About Face (Wolf Within)

by Amy Lee Burgess

  Paddy straightened. “I’ve got to tell Allerton everything.” His face was chalky white, and he looked ready to be sick. I sympathized. I was close to puking myself.

  “For fuck’s sake, Paddy.” Murphy’s boots thundered on the plain wooden floorboards, and from the way they creaked in protest, if he didn’t stop stomping, he’d end up a floor down, sprawled on the pub’s bar. The goddamn pub had to be a hundred years old, and this was no doubt the original flooring. Did Paddy do no upkeep whatsoever?

  “What?” The cords in Paddy’s neck stuck out, and I winced at the volume of his shout. The goddamn walls would probably crumble next. If we all perished in an avalanche of rotted wood and plaster, that was one way out of our current dilemma. But not the solution I’d prefer. “You got any better suggestions, Liam?”

  “Here’s a suggestion. Calm the fuck down.” Murphy and Paddy glared at each other, Alpha males to the extreme. I wanted to kick both their asses.

  “So our plan is no plan at all?” My damn hair was in my eyes, and I dragged it back into a ponytail but had no way to keep it back so let it all fall back around my face again. “Allerton’s plane lands in just over an hour, and I’m pretty sure it takes more than a couple minutes to get to the airport, so unless you know how to teleport, we’d better decide something soon. If we’re not at the airport to pick him up, he’ll—”

  “Have to fucking wait,” Murphy snapped, and I gave him the finger. “Oh, that’s helpful, Constance. Why don’t we all go to the airport and greet Allerton with extended middle fingers. That ought to solve everything.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Paddy said. “She’s right. We don’t have time for this shite. I’m coming with you to the airport, and I’m telling him everything. And I don’t want to hear anything to the contrary, you bastard.”

  “You are not coming to the airport with us. Fuck that. Fuck that hard,” shouted Murphy, and if I’d had something to throw, I would have aimed for his frigging skull. “I’m sorry I even fucking told you.”

  “You had to tell me. A, I’m your Alpha, and B, you wanted to tell me before Etain did. I know you, Liam, I know how you think, what you’ll do, and how much you care about me, but I’m telling you it’s gone past the point where you can do this on your own. We need the man’s help.”

  “If I thought he would help, I’d be first in line to tell him.” Exasperated, Murphy drove a hand through his hair. His sweater rode up and exposed some of his flat stomach. I could see the light brown line of hair that arrowed down from his bellybutton to beneath the waistband of his jeans, and I stopped wanting to throw something at him. Unless that something was me.

  Now was definitely not the time to get all lustful. What the hell?

  “Danger is such an aphrodisiac,” I murmured and realized a split second later I’d spoken aloud. Murphy and Paddy stared at me, for once struck dumb.

  “So what’s your plan? Have a threesome on the office sofa?” Paddy drawled, and Murphy, surprisingly, laughed.

  “I don’t think it’s big enough,” he said.

  “Are you fucking calling me fat?” I demanded and Paddy guffawed. Murphy flashed me one of his killer grins.

  “I need a drink.” Murphy walked out of the office, and I heard his boots clatter down the narrow staircase as he headed for the bar.

  I got to my feet so I could look out the grimy window. I don’t know what I expected to see, but the only thing outside the filthy glass was an even grimier alley.

  I had to pass by Paddy on my way back to the chair, and he snagged my wrist and drew me down onto his lap.

  He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my neck. His heartbeat trip-hammered against mine, and when I hugged him back, he shuddered and squeezed me tighter.

  “It’ll be all right, Paddy,” I whispered and smoothed my fingers through his curly hair. His curls were soft and springy, and I could have played with his hair all day long.

  “I’m so scared,” he confessed. “I don’t want nothing to happen to you or Liam or Fee. Or anybody. I’ve made such a mess of things. You must want to kill me. I know why you don’t believe in me anymore. How could you?”

  He lifted his face to mine, and I was horrified to see tears on his cheeks. I wiped them away with my thumbs, and when he kissed me, I let him because he wanted comfort and I wanted to give it to him.

  His kiss was tentative at first, but he grew bolder when I didn’t resist, and the flick of his tongue was warm and wet against my lips.

  I smiled against his mouth. “Don’t push your luck, you perverted bastard.”

  He laughed as I’d intended and broke the kiss so he could press his forehead to mine. He slid his hands up my arms and then cupped my face.

  “You belong to me,” he whispered.

  “Jesus, I turn my back for two seconds,” said Murphy from the doorway, but there was laughter in his voice. How long had he been standing there?

  “Piss off. I’m just being an Alpha male.” Paddy refused to let me leave his lap.

  “You ever try that ‘you belong to me’ shit on me, and I’ll mop the floor with your face,” warned Murphy, and I giggled. I couldn’t help it.

  “Ah, you’ve been mine since before you could walk without landing on your bum,” declared Paddy. “I don’t need to tell you. You already believe it.”

  “Balls.” Murphy thrust shot glasses of whiskey at us. He winked at me, and I giggled again.

  “Here’s to luck.” He lifted his shot glass, and Paddy and I followed suit. I thought we needed a damned sight more than luck, but I drank the whiskey anyway. It burned like molten lava all the way down to my stomach. For a bad moment I didn’t know whether my shocked gut would reject it.

  “You all right then, Stanzie?” Paddy sounded wary. If I upchucked, he was in the direct line of fire.

  I held up one finger until I was sure I wouldn’t puke. “Okay. Yeah. I’m all right.”

  “Next time get her some girlie shot. Don’t waste my best whiskey, damn you,” Paddy ordered, and Murphy rolled his eyes.

  “Stanzie, come on. We need to head to the airport.”

  Determination entered Paddy’s eyes. “I’m coming, too.”

  “Not in my car, you’re not.” Murphy banged his shot glass down on the coffee table.

  They stared at each other again, tension building. Paddy had one arm slung around my shoulders, and his muscles were so tight, my own ached in sympathy.

  “Damn it. Then bring him here,” he demanded.

  “We’re bringing him to the safe house, and I’ll think about bringing him here later tonight. But I’ve got to think things through, and you’re going to have to deal until I do,” Murphy said.

  “Who the fuck is the Alpha in this scenario?” Paddy bounced me on his knee and sounded aggrieved. My stomach did not like the jolting one bit.

  “You are. And I’m doing my level best to protect you. Will you let go of my bond mate so I can get on with it, goddamn you?”

  Paddy’s arms tightened around me. “Maybe she should stay here with me. As a sort of hostage. Then you’ll frigging bring Allerton here, won’t you?”

  A smile quirked the corners of Murphy’s mouth. “Stanzie can come with me or stay with you, as she likes. Allerton said to pick him up. He didn’t specifically state both of us had to be in the car.”

  “Stay with me. I’ll make it fun for you. Sort of a Stockholm syndrome hostage scenario. I’ll treat you real nice.” Paddy teased my ear with his tongue, and I shivered. Damn him.

  “You’re such an asshole, Paddy.” I cuffed him lightly on the shoulder and slid from beneath his arms so I could meet Murphy at the door.

  When I looked back, he was grinning, but beneath the smile lurked fear.

  * * * *

  Jason waited by the doors outside of the baggage claim area. His blue pin-striped Armani suit was crisp and wrinkle-free, and he smelled of fresh soap and cologne when he slid into the passenger side of Murphy’s BMW. Murphy took his luggage t
o the trunk, and for a moment Jason and I were alone in the confines of the car.

  “How’s my mother?” I asked, and he turned his head so he met my gaze with his.

  “Sad that I didn’t bring her. I’m not happy I had to leave her so soon after the bonding ceremony.”

  “You could have brought her,” I said and he frowned. “Etain Feehery wants you to get on the next plane and go back to America. Is that why you didn’t bring Wren?”

  Murphy and I had talked on the way to the airport. My idea was that the best defense was offense. He’d snorted and declared I’d have to get out of bed a lot earlier in the morning to put Jason Allerton on the defensive. The man had a valid point, but I thought I’d give it a shot anyway. My idea was to throw Lauren in the mix because I knew Jason felt guilty about that situation.

  “Etain Feehery doesn’t want me near my own Advisors. For that reason alone I would have come, but coupled with your disturbing silence, I could hardly stay away.” Jason glanced out the window as Murphy slammed the trunk and moved toward the driver’s side door. “Are you all right, Stanzie? Is Liam in some sort of trouble? What has he told you about me that makes you afraid to trust me?”

  Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. My offense shredded in less than thirty seconds. Way to go, Stanzie.

  Before I could answer, Murphy slid behind the wheel. He took in our expressions and the ringing silence and scowled. He’d probably heard every word. Cars are not exactly soundproof to Pack ears.

  “Congratulations on your bonding, Councilor,” he said, and a disconcerted look flashed across Jason’s cool blue eyes. If I’d been in the front seat, I would have kissed Murphy.

  “Thank you,” said Jason. “I hope to return to my new bond mate’s side as quickly as possible. In large part, I suspect that’s up to you, Liam.”

  “Me?” Murphy gave a short bark of laughter as he twisted the ignition key. The BMW purred into life. I closed my eyes as we merged into traffic. Maybe in twenty years I’d be used to everyone driving like maniacs on the wrong side of the damn road, but I doubted it. “How do you figure that, Councilor?”

  “What is the situation with Mick Shaughnessy? And I don’t want any tap dancing around the truth, Advisor.” Jason’s voice was as cold as arctic wind, and I shivered. Shit.

  “I haven’t seen him,” answered Murphy truthfully.

  Rage gathered in Jason’s expression. He had his face half turned so I could see his profile, and I gulped. I wanted to wind down the window to chase some of the angry stench from the car, but I couldn’t move.

  “I sent Stanzie here to talk reason with you. To give you another chance because I want you to succeed, Liam, in all the things you want in this life. But understand this much—I can’t continue to turn a blind eye to the things you do behind my back. I give you a lot of freedom, a lot of rope, but you’re going to hang yourself if you aren’t careful. You’re going to tie my hands so I can’t help you. And you may very well bring Stanzie down with you. Is that what you want?”

  Murphy’s face suffused with color. I watched him in the rearview mirror. It was a low blow to use me as leverage. Jason Allerton was a nasty fighter.

  “You’re the one who dragged us into this,” Murphy accused, and the whiskey shot came back to life in my stomach and sloshed around uneasily. Murphy would kill me if I puked in his pristine car. “You’re the one with the secret agenda, not me.”

  Would Murphy’s offensive tactics be more effective than mine? I held my breath and waited for Jason’s response.

  “That is a serious accusation. I’d like to hear your evidence to back it up.”

  Damn it.

  Murphy didn’t answer, and Jason turned his head so I could no longer see his profile.

  Just when the silence had reached the level of excruciating, Murphy spoke. “You sent Stanzie deliberately into this situation. You’re the one who’ll bring her down if we’re not careful, not me. And I can’t forgive you for that.”

  “At least now you admit there is a situation,” remarked Jason. “Did it work, Liam? Are you ready to talk now? Or you, Stanzie? I’m sure at this point you know more than I do. I’d appreciate it if you’d share your thoughts with me.”

  I bit my lip. When had Jason Allerton become the enemy? He’d looked after me, guided me, been my mentor and my father figure. And now it was all shifted and skewed, and I looked at him with doubt and, yes, fear.

  I wanted to tell him everything. But how could I look Murphy in the eye if I did that?

  Which side was he on? If I knew which side he was on, I would know if I could talk. But I couldn’t ask him that question without giving everything away, without possibly endangering everyone I loved.

  I turned to the window and barely registered the blurry scenery.

  * * * *

  The security gate swung open after Murphy activated it, and I saw the small castle near the gray lake just beyond the guardhouse and the parking lot.

  The Mac Tire pack member in the guardhouse snapped to attention as the car approached. Obviously Allerton was expected.

  Two figures waited on the stone steps outside the castle, and they became clearer as the three of us crunched along the tree-lined gravel path that led to the castle entrance.

  One of them was Etain Feehery. The wind whipped her chestnut hair around her face and obscured her expression. The other was Paddy. The bastard had not stayed at An Puca as we’d agreed.

  Murphy swore in frustration beneath his breath, and when Paddy began to descend the steps, he swore again.

  He stopped dead in his tracks, and I avoided bashing into him by a narrow margin.

  “Let him do this on his goddamn own,” Murphy snarled at me as Jason continued to move forward. Etain Feehery remained on the castle steps, her eyes shaded against the bright Irish sunshine with one hand.

  Murphy set down Jason’s Gucci overnight case, and the wind blew a lock of his hair into his eye. Before he could, I reached out to brush it away, and a half smile tugged at his mouth. I could tell he was pissed and that he didn’t know what to do. Neither did I. Short of rushing Paddy and tackling him, how the hell could we stop what he was about to do? He was my Alpha. I was supposed to trust and support him. But, oh, how I wish he’d waited at the pub as we’d arranged.

  “I’m trying to maintain a high state of piss off here,” Murphy said, but his expression was affectionate, and he brought my hand to his mouth without taking his gaze away from Paddy. The kiss he pressed to my palm felt like a delicious secret. Love, complicated and immense, twisted through my guts. Everything was in such turmoil, but I had Murphy’s love and he had mine. God, would it be enough to get us through if things took an abrupt shift for the worse?

  Paddy reached the gravel path, and Jason waited for him by a burbling stone fountain. The path curved around the fountain in a circle and narrowed again into one lane that led to the steps.

  “I can’t look. Kiss me so I don’t have to look,” I said and leaned forward. Murphy shook his head, but met my mouth with his. His lips were featherlight and warm and, suffused with love, I opened my mouth to invite him to twine his tongue with mine.

  He pulled me closer into his possessive embrace, and supreme joy engulfed me, even as I knew I ought to be scared of what would happen after Paddy confessed to Jason what he’d been doing with Mick Shaughnessy. What of Etain Feehery? Was she complicit in Sorcha’s death, and would Paddy’s words condemn her? Did she still resent the fact Jason had chosen her twin and not her? Whatever the case, she seemed content to wait on the stairs.

  My damn cellphone buzzed to alert me that a text message had arrived.

  “Ignore it,” Murphy whispered into my open mouth, but I was curious. Who would text me?

  The text was from my cousin, Faith. It read simply Everything okay?!

  Jason had his back angled away from the trees lining the pathway. Paddy stood facing them. He seemed to do all the talking while Jason listened.

  “I don’t get it,” said
Murphy, frowning at the text, and a blur of movement erupted from the trees. At first I had no clue who it was, only that someone was running straight for Jason and Paddy. I was too far away to make out features clearly.

  Paddy was close enough to see. Etain Feehery shouted something from the stairs. But did she shout before or after Paddy erupted into action? It was a question that would haunt me for a long, long time.

  Paddy intercepted the blurred figure, which resolved itself into an old man.

  They struggled for maybe three seconds before Paddy went down, clutching at his stomach. The old man turned in my direction, and I saw the knife clearly. The tip was coated with red. Paddy’s blood.

  Murphy reacted before me. He flew at the old man, boots scattering gravel in every direction. Bits and pieces of it stung my ankles and shocked me into action. I ran for Paddy. Jason already knelt by his side, and Etain Feehery was halfway down the stone stairs, her hair wild around her face.

  The fifteen seconds it took me to get to Paddy seemed a fucking lifetime. I skidded on my knees the last two feet and shredded my jeans in the process. I felt nothing but a warm gush, which I didn’t even realize was blood.

  The bottom of Paddy’s cream sweater was horribly scarlet. A fucking huge amount of blood pooled on the gravel beside and beneath him. Jason frantically tried to stem the bleeding with his hands, the cuffs of his Armani suit jacket drenched and dripping.

  “Call the paramedics. Now, Etain!” he shouted at Councilor Feehery, who chanced one look at Paddy, paled and took off at a run back to the castle.

  Paddy’s eyes were half closed, but when I touched his cold face, they flew open. They were glazed over with pain and shock, far away and glassy, but the fingers he wrapped around my wrist were amazingly strong.

  “Nuh—now do yuh, you believe in me again?” Paddy whispered, his gaze locked to mine. Blood coated his teeth, and a blast of horrified pity nearly flattened me. Flashback to Grey on the ground after the accident. His mouth had been full of blood, too. Faith’s text message made sudden, awful sense. Had she known Paddy had been hurt in her dream? Had she been afraid to tell me?