Mated (Olde Town Pack Book 2)

by Katie Salidas

  “I’m sure you did.” Brady kept his eyes on the enemy.

  “Couldn’t have asked for better bait, really. Or a better spy. Charmed the pants right off of you the first day, I’ll bet.”

  He knew what Charles was doing, but the words, no matter how much he wanted to ignore them, had an effect. Rachel had come to them at the start of all this. It would have been all too easy for her to pass on information and facilitate their timely attack.

  But that was just it – it would have been too easy. And that made it less plausible the more he rolled the thought around in his mind. She had been used as a catalyst. She was supposed to die. And instead, Charles’ son had taken the fall. What kind of a father willingly sacrifices their child? He couldn’t have expected her to live.

  “I should thank you,” Brady finally replied. “She’s quite the addition to our pack.”

  Charles’s lip quivered, but he held his cocky grin.

  “You are most welcome then. We had her broken in for you.”

  Rachel growled behind Brady.

  Brady might not have fallen for the Alpha’s tactic, but Charles’s words were having an effect on her. Brady waved a hand behind his back to shush her.

  “My sympathy to all the ladies in your pack. If you knew better how to treat them, they might not want to leave so badly,” Brady responded, with a note of aggression in his voice he hoped Charles would understand.

  “Oh, don’t feel bad. Alpha chasers are the best little whores. They’ll do anything to be close to power. That one there” – he jabbed a finger at Rachel – “she begged for it.”

  “That’s enough,” Brady barked.

  “Can’t take it? Your perfect new girlfriend has a dirty past. And it’s still catching up to her. She ran off on you a few days ago, didn’t she? Where’d she go?”

  He’d only lost her for a second in the woods, a few days back. How did Charles know about that? Brady’s eyes left Charles’s face for a fraction of a second as he turned to look at Rachel. Imperceptible to most, but Charles caught it, and took that moment to speak again.

  “Not so certain about her now, are you? See, that’s the best part. I can tell you anything I want, and you will have to question it. Did she run off on her own? Or am I just making something up? Doesn’t matter – you can’t quite trust her because you don’t know her like I do.”

  Brady sent his mind back to the date, replaying the scene. They had been on patrol, running through the snow. He’d caught no scent of blood; no scent of other wolf. She had disappeared for a few minutes at best, though it was right before they found the dead wolf. If she’d killed him, he’d have found traces on her.

  Charles laughed. “This is too easy. I’ll bet you’re questioning every minute you’ve spent with her, aren’t you?”

  Damn. He was right. But how right?

  “Don’t listen to him.” Rachel’s voice came from behind him.

  Brady didn’t turn, but he allowed his eyes to flit back and forth between Charles and Rachel, who had shifted back to her human form to speak.

  Fallon took point, guarding Leif where he sat.

  “I’ve told you the truth. My father sent me to my asshole of a husband. I was sold into the Alpha’s pack on a promise I would bear pure shifter children. And he” – she jabbed a finger at Charles – “the Great Regional Alpha, held my life in his tight little fist from then on. I was given to his son Craig as a fucking plaything, his to do with as he pleased. Their family controlled every aspect of my life. Who I could see. What I could wear. And when I didn’t fall pregnant immediately, Charles forced me to be with other members of his family. All in the name of continuing the Alpha line.” Rachel panted angrily, with visible effort to control her emotions. “I played their game. I’m not proud of it, but I own it. I did what I had to do to survive long enough to escape. My body was all I had, and it bought me time to pool enough resources to make my way here... to freedom. Tell me, any of you, that you’d have done things differently.” Rachel walked toward Brady.

  “Brazen as ever, you lying little bitch. Put some clothes on, we’re all sick of seeing you naked.” Charles tossed the pants to Rachel.

  The movement almost sent Brady into attack, but as he watched the clothes flying through the air, he noted Charles remained still.

  Leif shifted in his seat as if ready to fight or flee, but Fallon still stood at the edge of the tent, blocking the exit, snarling like a rabid beast ready to attack.

  “Is this your plan?” Brady asked. “Shifting blame in a vain attempt to turn us on each other, rather than face your own fate?”

  “I don’t care what you do with her. I’ve gotten what I want from her. Did she tell you that part?”

  Rachel blew past him in a blur. She threw a punch, connecting with his jaw hard enough to turn Charles’s head sideways, but that was the only hit she landed.

  Her wolf was an excellent fighter, but in human form, the height and leverage of Charles put her at a disadvantage. He snatched her hand mid-punch and used her momentum to spin her around, pulling her arm up behind her back as he caged her in his free arm.

  “She doesn’t want you to know about us. About the nights we spent together.” Charles looked Brady dead in the eye as he whispered the words next to Rachel’s ear.

  His hand slipped around her belly and roughly grasped hold of her breast, squeezing it hard enough to make her groan in pain.

  Rage welled up inside of Brady. How dare that beast put his hands on her like that? He’d rip them off before the night was over, but finding an in without hurting Rachel in the process prevented him from flying in now a blind rage.

  “Before you decide to try anything stupid, please know I can rip out her carotid artery in moments with my teeth. You can try to kill me, but she’ll bleed out in less than a minute. That is, if you care, of course. But something in your eyes tells me she’s wound her way around more than just your prick. I suspect she’s ridden her way up and down your heart too.” He lowered his lips to her ear again. “Good girl.”

  Brady gnashed his teeth in anger.

  Charles met his eyes, daring him to make a move.

  Held in his arms like that, though, Rachel looked more angry than helpless. And Brady could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

  Her fearlessness had been one of the things that attracted him so much. She had been the aggressor in bed with him. She had demanded to go with him to fight. She had even offered to be put on display to ferret out her attackers. Brady looked again at Rachel, seeing just how much she was not a helpless little girl, even being held in Charles’ arms. She was doing this on purpose. But why? For what reason?

  Information. Of course. It was the only thing they were lacking.

  Brady relaxed his stance and held his hands up calmly. “You’re not going to kill her.”

  “Care to test that theory?” Charles pulled his arm up tighter behind Rachel, and she yelped in pain.

  “I am,” Brady responded.

  “You think because I have not already, that I would not kill her?”

  “Why taunt me with her?”

  “Would you rather I kill her?” Charles squeezed his other hand, digging his nails into her breast.”

  Rachel did not make a sound this time, but Brady heard the grind of her teeth as she ground them together.

  He locked eyes with her for the smallest of moments and found no weakness, no fear. Hers was the look of a soldier being sent into battle – resolve to face uncertainty when the general commands for battle to begin. He’d seen it on so many of his own security patrols as he ordered them into the wild to protect the pack. He’d worn that mask himself and understood now what Rachel was doing.

  He need only give her the order, and she’d act.

  “You’re a man who deals with words. An Alpha. I am a man who deals in action. A second son. But I have learned over the years how to speak your language. So, let me put things into perspective to you. You can kill her, and enjoy that
moment of pleasure, but once you’re through, it will be you and I who face each other. And I know how to keep a man alive for a very long time while exact my revenge.”

  “Am I supposed to fear your threat? You said it yourself – you are not an Alpha,” Charles sneered.

  “No. I am the one who keeps an Alpha in power.”

  “Pity your brother is not here to hear this blasphemy.”

  “Oh, he knows well the roll I play in our pack. And like a true Alpha, he appreciates my service. Where are your seconds?” Brady asked.

  The cocky smile faded from Charles’s lips for a moment. “You’re stalling. Man of action that you are.”

  “And your words have not yet bought you leniency.”

  “Then I guess it will be up to me to act.” Charles had barely gotten the word out when Brady nodded to Rachel.

  She slammed her head back as hard as she could, connecting directly with Charles’s nose.

  Whether from shock or pain, or a combination of both, Charles released Rachel as he yowled. Blood poured from this nose, splattering all over himself and Rachel as he pawed at her to regain his hold. She twisted in his arms and sent her knee upwards into his groin.

  Brady winced as he watched her below-the-belt method of attack.

  Charles doubled over in pain, bleeding from his mouth and nose by the end of it.

  Rachel stood over him, her hand cocked for another strike when Brady called for her to stop.

  She turned to him still raging, looking deadlier than he’d ever seen a woman look before, and though he shouldn’t have been thinking it, he’d never been so turned on.

  Naked, showing off all her assets; the scent of the kill on her; that feral look in her eyes. Gods, she was hot. But this was not the time. Not the place.

  “Do you trust me?” Rachel asked him calmly.

  “I do,” Brady replied, with no hesitation.

  “I had to let you see.” She hung her head as she took a step in Brady’s direction.

  He pulled her closer to him. “Your past makes you no less of a person in my eyes. The opposite, really. I can only imagine the things you had to do in order to keep yourself safe.”

  “What he said was true. I have been with so many. I have had to do...”

  Brady put a finger to her lips. “I don’t care. And I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “But you need to know why. And where it all ends.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I did whatever I had to do. My family sold me into this life so they could better theirs. I had nowhere else to go. I could never return home.”

  “I understand.”

  “Do you?”

  “As much as I can.”

  “My past is a matter of public record. I did what I had to do to survive. But, with you, it’s been genuine. I wanted you. Not because you’re in a position of power. Not because I thought you would protect me if I slept with you. Brady, you’re the first man who looked at me not as a piece of ass, but as a person. And then yeah, we slept together, and I felt so wrong. Like I had sent the wrong message. Services paid for, and all that. But it wasn’t. I just... connected with you. And I hoped you felt the same about me.”

  Her honesty humbled him. He pulled her the rest of the distance separating them and planted a kiss so truthful on her lips there would be no question of their connection. Like puzzle pieces, they fit together perfectly. Each of them flawed in their own way, but together their strengths covered the inadequacies.

  “You’re a fool to believe her,” Charles mumbled. “She needs a new home and a new protector.”

  “She’s got one,” Brady answered back, possessively. “And you will stand trial for starting a war between territories.”

  “We can negotiate a fair settlement for the end of hostilities,” Charles said.

  “The time for negotiations has passed,” Brady declared. “You will call for an end to the hostilities, and be brought up on trial with the council of Regional Alphas to determine your punishments.”

  “No!” Charles leapt over the desk, tackling Brady to the ground.

  Surprised by Charles’s attack, Brady took a few good swings to the face before he managed to twist his body enough to throw the Alpha off balance and get out from under him.

  Charles fought like a man with nothing to lose, and in truth he’d already lost it all. Not even stopping to shift into wolf form, he railed on Brady, swinging his fists with exhausting fury.

  Brady ducked and dodged, allowing the crazed Alpha to tire himself out, managing to stay just out of reach. Despite being his enemy, Brady admired the Alpha’s determination to go down fighting, like a true wolf. Councils and prisons and punishments were the societal trappings of humans. They were wolves, and to live and die by tooth and claw was the only honorable way to go.

  Charles snarled as he lunged at Brady, wrapped his arms around his torso, and tried to pull him off balance. But Brady’s feet were firmly planted in the ground. The other wolf could not budge him for all his effort in trying. Fighting with fury was never a winning tactic and left the Alpha open to a hard elbow in the neck. He went down whimpering but still tried to take a swipe at Brady’s legs.

  “This is ridiculous,” Brady shouted. “You’re no match for me.”

  “Then kill me. I will not submit.” Charles spat back at him.

  “You’re an Alpha. You must face trial for your crimes.” Brady wanted nothing more than to kill him and be done with it, but to kill someone with such a high ranking created a sticky situation.

  “I will not be brought in like some criminal.” Charles swiped again at Brady’s feet.

  Brady hopped back and waited for the Alpha to stand. “Get up and stop embarrassing yourself.”

  “Death,” Charles demanded. He rose to his feet, holding up his hands and letting his fingers turn to claws.

  Brady sighed. There was no turning back. Charles was prepared to die, and it would be the only way this fight would end. “So. Be. It.”

  Charles stepped forward and raked his clawed hands at Brady.

  Brady took hold of his arm, twisted the wolf around in front of him, and gripped hold of his head. With one sharp twist and crack, he snapped Charles’s neck and let the lifeless body fall to the ground.

  Leif had sat watching the entire show, but when Charles’s body dropped, he rose to his feet. “Before you decide on an encore, I will surrender. Unlike my idiot friend here, I know when I’m outnumbered, and will go quietly.”

  “Your death will come too, you know,” Brady warned the old Alpha.

  “Will it? Perhaps some day. But this is not that day.” Leif held his hands out as if waiting for shackles.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  The compound was in a shambles by the time Brady had made it back carrying Charles’ body in his arms, followed by Leif and the girls in tow.

  Seeing their Alphas defeated, the wolves stopped fighting and appeared to be awaiting orders.

  Brady located Aiden. Battle worn but more than alive, he epitomized what a true Alpha should look like. Standing aside a pile of his fallen enemies, Aiden’s muzzle was covered in blood. He snarled as if daring someone else to challenge him, and nearly snapped at Brady when he dumped the body of Charles at his paws.

  “I have a gift for you,” Brady knelt respectfully in front of his brother.

  Aiden shifted, standing tall and proud for all to see. “You killed him?”

  Brady nodded rather than speak the truth.

  “Was it witnessed?” Aiden asked again.

  Again Brady nodded. He knew why his brother was leading the conversation in that direction. To kill an Alpha was one way to take leadership, something Brady had never wanted, though he had always been in line for it.

  Aiden’s eyes traveled behind Brady to Leif standing calmly between the two she-wolves. “I would have never expected you.”

  Brady turned to look at Leif. Even now, in the face of another Regional Alpha, knowing his fate would be de
ath, Leif still looked as if he had not a care in the world.

  “I look for opportunities where they present themselves. Not all transactions are profitable, but one must try,” Leif said arrogantly.

  “What profit was there to be had in attacking my territory?” Aiden asked the obvious.

  “More land, more loyalty.” Leif shrugged.

  “As if you did not have enough already?” Aiden looked shocked.

  “When one stops striving to better themselves, one stops living.”

  “These are our people, you ass, not pawns in a game. Your war has killed husbands, wives, brothers, sisters,” Brady snarled.

  “Survival of the fittest, young Alpha. That is our way,” Leif insisted.

  “Don’t presume to lecture me about our way when you’ve so clearly lost yours,” Brady replied.

  “You, Mr. Chevalier, will be brought up before the council,” Aiden said. “Until such time, you will remain our guest in lockup.”

  Brady hated the thought of having to deal with his pompous ass during the wait for the council to assemble.

  Leif shrugged. “Do as you must.”

  “Why not just execute him now?” Brady asked.

  “Because we’re already one Regional Alpha down thanks to you,” Aiden chided his brother. “And as Leif here is witness to your fight, he will have to give testimony during the transition of power.”

  “Exactly why I never wanted to be Alpha. Too much damn paperwork.” Brady sighed. “Do we still have a cell to put him in?”

  Aiden nodded. “They didn’t make it into the lower basement level. Put him there for now.”

  “With pleasure.” Brady seized Leif by the arm and escorted him to the basement.

  “You’ll be in my shoes one day,” Leif taunted, as they entered the ruin of the compound lobby and headed toward the basement level.

  “How so?” Brady asked curiously.

  “Your father and I were as close as brothers once. Allies.”

  “And yet you attacked our pack.”

  “Your father is gone. Another warrior who should have lived centuries more cut down. And what is left in his wake? Children playing at being leaders. You’re all weak. Allowing humanity to overpower your nature as a wolf. The Long Teeth territory is the same. Kids running the show. No real leadership. No Tradition. Old values being wiped away and replaced with a new softer regime.”