by Juniper Hart
The curtains against the balcony were almost fully drawn, but there was enough of a slit between the drapes for Wes to peer inside. Even though he didn’t see Danica in the living room, he knew she was there—her scent was everywhere.
Shifting back into his mortal form, he tried the sliding door. To his chagrin, it was locked. Short of breaking the glass, there was nothing he could do but knock.
She’s not going to shove me off the patio, he reasoned, but suddenly, he wasn’t so sure. Her loyalties were split between him and Gabriel. Danica didn’t know why she trusted Wes, and she’d spent a year and a half living under Gabriel’s spell. If Wes had to guess who his mate might choose, he wasn’t confident that he’d come out the winner.
He raised his fist to knock on the glass, regardless of his reservations. Before he could tap on the door, he heard Danica’s voice pipe through.
“—about getting out of town, too,” she was saying, her voice slightly breathless. “I have no idea where Gabriel is, and Landon Burke is hot on our scent…”
Wes realized she was on the phone, and a moment later, he watched as she strode into view, her ear pressed to her cell phone.
“I know what you said before you left, Aiden!” she snapped irritably. “But I’m not sure being with you is the best place to be, either.” She listened, and Wes felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. “No! No, I’m not coming to you. I’m thinking about going… I don’t know, somewhere! Maybe the East Coast. There’s too much heat out here—” She paused again, her dark eyes narrowing. “If Gabriel was here, Aiden, then I wouldn’t be considering other plans, would I?”
The question was a stab to Wes’ heart.
She’s biding her time, waiting for Gabriel to come back for her. All that talk about thinking he was evil was just that—talk. Wes tried to reason that she was too confused to see clearly, but it didn’t lessen the pain of what she was saying. She needs to understand that Gabriel was never her protector. I am.
“I’ll give him one more day to get in touch,” Danica sighed. “And then I’m gone—for good.” She disconnected the call before Aiden could answer her and flopped onto the couch with a grunt.
Wes studied her from his spot on the balcony, unsure of what to do now that he knew where her head was.
The fact that the universe would make someone like Danica his mate denied all logic. She was everything he stood against, and yet the feeling of guardianship he felt toward her was undeniable. As much as he wanted to walk away from the mess he knew was unfolding and had unraveled around him over the past year, he couldn’t. He rapped on the window then and watched as Danica physically jumped at his presence.
“What the hell are you doing out there?” she growled, sliding open the door. “Have you heard of using the buzzer?”
“I didn’t think you’d let me in,” Wes answered smoothly, entering uninvited. “Now that I heard you on the phone, I can see I was probably right.” She balked at the words and stepped back as Wes made himself comfortable on her worn couch. “My place is a lot more comfortable. Are you sure you don’t want to go back?”
Danica gaped at him. “What do you want from me, Wes?” she asked, her face drooping with resignation. “You said you’d let me go.”
“I have let you go—for too long,” he replied gruffly, his eyes fixing on her. “And look where that’s gotten us both.”
“Where’s that, Wes?” Danica sighed. “I think it’s better if you just leave well enough alone—”
“I lied,” Wes interjected. “I’m not leaving you alone. You’re bound to me.”
The statement seemed to take her aback, and she stared at him in stunned silence for a minute, as if she’d misunderstood him.
“Bound to me?” she echoed. “What do you mean?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Wes grumbled, wishing he hadn’t said so much. “The point is, I’m not going anywhere. So you can pack up a bag and come home with me, or we can stay here together. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“What changed?” Danica demanded, but Wes could see a glimmer of relief in her eyes. She’d never wanted to be alone. She had just put on a show for him.
“Nothing changed,” Wes told her. “I should never have left you to your own devices so long.”
“Funny. Not an hour ago, you were convinced I was the devil.”
“No, I wasn’t,” Wes argued. “I was just trying to process what you were telling me. I don’t fault you for anything that happened, Danica.”
“That’s not how you sounded earlier.”
“I was wrong.” His jade-colored eyes blazed with earnestness as he searched her face, willing her to listen to his words. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re trading in one prison for another, Danica, but right now, our best bet is staying together.”
“No,” she sighed, shaking her head. “It’s not.”
Wes’ face twisted in confusion, and he leaned forward. “How can you know that? We’re both hiding the truth of your involvement from Landon Burke. At least if we’re together, you’ll know I’m not throwing you under the bus.”
“If you wanted to throw me under the bus, you would have by now,” Danica countered in a far more reasonable tone than he expected. “Anyway, we both know you’re saving your own ass by protecting me.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Wes protested, but she snorted mirthlessly.
“Why else would you keep this quiet?”
He rose and sauntered toward her, his eyes boring into her.
“You really are asking me that, aren’t you?” he asked with some disbelief. “You really don’t feel what we have between us?”
Danica inhaled, her eyes widening as he closed the distance between them, his hands reaching out to cup her face softly between his open palms.
“I know you do,” he continued when she didn’t speak. He could feel her pulse racing under his touch. “I’ve seen the way you’ve looked. It’s the same way you looked at me when you started as an undergraduate. Being your protector was easy—you were never far from my sight.”
“We can’t do this,” she mumbled, trying to look away, but he firmed his grip on her cheeks, pulling her gaze toward him.
“Why not? Because of Gabriel?” he challenged. “Do you love him?”
“It’s not about loving him,” she bemoaned, her eyes darting over his face searchingly.
“Loyalty to him, then? You feel the need to defend this beast who upended your life when you were vulnerable?”
“Please, Wes…” Her protests were silenced when he crushed his lips to hers, drawing her fully into his arms. A soft moan escaped Danica’s lips as their tongues met, electricity flowing between them like it always seemed to do. Their eyes remained locked on each other, and Wes could clearly see the longing and desire she felt, even if it was overshadowed by guilt.
“Does this feel wrong to you?” he demanded when their lips parted. “Does this feel like you should be waiting around for your captor?”
Emotion filled Danica’s chocolate eyes, and she didn’t need to answer with words. With her hands snaking up to twine into his thick of dark hair, she pulled Wes back toward her for another deep kiss. All the stress in Wes trickled away. His body seemed to melt into Danica’s, his hard frame pressed against her to feel every aspect of her lithe form. They danced backward, their lips still locked as Danica’s eyelids grew heavier. She was entranced, enamored, and swept away by the spell that had fallen over them.
She has no real ties to Gabriel, not like she does to me, Wes thought, pinning her to the far wall, Her legs rose to wrap around his waist as his mouth found the folds of her skin.
“I don’t want you to regret this,” Danica mumbled, but the words didn’t make any sense to him.
“I won’t,” he assured her, his voice raspy before collecting her earlobe between his lips. She shivered with pleasure, and somehow, with her still pinioned to the wall, Wes managed to strip her of all her clothes until she was c
linging to his half-naked and muscled form like a clinging doll. His hands roamed to explore every inch of her body, even though he was sure he’d known all of her before; if not in another life, then in his endless fantasies about her.
This is so much better than that. Why did I wait so long to seize this?
It struck him that it had been fear of what he was learning with each passing moment—that Gabriel truly did have a hold over Danica that he might not be able to shake.
Wes shoved the unbidden and terrifying idea from his head, sliding himself between her smooth parted thighs and entering her with the ease of someone who belonged there. Because this is exactly where we’re supposed to be—together.
Danica cried out at the force of his hardness, her nails digging into his skin, but her frame arched into him more, their parts fitting seamlessly into one another. Into a proper, driving rhythm they fell, their sighs and moans escalating as they both reached their peaks in unison. Danica’s legs clenched around his waist, ankles locking as she shuddered with her release, and only then, Wes permitted himself to also let go.
“You are exactly what I imagined,” he breathed into her ear as they strove to catch their breaths, sweating chests heaving wildly between them. “I’m sorry it took so long.”
“Me too,” Danica whispered, but there was misery in her voice. Slowly, Wes placed her trembling legs on the ground and looked at her warily.
“What’s wrong?” he asked nervously. “Are you regretting this?”
“No!” she cried. There was still an unmistakable sheen of unshed tears in her eyes.
“Did I hurt you? Oh, gods, Danica, what’s wrong?”
Her luminous irises stared up at him, the glimmer of saline distorting the brown of her eyes as the first tear fell sinisterly down her cheek.
“I shouldn’t have let that happen,” she breathed, dropping her head. “I shouldn’t…”
“Why not?” Wes was beyond perplexed, a consternation filling him as he tried to understand the problem. The tears flowed evenly now, and he watched as her jaw tightened. Then, she defiantly threw her head back and stared at him.
“Because…” She inhaled sharply before blurting out the bombshell which rocked his entire world. “Because I’m pregnant with Gabriel’s child.”
6
Wes barely remembered making it back to his car, but when he did, he automatically reached for his cell, his hands shaking.
This makes sense. This is why she wanted nothing to do with me. She’s carrying that bastard’s baby. She thinks she’s forever bound to that monster.
There was no definition for the range of emotions flowing through him. Rage, anger, desolation combined with a desperation to do something, anything. But what? What could he do?
He had no doubt now that Danica truly understood that they were meant to be together, that she had never had any real feelings for Gabriel. According to Danica, Gabriel didn’t know about the baby, but how long would it take before he figured it out? She claimed to only be about seven weeks along, her body not showing a smidgen of change.
He must not have any part of their lives, Wes decided. It’s not just about Danica now, but about her child. Our child.
It didn’t matter to him that the baby she was carrying belonged to another—all that was important was that it was Danica’s child. If he had a reason to protect her before, it was twofold now.
Wes couldn’t begin to imagine what Landon would do if he learned that Danica was carrying the child of the most wanted Lycan in the world.
A thousand ideas passed through Wes, his heart in his throat. Could he simply disappear with Danica before either Gabriel or Landon learned about her pregnancy?
Of course not, he chided himself. You can’t abandon your pack, and there is nowhere you can go that you won’t be found. Lycans exist everywhere.
There was really only one way to end Gabriel’s hold over Danica, and that was by eliminating the rogue leader himself. No one needed to know that her child was his; not if Wes claimed her and she stayed by his side.
Gabriel was the type to sell out everyone around him to save his own skin. If he was captured by Landon, the truth would inevitably come out, and there would be hell to pay.
Wes played the situation around and around in his head until he finally settled on a tentative idea, one he had never considered before.
“Gale,” said the voice on the other end of the phone.
“It’s me,” Wes said. “Call a meeting tonight.”
“Me?” The beta’s voice was almost whining.
“I’m calling you, aren’t I?”
“Why can’t you do it?” Gale demanded, and Wes ground his teeth. His pack was getting too comfortable with his role as a professor. They mistook his career choice for meekness.
That’s going to change, too.
“Fine,” Wes replied amiably. “Consider yourself demoted to soldier.”
“Wait, what?” Gale asked, his voice rising an octave. “Why?”
“What the hell is the point in having a second-in-command if he doesn’t do anything?” Wes barked back. “Obviously I’m asking you to call a meeting because I’m in the middle of something.” He hated that he was explaining it at all.
This generation of wolves is so entitled, he thought angrily. The last thing he needed was to fight with his own pack.
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Gale said quickly. “I’ll call everyone up and we’ll make it happen, boss.”
“Stop calling me ‘boss,’ Gale.”
“Okay, Wes, sorry.” The younger wolf managed to sound properly hurt, and Wes smothered a grunt of annoyance.
“The cabin at three hundred hours,” he intoned. “I want everyone there. No excuses.”
“Three o’clock?” Gale cried. “I have work in the morning!”
“We all have work in the morning!” Wes growled.
Is he serious right now? My life is on the line, and he’s worried he’s going to be tired in the morning. Of course, Gale had no reason to understand the urgency of Wes’ request, but that was beside the point.
“Can’t we do like midnight or something?” Gale continued. How was this kid his right-hand man? What had he done in his past life to warrant this kind of insolence?
“You know what? I’ve changed my mind. Call the meeting, but don’t be there,” Wes snapped. “I can’t deal with you right now.”
Wisely, Gale summoned contrition. “No, no, it’s good!” he backpedaled. “I’ll do it. You can count on me, boss.”
“What did I just say about calling me ‘boss’?”
“Sorry.”
“Just do it, Gale.” Wes disconnected the call and drummed his fingers over the steering wheel as he formulated a plan over what needed to be done. If he did this, he would be digging himself into an even deeper hole. He’d lied to Landon Burke this long—what more could the leader of the Lycans do but eliminate him?
Was he making a mistake protecting Danica?
The question filled Wes with guilt. He’d never doubted that she was truly his mate. In a hundred and seventy-five years, he had never felt so strongly about another being, even before she’d been turned. Somehow, the universe had aligned him with an impossible mate, and he wasn’t in any position to dispute it. If he let her go, he would forever roam the earth alone.
Wes realized he was judging Danica again, but it was impossible not to think of what Emily, Audrey, and Hazel had endured at Gabriel’s hand.
In his soul, though, Wes knew that his desire to keep Danica safe overrode all the misgivings he might have. It was why he had kept her truth a secret for so long. Having her at the house, by his side, had only furthered his belief that she was his mate. He’d hoped she would stay.
She might have stayed if you hadn’t scared her off, he reminded himself. You need to bring her home now.
With a massive exhale of breath, Wes opened the door to the Lexus, his cell phone in hand. Danica was waiting for him. He was too far gone to ba
ck out now, even if he was making a huge mistake. There was nothing left to do except think of what he was going to say to his pack when he met with them that night—and bring Danica to safety.
Danica eyed him dubiously.
“Didn’t you hear what I said?” she asked, her face etched with worry. “I’m pregnant with Gabriel’s child.”
“I heard you,” Wes replied grimly, wishing she’d stop reminding him. “But you need to forget who the father of your child is.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Oh. Okay,” she muttered with some sarcasm. “I’ll do that.”
“Danica, who else knows about the child?” She shook her dark hair and peered at him warily.
“No one.”
Wes exhaled with relief. “Good. Keep it that way for now.”
“What are you thinking?” Danica murmured.
“I’m thinking that this is exactly what Gabriel has always wanted,” Wes explained. “It was the reason he turned women in the first place. He wanted to mate and grow his pack. When he learns about the baby, he’ll certainly be back for you.”
“He’ll be back anyway,” Danica muttered with less conviction than he’d heard in her voice before. Wes stifled a sigh.
“Maybe. Maybe not. He didn’t go back for the others,” he reminded her. “And he escaped from jail hours ago.”
“Maybe Landon Burke found him,” Danica offered, but Wes knew that wasn’t the case. He would have gotten word if it were.
“For argument’s sake, let’s assume he’s on the run somewhere. Where is the rest of the pack?” Wes wanted to know. He saw the uncertainty cross over her face.
“I… I can’t tell you,” she mumbled. Frustration coursed through Wes’ body.
“I’m trying to help you,” he snapped, his patience dissipating. “Why are you making this so difficult?”
“They’re… they’re my pack,” she breathed. “I shouldn’t have to explain that to you.”
“They’re an illegal pack!” Wes exploded. “They shouldn’t exist!”
