by J. J. Massa
“Why don’t you just cut to the part where you bit her? What else did you do to her, son? Anything you can admit to your old dad? She ran from the room, hysterical, when we got to that part of the story…” Mik was shaking with anger. “I just told your mate that things would look better in a day or two. How badly did I lie to that sweet little girl, son?”
Lakon closed his eyes. “Oh, God, Dad. I love her so much. I can’t believe I did anything to hurt her. I wish I could take it all back. I just don’t know what happened. I never thought I could ever do anything to hurt her…”
Lakon didn’t try to stem the few tears trickling from his eyes. He wished his father would finish the job and rip his throat out. He deserved nothing less. He’d thought he couldn’t feel any worse but he did. He definitely did.
Chapter 11
Home of Sandy Eiderhook
Blowing Rock, NC
It had been three days since Mya had arrived at Sandy’s house. She was beginning to feel antsy and knew it was time to go. The fact that it was raining just confirmed for her that tonight was a good night to leave.
She knew that her scent would be harder to track after the rain. She’d made arrangements with Sandy to pick up supplies occasionally. She didn’t know how long she’d be gone but she made sure that Sandy could get in touch with Myles, if need be.
With her bag packed and all her supplies wrapped in plastic, there was only one thing left for Mya to do. The old wolf had been honest with her. She’d be honest with him. With Sandy’s help, she called Mik.
*
“Hello?” Elke answered the phone as usual, when it rang. “Certainly. Just a moment.” Mik heard the uncertainty in his wife’s voice, but it didn’t register.
“Mik, the phone’s for you.” He raised a brow but didn’t remark on it. He seldom got phone calls.
He glanced over at his sons staring morosely into the fire as he reached for the button on the speakerphone.
“Mik Montgomery here,” he said quietly. Riker glanced over at him but didn’t speak. Lakon continued to look into the flickering flames.
“Mik?” a sweet, mildly accented voice said. “It’s Mya.”
Lakon bolted upright, spilling his coffee. Mik gave a low warning growl.
“Mik, are you alright? Did I call at a bad time?” she sounded like she was eager to end the call.
“I’m fine, Honey, just spilled some coffee, that’s all,” he improvised quickly.
“Are you burned? A teabag or some lavender oil will make you feel better.”
“It’s okay Mya, just a little spill. How are you? How’s your arm?” he asked in concern.
“Um, Mik, I-I called to say goodbye and thank you for trying to make me feel better. I’m leaving in a few minutes.” Her voice was halting and he could tell she was fighting her emotions. Lakon stared at the phone, gripping the arms of his chair tightly.
“Are you going to see your brother, Mya?” Mik asked, knowing in his gut that she wasn’t.
“No, I’m not going to see Myles. I’m heading into the mountains.”
“Mya, Honey…” He took a deep breath, shaking his head at Lakon who wanted to speak. “It’s raining out there now.”
“I know, Mik,” she said gently.
“You can barely use your right arm, Honey.”
“I know, Mik,” she repeated, gently.
“Don’t you…” he wanted to ask if she didn’t trust him to keep his word but didn’t know if he had the right to ask. “Mya, Lakon…”
“Mik, I just need to be on my own right now. Please don’t make it more than that.” He heard her take a deep breath. “Could you do something for me?”
“Anything Honey.” His son stared at him, pleading.
“Just take care of him for me, okay?” He could hear her struggling for control.
“Can you ever forgive him, Mya?” Mik hoped he could move the couple toward reconciliation. His son’s eyes were breaking his heart.
“I forgave him right away, Mik. It’s just… Forgetting takes longer. I have to go.” He heard movement and then the sound of a door opening and closing.
“Mik?” It was Sandy.
“How could you let her go, Sandy?” Mik growled at his old friend. “Sit down, son!” he ordered Lakon.
“She’s an adult, man. I can’t sit on her. She’ll keep in touch with Myles and me. We’ve been down this road before.”
“Why didn’t you call me sooner? I could’ve been there, tracked her… something!” Mik barked.
“Look, maybe I should’ve seen the signs. She only ever stays long enough for me to patch her up a little. After that, she goes off into the woods and licks her wounds.”
“How’s her shoulder? Does she have supplies? How is she, Sandy?” To Lakon, he said, “Son, ten minutes won’t make a difference. Sandy may know where she’s going.”
“Gentlemen, don’t sit there thinking that you’re going to just track her. That wildlife expert came after her. Didn’t ever find her. There was plenty of evidence that she knew he was there. I couldn’t find her either and she did keep in touch.”
The two men finished their phone call and hung up.
“Dad,” Lakon choked, “We have to go find her. I have to go find her.”
“Son, go if you think it’ll help. Nobody’s better than Sandy. By the time you get there, even if you drive, she’ll be long gone. But go. Sandy lives in Blowing Rock.” He turned to his other son. “Riker, you go see Maisie at Duke in a couple of days. See if she can get you in to see that brother.”
* * * *
Room 125, Myles Brooks’ Private Room
Duke University Medical Center
Riker entered the dim room and saw a very fit looking young man seemingly asleep on the bed. As he stood inside the door, debating the best way to awaken this young man, Drs. Maisie and Jane Montgomery and Dr. Abel Livingston entered the room.
“Riker” fawned Dr. Livingston, “I just heard you were here. What can we do for you, sir?”
“Have you come to check on Myles progress?” asked Dr. Jane Montgomery.
Before Riker could answer the young man in the bed spoke up. “I don’t give a raging rat’s arse why he’s here. I didn’t invite him and he can go now.”
Maisie stepped forward. “Myles, he’s our Alpha. You can’t talk to him like that.”
“Maisie, he’s your Alpha, not mine. I can talk to him any damned way I want to. If he wants to fight me for Alpha of the Brooks clan, he can wait until you guys are done screwing around with me, or he can damn well come ahead. I don’t much care right now.”
“Myles, your sister…”
“My sister is not, at this time, mated with a Montgomery according to our customs. Neither she, nor I, feel inclined to change that right this minute.”
“Myles!” Maisie was shocked, as were the other two doctors in the room.
“Mr. Brooks is correct. We are both Alphas and I need to speak with him. You may all leave.” Riker decided it was time to step in.
As the doctors filed out, Riker stared at the young human male in the bed. He was very muscular. Even though he obviously suffered from a serious health problem, he was not weak and he was not a man to be trifled with. In spite of the fact that he was only twenty-three years old, Myles Brooks was a grown man and definitely Alpha material.
“Have you changed your mind about mating with Maisie?” Riker asked him.
“I don’t know that she’s my mate.” Myles was still very hostile towards Riker.
The older man let out a sigh. “Look, obviously, I’m here about your sister. We’re all very worried about her.”
“Bit late,” Myles grumbled. Riker’s eyes flashed gold, but he didn’t respond. “She’s fine. Left Sandy’s four days ago. Her shoulder’s slightly better. She saw a red fox the other day.”
“How do you know all that?” Riker asked. Had she called her brother?
Myles held up a newspaper and showed it to him. Pointing to a classi
fied ad, Myles explained, “We have a code we use.” Rising from the bed, he paced over to the window and looked out.
Riker sat down on the edge of a chair near the window. “Look, man. I’m sorrier than I can say about the way I acted and my part in what happened between Mya and Lakon. I antagonized my brother by hanging all over your sister and acting like a fool.”
He looked down at his hands for a minute. Myles looked over at him, and then turned back to the window.
“Mya has been abused by large men,” he said. “You scared the shit out of her.” Myles continued looking straight ahead.
“My dad has been a friend of Sandy’s for years. He was there the other day when Mya showed up. He got your sister to tell him what happened. She showed him her shoulder.”
Myles looked at Riker steadily, waiting. “Dad had us waiting there when he got back home.”
Myles lifted a brow but still said nothing. Riker glanced up and saw the three pack members standing outside the door looking through its window. Myles turned his back to the window and focused on Riker.
Riker looked up at Myles again. He could feel the heat in his face.
“Dad kicked my ass real good. Both of us.” He closed his eyes and then looked back at Myles.
“Wish I’d been there,” Miles said.
“He did a thorough job,” Riker told him, pulling off his shirt.
Myles should clearly be able to see the bruising around his throat and, when Riker turned, on his back. The bruising at his ribcage looked especially painful, because, Riker thought, it was especially painful.
Myles seemed to be fighting a grin. He lost. Riker couldn’t help it, he grinned too.
“Lakon can hardly walk on all fours. Looks like a lame dog when he’s in wolf form. Dad damned near killed him. Guess he nearly killed us both. He looks worse than me.”
“Your dad must be big and mean to mop the floor with you two giant blokes. Guess you let him…”
“Hell no, we didn’t let Dad do anything. The old man beat the shit out of me before I ever even realized he was in the neighborhood. Lakon thought he’d be a man about it and face the music. He won’t be that stupid again.”
Riker pulled out a picture. It showed an enormous silver, brown and blonde wolf sitting between Riker and Lakon. The wolf was seated on his haunches on the floor while the two men stood on either side. The wolf’s head came to the top of each man’s ribcage.
Myles whistled low. “My grandmother was a Rocky Mountain Wolf and my grandfather was a Were. Dad can’t transform but he talks the same as we do. I guess you’d find it odd.”
“No odder than anything else, I expect,” Myles allowed. Riker laughed.
Coming to his feet, Riker extended his hand to Myles. After a pause, Myles shook it. Riker chuckled and nodded his head toward the door. Myles laughed, too. The relief on the faces of the three doctors was comical.
Chapter 12
High Security Wing, Livingston Care Facility
Johnson City, TN
The orderly didn’t think it was such a big deal to let Auggie Livingston stay in the Rec. Room an extra hour. Sure, he’d be mingling with a larger crowd of patients than usual. In fact, these patients didn’t really seem mentally off at all. Neither did Auggie, to tell the truth.
August Livingston had done him a good turn by advising him on a legal matter. Besides, he was tired of hearing about Riker and Lakon Montgomery, too. His mate and his sisters all thought they were so hot. Grrr.
He smiled at Auggie as he left the room. Engrossed in conversation with two other Weres, Auggie looked up and smiled.
* * * *
“They had some kind of a fight, that’s all I know. Rumor has it that she’s in the mountains around here somewhere.” That was Roland’s cousin, Gil.
Gil and his sister were roadies for the Great Lakon Montgomery. The young man had also produced a towel that Mya Brooks had used to wipe her face with after a concert. It seemed that Gil’s sister had hoped that Lakon Montgomery would choose her to be his mate. Thanks to a woman scorned, all three men had Mya’s scent. She did smell lovely.
They didn’t really need her scent, though. Auggie knew that all he really needed was Lakon Montgomery’s scent. They would follow it from Lakon’s home straight to his mate.
The Montgomery’s were so sloppy. It would never occur to Lakon that Auggie would escape from the facility. The Beta would think nothing of leaving his lovely human mate alone at some point.
Auggie could wait. He was a very patient man. For now, his focus was on escaping at just the right time. He’d use the same orderly to grant him a special favor. Something small—Auggie would ask to be alone in the library during visiting day.
Nobody ever visited August Livingston—he wasn’t allowed visitors. He was allowed to be in the library alone. That was the only place he could be without supervision. The library shared a bathroom with the visitor area.
In two weeks, two Weres from a different pack would come in and pretend to visit Roland. They’d switch places with Auggie and his trusted assistant. By the time everything got sorted out, Auggie and Roland would be long gone.
* * * *
Stream north of Blowing Rock, NC
Lakon kept coming back to the wide stream that was five miles from Sandy’s place. He hadn’t caught Mya’s scent yet but he knew she’d been there. She’d even left Sandy a note and picked up some provisions he’d left for her. It had been nearly three weeks since she’d left him.
He moved into a thick stand of trees and sat down. Obviously, she was masking her scent somehow. What was she doing? Something was nagging at him, but what? He walked back to the area around the stream.
Slowly, he moved away from the stream just letting his nose do the work. There! A scent that didn’t belong… What was it? Buck in rut! Gotcha! Lakon headed into the woods, following the out of season scent.
He saw her from nearly two hundred yards away. He got as close as he dared and watched her as she walked. He’d found her den—it was a small cabin hidden in thick trees and bordered by underbrush on two sides.
When she was almost there, he circled around and positioned himself between her and the cabin and waited. She’d been pretty careful as she approached, making him wonder if she was being exceptionally cautious. Did she fear that he was tracking her?
When she looked up and saw him in the clearing between her position and the door, she stopped short. For a long time, she stood, just looking at him. After several minutes, she looked all around but apparently didn’t find whatever it was she was looking for.
She trudged forward until finally, she was within a few feet of him. She looked so sad and weary. He approached her and gently took her backpack in his teeth. Her eyes filled with tears, but she let it go and he took it from her.
They walked a few feet and she stopped, looking at him quizzically. “You’re hurt?” she asked softly, evidently noticing his slight limp.
“Not really,” he answered through the fabric of her bag.
He didn’t want to go into all that now. How could she worry about him and his injuries in light of her own? She opened the cabin door and he limped slightly going in, earning him another hard look from her.
Once inside, she walked to a cupboard and pulled out a pair of his sweatpants and one of his shirts. She put them in front of him.
“I figure you’re probably not wearing anything under all that fur,” she said. “I’ll start the fire.”
He was glad to transform and put some clothes on. He knew she brought the clothes for herself but he was pleased that she did. As soon as he pulled the pants on, he moved over to her and began adding wood to the fire. He didn’t bother with the shirt.
When she heard him approach, she moved away, pretending that she had something else she needed to do. He filled a kettle with water and hung it on a hook near the fire.
When he looked over at her, he saw her shaking in silent sobs. He moved up behind her and gently turned her face i
nto his chest, gathering her against him. He lifted her and carried her to sit on the thick rug near the fire.
Holding her on his lap, he wrapped her tight in his arms and rocked her, resting his cheek against her hair. He could think of nothing to say that wasn’t ridiculously inadequate, so he kept silent.
Finally, her sobs subsided. He adjusted her in his arms and began unbuttoning her flannel shirt. He removed it from her left arm and then, carefully, from her right arm. Under the flannel shirt, she wore a long-sleeved thermal shirt and he carefully began removing that, too.
“Lakon, don’t,” she whispered.
“I have to see it and take care of it if I can, Baby.”
Her eyes were closed when he carefully tugged the left sleeve from her arm and lifted the thermal shirt over her head. He ignored her bare breasts as he began to expose her right shoulder.
His breath caught when he saw the angry purple and red bite-shaped wound with four clear punctures from his canine teeth. It was obvious that there was muscle and tendon damage. Every move must be painful to her right now.
“Mya Baby, we have to have a doctor look at that. You might need surgery or something.” He was so completely ashamed of himself.
She hung her head and didn’t say anything. Lakon lowered his mouth to her injured shoulder and kissed it, laving it with his tongue. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with pain and fear.
Arms around her, he eased her down on the fluffy rug and slowly covered her mouth with his, kissing her deeply, passionately, his tongue sensuously worshiping her mouth. He feasted on her lips, her dimples, her chin, nibbling and licking. When his craving demanded more, he parted her lips, his tongue mating ardently with hers.
She reached up and stroked his cheek with her left hand. Lakon continued to kiss her, reaching down to cup her exposed breasts in his hands. At first he brushed her nipples with his fingers and then began rolling them between his fingertips.
His hot mouth moved down her throat to her clavicle and down to her breasts, taking one into his mouth and sucking deeply. He nipped at her nipple and then laved it with his tongue, transferring his attentions to the other nipple and repeating the process.
