Dark Vengeance (Dark Wolf Series Book 4)

by Dena Christy

  “Oh, I don’t think you’ll be running far. I’ve arranged for your accommodations, and the person you’re staying with has agreed to keep an eye on you. And you should know I will have others watching you when he can’t be there.”

  Simone looked from Cadric to Lee and back to Cadric again. Surely he didn’t expect her to stay with Lee? Something of her thoughts must have registered on her face, because Lee stepped forward.

  “What Cadric is trying to say is that you’ll be staying with me,” Lee said.

  “No,” Simone said as she turned away. She was prepared to go along with the Order to a point if it got her what she wanted, but she didn’t think she could stay strong if she had to spend all her time with Lee. It hurt too much just looking at him. He was a reminder of all she’d lost, and could never have again.

  “Cadric, can you leave us alone for a minute?”

  She refused to turn around, even as she heard Cadric’s departing footsteps. She shrugged off the hand that descended on her shoulder and Lee sighed.

  “Simone, you need to look at me,” Lee said, his voice rumbling close behind her. She bit her lip for a moment and forced herself to relax. She turned around and faced him.

  He towered over her as strong and solid as he’d always been. She longed to lean forward, rest her head against his chest and ask him to hold her and tell her that everything would be all right. She took a step back instead. Everything was not okay, and no amount of wishing on her part would make it so.

  “If you want to get out of here, this is how you’re going to do it. Cadric will not agree to your plan otherwise. That is what you want isn’t it? To get out of here and help stop my father?”

  “You know it is,” she said. Damn Cadric. She was prepared to have someone watching her, but she didn’t want it to be him. He knew her too well, and their history lay like wreckage between them.

  “If it’s not me, Cadric will pair you with another werewolf,” he said, and she looked up at him as a ray of hope lanced through her. “You wouldn’t like it. There are a greater numbers of male werewolves than there are females, and you would be fair game. Or maybe that is what you want?”

  “You know it’s not. I want to put this period of my life behind me, and I want to make sure Dany is stopped before he can hurt anyone else,” Simone said. The thought of having to deal with sexual advances from a stranger definitely didn’t appeal to her.

  “Then your best bet is to stay with me. I’ll try to keep out of your hair as much as possible,” he said as he turned away, and she could see that the hope in her eyes when he’d mentioned another wolf had hurt him. She could appreciate that he’d been hurt enough, and it was the last thing she wanted. She reached out and touched his arm.

  “Lee, I’m sorry,” she said and decided that the best way forward was to be as honest with him as she could. “Cadric’s suggestion caught me off guard, and I will admit that the thought of being around you all the time is painful.”

  “And you don’t think it is for me? I look at you, and all I can think of is how I failed you. I brought the men who hurt you into your life, and I can’t take that back,” he said as he turned to face her. He reached up to caress her face, and she stood still, fighting the urge to melt into his touch.

  She reached up and took hold of his wrist and slowly removed his hand from her cheek. “You couldn’t have known that this would happen. It’s not your fault, it’s your father’s and David’s. David is dead, and soon your father will be too.”

  Lee stiffened in front of her, and she realized she’d forgotten to hide the grim pleasure in her voice at the prospect of Dany’s death.

  “You won’t be the one to do it,” Lee said as he took a step closer to her.

  Only a quarter inch of air separated their bodies, and she reached up and put her hands on his chest. She’d forgotten what that hard wall of muscle felt like under her palms, and she squeezed her fingers toward her palms to blot out the memory of how good he used to make her feel. Her breath picked up speed and as she looked up at him she noticed his pupils had grown huge.

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice husky as she pushed against his chest. She knew she wasn’t strong enough to budge him if he didn’t want to be moved, but he stepped back to give her some space.

  “My father needs to be stopped, I agree with you on that. He’s hurt too many people already and has the potential to hurt more, especially now that he’s losing everything he’s worked so hard for. But you can’t be the one who stops him. Let the Order take care of it. I told Cadric I’d watch out for you, and I will. I hate that you’ve offered yourself up as bait, but I can see how it is the best way to catch my father.”

  Simone was silent. Staying with Lee was her only way out of this cell. Cadric had played his hand well when he selected Lee to be her jailer. Lee knew her better than anyone, or at least thought he did. He’d known the person she was before intimately, but she’d changed a lot in the past year.

  “Fine,” she said, making sure she sounded resigned to the way things were. “If the only way I’m getting out of this cell is going along with what you and Cadric want, I guess I have no choice.”

  “And you’ll let the Order handle my father when the time comes?” he asked as he looked her in the eyes. She didn’t lower her gaze, and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, as she tried to think of a way to appease him without making promises she wouldn't keep. His eyes followed the movement of her tongue, and the tension in the room ratcheted up a notch.

  “I’ll do it however you want,” she said, her voice slightly breathless, and a flush stained his cheekbones as his breathing deepened in his chest. He nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing as he turned away from her to go to the door.

  She followed him out and found Cadric waiting for them.

  “Have you two worked out your differences? You’re prepared to work together?” the tall, Nordic man said as he straightened away from Roger’s desk.

  “We have,” Lee answered, his voice sounding deeper than normal. Cadric looked from Lee to her, and a smile kicked up the corner of his mouth.

  “Well, you best get going then,” Cadric said, and he looked at Simone. “Remember your bargain. The Order handles Dany when the time comes. You are to lure him out of hiding only.”

  “I’ll remember,” she said, and she hitched her purse higher on her shoulder. She would remember her bargain with Cadric, but fortunately he hadn’t asked her to obey. His mistake.

  As she and Lee left the Order’s headquarters, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep the smile from blooming across her mouth. Both Cadric and Lee thought she would meekly follow their dictates. If they’d made her promise, she might have had more difficulty following her own plan. But Cadric hadn’t phrased his orders in the right way, and Lee was too easily distracted by his attraction to her to notice that she’d never once said she’d give up her plan for vengeance against Dany. And she wouldn’t. Dany was hers to deal with, and she would do anything and say anything to make that happen.

  “You look happy,” Lee said as they finally stepped outside.

  The smile she’d fought so hard to suppress bloomed across her face. She tilted her head back as the sun warmed her skin and a light breeze stirred her hair.

  “I'm just glad to be free,” she said as she tucked her hand into his. She peaked up at him through lowered lashes and saw the muscle work in his jaw. She was playing with fire by touching Lee, but the best way to get what she wanted was to keep him distracted.

  She was honest enough to admit to herself that she still wanted him. Despite all that had happened, despite all the changes she’d gone through, her body ached to have him. When they’d been together, they’d been so hot for each other. Her body remembered his and wanted him again.

  He eased his hand away from hers and walked stiffly beside her. She had her work cut out for her, getting Lee to relax around her. She had more than enough time since she wasn’t going anywhere at the mom
ent. And an intimate relationship would accomplish two things. Lee would relax his guard around her and she could fulfill her plans for Dany. And Lee could satisfy the cravings being around him had stirred up inside her.

  * * *

  Lee escorted Simone inside his home and tried to ignore what seeing her in his domain did to him.

  “Cadric arrange for someone to go to your apartment in Ottawa and get some of your things. Just clothes and toiletries,” Lee said as he led her down the hall to the guest room where she would stay for the duration. He ignored how close her bedroom was to his. He would not complicate an already complex situation by following through on what his body longed to do to her.

  “Someone went through my things?” Simone said, as she stopped in the hall and glanced sharply at him.

  “Yes, he thought you might need some of your stuff, and you were hardly in a position to go get it yourself.”

  “I know that, but I really don’t like some strange guy pawing through my underwear drawer,” she said tightly.

  “If it makes you feel any better, he sent a woman to paw through your underwear drawer,” he said as he reached across her to open the door to the guest room and his arm accidentally brushed against her breast. He clenched his jaw as he walked into the spare bedroom. He tried to ignore the effect the tiny shiver she gave had on him. He needed to get away from her, now. “This is where you’ll be sleeping. Your stuff is in the bags in the closet, and you have your own bathroom.”

  He turned to go when she reached out to stop him. He stood as still as possible, and held his breath, waiting for her to speak.

  “If Cadric hadn’t ordered you to do this, would I be here?”

  “No,” he said as he turned to her. “If I had my way, you wouldn’t be involved in this at all. You are no match for my father.”

  “How do you know? I’ve changed a lot in the past year,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. If Lee didn’t know how ridiculous it was, he would swear she was insulted by what he’d said.

  “I know you have, and that’s why I think this is a bad idea. My father is corrupted, and he poisons everything he comes in contact with. I don’t want you hurt anymore than you already have been, and I will make sure you aren’t.”

  Simone sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at him. Lee’s hands tightened into fists and he kept his feet firmly planted where they were.

  “Are you saying you still care about me?” she asked with a look that Lee could only interpret as sly on her face. It suddenly dawned on him that her come get me signals could be a ploy to get him to relax his guard.

  “What do you care?” he said. “You left me, remember?”

  “Maybe I regret it,” she said as she picked at a loose thread in the bed’s comforter. “I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I stayed.”

  “We’ll never know, because you didn’t. And I’m not playing what if with you,” he said, determined to put an end to this conversation. She left him and rehashing the past would do neither of them any good. He looked at her, and he could see almost no trace of the Simone he’d once loved. It was more than her not being human anymore, it was something else. The old Simone had a softness and vulnerability that appealed to the man inside him. The woman he’d taken out of the Order’s cell appeared harder, and even now she looked at him through a mask, as if she was looking for an angle so she would know what face to wear.

  “Too bad,” she said as she pouted her lips a little. Lee ran his index finger around the collar of his shirt. He needed to get out of here and spend the energy her presences churned up inside him.

  “If you need nothing else, I’m going out for a run,” Lee said as he turned toward the door.

  “You are?” she asked with surprise and hope in the same tone.

  “I am, but don’t worry. I’ll make sure you aren’t here alone and vulnerable,” he said as he turned his head back to glance at her. “Cadric said someone would watch over you whenever I can’t be here.”

  Her mouth twisted for a second before her face smoothed out.

  “I don’t have any needs that can’t wait until you get back. Enjoy your run,” she said sweetly as she walked toward the closet. She opened the closet door and bent over to rifle through one of the bags sitting there.

  Lee quickly turned away from the sight of her pert, firm ass so nicely on display and slammed out of the guest room. He went to his own bedroom, rifled through his drawers and pulled out his running clothes.

  He would have to run as a man, despite his desire to change into his wolf form and let rip. He didn’t want to go too far from his house, and a wolf running through suburbia would cause too much of a stir. He quickly changed his clothes and left his room. He avoided looking at the guest room door. He needed to run, and get her out of his head, at least for a while. Otherwise he would do something he would regret.

  He walked out of his house and glanced around. He saw a guy out mowing his lawn, which didn’t need it and Lee didn’t recognize him from the neighborhood. The man tipped his head in acknowledgment and winked at him. Obviously Cadric had worked quickly to make sure everything was in place for Simone’s little quest. The guy shut off the mower, pushed it aside and settled in a chair on his porch, where he had a clear and unobstructed view of Lee’s house.

  Lee gave him a small salute and ran down the street. At first his pace started out easy, but as memories of Simone, then and now, rushed through his mind, he pushed himself harder and harder. He ran until his muscles burned, and his lungs couldn’t get enough air. And still, no matter how fast he ran, or how hard he pushed himself, he couldn’t outrun his desire for the one woman he wanted above all others.

  Chapter 5

  Dany Cavanaugh flicked away the spider creeping up his arm. Everything about this place made his skin crawl. It was a complete shit hole and didn’t look any better at night than it did during the day. Night brought out creatures who scurried and scratched on the floor with their tiny claws. Still, it was better than rotting in a cell at the Order of Odin's headquarters, which is where he was sure his staff from the warehouse were sitting.

  No one knew about this little place tucked off in the woods, except the odd rat, mouse, snake or spider. Even his son Lee didn’t know it existed. Good thing too since that bastard had shown where his loyalties lie. This was his secret bolt hole, and it was where he would rise like a phoenix from the ashes of his life.

  He threw himself down on the threadbare sofa sitting in the middle of the cramped living room. He coughed and blinked when the couch exhaled a plume of dust. It was too bad he hadn’t thought to maintain this place. But then it wouldn’t be a secret.

  “I need an ally, but who?” Dany asked out loud as he raised his eyes to the sky, and snorted. He wouldn’t find any help from that quarter, perhaps he should look down.

  Flames exploded in the fireplace as the logs lying dormant ignited, and Dany cried out at the sight. He’d only been kidding about looking down for help.

  “Don’t worry,” a dark, gravelly voice said from the shadows. “I’m not from down there, I come from much loftier places. I can be the ally you want if only you believe.”

  Dany stared into the corner where the voice came from, and a man step forward from the shadows and into the light. He wasn’t someone you’d noticed if he passed you by in the street, and Dany could appreciate his ability to blend in.

  “How did you get in here?” Dany said as his eyes darted around. Could the Order have learned he was here? He reached into his pocket and his fingers curled around the leather wrapped handle of the silver stiletto he kept with him at all times. He withdrew the blade as he stood, holding it ready should his midnight visitor show any signs that he would take him anywhere.

  “I don’t think there is any need for that, do you?” his guest said as he waved his hand at the blade. The hilt of the stiletto burned hot, and Dany yelped as his fingers opened and the blade clattered onto the floor. “I’m here for a civilized
chat, there’s no need to bring weapons into it. Why don’t you sit?”

  The stranger made a pushing motion with his hand, and a weight pressed against Dany’s chest, forcing him back down on the couch, sending up another cloud of dust.

  “You really don’t know how to keep a place do you?” the stranger said as he eyed the cobwebs, the grime and the dust floating around Dany’s head in the firelight.

  “It’s not like I was expecting guests,” Dany said, then wondered why the hell he was defensive. “Look, this is a hide out, it’s not supposed to be the Taj Mahal. Who are you and what do you want?”

  “I’m an interested third party. You can call me Smith if you like?”

  “Smith, what kind of name is that? Your first or last name?” Dany looked at the man standing in front of him and couldn’t quite figure out what his story was. At least he wasn’t with the Order since he was sure he would have cut to the chase by now. At the moment, Dany felt like a mouse, and his new friend was a large cat, toying with him until he slaughtered him. His hand itched to grab the stiletto again, but since it was still throbbing from the burns his companion had inflicted, he thought better of it.

  “I have a first name, and it’s not Smith. Smith isn’t even my last name,” he said with a laugh as he settled into the tattered plaid armchair beside the sofa. He clapped his hand on the arm and more dust exploded into the room. “You must give me the name of your decorator and your maid, I’m in awe with what you’ve done with the place.”

  Dany shook his head, trying to retain the thread of the conversation. “Wait, what? Your name isn’t Smith, but you want me to call you Smith?”

  “You wanted to call me something, and Smith is a good a name as any. It has the advantage of being nice and anonymous. I’m sure you can appreciate the need for anonymity, can’t you Dany? It’s how you’ve eluded the Order for so long. Subsidiaries, hidden inside of umbrella corporations. I like the way you think, and I think we could be of benefit to each other.”