LovingLaney

by Lorna Jean Roberts

  “I was so terrified, so scared that I would come down here and he’d be here, waiting for me. I got partway down the stairs and I just couldn’t move any farther, I was so afraid. But then I must have tripped, or I don’t know, it felt as if something pushed me and I fell. D-do you think he pushed me?” She looked up at him, tears rolling down her pale face.

  “Zachary is dead, sweet. I promise you, he’s dead, and he cannot hurt you anymore.” He walked toward her and, pulling her up, sat on the bed with her clasped tightly in his arms.

  “You can’t let him win, baby. You have every right to hate this place, to be afraid, but you don’t have to do it alone. You don’t have to deal with this all alone.” Placing his fingers under her chin, he tilted her face up.

  “Will you let me help, sweet? Together, we can fight him. Together, we can beat anything.” He watched her eyes, saw the fear, the indecision. Then she nodded her agreement and he smiled at her, leaning down to kiss her lightly.

  “Good girl.” He pushed the hair away from her face, rocking her slowly as she shook and cried. It seemed as though the emotional overload of the last few hours had finally hit her and she slowly collapsed, safe in his arms.

  Cooper just held her until the storm of tears passed. If he could, he would take her pain and make it his own. But he couldn’t. All he could do was be here for her, help her through this as best he could. He set her gently on the bed, smiling softly at her as she immediately reached for him.

  “I just thought you might like to put on your clothes, sweet. I mean, I like you this way, don’t get me wrong, but your brothers are outside and I don’t want them thinking we kept them waiting while we were having a little party for two.” He deliberately kept his voice light, teasing, as he dressed her. A frown creased his brow as he took note of the bruises on her body, running his hand over them lightly.

  “You got these when you fell down the steps?”

  She nodded, trying to cover herself quickly.

  “Looks as if you fell pretty hard, sweet.” His frown intensified, thinking of the bolt across the door. But when he saw her shiver he pushed his thoughts aside for the moment, relaxing his face once again into an expression of calm.

  “I-I couldn’t get back out, the door wouldn’t open. I fell apart and the wolf took over. It was safer, she wasn’t so scared. She’s not a coward like me.”

  Shame colored her voice, and he made sure his voice was very firm when he spoke.

  “A coward is someone who is too afraid to face their fears. You, my sweet, have far too much courage for my liking. I’d prefer it if you were a bit more afraid. At least then you’d stay where I put you,” he said wryly before pulling her up onto her feet.

  “Stay where you pu— Ahhh!” A squeal of pain interrupted her rampage as she placed weight on her left ankle.

  “What? What is it?” Cooper grabbed her, holding her steady as she swayed.

  “My ankle,” she said between pants of pain. “I hurt my ankle when I fell.”

  Cooper lifted her by the waist, setting her back on the bed before he grabbed her foot.

  “Shit! How did I miss this?”

  “What?”

  “It looks like a sprain, it’s swollen. We’ll fix it up when we get home. Come on, sweet, let’s get you home.” He swung her up in his arms gently so as not to bump her bruises further.

  Chapter Eight

  Laney let out a sigh of relief as Cooper laid her down on the couch in his living room. She now knew what the expression “roller coaster of emotions” meant. She’d just ridden the double dipper twice and had a nauseated stomach as proof. Leaning back, she closed her eyes, letting herself fall into that pleasantly dreamy place between consciousness and unconsciousness. When her leg was raised and something cold applied, she simply lay there, too tired even to open her eyes.

  “Don’t go to sleep, sweet.” Cooper shook her softly and she grumbled impatiently. “I want Mace to check you before you sleep, Laney. You could have a concussion.”

  “I’m fine,” she mumbled sleepily, and she was now, because Cooper was here, and she knew he would never let anyone get close enough to hurt her. “Don’t need no doctor prodding at me.” She snuggled down deeper only to have him pull her back up. Opening her eyes, Laney glared up at him grumpily, but the glare she received in return trumped hers, telling her he wasn’t giving in on this.

  “I didn’t ask if you wanted him prodding at you, sweet. He will prod at you, and you will do as he says. Understood?” His voice was calm but she could hear the steel underneath. Laney sighed in exaggerated impatience.

  “Fine. But it’s up to you to keep me awake.”

  “Oh, I’ll keep you awake all right.” He folded his arms, staring down at her sternly.

  “You want to explain to me just what you were doing, going to that house by yourself when I expressly forbid you to do so?”

  Gone was the concerned lover, the soul mate who’d made her promise to let him fight her battles with her. Here in front of her was the protector, the enraged warrior who’d feared for his mate’s life.

  “Forbid me? You forbade me to go? Who the hell gave you the right to forbid me to do anything?” Her arms folded as well.

  “Umm, guys, you want us to leave?” Jay and Marcus stood in the doorway. Jay looked concerned while Marcus had a faint smirk upon his face. Cooper waved them out and they turned and left the room quickly.

  “I am your mate and your Alpha. You will do as I say, Delaney.”

  Suddenly all the fear, the terror she’d experienced morphed into a blinding, unreasonable rage. “I don’t care if you’re king of the fucking world! I’ll do what I want.”

  “You will not!” he roared, making her sit back in shock. “And don’t bother to look at me like that. You damn well know I’m not going to hit you. How dare you put yourself in that situation, Laney? No one knew where you were. If I hadn’t come home early, you’d still be there. Would you like that, Laney? To still be sitting there terrified and alone?”

  “No.” Her voice was a mere whisper of sound. She was stunned by his harsh words.

  Cooper blew out a breath, running his hands through his hair. “I’m not saying these things to be cruel, little one.” He dropped his voice a few decibels, but it remained firm and stern. “But I want, no, I need you to be safe, Laney. You are everything to me. If anything happened to you my life would be null and void. I cannot stand by and let someone or something hurt you, even if that someone is you.”

  Laney’s anger deflated as he sat beside her, gently wiping away her tears.

  “When I give you an order, Laney, it’s not a power trip, or because I want to exert my control over you, it’s because I want to keep you safe. I want you well and happy, and I need you to promise that you won’t disobey me again.”

  “I’m used to taking care of myself,” she said stubbornly.

  “But it’s not just you anymore, sweet. There are two of us now.”

  “So does that mean I get to boss you around?” She raised her chin as he quirked a grin down at her.

  “Don’t be getting any ideas, sweet. There can only be one pilot in this relationship. You can take over once in a while but I’m in charge.” She crinkled her nose at him.

  “You are such an arrogant wolf.”

  “And you love me for it.”

  *

  The doctor had come and gone, and Laney found herself lying peacefully on the sofa, her foot resting on a pillow, a blanket laid over her body. As Cooper walked out with the doctor, Marcus and Jay walked in.

  “Hey,” she said softly.

  “Hey yourself, squirt.” Jay walked over and kissed her gently on the forehead while Marcus sat on the sofa across from her, his face stern.

  “Sorry if I worried you.” She directed her comment to Marcus.

  He sighed, rubbing his hand over his shaved head. “Why would you go there by yourself, baby girl? Any one of us would have gone with you.”

  “I did it
for Cooper.”

  “For me?” came the incredulous query and she looked over to find Cooper leaning against the doorframe, a deep frown on his face as he stared down at her sternly.

  “Why the hell would you go there for me?” he growled.

  She flinched slightly. “I was so sick of feeling like a coward, scared of that place, scared of my memories, scared of my own shadows. I want to be strong, unafraid, a proper mate to you. And after I got the phone call I decided to—”

  “Wait.” Cooper held up a hand. “Back up. What phone call?”

  Laney relayed the phone call she’d received before she’d taken a trip into memory hell.

  “So someone claiming to be your father rings here, but instead of ringing me or your brothers or even Justin, you decide to wander off by yourself to an abandoned house where you ended up falling down the stairs and being locked in the basement, the place where your father tortured you for years.”

  “She was pushed.”

  Cooper nodded while Laney glanced at Marcus in shock.

  “Pushed? But who would push me?” She shivered slightly. Cooper stalked toward her. He gently lifted her before sitting with her on his lap, his hand rubbing soothing circles on her back.

  “I don’t know, sweet, but I intend to find out.”

  “Did you recognize the voice, squirt? Did you sense anything before you fell?”

  Laney thought fiercely before shaking her head. “I don’t think so. I thought I’d fallen. And the voice on the phone, well, it sounded like Zachary. But that’s impossible, right?” She looked up at Cooper for reassurance.

  “He’s dead, sweet,” he comforted her, rocking her gently. “But someone definitely wants you to think otherwise.

  “I want a tap on the phone. Get Cain over to Zachary’s place and see if he can find evidence that anyone was there. I didn’t smell anyone, but I was focused on finding Laney. Laney will need to have a bodyguard. When she’s not with me I want someone we can trust with her.”

  “Hey!” she protested.

  “Be quiet, Laney. I’m too mad to placate you at the moment, so you’ll just have to put up and shut up.” Her mouth snapped shut, but she glared at him silently.

  “There’s one more thing.” Marcus spoke up as he stood, hands resting on hips as he glared down at her. “Delaney Jean, I’m gonna tell you this once, and I never want to have to tell you again. You are not weak, nor are you a coward. You may be small, but you’ve never been powerless. One of the reasons Zachary hated you was because you were so strong. He could see it, we could see it, the whole damn pack could see it—so how you missed it I don’t know. You may have been the runt, but Zachary and certain members of the pack were worried that one day you’d come fully into your power and overpower them all.”

  “But I’m female and small,” she protested, looking up at Marcus in shock.

  Marcus shook his head, making the earrings in his right ear glint as they reflected off the light. “Doesn’t matter. Sure you’re small, but you’ve got an aura of power, and it’s only going to get stronger. Female werewolves come into their power later. You’re just starting to come into yours. Laney, we would never have sent you away by yourself if you weren’t strong. I know of few werewolves who could have survived as long as you did alone. You’re one of the strongest wolves I know. You’re the only one who can’t see it.” He kissed her cheek and then left, Jay close on his heels as Laney stared after them in shock.

  “Time you were in bed.” Cooper stood with her held tightly in his arms and carried her down to the bedroom.

  “Marcus never lies,” she said quietly as she let Cooper strip her and place her under the covers. “So that means he believes I’m strong, he doesn’t think I’m weak, a coward.”

  “No one thinks that but you, sweet. Now go to sleep.”

  “I don’t want a bodyguard,” she murmured mutinously. How the hell did he expect her to sleep? She wasn’t tired at all.

  “And I don’t want you getting hurt again. I’m Alpha. I win.”

  “Huh, pulling the Alpha card. That won’t work all the time, you know,” she replied sleepily, her eyelids closing.

  “Well, it does this time.” He tucked her in gently, his actions in direct contrast to the cold fury she heard in his voice.

  “Did you check for spiders?” she asked tiredly.

  “Spiders?” he queried softly, waiting for her to fall asleep.

  “Spiders in the bed, someone put spiders in my bed.” She fell asleep, completely missing the growing look of fury on her mate’s face.

  If she’d seen it, she may not have slept quite so deeply.

  *

  The smell of frying bacon greeted her as she left the bathroom, a growling stomach prompting her to move quickly into the bright kitchen. She was amazed that it was already midday. But then again she hadn’t been sleeping much lately, and yesterday had taken a lot out of her.

  “Morning,” she said, smiling brightly to hide her worry about the reception she might get from her mate. Cooper turned from the stove, his gaze roaming over her quickly.

  “You shouldn’t be standing on that ankle,” he said gruffly, crossing his arms.

  “It’s okay, hardly swollen, see?” She walked forward a few steps, her limp barely visible. Yay for fast healing!

  It must have been enough to convince him, because he nodded, indicating she should take a seat at the counter.

  Laney sat down slowly, chewing her lower lip. “You’re mad at me.”

  “You’ve been keeping secrets from me, Laney.” His voice was more wolf than man, a growl of masculine temper. “That stops now. You’re going to sit down, you’re going to eat some food and you’re going to tell me what the hell else I need to know. Got it?”

  Laney sat without argument and spent the next thirty minutes telling her mate everything that had happened over the last few days. When she’d finished she kept her face averted, pretending she didn’t notice the muscle tic he’d developed by his mouth.

  “Anything else?” he asked, his voice very calm and controlled. It was worse than if he’d yelled.

  “No, that’s all. What a week, huh?” she replied in a falsely cheerful voice before standing and taking the dirty dishes to the sink, careful to keep her gaze from his.

  “That’s all? Someone torments you with spiders, leaves crank calls, pushes you down a flight of stairs and locks you in the basement where you were tortured as a child, and all you can say is ‘what a week’?”

  Cooper ended his tirade on a roar. As Laney watched him warily, he paced the kitchen before coming to a stop in front of her.

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell me any of this, Laney? I am your mate. I have the right to know when your life is in danger.”

  “Well, ‘in danger’ might be a stretch.” She jumped slightly as his hands flew above his head, relaxing again as he lowered them once more.

  “‘A stretch’, she tells me calmly as if I’m overreacting! She’s pushed down a flight of stairs, and I’m overreacting!”

  “Umm, who are you talking to?” she asked, frowning.

  “The Universe, God, anyone who will listen, because you sure as hell don’t. Oh no, not my mate, she goes on her merry way, doing whatever the hell she likes, not even thinking about the consequences of her actions!”

  A blank mask came over her face as he continued to shout. She stood silently, not moving a muscle as he paced up and down the kitchen yelling his displeasure.

  “And you know what the worst thing is? Do you, Laney?”

  She shook her head.

  “With all that has happened, the worse thing is that even now you’re scared of me! I thought by now I would have had your trust. I thought you’d know that I would never hurt you. That I would rather die than lay a hand on you.”

  “I-I do know that,” Laney protested. “I wouldn’t be with you if I thought you would hurt me.”

  “Then what’s with the blank look, the pale face? What’s with the
invisible act?”

  “Invisible act?”

  “Yeah, I start yelling and you pretend you’re not here. You freeze up, like the smallest motion or comment from you is going to end in me hitting you.”

  “W-what do you w-want me to do?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. Yell back. Tell me to stop being such a bossy asshole. Something! Anything!”

  “But I thought you wanted me to listen to you.” His words hurt. Could she never do anything right?

  “That’s just it. You aren’t listening to me, sweet. You can’t open up to me, and until you can, I just don’t see how this can work.”

  His words were silver swords slashing deep into her heart, creating wounds she wasn’t sure could be healed. As he turned and strode quickly out of the room, the indescribable agony threw her into a well of deep despair. A long, silent scream echoed through her body as she spiraled down into a never-ending vortex of pain. He was sick of her. It had happened like she’d thought. He’d gotten sick of her, and now he would try to get rid of her.

  Just like her father.

  Just like her brothers.

  The anger caught her by surprise. It cut clean through the despair, a ferocious flame of fury so intense she was surprised her skin didn’t blister and scorch. How dare he give up on her? He’d promised to stick by her no matter what. And she was going to hold him to that promise.

  Laney gathered her righteous anger up like an eighteenth-century woman gathering up her skirt, and she stormed into Cooper’s study.

  Slamming open the door, she ignored his shocked look as she marched up to stick her face into his. Well, as much as she could when she was more than a foot shorter than he was.

  “You promised,” she accused, so mad she could barely spit out the words.

  “I promised what?” He stared down at her, a look of confusion on his face.

  “You promised that you wouldn’t get tired of me. You promised to never leave me.”

  He sighed, running a hand through his thick, dark hair. “Laney—”

  “Don’t Laney me, mister!” she said, pointing a finger in his chest. “See, I knew this would happen. I knew that you’d get sick of me. Just like everyone else. Except you promised that you wouldn’t and I’m going to hold you to that! So what if I don’t yell back? So what if I hide behind a mask? You’re my mate and you’re stuck with me!”