“Of course he will! He still loves me,” Pierce choked on the word as it left his lips. “None of you said anything about Nikolai fucking Markov being in the party!”
Stuart eyed the rogues in the van; they shrank back as well. No one wanted Pierce pissed at them. He’d taken off his own team members’ heads when he was pissed off.
“Well, we can only see so much. Nikolai Markov is known for his stealth. You know that, Pierce. He has a way of being there when you least expect it,” Petey said.
“This is why none of you do the damn thinking!” Pierce
scratched at his arms. “I feel fucking violated.”
“Well then, now you know how your victims feel,” Stuart said quietly.
“What did you just say?” Pierce growled, grabbing Stuart’s hair and yanking his head back.
“You’re a rapist, Pierce, and a murderer,” Stuart said calmly. “You won’t kill me, you can’t. I’m the only one who knows the ins and outs of Chance Christianson. You need me.” Stuart had never been so happy to have spent countless hours looking up every single piece of info on Chance. It was saving his life and he knew it.
Pierce leaned into Stuart’s face. “I don’t have to kill you, some things are worse than death. Watch your fucking tone, Stuart, I can find someone else.” Pierce moved to the passenger seat and looked back at the rogues all sitting quietly. “Next time you guys fuck up, you’re dead.”
~~ Logan watched Chance carefully on the ride home. He seemed distracted, maybe even worried. He took Chance’s hand and entwined their fingers together. Chance looked down at their hands, then up at him and Logan smiled. Something in Chance’s eyes worried him. They arrived back at the cabin and Chance went straight for the lake. Logan grabbed his hand, pulling Chance back to him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Chance avoided eye contact. “I just need to be alone for a while.”
“Oh.” Logan released Chance’s hand. “If you need me—” “I’ll be okay,”
Logan stood confused,
watching Chance walk down to the lake, head bowed, shuffling his feet. He felt a presence next to him and looked over to see Nikolai watching Chance retreat.
“Something’s going on with him,” Nikolai said.
“I got the same impression. What happened between here and the mall?”
Nikolai narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know.”
“When did you notice it?”
“Right after we left Pac Sun.”
Logan nodded. “Yep, that’s when I felt the shift in his
demeanor, too.”
“Keep an eye on him, I’ll pull up the mall’s security cameras and see if I can hack into Pac Sun’s cameras.”
“You can do that?” Logan asked in astonishment.
“I’m Nikolai Markov,” Nikolai winked. “I can do
anything.”
~~
Chance sat at the water’s edge and put his face in his hands. Why now? He was falling in love with Logan. Chance sighed.
Bullshit. He’d tripped and fallen a while ago. He loved Logan.
Chance sobbed. What was he going to do? If he stayed, he’d hurt Pierce. If he left, he’d hurt Logan. Pierce was his past, and as much as he’d loved him then, his feelings for Logan were stronger. But how could he possibly hurt Pierce like that?
The wolves of Denali circled him, the pups lying by his side.
“Any words of wisdom?” Chance mussed the pups’ fur.
Why hadn’t the packs told him Pierce was alive? He’d seen him with his own eyes; his eyes weren’t yellow. Why hadn’t they told him? Chance stood up and looked towards the sky. They still treated him as a child, that’s why. He knew they’d been keeping something from him and Pierce had to be that something. Chance’s hands shook at his sides. He was going to be twenty one and they still treated him like he was a fiveyear-old.
The wolves scattered as Chance’s anger rose. Energy pinged from him, the water in the lake began to ripple and the trees swayed as the wind picked up. Heat flared up his arms as his anger boiled within him. The air around him swirled like a funnel, pulling water from the lake.
Chance stood in the eye of his own storm. Lightning crackled as the funnel grew wider.
“Chance!”
Chance turned around; Locke was shielding his eyes from the water splashing against him. Chance closed his eyes, the air calmed and the water receded into the lake.
“What the fuck was that!” Locke shouted.
“That’s what happens when I get mad,” Chance said, walking by Locke.
Locke grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong? Talk to me, please.”
Chance stopped and glared at his alpha. He couldn’t tell him, he’d expose Pierce.
“I know you guys are keeping things from me; I’m not stupid! All the whispering, the meetings behind my back. I’m tired of being treated like a child! I can’t even pee alone!”
Locke’s mouth opened in surprise. “Look, Chance—”
“Stop lying!” Chance
shouted. “Just leave me alone!” Chance stalked up the path
mumbling under his breath. He ran right into someone and stopped. Logan’s face showed concern.
“Leave me alone.” Chance pushed by him.
“Chance, please wait.” Logan chased after him. Chance entered the cabin and tried to shut the door but Logan held it open with his hand. “Go away!”
Logan stepped inside the cabin and shut the door.
“Talk to me.”
“Get out before I get angry.” Chance balled his fists.
Logan stepped closer, taking Chance’s hand in his. “Talk to me,” he said softly.
“Logan.”
“You won’t hurt me, Chance. I trust you.” Logan pulled Chance’s face up to his own with his
fingertips. “Now, talk to me.”
Chance almost melted into those eyes. Logan’s eyes searched his. “What are you keeping from me?” Chance whispered. “Please tell me the truth, if you care for me at all—”
“I do care, more than you’ll ever know, Chance.”
“Then please, tell me,” Chance pleaded.
Logan motioned to the chair and Chance sat down. Logan crouched in front of him, taking his hands.
“We thought it best if we kept it from you, not because we thought you were a child, but to keep you from hurting.” Logan took a deep breath. “Pierce is alive, and living with rogues.”
“How long…?”
“Over a year now,” Logan looked into Chance’s eyes. “I wanted to tell you, I should have told you. We saw him in Ireland; he was fighting with them, Chance. His eyes weren’t completely yellow then, but they were
changing. We’d seen him before, in Arizona. That’s when I knew he was with the rogues even then. Pierce is dangerous, Chance. You didn’t know everything about him.”
Chance stood up and paced the room. “And no one thought I should know this? That I could make up my own mind?”
“We thought you’d want to help him, try to cure him. There is no cure, Chance. There is no way to save him.”
“How do you know? Maybe you’re just afraid I’ll go back to him.”
Logan stood up, his mouth open in astonishment. “If I thought there was a way, I’d make it happen for you, Chance. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“What if he’s not a rogue? What if you mistook his eyes or something?”
Logan shook his head sadly. “We didn’t. He was the
mastermind behind the attack on Scott, Chance. He had his men inject Scott with rogue saliva.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Chance crossed his arms. “You’re lying.”
“I would never lie to you,”
Chance’s eyes widened. “Are you joking? You have been for over a year!”
Logan scrambled for an explanation. “I wanted to protect you; I care about you, Chance!”
“Get out,” Chance said quietly.
�
�What? Chance…please…”
“I said get out!” Chance shouted.
Logan stepped back as the cabin rocked. Pictures fell off the wall and the floor shifted.
“Chance…”
“Get. Out.”
Logan turned, hand on the door knob. “I’m sorry,” he
whispered, then stepped out.
Chance crumpled to the floor crying. How could they have lied to him all this time? Pierce had been right. They thought he’d gone rogue and were trying to kill him. Chance wiped his eyes. Everything he thought he’d known had just been ripped out from underneath him.
~~ Logan sat outside the cabin for hours just listening to Chance cry. It ripped his heart apart that he’d hurt the one man he loved. He didn’t know how to make it right and he didn’t want to lose Chance over it. Logan stood up and wiped his pants off. He knocked on the cabin door softly.
“Chance…please let me in.” Logan waited, but the door didn’t open. He cracked it open and peeked inside. No sign of Chance. “Chance?”
“In here.” Logan shut the door behind him and looked around the quiet cabin. Chance’s sniffles were coming from the bathroom. Logan opened the door a crack; Chance was on the floor, his face red and puffy.
“I’m so sorry, Chance.” Chance wiped his nose. “There’s more.” Logan sat on
the bathroom floor.
“More?” Chance’s eyes
widened.
“Pierce was also behind the
attack on you at the house. He
knows what you are, Chance. He
knows everything. He knows you’ll
be coming into your powers at
twenty-one and he wants you in his
pack. They’ll be invincible with
you protecting them.” Logan
cleared his throat. “Pierce Barnes is a rapist and a murderer,
Chance.”
“That’s not true,” Chance
shook his head in denial. “It can’t
be.”
“We have his rap sheet.”
Logan sighed sadly. “I’m so sorry.
I wanted to tell you so many times.
I…I can’t lose you, Chance. You
mean too much to me. I’m so sorry
I lied to you.”
“How do I know you’re not
lying now?”
“You don’t; I don’t expect
you to believe me. I just wanted you to know everything.” Logan stood up. “I’ll go sleep at the
lodge.”
Chance stood up as Logan
left the bathroom. “You said you
cared,” Chance kept his eyes on
Logan. Logan stopped.
“I do care,”
“Then why are you leaving?” “I think you need time to
think, Chance. I don’t want to
influence you in any way. Just
know that anything I did, I did
because I wanted to protect you. I
won’t apologize for trying to keep
you safe.”
Chance crossed the room and
faced Logan. “Look me in my eyes
and swear.”
Logan ran his fingertip down
Chance’s cheek. He leaned in and
brushed his lips over Chance’s in a
feather-light kiss. He pulled away
slowly, his thumb caressing
Chance’s bottom lip.
“I swear, from now on you
will only get the truth from me.” “Please stay,” Chance
whispered. “I don’t want to be
alone.”
Logan nodded. “All right.” Chance rested on his side watching Logan asleep. The brief kiss from Logan had done more for him than any kiss from Pierce. Chance was confused and hurt; he didn’t know what to do. On one hand he was upset with Logan for lying to him. Even now he didn’t know who to believe. He’d seen Pierce with his own eyes. Chance sighed in frustration. Logan
moaned and rolled toward him, pulling Chance into his embrace. No matter what happened, Chance had a lot to think about.
~~
The next few days were tense as Chance avoided everyone. He spent all his time down at the lake communing with nature. He’d seen just how much damage he could do with the storm he conjured. Chance closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.
He hadn’t even spoken with Nikolai. Once he’d found out that Nikolai had known as well, the anger had risen so fast he’d had to run it off. Most of the packs had backed off, left him to himself, which suited him just fine. He’d kept the burner phone in his pocket at all times. He was running out of time and he needed to make the decision.
A breeze blew across the water, whipping around his face. Chance was startled by voices in the woods. He stood up and peered into the darkness. Someone was very angry.
“Fuck off, Cock!”
“Jude, come on!”
Chance covered the chuckle
rising as Hayden stalked out of the woods covered in mud. He wiped his face off and trudged toward the lake. That’s when Chance got a good whiff of Hayden. It wasn’t mud.
“Oh great,” Hayden sighed, seeing Chance laughing by the water. “Could you…?” Hayden made the motion with his hand for Chance to turn around.
“Sure,” Chance turned around chuckling. “Um, Jude angry with you?”
“What gave it away? The bear shit all over me?”
Chance waved his hand in front of his nose. “Jesus, you stink.”
Hayden walked into the lake up to his waist and cleaned his hair.
“So, Jude’s mad at you? What did you do?”
Hayden dipped his head underwater and then stood, shaking the water out of it. “Let’s just say I was an asshole when I was
younger. I bullied him when all I really wanted was to be close to him.”
Chance turned around and immediately covered his eyes. “Damn!”
“I wasn’t done yet,” Hayden laughed. “Is there any way I could get you to grab me a towel and some of my clothes?”
“Yeah, just…stay there,” Chance cracked up.
“Ha, ha.” Hayden put his hands on his hips.
Chance walked the path and spotted Jude hiding behind a tree. Chance stood quietly with a grin on his face.
“Jude?”
Jude jumped at the voice. “Fuck! Don’t do that!”
“See something you like?” Chance grinned.
Jude frowned. “Don’t you dare tell him I was watching him!”
“What’s it worth to ya?”
“Chance Christianson…” Jude growled.
“Oh, get over it. I won’t tell.” Chance tilted his head to the side. “If you think he’s hot—”
“Just because he’s attractive doesn’t mean I forgive him!” Jude spun on his heel and walked back toward the lodge.
“So you do find him hot?” Chance laughed as Jude cursed. Chance continued to Hayden’s cabin. It was essentially the same as his - one bathroom, living room, kitchenette and a bedroom. Chance went to the dresser and pulled out some jeans and a T-shirt. If Hayden wanted underwear, he’d have to get it himself. Chance wasn’t about to touch the man’s boxers, or briefs, or …well, whatever.
Closing the drawer, his eye caught a manila folder on top of the
dresser. Curiosity got the best of him and Chance took a peek. The folder heading was Stuart
Macavoie.
Chance flipped it open and took a look. The man was maybe in his thirties, with coal-black hair cropped short and deep green eyes. He was good looking. Chance read a little more in the file. Mr.
Macavoie had been a veterinarian. Chance’s eyes widened at the underlined word in red.
Rogue.
There were more files
underneath. Chance picked up the second one and was about to open it, when the front door of the cabin opened. He grabbed the clothing and stopped in the bathroom for a bottle of shampoo and
a towel. He walked into the living room and found Ross in the kitchenette.
“Hey,” Ross nodded,
noticing the clothes. “What’s up?”
“Hayden got…” Chance grinned, “shit on him.”
Ross chuckled. “Jude?”
“Yep, I’m going to take him some clothes.” Chance opened the door.
“Chance.”
Chance turned. “Yes?”
“We wanted to tell you.” Ross crossed the room to Chance. “The final word was Wayne’s. So if you want to be angry with
someone…”
Chance almost choked
laughing. “Yeah, because I’m going to scream at the alpha of the
created ones.” Chance smiled at Ross. “I have to get back to
Hayden before he freezes.”
~~
Chance got back to the lake to see Hayden shivering. He
handed him the shampoo and turned around again.
“Thanks, Chance,” Hayden scrubbed his hair and face. Once he was satisfied he’d gotten all the shit off, he coughed quietly.
“Towel?”
Chance handed the towel to Hayden. “So, Jude won’t listen at all?”
Hayden rubbed his hair dry and dried off his torso. He grabbed the jeans from Chance’s
outstretched hand.
“No, not that I blame him, though.”
Chance finally turned around to face Hayden. The man was at least six foot three, with broad shoulders and massive biceps. A slim waist was outlined nicely by the form-fitting jeans. Chance’s eyes traveled up to Hayden’s face. He had a square jaw and a regal nose. Pale blue eyes were smiling at him.
“Thought you were into Logan?”
Chance flushed. “I am, doesn’t mean I can’t look. I can see why you find Jude attractive; it’s his eyes, isn’t it?”
“It’s so much more than that. Even at ten he was beautiful. My dad was part of his pack; the gene skipped me so I was the odd one out. I think that made me feel less than and I took it out on Jude a lot. I had a hard time being attracted to a guy, too.”
“So if it skipped you…?”
“My parents were attacked by rogues when I was sixteen. My dad was afraid they’d kill me and when it came down to it, he bit me and put me in the safe room.”
“Did they…?” Chance swallowed hard.
“They died protecting me.” Hayden sighed sadly. “After that, Jonas took me in, trained me, paid for my college and when I was eighteen, I joined the Army. From there I went to Delta Force. Ross and Noah were already a part of Jonas’ pack so when I came on, they welcomed me. Neither one of them wanted the position of beta so it fell to me.” Hayden pulled his shirt on. “I’m sorry; I’m just going on and on. How are you? I know you’re still angry.”
Betrayed Page 6
