My mate is close, I can feel him, but is he close enough to bond with, sight unseen? And can my wolf help save him if the bond takes. Will whatever is happening to him cost me my life? I need him to live. I feel him being savaged, I can feel him fighting for his very life, and if he makes it, bond or no bond, his wolf will never give up on finding me. But first we have to both survive.
Whispers reach my ears, Allison, demanding to know what is going on, but Dawn and I have discussed this too many times for her to be distracted, even by a friend. I feel my wolf rise, my hope rises with her. Her whimpers pain me as she claws at me. She feels her mate, our mate, and he needs us. To my knowledge what Dawn is attempting has never been done. But if my mate is close enough to feel, he must be close enough to bond. Determination fills me, this has to work. As the darkness claims me I feel that one moment of completion. The pain, greater than any I have ever known, tears at me. But I am mated, bonded to one who could be my salvation, or my death.
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CHAPTER TWO
Craig
Craig
"Look, Marcus, I understand where you are coming from man, I really do, but you are asking more than I can give right now. You don't understand."
I tuned him out as he continued to nag at me. I would never have taken Marcus for a nagger, but that is what he has been doing every day since I left. I just needed a break. It isn't every day your best friend--the man closer to you than a brother--tries to kill you. Not only had Jaden tried to kill me, he tried to kill me over a complete stranger. I understood the girl was his true-mate, well, as much as someone could, who did not have one. Oh who am I kidding, I did not understand at all. Probably never would and that is one of the things that made forgiving Jaden so hard. He apologized, but an apology is just words when you get down to the nitty gritty of the whole thing. He could have killed Marcus's mate that day, might would have if I had not gotten in the way. But she covered for him, I covered for him too, I guess. That doesn't mean I can forgive him that easily.
Marcus, surprisingly, isn't helping change my mind. Jamie though, has almost gotten me back to the pack a couple of times. He claims I will be surprised when I see the little mate who captured Jaden's heart. He also claims she isn't making many friends in the community. That comment has not helped me decide to head back, if anything it has been a deciding factor in keeping me away. If the girl is so unlikable, why bother going back. She would just make forgiving Jaden even harder than it already is, I believe.
Jerking my attention back to the phone I pull it away from my ear and stare at it before putting it back. "She what? Did you just say she pulled a gun on Jamie? A gun? Where the hell did she get a gun and why didn't Jamie just take it away from her?"
Pulling the phone back away from my ear again I stare at it in disbelief, I don't need to have it to my ear to hear what Marcus is saying anyway. I am just having a hard time believing what he is saying. Breathing deeply, I want to verify what Marcus is saying is the same thing I am hearing, voice hoarse I asked, "You are telling me that the little female is more powerful than Jamie? Which would make her more powerful than me since Jamie and I are about equal with power." The last part, muttered, still reached Marcus' ears, of course.
"Look, Marcus, I know you need the bird back, but you do have a second bird. I just need more time. And, surprisingly, you are not helping me want to come back any time soon. It does not matter to me that Jaden and the little witch will be back tomorrow from their honeymoon. I will not be there to greet him or meet her. My Beta and best friend since we were just tiny pups, betrayed me, he betrayed the pack, for a female no one even likes and you want me to come back and what, kiss her ass and make nice? Not happening Marcus, not today, not tomorrow and probably not for a few more days, at least. Tell you what, if the little female can win over all the Seekers, and I do mean all of them, then I will come back. And before you say anything, I happen to know that at least two of our Seekers hate the ground she walks on. So until she can win them over, or I and my wolf can forgive the betrayal, I will just stay on vacation. If you need the helicopter that badly you know where it is."
I listened to the silence on the other end of the phone for a minute. Finally, sighing deeply, Marcus gave in and just ordered me to call again tomorrow around noon. He always insist on a time so as to know when to worry. After assuring him I would, I hung up the phone. As one of the pilots for the pack, and one who routinely flew the Seekers on missions to find and destroy rogues, I was well known in the shifter world, and hated by many. The ones who hated me were the ones we sought to destroy though, so that hatred did not bother me. But that hatred also made me a target with a price on my head. Kill off the pilots of the pack and you damage the ability of the pack to hunt rogues. But the pilots were Seekers before they became pilots, and Seekers weren't that easy to kill. Still, Marcus was justified in his demand I check in every day.
Marcus had the power and the right to order me back to the pack. He had the right to order his bird flown back to the pack. But Marcus was a better Alpha than that, he knew what his brother had done was almost unforgivable, and he knew I needed time to deal with the betrayal. I could tell, from what little he did say of his brother's mate, he himself was having a hard time liking her. I am surprised Jamie did not mention having a gun pulled on him when I spoke with him anytime these last few weeks. Seems that would have made a big enough impression to rate a mention at least.
Knowing the little female had pulled a gun on Jamie made some of his comments about her more understandable, and less understandable, at the same time. I could understand why some of the pack hated her if she had pulled a gun on Jamie. Jamie is a favorite in the pack. But what I was having problems understanding is how Jamie could like and defend her if she had pulled a gun on him. I got the feeling Jamie respected the little female for some unknown reason. He had hinted a few times that he believed I would understand when I met her, but as of yet I have no desire to meet her.
Looking around the meadow one last time I decided to let my wolf out and head for the desert at the furtherest edge of our property today. I felt a driving need to let my wolf out to run, had been feeling the need for days, but I had mostly kept to the valley. Using my time to fish, and do a bit of boating around the lake, had kept me pretty content the last few weeks. But tonight I planned on letting my wolf wander around and be free for awhile. I had told Jamie I would probably let my wolf amble down to the edge of the desert and circle back around to the cabin. It had been years since any of us had gone that far south and it would take hours to get there running full out. But I was on vacation and had no need to run full out. I had kind of mapped out where I wanted to go and how long it would take me to get back. I had mentioned to Jamie yesterday that I was feeling a desire to head south for a bit for some reason.
The pack owned thousands of acres around the valley. A few decades ago, when land was easy to get, and cheap, the pack had purchased the valley and the surrounding mountains and hills. Over the decades the valley had been built up and improved so we would have a place to escape to when the deaths torment our souls too deeply. It had taken years to build the perfect vacation spot in an isolated area. After the cabins were finished, the lake and piers complete, the boats brought in, and the place modernized Marcus had managed to get the area shut off from the rest of the world, in a manner of speaking. He had blown the roads miles out, created rock slides and isolated the area as much as he could, all in an effort to give us privacy to grieve for the lost, and forget for awhile what we did to keep the others safe.
The only way into the cabin now was by helicopter or miles of hiking via the desert to the south. All the other passes into the valley were so dangerous only rock climbers would even attempt the trip. The cabin did not feel as isolated and stress free since Marcus had a cell tower put in as it had before. But since Marcus could not mentally reach his pack members when we were at the cabin he felt better going all out for communication. We had been happy using satellit
e phones for years, but after rogues put so many hits out on any Seeker packs we understood Marcus' stance concerning cell phones. The cabins and the surrounding meadow are the only place for miles around that gets any kind of cell signal, and only because Marcus had the cell tower erected here himself. This area is our little slice of escape from the daily grind of life. But coming here, alone, is unusual. Normally a group of us will get away to the cabin a few times a year. Being a dealer in death to your own kind is not easy, has never been easy, and I hope it never becomes easy.
Rogues do not always choose the life of a rogue, their wolves just go a bit insane with no mate. Killing someone because his wolf went insane, thus causing his insanity, has to be one of the shittiest jobs on the planet. But some chose to go rogue, those kills are easier to live with in a way. A rogue whose wolf went insane, well that is almost like putting him out of his misery, yet at the same time, so damn unfair to have to kill him for something that is not his fault. One who choses to live rogue, chooses to go without pack and to go after females, well, that is just criminally wrong, and even though we are well justified to destroy them, it still is hard to live with day after day. Fortunately, not many rogues go down the dark route, but even one is one too many though.
The get-a-way I have chosen for the day is miles away. I don't plan on letting my wolf out and running to the edge of the property in one go though. My wolf loves to roam at night, and since it is going on toward evening now I figure a leisurely romp through the night will see us to the edge of the property shortly after sunrise. Sleep a bit under the stars, do a little hunting, and if all goes well I will circle back around and reach the cabin again around mid-day tomorrow, just in time to call Marcus. I was not going so far as to worry about not being able to make it back by noon. I planned on doing some fishing at the lake by the cabins tomorrow evening.
I wasn't wearing much in the way of clothing, just my briefs, so I had nothing to strip off to change, but I did have to return the phone to the cabin. I had no intention of wearing it around my neck in a pouch. Once I got away from the cabin and the small tower my phone would have no signal anyway, so why bother taking it.
Soon enough, with a shiver of power, my wolf was standing in the meadow. Solid dark brown with only a splash of white on one paw, the fur the same shade as my hair. Marcus had told me that Jaden's mate was solid black while her sister's wolf was the same dark brown as my wolf. They were identical twins so seeing their wolves looked nothing alike had been a surprise to all three packs. Normally the color of the fur matched or came close to the shade of the hair of the person. The black wolf had taken everyone by surprise considering both females had the same dark brown hair. Marcus told me that not only was Trina's wolf black, but she was solid black. Almost unheard of in the shifter world, most black wolves were only partially black, or mostly black with some shading of brown or sable.
Gammon had apparently weighed in on the subject, since both females were his nieces by mating. He had been curious enough to call Jules and ask Jules what his son Nate had looked like as a wolf. And of course he had asked his mate what her twin had looked like only to find they had been identical as wolves as they had been in human form. Since Gammon's mate was a twin, and twins ran in their family, though few people had known that, Gammon had access to more information on twins than most. According to his mate, identical twins always produced identical wolves. Marcus had told me that Gammon's mate would not believe anyone that Trina was different, until she saw pictures.
I wondered about Jaden's mate as I loped through the meadow heading for the trail. What was so special about her that Jamie would defend her? And what was so terrible about her that Roberts and Daniel hated the very ground she walked on? I had told Marcus the truth, if the female could win over Roberts and Daniel, I would bring the bird back to the pack. If they really wanted it though, Jamie could fly down with Roberts and get the bird.
We had two helicopters and four pilots so even if one of us was out of action, we still could move both birds. Often Jamie and I flew one bird while Roberts and Daniel flew the other. Although, Daniel was still training to be a registered pilot, he was capable enough. But Jamie and I were very particular about the helicopter we flew, just as particular about it as Roberts was about the one he flew. We did not like to share, we did not like to fly the other's bird and we tried to never get in a situation where we had to use a different helicopter than our preferred one. But Jamie and I had discussed it before I left out to come to the cabin. He could feel my anger, pain, and feelings of betrayal through the pack bond. Feeling that, and knowing my history with Jaden, Jamie willingly let me take the bird and fly to our refuge to get away for awhile.
Off an on through that evening and into the night we ambled around the area, slowly moving south. We chased deer, slept, and explored through the night and when morning time rolled around we were in the scrub brush bordering the desert. It was only then that I realized my wolf had been acting strangely. I had withdrawn from him and into myself hours ago to think and try to understand what no one without a true-mate could ever hope to understand.
What made a stranger so special that a man would kill the ones he loved to get to her and save her? What made the bond so important a man would go insane to protect someone he had never met? These questions had no answers, not for one with no true-mate.
Not paying much attention to where I was, the sudden shudder going through my wolf caught me by surprise. My wolf had never reacted the way he was before and this caused me to center myself with my wolf, so I could find out what was causing him to react so strangely. Our wolves are part of us, but at the same time they are separate. I could see through his eyes when I was in wolf form, and he through mine, but we could let our consciousness sleep, or drift, and in that way, we were not totally one.
Mate here. Mate here.
As I centered myself back with my wolf, bringing my consciousness back to the forefront I realize just what has my wolf prancing around now. Our mate is close, we just have to find her, and it should not take long now that we have felt her. I would soon be wishing I had taken over and scouted the area instead of allowing the instinct of the wolf to stay in control. But from what Jaden had gone through, and what we had learned, I trusted my wolf to find her. I did not want to be in a situation like Jaden, trying to track a she-wolf who just would not stay still long enough to be found. I was beginning to understand why Jaden had been so determined, and desperate to find his mate. I felt a driving desire for find her and protect her unlike anything I had ever experienced. As crazy as it would seem to me if I let myself think on the subject, my mind, my very essence insisted the most precious and valuable treasure was close and I had to not only find this treasure, I had to protect it with every fiber of my being. I tried not to dwell on how incredible it was to feel the need to protect someone I had never even met. That true-mate magic is more powerful than one could understand, until faced with the same situation.
The wolf in me had found our mate, and I could think of nothing beyond getting to her. The prison at the edge of the desert, deserted for years, was obviously now occupied. As the only structure around I had to conclude my mate was inside, and in my haste to meet the one I could feel was the other half of my soul I disregarded every bit of training I had ever gone through in my seven decades on this Earth.
I rushed toward the fence in my excitement to meet my true-mate, realizing only then why Jaden had been unable to think of anything but Trina. When the magic begins to pull you toward your other half, even if you have never met her, deep inside you know she will be the most precious and treasured one you have ever met. The magic that leads you to your true-mate, weaves your souls together, has never been wrong, and the pull is stronger than Jaden had been able to convey to us.
I could not wait to meet her. Would she be easy to get along with or would she test me to my limits? Would she be a practical joker, like me, or would her sense of humor be totally different from mine? If I walked
past her and licked her face, would she laugh at me for giving her wolf pup kisses or wipe it away and tell me not to lick her face?
I thought back to the time my sister had been sitting on the couch and I was walking past. I leaned down and swiped my tongue across her face and waited in gleeful anticipation for her response. Her response was everything I could have wished for as she scrubbed frantically at her face to get my slobber off, screaming at me for licking her cheek.
The memory pulls at me.
No sis, I did not lick your face, that would be disgusting.
Trust me it was.
I did not lick you, I gave you a wolf-pup kiss.
You licked me.
No, I did not. That is disgusting. I would never lick you. I merely gave you a wolf-pup kiss.
Eww, no, you licked me.
Tell me, favorite sister of mine, how do our wolf-pups kiss?
Kate (Safe Haven Wolves Book 3) Page 2
