In seven days she would be mated.
To Lionel Rath. II.
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t suck in enough oxygen to combat a devastating wave of dizziness.
Axe gave her leg a quick squeeze. “Drink your water. Slowly. I can smell your panic. Trust in me. It’ll be okay. ”
What? Axe had lost it. Nothing would ever, ever, ever be okay again.
“Don’t like the soup?” Mishe asked. He shot her a narrow-eyed glance.
Resisting the overwhelming temptation to hurl the bowl at Mishe, she said through clenched teeth, “It’s delish. I could eat ten bowls of this.”
Mishe’s brow quirked. “Really? I’d expected a critical opinion. It tastes pretty watery to me.”
“You know the phrase, an opinion is like an ass. Everyone has one. That’s mine.” Tania couldn’t keep the terseness out of her pugnacious retort.
Did both Breede and Mishe know about her mate alliance?
Jesus. Did Jaz know? Had her twin participated in this betrayal?
Tania spooned the last remnants of the clam chowder into her mouth.
She needed to find a toothbrush and brush away the foulness coating her tongue.
Her family knew she didn’t want a mate. She’d thought her parents had accepted her wishes when they allowed her to move out of the family home two months ago.
How could her father have done this? Had her mom just gone with the flow? Why hadn’t they told her about the Senior Council’s decision?
Tania fingered the brass button from Axe’s coat that she’d retrieved on a stupid impulse from the greenhouse’s dirt floor. For some reason the rhythmic caressing of the rounded surface soothed her rising alarm and her Decorum, Discipline, and Deportment training snapped her into a rigid rationality.
Puzzle pieces began to fall into place.
Uncle Viktor had always wanted to merge the Rath and Prakov fortunes. That was why he had arranged Lisette Rath’s marriage to his son, Robert. But Robert had been killed and the Raths refused Viktor’s proposal to unify the two companies, Tripe W Corporation and Rath Financial Investments.
Viktor was the alpha of their pack.
He had sold Tania to the Raths.
Dad hadn’t told her because he suspected she’d bolt.
And she would.
No way was she going to become her mom. Not that she didn’t love her mother, she did. But she wanted to be her own person, not a typical Wylfen wife who catered to her mate’s every whim.
Why had they let her taste freedom if this was what they’d planned from the start? Why had they let her believe she could remain unmated?
A pastry chef in a fine dining restaurant like Chez Noir where Tania’d worked for the past eighteen months earned good money. More than enough to pay for her living expenses and bank a couple of months’ salary. Exactly how much did she have saved?
Tania picked up her phone, set it in her lap, logged into her account, and checked the balance: four thousand, nine dollars, and twenty-five cents. She couldn’t count on getting back the first and last month’s deposit from her rental apartment.
Would her boss, Andres, give her a good reference if she didn’t give the requisite two weeks’ notice?
Jaz. Would her twin help her? Sure, he’d stood up for her when she enrolled at the Culinary Institute. He’d even persuaded Breede and Mishe to take her side. She knew her parents had only agreed to allow her to attend classes because of the combined backing of her three brothers.
And when she’d decided to move out, it had been Jaz and Mishe who’d convinced her father that being on her own didn’t violate any Wylfen laws.
But, Jaz had changed during the last year. They no longer spoke as often as they used to. His texts and emails had slowed to sporadic trickles. Her twin now wore an edgy air of danger, but she had put that down to the whole military training thing. The last two times she’d met him for lunch, Tania had sensed a banked fury raging in him. When she’d asked him about it, he’d been evasive.
She glanced down the table.
Noticed the empty seat next to her father. Prayed Lionel hadn’t been invited. She willed Jaz to look her way, but he was staring at his cell. He frowned and his thumbs got busy. She checked the grim set of her twin’s mouth when he stared at first their father, then Viktor, and finally met her gaze.
Her phone dinged.
What’s up with u?
The message was from Jaz. She shuttered her eyes. Then texted back. Need to talk to u.
Jaz stared at her. Worked his keypad.
Lobby. After dinner.
Ok. She replied.
The dinner slogged on and on.
She forked a mouthful of the spinach and strawberry salad.
Axe left the table while the wait staff cleared the salad plates and returned right as the entrée was served.
Tania cut the Chicken Kiev into tiny bites, but couldn’t digest more than two pieces. Relieved that neither Axe nor Senior Chief Johnson bothered to engage her in conversation, she forced herself to eat the mixed vegetables and a couple of forkfuls of rice pilaf.
She stared unseeing at the musicians taking their place on the podium. The aroma of coffee broke her out of a numb reverie. But her mind was on some sort of strange lock down and her normal sweet tooth didn’t activate when the waiter plonked the dessert plate in front of her. She separated the raspberry icing from the Black Forest cake. Tasted both the red sweetness and the moist cake, more out of professional curiosity than real hunger.
“Lost your appetite?” Axe asked, his voice low.
She flinched and looked up to see if Mishe still stared at her. He did.
Tania swept Axe a sidelong glance. She nodded yes, but didn’t speak.
A familiar, but just-out-of-memory melody swelled through the room.
“Let’s dance.” Axe gave her no chance to refuse. He twined their fingers together, stood, and helped her out of the chair.
“My sister hates to dance.” Mishe threw his napkin on the table.
Axe didn’t respond to Mishe’s barked statement. “That right, Tania?”
“Tania. You don’t have to dance with anyone.” Mishe rose.
Anger, hot and fierce, dissolved the horrible frozenness that had settled in her chest and paralyzed her brain. “You’re right, Mishe. I don’t have to. But I want to. Thank you Axe, for asking.”
Mishe glowered at her.
She flashed her brother a saccharine smile and allowed Axe to lead her away from the table.
They didn’t speak when Axe ushered her, with his palm in the small of her back, through the crowd heading onto the dance floor. He negotiated them to the far corner of the room.
She relished the feeling of safety his hand provided and almost protested when he switched position and pulled her into the classic dance pose.
“Listen up. We don’t have much time. I figure Mishe will cut in before this waltz finishes. I’m going to block his view of you while we dance. None of your family will be able to read your lips while we speak. Lycus will keep them at the table as long as he can.”
“I don’t understand.” She met his gaze. The man had incredible eyes. The color reminded her of the steel gray, cloudless sky that rimmed the Grand Canyon on her last visit there.
“I spoke with Jaz. Asked him to hack into the Senior Council’s server.”
Her jaw went slack. Her gray matter didn’t process his declaration for a full fifteen seconds. “How do you know about the Senior Council?”
She stumbled when he twirled her around.
He steadied her and slowed the rhythm of his dancing. “I’m a half-breed. A Feral wolf.”
Her feet refused to move.
“Keep dancing,” he ordered and gave her a little jiggle. “You heard me right. I. Am. A. Feral. Wolf.”
She stared at him.
“The Senior Council handed down their decision on Monday. You have been mate allianced to Lionel Rath.”
Her ribs collap
sed in on her lungs.
“Breathe, Tania. Take a deep breath. You’ve gone as white as an albino hippo.” He kneaded her spine. “Come on, sweet girl. Breathe for me.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“Look at me. That’s right. See my eyes? See my wolf now?” He nudged her chin.
All at once the ramifications of what he’d said shattered her stunned paralysis.
“I violated the mate alliance laws.” Even as she uttered the words, Tania couldn’t grasp the terrible emptiness that would be sure to follow. She no longer belonged.
“Wylfen alliance laws.” His deep voice reverberated to her core.
“I’m not mate-able. I’ll be exiled.” What had she done to her family? They’d all be shunned because of her actions. Once Dad and Mom and Breede and Mishe found out, they’d be forced to choose between her and being Wylfen. Between her and the Prakov pack.
“Crap. Mishe is heading this way. We’re using a mask to block your family from smelling me on you, or you on me. It will last at most another fifteen minutes. After that, all the males in your family will know that we mated.”
Icy fear shimmered down her spine. “They’ll hunt you down and kill you.”
Chapter Nine
Axe knew when the chandelier shattered for Tania.
The Wylfen punishment for a female who’d mated with a half-breed was severe. And the insult she’d delivered to Rath by fucking Axe meant he could demand the ultimate penalty, Tania’s death.
She latched onto his earlier remark. “Jaz hacked into the Senior Council’s server?”
“Jaz is leaving the Prakov pack. He’s joined our Prymal pack.” Axe did a three point turn in time to the strains of The Blue Danube.
Her eyes widened. She tensed away from him. “I don’t believe you. Jaz wouldn’t agree to serve under a Feral wolf.”
“Because Feral wolves are barbaric? Can’t control their wolf?” He barked the questions at her wanting to shock his mate into recognizing him.
She nodded mutely.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Axe glimpsed Mishe stalking to them. The Wylfen alpha’s odor screamed protective fury. “Mishe is going to interrupt us in eleven seconds. Jaz is waiting for you in the lobby. Go speak to him. Ask him about us.”
“I believe it’s my turn to dance with my sister.” Mishe tapped Axe’s shoulder.
“Your prerogative as her brother.” It took every iota of his SEAL discipline to force his fingers to unclasp her hand.
Axe waited until Mishe took Tania into his arms before he pivoted and marched back to the table.
Lycus stood. “The scent mask’s wearing off. Her other brother, Breede, took a good sniff of your napkin and hauled ass to Viktor. Time to leave this party.”
“They can’t act worth shit without the Senior Council’s approval. Even if they smell us, Wylfen laws prevent them from engaging until the council gives their approval.”
Axe felt his mate’s departure. He scanned the dance floor and spied Mishe heading back to the table.
Alone.
Good.
Tania had gone to meet with Jaz.
“How did she react?” Lycus asked as they both reversed direction.
“She’s in shock. First stage—denial. I can’t leave her here to face her family’s anger and rejection. I’m taking her with me tonight.” Axe waited for Lycus to explode.
The other alpha shrugged. “Kinda expected that. So much for not claiming her.”
Axe massaged the knotted tendons in his neck. “I haven’t claimed her. Yet.”
But he knew he would.
Soon.
The primordial compulsion to have his mate at hand grew exponentially each time he saw her, smelled her, touched her, tasted her. He had to take frequent whiffs of her panties to keep his wolf in check.
Lycus and Axe stalked out of the dining hall.
They took the emergency stairs two at a time.
Axe tensed when they plunged through the double doors and halted in the far corner of the lobby. Stifled a growl and fisted his hands when he spied Tania in Jaz’s embrace.
Though Axe and Lycus had made no sound, Jaz raised his head, and exchanged glances with both of them. He kissed his sister’s forehead and, arm around her shoulder, walked toward them.
“Tania told me everything. Know that I’m going to pound you to a pulp once she’s safe. You fucked her life up. Breede and Mishe are sniffing something about both of you. I heard them tell Dad and Viktor.” Jaz herded his twin closer to his side.
Wan and hunched in on herself, Tania ducked her head, and stared at the floor.
“Crap.” Axe checked his watch. “Earlier today, we timed the scent mask. Lasts around five hours. We’re eight minutes over that. When the scent mask goes it goes fast. They’ll pick us up on the stairwell and even here.”
“And if they get one whiff of her, they’ll smell you on her. We’re blown. Tania’s blown. Her life’s on the line now,” Lycus declared.
Axe grasped Tania’s hand.
She tried to tug out of his hold.
“I know you’re probably feeling a whole bunch of rage at me, shock, fear, and desperation. But, you have to listen to me. Lycus is right. Your life is on the line. If you stay here. We’re all leaving for Coronado tonight. Come with us.” Axe didn’t have much hope he’d get through to her.
Tania’s left eye had gone a deep green with anger. Pink blotches stained her cheeks.
Jaz shoved Axe to one side. He framed his twin’s face. “He’s right, sis. You have to come with us tonight. There’s no choice. In fact, I’m giving you no choice in the matter. If I have to take you out of here kicking and biting, I will.”
The color drained from her complexion, but she firmed her chin, and stated, “I’m not a fool, Jaz. I know I have to leave. But, I won’t jeopardize your future. You don’t have to leave the Prakov pack.”
“It’s not a case of me having to leave the pack. It’s a choice. One I made months ago. I’m part of Prymal now. And that’s not going to change. You’re coming with us.” Jaz and Tania stared at each other.
Axe hated being on the outside looking in as the twins silently communicated with each other.
Tania shook her head. “They’ll exile you, too. I don’t want them hunting you because you stood by me.”
“Shssh. We have each other’s backs, always have, always will, right? Didn’t we pinky swear that on our fifth birthday?”
“Oh Jazshuka. How did things get so messed up?” Teardrops hovered at the corners of her eyes and darkened her brown lashes.
Axe flexed his fingers resisting the rocketing temptation to haul her into his arms.
“Not to worry, sis. I got your back. It will all work out. We go forward as one from now on. Know this, I trust Lycus and Axe with my life. I trust them with yours. Are you coming with us willingly?”
Tania wept without a hiccup, a sob, or a whimper.
Axe bled for her silent wretchedness.
She nodded. Swiped away the tears with the backs of her hands. “Yes. I hate that I forced—”
“You didn’t force anything. I repeat. I made my own choice. The hardest part about deciding to leave the pack was knowing I’d never see you again. Having you with me—ah, shit, Tanichika—it rocks. We’re half of a whole.” Jaz tweaked her nose. “You okay? ‘Cause we have to move it like Jagger right now.”
“Don’t worry about me. Just do what you have to.” She took a ragged inhale and backpedaled until she stood on her twin’s right.
Jaz flicked her cheek and gave her a quick once-over. Reassured by whatever he saw in his sister’s features, Jaz glanced at Lycus and then Axe. “Just in case Eva’s scent mask didn’t work, I piggybacked onto my brothers’ cell phones at the beginning of the ceremony so I could monitor their communications. Mishe texted one of the Wasserman and Litchfield PIs. He wants a blow by blow of Axe’s movements over the last six months.”
“Shit’s hit a fucki
ng tornado. Knew it would. We’re so fucking burned. Let’s get moving. You two will ride with us,” Lycus stated.
“It’s our best option, Tanichika. You okay with that?”
“Sure.” She turned her face into her brother’s hand and kissed the center of his palm. “Whatever. I just want this over and done with.”
Jealousy seared Axe. He’d give his right nut, no both nuts, to have her show him that kind of trust and love.
“The Senior Council will have to meet before Viktor or your father can make a move. It’s near midnight. If Viktor gets them out of bed right away, we’ll have maybe a three hour head start on them if we leave right away.” In a strange way Axe had a hunch this was another win-win. The Wylfen couldn’t delay a military plane or file a false report to have someone removed from a flight.
“Let’s roll.” Lycus shoved the side door open. “I’ll bring the truck around.”
Axe shrugged out of his jacket. He elbowed Jaz out of the way and wrapped the thick wool around Tania’s shoulders. “It’s raining.”
She avoided meeting his gaze. “Thanks.”
When Lycus pulled up below the steps, Axe swept Tania into his embrace. “Don’t want you getting sick because of wet feet.”
She held herself stiff when he carried her down the stairs and didn’t say a word when he bundled her into the backseat, belted her in, and draped a blanket over her legs. “Ride with Lycus, Jaz.”
Jaz didn’t move. “Only if that’s all right with my sister.”
“Tania?” Axe held his breath.
She blew out an exasperated sigh and crossed her eyes at her brother. “I’m not made of glass. I won’t break.”
“Good to know, sweet girl. Up front, Jaz.” Axe shut the passenger door, walked around the truck’s bed, and then took the seat beside Tania.
Their mingled fragrances swarmed the vehicle. No way could Jaz miss Axe’s stamp on Tania. From the way Jaz glowered at him in the rearview mirror, they would be duking it out soon. Axe tipped a hand in salute acknowledging Jaz’s right to protect his twin sister.
Tania huddled into the corner and closed her eyes pretending to sleep. But Axe knew better. Halfway to the base, he surrendered to his wolf, and held her hand. She didn’t resist, but didn’t cooperate either.
Prymal Lust Page 7
