if Damien was really that horrible with names or if he just knew how to make her laugh.
“Whatever. Trent better not be bothering you.”
“Just the opposite. He did something no one else here has done.”
“And what is that?” Damien’s brows scrunched together. He wasn’t the full-blown jealous type, but he certainly was suspicious.
“Trent gave me a chance to help out. To feel useful.”
“You’re very useful. You’re my moral compass.”
She sent him a playful glare. “You were doing fine before I got here. Your pack loves you. Me, well, whole other story there. You’ll do fine when I’m gone.”
“You’re not leaving,” Damien said, with a definite growl beneath his words. It made her stand up straight.
“I can’t stay here much longer. Before you say I can, remember you’re the alpha here. You have to do what’s best for the pack first, not yourself, or even me.”
“Fuck that. You are what’s best for the pack, Tess.”
“The day you stop swearing is the day I’ll believe that,” she said as she headed inside. He didn’t follow her in, which was fine. He probably needed a few minutes to accept that she’d be moving on as soon as she could figure out a plan. She could go back and see if her house was still there, not taken over by the state after her family’s death… murder. She slumped against the sink. She still couldn’t believe her dad and Lily were gone.
The front door shut with a gentle click. Damien was scowling. She took a long drink of water to quench her thirst and then stared out the window. It was really beautiful here, so different from Apopka. Maybe it was all the trees and the quiet, or the slower pace. No rushing to get to a job, fill up on gas, mow the lawn, or the hundreds of other insignificant jobs people did every day that ultimately left them feeling emotionally drained. She really was going to miss this place.
“Where would you go?”
Damien wasn’t protesting, begging her to stay. That said it then. He knew it as well as she did. It was time for her to move on.
“I’m not sure yet.”
“You’re not sure because you know this is where you should be. Tell me you don’t feel like you belong here, Tess? And don’t get caught up on a few shifters who are basically good at heart but scared to open their eyes and see what’s happening.”
“It’s not them, not entirely.”
“Then why? Give me one good reason you shouldn’t stay.”
“For months now, I’ve been convinced my wolf was still with me. I was sure I heard little whispers, whines, whimpers, snarls. Something of my wolf. She kept me from feeling so alone, and she gave me hope for the longest time. But it wasn’t real. Like when someone loses a limb, and they can still feel it long after it’s gone. Phantom pain, I believe that’s what doctors call it. My wolf died a while ago, didn’t she, Damien? I’ve been experiencing echoes of her. I guess it’s my brain holding onto the past, not ready to let go.”
“We don’t know for sure that she’s gone,” he said, drawing up behind her, his chin resting on her shoulder while his arms wrapped around her middle, holding her close. Warmth. Safety. Maybe even love. This, the way he held her, how he talked to her as if she were all that mattered. This was why she had to go. But he wouldn’t understand that. He didn’t see what a detriment she’d be to his rule, to his pack, to him.
“I’ve made my decision.”
“I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“A run would do you good.”
Every muscle in his body practically rippled with an energy that needed to be unleashed. There were other ways of helping him work off the stress, but she couldn’t afford to go there, to let him know how much she wanted him.
Tess set down the pot she had pulled out of the cabinet. “Please, Damien. You’re making me anxious. Get one of the guys to stay with me if you’re that worried, but go for a run.”
To her surprise, Damien headed out the door without saying another word.
* * *
DAMIEN
He growled at the audacity of her telling him to leave, with a suggestion of a run no less. It was ballsy, and yet only she could get away with it. He had trouble saying “No” to her, which was disconcerting. He wasn’t used to answering to another, at least not since he became alpha. She was a challenge, a beautiful, sexy, sweet challenge. And he had no idea what to do about her.
Damien shifted into his wolf form with barely a thought and ran. Even with a guard at the front and back of the house, leaving her was hard. Trusting his own people with her safety was becoming increasingly difficult, but she was right. He was on edge, and if he didn’t do something about it, it would only get worse.
After several minutes of his paws striking the ground, muscles working harder and harder, Damien realized he’d needed the run, like she had said. Tess had known what he needed, yet she failed to see—or admit to herself—that what he needed most was her.
She needed to forget any crazy ideas she had in her head of leaving; he wasn’t letting her go. She was his. Shifter, human, it no longer mattered. How he was going to convince her that her place was here beside him was another matter altogether. He had no true claim on her, and without the blood-bond, there was nothing tying her to him, no physiological drive to remain with him.
Damien’s Dilemma Page 14