by Lacey Thorn
“You were locked in?”
She nodded, arms wrapping around her middle, making him think there were details she’d left out.
“I told you I’d learned to stay quiet and out of the way. The good days were when he didn’t remember I was there. The bad days were when he did.” She shuddered, and Declan wanted to kill. He wanted to hunt Lawrence down and rip apart the bastard, limb by limb.
“Why would he keep you a prisoner for five years?” Brock asked. “It makes no sense. Why rescue you only to keep you prisoner?”
“I think Lawrence was behind the attacks,” Xandra said, shocking both Declan and his brother. “I think he kept me because there were too many witnesses who knew I’d gone with him.”
“What makes you suspect this?” Declan prompted when she stopped speaking.
“The good thing about him forgetting I was there was that he’d say things in front of me. This morning, he told me we were taking a trip. Said they’d found out and it wasn’t safe anymore. My guess would be they referred to you, the Holloways.”
“Where was he planning to take you?” Declan asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know, and I didn’t plan to wait around to find out. He started ranting this morning about how everything was going to hell. How nothing was going the way they’d planned.” Her gaze locked with Declan’s, and it felt as if she were pleading with him to believe her. “He’s the one behind all this. I can’t prove it yet, but I know he is. I know it!”
“I believe you,” Declan tried to assure her.
“Then you understand that I can’t go with you back to Holloway land. I need to go after him, to find him and—”
“No,” Declan interrupted.
“What do you mean no?” she demanded.
“No, you’re not going off on your own. I thought we already went over this. You’re going with me.”
“But surely now you can see—”
He interrupted her again. “I see that the best way to protect you is to get you out of here and to Holloway land as soon as possible.”
“I… If you interrupt me one more time, I’m going to deck you,” she warned, and Declan merely lifted a brow. “Fine. Go after him with me.”
“Later,” Declan agreed. “First, we go home. We’ll talk to Laramie and the others. Plus, there are two people there I think you’ll want to see.”
He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought to tell her about her sisters sooner. Possibly because all the blood seemed to be pumping into his shaft, keeping him hard and ready for mating.
“You’ve found others? That’s how you knew to check for me?”
“Technically, I guess you’d say she found us,” Brock corrected.
“Jaeda arrived first. Knocked us on our asses when we discovered what had happened to all of you. The fact you’d been hidden. We went after Sidia next. Arrived just in time to keep her from being killed.”
“What?” Xandra gasped.
“Both the elders your sisters were staying with were attacked. Neither male made it, but both your sisters were able to escape,” Declan told her. “Jaeda made a run for it and hit our land just in time for my brother, Koby, to pick off the men chasing her. Then Koby and Jensen went after Sidia when we learned more about what had happened from your sister. Koby took out two hunters who were chasing her. Both women are safe and sound on Holloway land.” He wouldn’t tell her they were both happily mated, too. He’d let Xandra discover that on her own.
“Our brother has sent out teams to rescue all the women who were with you in those first few days. We’re bringing everyone under our roof. We’ll protect you and make sure those responsible pay,” Brock declared.
“Thank you for telling me my sisters are safe,” Xandra began. “But I—”
“If you even think about running, I’ll take you over my knee and paddle your ass until you can’t sit down,” Declan warned.
“The hell you will!” Xandra shouted.
“Try me.”
“Let’s all just calm down. You need to head back with us,” Brock said intervening. “There might be things you know that you don’t even realize you know, Xandra. We need you. It’s not just about your personal revenge. It’s about avenging the whole pack.”
“Fine, but I’m not staying,” she groused.
Declan’s chest rumbled, aggravation clear in his gaze. “Take these.” He handed her the packs he and his brother had carried in with them. “It’s going to be a long trek back to the car. See if you can find anything to bandage Brock’s head. He’ll heal quickly, but a wound like that will still take some recovery time.”
“Fine,” she snapped again, and he got the impression “fine” meant something entirely different from its normal definition.
While she jerked the packs open, he turned to Brock. “How’s the head doing?”
“Pounding,” Brock admitted, and Declan noticed the line of perspiration on his brother’s forehead.
“Nauseous?”
Brock nodded. “I’ll be fine once I get on my feet.”
“We should probably find a place to camp for tonight,” Declan suggested. “Give you some time to recover before we push for home.”
“Let’s at least get started,” Brock countered. “I’ll let you know if I need to stop.”
Declan nodded then turned back to Xandra, who was zipping his pack back up. She had a smirk on her face and one of his T-shirts in her hand. She ripped the material in half right down the middle.
“This was all I could find to bandage him with,” she offered sweetly, too sweetly. It made him wonder if he’d missed something while he’d been focused on Brock. He glanced around but didn’t see anything.
“Do you mind helping me?” Brock asked her, motioning toward his head, and Declan almost snorted. His brother was trying to ease the tension that was ripe between Declan and Xandra.
She glanced at Brock and managed to keep her lips shut, nodding instead of arguing. She was up to something. Declan would have to keep his eyes on her. He wouldn’t put it past her to try to run while he was busy with Brock.
“Wrap him up,” Declan said and reached for his pack, pulling it on his shoulders. “We need to head out.”
Chapter Four
They’d been on the move for about an hour and a half when Declan noticed Brock weaving on his feet. Declan had been keeping his eyes on his brother, watching for signs of fatigue. He knew his brother would push himself to keep going, so Declan would have to force them to stop. His brother needed a good eight-to-ten hours of rest, and his head should be fine.
Declan still wasn’t certain Brock didn’t have a concussion. God knew they’d had plenty of them as kids. With seven brothers in the Holloway family, their mother’d had her hands full. Concussions had been commonplace. The fact Brock hadn’t lost consciousness mixed in with their incredibly quick healing ability let Declan know he’d be okay. Rest was all he needed for his shifter DNA to kick in and bring him back to one hundred percent.
“Let’s stop here for the night,” Declan said, pausing in a clearing.
“What do you mean stop?” Xandra asked. “We can’t stop.”
“Brock needs rest,” Declan said, shooting his brother another glance. Brock nodded. The fact he wasn’t even arguing revealed just how poorly his brother felt. “Go ahead and sit. I’ll get you some water.”
“I’ll get it,” Xandra said, pulling off Brock’s pack then opening it.
Declan reached for his own pack and slid it open. He chugged a bottle of water while he rummaged. They hadn’t brought sleeping bags or tents as neither had thought they’d be needed. They’d expected to take a quick trip to Lawrence’s, grab Xandra then head back. Instead, they’d found no one home and been sent on a chase to catch up with her. He barely contained a growl of displeasure as he thought of what she’d shared, the things Lawrence had done. Drugging her and holding her prisoner. He wanted to be the one to find the other man, to tear him apart with his bare hands.
“Um.” Br
ock cleared his throat. “My phone’s off. Yours?”
Declan’s gaze flew to Xandra, who was suddenly taking great interest in the ground. He pulled out his phone and saw it was off, as well. He turned it on and saw red when he noted the number of missed calls and messages.
“Fuck!” He glared at Xandra. “A dozen missed calls and Slade sent the alert code.”
“Shit,” Brock snapped. “Call in. I hope everyone’s okay.” He threw a glare toward Xandra, and she actually looked a bit contrite. She didn’t care if Declan was mad, but she didn’t want to upset Brock? The woman would drive Declan mad.
“Calling Slade now,” Declan said.
“Declan?” Slade answered immediately.
“Put him on speaker.” Laramie’s order carried clearly through the phone.
“What happened?” Declan questioned.
“Are you safe?” Laramie demanded.
“What?” Declan’s voice went soft, his anger rising. There had better be another reason for his brothers to send the alert code. Checking in on him didn’t constitute a fucking urgent situation. “You used the emergency code to check on me? What the fuck are you thinking?”
“There have been developments you and Brock are unaware of,” Laramie said. “Where are you? Have you found Lawrence or Xandra?”
“We have Xandra,” Declan said, sending a glare her way. “No sign of Lawrence.”
“Is she okay?” Sidia, his brother Koby’s mate, asked.
“Your sister is fine,” Declan answered then shared a look with Brock. His brother nodded. “She knows who did this, Laramie.”
Xandra’s head snapped up
“We all do,” Laramie replied. “Get back here, Declan, as quickly as you can.”
“We’re on our way now. I would have called sooner, but Xandra had my pack and didn’t tell me my phone had gone off.”
It was as close to the truth as he was willing to share. Xandra had temporarily had his pack. Just long enough to turn off his phone and rip a shirt in two. He wouldn’t tell Laramie she’d turned it off completely. His brother sounded pissed enough.
“Well, now I can guess who you get your personality from,” Xandra muttered then mouthed to him. Hollow-dickhead.
“We’ll be back in a few days. Our tracking took us farther away than I’d anticipated. We’re backtracking to the SUV now. I’d say three, four days tops,” Declan continued, and Brock gave him a look of gratitude. Declan knew his younger brother didn’t want Laramie to know he’d been hurt, especially since he’d fallen victim to a trap lain by the woman they’d gone to rescue. Not a stellar moment for either of them. He’d added some time into their estimated return, knowing they’d stay at least one night in the woods so Brock could rest.
“Watch your backs,” Laramie ordered. “Stop for no one.”
Declan bit off a smart ass reply. Stop for no one. Who the fuck did Laramie think they’d stop for? If he thought there might be trouble, he should just come right the fuck out and say it.
“What else is going on?” Declan wanted to know.
“There are more people, more shifters, involved in all this than we thought,” Laramie told him. “We’ll go over everything in more detail when you get here. Just get here quickly.”
“Damn it!” Declan thundered. More shifters? As in the pride Holt came from? Or someone different? “I don’t like not knowing, Laramie.”
“Then haul ass and get here,” Laramie thundered.
“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Declan stormed. It pissed him off when Laramie got the lord of the castle attitude. He might be alpha, but he was also a brother. Laramie seemed to forget that most of the time. “Don’t use the code to check up on me again.”
“Don’t forget who your alpha is,” his brother warned.
“Never, brother,” Declan murmured then calmly ended the call before turning and walking a few steps away.
“You okay?” he heard Xandra ask Brock.
He continued walking to burn off the anger. The tension between Declan and Laramie had only grown in the years since their dad had been killed. Laramie seemed to think he was responsible for the death as well as everything that had happened since then. Declan disagreed. They all bore a responsibility, not just the Holloways but the entire pride. Laramie didn’t get to carry the weight of guilt all on his own.
“Declan? Are you okay?”
He glanced up and found Xandra standing right beside him. She reached out and touched his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He leaned his head down, burying his nose in her hair and letting the scent of her soothe him. She felt good. No, she felt perfect. God, he needed her.
She pushed away from him, tucking her hands at her waist, but not before he saw her fingers shaking.
“I should go check on your brother.” She turned and fled toward Brock. Declan was convinced she planned to run some time during the night. He intended to keep her occupied doing other things until she was too exhausted to do anything but sleep.
He watched her hover around Brock, checking his head, talking quietly to him. His brother soaked up the attention, and it made Declan consider how much they’d given up in the years since their father had been murdered. None of them were as quick to laugh. They’d been going through the motions since the attacks five years ago. Laramie had never officially accepted the role of alpha though it was understood he was the next in line and most considered him alpha. As the only living Kodiak, the mantle of leadership fell to him, which made him a huge target in this war.
That was why his brother said and did the things he did. Laramie wanted to paint a huge target on himself in hopes of saving his brothers, something Declan disagreed with. Anyone coming for Laramie would go through the rest of them anyway. Laramie wasn’t the only one who could breed the next pack alpha. As siblings they all carried the Kodiak gene. Any one of them could pass it on to their children. If they were lucky, more than one of them would. It would allow for the Kodiak line to replenish, which would take the pressure off the future alphas.
“Let’s get settled for the night,” Declan said, shaking off his thoughts and allowing himself to focus on something that promised to be far more pleasurable, Xandra. “We’ll leave at dawn. I want to get back as soon as we can, so we can work together and figure out what the hell is going on.”
“Sounds good,” Brock agreed. “I’ll be fine after a few hours of rest.”
Declan glanced at Xandra. “We still won’t be able to shift. Unless you’re feeling any difference?”
She shook her head. “I can’t shift yet.”
“We’ll see how you feel in the morning,” Declan suggested. “We’ll have Jensen take a look at you when we get back but chances are since he was drugging you for so long, it’s going to take time for it to flush out of your system.”
“Jensen’ll figure it out,” Brock agreed.
She shrugged. “I’ve heard your brother is something of a boy wonder when it comes to all things bear physiology.”
“Actually, when it comes to all things bear, human, wolf, and if given the opportunity to study, any other species out there,” Brock added.
“Wow,” Xandra said. “I didn’t realize.”
“He’s safer if people don’t realize that,” Declan said. “Pick a spot for the night, Xandra. And make sure it’s roomy enough for both of us.”
Brock cleared his throat and glanced away. Xandra stared at Declan. He merely lifted a brow at her. Finally, she turned and scouted the area. She began walking, moving just out of the clearing.
“We’ll be close by,” Declan told Brock.
“Not too close,” Brock ordered. “I’d like to get some rest.”
Declan nodded. His brother was subtly telling him he didn’t want to hear Declan and Xandra having sex. Declan made no promises. He planned to make her scream his name all night long. That might be just enough to sate the possessiveness he felt when it came to her. It was something she didn’t seem to share.
He nodded to Brock then moved to follow Xandra. He knew she wanted him. Knew her bear accepted him as her mate. The scent she put off was already beginning to mark him. He smelled it on himself. There was no way she wasn’t smelling it, as well. Yet, he had the impression mating was the last thing on her mind. She might want him, but she didn’t plan to accept him as anything more than a lover. He’d have to make sure he changed her mind.
He turned and followed her into the dense coverage of trees.
“I’m not having sex with you on the ground in the middle of these woods where anyone can happen by and see us,” she said, confronting him. “Where your brother can hear us.”
He stalked her as she listed her reasons for not consummating what was happening between them.
“Besides this won’t work. I can tell you want more than sex, and mating isn’t in my future plans. Finding Lawrence is. After this little meet and greet with the rest of you, I plan to go hunting.”
Her back hit a tree, and he crowded in until their bodies were pressed tightly together.
“What are you doing?” Her voice shook just a bit. It was low and wrapped around his dick like the slow glide of a wet tongue, making him surge against his zipper.
“What we both want me to do.”
He took her lips, swallowing the little moan she gave. His hands cupped her ass, giving the lush globes a firm squeeze before sliding around to the front and popping open her jeans button.
“Declan.” His name was a gasp as he dipped his fingers inside to cup her sex, forcing her zipper undone. He stroked her through the gusset of her panties.
“So hot and wet for me,” he crooned.
She whimpered again, rubbing herself against his hand.
“I’m going to make you scream,” he vowed.
“I don’t scream.”
“You will tonight,” he promised, leaning in to nibble her neck. “By the time I’m done with you, everyone will know my name.”
“Cocky bastard.”
“Confident, Xandra.” He slipped a digit inside her panties and pushed inside her, making her gasp. Her fingers gripped his upper arms, nails digging into his skin.
