Once they entered US airspace, they planned to break the news. Z informed Drew they had one of the many wolves Z hunted in custody, ready for a handoff at the border of Tao lands. Only one of them would be allowed to go in, and it needed to be D. Z was eager to head straight to Ripley’s side.
“Will the others be joining us on Tao lands?” Natalie asked, fidgeting with the straw in her drink.
“Others?” Z didn’t look up from his paperwork.
“Lenora, Balbus, the elephants, any of the other shifters?”
D reached over and grabbed her hand, her anxiety rolled off her in waves. “I am sure they are safe.”
“But where did they go?” She couldn’t believe it had taken her this long to think about the others. How selfish could she be? Now that she came down from her long run, the freedom she only now could appreciate opened her to a sense of guilt the others weren’t with her.
“They won’t be joining you on Tao lands.” Z looked up. “They are all on an island off the coast of Maine.”
“Maine?”
“There’s a spa on the island called the Wiccan Haus. Believe me they will be well taken care of.”
“Can I call them? See them again?”
D looked at Z who shook his head. “You all need to heal. Perhaps after they are healthy we can arrange for you to see them again.”
Natalie reached across the aisle and touched Z’s arm. “Can you at least pass a message along to them that I am sorry I couldn’t have done more for them?”
“Had it not been for you, they wouldn’t have been rescued. You have nothing to feel sorry about.” Z offered her a rare smile. “But I will pass along your message to the powers that be.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she leaned back into her chair seemingly content with his brother’s answer. She accepted a set of headphones from the flight attendant. Once she settled in to watch a comedy and had let out a series of giggles, D turned back to the window and let his thoughts wonder to what the hell would happen next.
“What is the plan when we get there?” Natalie asked sometime later.
D turned away from the view out the window, he estimated they had about thirty minutes before they landed. “Once we land, we’ll make our way to your grandfather’s pack.”
“I know that part. What about you?”
“I’ll stay until I know you’re settled then head out. My brothers and I aren’t particularly welcome in town. Well, not trusted might be a better term.”
“So you’re leaving without me?”
“I am. You need your freedom, and I can’t give that to you when we’re together.”
“What if I don’t want you to leave me?”
“You say so, now, and in the morning you’ll complain and say I own you again.” He brought her knuckles to his lips. “You need time, time with your kin, and time to be free.”
“I can’t sleep without you near.”
“I am hoping it is the same as with the connection to my brother. As soon as I get far enough from you, your need to have me around will lessen.”
He didn’t hope for anything of the sort at all. He wanted to be with her, and the thought their connection could so easily be broken angered him. He handed her a card. Written on it was D and S Consultants and a phone number. “I’m only a phone call away.”
“So I can call you whenever I need you?” She held the card tight, curling the edges.
“No, you may call me when you really need me, if you’re in trouble, or have decided to truly be my mate.” She needed space, and the only way for her to get it was to stop leaning on him. “I don’t think I can be selfless again.” Her grip on his arm tightened.
“Maybe I don’t need my freedom.”
“You’re scared, and I think that fear is pretty normal. You’re about to be thrown into a pack you don’t remember, and they are going to act like you belong. You don’t need to add a new mate to the mix. You’ve spent the majority of your life in a cage, under the thumb of evil people.” He cupped her face and brought his lips to hers. “You deserve to live. Free.”
They remained quiet as the plane landed because there wasn’t anything more to be said.
Chapter Six
They opted for two large vehicles. 7 and Natalia in the first one. D drove the other one while Z focused on his prisoner. As they made their way down the road, curiosity finally got the better of her. “Why two cars?”
7 didn’t take his eyes off the road. “The wolf has been on the run for a while now. He might have information on where others might be. A hint he might talk would be enough for some to hire someone to take him out before we get there.”
“So why not have you drive Z and D with me?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” 7 answered. “I suspect since my idiot twin means to give you your freedom, he figured he should start as he meant to go on.”
“I didn’t ask him to leave. In fact, I asked him to stay.”
“I’m aware of that. It’s very difficult for either of us to hide anything from the other.”
“Is he upset?”
“What do you think?” He took his eyes off the road only long enough to throw her a look of pity. “He finally finds his mate, and she really isn’t prepared to deal with having a mate. It’s bound to hurt. But it isn’t your fault.”
“How can you say it’s not my fault?”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“Yet, you are angry.”
“I’m not angry as much as frustrated about the situation.” 7 graced her with a slight smile.
“What do you two usually talk about when no one can hear you?”
“Usually, it’s just regular conversations like we would have with anyone, just not aloud.”
“What is he asking you now?”
“He wants to know if you are okay.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I said, if he keeps asking me, I’ll push you out of this moving vehicle so he can have something to be worried about.”
“Nice.” She giggled then paused. “You are joking, aren’t you?”
“I did tell him that, but I promise I won’t push you out…not while it’s in motion, anyway.”
“Thank you, I think.” She gnawed her lower lip, working up the gumption to ask what she really needed to know. “Will he be okay?”
“Not at first, but, as time passes, it’ll get easier to deal with. A few assignments to take his mind off you will help, and one day you’ll wake up and need your mate. Fate rarely makes mistakes, and he’ll be waiting for you.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because that is how being mated works.”
“Do you have a mate?”
“No, my people don’t always find ours. We certainly don’t hold out for them.”
“But D and Z both found theirs?”
“Z married long ago and only discovered his mate this year. At the moment, I’m quite happy to be mateless. You and Ripley are enough to keep me crazy for years.”
She watched the countryside in rapt anticipation, hills that appeared familiar yet foreign all at once. But, as 7 slowed the car for a turn, she saw a weather-beaten house on a hill. The two front windows were broken out, but it was the bare, covered porch that stretched the full front of the shabby old building that triggered memories long suppressed. “Stop.”
“What?”
“Stop, please.”
He pulled to the side of the road, and she jumped out. D slammed on the brakes, leapt out of the other car, and came to her side. “What are you doing?”
“I used to live here.” She stepped forward, hesitant. “I remember this place.”
“Go on up, Ryker’s people are close by. We can do the handoff here as well as we could half a mile up the road,” Z said, shutting the door and shifting.
Natalie sniffed the air. Familiar smells brought back memories in a rush. Playing on the porch, sle
eping on a blanket on the floor before the fire.
“There is someone in the house,” D said “Natalie, stop.”
“Why?”
“The old lady who lived here died years ago.”
In a second, everything went crazy. D shifted and ran full force for the house. She saw a flash of light in the dark recesses of the house aimed in her direction, and she braced herself for the impact that never came.
A woman’s scream rent the air and the area smelled of gunpowder and blood. 7 crumpled to the ground at her feet, the snow around him turning red. “D! 7 is hurt.”
He came out of the shack, dragging Shelley Testa behind him. He shifted back to human so quickly, she had to blink to believe it had happened. He grabbed the other woman’s arms, ignoring the blood trickling over her fingers from damage hidden in her clothes. “7!”
D ripped the weapon from Shelley’s hand and placed it in Natalia’s palm. “If the bitch so much as coughs, shoot her.” He kneeled beside his brother, assessing the damage. One second, 7 panted in human form, blood pooling around him, the next he shifted into wolf. D picked up the bullet from the ground and glared at the other woman. “You dare shoot at my mate and injure my brother?”
“He killed my husband.”
Natalie pointed the gun at Shelley’s head. “He deserved to die. You’ll never hurt another person or shifter again.”
“Give me the gun back,” D said. “You aren’t a killer. It isn’t in you.”
“She can’t continue to hurt people, and that is all she will do, hurt people.” Her hands shook, but her grip tightened on the gun. “How did you find us?”
“The old hag we bought you from here said you had family close by. Where else would you have gone? When I returned to the circus site and found it a ghost town, I knew Lee was dead. Didn’t need a body to tell me. So I took the remaining money and hauled it out here. Got here an hour ago. I worried I’d missed you.”
“Why? Why are you so hateful?”
“You are nothing but an animal, worthless in your abilities.”
D tsked. “I might remind you she still has a gun on you.”
“She won’t use it.”
“Maybe not, but I have no qualms of breaking your neck.”
Shelley swallowed deeply as she moved a hand to her throat. “You can’t just kill me.”
“Give me one good reason, just one.”
“Because if I die, my lawyer will release information to show the world of your kind. You can’t risk publicity now, can you?”
D smiled, not the joyful smile he did around his brother or the playful one she had seen, this time he leered full of menace. “I think you should meet the boogeyman. Actually, I think you have met my brother Z.”
Z stood behind them in wolf form, his black fur contrasted against the winter snow. He waited until he knew Shelley watched and shifted into the person she had thought would save them. “I’ll take care of this one. I think Drew might want to deal with her as well.”
“You are going to give Drew a swing?”
“Only if he wants to. Get 7 out of here, he needs medical attention. You need to take him back to our healers.”
“But….” D didn’t know where to go, she could tell.
“I can’t take him. It has to be you, his twin,” Z said in a calm voice. For the first time, he sounded like a brother concerned and not some distant general barking orders. “I’ll take Natalie to her grandfather. But 7 needs more than either the Tao or Greystones can offer.”
Natalia hesitated; she didn’t want him to leave but knew he had to. She wanted some freedom, but not like this. “D.”
“Get to know your people. We have the rest of our lives. If you need me, I’ll come to you.”
“Can I come with you?”
7 huffed as D lifted him into his arms.
“No, not until we have permissions in place. Besides, your grandfather needs to see you.”
“But….”
Z stepped between them. “There is no time, Natalie. 7 is bleeding. D needs to get him to our people. Only they can help him. And you need to finish your journey. Say your good-byes while I call for a helicopter.”
D laid 7 in the back of the SUV. He dug into a bag and pulled out a shirt, ripping it into strips to tie around the wound. “Natalie, you know this is the only way. Z can get in touch with me if you need something.”
“You won’t come back, will you?”
“You’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t get to know your kin.” He cupped her face and kissed her hard. “Until next time.”
“I just sent you the meet-up coordinates,” Z said, coming up to the car as D climbed into the driver’s seat. “7, don’t you dare die.”
“Can’t promise anything—” He broke off in a coughing fit.
Z slammed the door and D drove off, leaving Natalia to stare as he moved out of her life.
“We need to get going.”
So much for the quick pity party she’d started. Z obviously wasn’t having any of it. She wondered if he would be more sympathetic to his own mate. She allowed herself one last glance at the car, now far in the distance, before pulling her coat tight around her and following Z into the woods. “Why didn’t you kill her the way you did Lee?”
“I don’t kill indiscriminately. There are a lot of variables leading to what happened in Lithuania. Shelley is about to discover what a fate worse than death means. What happens to her now is in the hands of the Tao pack.”
A large man greeted them at what she believed must be the edge of the Tao lands. He didn’t say much of anything but took Shelley into his custody before turning to Natalie. “Welcome home.” He nodded at Z. “Infiltrator.”
“Enforcer,” Z said in turn.
Tension could be cut with a knife until finally a woman stepped forward. So overwhelmed by the other man, Natalia hadn’t noticed another person around.
“Hi, Natalie. I’m Jenna, here to escort you to your grandfather. He’s very excited to meet you.” Jenna gave her a big smile but cut her eyes to the infiltrator.
“Are you coming?” Wary to leave the only person she knew, she prayed Z would say yes.
“I’ll take you as far as town. I need to meet with Drew, but my mate is pregnant, and it has been weeks since I’ve been with her. I’m anxious to get home.”
“You’ll be safe here. The pack isn’t what it was when you were a child.” Jenna placed a reassuring hand on her arm.
“I honestly don’t remember much of anything from my childhood here.” She remembered the house, and when she mentioned it, 7 got shot. Perhaps remembering wasn’t a good thing. The large man took Shelley in the opposite direction. “Where are they going?”
“Ryker is our pack enforcer, and he is taking her away from town. It’s better that way.” She flashed Natalia a reassuring smile. “We have a bit of a walk. I suggest we shift to cover the distance more quickly.”
She bit her lip, once again reminded of her difference.
“Be honest with the pack about everything. Do not try to impress anyone. Nothing that happened to you was your fault,” Z stated. “D isn’t here. In his place, I’ll be at your flank.”
She nodded then addressed Jenna. “I’m still getting my wolf legs. My life has been on a tight leash. They never allowed us to run.”
“Then we use two legs.” Jenna led the way down a trail for another hundred feet before taking a path Natalia never would have noticed otherwise.
Both of these wolves could make the trek in less than half the time it would take them to do so in human form. But she couldn’t handle it if Z was forced to carry her the rest of the way. She wanted to stride into town on her own legs. For the first time in her memory, she didn’t have someone in control of her life. “I can leave whenever I want?”
“You can. I can’t imagine Drew would hold you if you didn’t want to be here. Although he might try to persuade you to stay at least u
ntil your grandfather dies,” Z remarked.
“Wow. Do all infiltrators take courses in sensitivity, or is it just you?” The other woman stopped in her tracks, turning on Z.
Z stopped and stared Jenna down until she took a step back. “Would it be better to lie to her? The whole reason Drew asked me to find her was to grant a dying man’s last wish.”
“There are softer ways to say things.”
“I’ve never known softness,” Natalia whispered. D had said his kind weren’t welcome in town. She would ask Z about it later. For now, she wasn’t about to allow anyone to malign the man who’d saved her from hell. “I’m not sure what you have against infiltrators, but if it weren’t for this man, I’d still be in a cage, and I can guarantee there would be two elephants and a bear who would be dead right now.”
Jenna frowned as if unable to reconcile the man Natalia described with the traits she believed inherent in infiltrators. “We were told your life was hard but given no information to the conditions.”
“I haven’t seen your alpha to fill him in yet. Whatever Natalie chooses to tell anyone is up to her.” Z indicated they needed to move on. “Natalie, don’t speak too kindly of me. I quite prefer the fear I instill over admiration.”
“You would.”
“Ah, the twins must have been telling stories again.”
She stopped and turned. “7 is going to be all right, isn’t he? I never wanted anyone hurt because of me.”
He glanced back the way they’d come. “I can’t lie; he’s in trouble. When he shifted, it should have healed the outside, but he is more than likely bleeding internally. The copter is taking them to an airfield where one of our healers will meet them and take them to the pack lands. He is in very good hands. If I thought for a second he couldn’t make the trip, I would have demanded Ryker take him into town for one of their healers to take care of him.”
“Why didn’t you do that anyway?” Jenna demanded.
The Virgin's Infiltrator Page 8
