The best he could do for her now was to give her distance and continue to watch over her. Or maybe he could talk to one of the women she seemed comfortable with. Anna, no, he couldn’t talk to Anna about this. Anna was weary enough of him. Kate. Yes, Kate!
Where the hell was Kate? And Callen for that matter? He suddenly realized he hadn’t seen either one in days. Had he been so obsessed with Mila that he had failed to recognize something was wrong, that Callen who was one of the most responsible shifters he had ever known hadn’t come to see him in a while to go over progress reports of how his vetting of new shifters was going, not to mention provide security updates?
Hayden winced at the uncalled-for nip his wolf delivered. Damn wolf kept growling inside, displeased with him, with everything it seemed. God help him, this better not be the first sign of his wolf going feral. He needed to talk to Damien. He’d know whether—
Between the heavy snow falling, worries over Mila, and now his damn wolf fighting him, Hayden hadn’t been paying attention to where he was walking. He plowed right into a small form bundled in a thickly padded white coat, knocking her into the snow. Her hood had slipped partially off.
“Reina! I didn’t see you, I’m sorry!” he said as he bent to help her up.
“What did you call her?” Blade said, his voice brimming with anger as he swooped in, shoved Hayden aside, and helped Anna up.
“I was just apologizing to Anna for knocking her over. I wasn’t paying attention. Are you okay, Anna?” Hayden said, reaching for her to make sure he hadn’t injured her or the baby.
The moment Hayden’s hands neared her, Anna flinched and began shaking, but not from the fall. Blue eyes went wide a second before she buried her face in Blade’s chest and cried. She was crying because of Hayden. What the fuck? “I didn’t mean to hurt—”
“Why did you call her that? Why would you torment her like that?” Blade demanded, his tone that of a shifter protecting his mate, a male ready to defend, even attack.
“What are you talking about?” Hayden asked, wracking his brain for what he had said other than apologizing for knocking her over.
“You called her ‘Reina’.”
No. Hayden hadn’t called Anna ‘Reina’, had he? From the corner of his eye, Hayden noticed the crowd forming, Mila among the shifters looking at him as if he’d punched Anna.
“It was a mistake, Blade. Anna looks so much like a shifter I once knew in my birth pack. Reina.”
“It’s what Drake called Anna every time he. . .” Blade didn’t finish his sentence, not with Anna there shaking in his arms. He didn’t need to. Hayden had heard about all the emotional torture Drake had unleashed on Anna. It was the reason his brother had forced the blood-bond on her and tracked her down to claim her.
Drake had never cared about Anna’s involvement with the WSSO as Damien and his top shifters had thought, as even he had thought. For all of Hayden’s claims that he knew Drake better than anyone, at some point he’d have to admit he really didn’t know his brother very well at all. Too much time and history stood between them. The brother he had known like the back of his hand no longer existed.
“You knew Reina?” Finley said from nearby. “You were there when she was killed, weren’t you, traitor?” the shifter accused as he grabbed a wrench from a nearby toolbox.
“Of course, he was,” Malcolm said, another weak shifter looking to cause trouble as he armed himself with a plank. “It was around the same time he killed his alpha.”
Hayden’s wolf rose, tried to push through, to take charge and decimate the threat.
“Probably killed both.” Henry this time. Only Henry failed to pick up a weapon, but then again, Henry was a very strong shifter. He’d shift and use his teeth and claws.
A group of roughly fifteen male shifters now surrounded Hayden, Blade, and Anna. No, not Blade and Anna. A gap in the ring opened, allowing Blade to escort her away. In years past, Blade would never have left Hayden to the crowd of angry shifters, some of which may even be related to Reina, but Blade had a pregnant mate to worry about right now. Even if Anna didn’t need Blade, Hayden was no longer sure Blade would have remained by his side.
“I did not kill Reina,” Hayden said, holding his voice steady. His words would never convince the shifters of his innocence because they could see the guilt on his face, his posture. He had never fully told everyone what had happened that night. Even Damien didn’t know the entire story. Despite what had led to Reina’s death, in the end, the result was the same. The shifter was dead because Hayden hadn’t been fast enough to save her.
“You expect us to take your word?” Finley said, his disbelief so profound he actually laughed. Despite the way they let their ignorance drive them, these shifters had known Reina. She had been born and raised in Damien’s pack, back when his uncle had been alpha. Above all else, Damien’s pack protected—and avenged—their own.
“I’m Damien’s second. He accepted me into this pack. You don’t have to like me, but he is your alpha and I uphold his rulings. Go ahead, challenge me. I promise I will take at least three of you down before you even lay a claw on me.
“And I’ll finish off the rest of you,” Damien said from beyond the ring. Relief washed through Hayden, but he could not relax fully. Not with the threat that would persist as long as he remained in this pack. To make the situation worse, Mila had watched the entire spectacle. By now, whatever fear she had of him had been cemented into place by the hatred and suspicion coming from the very pack he fought for. Only Damien supported him, as Hayden knew he always would.
The dull thud of weapons being dropped against the packed snow was the only sound in the area as the shifters dispersed. They obeyed Damien without hesitation, as it should be.
“You should never have made me your second,” Hayden said as Damien approached.
The alpha crossed his arms over his chest, a hard look in his gray eyes. “You’re right. I should have made you alpha so I wouldn’t have to deal with bullshit like what they put you through, not to mention assholes like Finley. He’s a trouble-maker, always has been. I often wonder if he’d be an asshole if he were a strong shifter.”
“Why are you here, Damien?”
“Hell of a greeting to the shifter who just saved you.”
“You didn’t save me.”
Damien chuckled. “I’ll be sure to leave you to your own devices next time you’re surrounded by fifteen shifters.”
“It wouldn’t have come to that.”
“Normally, I’d agree. You’ve always been able to talk your way through just about anything, Hayden, but you’re not yourself lately. The very fact that you let yourself be surrounded by so many shifters at once tells me as much. I know they’re our pack, and I’ll give my life to defend each and every one of them against our enemies, but they’re far from perfect.”
“Our pack,” Hayden repeated, with a dark laugh. “I’ve never been a part of this pack. Why you think things will change, even after all these years, is beyond me.”
“You’re as bad as Blade.”
“At least he understands how hard it is entering this pack.”
“And yet he’s finally settling in.”
“Because he has Anna. And they accept her.”
“And you have Mila, who’s well-liked, too. Be patient a while longer and—”
“This has nothing to do with patience and you damn well know it. Drake is an albatross around my neck. Always will be.”
Damien’s hand grasped his shoulder. “Give it time, Hayden.”
“Time won’t change anything.”
“Then perhaps you need a break to gain perspective. I have an assignment for you.”
“I’m done with your assignments. I fucked up the last one, remember?”
“You got everyone home alive. And you’re being too hard on yourself, which is why you need some time away from here. Besides, I can’t give this to anyone else. I need you on this Hayden. Your skills in particular.”
“Kate’s been in town, monitoring the news and doing some research. She’s located someone in the government who’s willing to talk to us. It’s our chance to distance ourselves from Drake, to get ahead of what he’s doing and hopefully come out of this alive. If we do nothing, the situation will only get worse.”
Hayden couldn’t argue. They both knew that the earlier attack on the humans in Wyoming would not be the last. Per the latest report, two thousand humans in the quarantined area had died. . . all because of Hayden’s asshole brother. Eventually, the government would discover shifters were linked to the deadly virus and they’d all be in trouble, the type that guaranteed their deaths.
“Take Frank with you. Kate already set up the meeting for next week. It will take you away for a week or two, depending on how far you get with her contact. Go over everything you can, including the WSSO and the shifter virus they’ve been using against us. Make them understand what’s been happening and that this HEV, this bioweapon, was a weapon of retaliation from one small pack of shifters. Call them rogues, outlaws, dissidents. . .whatever it takes but make it clear they acted on their own and that we aren’t a threat. Offer the government our help. . . make us an invaluable resource to them, Hayden. Give them whatever reason they need to guarantee our survival.”
“There are still innocents in Drake’s pack. Women and children, even male shifters trapped. You’re signing not just Drake’s death warrant, but theirs as well.”
“If you can pin this on Drake and his top shifters only, then do so. In fact, hang every adult male in that pack out to dry if it will save the rest, but get the U.S. Government to understand that we have nothing to do with the HEV.”
“That’s a tall order.”
“One requiring a smooth talker, which is why I’m sending you. Either way, I think you can use some time away from here. It will give you time to think, time for the pack to calm.”
Hayden’s eyes searched the compound for Mila. Gone. She hadn’t stayed to see if he’d survive the mob. She would not miss him when he left on this mission, either. If anything, she would probably settle in much better without him here to remind her of whoever had hurt her in the past. Perhaps she’d even cheer Damien’s decision to send him away, which is exactly what it was. An errand to remove him from the pack, because his presence was disruptive, creating dissension at a time when Damien and the pack needed to be ever-vigilant.
Between the WSSO, the U.S. Government looking for whoever had killed all those humans in Wyoming, and Drake’s lone-wolf approach to protecting their species, Damien’s pack was vulnerable, more now than ever before. Damien couldn’t afford to have anyone around that was going to divide the pack, or distract them from focusing on the true enemy, which wasn’t Drake, but rather the WSSO. Hell, Drake may not technically be their enemy, but his actions were making him more dangerous than the WSSO.
Maybe that was the real reason Damien was sending him away. Hayden had never been able to think clearly when it came to Drake, and Damien knew it. Damien had some hard decisions to make ahead of him beyond telling Hayden to sacrifice his brother if need be. Meeting with the government. . . was this just a ruse to remove Hayden while Damien and Liam joined forces against Drake?
God, he hoped not. Drake was still his brother. Hayden didn’t want to see him dead, even though Drake would gladly kill him if given the chance.
“This is the last time, Damien.”
“The last time for what?”
“The last time you’re sending me away when you plan to meet Drake.”
“I’m not planning to meet him.”
“Then whatever it is you’re planning to do to him.”
“Trust me, Hayden. I know what I’m doing.”
It appeared to be Hayden’s lot in life, to serve an alpha who would—without question—lay down his life for him, but who also saw him as a source of discord that he was all too ready to send away for the sake of the pack.
Chapter Nine
MILA
Mila glanced over at Anna who had her hair pinned back and was highly focused on the papers spread out on the table in front of her. The blonde didn’t seem to notice the temperature drop in the past hour or that the overhead lights had gone out and she was squinting because the only other light source was the shed’s one small window. The generator had died again.
“You do realize we’re essentially working in the dark,” Mila said.
“Yes,” Anna said, circling DNA strands on the paper she had printed out before the power went out.
“And that one of us has to get up to brave the cold to notify someone in maintenance.”
“Yes.”
“Is that your way of saying you’re pregnant and shouldn’t be trudging out in the snow?”
“Not really, but now that you mention it. . .”
“I’m making note of every time you use that excuse, because one day when I’m pregnant—”
“One day soon?” Anna asked, the ends of her lips curling as she finally looked up from her papers. “You and Finley perhaps?”
“Is that what this is about? You’re playing matchmaker? Waiting for me to get so cold that I’ll go down to maintenance and be forced to talk to Finley?”
“Hardly forced. Just a gentle shove in the right direction. The guy’s been hanging around here a lot lately, and it’s not just because of that ancient generator.”
The right direction would be toward Hayden’s cabin, except he wasn’t there. As for Finley, if Mila asked him to fix the generator again, he’d probably drop everything to do so. In the week since Hayden had left with Frank, Finley definitely had been dropping by more and more. The shifter was sweet, kind, and funny. The type of guy Mila could see herself ending up with, except. . . he wasn’t Hayden.
Her sense of what motivated weak and strong shifters was definitely changing, and she was just as confused now as when Hayden had driven himself into her, taking her, claiming her. And it had been a claiming, in every sense of the word. Except she’d run from him and was still running from him, even when he wasn’t here. She’d tried forcing all thoughts of Hayden out of her mind, and she was failing, miserably.
“The way you’re frowning,” Anna said, breaking Mila out of her trance. “I guess Finley isn’t why you’ve been moping around here for the past week.”
Finley had blamed Hayden without knowing the facts. Twice now, she’d seen weak shifters goading, even attacking Hayden. Both times, Hayden had restrained himself. He could have killed Benji, he had every right and opportunity to do so. He hadn’t beaten Finley, either. Or berated him. Or tried to force an apology. Hayden had stood up for himself but had never gone on the offense or bullied Finley, a weak shifter.
Life was so very different in this pack. Hayden. . . her sweet Hayden was different from all the shifters she’d known too.
“Finley’s not my type.”
Anna’s eyes sparkled. “You have your sights set on someone else! Dish. . . who?”
Girl gossip. Mila had actually missed this from her college and medical school days. The female shifters of her pack didn’t exact sit around chatting about the guys they were interested in, at least not with her.
“No one here,” she lied. Anna wouldn’t want to hear about Hayden. That day Hayden had accidentally run into and knocked Anna over had shaken her for some reason, and Anna refused to talk about it. Blade had even made a point of finding Mila alone and asking her not to mention anything about the incident as he was afraid more stress wouldn’t be good for Anna or the baby.
Blade was right, of course. This fun-loving shifter that everyone spoke of as if he was impulsive and lacked direction at times was anything but when it came to Anna’s well-being. She admired that about Blade, and it made her miss Hayden all the more. He worri
ed about Mila and the whole damn pack, a pack filled with shifters who didn’t deserve his loyalty.
“The temperature’s dropping really fast. How are you sitting there looking as if it’s a warm, sunny day?”
Anna flexed her boots. “Blade brought me a bunch of toe warmers.” She rose and dug through the layers of clothing to the top of her jeans and bent the waistband over so Mila could see the red plaid lining. “Flannel jeans. I lived practically my whole life in the Boulder area and never once tried flannel jeans. A definite must-have.”
Her smile dropped. “Oh, Mila, I keep forgetting you’re feeling the cold as much as me now. I can go home and get you a bunch of toe warmers and Blade can order some flannel-lined jeans in your size too.”
“Flannel jeans sound nice. I’m as human as you these days.”
“And yet you don’t sound upset about it.”
Upset that she no longer had to go through the torment of being shifter? No. “I’ll let maintenance know the generator’s out again.”
“I can still get you some toe warmers. It might take a while for someone from maintenance to solve the problem with the generator.
“I’ll take you up on that, but it can wait until tomorrow.”
“Or you can take the treatment, and not be so vulnerable to the cold like me.”
Mila toyed with the idea. It would also be nice to heal faster and be warmer in the winter months. “If I do this, Anna, can it be between us?”
Hayden’s Haven Page 14
