“You’re talking about Travis,” Reed guessed.
“None other,” Brandi confirmed. “I don’t intend to tell them until I have no choice. Shitty Sheldon…”
Reed snorted. “Is that another code name?”
“Yes. After Stewart had his first growth spurt, Shitty Sheldon asked to do a DNA match between the kids and me to check an idea he had. The test showed we were all related. It may have been why once I saw them I had to free them. Ariel passed along Randall’s laptop to Sheldon. There were records that he paid Travis to abduct the kids from the orphanage. We know Heidi got her devil wolf from you. What the guy described about Stewart…” Brandi faded off and shrugged. “In my world, two and two nearly always make four. What do you think?”
“That would make them my great-grandchildren.”
Brandi winced but nodded in agreement. “Yeah… something like that, I guess. I’m not great at the genealogy stuff. I haven’t told Ariel what Sheldon found out yet, but I bet she could discover the relationship between all of us, including molecule distribution.”
Reed nodded and blew out a breath. “Stewart panicked and called forth all of his beast, then chased after the attackers by himself, trying to save Katarina. Travis would have made someone else take such a risk before he would have.”
Brandi shrugged. “Even in the orphanage where they grew up, all my kids ever had was each other. Now they have me and Gareth. Honestly, I don’t give a shit what Stewart turns into. I only care that he uses his abilities for good.”
Growling, Reed turned to stare out of the window. “You can consider that plan to be a huge success, Agent Longfeather.”
Brandi nodded, even though Reed didn’t see her do so. He was brooding over his family failings again. Enough was enough.
“So what’s the deal between you and Katarina? You two have the kind of chemistry that fills up the space you’re both occupying. It reminds me of Ariel and Matt when they were first getting together.”
“What can there be between us? I’m hundreds of years older and thousands of years more jaded. She is passionate and caring—to a fault. I mostly want to be left alone. We’re in very different places.”
Brandi snorted at Reed’s poor me speech. “If you want to talk about people being jaded, Gareth and I could write a book. I beat the holy crap out of him for making a deal with Shitty Sheldon to bring me in to their fucking group. He also let Travis in on his deal without warning me that Travis was an agent. Gareth’s damn lucky I didn’t kill him.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Brandi laughed at the question. Who ever got asked that so sincerely? Her. That’s who. Because people who knew her knew she genuinely had contemplated Gareth’s death.
Finally, she giggled. “I suppose I let him live because of the great sex. It created some kind of bond between us that my logical brain couldn’t deny, no matter what he did to me. During intimacy, Gareth made me feel accepted and safe with him. That’s a poor reason to spare him, but honestly, that was why I kept backing off.”
“Have you forgiven him for all that?”
Brandi laughed. “It’s more like we declared a peace treaty. We had a lot to work out between us before our union worked out in reality. Getting custody of the children required us to trust each other personally, so the business stuff had to take a back seat. Gareth’s a great father. He’s also an excellent mate. In every other way, he annoys the hell out of me, especially with all the cow breeding talk and his antiquated ideas of how our mating ought to go. His arguments are illogical because he knows damn well we will never live anything close to his idea of a normal life.”
Reed laughed. He couldn’t help it. He’d known Gareth a long time. They shared a similar history when it came to women. “Gareth’s other mates were so docile. I imagine falling in love with you was quite the rude awakening for him.”
“It was quite the rude awakening for me as well. I didn’t believe in love. I never let myself have feelings for anyone before I did him. I didn’t know what love ever felt like until he showed me. That may sound corny, but the first time I felt love I mistook it for indigestion,” Brandi admitted.
Reed chuckled. “Is his age a problem between you?”
Brandi barked out a laugh at that question. Age wasn’t even a factor. She often forgot her mate’s age until someone else brought it up. “Gareth Longfeather keeps me up all damn night like some twenty-year-old human guy. At what age does that slow down, Reed? Not that I’m complaining, but a woman needs an entire night of sleep now and again.”
Reed leaned his head back against the seat and smiled at Brandi’s complaint. “A wolf slows down when he gives up looking for a female who makes him want her. Casual sex loses all appeal as a werewolf ages. Physical relief is not worth the disappointment of not having the emotional connection. True wolf mates are highly sexual all their lives. That’s one of the many reasons losing a mate is so traumatic for our kind. You lose a partner in every way possible.”
“If I lost Gareth, I’d be a hell of a lot more than just traumatized,” Brandi admitted. “I’d go on because of the kids, but I have to tell you, his stupid cows would be history by the time I buried his ass.”
“Have you told Gareth how you feel about his cattle?”
“Over and over and over,” Brandi declared, grinning when Reed laughed deeply and from his gut. “It’s good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor. Sometimes I think finding the humor in a situation is the only reason I’ve survived my life.”
Reed nodded as his laughter faded, but it left a smile behind. “I’m too old for her, but Katarina interests me.”
Brandi made a buzzer sound. “With that answer, you have officially entered the friend zone and will never get laid.” She laughed as she turned her attention back to the road. “She interests you? Do you realize how lame that sounds? That woman is fiery. Being merely interested will not get you anywhere.”
Snickering, Reed lifted an eyebrow. “I wasn’t planning to get an address in that zone. You have to admit that she and I have other things that demand our time and focus at the moment.”
Laughing, Brandi let loose a heavy sigh. “Now I feel sorry for her. Katarina must be crazy to like you as much as she does. You’re charming one minute and a total frustration the next. Any female wanting you better be damn good at being alone and taking care of herself.”
Reed lifted a shoulder. “I loved the females in my life, but it’s probably fair to say duty to my pack always evoked a greater urgency in me.”
“Of course, it did. You took your relationships for granted because you thought that was how things were supposed to work. Trust me, I know. I did the same. All you get though is a weak emotional connection that doesn’t sustain your relationship. I kept trying to do that with Gareth. He wouldn’t let me.”
“I wouldn’t call what I felt for my mates weak. I cared about them.”
“Didn’t you ever not walk away when you felt it was necessary? Did you choose them over the pack?”
Reed blew out a breath. “I was alone more than I was mated. If I tried to answer that question, what I say would only make things worse.”
“Did any of your mates leave a mark on your soul when you outlived them?”
Reed pondered the question as he recalled his mates. Memories of them had faded long ago. Travis’s grandmother was the last mate he took. Did he remember any of them? He remembered the warmth of his home and welcoming arms. He remembered the squeals of his children. He had loved them back to the best of his ability, but none of his mates had been his friend. He’d always borne the burden of his leadership alone, except…
A sudden memory of a very different kind of relationship covered him in ice. The loss was a wound that had never healed.
“There was an alpha she-wolf once. It was a couple centuries ago. I was between mates. She was traveling and stopped to stay in our village for a while. Her pack was being torn apart by multiple power struggles. She’d conceded l
eadership without a fight to the death, hoping to stop all the bloodshed that was happening. She stayed with my pack for nearly a year before she left.”
Brandi turned to look at Reed. He had a look in his eyes that he hadn’t had talking about his mates. “What made her leave?”
“Duty. I begged her to stay with me, but her pack came and begged her to return. Her desire to be their alpha was stronger than her desire to stay with me. It took me a long time to accept she and I weren’t meant to be together forever. My feelings for her differed from what I felt for my other mates. She understood me. I never realized how much it hurt to lose her until you grilled me.”
Brandi grinned at Reed’s story. “Well, that sure explains a lot. I bet all your official mates were home-loving doormats like the females Gareth mated before me. Wolves like you two seem to love being with females who practically turn themselves into domestic slaves for your benefit. Matt is the only alpha wolf I’ve met who truly did not want that type of female.”
Reed’s head whipped around. He was not like that. Was he? “What do you mean?”
Brandi lifted a hand from the steering wheel and waved it around. “Your stoic reactions to Katarina never seemed right to me. There’s also your attitude that your feelings for her can wait to be expressed. I bet you secretly think she’ll leave one day. And knowing Katarina, she might. No wonder you’re afraid of getting involved with her.”
“I wouldn’t call what I feel being afraid.”
Brandi chuckled. “Really? Gareth used to accuse me of being afraid of my feelings for him. He was right, but I never once admitted it. I don’t think you’ll ever admit it either. I totally understand the satisfaction of being in denial, but you should at least be honest with yourself if not the world. Katarina may be the alpha she-wolf you’ve been looking for since you lost the first one.”
Reed squirmed in his seat. “That can’t be true. Katarina is volatile and unpredictable. Look at the trouble it’s landed her in. We have to go rescue her.”
Brandi chuckled. “Yeah, she’s trouble all right. She’s a she-wolf willing to risk her life. I bet all your previous mates paced around with one of your many babies on their hips and prayed you’d make it home safely. Now Katarina… she definitely will not stay home and wait. She’s the type who’d call Yana to come watch the child and go rescue you herself. She needs a guy who’ll accept that about her. Am I right?”
Reed shrugged. “Probably.”
“Gareth back at Bear Central is pacing and waiting for me to come home. He stayed behind because Stewart needs one of us to be there. I get how it feels to be the one left behind. Given our true natures, I appreciate that Gareth and I can take turns being the one who races off to save people.”
Before Reed could respond, Brandi pulled off the road near a swath of woods. “We’re as close as we dare get. Given their access to technology, they may see us if we get within a mile.” She pulled a device from her jacket. “Take this with you. It’s a GPS that will lead you straight to the coordinates where Katarina is being held. My best guess is that’s about a mile and a half through the woods and due north. You should be able to walk it fairly quickly in human form. Don’t shift until you have to. A tall First Nation man will blend into the background easier.”
Reed took the device, studied it, and decided it was easy enough for him to follow. He got out of the vehicle and removed two backpacks from the backseat. They held clothing, solar blankets, and rations in case food and water were inaccessible. One of them also contained a first aide kit, which he hoped he wouldn’t have to use.
Brandi got out and walked around the vehicle. “Don’t take them on. They have weapons like Randall Crane’s group did that can take down even the largest wolf. All you need to do is monitor them. If they start to move, follow them. We’ll be following you and I expect to see two trackers heading in the same direction.”
“I’ll do my best.” He put one backpack on his back. “Why did you agree to me doing this? I could tell you thought I needed to go back to the village.”
Brandi nodded. “You’re right. I did. That would have been the best plan. The reason I went along with this is because I think you’re way more worried about Katarina than you are about your people. You trust me and Gareth to protect the village, and you trust Ariel to lead them. Katarina has no one to go after her. I also agreed, because if it were Gareth who’d gotten abducted, you can bet your giant wolf ass that I’d be headed to find him. No one would stop me.”
Reed laughed even though it wasn’t really funny. His life was a mess. His pack was a mess. He was a leader who was tired of leading. “I should probably feel ashamed of not putting my people first, but it no longer feels natural. Instead, I feel like I’m filling the spot for someone who’s late showing up. Everything in my life has been off-kilter since I found out about Travis and Hanuk.”
“Well, get over it. Everyone deserves to put their personal life first once in a while. Becoming a werewolf taught me that. This situation is about you potentially losing someone who interests you. See? I’m not the only one using code names. But we both know what’s really going on here. I think it would be terrible if you two don’t get your chance and that’s not happening on my watch.”
Smiling, Reed pocketed the GPS and picked up the other backpack. “I never had daughters with my mates. I only had sons. Now I have the best daughters a wolf could ever have hoped for in his life. I have been strangely blessed by the spirits.”
Brandi stood on her toes and kissed Reed’s cheek. “Your nano wolf daughters feel the same way about you, Reed. So take care of yourself. Gareth and I will be back to help you as soon as we can. We will not leave Katarina in there long. Promise.”
Reed nodded and bent to kiss Brandi’s cheek. “Thank you. For the help… and the lecture.”
Brandi chuckled. “What are daughters for if not to lecture?”
Laughing softly, Reed moved through the ravine and into the woods. Behind him, he heard Brandi turning around in the vehicle to head back.
8
Katarina watched the dark descend outside one small window located high up in the room containing her cage. The guards came frequently to check on her. She decided to use the rest of her alone time for a good purpose.
She looked around for cameras and when she didn’t see any, she raked some food from the plate into the bucket they’d given her to relieve herself. She promptly fulfilled that function to help ensure the food would not be discovered.
With her escape plan in motion, Katarina settled down on the cot and stared at the ceiling. Maybe she should count her blessings. She wasn’t unconscious like she had been when Travis had abducted her. Plus, there was no silver collar around her neck this time either. See? Things could have been far worse.
She swallowed back the rage she felt toward her captors. It was useless to feel hate for them when they were absent. She would not waste her time.
“Great Spirit Nicolai, I don’t want to seem ungrateful for still being alive, but I could use some bigger help. Have you got another miracle for me, comrade?” she asked, conjuring up an image of Nicolai’s ghost. Unfortunately, the ghost was laughing at her, which made her laugh at herself. “Bah… Katarina Volkov. You are desperate female like kind you hate. Go to sleep. It will take energy to kill your captors.”
The moment her eyes closed, her mind conjured an image of Reed. His eyes were bright green in the dark and luminous as he shifted gracefully into his massive wolf form. Reed was truly the biggest wolf she’d ever seen.
In her dream, he walked across the field toward her. She could feel his gaze, and his interest in her made her want to howl.
What would it be like to be her wolf self alongside his wolf? They could run through the field and nearby woods together—maybe take down a deer to eat for dinner.
She’d never dated a werewolf. The idea of running with Reed as a wolf was very appealing.
“Idiot,” she grumbled to herself, shaking her head
to clear away all the wishing. No matter how much she longed to do so, she could not conjure the Black Wolf alpha.
Nicolai probably couldn’t do it either—not that she would ever pray for something so silly.
The moment she finally got comfortable, Katarina drifted off lightly to sleep.
She woke hearing voices—plotting voices. Her eyes wanted to open, but she kept them closed and listened.
“We can’t do this. She only ate half of her food,” voice one said.
“Stop whining. I have enough in the hypodermic in my pocket to make sure she stays out until we get her delivered,” voice two assured him.
Voice one quivered a bit when he spoke again. “They will be angry to find her gone. Someone said the older wolf guy was her father. Some bastard he is to sell his daughter, eh? Do you think the other guy was related to her as well?”
“Shut up and focus. The only thing you need to think about is the fact that we will be rich when we sell her to the highest bidder. Her bastard daddy said she was a highly prized alpha female. The scientists will get both wolf’s blood and babies from her. She’s worth a freaking fortune.”
Voice one escalated. “Yeah, well, if you know so much, tell me how we’re going to sell her. It’s not like we can advertise her on Wolfs-R-Us.”
“Just shut up and turn off the cage,” voice two demanded.
“I still don’t like this.”
“You don’t have to like it, just do what I say.”
Katarina heard the humming noise from the cage suddenly stop. She heard the bars open and felt someone roll her over in the cot. She opened her eyes and reared back with her elbow to disable her attacker. She squirmed from a sharp prick as she reared backwards but ignored it as her elbow connected sharply. The most important thing was silencing her startled aggressor, which she finished by knocking him back into the bars. She nodded as he slid to the ground.
The man outside the cage ran to the wall and felt it with trembling fingers.
Reed: Nano Wolves 4 Page 7
