When Hell Freezes

by Rebecca Royce

  Whatever they wanted here, it wouldn’t be good. He spoke to Tasha without turning his head from the newcomers. “Do you know them?”

  “I do.” Her voice had turned strained. “And you should, too. They were Magnum’s cronies, what’s left of them. Drew banned them from pack land. The fact that they’re here? Not good.”

  He stared at them for a moment. She’d said he should know them. Taking a deep breath, he tried to get over their hostility to the scent of the men beneath. At least one of them triggered a memory. He’d been a child, and the tallest of the group had arrived at his parents’ house and demanded possession of his father’s horse.

  Colt had been humiliated even then that his father had so readily handed over his prized possession. What gave that man the right to take their things? He wasn’t the Alpha and, to make matters worse, Colt’s mother was the Alpha’s sister. Shouldn’t that have awarded them some consideration in the pack? Some status?

  “Things aren’t as they should be, Colt.” His mother’s voice echoed in his head. “Maybe someday you can help set them better.” He’d been eight at the time…had the problems started that early? How long had the former Alpha been mad?

  The man’s name flew into his mind. Tate. And his comrades, Greg and Leo, stood behind him. Tate hadn’t aged well. His face appeared bloated, his once lightly-streaked blond hair graying on the sides. That was a huge physical change for a Werewolf. Apparently, life on the outside hadn’t been kind to them. Greg and Leo didn’t appear much better. Leo had a large gash on the side of his face that Colt would bet money had come from a razor.

  He rose to his feet. “This lovely woman tells me you three have been banished. That means you don’t belong here on pack land.”

  Tate turned his attention on Colt. “I’m shocked to see you here. Last I heard, you were living with the dregs of human society, fighting for money. Kind of pathetic.”

  He refused to rise to that particular kind of bait. He’d seen the act too many times in the arenas where he’d fought. They talked a tough game, but they didn’t have much action to bring to the table.

  Except these three probably did. They were fully-grown dominant males, who had the ability to cause harm if left unchecked. He wouldn’t let them hurt anyone in Gee’s bar. “If you have an issue with Drew, take your grievances up with him. I plan on challenging him myself. Leave these people alone, or you’ll have a problem with me.”

  “We plan on taking out the Alpha. And every other member of this pack. This is what Magnum wanted, and we plan on fulfilling his dream once and for all.” Tate roared to the ceiling and started to shift.

  Colt shook his head. “I’ve never had any tolerance for drama.”

  He shifted fast. His Wolf had stayed hidden most of his time in the human world, but he certainly hadn’t stopped practicing. Tate either didn’t shift fast or didn’t worry about Colt intercepting him because they changed into their Wolf-selves at roughly the same moment, and Tate had at least three seconds on him from start to finish.

  A gasp rang out in the room, and someone shouted, but all Colt could see were Tate’s brown, angry eyes. The other Wolf snarled, and Colt waited. Patience had taught him how to win. If he didn’t get too worked up, if he waited for his opponent to make a mistake, things went smoother.

  Tate rushed at him, and Colt met him mid-air, throwing the other Wolf to the ground. The question? Did he want to kill Tate, or did he want to incapacitate him. He had no anger at the man other than the fact he could smell Tasha’s distress at the fight wafting through the room.

  He couldn’t have that, but her fear didn’t necessarily warrant a tear to Tate’s throat. The moment Greg shifted and turned in Tasha’s direction. Well, no, attacking her was not to be tolerated. Greg’s move constituted a threat to Tasha, and all three of them would have to be eliminated.

  Colt bared his teeth and took Tate’s neck. He wouldn’t enjoy the kill. This didn’t constitute hunting, and his Wolf side didn’t have a vengeful streak. But protection would be accomplished.

  One way or another.

  Now, he had to deal with Greg and Leo….

  ***

  Colt shifted to his human form and stared down at the destroyed forms of Greg, Leo, and Tate. They were all dead. But he hadn’t taken apart their bodies. That kind of rejoicing came from a real fight. Killing the three of them hadn’t even made him break out in a sweat.

  He raised his eyes to meet his mate’s gaze. The people in the bar had fallen utterly silent. Had he overdone it? He didn’t smell fear. The scent coming off Tasha and the rest of the people in the bar seemed…relieved.

  Tasha smiled after she wiped one lone tear from her eyes. “You didn’t lie. You really don’t lose, do you?”

  He shook his head. Why deny the truth?

  The door busted open, and Drew ran in, flanked by Ryker and two other men. He stopped short as he saw the scene in front of him. Ryker raised his eyes to meet Colt’s. The other man nodded and walked out the door from where he had just entered.

  Drew let out a loud breath. “Thank you.”

  “I didn’t take care of the problem for you.” He didn’t take his eyes off Tasha for a second, letting Drew understand whom he had eliminated the threat for. Finally, he regarded his cousin. “They had to be stopped before they hurt anyone here. And they clearly got onto pack land without too much trouble even though they had been banned.”

  “We’re having security issues.”

  Colt raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t expected that response from Drew. Hostility, denial, anger would have been expected. Hearing Drew’s admission took him by surprise.

  “Really?”

  Drew nodded. “Can I have a minute or two of your time, Cousin?”

  Colt crossed his arms over his chest. “I can’t promise to not challenge you when you’re done saying what you have to say.”

  Drew grinned. “Deal.”

  Damn. Why did his cousin have to be so reasonable?

  Chapter Four

  Tasha knew she didn’t have to clean up Gee’s bar. He had employees he paid to do those things for him, and considering the were-Bear was nowhere to be found, those members of his paid staff should be straightening up the mess.

  Only they weren’t, and Tasha had so much nervous energy she could have cleaned up all of Los Lobos and still looked for things to do.

  Was Colt killing Drew, or was Drew killing Colt?

  She bit down on her lip and darted to the left, picking up a chair Colt had toppled over when he’d torn out Tate’s throat. She stopped to savor the memory. Violence didn’t bother her. By contrast, seeing her dominant mate take out an aggressor had made her want to howl at the moon.

  She shivered, and goose bumps broke out on her skin. Was tonight one of the rare times she’d be able to actually shift?

  The front door swung open, and Gee stepped in the bar. He surveyed the mess silently before raising his eyes to look at her. With his arms crossed across his chest, he stared at her. “Colt?”

  She nodded. “But it’s not like he had any choice.”

  “Did he kill Drew here in my bar, or did Drew kill him?” Gee sniffed the air. “They were both here.”

  “Neither one of them is dead,” she snapped before she could stop herself, “and the fight was between Colt and three other wolves. Tate, Greg, and Leo. They’re dead. When Colt left here with Drew, they were both fine.”

  And she hoped they continued to be.

  Gee whistled through his teeth. “That’s some ballsy moves from Tate and his idiot friends. Brave, but stupid. That group never had even one brain between them.” He walked over and lifted one of the toppled-over tables with one hand. “That’s why Magnum liked them. Easy to control. Loyal to a fault. Even after the man’s death.”

  Suddenly, Tasha’s legs felt wobbly, and she had to sit down. The chair was close, and she reached it without falling over.

  “You okay?” Gee walked past her. “Any damage done to the kitchen o
r only the front of the bar?”

  “The front and, um, yes, I guess I’m okay. Kind of overwhelmed. Colt returned. He wants to kill Drew. I’ve been trying to distract him, but then the fight happened, and now can’t tell if I’m up, or I’m down.”

  Gee shrugged. “I don’t do the relationship counseling. If you need help, I hear Ryker is good at it.”

  “Ryker?” She laughed. Gee had a funny sense of humor. Ryker, the relationship counselor. That was quite an image.

  “Don’t doubt me. Man keeps fixing relationships all over town.” Gee paused. “Do you smell something?”

  She sniffed the air. “No, but I’m not exactly the one to ask, remember? My senses went haywire when Magnum beat me up.”

  “You were lucky he didn’t kill you. Talk about not using your head, girl.” Gee sighed. “I could have sworn I smelled something off.”

  She stood. “And by off, you mean what? Spoiled food or an approaching army?”

  Gee suddenly growled, and she took a step away as if she could protect herself from Gee if he wanted to attack. He’d never harm her, she knew that, but reflexes weren’t always controllable.

  “Smoke.” He bellowed, rushing to the back of the bar. She ran after him, sniffing the air. Tasha didn’t smell any smoke, but she’d told Gee she might not notice anything faster than a human. They ran, one after another, into the kitchen. He came up short, and she almost banged into him.

  He grabbed a bucket from the floor and rushed out the door. Sure enough, tongues of fire curled from a pile of leaves at the rear of the bar. A small flame, for the moment, but if the tiny blaze had gotten to the bar, the bar would have caught on fire.

  “Sons of bitches.” Gee dumped the water on the leaves, and a stream of smoke replaced the flames as it wafted skywards, evidence that the fire had not been able to do the damage she would place money it had been set to do.

  “Who would do this? Colt killed the three who came through the door.”

  “This is the problem. We have a security issue.” Gee said the last words as if they tasted bad on his tongue. “Go get the Alpha.”

  “He’s talking to Colt.” Hadn’t Gee been paying attention? Potential challenge. Big deal…lots of anxiety….

  “Tell the Tao family they can compare the size of their balls another time. I need the Alpha, and whatever role Colt will play in the future, here right now.”

  “Okay.” She was used to taking orders from Gee. He wasn’t pack, yet he was always around, and his personality so dominated others that her beta senses made her want to do whatever he said whenever he said it. If he wanted Colt and Drew, he’d get them.

  She stopped in her tracks. “I’m sorry, Gee. I don’t know where they are.”

  He sniffed the air. “The barn.”

  Oh, that couldn’t be good news. The barn was where Drew had killed Magnum. Her mind whirled as she remembered the last time she’d been there; she had stood in the crowd and watched her entire world alter the second Drew had torn his father’s throat out. Watching the blood drip from his fangs onto the ground as his Wolf eyes rose towards the moon, she’d been able to take a deep breath for the first time since Colt had vanished

  She rushed toward the barn, nearly falling twice on exposed roots in the ground. Back in the day, she would never have been so clumsy, but she’d long since given up lamenting her condition. Things could always be worse; she could be dead. Instead, she had lived long enough to truly blow things with Colt by pretending they might not be mates long enough to watch Drew kill him….

  Tasha forced the thoughts from her mind. There was nothing constructive about obsessing over things she couldn’t control. If Colt wasn’t dead, there would be time to correct her error.

  She halted as she approached the scene. Drew and Colt faced each other…talking. Neither one seemed particularly aggressive. Colt had his hands in his pockets, and Drew kept nodding and motioning toward the barn. They weren’t dead, either of them, and it didn’t look as if either was about to shift and launch at the other. She took one more step, and they both turned to look at her.

  Her scent must have caught up to them.

  Drew raised his eyebrows, but didn’t speak, and Colt took a step toward her. “Tasha, you okay?”

  “No. I mean, yes. Someone tried to set Gee’s bar on fire. He says he needs you.” She spoke really quickly, afraid if she didn’t get her words out, she’d collapse into a puddle of nerves. Colt reached her in a second, placing his hand on her arm.

  “Anyone hurt?”

  “No, thankfully, Gee smelled the flames. But if I’d been there alone, the whole thing would have gone up before I’d noticed.”

  Colt growled, deep in his throat. “Then let’s be glad you weren’t, and we’ll install fire alarms all over the place. Since we have you and several humans here now.”

  He continued. “Drew and I were having a…productive conversation.”

  The Alpha tore by them at full speed, heading toward Gee’s bar. “Drew will handle the bar. We have a security problem we’ll have to address in the coming weeks. This is one more thing on a long list of issues Drew is facing. I think I can help him.”

  It took her a moment to respond. “So then you’re not trying to kill him anymore?”

  “Not for the moment. I blood oathed him. He wants my loyalty and my promise to kill him if he ever becomes his father. He has several members of the pack doing this, apparently. I think that’s a good sign he’s willing to put his neck at risk. He doesn’t want protection. He wants promises to end him.” Colt shrugged. “I never wanted to be Alpha, not when I was a kid, at least. I used to have other dreams. Maybe I can find them again. I have to be good for something other than pounding heads.”

  “Oh, Colt.” The tears that sprung into her eyes didn’t stop her from leaping into his arms. He caught her as if she weighed nothing, which she knew wasn’t true, but it reminded her of how strong a Wolf he really was.

  “There now, no crying. I thought this was what you wanted.” He sounded confused, and she grinned.

  “These are happy tears. You’re my mate. You have to stay here with me, not go and get yourself killed in some stupid, unnecessary Alpha challenge.”

  “Happy tears. Right. How will I know the difference between those and—”

  She interrupted him, pressing her nose against his. Their mouths were mere inches apart. “Use your sense of smell, big guy. It’s heightened, right? Or am I misremembering how mine used to be?”

  Tasha never gave him a chance to answer. She kissed him, hard on the lips. He tasted like…hers. He parted his lips, and she thrust her tongue deep inside his mouth. There wouldn’t be any way she’d ever get enough of him. Gee had Drew. He could wait for Colt. She needed to kiss him in the moonlight.

  He growled and pulled his mouth away “Not here. A gentleman—even a Wolf—doesn’t take his mate on the ground. Not the first time. Inside, on a bed. Or something.”

  “Screw what should and shouldn’t be.” She pointed at the barn. “Hay. That will work perfectly fine.”

  It seemed somehow appropriate that the scene of her near death would be the same place where she would finally have with Colt what she should have had if things had progressed normally. Yes, they needed to create new memories in the barn.

  He pushed open the red door to the barn. There was no light inside except the moonlight through the windows. The moonlight streamed in, making the whole room feel ethereal, almost imaginary. But Tasha didn’t want pretend; she needed all of this with Colt to be real.

  Darkness wouldn’t bother Colt as it did her. He could smell his way around the blackest of nights as if it was the middle of the day.

  “I never appreciated how useful my Wolf senses were until they were gone.”

  Colt sucked in his breath as he laid her down on the soft hay across the barn. “Things are going to get better now, sweetheart. I promise you that. Together, there is nothing we can’t accomplish. Getting your Wolf abilities back. No
problem whatsoever.”

  “You’re such an optimist.” She grinned at him. Her eyes were adjusting, and she could see his strong features, heightened by the darkness, as he stared down at her.

  Colt reached out and stroked the bridge of her nose. “I’m not good enough for you.”

  “How can you say that? You’re like some kind of marble statue formed to be the perfect example of manhood. And I’m a scarred—”

  “Shh. I won’t have you talking about yourself that way. I don’t even see the scars. I really don’t. And however you think I look, I’m a guy who survived by beating the shit out of people to make money. Not honorable or acceptable. I barely deserve to breathe the same air as you.”

  “Colt.” She never would have imagined he felt that way. “Why don’t we both agree we have things about ourselves we’d change if we could? But anything that happened to get to this moment had to be okay because we got here together.”

  “If you say so.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I have to tell you there are still a few I have that I’d rather do without.”

  She laughed. “You’re not sentimental?”

  “Not usually, but I have a feeling I will be about this.” He kissed her full on the lips, and she closed her eyes to savor the sensation. When she’d awakened that morning, she had no idea she’d be getting ready to make love to her mate on the hay in the barn.

  Her mate.

  “I’ve always been your mate. That’s why I threw myself at Magnum. I mean I didn’t really understand my reasoning, but I knew I had to save you. I couldn’t let him kill you. I’d do it again. I want you to know that.”

  “Oh, no, you would not.” He growled, and she worked at not smiling. Colt had gone all dominant male on her, and she didn’t need super Wolf senses to see that. “If you ever do anything similar again, I’ll be furious with you. Tasha, you are the most important person in the universe to me. Do you understand? If something were to happen to you, I’d die inside. And then I’d be an unstoppable force of pure angry male shifter. Ryker would have to put me down.”