by KH LeMoyne
Aubrey’s eyebrow lifted, but she didn’t comment.
After a deep breath, Rayven looked each of them in the eye. “I trust each of you. And right now, until we get some answers, I need you to trust each other. Liam and Olivia, follow Quinn’s instructions—no matter how odd. He’s already saved other families. He’ll make sure the Wilsons get there safely. Aubrey, I need you to drive me to my next meeting point.”
Quinn growled. “I’m not letting you be taken to the tribunal.”
“That’s not your choice,” Rayven replied with a calm she didn’t feel.
Aubrey’s arms dropped to her sides as she glanced between the two of them. Determined, she stepped beside Quinn. “What if we refuse to let you go? Because there’s no way in hell I’m letting a bunch of stupid alphas convict you for a crime you didn’t commit. We need you. You could become—”
The Wilsons moved forward and joined with Quinn in backing Aubrey’s derailment of the plan. “We agree.”
“Stop it.” Rayven nearly barked the command and was surprised when everyone stilled. “What matters is this clan. I’ve been publicly accused. Running isn’t the answer. It will only make me look guilty and invite the rest of the tribunal into our territory to hunt me down and allow an opportunity for our lands to be overrun.”
They all looked so dejected, she almost laughed. Almost, because she wished she had the strength to grasp what they wanted for her. “I don’t have the alpha power to take over,” she whispered softly.
“We’d stand behind you,” Aubrey muttered.
Rayven shook her head. “What I can do is convince at least one of the alphas to support our cause to stop your children from becoming victims and help us break free.”
“No.” Both Quinn and Aubrey responded at the same time, joined by Liam and Olivia.
Rayven closed her eyes for a second, gathering a bit of strength. She raised her hand again as Liam opened his mouth as if to speak. “If the man delivering me to Deacon Black is any indication, I will at least be able to present my case. Breslin released me on my word so I could ensure your safety. I believe his alpha will afford me the same respect.”
Sadly, she was betting her life on a man she’d never even met and knew only by reputation. To save her own people, she accepted that risk. It didn’t make what she had to do any easier. Motioning toward Aubrey, she turned back toward the car. “I need to go now.”
When no one moved, she glanced back.
Liam and Olivia frowned and didn’t move.
“Go to Calgary,” she said, sweeping her hand to encompass Quinn and the Wilson children. “Be careful. Don’t give up on Nathan. He’s old enough to keep himself alive and may be our biggest asset to finding the other missing children as well.”
Quinn rubbed his fingers through his hair. “I don’t like this, Rayven.”
With a sigh, she shook her head and made an effort to stand taller, despite the fierce ache of her wound sapping her strength. She couldn’t risk them all realizing how damaged and broken she was. They’d never let her leave. “You’re either with me or you’re against me. I lead this group, or you go your own way. Choose now.”
She raised her chin. “Because if you don’t agree, I’ll quit and you can find someone else to run the ragtag bunch.”
Their eyes widened.
Quinn nodded reluctantly. He held his car keys out toward Aubrey before he looked at the Wilsons. “Fine. We’ll do our best.”
“No need,” Rayven said. “Aubrey and I are taking the Wilsons’ minivan back and dumping it. You take the new vehicle. I doubt it will confuse any of Jacob’s team looking for us, but at least they won’t find you quickly.”
Aubrey looked at Quinn and gestured with her chin toward a truck at the corner of the gas station lot. “I had a friend drop it off. The keys are inside.”
For a moment, Rayven wasn’t certain that the Wilsons would actually buy into her plan. Or that they would leave with Quinn. They were obviously shell-shocked, which seemed to at least work in her favor as Quinn walked to the vehicle Aubrey had indicated and dug around inside. He held up the keys with a raised brow toward the Wilsons and slid into the driver’s seat when they headed his way.
Rayven got to the Wilsons’ minivan and slid into the passenger seat. She waited until Quinn and the Wilsons left the lot. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Aubrey sat beside her and muttered, “I’m not any happier about you going back to the tribunal than he is. At least we both agree on that.”
“I can’t promise you everything will be all right. But I think Alpha Black is our best chance. From all accounts, he’s a fair man.”
“And you base this on what?” Aubrey turned sideways and cocked her head.
“The number of people from our clan who found safe haven in his territory.”
“How did you find out?”
“I’ve got my ways.” Rayven smiled to herself. She had enough secrets that her father would have choked on his favorite meal if he’d found out.
“Several got word back to their families. Many were impressed with their treatment, and more were surprised by their acceptance.”
Aubrey scowled as she slipped the keys into the ignition. “Acceptance for half-breed shifters is one thing. You’re an alpha’s daughter. The first shifter brought to tribunal for an alpha’s murder in four hundred years. He may not have a way to save you even if he is a decent guy.”
“We’ll see, but that isn’t my main reason for going.”
“You damn well better come back, Rayven.” Aubrey pulled out onto the main road with a squeal of tires as Rayven leaned back and closed her eyes. “I’d hate to get myself killed having to pull your domineering little self out of a tribunal death gauntlet.”
You and me both, Rayven thought. “Now who’s being melodramatic?”
Why had he offered a lifeline to the daughter of his enemy? Oh, right. He’d drowned in the liquid pool of her eyes, breathed in her scent, and tasted her. The culmination produced a desire so intense, he’d be willing to kill to experience it again.
Then he’d smelled her blood and needed to kill someone for an entirely different reason.
Not Rayven. She didn’t even register in his top one million of viable candidates anymore. Not to mention how her attempt to convince him that her life was worth risking for another family and their children humbled him.
His alpha oath mandated he bring her in, no detours.
His cat mandated he keep her safe, no allowances for other families.
His mind was so twisted, he couldn’t think straight, and he’d never had that problem before.
Breslin dragged each of the unconscious men a few feet beyond the clearing where the van sat behind bushes, and put them inside. They’d be out for at least another hour. He crouched and checked the zip ties on their wrists and double-checked those on their ankles. Once reassured they were bound tight, he gagged them. No point in making their escape easy.
He headed through the streams to lose evidence of his trail and doubled back.
Will she be at the meet point? If not, he’d find her, because he still didn’t have a way to circumvent the tribunal warrant for her. If he didn’t show up with her, someone less altruistic would come for her. What a mess, but at least in his mind, her knowledge of the kidnappings and the drug cocktails was proof enough she hadn’t killed her father. He’d dealt with enough cold-blooded killers to know. She stuck out as a bleeding heart in a way that made him grind his teeth in annoyance and want to snatch her away and hide her from those intent on harming her.
This clan didn’t deserve someone who cared about them like that.
He walked in circles, checking the area for any additional evidence. Quinn’s tattered clothes lay in bits and pieces for a stretch of a hundred yards. That boy needed a lesson in covering his tracks. Jacob’s team would scent the half-breed in an instant. Human park rangers would call out the dogs and hunting teams to search for remains, for the body and the wild animal they decided had go
ne crazy and killed. The whole fiasco would send shifter families into hiding for weeks to come.
Quinn got points for tackling Sam, but even with decent fighting skills, he could use some help in learning how to close the deal.
He considered calling Deacon. As quickly as the thought entered his mind, he dismissed it. Callum would have reassured his alpha that Gauthier’s daughter was still alive.
But would Deacon change his position on bringing Rayven to trial based on new information?
Pulling out his phone, he hit redial.
“Another takeout order, Breslin?”
“Thanks on that, Brindy, but no. I was wondering if we have anyone on this side of the border who could lend me a car? I only need it for an hour or so, and I’ll leave it in Waterton for them to pick up.”
“Sure. But why not have them drive you?”
“Don’t want to involve anyone else right now.”
“Got it. A vehicle no one would recognize. Where do you want to pick it up?”
“There’s one of those Costco-like stores near Crowsnest Pass. That should work.”
“I knew there’d be more food.”
“Have to stay energized.”
“Hmm, right. I’ll text you in a few. Or would you be better off using it to drive back?”
“No. Too many bull’s-eyes on the alpha’s daughter.”
“Okay.” He waited, curious when she hesitated. The one thing everyone who knew Brindy understood—she didn’t do hesitation, ever. “You’re coming back. Yes?”
“We’re taking a route I know no one will follow.” He paused, wondering how many of his team members felt he walked too close to the edge of sanity. Given the last few days, probably most of them. He might not be willing to end his lifetime goal of vengeance, but he didn’t want to take the few who considered him a friend down the dark road with him. “I won’t break my oath.”
“No, I didn’t think so. It’s just—well, you know Callum. He worries about you. And Lena’s all about everyone being safe and happy.” She said the last with a healthy dose of sarcasm, but a little worry lay beneath the lightheartedness. And it wasn’t Lena worrying. His female alpha would more likely hitch a ride over the Canadian border and haul his ass back home if he suddenly disappeared, in a loving alpha kind of way.
“Tell Deacon I’ll deliver his star prisoner.” He bowed his head for a moment. He could almost feel his alpha’s hand on the back of his neck as he’d made his oath. “Right now, I’m the least of her worries. Her clan is determined to end her before she makes it to our territory.”
Deacon was responsible for hosting the tribunal, but Breslin wanted to believe Deacon wouldn’t let Rayven take the fall for a crime she hadn’t committed. At least, he believed that. Hopefully, her information on the kidnapping ring would be enough to sway him to gather more allies before the tribunal.
Or else his oath to his alpha meant nothing. For a man who’d spent decades ensuring Breslin didn’t step off the narrow path of righteousness and fall into the abyss wouldn’t turn his back on an innocent woman.
“Got it.”
Shaking his head, he rubbed at the back of his neck. What next? He’d toed the line and been straight with Deacon’s team for decades, and now everyone worried about him.
Granted, he’d gone a little overboard letting Callum in on his plans for Gauthier. Revenge might be sweet, but he obviously needed to handle it privately. Not that he had time to worry about the tender hearts back home, unsettling as the thought was.
With a last look around, Breslin hauled himself into the van and turned the vehicle toward Waterton.
Brindy’s text chimed on his phone twenty minutes later with details for picking up the loaner car, which gave him forty minutes to clean up and take care of a few errands.
He pulled into a parking lot a quarter of a mile down the road from a large warehouse box store with five minutes to spare, eying the isolated vehicle at the far edge of the parking lot—his new ride. He washed with an outdoor water hose he found there behind a shed. Then he changed into spare clothes from the van and tossed away the ones covered in blood and grime. He left the men in back to fend for themselves when they finally woke up.
After scoping out the layout inside the store, he made quick work of selecting a lightweight backpack, some medical supplies, and water.
Then he spied the hot bar.
Time to stock up on calories for the trip. Tempting Rayven to eat was only half his goal. Waiting for the delicate bluish tinge beneath her eyes and the bruises on her face to disappear as her bear kicked in to heal her was more of a challenge. Thanks to Sam’s abuse, she looked worse now than when he’d first seen her tied up in the back of the SUV. If Breslin didn’t know better, he’d think her beast was dormant. Not likely, since Gauthier wouldn’t tolerate such a situation in his only acknowledged offspring. Rayven wouldn’t have survived this long without her beast inside somewhere.
Whatever the problem, Breslin planned to remedy it. He knew her ribs still hadn’t healed, wouldn’t heal soon either with the added cost of blood loss from the damn bullet. Food was a good start. If all else failed, Deacon could pull some rabbit out of his alpha’s hat of tricks. Short of bringing someone back from the dead, alpha magic delivered some incredible mojo.
A shame Rayven hadn’t inherited the mantle from her father. She had more than her share of tenacity—or recklessness, depending on how he looked at it. And just like that, the image of Sam pulling that leash with Rayven attached and her ferocious counterattack almost made him hard. Likely not a healthy response, and he hid himself against some refrigerated shelving filled with cheeses, pretending to sort through them until he tamped down his lust.
He wished for her sake she’d landed a debilitating strike, though at least she was free of Sam. However, her courage triggered something wild inside him—something that reached beyond the broken man and dangerous cat. She’d fight until her last breath, but only for others and what she believed in. He understood the primal instinct. It bound them with a kinship that terrified him. One he suspected he couldn’t ever shake free.
She had more grit in her little finger than some enforcers he knew. Certainly, she deserved better than Gauthier Karndottir for a father.
12
Aubrey slid out of the vehicle and moved to stand beside Rayven. “He doesn’t look so tough. A little cold and mean, yes, but too good-looking. I can take him and you can drive away.”
“I’m not driving away,” Rayven said, exasperated as she took in the sight of Breslin leaning against a tree, a toothpick in the corner of his mouth and his arms crossed over his chest watching them. He watched them from beneath a hooded gaze, his thick shoulder muscles relaxed with an easygoing stance of one leg crossed over the other. She wasn’t fooled. He might be looking at them, yet he was also soaking up every potential threat around them. “I’m not sacrificing you either. I appreciate you driving me here, but you need to leave and meet up with Elijah.”
Scowling, Aubrey moved in front of Rayven and turned her back on Breslin. “You know the phone number of the bar, right? Call and we can pick you up.”
“If you ladies are done picking a place to meet up once the tribunal is over, we need to get moving.”
Aubrey flicked her fingers his way with a quick glance over her shoulder. “Move along until I know you can’t hear.”
Rayven’s heart stuttered a bit. Hope of surviving the tribunal and later joining up with, well…friends, seemed a long shot right now. But she appreciated his attempt to give her that hope, and Aubrey too.
“I’ll call Elijah’s bar. Tell Quinn that too.”
“Why don’t you let him know yourself?” Aubrey shook her head. She sniffed and froze as her eyes widened. They narrowed, and she turned her head, looking from Breslin to the backpack sitting at his feet and back up. “I smell—” She sniffed again. “Meatloaf. And chocolate chip cookies, warm chocolate chip cookies. And—” She spun back to Rayven, with brows van
ished beneath her bangs. “Is he for real?”
“Garlic bread,” muttered Rayven with a sigh. She was salivating again. At least it took the edge off her pain. Judging by Breslin’s stoic expression, which she now knew for smug male conceit, he knew exactly what reaction he’d caused to her stomach juices and her ovaries. He was lethal, all right, and pretty appealing even without the food.
“Seriously. That might be his version of your last meal. Right before he makes certain no one ever sees you again. Or,” Aubrey swung back toward her and whispered, “in some clans, what he’s done counts as courtship.”
Rayven rolled her eyes. “Nope to both. Trust me.”
But she couldn’t stop her tongue from snaking out over her lips to catch a taste from the air. Between her injuries and constantly moving to evade attacks, her energy reserves were shot. She knew it. Breslin had obviously keyed in to that as well. Shifters consumed massive quantities of food, injured ones even more.
No point in reading too much into his motives, though it made sense he wouldn’t want to waste his own energy dragging around her corpse.
But meatloaf—really? He knew the way to her heart with food—if she had a heart. However, she’d locked hers down tight after a lifetime of running from men in her clan. “I’m sure he wouldn’t waste money on feeding me only to kill me afterwards. Right, big kitty?”
“You’re insane,” Aubrey murmured, still rooted to her spot. “The food could be for him when he’s done.”
“I already had a bucket of fried chicken in town while I was waiting,” Breslin said, raising a brow. “Along with potato wedges and two apple turnovers.”
Apple turnovers? Rayven sniffed, but the gleam in Breslin’s eyes assured her he had more in the pack and was teasing her, luring her. Was he catnip for her bear? That analogy didn’t quite work, though the tasty temptation did. Besides, good food was comfort food. The warmth most people shared with friends and family, with community. She’d experienced blessed little of that, but her love of food still made what he offered her a rare treat.
