by Ellen Lane
Only to find it wasn’t locked.
Slowly, she pulled it open to peer down the dark hallway. It was, in fact, far later than she imagined - probably close to midnight if the pitch black beyond the windows was any indication. If Georgia strained, she could hear voices coming from the room beyond the hallway, and she pressed herself against the wall just outside the doorway to listen.
“You’re supposed to be resting, not chatting up the human.” The Alpha - Solomon - spoke with grim authority.
But Hunter didn’t seem too terribly intimidated.
“She just woke up. She’s scared and she has no idea where she is. Am I supposed to ignore her?”
“You’re supposed to be letting Anne check out that eye. There might still be something she can do.”
Hunter made a frustrated sound. “Come off it, Solomon. You and I both know that’s it. I’m stuck. And Anne has a shit ton more on her hands than worrying about me.”
There was a terse silence that made Georgia shiver slightly in discomfort. “Besides,” Hunter finally continued. “You know I have your back, regardless of this. It’ll take more than a scratch to put me down.”
“Don’t joke about it, Hunter!” Solomon’s answering bark made her jump. “You almost died.”
“Yeah, well...so did you. I just came a little closer.”
Solomon exhaled on something dangerously like a snarl. “What the fuck is wrong with you? We’re in crisis here and you’re still making wisecracks.”
“Well, someone has to,” Hunter’s reply was sharp - more serious than Georgia had heard him all evening. “If I let you, you’ll lose yourself in all this, and I’ll be damned if I watch you go out of your mind. You’re a good Alpha, Solomon...and a good brother. Nothing anyone does - not even Ephraim fucking Dozier, can change that.”
Carefully, Georgia crept back into the room she awoke in, doing her best to shut the door silently.
What was going on here? She knew who the Doziers and Belleviews were - that much was common knowledge - but Hunter and Solomon spoke as if there was a rift between the two packs. Vincent once told her that packs had no loyalty to one another, but if the Doziers and Belleviews had lived on the mountain together so long, that couldn’t be true.
Had they both really come so close to death?
Georgia supposed it wasn’t hard to believe, considering the multitude of scars that crisscrossed both Hunter and Solomon’s bodies. But for them to have been so violently injured…
They’re coming.
Vincent’s warning came back to her, unbidden. There was no way...had Hunters done this?
“It’s dangerous to eavesdrop.”
Georgia yelped, almost falling off her table. When she straightened to find Solomon silhouetted in the doorway once more, she bit back a curse. How the hell did they do that?
The immense man stepped into the room, dwarfing her with his very presence, and Georgia found she could hardly breathe. “I... I didn’t mean to.” The words escaped her in a whisper. “I just...I wanted to go home.”
“Not an option.” Solomon returned; his green eyes locked on hers. “It’s dangerous now. And it’s best that you give your injuries time to heal.” His gaze traveled over her slowly, from blonde crown to her wrapped ankle. “If you need to contact people, Anne will help you see to it.”
And just like that, he turned to leave once more. Georgia called out before she could help herself. “Wait!”
Solomon paused, half out of the doorway. “What is it?”
“I wanted to thank you. For earlier today.” Georgia cleared her throat as butterflies winged their way through her stomach. “I’d have been a goner if it weren’t for you.”
She didn’t know how she expected him to answer, but it wasn’t by turning around and stalking across the room to loom over her. Georgia had to crane her next to look up at him, and she found her entire body tense - so tight her muscles ached.
“You’re grateful, and still scared.”
She felt the words as well as she heard them. The man was so close she could smell him - pine, soap and something else. Something earthy and dark that made her thighs clench and her mouth dry.
“I... I’ve never really seen one of you. Like that.”
It was as good an excuse as any. Like hell, she was about to tell the Alpha of a wolf pack that she’d been married to a Hunter. She might as well sign her own death warrant.
“One thing that humans will never understand is that our animal is just as much a part of us as the man. It was my instincts that saved you. The same instincts you fear.”
Georgia exhaled a shuddering breath. “I don’t know anything about your kind.” Certainly, she knew what Vincent had told her - she knew rumors and hearsay. But what did she truly know?
Solomon leaned down until his face was inches from her own. When he spoke, she could feel the heat of his breath. “Perhaps, then, you would do well to educate yourself.”
Chapter 7
“Call Sheriff Brown.”
Georgia frowned at her sister’s demand. The moment she’d recovered from Solomon’s visit, Hunter appeared to hand her a cellphone. She used it to call the hospital first and reassure Beverly that no, she hadn’t keeled over from exhaustion. Thanks to her workaholic tendencies, it wasn’t hard to convince her supervisor that she needed a few days off after a running injury. No doubt Beverly would breathe a little easier without Georgia on the floor.
But Everly was a different story.
The younger woman was incensed that her sister was being kept somewhere against her will. After listening to a thirty-minute tirade about how Everly almost called the police after Georgia missed their dinner date, she was reluctant to tell her what happened. Naturally, Everly was furious.
“I’m confused, Ever. Am I calling the Sheriff on the kids who tried to off me or the Shifters who saved me?”
“Both!” Everly insisted so loudly that Georgia winced at the volume of her demand. “We can’t let tourists have the run of our town. And if those Shifters won’t let you come down, the Sheriff can come and get you.”
“Ever...I can’t do that.” Georgia ran a hand through tangled blonde locks with an exasperated sigh. “They say it’s dangerous for anyone to come or leave right now. What if I’m putting Lonny in danger, asking him up here?”
There was a pregnant pause in which she guessed Everly was reassessing her options.
In all honesty, Georgia had thought long and hard about her situation before she contacted anyone at all. She could call the sheriff onto the mountain - but that would draw undue attention to the people here. Shifters already had somewhat of a bad rap when it came to publicity. After one of them saved her life, was she really going to complicate things for their people?
She couldn’t bring herself to do it - no matter how scared she was.
She owed Solomon more than that.
“Georgia, I don’t like you up there.” When Everly finally responded, her tone was uncertain and Georgia frowned. Her sister was fragile enough as it was - the last thing she wanted was to put more stress on her. Unfortunately, this was a situation where it couldn’t be helped.
“I’ll be alright. It’s just a few days and then I’ll be back down. You make sure to call this number if you need anything, ok?”
“...how is it, Georgia?”
The question caught her somewhat off guard. “How’s what?”
“Being with them.”
The blonde sighed, shaking her head. “I really don’t know. They’re...not that different from us, I guess?”
“Except that they can turn into wolves the size of bears and heal broken bones in minutes,” Everly returned dryly. “So much like us. I am going to interrogate the hell out of Duke now, you know.”
“Don’t!” Despite Georgia’s best intentions, her reply was laced with panic. She might not know a lot about shifter dynamics, but she was fairly certain Duke was a Dozier, no matter where he lived. And things didn’t seem too gre
at between the Doziers and Belleviews just now. “I mean...just wait for me, Everly. I won’t be long.”
“If you say so.” Everly’s tone suggested that being complacent was far from easy for her. “But I swear to god, I hear a single peep about anything in those mountains-”
“I’ll be fine, Everly. Just rest up and try to amuse yourself.” Georgia hung up before her sister could threaten to bring a battalion up from town. If anyone could follow through on the threat, it was Ever. She used all that deceptive sweetness to hide the savagery inside her.
“I’ll have that back now.” Georgia turned to see a woman in the corner of the room, dunking a pile of bloody bandages into the sink there. She didn’t appear much older than Georgia herself - unless you counted the dark circles beneath her eyes. She’d been in once before to check Georgia’s injuries, but she’d barely uttered two words to her since then.
“Oh, the phone?” Georgia extended it to her reluctantly. “I was hoping I could keep it. My sister’s sick-”
“If she calls, you’ll know.” The dark-haired woman snatched the phone from her, her tone cool. She pocketed it, turning back to her business at the sink. Georgia cleared her throat, wondering what she’d done to make the healer act so coldly towards her.
“Anne? That’s your name, right?” When she didn’t answer, Georgia continued on determinedly. “I wanted to thank you for helping me. I know it was probably unexpected and I-”
“I helped you because not helping you is suicide,” Anne returned sharply, dropping a swathe of wet bandages onto the counter with a succinct smack. “Do you know what would happen if someone found an injured human on our turf? The rumors that would fly? The accusations our Alpha would have to deal with?” She huffed out an aggravated breath. “Don’t get it twisted, girlie. I’m helping myself.”
The words were like a punch in the gut.
Georgia supposed, after a moment, that she had been a bit naive, expecting every shifter here to be as kind as Hunter - or at least to tolerate her. Of course, Vincent had been so obsessed with the violence shifters perpetrated on humans that she was woefully uneducated on what happened when the roles were reversed. “I’m sorry,” she finally managed, her eyes on her feet. “You’re right. I should have been more careful. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
“Just stay where you are.” Anne rebutted, gray eyes sharp. “Don’t move around too much. Things are going to hell in a handbasket here and you’re just another complication.”
Georgia was left to stare at her back once again as Anne rifled through drawers and cabinets. It was clear that no amount of apologizing was going to get this woman on her side. She supposed she should just be grateful that she’d helped her at all.
...But that didn’t cull her morbid curiosity over the bloodstained bandages Anne had brought. Though there were several tables in the room where Georgia rested, hers was the only one occupied. There were obviously other injured parties. Where were they being kept?
And why were they injured? The way Anne said “hell in a handbasket” didn’t bring anything pleasant to mind, and Solomon had certainly seemed ill-at-ease when he left her.
Just what the hell had she gotten herself into?
**
Solomon couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a splitting headache. He wanted to blame it on the early morning light through the trees, or his own exhaustion, but he knew better.
In the space of twenty-four hours, his worst fears had been confirmed. Another Dozier attack at the edge of their lands found five of the Belleview pack murdered and two taken captive. Of course, the cowards hadn’t dared to attack the settlement directly – instead, they went for the few wolves that lived on the fringes.
Those who had refused to take part in the extra precautions Solomon suggested.
He should have insisted - he should have forced all his people back to the main settlement. And now he was paying for his lapse in judgment.
“Stop that.” He turned to see Hunter standing over him, arms crossed over his chest firmly. They both lingered behind Thomas’ cabin, where Solomon had come in an effort to clear his head. “You’re blaming yourself”, Hunter insisted, his remaining eye accusing. “This wasn’t your fault.”
“Wasn’t it?” Solomon snapped, his eyes flashing gold briefly. “I could have saved them. If I’d just forced them back-”
“They knew what they were getting into, Solomon. This isn’t their fault and it isn’t yours. It’s Ephraim’s.”
It was certain now. There was no way Raymond would have sanctioned such an open attack. Solomon could only hope he wasn’t dead.
Christ, the look on Lukas face when he told his Alpha that his mate had been taken...his pup murdered in cold blood. Fuck.
They went after a pup. The kid was barely nine years old - nowhere near a threat to full-grown wolves...But Ephraim wouldn’t care about that.
“What about Georgia?” The mere mention of her name was enough to make Solomon bristle. He was dealing with a crisis here - he had no time for humans. No time to remember the way she smelled...the way her dark eyes gazed up at him in fear and awe...or how her breath hitched at his closeness.
“What about her?”
“Fuck, Solomon. She complicates things.” Hunter growled. “The last thing we need is a human caught in the crossfire here.”
“Which is why she stays where she is,” Solomon replied firmly. “She’s safest in the settlement. Ephraim may be bold but he’s not stupid.”
There was a pregnant pause before his brother answered him. “Maybe you should take her to your cabin.”
Solomon swallowed thickly, the heat that rose in his belly most certainly not welcome. “No goddamned way.” Even as the words left him on a warning growl, he was already imagining Georgia in his bed. That gorgeous golden hair of hers spread over his pillow, milky skin on display against the dark cotton of his sheets…
Of course, he hadn’t considered whether she’d be inclined to such shenanigans - a fact that only made him more disgusted with himself.
“Oh, come on.” To his annoyance, Hunter was smirking at him. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She’d probably leap at the-”
“Shut-up, Hunter.” But when his brother was on a roll, there was no stopping him.
“Anne’s got a bug up her butt about her - though I can’t imagine why. She’d never been super anti-human before. And she smells fucking delicious-”
Solomon reacted before he could stop himself. Hunter’s throat was caught between his burly forearm and the very solid exterior wall of the cabin, the smaller man’s face an interesting shade of purple. Despite the perceived danger, however, Hunter’s smug smile was still firmly in place. “I knew it,” He barely managed, “You already think she’s yours.”
The shock was enough to make Solomon drop him abruptly. Taking a step backward, Solomon opened his mouth to apologize before he thought better of it. Instead, he merely shoved a hand roughly through his hair, turning so that he didn’t have to meet Hunter’s eye. “She’s human, Hunter. She’ll be here until we can find a way around Ephraim and get her down. That’s it.”
Just saying it sent an unjustified pang of loss through him and Georgia hadn’t even gone anywhere yet.
A long silence passed between then before Hunter spoke again - so soft that even Solomon’s enhanced hearing barely registered the words.
“Your mom didn’t seem too bothered by the whole human thing.”
And just like that, the conversation was over. Solomon spared his brother a blistering look before he sauntered towards the edge of the settlement.
It was a low blow for Hunter to bring up his parents at a time like this. Six of their pack were lying injured in Anne’s hut, the threat of attack from the Doziers was now a reality, and the last thing Solomon could afford was dragging a human into his bed. Maybe if he weren’t Alpha…
But that was fucking blasphemy.
Hell, this was what he got for letting
his dick take the driver’s seat.
“What have we got?”
If there was one person who Solomon considered stretched as thin as he was, it had to be Tempest. She had enough to worry about without Doziers picking them off. After all, it was thanks to Tempest that their way of life had improved over the past handful of years.
The young female was one of the only wolves to ever leave Dockery.
Solomon remembered when his father was Alpha and Tempest had begged to go away. Of course, no young wolf knew what it really meant to be separated from their territory. The pain, fear and heartache involved...their kind could never stay away for long.
But that was what Tempest wanted. She was convinced that going away to school would help her improve the lives of her people. Not only that, the idealistic teenager claimed that the world wouldn’t know anything about their kind if they continued to stay hidden.
It was ridiculous to think that 16-year-old Tempest, for all her intelligence and spunk - would change their lives as much as she had. She’d gone away to school in the big city, never hiding what she was, and she’d brought back skills that pulled them into the twenty-first century. When they were young, Solomon always teased her for being a nerd.
Now he knew better.
“They cut the lines.” He and Tempest stood at the very edge of the settlement, taking in the deep holes bored into the forest floor. Years before, Tempest oversaw the laying of electric and ethernet lines that would give them internet access and more energy-efficient power. It had been one of the proudest days of her life - and Solomon’s as well.
Kneeling, the young woman shoved a hank of auburn hair behind her ear to reach deep into the hole. “We’ll have to re-lay them. Too much damage to repair.”
Solomon’s scowl deepened. Ephraim was smarter than he’d thought. While half the elders were convinced that he was too blood-drunk to execute actual tactical warfare, Solomon was learning not to underestimate his enemy. “The backup generators will have to handle things in the meantime.”
When Tempest straightened, her golden eyes met her Alpha’s, narrowing slightly in concern. “Solomon, are you ok?”
