“Oh wow.” It was the weirdest story she’d ever heard.
“And Cade’s been a bit odd ever since.”
“Well, it’s not like I’m exactly normal myself,” she replied. Although Cade could certainly rival her for the prize of biggest fruit loop. The man carried a blue light on him. He liked to check for blood stains before he slept in a room. Not that blood stains turned him off—he just couldn’t stand the mystery of not knowing how they got there.
He’d made her go over and over the security at the cabin until she’d been ready to scream. She wondered if that was how Marcus had felt with her in the beginning.
Marcus.
Oh Christ. She was going to see Marcus again. As if she could forget. It had been all she could think about for the last four days.
Seeing him, touching him, tasting him.
She had to pretend she didn’t know him. This was a test of epic proportions. She’d only called him the once, even though she’d thought about it a billion times a day.
That first night she’d lain awake, cold and afraid. She’d ended up in the kitchen, scrubbing out the pristine stove. Connor had forced her to sit down and call him.
Cade had finished cleaning the stove.
As soon as Marcus’ voice had come across the earpiece, she’d relaxed. In fact, she’d ended up having to calm him down. He’d been set to race out there and light a fire under Connor and Cade for not looking after her.
After she’d convinced him she was fine, just a bit unsure and scared, he’d worked on soothing her. She’d fallen asleep about 3:00 a.m., with his voice still speaking in her ear.
She wasn’t even sure what they’d talked about.
The days since had been filled with getting to know Connor and Cade, touching them, letting them touch her. Luckily, Cade wasn’t a cuddly guy, so she only really had to worry about letting Connor close. And he was so nice she couldn’t help but like him.
Still, the entire time she’d missed Marcus. Horribly.
The only times she managed to push him to the back of her mind were when she was sketching. She’d nearly filled the pad Laney had gotten her.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded.
“I’m ready.”
“Sir?”
Marcus looked up at the small, blonde woman who stood quivering before him. Not for the first time, he cursed Leonard. What kind of a bastard had he been that his own pack were terrified of him?
“Yes?”
“They’re here.”
A surge of anticipation made him dizzy. He quickly squelched the emotion as he noticed the woman—damn, he needed to start remembering names—looking at him strangely.
Sadie. That was her name.
“Good. Thank you, Sadie. Show them into the living room and I’ll be down there shortly.” He refused to call it the ballroom as Leonard had. Pretentious bastard. Looking at the Silverton pack’s accounts, it seemed Leonard had financed all his ideas of grandeur by dragging every spare cent from his people that he could.
Marcus ran his hand over his face and forced himself to remain seated when every inch of him wanted to race down the stairs to her.
Hanna.
She was here. He’d missed her. Badly.
Finally he couldn’t wait any longer. Through sheer force of will, he managed to walk calmly down the stairs to the large room that served as the pack meeting place.
As he strode down the hallway, he grimaced at the deep-red carpet, drapes and garish furnishings. Shit, if this were his place, one of the first things he’d do is redecorate. It reminded him of a strip club, without the easy supply of alcohol to filter his senses.
Then he stepped into the room and stopped.
There she was. Hanna. Gorgeous, sweet, shy little Hanna, with her quirks and her large heart. She stood between Connor and Cade, dwarfed by their huge frames. He clenched his hands into fists, fighting back the urge to drag her away from them, to swing her over his shoulder and carry her up to his room.
Instead, he forced himself to relax, not wanting anyone to think something odd was going on. Everyone remained wary around him. Most of them avoided him.
What the hell was Cooper thinking, putting him in charge? He was so not a people person.
“Hello, I’m Marcus Chance.”
Connor stepped forward and shook his hand. The only thing distinguishing him from Cade that Marcus could see was his longer hair. And maybe he was marginally taller.
“Hello, I’m Connor Brady. This is my brother Cade and our girlfriend, Anna.”
Marcus barely hid his shock at the name change. But it made sense. If anyone here knew what Leonard had been up to, then they may have heard her real name. Connor stepped back and took Hanna’s hand. Cade dropped his hand on her shoulder and a surge of jealousy hit him.
Damn, they were touchy-feely. Hanna had only been around them a few days. It had taken a week until he could even get close to her. The wolf snarled possessively.
He glanced down at their joined hands and saw the delicate bracelet glittering on her wrist. Something he knew she hadn’t owned before. They had given it to her and she’d accepted it. His mind whirled, spewing out possibilities. Was she sleeping with them? Had she jumped from his bed straight to theirs?
Marcus glowered at Hanna, growing immediately ashamed when she winced and looked down.
Fuck. What did he think he was doing? As if this wasn’t hard enough on her and here he was, irrationally getting angry with her because they got to touch her and he couldn’t.
Marcus didn’t know where this jealous side had come from and he definitely didn’t like the way he was acting. Nor did he like the way Hanna had grown pale, her eyes glassy. Fuck, he’d hurt her. Connor and Cade stepped in front of her, protecting her.
It burned deep to know they were protecting her from him.
“I’m glad to have you all here,” he managed to say. “As you know, your brother placed me in charge. My assistant Sadie has assigned you some rooms. When you’re all settled, I would like to invite you to join me at my table in the dining hall.”
Yeah, he sounded like a prick. But if he spent one more second in that room with the three of them, he knew he’d do something to give himself away. They were touching his woman. Taking care of his woman. Protecting his woman.
They even smelled like his woman.
And that was enough to make any man go insane.
Chapter Seven
“Fucking asshole.”
Hanna looked over in surprise at the vehemence in Cade’s voice. He slammed his way through the suite they’d been given, entering what she figured was one of two bedrooms. She glanced over at Connor in a bit of a daze.
“Here, sweetie, come and sit down.” Connor took her hand and led her to the sofa. She’d come so far in the last few days and found that she was far stronger than she’d thought. Forcing herself to get to know these guys, to let them touch her, get close to her—it had been one of the toughest things she’d had to do.
And Marcus had just tried and condemned her for it.
Cade came out, a small black device held in his hand. His bug detector. He’d shown it to Hanna the first day he’d arrived when he’d checked the entire cabin for listening devices. “Bedroom’s clean.” He disappeared again.
Connor squeezed her hand then stood. “I’ll run you a bath while Cade does his thing.”
“Bathroom’s all clean,” Cade called out.
Dark, polished shoes appeared in her line of sight. Well-pressed pants covered long, lean legs. A teal-blue shirt tucked into those pants. Cade always looked well put together. There was nothing casual or easygoing about this man.
“He’s an asshole. Want me to go beat on him for a while?” His suggestion said he wouldn’t mind that at all.
“What? Who?”
“That asshole wannabe-Alpha downstairs. He’s not worth crying over, kid. You need to show him you don’t give a shit what he thinks.”
Okay, they’d seen the
look of disgust on Marcus’ face too.
“He thinks I’m a slut. That I’ve jumped into bed with the two of you.”
“Which is exactly what he’s supposed to fucking think,” Cade replied. “He’s shitty because you’re doing a good job at faking a relationship. He should know how hard this is on you and then he goes and shits on you like that, throwing you back into a bad place. I have my own bad place, princess, and it’s not a good place to be. Come on, Connor’s run you a bath.”
Cade walked into a bedroom. Hanna stared after him, stunned. That was the most she’d ever heard him speak. And he’d been sticking up for her.
“He likes you.” Connor entered the room. “He doesn’t like many people. You’re a good person, Hanna. You’re strong and kind and gorgeous. Any man would be damn lucky to have you and if that jerk Marcus doesn’t realize that then he doesn’t deserve you.”
She gaped up at him in disbelief.
“Hanna. Bath. Now.”
The numbness disappeared and she found her lips twitching as Connor winced.
“I swear, that coyote has a lot to answer for.”
*
Hanna sat at the large dining table between Cade and Connor. Apparently, each night Marcus invited different members of the pack to dine with him so he could meet them. There must have been about thirty people around the huge dining table. Marcus sat at the head. A Shadowpeak enforcer sat to his left. What was his name? Josiah, that’s it. Dark and slight, he seemed cool and dangerous.
She made a mental note to stay well away from him.
Reaching over, Connor squeezed her thigh slightly. She jumped.
Damn it. She had to do better than this.
Connor splayed his large hand on the table, displaying all his fingers. Their signal. As soon as the guys had settled into the cabin, they’d all sat down for a talk. Recognizing her discomfort with touch and attention, they’d come up with a signal. If she was becoming too scared or feeling panicked she was to give them a number with her fingers. One finger meant she was relaxed and feeling good. Five was full-blown panic.
She showed him three.
He gave a slight nod and leaned back, placing his hand over the back of her chair. To anyone else it probably looked as though he was hugging her, however he didn’t touch her at all. Hanna had discovered that both he and Cade were good at that. Pretense.
On the other side of Cade sat a large, dark-haired man with scars that ran down the left side of his face. Both he and Cade remained quiet after some introductions.
Hanna struggled to remember his name. She’d been in a bit of a daze while introductions were made, trying to keep from showing her hurt at Marcus’ earlier condemnation.
The man sitting across from her leaned forward, his dark-blue eyes intense. “So, Anna, how did you find the flight here?”
“Well, generally I don’t like to fly,” she answered truthfully. “But the drive from South Carolina is a bit long.”
Those sitting around her nodded.
“Can’t blame you for that. Not my favorite thing, either,” a woman diagonally across from her left agreed. “Or yours, Ryder,” she directed to the man who’d spoken.
Hanna smiled shyly at the woman. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name?”
“Course you didn’t,” she replied kindly. “There are too many of us to get it all straight the first night. I’m Blair. This is Ryder, my pain-in-the-ass older brother.” She then pointed at the man beside Cade. “The big, silent guy is Rafe. Don’t be offended if he doesn’t speak to you much; he doesn’t like chitchat.”
Blair smiled teasingly over at the big man. Hanna couldn’t see much of his expression, but had the feeling this was a running joke.
“And over here is Honey.” The short, curvy brunette sitting so quietly by Blair smiled at her then turned to stare at her food once more. Shy. Hanna could relate and she felt an instant affinity with Honey, whose hunched shoulders and tense demeanor screamed her reluctance at being here.
“So how long have you all known each other, Anna?” Ryder asked. Hanna was glad Connor had insisted on using a name close to her own. She was never going to make her millions as an actress.
“Oh not nearly long enough.”
Cade and Connor had been thorough in preparing her. They’d talked extensively about their background, their likes and dislikes, quizzing her hourly until she’d been on information overload.
“Yeah, how did you meet?”
“Through a friend,” she replied easily.
“How long are you all planning to stay?” Blair interjected as Ryder stared at her.
“A few weeks,” Connor answered. “We’d always planned to visit Cooper and when he said he needed some help, we thought the time was right. Course we couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Anna for that long.”
“I’m surprised you’d bring her here though,” Ryder drawled. “After all, if things are messy enough that the Alpha feels he needs outside help, then surely you wouldn’t want your woman here.”
Cade stiffened beside her even as the whole table went silent.
“Is that a threat?” Cade asked quietly, the first thing he’d said. “Are you saying our woman is in danger here?”
Ryder stared at him, meeting his gaze. “Of course not. I was merely curious as to your reasoning.”
Blair placed her hand on Ryder’s arm, looking over at Cade with a soft smile, although Hanna could see the tension in her shoulders.
“I can assure you we’ll have no problems looking after Anna,” Connor said, his voice firm.
“While you watch over us as well,” Ryder snarled. “Like we’re naughty children who can’t be trusted.”
Hanna let out a deep breath as she realized Ryder’s problem wasn’t with her. For a moment she thought he’d suspected who she was. But he was angry about the pack’s situation.
“Cooper doesn’t know you yet,” Marcus interjected. “You can’t expect him to give you blind trust, not after what happened.”
“He blames us all for Leonard’s actions,” Ryder growled, standing. Everyone around the dining table sat on pins and needles, watching as the large man clenched his hands, his eyes glowing amber.
Shit. Not good. Not good.
Connor leaned in close. “If I tell you to, I want you out of here. Get to our rooms, lock the door and don’t come out unless Cade or I come to the door. Got it?”
Hanna nodded. She was no fool.
Marcus settled back into his chair, staring coolly at Ryder. “So what do you want? Instant trust?”
“Why the fuck should we trust him when he can’t give us the same? Hell, he doesn’t even bother to come here himself. Instead he sends his lackeys.” Ryder sneered at Marcus and Josiah.
Marcus raised a brow. “So your problem is with me then?”
“Why should we take orders from you?” Ryder snarled. “You’re not our Alpha. You haven’t proven yourself. All you and your Alpha have done is try to take us over and order us around. You look down your noses at us. We didn’t know what Leonard was up to. Those who did are dead, killed by your hands. What exactly do you want from us? We want to know what our future holds.”
Hanna felt sorry for them. The whole table of Silverton wolves watched on, worry in some of their eyes, anger in others. How would she feel if she were in their shoes? Probably scared about what the hell was going to happen.
Marcus seemed to sense that as well. He leaned forward with a sigh. “Look, no one denies this is hard—”
“Hard?” Ryder snapped back. “What the hell do you know about it? You sit there and order us around and expect us to follow you. Why should we? You didn’t defeat Leonard. You haven’t earned our trust or respect. We know none of you want to be here, so why don’t you fuck off and leave us alone.”
The tension in the room ratcheted higher as Cade pushed back his chair. Although Marcus appeared relaxed, his jaw clenched.
“Cooper is your Alpha.”
“Some Alpha
. He was here off and on for the first few weeks and then he sent you. Well, we don’t know you. How do we know you’re even strong enough to lead us?”
Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. For all his nonchalance, Hanna knew he couldn’t let a challenge like this go unanswered. If he did, he’d lose any semblance of control he now had.
“Ryder,” Blair whispered urgently.
“Obviously you believe someone else should be in charge,” Marcus drawled. “Yourself, perhaps.”
“Maybe,” Ryder said bravely, although Hanna sensed his hesitance.
“Ryder, don’t,” Blair begged.
Marcus nodded. “Fine, I accept the challenge.” He stood. “Two nights from now. Eight p.m. I’ll meet you in the backyard.” He turned and strode from the room.
“Hope you know what you’re doing, kid,” Josiah said quietly.
Ryder sat.
Blair shook him by the arm, her face so pale that Hanna was afraid she might faint. “Ryder, are you crazy? What have you done?”
Cade glanced over at him. “Signed his death warrant, I’d say.”
*
Hanna walked behind Cade to their room. They’d made a quick exit from the dining room, much to her relief.
Something beeped and Cade stilled. Hanna smacked into his back. Connor grabbed her by the waist to steady her.
“Seems like we’ve got a visitor,” Cade said.
Hanna glanced up at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“He means he set an alarm in our room that tells him if someone enters while we’re not there,” Connor explained.
“Oh. That was a good idea.” There was no way she could check all the windows and doors in this place and that left her feeling slightly out of control. But if Cade had their room security sorted, well, they were safe. If there was one person more paranoid about security than she, it was Cade.
Connor glanced down at her incredulously. “For god’s sake, don’t encourage him.”
“What’s the bet it’s our resident man in charge?” Cade raised his eyebrows.
She jolted in shock. “What? You think Marcus is waiting for us?”
Connor prodded her forward. “Only one way to find out.”
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