by R. E. Butler
What a freaking pipe dream.
“Do I need to find this guy and make him talk to you?” Her dad’s face shadowed darkly. He wasn’t a huge guy, but he was fit and had boxed in his youth. She didn’t think he could actually take on a werewolf, but she appreciated his offer.
Sighing and rolling her shoulders, she said, “No. For now, I’m going to let things go. If he calls me, he calls me, and if not then I’ll be okay on my own.”
“You’re not by yourself by a long shot, honey.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Plus you have Mia, and your friends at work. If that guy walked away from you, then he lost out on the best thing that could have ever happened to him.”
Her eyes stung with tears at her dad’s sweet words.
He was right. Dr. Kimmi and Dr. Frank were being very supportive, and she had plans on Saturday to spend the day with Nila and her son and talk to her about being a single mom.
Yes, she still cared about Acksel. No amount of wishing on her part had erased the feelings that rose inside her whenever she thought of him, or caught a rare glimpse of him around town. But she could do this without him if that’s the way he wanted things. Maybe he had a right to know, but she wasn’t going to chase him down and force him to listen to her. Touching her stomach as her dad turned to the stove to remove the steaks from the pan, she promised her baby that he was most definitely better off without his dad in the picture, because she sure as hell was going to make sure that he never grew up to be an asshole. And if her baby happened to be a girl, then Brynn would make sure she never dated a wolf like him. Ever.
Fool me once, Acksel, she thought, but you’ll never fool me again.
Chapter 7
Mia Slattery bounced on the balls of her feet on the night of the October full moon as she watched Acksel stand on the back porch of his home and wish his people a good hunt. She was pretty pissed at him, but she didn’t dare say anything. He was alpha. She’d be a giant idiot to insult him, even if she had every right to give him a good, swift kick in the balls for getting Brynn pregnant and then ignoring her for six weeks.
The nerve!
If Mia were in Brynn’s shoes, she would have handled things differently. She wouldn’t have tolerated Acksel’s ignoring her. She would have tracked him down and found out what the deal was. But Brynn wasn’t a wolf, and Mia knew she didn’t have the instincts of one. She seemed content to leave a few messages for Acksel over the course of the week and leave it at that. But Mia wasn’t feeling very much like leaving anything like that.
It took two seconds to cross the yard to where Acksel was lowering his jeans, and only one more second for her to open her mouth and call him an asshole. Two more seconds later, and she was on her knees with the beta’s hand around her throat and a growl in her ear.
Acksel straightened. “Let her go, Ren.”
Ren gnashed his teeth in Mia’s ear and gave her a little shove as he released her. She ground her teeth together and waited for a physical reprimand from Acksel. It was well within his rights to physically dominate her, even knock her around if he wanted to. She was a female in his pack and he was law.
“Something you want to say to me, she-wolf?” Acksel asked.
Mia didn’t raise her head, keeping her eyes on the grass in front of her.
“I apologize, Alpha.” The words were like tacks in her mouth.
There was a long pause and Ren stomped off. A shiver raced through Mia. What would Acksel do to her with no witnesses?
“Alpha?” Caleb asked from behind Mia. “I’m sorry for my cousin, she’s—”
“Not your concern now. Leave us,” Acksel said evenly.
“Look at me, Mia.”
Mia raised her eyes slowly. Acksel’s jeans hung low on his hips and his arms were folded across his chest. He looked unhappy, but not necessarily angry.
“I’ll only ask you once more, Mia. Is there something you want to say to me?”
She tilted her head to the side for a moment and wondered if he really wanted her to answer him or if he just wanted another apology. Deciding that since she had already opened a floodgate without really intending to, she might as well go all-in.
“I called you an asshole.”
“I heard. Any particular reason?”
She swallowed hard but didn’t let her gaze waver from his steady one. “Because of what you did to my best friend. I thought you were honorable, but I was really wrong, and it makes me want to leave the pack because of it. Except then I’d have to leave her alone and that’s the last thing she needs right now.”
In a heartbeat, Acksel lifted her from her knees by jerking her up with her elbow and propelled her around to the side of the house. He pressed her against the cold siding and slapped his hands on either side of her head.
“What’s wrong with Brynn?” He didn’t sound angry, he sounded worried. What the hell?
“As if you don’t know.”
“I don’t.” He eased away and gave her some space. “Is she okay?”
“You care about her?”
“Of course! Why do you think I’m staying away from her?”
“Um, what?”
Acksel explained that staying with Brynn meant she’d have to deal with the pack females, and she wasn’t strong enough to handle them. As a human, she would become his Achilles Heel, and might never be safe.
“Well, that’s just dumb.” Mia threw up her hands. “If you’re going to be an idiot and an asshole, then you don’t deserve her anyway.”
She turned to walk away and Acksel grabbed her arm. “It’s not idiotic for me to want her to be safe.”
“You’re the alpha, Acksel. You can’t keep her safe? You think the females wouldn’t leave her alone if you told them to? She’s not pack, so the rules shouldn’t really apply to her. And it doesn’t matter if you intended her to be safe, because you left behind a little present and now it’s not just about her or just about you, but about what you did and what happens when an asshole idiot forgets protection.”
“Stop calling me an asshole,” he snarled. And then he snapped his teeth together, his eyes widened in surprise. “She’s pregnant?”
“Yeah. It happens, you know. When guys stick their dicks in girls.”
“I didn’t know.”
She raised a brow. “She told you to call her, Acksel. She said it was important.”
“She could have said she was pregnant in the messages. I would have gone to her.”
“If you showed up just because she said she was pregnant, how’s she supposed to know if you really care about her or just the baby? Or care about her because of the baby? Now that you know, though, I probably just royally screwed you over, so I’m sorry. Brynn is planning to go through this alone, Acksel, because she’s too proud to tell you that she wants you to be part of it with her. You broke her heart when you walked away, and I’m not sure what your deal is, but if you ever cared for her at all you need to talk to her.”
“I care about her a great deal, Mia.”
“You don’t act like it.”
“I’ll fix it. I’m not going to let her go through this by herself.”
“Well, that’s an uphill battle, so I guess I’ll wish you good luck. Do me a favor and don’t tell her that I told you. But if you break her heart again, it won’t matter to me if you’re alpha or not, because I’m going to rip your balls off and throw them in the creek.”
“Go hunt, she-wolf, before you say something that pisses me off.”
“Yes, Alpha,” she gave him a little salute and darted away to where her cousins were waiting for her, worried. After assuring them that she was fine and hadn’t been punished by the alpha for verbally attacking him, she stripped and shifted and they joined her as they raced off into the woods to hunt. Brynn had wanted Acksel to call on his own, but if he remembered not to mention that Mia had told him what was going on, then maybe Brynn would forgive him and those two could finally get together.
Mia lik
ed seeing a human and wolf together. So far, only Acksel’s sister had mated to a human. Wolves were nice, but Mia thought that there were some humans who were even better than nice. Like her brother Malachi’s best friend, Lucian.
Sighing inwardly, she chased the image of Lucian’s strong, tattooed arms out of her mind and concentrated on the deer she could scent. She had her own case of unrequited love, and maybe she wouldn’t mind if someone decided to help him get a clue the way that she’d helped Acksel get a clue.
Too bad her brother had a firm hands-off-my-sister attitude when it came to his friends.
Too. Damn. Bad.
Chapter 8
The night after the October full moon, Brynn locked up her desk and said goodbye to the staff. She’d stayed later than normal to organize the supply closet. She wasn’t certain, but she thought that Dr. Kimmi had asked her to stay late so Brynn could have some overtime. Certainly the closet didn’t need to be organized that night, but it was a nice gesture and Brynn liked the mindless busywork.
When she left, she walked to her car in the parking lot quickly. It was a cold night and the wind was brisk, cutting through the light jacket she wore. Her low heels clicked on the pavement as she hurried to her car. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and fear swamped her suddenly. She didn’t know what was wrong, but she knew something bad was near. Spinning on her heels to rush back into the office, she crashed into a tall body. A hand gripped her arm savagely.
“Well, well,” a man she didn’t know chuckled darkly. “You’re just the female we’ve been looking for.”
His hand clamped around her throat and squeezed tightly, cutting off her oxygen. She struggled against his tight grip, clawing at his skin and hitting and kicking him, but he only laughed. What did this guy want? Who was he?
Her vision darkened and her body went limp as she slipped into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw was the glint of a knife. She felt a tug on her hair, and then…nothing.
* * * * *
Acksel had a bad case of nerves. He felt like a teenager asking a girl out for the first time. And maybe he was kind of like that in a way. He’d never had to ask a woman for anything since he first shifted and started working out and moving up the ranks. All young males started out in the pack as omegas, and if they weren’t willing to fight for a higher rank they stayed there. But Acksel had never planned to remain one of the omegas, who cared more about caretaking than keeping the pack safe. Many female wolves had fallen to their knees at his feet once he’d proven himself to be a male that could hold his own in a fight and moved out of the omegas into the protectors. Female wolves, for the most part, were very interested in a male’s ability to protect them. They wanted to be with the strongest wolves, the ones that they viewed as best able to keep them safe. He’d never dated outside of some group activities he’d done later in high school with other wolves. He’d been too busy working to become the best wolf he could be so he could rise up in the ranks, so he’d never taken the time to actually romance a woman. What the hell did he know about romance, anyway? He could snap his fingers and a she-wolf would appear on his doorstep ready for whatever he wanted at any time.
But this situation with Brynn was different. Not only was she human and therefore didn’t necessarily care about his hunting prowess or rank within the pack, but she was pregnant with his child and he’d basically abandoned her. According to Mia, Brynn had pretty much given up on him being part of her life. He wasn’t just starting something new with her; he was already on her shit list for his behavior.
From his position at the end of her street, he looked through the windshield and watched her house. It was dark inside. Only the porch light that came on automatically at dusk was on. He glanced at the clock on the dashboard and reached for his phone. He had called at four o’clock and the phone had gone straight to voicemail. He didn’t leave a message then. Or when he called at four-thirty. Or again at five. Now it was seven and he had left two messages for her. He was aware of the irony of his actions. He’d spent six weeks not calling her back, and now that he wanted to talk to her she wasn’t answering the phone, which completely served him right.
Grinding his teeth, he decided to go knock on the door. It was a weeknight, so he didn’t think she would be out, but perhaps she’d worked late. He drove slowly down the street and parked in front of her house.
What would he say to her? Mia had asked him not to share that she’d filled him in on the situation, but Brynn was smart. She would know that he hadn’t just decided to show up without a reason. He’d never been filled with such indecision. When he was young, the only goal he had was to become alpha. He had never wavered. But now he didn’t know what would happen when he talked to Brynn. Would she believe that he cared for her before he found out about the baby? Would she understand why he had kept his distance before, and why now — with the baby — he could no longer stay away?
He stared at the front door. It looked like there was a note on the door. Had someone left a note for her? Calling her cell once more, and getting her voice mail again, he hung up and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and got out of the car. If she was asleep, he’d wake her up. If she wasn’t home, he’d wait for her. And then he’d do whatever it took to prove to her that he cared about her — that he’d always cared — even if it took the rest of his life.
Scrubbing his hands through his hair, he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. Then he walked up the sidewalk to the porch and stopped in front of her door. He caught the scent of Brynn’s blood and snarled when he saw his name on the folded piece of paper taped to the front door.
Snatching the paper from the door, he opened it. Taped inside was a lock of brown hair and a smear of blood that he knew belonged to Brynn. Written in block print were the words: We have your woman and your baby. Meet us at the Danver Lake Boat House at midnight or she dies.
He lifted his head and howled in rage, the sound echoing in the night. They had taken his woman. Whoever they were, they didn’t have very long to live.
Stalking to the car, he called Ren and told him to meet him at Acksel’s home and to call the top-ranked men and the council. He needed everyone to help him get his woman back safely.
Guilt crashed over him as he raced home. He’d stayed away from her to keep her safe, but his actions had somehow resulted in her being vulnerable and being kidnapped. He hoped that she wasn’t being hurt, that the blood was done not to injure her but to prove a point to him, but he had no way of knowing. He didn’t know anything right now except that she was gone. Who had her? What was happening to her? Was she okay? It was all a mystery to him. But he and his wolf were of one accord. They would do whatever it took to get Brynn to safety and then they sure as hell were not letting her go around unprotected again.
Storming around to the backyard, he was heartened to see his beta, Ren, Sam his theto, all of the protectors, and the council.
Quickly, he shared the news. He looked at his dad as he said that she was pregnant; his dad’s brows lowered and he frowned. Acksel could practically feel his disappointment.
“Can I see the note, Acksel?” Sam asked.
Acksel handed the note to his theto, and Sam didn’t read it, but lowered his head until his nose was almost touching it and inhaled several times. Sam snarled angrily. “It’s Barry Ayers. I can smell him.”
Ren took the paper from Sam carefully and inhaled as well, echoing Sam’s angry snarl with his own. Acksel hadn’t thought to scent the paper; he’d been so overwhelmed with the scent of Brynn’s blood.
“Barry’s too much of an idiot to work alone. I’m guessing that Rufus is pulling the strings and Taylor is probably with them, too,” Ren said.
Acksel took the note back and held it between his palms. He was so filled with rage he couldn’t think straight.
Inhaling deeply, he cracked his neck and looked at his people. “Even if I haven’t claimed Brynn in front of the pack, that she carries my child makes her mine by right. The ba
nished wolves not only broke our laws by coming into Wilde Creek to take her, but they admitted they knew she carried my pup. We must find her and bring her home safely, and ensure that these three suffer the full justice of our people.”
His words ended with a growl and his people echoed it, until the night was filled with the angry snarls of three dozen males.
“Ren, find out where Rufus, Barry, and Taylor have been hiding out since they were banished. Instead of moving on with their lives, they’ve clearly been planning something with the pack that involves me. I’m betting they didn’t go far.” Vince had been their leader, and he’d planned to use Acksel’s grief at his sister’s injury or death to unseat him from his alpha position. Rufus was probably going to use Brynn to get Acksel to step down from his place in the pack.
Ren nodded and pulled his cell from his back pocket, jogging a few yards away to make calls.
“Sam, take a group of protectors and go into the woods and start searching.”
Sam asked, “Do you think they’ve been watching us?”
Acksel nodded. “They’ve either been spying on us from the woods and hiding their scent well or they’ve been fed information from someone in the pack.”
Sam snarled at the mention of betrayal. Acksel wasn’t too happy about it, but the only person in the pack who knew about Brynn’s pregnancy was Mia, and she had only told him the night before. There was no way on earth that Mia would betray Brynn to Rufus or anyone else. Brynn had most likely sworn her best friend to secrecy anyway. Which meant that someone was listening and had overheard Mia’s confession and Acksel hadn’t realized anyone was around.
As Sam called out the names of six protectors who followed him as he strode toward the woods where he stripped and shifted, Acksel said, “I want four protectors to come with me to Brynn’s office. I think she was taken from there. Dad, you come, too.”
