“Your brother… the alpha,” she began, her hesitation making him curl his hands into fists at his side.
“Yes?” he asked with a growl. If he found out he’d done something to hurt her—
“He’s very kind.”
He reared back a little like he’d been physically struck. Hunter had always been his idol, but he knew he was a hard male. He liked order, and that’s what made him the perfect alpha.
“You seem surprised.”
“I am surprised. Hunter is well known for being demanding and getting his way.”
Her eyes widened then, looking ahead, and said, “He said I could stay here if I wanted to… even after my car got fixed.”
He gasped, then got his shit together because this was great news. “He did?”
Layla bobbed her head. Reaching out, she ran her hands over a spruce tree whose boughs were close enough to touch. “Yes.” She opened her mouth once more, then shut it.
Indecision marred her features as she glanced over at him, then looked away. “I want to tell you about my pack.”
“I’m here to listen to whatever you have to say.” And, goddammit, he meant it. He had never given a shit about what a female had to say before—except for Casey—but he found himself hanging on every word Layla had to say to him. Hell, he even wanted the words that were spat at him in irritation when her wolf came out to play.
“I’m not telling you because I have to. I’m telling you because I want to, and I need to find the courage now because I’ll be saying this all again to Hunter tomorrow.”
Reaching out, he threaded his fingers through hers, smiling when she didn’t pull away.
“Mitchell is the alpha of the Rogue Wolves,” she started, her voice strong. But then she swallowed and added, “And he’s a monster.”
He tightened his fingers around hers but said nothing. There wasn’t anything he could say right now, anyway. All he could offer her was his strength and the backbone to stay and listen. Yeah, his wolf was already baying to rip the bastard apart, but he kept his shit locked down and focused on keeping Layla calm.
“He works in cruelty and threats. He runs his pack like it’s his own personal bank, withdrawing funds whenever he feels like it, letting young wolves starve. He takes seventy percent of our wages as payment for protection, no matter how much we earn. I earned enough to afford the dues, but just barely. My apartment was the same size as my room here, and my fridge was always bare.”
Riley bit his tongue until he tasted blood. The bastard was going to pay for this.
“He didn’t care how much you earned… he always took the same amount.” She turned her head, letting him see her wolf peering through her eyes, and when she spoke again, her voice held a dangerous edge. “He preyed on our weakness.”
They walked a few hundred feet in silence, the sound of the wind passing through the spruce calming.
“He’s building a pack based on lies and deceit. He’s building a pack where starvation and poverty are their only option. He’s building a pack to line his pockets, and it has to stop.”
“You’ve got that fucking right.” His voice morphed, his vocal cords not his own anymore but his wolf’s.
“There’s something else, though,” she added in a small voice. Her wolf had finally fled her, but that didn’t matter because he was there, and he would be her strength. “Not many female wolves are made. I was one of two. The other female, Gia, is being held in isolation by Mitchell.”
Riley didn’t even bother to hold back the savage snarl that screamed through his throat. He’d always been taught to protect females, to care for them, to make sure no harm came to them, but this Mitchell fucker was shitting all over that belief.
“Were you ever…” Jesus, he couldn’t even finish the sentence. He didn’t want to know whether she’d been sexually abused.
“No. I… no, he didn’t. But when I was being punished, he would give me to Lucas, his lead soldier. Lucas wasn’t interested in sex. He was more interested in pain, and he would find his pleasure in mine.”
Riley had no words. He literally saw red. His wolf shifted beneath his skin, begging to be let out, to rip out the throats of both Mitchell and Lucas. His breath streamed through his nose as he tried to leash his wolf and his instincts. He didn’t want to, but with Layla standing there, he wouldn’t risk hurting her. Then, he would just be like those bastards.
Swallowing convulsively, he tried to speak. When he finally did, his words were warped and dangerous. “I’m going to kill them.” He turned to look at her, surprised to see her wolf staring out of her eyes. “I vow to you I’m going to kill them.”
She blinked rapidly, and the fierce expression her wolf wore melted away, replaced by a female who had lived with fear, had worn fear for way too long. “There is one male who was kind. He gave me the car and the money to escape.”
“The Jetta? That’s his?”
She nodded. “Ben, the pack’s beta, knew what was going on. He’s been trying to get me away for months now. He said Gia would be more difficult to get out given her captivity, but he said he could save me.”
Riley spun around to face her, framing her face in his hands. He was going to erect a fucking statue to Ben if he had to. “And for that, I will be eternally grateful.”
Layla fisted his shirt, holding on to him. Her wolf slid in and out of focus, and the desire to claim her was bringing him to his knees. She’d just bared her damaged soul to him, though, and he wasn’t about to add to her plate. So instead of kissing her like he wanted to, he wrapped her in his arms and held her. She was shivering, but he knew it had nothing to do with the cold wind whipping around them.
“You’re safe with me, Layla. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She tightened her arms around his waist, burying her face in his neck. The smell of her tears was like a dagger through his heart, but he would endure it all for her.
Riley walked Layla back to the house, but he wasn’t calm enough to talk anymore. Rage battered against his chest, threatening to crush his ribs.
“What would you like to do?” he asked her softly, happy to hear he sounded relatively normal.
“Maybe lie down for a little while?”
“Of course.” Taking her up to her room, he helped her get into bed, then returned downstairs. He tried hard to keep the murderous intent off his face as he walked her into the living room, then caught Hunter’s eyes.
His brother went from relaxed to alert in a heartbeat.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he said to Ava, who was lounging in his lap with Grace in hers. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Ava turned to see the expression on Riley’s face and sat up, freeing her mate. Riley stalked away from the living room, going directly to the office where they could shut the door and get some privacy.
“Talk to me,” Hunter said, sitting behind the desk. Riley told him everything, leaving no detail out. All of this was the ammunition and the proof they needed against Mitchell.
“I knew it!” Hunter slammed his fist against the blotter, his eyes flashing gold. “I knew something shady was going on up there. I just had no idea of the depravity.”
“We have to get that other female out. Gia?” Riley said, pacing.
“You’re goddamn right,” his alpha replied. Picking up his phone, he sent a text, and a moment later, both Dylan and Oliver were there.
“Dylan, I need you to go to Maine.”
“Done. When?”
“Tomorrow.” Hunter filled him in, and by the time he was done, Riley’s anger had two more companions. There really was nothing like rage to bond brothers together.
“Should I take a team?”
“No,” Hunter said. “This will purely be a rescue for now. We need Gia out of the way because if Mitchell reacts how I think he’s going to react, his first task would be to get rid of the evidence of his dealings.”
“I’ll bring her back.”
Hunter nodded. “Oliver, I ne
ed you to assemble a team to go in with force. We need to eradicate the hierarchy, the beta, and the enforcers.”
“Not the beta,” Riley said. “Ben helped Layla get out of there. He deserves our protection, too.”
Oliver snapped his teeth together. “He may have helped Layla get out, but what about the other wolves who are currently at the mercy of his psychopath?”
“We can’t be gung-ho about this. We need a strategic plan which is why I need Oliver to assemble the team.”
“You know, none of this could’ve happened if there were a governing body of some kind,” Riley said.
“What do you mean?” Hunter asked.
“I mean, there needs to be some sort of policing of the packs. Everyone needs to be accounted for, but the governing body needs to be impartial.”
“But who would it be? It couldn’t be a werewolf.”
“It couldn’t be a human,” Dylan shot back.
Riley slumped down into the chair and ran his hands through his hair. “We need a board… representatives from every pack.”
Hunter nodded, his eyes a solid gold color. “I agree. I’m going to call the other alphas and see what we can set up. In the meantime, we’re moving against the Rogues since they’re breaking all the fucking rules right now.”
Riley agreed the fuckers needed to be taken down, but this was the gray area where a governing body would rule. Well, they didn’t have that governing body, so marshal law it was. For now.
“Riley,” Hunter said. “Take care of Layla. Convince her to stay here with us. I don’t like the idea of her roaming around without a pack to protect her.”
“I understand why she wouldn’t want a pack,” he replied. “Look at the example that’s been set for her. Why would she volunteer for more of that, for males taking advantage of her?”
“Because she’s your goddamn mate, and you know it. Make her see it, too.”
Riley turned to look at Dylan and Oliver. Their eyes were hooded, not giving anything away.
“Okay,” he agreed.
“Right. Now, can we please get back to enjoying Thanksgiving? Ava will fucking kill me if I miss any more of it.”
They all agreed, but Riley stopped him and asked, “Is this what’s been bothering you the last few weeks?”
His brother grunted. “Rhett told me he heard rumors. I’m inclined to listen to him since his territory is south of ours. And if the rumors made it down to him, there must be some truth in them.”
Riley squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll nail their fucking asses to the wall.”
Hunter’s responding smile was fierce and filled with his wolf’s teeth. “You’re goddamn right about that.”
Chapter Eight
Layla was exhausted by the time they’d finished Thanksgiving dinner. She helped to clear the dishes again because her mother told her that to show appreciation for something, you had to work. Actions spoke louder than words. Everyone else had left except for Ava, Hunter’s mate. The two of them worked in companionable silence until the table was clear, the industrial dishwasher was humming in the butler’s pantry, and there was just one dish left on the counter.
With a smile, Ava pulled out two forks and handed one to Layla. Picking up the dish, she put it between them.
“I love pumpkin pie,” she said as soon as she slid a forkful into her mouth. “It reminds me of growing up, of my mother, and… happiness.”
Layla took her own mouthful even though she wasn’t sure she could fit much more in. She’d eaten more in twenty-four hours here than she had in the last two months at home. “I know what you mean. My mom used to make a mean pumpkin pie.”
“I’m sorry she’s not with you anymore,” the other female said.
Layla was too. Tears threaten to spill down her face, but she sucked in a breath and forced the pain away. She’d become adept at doing that the last four years.
“A story for another time, perhaps,” she said. Taking another forkful of pie, she chewed it slowly then said, “Tell me about how you met Hunter.”
The other female’s face practically lit up at the mention of her mate. “If we’re going to talk about Hunter, we’ll need to sit down.”
Once they were settled, Ava placed her fork down and clasped her hands together in front of her. “We met purely by chance. I’d been bitten and left for dead when I stumbled across the Alfheim territory. I was placed with Hunter to adjust to the changes in my new body, and…” She drifted off, smiling.
“You fell in love?”
The other woman huffed a laugh. “I fell in love with Grace first. Hunter was a little harder to wrap my head around.”
“Because he’s an alpha?”
Ava picked up her fork and scooped some pie. “No, because he was an asshole with his head stuck up his ass.”
Layla’s laugh burst from her lips, and when she started, she couldn’t stop.
Reaching out, Ava touched her arm. “Here’s the thing about these brothers… once they’ve decided your theirs, that’s it. Game over. Now, I’m not saying you have to agree. If you really don’t want Riley, he’ll respect the hell out of that wish, but it will eventually break him. That goes both ways, though. I left Hunter for a couple of months after I realized I loved him.”
“You did?” Layla put down her fork and sat back in her chair. “Why? And why did you come back?”
Ava smiled. “I left because I needed to close off my old life. I was a surgeon in Seattle. I had a job, a house. I had friends, but I realized that none of that mattered if I didn’t have Hunter, too.”
“So, you gave it all up for him?”
“I chose to start a new life with him. They are two very different things.”
Layla thought about her own work, how nursing had filled a void in her soul. She loved it. She loved being able to look after people, put them at ease, and sometimes make them smile when they needed to. She’d walked away from that passion four years ago, but not because of want, but because of need.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Layla sucked in a breath and let it out. “I’m a qualified nurse,” she said, nodding when Ava’s eyes flared. “I had to give it up four years ago after I was turned. Mitchell, my alpha, forbade me to go, and I had no choice but to obey. I got a job as a waitress after that, but the pay had been terrible, and I felt so unfulfilled.”
“Why didn’t you leave the pack then?”
“My mother,” Layla replied, wiping away the tear that was sliding down her cheek. “She was still in Maine, and she was the only family I had left. The same year I was changed was the same year I found out she had cancer. They’d given her twelve months to live.” She traced a pattern on the table, repeating it over and over again. “She ended up hanging on for four years. She passed away last week.”
Ava stood and sat down beside her, wrapping her arm over her shoulder. “I am so sorry, honey.”
Layla shrugged but welcomed the affection. It seemed like an age since she’d gotten any. She was slightly embarrassed how she’d clung to Riley outside, but being close to him had felt so right. “I got thirty-six more months than I thought I was going to get with her. I’m not sorry.”
“Life can be unfair,” she murmured. “But I also think life has a way of putting you exactly where you need to be, too.” Giving her one last squeeze, the other woman sat back in her chair. “Has Riley told you about the clinic I’m about to start up? It’s for female werewolves specifically. I could use someone with your skills on the team.”
Layla blinked. “Really?”
“Sure. I’ve managed to find a doctor who’s willing to move here, but nursing staff? Forget about it. I would love it if you could stay.”
She wiped a hand under her nose. “Hunter did say I could stay.”
“And I hope you do,” Ava replied with a smile. “And not just for you, but for Riley, too.”
“What do you mean?”
The grin she gave Layla was conspiratory. “I mean, I’ve seen
the way he looks at you and looks after you. That male is smitten.”
Layla thought about it, finally acknowledging what she’d suspected. He was perhaps the nicest male she’d ever met, and she knew in her bones he wouldn’t hurt her. In fact, she suspected he’d move heaven and earth to protect her from almost everything.
“I like him, Ava.”
Ava’s eyes drifted over the top of Layla’s head before returning to her face. “Then, I think you should really consider staying here.” She squeezed her hand and stood, taking the pie tin with her.
Heaving a sigh, Layla stood too, then froze when she saw Riley standing in the doorway. She mentally cursed herself for not using her nose like she usually did. She was always on alert, but she’d grown comfortable here too quickly. As she studied Riley, his eyes were the wild violet of his wolf. Instead of fear zinging through her body, a thrill of desire shot through her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, stepping into the kitchen. Ava squeezed his arm as she passed him on the way out, leaving them alone.
“Tired,” she replied.
Another step closer. “Would you like to come for a run with me and my brothers?” At her raised brows, he added with an embarrassed flush of his cheeks, “We play capture the flag after Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Okay.”
Chapter Nine
Riley placed a possessive hand on the small of Layla’s back and escorted her out the front porch to where Hunter, Dylan, and Oliver were all waiting. They were all stripping out of their clothes, sucking in hissed breaths as the cool night air wrapped around their naked bodies. Layla looked away when Riley started to undress, and he hid his smile. Nudity wasn’t a big deal for him, but for a new wolf like Layla, he guessed she still had some hang-ups.
She hugged herself more tightly, a small smile curving her mouth. Propelled by instinct, he pressed a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth, then stepped away. She spun to face him, her eyes dancing gold.
“Riley, you coming?” Hunter called, already walking toward the tree line.
The Helheim Wolf Pack Novellas: The Complete Collection Page 12
