They’d been through too much together not to be.
“Thor?” she asked quietly.
“Yes?”
“What is your alpha power?”
“Are you going to be my mate?” he asked. “Because my alpha power isn’t very effective once someone knows it, and I tell no one but my family.”
“Okay,” she said. “If we get out of here okay, I’m going to be your mate. I can’t fight it any more.”
“Hmph, I was hoping you would come around because I was sexy.”
“That too,” she said. “But I’ve always known I needed someone who let me be an equal.”
“You’re definitely my equal,” he said. “You might be even stronger, given what you’ve been through.”
“I doubt that,” she said. “And it doesn’t need to be one or the other. I’m just glad it’s you.”
He nodded. “I’m glad it’s you.”
They galloped on, and he couldn’t help laughing at how weird it was. They’d lived such different lives that when they’d first been forced together, they’d hated each other and fought. Now they were making love and fighting by each other’s side.
Life could be funny like that sometimes. But still, even with his horrible childhood, the starvation, the fighting, the worries over his brother, looking over at her and knowing that fate had brought her to him, he felt life had been fair with him. More than fair.
He’d go through it all over again for a chance with her.
But he kept his thoughts to himself because they were heading into the forest and needed to be quiet and focused. He heard voices in the distance. Shouting. Pain.
He stopped behind a tree, hidden in the shadows, and Matt bumped into him.
“What?” she asked quietly.
“Shh…”
“You never did tell me your power,” she said.
“Shh. They could hear us.”
She grumbled something and he kept his ears perked. Someone was wounded, in pain. He darted to a closer tree, and then a closer one, waiting for Matt to follow, and then stopped. The scent in the air had his chest constricting. Someone was dying.
Matt sensed it too. There was no fighting in the clearing right now, so after a nod to Matt, Thor charged forward out of the trees and into the sunlight.
19
Lock and Fifi were standing next to the SUV, and the man in the suit was on the ground, blood spilling out around him.
“Treacherous…child,” he gasped at Fifi, who turned his back on him.
Lock got down on the ground and forced the man to look at him. “You kidnap him, threaten my brother’s future mate, and he’s the treacherous child?”
“I took you in when you were nothing! Your parents were nothing. Your sister is nothing!”
Fifi snarled but stayed turned away. The man clutched at his suit.
“I’m dying. Damn you, the Tribunal will have your head for this. And where is that damned Ernest?”
Thor strode out into the clearing and the man looked up. “You. The twin. Where is the girl?”
Matt walked out behind him, answering his question. “I’m right here. The weak alpha you sent for me wasn’t strong enough.”
“Damn,” the man said. “Should have known.”
“Winslow,” Matt said, poking the man with her paw as she got close enough. “My father’s best friend and second in command.”
“Beta?” Thor asked.”
“We aren’t a pack, so not exactly. More like the doer of dirty work.”
“Was,” the man said. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling.
“What happened?” she asked Fifi and Lock. Fifi didn’t say anything, but Lock faced her.
“He attacked Fifi. I blocked it.”
“Attacked? How is Fifi alive?”
“That’s the thing,” Lock said, folding his arms and coming to stand over the man on the ground. She and Thor stayed in wolf form, looking up at him. “I never guessed he had the ability to kill using his alpha power. See, Thor and I have a unique gift. We can reflect something back if we want to.”
“You reflected the attack he made on Fifi?”
“Yup,” Lock said. “But I didn’t mean to kill him.” He knelt down and pressed his finger to the man’s neck. Winslow gasped.
“Get away from me.”
Lock stood. “Suit yourself, but you might change your mind if you knew my other alpha power. See, Lock and I share the reflection. The ability to shield and put someone’s attack back on them. But we each have our own power as well. Mine is rapid healing. My blood could save you.”
Winslow’s eyes widened. They were a dull grayish blue, and the whites of his eyes were tinged red from stress. “Do it.”
“I don’t know,” Lock said. “What are you going to do for me?”
“What do you want?” Winslow asked. His voice was becoming weaker with each word. If they wanted to negotiate, they needed to hurry up.
Personally, Thor wasn’t sure he wanted this person saved at all. But if it could be used to get them out of trouble with the Tribunal…
“I want you to go back to whomever sent you and tell them to let Matt stay here. Tell them that you can’t possibly beat us, and if you try again, we’ll make sure the whole wolf world knows what you’ve done. We have friends in high places, you know. Rowan’s family.”
Winslow blanched at that, but nodded.
“So tell them that Matt stays here, and they don’t so much as try to take her. In return, we stay quiet, and I save your life.”
Winslow scowled. “Maybe I should just die so they can come kill you.”
Thor growled and took a step forward. This bitter man was their only chance at peace, but it didn’t look like a good one. “Maybe you should. And we’ll take care of them like they took care of you. Or you can make it easier on all of us by letting us be and telling them to let us be.”
He looked at Matt, saw the hope shining in her eyes. Was it really possible? Could they actually be together without fear of the Tribunal catching up? Without her pack being threatened?
“Fine,” Winslow said. “Do it.” He eyed Fifi angrily. “I never thought you’d betray me for the girl. After all I’ve done.”
“All you’ve done?” Fifi asked drily, stifling a yawn but leaning on the car for strength, still facing away from Winslow. “Funny, but I think that’s a reason to indict, rather than praise you.”
“You know the rules,” he said. “You turn on us…”
“We turn on you. I get it,” Fifi said. “You got your chance to kill me. You didn’t.”
“You need to let Fifi go, too,” Lock said.
Fifi shook his head. “I’ll go back with them, once I know Matt is safe. That’s my world. I never meant to escape it forever. You saved my life, that’s enough. Now heal him, and I’ll take him back to his miserable family.”
“All right,” Lock said, holding out a hand to Winslow. “We have witnesses. Pack’s promise that you’ll do everything you said? And Fifi is safe?”
“Pack’s promise,” Winslow said. It was the ultimate vow in the wolf world. It couldn’t be undone.
It meant a lot to Thor that Lock would do this. Help a man he surely hated and blamed just so that Thor could have the mate he wanted. Lock was finally doing something for the pack. He knelt next to Winslow and took out a knife and Thor looked away, not wanting to watch.
He heard Lock grunt as he cut himself and stayed turned away as Matt came over to join him.
“You think he’ll keep his part of the bargain?” she asked.
“I think he has no choice now. And even so, I think the Tribunal will think twice about messing with us again.”
“Me too,” she said.
He nuzzled her as they heard gasping from behind them. Footsteps approached and he turned to see Fifi limping over, coming to kneel by Matt. “I’m glad you’re okay. Gosh, I came out here to make sure you were safe and instead I lured everyone into a trap.”
Thor growled.
“You’re one of a kind too,” she said. Lock was finishing with Winslow, who was miraculously looking a lot better than a moment ago. Damn, there were some cool mysteries in her world.
“So, you can reflect things?” she asked Thor.
He nodded.
“How come you didn’t reflect Fifi?”
He shook his head. “As you saw here, you have to be careful what you are reflecting. If you don’t know what power you are sending back on someone, you better use it only on your mortal enemies.”
“I guess I should be flattered Lock used it for me then,” Fifi said dryly.
Thor laughed. “Well, Lock always was a little more careless than some, but yeah, welcome to the family. If he used the power to protect you, it means you’re one of us now.” He blinked. “I never in a million years thought I would say that.”
“Same to you, Mutt,” Fifi said imperiously. “Did you guys bring clothes?”
Thor looked at Matt. “No. So we can’t shift yet. We’ll just have to wait until they take off.”
Winslow stood, brushing his clothes and clearing his throat. After a moment, his face went pale and he staggered to lean with one hand on the side of the black SUV.
“She’s more trouble than she’s worth anyway,” he said. When Thor growled, he put up a hand weakly. “But I’ll tell her father she is with a strong alpha who can protect her. That there’s no point in pursuing it. And no need, because the secret won’t be getting out?” He raised an eyebrow at Matt, who got the point and nodded.
“We can still tell them you married off to some foreigner. And with you up in this remote forest town, no one should know differently. On top of that, who would believe that the son of the Tribunal was really a girl?”
A lot of people, given how girly she looked, Thor wanted to say. But he stayed quiet. Everything he wanted was happening all at once. Soon, she would be his forever, with no excuse not to be.
“You have my pack’s promise, so you know what that means. Now just don’t do anything stupid to draw our attention again.” He waved to Fifi. “Fifi, come on.”
Fifi bit his lip as Matt nuzzled against him. Thor could tell she didn’t want him to go.
“I’ll be fine,” Fifi said. “His attack wouldn’t have killed me. He knows that. He did what he had to do to get to you, but now that you’re settled, he has no reason to hurt me.”
“Fifi,” she said. “There’s a life outside of there.”
“Not for me,” he said. “Not now. Coming, Winslow.”
She ducked her head and he could tell she was blinking back tears, but there was no stopping Fifi if he wanted to go. He’d come here without warning and he’d be leaving the same way. “Goodbye,” she called.
He said nothing, just raised a hand in a silent wave and then brushed his hair back over his shoulder and got in the SUV.
“What do they have on him?” Thor asked.
“I can’t say,” she said.
“I’m going to be your mate. Tell me.”
“No really, I have a pack’s promise with him. I just hope someday he finds someone to tell.”
“He will,” Lock said, looking over at the car with Fifi in it with that same mysterious expression that he couldn’t read. “He’s strong.” He sighed and shook his head. “And now we’re free, and you two should get back to the house. You’re trembling.”
Thor’s eyes widened and he looked at Matt to see his brother was right. She was shaking. “Let’s get you back.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Listen, Fifi’s your family. I’m sure he’ll come visit. When he’s ready to leave that world, he knows you’ll be waiting.”
“He’ll never be ready,” she said. “But you’re right. He’d want me to be happy.” She stood on shaky legs. “Race you back to the house?”
Thor grinned. “Sure.”
Lock rubbed the back of his neck. “Um, I’m going to just go clean up at the local bed and breakfast. I’m guessing you two are going to need some alone time.”
“Damn straight we are,” Thor said, and Matt laughed. The sound warmed him from the toes up. Lock transformed and took off in the direction of the town, and Thor rubbed his shoulder against his mate. “Come on, Mate. Let’s go home.”
20
When they were back at the house, Matt felt an odd sense of relief, but also a lot of pain and sadness. On the one hand, she was glad to be back with Thor, and now they had no reason they couldn’t mate.
On the other, Fifi was back with the Tribunal. All she could hope was that someday he’d have an opportunity to escape, that someday someone could rescue him the way he’d rescued her.
She collapsed after shifting and let Thor carry her into his bedroom and set her on the bed. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the water.
“I thought you might like a bath,” he said.
She sighed. What she wanted was to be mated to him, but her body just wasn’t cooperating. The effects of the drug were lingering, and she felt weak and tired. Exhausted physically and emotionally. All she wanted was to wash the day away, wash Ernie’s touch away…
She jerked her head up. “Wait, Ernie…”
“You saw him run,” Thor said. “He won’t be back. He knows I can kick his ass. He knows even a female can kick his ass if he doesn’t have those darts. Nevertheless, I’m going to nail the front door shut while you take your bath.”
She coughed. “Nail it shut?”
He nodded, looking pleased with himself. “To make sure he doesn’t try anything with the key he has. I gave it to him in case of emergency. I swear, if I’d ever thought he would betray me…”
“I know,” she said. “Despite what’s happened to you, you want to trust people. There’s nothing wrong with that. And you saved me before anything could happen. So I’m fine.”
“Good,” he said. “The bathroom’s in there. I’mma go nail the front door shut.”
She laughed drily, but felt herself heat up as she watched him go, his large back and shoulders seeming so wide and strong. So hers. She giggled and grabbed a towel from the chair and went into the bathroom.
A few minutes later she was warm and dry, wearing a terry cloth robe that had been hanging in the shower, and walking into the living room to see Thor kneeling adorably in front of the door, a couple of nails held between his lips as he hammered away.
“I think you’ve probably got it covered.”
“No one is going to bother my mate,” he mumbled around the nails.
“And how are we going to get out of here?” she asked.
He sighed. He was wearing a tee shirt that showed off his impressive muscles, and his dark hair was tousled, damp from sweat and exertion. “I’m not worried about that. Not until we find Ernie. But first, we need some privacy.” He grinned at her.
“Oh, do we?” she asked, playing with the belt of her robe, letting it fall open a little to give him a glimpse of slim leg.
Nails clattered to the floor as his jaw dropped, and he stood quickly leaving the door behind and coming to sweep her up into his arms.
“Woah, Cowboy,” she said.
“Call me whatever you want,” he said. “As long as you are ready to call me mate.”
“I am,” she said, snuggling in against his chest. She didn’t even care that he was a little sweaty. She just wanted to make love to him. To feel him all over her, owning her, right now. And she wanted to know that he was hers as well.
“You want me to shower?” he asked, kicking open the door to her bedroom.
“No,” she said, raising an eyebrow as he dropped her on the bed. “You want to go into the master?�
�
He shook his head. “No. This is where I first kissed you. This is where I first wanted to claim you. Where my wolf was howling to take you. This is where I’m finally going to give him what he wants.”
“Is it what you want?” she asked.
“Are you kidding? I am him. He’s me. We both get you, we both want you.”
“That’s even more confusing,” she said, giggling.
His face warmed. “I love your laugh.” He reached out a finger to softly stroke her jaw. “I want to hear that as much as possible from now on.”
She smirked. “That shouldn’t be a problem. You make me laugh all the time. Even when you don’t want to.”
“This is true,” he said. “But there is never a time I don’t want you to.”
“When I look at your penis?”
He frowned. “Okay, maybe not then. But come on, who is going to laugh at that?” He gave her a smirk and she rolled her eyes.
“You’re right. It’s far too scary. Too intimidating, too—mph.”
He cut off her words with an intense, tender kiss. One that seemed to go on and on with only the sound of her heartbeat to keep time. After a moment, she wrapped her arms up and around him, circling his back and neck, and he sighed against her lips and deepened the kiss, swiping wetly against her tongue.
She moaned. Everything he did felt amazing, and she knew it wasn’t simply because she’d gone without for so long. There was something running underneath it all, beneath the pleasure and the sensuality. There was a love there, and she thought that that must be what fated mates meant. And she liked it.
He pulled at the belt of her robe and she helped him untie it. Then he knelt between her spread legs and pulled the robe open, baring her to him.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “So fucking beautiful that I can’t possibly deserve you.”
“That’s not true,” she said. “I’m a pain in the ass. Stubborn, willful…”
“Well, I’m a pain in the ass too,” he said. “I need you to keep me in line.”
Alpha Defender Page 13
