Jason left for Monty’s that hour without saying good-bye. No doubt he’d tell Silas what she’d said. There would be consequences. She waited with Milo in the library, taking books down, flipping through them, putting them back.
“I have to get home to Arthur. Are you sure you’ll be all right? Do you want me to fix you something to eat before I go?”
“I’ll be fine, Gerty. Go home. Get some rest.”
She nodded and took her leave.
Laina walked and fed Milo before giving in to her wolf and eating some leftover chicken she found in the fridge. She’d just put the big dog to bed when she heard the front door open and saw Kyle at the base of the stairs.
“It’s done,” he said to her. “I am no longer the face of Hunt Club. What you saw today will never happen again.” He looked tired, exhausted, like he’d spent the day jackhammering concrete rather than in a board meeting.
She descended the stairs. “I almost left today. I thought we were over.”
“Are we?”
“I hope not.”
“You were right. I let Nate and the company run my life for too many years. I ended that today. But there are two sides to this coin, Laina. I did my part. Are you willing to do yours?”
Twisting one finger in her hair, she approached him cautiously, afraid to make any sudden moves and risk jinxing a reconciliation. “Jason left today. I told him I’m staying. I’m not sure what will happen next. Jonah is still out there. I won’t have the protection of my family.”
“I’ll protect you.”
“I’m willing to try to make this work.” She didn’t know how or when she’d tell him she was a werewolf. She had no idea what she’d do about her business. But she couldn’t think about those things now.
“I need you to come to the Tanaka dinner with me on Friday. It was a condition of my change in position. I can’t go without a date.”
“Someone might recognize me.”
“This is a private dinner between us and our Japanese business partners. We’ll have full security. I promise it couldn’t be safer.”
“It’s here, at Hunt Club?”
He nodded. “At Nate’s place.”
She wanted to say yes but she knew Silas wouldn’t approve. Then again, this was where the rubber met the road. Was she willing to choose Kyle over her family? The witch, Grateful, had said Laina would be protected by the mysterious spell that covered the property. If the man who had shot at her was Jonah, he already knew she was alive and he’d proven he couldn’t reach her here. What could be safer?
“Either you serve as my date, or I have to choose a model. Nate will never settle for me going alone,” Kyle said softly.
Rubbing the space over her heart, she said, “I’ll go.”
“You’ll need something to wear. I’ll have Gerty bring you a few choices tomorrow.” He pressed a firm kiss against her mouth. “I love you, Laina Flynn.”
She met his eyes. “I love you too.”
“Don’t talk about leaving me again.”
“There are still things I’ll need to take care of.”
He stepped into her and cradled her head in his hands. “I don’t want to hear reasons you have to leave—I want to hear ways that you can stay.”
She searched his face… and it hit her. Life didn’t mean much without him in it. “Okay,” she whispered. “We’ll find a way.”
Twenty-Five
Laina sat facing Kyle in a plush leather seat that belonged in a living room rather than in the back of a limousine. He handed her a glass of champagne as the driver closed the back door and took his seat behind the wheel.
“I thought Nate’s place was on Hunt Club property. Why the need for the car?”
“It is… on the other end of the forest. Five hundred acres might be a long way to walk in high heels, especially considering the only direct way between there and here is a dirt path through the woods. Driver will take us out and around on Route 36.”
“Gerty says this is the first time you and Nate have lived apart.”
“It was time. Nate’s lifestyle was becoming incompatible with my own. As much as Hunt Club made me out to be the playboy, Nate was always the real thing and more.”
“Hmm.” Laina laughed. She could only imagine what a man like Nate was into.
“Just to warn you, Nate isn’t happy about my change of heart. I doubt he’ll cause a scene, but you might want to keep your distance.”
“Understood. So who are the Tanaka people anyway?”
“Japanese company interested in licensing the Hunt Club name for a new chain there.”
“Do you think Japanese men will go for the concept?”
He lifted one corner of his mouth. “All men go for the concept.”
She grimaced in distaste.
“It’s true. No matter how modern a man says he is, no matter how much of a feminist, no matter how supportive they are to women in their daily lives, deep inside, men want to be alphas.”
Laina froze. “That’s a strange choice of words.”
“What? Alphas?”
She nodded. “What made you put it that way?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just seemed like an apt comparison.”
Laina stared out the window at the blur of trees that seemed to cut through her reflection in the glass.
Kyle sighed. “Laina.”
She blinked at her reflection in the window, trying to make sense of the firestorm of emotions raging in her chest. The last thing she wanted was to leave the pack only to be dominated by someone else. She loved Kyle but she hated the idea of being a subordinate simply because she was female. She’d spent too long building a life for herself to make that sacrifice.
“Laina, it’s fantasy. I’m talking about the brand, not about us. I don’t think you’re second best to anyone. If you want to be the alpha in this relationship, so be it.”
She turned from the window to see him staring at her, gravely serious. “You’d be okay if I took charge?” She gave him a devilish smile.
He raised an eyebrow. “Hell yeah. Bring it on.”
Nate’s house was a modern architectural marvel constructed of glass and steel, with slabs of black granite that added to a reflective, transparent quality. Kyle helped Laina from the limousine and threaded his arm through hers as they followed a Japanese couple toward the house. “This is so different than Hunt Club Mansion.”
“Castles aren’t Nate’s thing.”
“What is Nate’s thing?”
Kyle groaned. “Power. Control. He’s my brother, but he can be a scary man when he wants to be. It’s why Gerty chose to work exclusively for me when we parted households.”
They were welcomed by one of the models she’d worked with at the club. The peacock. Laina couldn’t remember her name and only had a moment to greet the woman before she was ushered toward a magnificent room of white-clothed tables. Each was dressed with silver charger plates at each place setting that reflected the purple orchid sprays adorning the candelabras at their centers. The bright moonlight shone through the windows and melded with the candlelight to give the table setting an almost magical quality.
Kyle placed a hand in the slope of her back. “Mr. Tanaka is a man who enjoys the finer things in life. I suspect the meal will be memorable. Nate wants to make an impression.”
She followed him into the throng of people, shaking hands and making small talk like a pro. At the center of the throng, was Tanaka himself, a height-challenged waif of a man in a suit that cost more than Four Paws.
“May I be photographed with your guest,” Tanaka asked Kyle, holding Laina’s hand far longer than necessary for a simple greeting. Kyle opened his mouth to respond but Laina interrupted. “I would happily be photographed with you.” She shifted her spaghetti-strap sapphire gown into Tanaka’s side and smiled at the camera.
“Arigatou gozaimasu,” Tanaka said, bowing to her. As she was returning to Kyle’s side, she noticed Nickie watching her from the b
alcony above the main staircase. She was dressed for the event in a shimmering red-and-black-sequined dress.
“Oh, Nickie’s here,” Laina said.
“Who’s Nickie?”
Laina snorted and pointed toward her friend. “The doe from your club. Looks like she came as someone’s date. She’s not painted like the others.”
Kyle glanced up. “Oh, the one who found the box you left in the kitchen.”
“What?”
“That’s how I found you. We couldn’t figure out where the rats were coming from, but she brought it to me and told me where to find you.”
Laina froze, her thoughts spinning. “Kyle, did you give Nickie permission to use your hot tub the day your driver picked up Jason?”
“Huh? No. The employees have their own attached to the west wing. It’s against policy.”
She threaded her fingers into his. “We need to go.”
“What? Why?”
She turned for the door so quickly she knocked into one of the beautifully set white tables.
Nate grabbed her arm to steady her. “Clumsy.”
A flash of crimson caught her eye. The silver charger on the table next to Nate flashed as if it cradled a lit match in its belly. Nate’s reflection in the silver burned with magic, fiery ripples distorting his features. His normally brown eyes were the color of a snake’s, bright yellow and pulsing.
“Can I talk to you alone for a moment?” Nate asked.
Kyle frowned and took her other arm. “Why would she need to talk to you alone?”
“You can come too, brother. I have something to discuss, with both of you.”
Tanaka and his executives turned to stare in their direction. Kyle placed a hand on Nate’s arm. “This isn’t the time or the place.”
“I agree.” He smiled that gaping, amphibious smile. “Just one moment, Kyle. That’s all I’m asking for.” He pointed at a door near the back of the room.
Laina held her ground. “Don’t go with him. He’s not who you think he is.”
“What are you talking about?” Kyle chuckled nervously, looking confused.
With a tilt of his head, Nate locked eyes with Laina and lowered his lips to her ear, “You don’t want to do this out here, Princess. If you think I’m above taking this entire place out to get to you, you don’t know me.”
“What did he just say to you?” Kyle asked. “I couldn’t hear.”
“Just explaining that there’s a problem at Hunt Club I need to discuss with you right away.”
“I’ll go. Anna can wait here and enjoy herself.”
Nate shook his head in warning. “This has to do with her as well, and if she doesn’t come, I’ll have to take action.”
“All right. I’ll come,” she said, voice cracking. “But let Kyle stay here.”
Kyle looked at her like she was out of her mind. He laughed and threaded his fingers into hers. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
Nate gave an evil grin, grabbing her elbow and ushering both of them through the door he’d pointed out. “Let Kyle go,” she murmured over and over.
“What’s gotten into you?” Kyle said.
She didn’t have a chance to answer. As soon as the door was closed behind her, a sharp, pain exploded at the back of her skull and then everything went black.
Twenty-Six
Laina came awake on a hard marble floor with her arms chained to the wall behind her. The back of her head ached and it took her sitting up and shaking it for her vision to clear. She was in some kind of dungeon. Across the room from her, a familiar mass of human muscle lay in an unconscious heap.
“Kyle! Kyle!” she called, trying her best to rouse him.
“He’ll be out for a while,” a voice said from her left.
Scrambling to her feet, she turned her head to face the dark figure in the shadowy corner of the room. He was tall, lanky, with dark blond hair and eyes that twinkled purple when the light hit them—although she assumed this was a product of the dragon fae amulet that hung around his neck. She knew without a doubt that under his tuxedo, his right upper shoulder sported the tattoo of a harvest moon with three claw marks ripping through it.
“Jonah,” she said.
“Think again.” He stepped into the light. “You don’t remember me, Laina? I kissed you in the game room at Rivergate when we were children.”
“No…”
“And then there was that time I murdered your parents.”
“Impossible. We found your body.”
“You found my old body. I rather like this new one. My Zafka, Jonah, worked out regularly—more than I ever did. It was brilliant, if I do say so myself, to use the amulet to switch bodies with Jonah when it was clear your brother Silas had the advantage. It was the last magic I performed with this”—he fingered the amulet—“before they took it from me. Before your brother took everything from me.”
“Alex,” she spat. She shook her head, pulled against the chains binding her.
“I love to hear you say my name.” He smirked. “Now here’s how this is going to go. In approximately twelve hours, you’re going to shift.”
“Shift? What are you talking about?” Nate said from across the room. The big, balding man hovered over his brother, patting Kyle’s face and feeling his neck for a pulse. He hadn’t been there before, and wasn’t chained to the wall. Laina looked between Alex and Nate confused. Nate was still alive, which meant he’d cooperated with Alex to some extent, but clearly he wasn’t happy about the state of things.
Alex ignored him and focused on Laina. “As I’m sure you know, those chains are not meant to hold you in your wolf form. By that time, you should be fairly hungry, practically starving with your accelerated metabolism. How much control do you have over your wolf, Princess? Enough not to make a meal of your boyfriend?”
“What do you want, Alex?” Laina desperately tried to work the manacles over her cupped hands, but they were hopelessly tight.
Alex laughed through his nose. “Only my true place. For me to obtain what’s rightfully mine, your two brothers must die. Then, Fireborn pack will bow down to me. Oh, I’m not so crass as to believe the Lycanthropic Society will accept me as their leader, not at first anyway. But blood rules. I will take you as my mate, and we will sire a legion of purebred children. Eventually, the other packs will have no choice but to recognize our superior race.”
“You’re insane.”
“Probably. Love will do that to you.”
“Love? You don’t love me.”
Alex stepped closer to her, squatting down to her level. A wicked smile spread across his face. Close up, his skin took on the appearance of plastic, not quite human or werewolf. A sourceless breeze cycled through the room. “Silas returned the amulet to the dragon fae himself. How do you suppose I got it back, Princess? No, I don’t love you, but thankfully that emotion is not necessary to sire werewolf children. The one I do love understands the importance of my work and my rule and supports my use of you.”
Laina’s thoughts swirled. Rumor had it that a dragon fae princess had fallen deeply in love with Alex and had given him the dragon fae amulet as a gift, but he left her and chose to murder his own parents rather than return it. What if the dragon fae princess still had feelings for him? What if she was helping him now? She tried to remember the name of the princess but couldn’t. Why hadn’t she paid closer attention to Silas?
“Now, you will help me call your brothers out to play.”
“Never. Go fuck yourself.” She spit on the side of his face.
Alex paused for only a moment to wipe away her saliva with a handkerchief before pulling a phone from his pocket. Her heart sank when she realized it was hers, the untraceable phone Silas had given her for emergencies. He tapped the screen a few times.
“Laina?” Silas’s voice came from the speaker.
“Tell him to come for you.” He held the phone toward her face.
She shook her head.
“Laina!”
Silas yelled.
“Do you know why Kyle was attracted to you? Do you want to know the magic behind love at first sight?”
She shook her head again slowly, a dark ribbon of preemptive grief unraveling like a worm in her torso.
“It seems his father had a penchant for supernaturals. Kyle is a dormant. Not even a quarter shifter but it was enough. That hole, the missing thing, the something wild he’s felt deep within his soul, recognized you. He would have never shifted on his own—his mother’s blood was too diluted, but I have the power to make him.”
With a wave of Alex’s hand Kyle bucked off the marble floor, waking with a scream and contorting with the grotesque snap and slurp of breaking bones. Kyle’s screams grew more tormented until Laina could stand no more.
“No! Stop! I’ll do anything. His physiology isn’t adaptable. He won’t survive.”
“Tell Silas to come or I’ll test your theory.” He held out the phone.
“Silas, Alex is alive. He has me,” she whimpered as Kyle screamed even louder. The connection ended. “He hung up. Please.”
Kyle’s body slapped the floor, rattling his chains. He groaned and curled into the fetal position, facing her.
“Don’t worry, Princess. Your brother heard enough. He’s on his way.”
Nate whispered something to Kyle, who was awake now but disoriented. “This was not our deal, Alex.”
“What did you do?” Laina glared at Nate, her body tensing.
Ignoring her, he pointed a chubby finger toward Alex. “You said you wanted the girl. Let us out of here. My brother needs help.”
“Hmm. You are correct. I did promise I’d only take the girl in exchange for you planning this event and providing me with your blood. That was our bargain,” Alex said, nodding.
“So, unlock Kyle. Let us go,” Nate growled.
Alex stepped closer to Nate, his wicked grin growing. “Can you guess what Nate’s mother was, Laina?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Nate said.
Laina shook her head.
Vice (Fireborn Wolves Book 1) Page 17
