Pact of the Pack

by Deidre Huesmann

  “I’m home,” he announced.

  Lacey looked up from her laptop, cozied up with one of Sage’s blankets on the couch. It was odd in the midday heat, but not so odd with the air conditioner on full blast. Her brown eyes were cool as she assessed him. “You’re in a good mood, sweetie.”

  Her endearment fell flat. Holden tried not to show it bothered him as he joined her on the couch. “What’d you find?”

  She turned the laptop toward him. “I don’t know why you want Reno so badly. Vegas is a better choice.”

  Las Vegas was where they had met Sage. Lacey didn’t want practicality; she wanted to remain close to the ghost of her fallen friend, comrade, and lover. Biting back his criticisms, Holden explained patiently, “Olivia may not be in Paradise for the moment, but we don’t know if or when she’ll be back. Besides, there’s much more for us to do in Reno. Trust me.”

  She shot him a look that clearly said she didn’t. But Lacey shrugged rather than argue.

  While Holden perused the property for rent and sale she’d dredged up, small feet bounded eagerly down the stairs. Laelia’s dreamy voice wafted through the room. “Ho-o-olden, are you home?” Just days ago that voice might have rubbed his nerves raw, but now it was like joyful music to his ears.

  Though Lacey didn’t appear to agree. “Yes,” she snapped.

  Holden paused to smile at his redheaded beta. “Hello, Laelia. Thank you again, by the way.”

  Beside him, Lacey stiffened.

  Laelia smiled, pleased with herself. “Did you find them?”

  “Who?” demanded Lacey.

  Holden nodded to Laelia before looking to his to-be-former Primary. “Laelia found Aaron and his pack,” said Holden calmly. “While you and I have been sulking, she’s kept her ears and connections opened, and she really came through for us.”

  Lacey blinked, wide-eyed. But she had the sense to look to Laelia and say, “Thank you. That was... awfully kind.”

  When Laelia smiled, it seemed unusually sharp. “Not really,” she said sweetly. “Just doing my job.”

  “I’m sure,” muttered Lacey.

  Holden ignored her. “You did fantastic, Laelia.”

  Jealousy colored Lacey’s voice as she bit. “So is that where you really went? To pay them a visit?” Her eyes flashed. “Did you go to ogle, or did you get anything done?”

  Her snarky attitude was quickly wearing on his patience. With a scowl, Holden said, “Yes, Lacey, I did something. Can you give me two seconds so I can explain, or are you too busy acting like a bitch?”

  She stared at him, stunned into silence. For good reason; Holden couldn’t recall a time he’d ever deliberately insulted her.

  Holden felt some of his ire seep away, but he didn’t apologize. “We can’t kill them. Not as we are now. Aaron’s too strong, and his entire pack is too resourceful. I’ll give him this: he builds a fantastic defense, and they have a lot of luck on their side.”

  Laelia sidled over to where they sat, but was wise enough not to make any moves right there. Instead she settled into an adjacent chair, watching with shining lapis lazuli eyes.

  Trying to ignore the flood of memories of fucking her on his bedroom floor, Holden forced his mind back to his morning in Reno. “I’ll admit I was hoping for a lot of luck on my end, too, but it paid off. I cornered Rachael in one of the stairwells at the hotel.” He grinned. “And I infected her.”

  Lacey’s jaw dropped. Laelia nodded as though it were the most obvious outcome in the world.

  Spluttering, Lacey finally uttered, “You infected her? Don’t you dare tell me you brought her back here!”

  “No, Lacey,” said Holden patiently. “That would be stupid.”

  “Then why bother?”

  Laelia gasped and clapped her hands. “Oh! I know. Let me try!” Holden nodded to her, and she practically squealed, “To slow them down!”

  “Points to Laelia,” said Holden approvingly.

  Lacey frowned but, surprisingly, didn’t bite Laelia’s head off. “That’s good,” she said slowly. “So wherever they were planning to go next, now they’re stuck. And they’ll be so busy taking care if her that we can overwhelm them easily.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say easily,” admitted Holden. “But it’ll definitely wear them down. We have anywhere from two weeks to two months. Knowing Ray, I’ll give it right around a month.”

  “Why?” inquired Laelia with genuine curiosity.

  Lacey was the one who answered. “Because she’s too weak for a short period, but her will is strong.” Her praise came with utmost reluctance, tinged with bitterness. “She’s survived a lot of stupid things and come out with only some mental scars.”

  Holden almost spoke, but what Laelia said with startling clarity gave him pause. “That’s so weird, especially since she hated watching me and Holden.”

  Lacey glowered at her.

  Slowly, Holden turned to her as well. He tried to choose his words carefully so as not to show how she had disturbed him. “I’ll grant she wasn’t as into it as I thought, but she was aroused. I could tell.”

  Troubled eyes turned back to him. “No,” said Laelia quietly. “She hated it. And she couldn’t control how her body reacted, so she was ashamed.”

  “What would you know,” growled Lacey.

  Unease prickled through Holden. He waved for his soon-to-be-ex-Primary to be silent. “Why would you say that, Laelia?”

  Laelia blinked. “Because when I was raped, that’s how it happened to me.”

  That she said it so bluntly startled them both. Queasiness roiled Holden’s stomach. He wasn’t certain how to react—pity for Laelia, shock at the revelation, or shame that he hadn’t thought of it first.

  Holden flexed his fingers to ease their sudden rigidity. “Laelia,” he said. “If it’s happened to you, and you knew, why didn’t you say anything? Or stop me?”

  Now she seemed frustrated. “Because you both asked me to. And you’re my alpha. I figured you had a reason for it. I’m new to this lycan thing, I don’t know how it all works! You ask, and I do. That’s all I know.”

  Holden clenched his jaw.

  Beside him, Lacey said scathingly, “Oh, have a damn thought of your own for once. No wonder you’re the lowest in the pack.”

  “Yeah,” said Holden tightly. “About that. Impromptu meeting. I’ve been meaning to bring this up, but now seems as good a time as any.” He looked directly at Lacey, and for the first time that afternoon, the realization that something major was about to upset her finally seemed to occur. She started to protest, but Holden cut her off. “No. Listen, both of you.”

  “Holden—”

  “God damn it, Lacey, listen to me for once!”

  Holden seethed in his ill-won silence. The longer he had to deal with her bitterness, the less willing he was to put up with her. It was in that moment he realized an uncomfortable connection to Aaron: trying to reign in those beneath you, as an alpha, was maddening.

  Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Holden didn’t speak until he was certain his voice wouldn’t waver. “I’ve had two months to consider this. And if I’m being honest, I didn’t give it much thought until last night.”

  He glanced at Laelia, hoping she could hold her tongue. But for the moment her eyes were dreamily glazed. Holden continued, “Considering how bad morale has been, I’ve decided to abolish the position of Primary altogether. From this point forward, I am alpha, and as far as sex goes, you two can do as you please. As will I.” He paused for emphasis. “Alone.”

  Surprisingly, Laelia was the one who reacted with shock. Her eyes widened. To the side of him Lacey closed her eyes, a pained expression knitting her face down the middle.

  “Sweetie,” she said softly. The pet name was like a hand rubbing his fur the wrong way, and Holden glared at her. But Lacey didn’t seem to notice. “Don’t you think you’re being rash?”

  “No,” he stated.

  Lacey’s shoulders heaved. Her eyes were sur
prisingly alive when she opened them. “I don’t think you’ve thought it through.”

  “I have.”

  “Holden, sweetie—”

  He grabbed her laptop, tearing it from her hands. Lacey emitted a small cry as Holden stood and flung the equipment to the nearest wall. It shattered upon impact, the screen snapping free from the keyboard and bouncing back into the coffee table. The bottom half fell to the floor atop a few loose keys.

  Fuming, Holden spun to Lacey. “I’ve had it with your bullshit,” he snarled. “Primary never gave you alpha status, but you sure seemed to think so. If that’s what you want, then go. Make your own pack. I don’t need someone who tries to usurp me, and I sure as hell don’t need a Primary who’d rather chase a ghost than pay any attention to her so-called boyfriend. I miss Sage and Nadine, too, but you never saw me put my feelings for you on hold!”

  Lacey leapt to her feet. “No, maybe not for them, but you did for her! Everybody comes second to fucking Rachael, don’t they? I did, Nadine did, Sage did—Laelia does, too, she’s just too stupid to notice!”

  “Even if I ever preferred Rachael to you—which I didn’t—I always deferred to you,” shouted Holden. “I put you and your comfort first! I listened to you about tying her up, about letting Sage take her, about fucking Laelia in front of her—”

  He stopped cold, and a new rage began to swell. So many pieces suddenly clicked into place, both from tonight and several weeks prior. “How much of sleeping with Laelia in front of Rachael was you manipulating me, Lacey? Well?”

  “None of it! All of it! Who cares? Your words mean nothing, Holden! She always, always, always came first!” Lacey screamed. She inhaled sharply, her eyes blazing as renewed vigor flowed through her coiled muscles. “You know what, yes. Yes, Holden. Sage asked me to let her kill Rachael. That’s right, Sage begged me to!” Ferocity laced her words at his stunned faltering. “Poor Sage, bless her dead heart, which your precious Rachael stabbed, saw how that skank was tearing us all apart. She said you were too star-struck to notice, so she wanted to help! And Sage loved me so much she wanted to do it herself, so you wouldn’t get mad at me.”

  Abruptly Lacey burst into tears. A multitude of emotion threatened to sweep Holden over the edge. He clung tightly, knowing he was on the verge of getting a full confession from his girlfriend—if he could even call her that anymore.

  After a wretched sob, Lacey continued to yell, “You say you deferred to me, but we both know if you got to infect her and she wanted it, you’d have ousted me for Primary. You’d have given it to her. All she had to do was tell you to scorch the earth, and if it meant she’d love you again, you’d do it. Your pack means nothing to you. We’re nothing to you, Holden Cavanaugh! And until you can get your swollen head out of your ass, I’m done with you, you bastard!”

  She shoved past him then, completely ignoring Laelia’s awestruck expression as she stomped up the stairs. Within moments the door to Lacey’s room slammed, and the distinct sound of crying reached Holden.

  He stood in the living room, still pumped with adrenaline. And he felt... sick.

  Powerful, proud of himself for making a strong decision, still pleased with his earlier mission, but sick, nonetheless.

  Holden should have been angrier. Lacey had all but confessed to betraying him every step of the way. In fact, even after her rage, Holden could easily see how Sage’s death had been unnecessarily brought on by Lacey—and how the guilt must consume her daily, explaining her frozen attitude.

  But then, it was also his fault, since Sage had only reacted to his fawning over Rachael.

  And yet, Lacey had been the one to manipulate him into screwing Laelia in front of Rachael....

  Holden sank to the couch, depleted of all energy. When Laelia attempted to crawl into his lap, he tiredly shoved her off. It should have been a day for victory and movement, he thought glumly. Now it just seemed a day for regret.

  The irony that he wondered how Aaron would have handled Lacey didn’t escape him.

  Chapter Five

  Nathan found it difficult to leave Rachael’s side, even at Eva’s urging. About the only time he rushed to was when the damp cloth on Rachael’s forehead became warm, or if she started to shiver and he scrambled to roll the blankets from the end of the bed over her again.

  Fear sent tremors through him when he considered Rachael might not make it. Just as frightening was wondering what she would become as a lycan.

  The change inevitably transformed anybody. It didn’t matter how strong the will was, how human one wanted to remain. Turning into a lycan meant you were less human. Whether you liked it or not, certain things became more important and other things became less. Since Rachael practically burst with human emotions, Nathan worried what all she would lose, and how much she would change.

  He didn’t want her to.

  Nathan reached out to flip her cooling cloth over. Once his fingers grazed her forehead Rachael flinched. Her eyes fluttered open briefly, and she licked parched lips.

  “Nathan?” she asked hoarsely.

  “Yeah,” he said eagerly, leaning forward. “I’m here. So’s Eva.”

  She groaned and rolled over to her side. The cloth on her forehead flopped to the mattress with a sad, wet whump. “Where’s Jackie?”

  Behind Nathan, Eva said quietly, “With Aaron and Ana Sofia, trying to find new quarters.”

  Guilt misted her already clouded eyes. Rachael mumbled a pathetic apology. Then, before either of them could respond, she appeared to pass out again.

  Blowing a breath out between his lips, Nathan picked up the washcloth and hurried to the bathroom. He waited for the running water to cool before wetting, wringing, and carrying it back out.

  Before he could place it on Rachael’s forehead, a slender hand stopped him. Eva ignored his protests and removed the washcloth from his grip and shot him a hard, knowing look. But to Nathan’s annoyance, she said nothing and smoothed it out over Rachael’s forehead.

  “I can watch her,” said Eva in her flat voice. “Maybe you should check the hall and see if anyone suspicious is around. If someone infected her, they could have been waiting for Aaron to leave before striking.”

  Nathan frowned at her. “It wasn’t someone. It was Holden.”

  She glanced at him, her thin brow furrowed. “A likely suspect, but how do you know for certain?”

  “I can smell him,” he said quietly. “Holden was in my pack for over a hundred years. I know his smell.”

  Eva’s mouth twitched. “The fragrance of multiple women?”

  Nathan grinned. It was nice when he wasn’t treated solely like the kid his small stature portrayed. “That’s new. I dunno where it came from. Holden never looked at girls before Rachael.”

  With raised eyebrows, Eva glanced at her sister-in-law. Carefully, she said, “There’s a theory as old as time, that once the seal is broken, it’s hard to maintain self-control. Perhaps that explains Holden.” She shifted away from the blonde beside her and then murmured, “What puzzles me is all the men’s fascination with her.”

  With narrowed eyes, Nathan demanded, “What’s wrong with Miss Rachael?”

  “Nothing,” said Eva simply. “She’s a nice girl. Strong. Resilient. Still has a sense of empathy, which is somewhat impressive after all she’s been through. Though I guess some people are just born with it.”

  “So?”

  “So she’s not that unusual,” mused Eva. “I’ve met many a girl like her in my lifetime, even prior to my infection. But something about her draws three different men to her.”

  Nathan started to argue, but then noted her number. “Who’s the third?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You.”

  “I—” It was one thing to feel it in private, even to admit it to his brother, who was the most important person in his life, but embarrassment flooded Nathan as she called him out on it. “It’s not like that.”

  Eva almost didn’t seem to hear him. “You have to wonder if an
y of you will feel the same after she’s a lycan,” she murmured. “If she lives through it, that is.”

  A hot need to defend Rachael’s chances swelled within Nathan. But the look on Eva’s face choked his words off at the base of his throat. She’d been in the pack for over three years now, and he knew her better than that. For all her cold words, Eva was attempting to rationalize losing Rachael. Though she didn’t know the young woman well, she was still Jackson’s sister. Anything that wounded Eva’s husband would hurt her as well.

  So Nathan swallowed his anger and decided to give his packmate a break. “I’ll check the hallway.”

  Eva nodded.

  He cast one final look at Rachael’s disquieting form before heading for the door. Nathan paused to listen and smell for anybody lurking outside. When nothing struck him, he pushed the weighted slab open and meandered into the hall.

  As soon as the door shut he frowned; he had the keycard to the adjoining room, but not that one. He supposed it didn’t matter. Yet that he lacked immediate access unsettled him.

  Nathan shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered down the hall. A few hotel guests gave him curious glances, but he looked just old enough to not seem lost. Nobody questioned him. He made his way to a vending machine hidden behind a small nook and rummaged a pocket for change. Finding none, he grumbled the way a ten year-old might and kicked the worn carpet.

  Nothing seemed amiss on their floor, so he decided to take the elevator up. He knew Aaron’s rules for elevators, but Nathan wasn’t concerned. He pressed the upward triangular button and waited impatiently.

  The contraption dinged and as soon as the doors opened he slipped inside, ignoring the surly glares of other guests. But while he waited for the elevator to rise, a particular sense of wrong struck him. He sniffed quietly and rubbed his nose as though he had a cold, but he was searching.

  Nobody in the enclosed space was a lycan, but one had been here recently—and none from his pack. Nathan knew all their smells like he knew every line in the palm of his hand.