by Alisha Basso
“You what?” Helen looked at him incredulously.
“Yeah, I know. I’m an idiot. She’s really mad at me, so she’s probably waiting until I’m gone before coming home for lunch. I guess she forgot to call Edward to tell him.”
Helen seemed to be thinking hard for a moment before speaking. “Kane, it’s really none of my business, but I can’t keep this to myself. Elise told me some of what happened yesterday—about the diary and Bryan; how you fought and then bonded. She was really upset—”
Kane interrupted. “I know. She’s scared of me now and sad that I took away the chance to blood-bond with someone she really loves... Hey! What was that for?” Helen had just slapped him across the back of the head! He bit back the snarl that such an action would have earned anyone else.
“Standard treatment for stupidity.” Her hands were on her hips and she appeared to be shaking her head in despair.
“Stupidity?” In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that only Helen would dare say that to the Alpha.
“Yes. And if Elise was here, I might slap her too, though she’s young and in a new pack, so I’m more inclined to forgive her, but you! You’re the Alpha, our supposed leader! You, of all people, should be able to read your own mate. Haven’t you used your bond to figure out what she’s really feeling?”
“I did, right afterwards. She was confused, scared, sad... I blocked her out after that. I’m not a suitable mate for her. Giving her a bit of privacy was the least I could do.”
Helen snorted. “What you did was convince her that you didn’t care; that you didn’t want her near you.”
“That’s not true!”
“Whether it is or not, that’s what she thought. Of course she was confused and scared! All of a sudden she had all your thoughts in her head and she couldn’t sort them out. And you—you were feeling pretty down on yourself for the circumstances surrounding the bonding, right?” Kane tightened his lips, but nodded. “Well, Elise took that to mean you hated her and regretted bonding with her, not just the circumstances surrounding how it happened. She was crying her eyes out this morning because she loves you, but she’s under the impression you don’t love her back.”
Kane stared at the floor, wincing as an actual pain attacked his heart. He never meant to hurt Elise. It was the last thing he wanted to do, and by trying to make things better, he’d actually made it worse.
Looking up, he found Helen observing him with a look of pity in her eyes. She reached out and cupped his cheek. “Kane, you did the wrong thing, but for the right reasons. I know you’re worried about becoming your father, but one fight with your mate doesn’t mean you are him.”
Kane wasn’t so sure of that fact, but didn’t bother to argue the point. Helen had always had a soft spot for him, and her assessment of his character was more favourable than he knew he deserved. “So, what should I do?”
“Are you looking for another slap on the head?” Helen scolded him. “Hook up that wonderful connection you now have with your mate. Go find her, explain how you feel and then have some great make-up sex!” With that, Helen shoved him out the door.
*****
Standing at the edge of the woods, Kane wiped his sweaty palms on his pant legs and shoved his hands into his back pockets. He’d faced a challenge fight to the death with fewer qualms than he had at this moment. For some reason, he was inexplicably nervous about opening up a connection with Elise. What if Helen was wrong? What if she didn’t love him? What if she really hated him for the blood-bond?
“Hey, Kane!” The sound of Julia’s voice behind him broke into his thoughts. He turned to observe the athletic blonde jogging down the path. “Are you waiting for Elise?”
He cleared his throat before answering. “Yeah, something like that.”
“I’m surprised she hasn’t returned yet. I ran into her and Rose over an hour ago. Somehow, I got the impression that they were just taking a short walk.” Julia leaned against a tree and stretched her leg muscles while talking.
“Really? I wonder why they aren’t back yet.” Kane frowned. To the best of his knowledge, Rose wasn’t an exercise fanatic and didn’t go on long walks. Then again, he didn’t know the girl very well; she never drew attention to herself and it was only recently, since she’d been dating Daniel, that he’d taken much notice of her.
“Yeah, it is sort of strange, isn’t it? And you know what else? Rose was acting odd. I mean, she’s always quiet, but...” Julia paused and then shrugged. “I don’t know. Something was off. When Elise asked me to join them, Rose had this weird look on her face. I think she was relieved that I couldn’t go with them.” She bent down to tighten her shoelaces. “At the time, I didn’t think that much about it, except that maybe Rose wasn’t feeling well, but now that they aren’t back... Well, I suppose Rose could have gotten sick along the way. That would explain why they’re so late.”
Kane narrowed his eyes as he considered the fact. “Do you know where they were going?”
“Umm...they were headed towards the lake, but I’m sure they didn’t actually go that far, since it’s still out of bounds.” Julia stood and bounced up and down a few times, while efficiently readjusting her ponytail that had started to loosen.
“Thanks, Julia. I think I’ll just head out and meet them. They’re probably on their way home by now, anyway.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you later.” Julia gave a little nod and continued her daily jog.
Once she was on her way, Kane leaned his back against a tree and tilted his head towards the sky. He opened his mind, searching for Elise. As his senses expanded—searching and reaching—his instincts were telling him something was off, but he wasn’t sure what. Hoping his inner wolf was wrong, he focused in on Elise and felt his heart lurch. Waves of pain and fear washed over him. Elise was in danger! Cursing himself for not seeking her out sooner, he shifted into wolf form and raced through the woods, following a call that only his heart and soul could hear.
Chapter 33
Elise stared at the carbon copy of her mate, unsure of what to say. The strength of his muscles was evident by how the material of his clothing stretched tautly over his body. Dark, faintly damp hair hung shaggily over his forehead and there was the faintest curve to his nose as if it had been broken at one point. His mouth was firm and set in a straight, unyielding line. It was amazing that the man could look so much like Kane at first glance yet exude such a different aura. Kane was strong yet caring, while Ryne was...dangerous? A part of her mind acknowledged that the rocky, uninviting atmosphere of the ravine seemed to suit him and Elise found herself vaguely reassured to know that, by Marla’s admission, he was not the psycho rogue wolf that she’d been led to believe. Still and all, he was an unknown quantity and needed to be treated with caution. Clearing her throat, she gave the lamest greeting possible. “Hi!”
No response was given. Instead, the man’s gaze seemed to be assessing her, taking in her appearance from head to toe. Elise felt inexplicably self-conscious, aware that she was far from looking her best. Her clothes were dirty and torn, scratches and smeared blood stained her hands and probably her face as well. She resisted the urge to finger comb her hair and straighten her jacket, instead forcing herself to meet his gaze. Showing weakness was not an option, despite her vulnerable position.
When he spoke, his voice was deep, similar to Kane’s, but harder and lacking the caring quality that she had come to expect from her mate. “Did you kill her?”
“Kill who?” Elise was startled. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting him to say.
“Rose.” He gestured with his head towards the dead woman’s body. “Did you kill her?”
“No! Of course not! I was running and she was chasing me and then she jumped and we sort of rolled down and...” Elise let her voice trail off as his blue eyes narrowed and a growl rumbled in his chest.
“I don’t know if I should believe you or not. Rose was part of my pack and she wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
> “It was all an accident!” She hastened to reassure him, while thinking that here was another person Rose had managed to fool. “I broke my leg during the fall ...”
He leaned forward and touched her leg as if to check the veracity of her claim. Elise bit back a cry of pain. Immediately he withdrew his hand, but instead of moving away, came closer and sniffed her. A puzzled frown appeared. “Kane’s?”
She nodded. “Kane is my mate.”
A smirk appeared. “He works fast. He wasn’t even seeing anyone when I left.”
“We’ve only been together three weeks. It was an arranged mating. My father is Alpha of the territory to the west of here.”
“I wondered if a political pairing would be needed on that front.” He was silent for a moment, and then stuck out his hand. “I’m Ryne, Kane’s half brother.”
“Elise.” Her small hand was engulfed in his and comforting warmth came over her. It wasn’t the same tingling awareness that she got from Kane, but still it was...nice.
“So, care to tell me what happened here?” He sat down and looked at her expectantly.
“Um... I will, but could you possibly help me first?” Elise wanted to get away before Marla returned.
“No. Tell me your story and then I’ll decide.” Ryne folded his arms and seemed prepared to wait as long as necessary.
Elise was in a quandary. She wanted to get away, but didn’t dare push too much. He looked like he was used to getting his own way and right now Ryne was her only hope. Giving an exasperated huff, she launched into a much edited version of what was happening.
“Do you know about the oil company wanting the land and offering lots of money?” He nodded, so she continued. “Apparently, Marla is trying to force Kane into selling out and she thinks if I’m out of the way, she’ll be able to get Kane to listen to her.” She paused to gauge his reaction.
Ryne snorted and shook his head. “Typical of the bitch.”
Silently, Elise agreed, but kept her comments to herself. “Marla and Rose were planning to kill me, so when I got a chance, I ran. Rose tackled me and we rolled down the ravine. She died in the fall and now Marla’s gone off to get some stuff so that she can kill me by herself. I’ve been trying to get away, but, as you can see, I haven’t made it very far.” Elise carefully avoided mentioning how Marla had been using Ryne as a scapegoat. Remembering that Ryne had been described as hot-headed and impulsive, she thought she’d avoid getting him all worked up.
“Rose was in on this plan?” He sounded sceptical.
“I was surprised too, but she had a gun pointed at me.”
“Humph, it’s always the quiet ones you have to watch.” Ryne rubbed his chin and appeared lost in thought.
The silence stretched between them and Elise began to wonder if Ryne even remembered she was there. “Umm... Can I ask you a question?” He looked at her with raised brows. “Did you... I mean, a couple of weeks ago, were you over at Marla’s?” She shrank under his gaze, cursing herself for asking the question even as the words left her mouth. Hopefully, it wouldn’t set him off.
“Yeah. I was there.”
“Oh.” Elise answered in a small voice, averting her eyes. The man beside her had threatened and attacked Marla. While she had no love for the woman, she wasn’t comfortable around a man who would hit a female. What if she made him angry? Would he strike out at her too?
“And I hit her...once. I know that’s what you want to ask.” Ryne made the statement blandly as he scanned the woods around them. “Do you want to know why?”
“Well, I suppose. If you want to tell me, that is.” Elise wondered what possible reason he could give.
“Before the challenge—you know about that?” She nodded. “Well, Marla and I were...together. Originally, she was Kane’s girl and around him she would put on this helpless female act, playing up to his need to be the protector, but when Kane wasn’t looking, she showed me her true colours. She was the ‘bad’ girl with a bit of an attitude and I found that appealing for some reason, so I worked hard to steal her away from him. I didn’t feel guilty about it, since I knew she was playing him along and he’d never really be happy with her. In a way, I was rescuing him from his own blind stupidity. It was only later that I found out she was stringing me along, too.
“Marla’s a master manipulator and without even realizing it, she had me eating out of her hand. She knew my weaknesses and played on them; got me to challenge Kane because of some cock and bull story about him sabotaging Zack’s truck. Damn, I can’t believe I was such an idiot.” He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head in obvious self-disgust. “Anyway, long story short, Kane won. I was embarrassed and left the area. Marla refused to come with me, of course, and that was when I realized that, like Kane, I never really knew her. I’d only seen the image she wanted me to see.
“Unfortunately, the depths of my stupidity hadn’t been reached yet. Before I left, I gave her all my photographs to sell with the promise that she’d forward the money to me.”
“I’ve seen one of your pictures. You’re quite talented.” Elise interjected.
Ryne gave her a half smile. “Thanks. I was going to use the proceeds to establish a new pack. Imagine my surprise when I called Bastian’s Gallery and found that all but one of my works had been sold, even though, surprisingly enough, there was no money in my account. It turns out she’d kept it all.
“So I came back to town looking for my money and she laughed, saying she’d already spent it and there was no way I’d ever get it back from her. To top it all off, there was also this sports car that I owned—I only used it once in a while—and I’d left it with her to sell. Rather than taking it to a proper dealership where there’d be a fast turnover, she had it sitting at some little out of the way garage where it will probably never sell, because she wanted to still have use of it.
“All my money, my heart, even my status with the pack—she took it all from me. Everything I had was gone and she just laughed in my face. I grabbed her by the arms and shook her. She spat in my face and I lost it; I slapped her. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I won’t hide it either.”
Elise was quiet for a moment, then reached out her hand and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sorry she did that to you. If it makes you feel any better, you’re not her only victim. She’s driven a major wedge between Kane and me. I was foolish enough to listen to her too.”
Ryne looked over at her and gave a sad smile. “She’s a real piece of work, isn’t she?”
Nodding, Elise gave a quick smile back. “And now she wants to kill me.”
“Right. Not that I want you dead or anything, but why didn’t she kill you when you first fell down here? What did she have to go and get?”
She hadn’t really wanted to tell Ryne that Marla had basically been assassinating his character, but couldn’t think of an alternative and she refused to lie any more. “She went to get some of your clothes that you’d left behind. She’s been using them so that your scent was at the scene of some of the bad stuff that’s been going on around here.”
Ryne stiffened. “What kind of bad stuff?”
“Well, oil purposely dumped in the water, traps have been set, Thomas was shot... And now she wants you blamed for my death and probably Rose’s too.”
“Damn!” Ryne surged up from the spot he’d been sitting and began to angrily pace back and forth in front of her. “She is such a bitch! I imagine my name is mud within the pack and they’re trying to hunt me down now, aren’t they? Why the fuck is she doing this to me? What kind of twisted revenge does she want? Just because I lost the challenge, she dumps me and screws up my whole life! Wait until I get my hands on her...”
“Ryne, calm down!” Elise snapped the order at him, hoping to keep him from flying off the handle. “If it’s any help, she’s not getting revenge on you personally. She’s trying to convince Kane it’s too dangerous to stay here and that he needs to sell out. After that, she’s planning on stealing the money f
rom his bank account. You’re being used as a scapegoat to keep suspicion away from her.”
Ryne growled and looked around, angry emotion blazing from his eyes. Elise was worried that he’d charge off and leave her. “Please, Ryne! I know you’re mad at Marla, but I need you to help me right now. I can’t get back to the Alpha house on my own and I’d prefer not to be here when Marla returns. I’ll explain everything to Kane and then the two of you can go after her together.” She wasn’t exactly sure Kane would believe her, but she’d cross that bridge when she got there.
Finally, Ryne stopped his pacing and took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself. He clenched and loosened his fists several times before finally turning to face her. The rage he was feeling was evident in the stormy blue of his eyes, and she forced herself to swallow the fear that rose up inside her. Ryne wasn’t mad at her, she reminded herself.
“All right. I’ll take you to the Alpha house, but then I’m coming back here to find her, regardless of what Kane says.” Carefully, Ryne eased his arms under her and picked her up trying not to jostle her leg more than necessary. Each step he took made her wince however and she sought a way to keep her mind off the pain. Picking a question that had been floating around in her mind, she began a conversation.
“So, if you weren’t planning on ever coming back, why are you here today?”
“I was trying to track down Marla one last time in an attempt to get my money back. If she wouldn’t give it to me, I was going to tell her that I’d approach the gallery and complain. They wouldn’t likely give me any money either, but I was hoping the threat of losing her job would make her cough up some of the cash she owes me. She hasn’t been back to her apartment in days, so I figured she was staying here. I caught her scent by the road and was following it when I found you.”
