“I hate your father; I really I do.”
“Yeah, you and me both.”
“After Bear? That’s strange because it’s then that you started getting your cute ass thrown into lockup.” He muses.
“Oh, please don’t even suggest it. I like that savage animal, but no way would Lync trigger—”
“Not Lync.” He laughs, pulling me into his side with an arm over me to keep me warm. “Logan. He’s been the arresting officer ninety percent of the time.”
“Only because the male took so much pleasure in—oh God, don’t even say it.” I moan when his meaning becomes clear, my mind revolting against the implications.
“Bonding. I think you were bonding with Logan, and it made your wolf stronger. I think that strength awakened your natural abilities, and yes, I think that the stronger the bond becomes, the stronger you will be,” he answers, laughing when I sneer.
“I don’t like your brother right now.”
“I’ll insult him with you if it makes you feel better, but that doesn’t change the facts. You need him!” Banner crows, grunting when I punch him in the stomach.
“Stupid filthy bear.”
“Snarky gorgeous bitch,” he retorts, hugging me close when I moan and drop my head to his chest.
“My life sucks. I should have just gone to Canada and learned how to say ‘aboot’ without wanting to kill myself,” I mumble, muttering a curse when he laughs.
“Maple syrup, ice hockey, and French Canadian don’t sound like your thing.”
“I can say por favor, I’d get by.”
“That’s Spanish, sweetheart.” He laughs, shaking all over.
“Well, fuck.”
# # # #
Logan
I wake with my mind going straight to Hannah and roll over to see her side of the bed empty, the cool sheets letting me know it’s been vacant for quite some time.
Cursing, I roll to my feet and grab a pair of sweats, shoving them on while hopping out the door and down the stairs. Making my way to the kitchen, I stop in my tracks when I find Hannah laughing as she listens to Banner and shoves another piece of toast at him, her face shining with glee until she sees me and her face drops.
I don’t like walking in here and seeing her so close to another male, even if he is my brother—and I trust Banner with my life. I like even less that she’s laughing with him and loses the expression when she sees me.
My chest tight, I stalk into the room and snarl at Banner, ignoring his amusement when I go to kiss Hannah but get her cheek when she turns her head, rejecting the intimate contact my wolf and I crave.
“Han—”
“Your brother made breakfast, so you won’t starve being mated to me. At least not this morning. I’d suggest you eat and get ready, so we can go to Barbie’s. I’d like to see if I can get anything from the scene,” she says, cutting me off with a hard glint in her blue eyes.
I should apologize and clear the air. Hell, I don’t know what I should do, but right now I would do just about anything to replace this cold freeze with the fragile bond we started forming.
I didn’t even realize how much I liked it until now, the emptiness of losing it making my chest ache when I reach out to feel her and get nothing but cold eyes and her usual bored expression.
“I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it, Logan. You’re right not to trust me, I’d sell you down the river without a second thought if it suited my purposes. Which it doesn’t at the moment, so cool it. I just want to get over there and see what I can hear, and maybe get something done about finding Barbie. If Brig is desperate enough to call me for information, then you know my father is moving on something. We need to focus on Barbie now and making sure she’s’ back here, so my father can’t grab Nick by the balls.”
Her voice is flat, not at all what it was or has been for the last few days. I hate it! I want that female back who cuddled me and didn’t snipe at me all day. I want her to relax around me again and tell me how it hurt to know that her brothers would have followed orders.
I want something I broke last night because I let myself follow my head and not my heart.
“We’ll talk about this later,” I mutter, ignoring Banner’s filthy look and the way he takes her hand to offer comfort.
“We’ll see. By the way, you should wear underwear in the house if you can’t control your dick. Your brother is here,” she points out, making me blush when I notice my cock is hard.
“Your fault, baby.”
She snorts, rolling her eyes, and turns away to drink her coffee, the fall of her hair hiding her expression. I eat fast, savoring the toast and eggs while I watch Banner and Hannah silently communicate like they did when they were kids, completely blocking me from the conversation.
I don’t like it, but I content myself with the promise that soon I will have such a bond with her that I’ll feel her without having to see her face. Hoping that’s true and that I didn’t fuck it all up beyond repair I finish eating and go upstairs to grab a shower, throwing on my uniform with trembling hands.
By the time I make it downstairs again, it’s to see Hannah waiting in the hall, her jeans and sweater covered by a big black coat I haven’t seen before.
“Don’t wear his shit! You wear my coat if you don’t have a decent one. Here.” I snarl, ripping Banner’s coat off and tossing it at the grinning fool with a sneer before enveloping my mate in my own.
Mine.
Yeah buddy, I know, I tell my wolf, only calming once my scent wraps around her and his is nowhere in sight.
“God, you’re so stupid,” Hannah says and sighs, rolling her eyes when I grab her hand and refuse to let go.
“Mine.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let’s go. How are we getting in without rousing suspicion?” she asks, following me out the back door.
“We’ll go through the woods here and come at her place from the back. That should keep us covered for at least a few minutes. She doesn’t have neighbors close enough to watch from their window, but I don’t want to leave a scent trail that’s too obvious,” I tell her, keeping her close in case she trips on a root.
“Okay, but the door? You have a key?” she asks, her eyes narrowing with anger.
“No need to be jealous, baby. I just check on her place when she’s out of town,” I croon, smirking when she pulls a face.
“I’m not jealous.”
“Oh baby, I don’t think you like the thought of your male being that close to other females.”
“I don’t give a shit. Stupid wolf,” she mumbles, huffing when I pull her closer and smile, keeping my mouth shut before she decides to hurt me.
Banner follows silently, his presence making me feel more secure as I sniff the air and keep my eyes peeled. Bringing Hannah out here, even as confident as I am in my ability to protect her was no easy decision.
If my wolf had his way, I’d have her locked up tight and out of reach until I can kill her family and rid her of anything that ever hurt her. As it is, it’s all I can do not to rip Damon Seers apart whenever the fucker comes to the enforcer building with complaints, a now daily occurrence.
Being out here, exposed, my mate vulnerable, makes me want to shift into fur and go nuts. I resist though, keeping my senses level, as I pretend to tease her to keep her from noticing my tension.
“We’re here. Don’t force it,” I warn Hannah, as I unlock the door to the little cabin and hustle her in, leaving the curtains drawn so no one sees us sneaking around.
Hannah nods, walking through the space silently, her face set in concentration when she comes to the living room where the attack occurred.
Here, she pauses, narrowing her eyes, and turns in a circle to stare around at the room.
“Was there something here?” she asks, tilting her head and pointing to the shelf where Barbie kept her bobbleheads.
“A collection of bobbleheads she’s been collect
ing since she was a kid. She loved those things. They were all practically shattered when we got here. Nothing was salvageable,” I say, grinding my jaw.
“I feel anger here. I don’t… I can’t explain how I know that, but I feel… anger,” she says, frowning when she steps forward and touches the couch, her brow knit in concentration.
“The couch was turned over as if she fought,” I tell her, coming forward to watch her as she bites her lip and walks around.
“This place feels weird, Logan,” she finally says and sighs, rubbing at her temple.
“Don’t push yourself,” I grate, coming up to pull her into my chest and rub her back. “You’re already doing much more than I expected. Honestly baby, I thought this was a long shot anyway.”
“I didn’t think anything would happen either to be honest, but the moment I walked in here I just feel…things I can’t explain. The anger, I’d assume it was from her attackers, but I don’t know, it’s not something I can explain. I just feel…it was hers. It’s female and has this quality that reminds me of her.”
Banner sighs, leaning against the wall, and watches us through narrowed eyes.
“If she wasn’t scared, then I have to put it on the table that she knew them,” he says, his reluctance dampening some of the anger I feel at the insinuation.
I know. I’ve had the same fucking thoughts going around in my head since she went missing. Nothing about the scene made sense to me. No fear scent, no signs of Barbie shifting. It was…is weird.
“You think this is staged?” Hannah asks, pulling away to look around again.
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to say it because I won’t believe it. Barbie isn’t a traitor. The people who came in here are definitely of the same ilk as those invading us, if not the exact same bastards. She wouldn’t be in cahoots with them. I just know that. Hell, she was pissed when Mika and Gretchen were taken, and I swear if she’d been face to face with those males, she’d have torn them apart herself.”
Hannah nods, shifting away to walk to the kitchen and lean against the counter, her face going pale when she closes her eyes and remains dead still.
“I can’t hear anything. It usually just comes at me, ya know? Like someone is thinking about me so hard it flashes straight to me. Maybe I can’t hear or see anything if they’re not connected to me personally,” Hannah says, her voice laced with frustration and anger.
“It’s okay—” I start, moving towards her.
I don’t want to put pressure on her and lay this all at her door. If we don’t find Barbie, and Nick is in shit, that is all on me and no one else. I don’t want my mate taking this all on her shoulders and feeling like a failure because of me. Never again.
“It’s not! You don’t fucking understand, Logan. I have to find her before someone suspects she’s gone. If I don’t, then you won’t, and Nick will have the whole pack turning on him. We can’t afford to let that happen!” she yells, turning away to breathe deeply, her shoulders tense as she struggles to calm herself and replace her mask.
As I think it, I stop, suddenly so blinded by the truth it feels like I just got socked in the solar plexus. Oh Christ. Sweet God, why, why haven’t I ever seen this before, I think, my throat going tight with emotion.
Mask. She wears a mask. Hannah, the female I used to despise isn’t that female she shows or did show to everyone. I should have seen that, if not in the last few weeks when I caught her talking to Lync, then in the last few days since we’ve been together. She isn’t who she shows the world; she isn’t mean and snide; she can’t be if she’s feeling this amount of desperation.
“Why did you run?” I ask, the question startling her so much she turns with a frown, her brow furrowed with confusion.
“Wha—? Logan, we don’t have time for this right now—”
“Answer the question, Hannah! Why did you run and don’t lie to me or yourself because it’s a habit you used to have as a little girl, and I didn’t forget it. I may have let myself be fooled by it, but it’s there. You have secrets, I know this. God help me, I know it all too well, but you’ve always explained things away with clever little fantasies and what you call your selfishness to make yourself feel better,” I say, the pieces clicking into place.
“So tell me. Why run when you knew you would be safe with me, especially thinking I’d protect you if only to use you?” I ask again, softly and with a tone that leaves no room for argument.
Hannah goes still, her gaze darting around, looking everywhere but at me, as if she’s fighting herself and the pull I have on her. Our bond may be weak, practically non-existent, but it is there. And it’s pulling at her like I know nothing else can.
“I wanted to get away! Because I only care about myself. I’m selfish, okay. I didn’t want to help anyone and get hurt so I left—”
“Your Alpha on the hook? Can you honestly tell me you ran with the intention, knowing that not helping me would put Nick in danger?” I ask, shaking my head because I don’t believe it.
If I know anything about her since I started seeing her again, Hannah is pack loyal, Alpha fanatic, completely incapable of turning her back on the man she considers the be-all and end-all of pack life.
I’ve met people like this before, myself one of them—though not to the extent I think Hannah feels it. I love my Alpha and would die for my Alpha in a heartbeat, but this, I get the idea that her devotion is the same as those tough talking fanatics I’ve met while going to other packs to trade and make peace.
“I…this is pointless. We should be focusing on Barbie and finding her,” she says, trying to change the subject.
He face is pale, so pale. I see Banner step forward, his bear growling a warning at me to back off. I ignore him, shaking my head in silent communication and take another step forward while Hannah swallows and starts looking panicked.
“And we will. Because I think…you already know where she is,” I muse, going on instinct now that all the pieces are falling into place for me.
Something has always been wrong about this picture, and I saw Hannah’s face when she walked in and realized it too. Only her realization was followed by what I now know to be knowledge, something she very carefully, almost successfully kept hidden from both Banner and myself.
If not for the desperation I scent coming off her, the way her body is trembling, her agitation, I would have missed it. I could be wrong right now, completely wrong, but I’m going with this idea until I get something out of her.
“What! Why would I know?” she demands, her eyes flashing and scuttling away to land on the couch.
“You saw it. You heard it. When you touched the couch, wasn’t it?” I drawl, feeling like shit when she starts breathing hard and looks ready to bolt, the scent of her fear reaching my nose.
“Logan—”
“Stay out of this, Banner! This is my mate, my female and I know her. I may be an asshole, a fool who wanted to hang on to old prejudices, but now that I’ve sorted myself out, I know. She’s not what she seems. Are you, Hannah?”
Chapter Eighteen
Hannah
My whole body is trembling, as I try to avoid Logan’s eyes and frantically search for an answer to throw him off. I don’t want to talk about this. I just want to have some time to think of a way to do this without fucking it all up.
The minute I walked into this place I felt…off. I can’t explain. I can’t or couldn’t figure it out, but I knew when my hand landed on that couch. Everything just poured at me, broken images and words, some from the past—which I didn’t even know I could do—and some from the present.
At first, it was like it was all happening in real time while Logan and Banner slowed down, almost freezing in place. It scared me a little to be honest, enough that I almost bolted, but that brief lag gave me enough time to piece some stuff together.
Things that I’m not sure about yet. Things that could change everything about the way I’ve been thinking. I can’t process it all yet, but what I
do know already both scares me and gives me hope.
“Hannah. Answer me,” Logan says, coming close enough to reach out and touch me.
I don’t know if I want him to touch me, not with the rawness still plaguing me from last night, and no, it wasn’t about him having hot, really erotic sex with me and driving me so crazy with lust I almost exploded—well I did, but you get the idea.
It was about why he did it. To get answers. Because he still didn’t trust me. And yes, I know that I don’t exactly cultivate trust. I fucking get it, but just once I wanted someone to not question me suspiciously or expect the worst from me.
I’m not all that raw this morning—still pissed!—but not raw because Banner gave me that. He didn’t suspect treachery or malicious intent from me. He looked at me and never once thought that I would automatically sell Logan out just because I could.
His trust calmed the ache, made me sit back and take stock, and realize that I can’t expect everything and then shut down when I don’t get it without working to make it so.
So, I have to teach Logan to trust me. I mean, I can do that. If I want to. I might get bored with it who knows.
But this…
“I don’t know where she is!”
That’s not a lie. I just stopped hearing because I didn’t want to know yet. Not until I figure things out, and yeah, I get that it’s sneaky to do that just so that I don’t purposely lie to Logan.
I don’t care.
It’s enough that I’m becoming so weak I have to be sneaky just to avoid lying in the first place. God, give me strength…I’m going soft.
“But you know what happened,” he says confidently, his smile more of a smirk because I can practically taste the smugness pouring off him.
Stupid, adorable asshole. He thinks he knows me or something.
“I know that she didn’t fight anyone! She was angry. She trashed the place,” I confess, my mind working to figure it all out.
I keep thinking that Barbie knows these people, and Logan is right, this place isn’t right. No wonder they can’t figure it out.
“That isn’t possible! She wouldn’t do this. Are you aware of what that suggests?” he growls, stalking away to scrub a hand through his hair.
Greyriver Shifters Page 42
