by Kimber White
“Stop!” Molly’s voice reached me.
The pulse of the pack thundered inside my head. The command was simple.
Submit. Submit. Submit.
The urge to lie on the ground made my legs weak. Madness threatened to rip my vision from me. It was Molly’s voice, Molly’s heartbeat that tethered me.
Let her go! It was my command. The man holding her by the throat stayed still as a statue. Growls erupted behind me. It might have been the others. It might have been the red wolf. I didn’t care.
“Liam,” Molly whispered. “Oh, Liam.” Her eyes fixed on a point over my left shoulder.
Something was coming. Hell, the whole Pack might be about to barge through the warehouse door. It didn’t matter. It only mattered that I ripped apart the shifter standing between Molly and me.
“Don’t call them,” she cried. She wasn’t talking to me. She was talking to the man holding her. “I’ll go with you. Just don’t call them. Let him go.”
He turned to her, his lips curled into a smile. “You’ll go with me anyway.”
I didn’t let him say anything more. Molly screamed as she turned back to me. She felt my thundering heartbeat and knew what I was about to do.
I lunged for him. He didn’t shift then. If he had, he might have won. We might have died together.
As I sunk my teeth into his arm and pulled him off Molly, he cried out and tried to throw me off. When we tumbled to the ground together, only then did he shift. His wolf sprang forth. He was silvery-gray and bigger than me. In another time, another place, that might have mattered. But I had something to fight for.
“Liam!” Molly screamed.
The gray wolf rounded on me. I’d wounded him badly. Blood poured freely from the torn flesh of his shoulder. He got his bearings though and charged. He caught me in the chest, driving me backward until we hit the far wall of the warehouse. Metal buckled from the force of our bodies. I dug my claws into his back. He howled in agony but sank his teeth into my shoulder, drawing blood that made my vision waver.
I held on, going for his jugular. He squirmed beneath me. His greater size didn’t matter as I held him down. His eyes went wide with understanding just before I sank my fangs in for the kill.
“Liam!” It was Mac’s voice behind me. He needn’t have worried. I knew what he wanted. The gray wolf’s eyes darkened then began to fill with red. He was calling for the Chief Pack. The taste of metal filled my mouth as his blood began to flow.
He died with his eyes open, glinting gold still, but vacant.
My blood rage thundered through my veins. It wasn’t enough that he was dead. I wanted to tear him apart. Strong hands on my shoulders drew me back. In the heat of it, I kept fighting. I would have kept on killing.
Once again, it was Molly’s voice that drew me back from the brink.
“Liam,” she cried. “Stop! It’s Payne!”
I paused long enough for Payne to fling me against the wall. It got me out of my head long enough. I shifted back, rising on unsteady legs. Pain flared from the wound in my shoulder. Each pulse was agony.
Staggering forward, I looked for Molly. Panic seized me as I couldn’t find her at first. Only Payne’s hand on my good shoulder kept me from shifting again.
“We have to get out of here,” he said. “You killed the strong one. But the Pack senses something. Can’t you feel it?”
I couldn’t feel anything but the pain in my shoulder and Molly’s frantic heartbeat. Mac and Gunnar were doubled over near the center of the room though. Mac clamped his hands over his ears. The command from the Pack was burning through him.
Then I saw Molly. I had one brief beat of joy. Then, I took a step forward and my heart ripped in two.
She was on her knees, doubled over like the others. Her breath was ragged and she knelt over Keara. Keara lay on her back, not moving as Molly did chest compressions.
Oh, God.
I ran to Molly’s side. Keara’s color was ashen. Her eyes were fixed and dilated as she stared at the ceiling, sightless.
Twenty-Three
Molly
Jagger was not my Alpha. Liam had not yet marked me. I was only human. Still, as we neared the mouth of the caves, Jagger’s soulcry filled my head and drove me to my knees.
It was Liam who carried Keara to him. When I tried to follow, Mac put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me.
“It’s not safe,” he whispered. “Jagger’s not himself.”
Jagger wasn’t himself. That sentence echoed through me, hollowing me out. I saw a glimpse of him before Mac and the others pulled me back. Half-man. Half-wolf. He was stuck in some in-between place, his bones jutting at wrong angles, his skin sallow and slack. But, it was his eyes that seared me most of all. They were not the pure gold of his wolf, not the fiery red that glinted when the Chief Pack took hold. They were coal black, almost as if someone had reached in and ripped the orbs out. Anything to spare him the vision of Liam bringing his mate to him.
He would have killed Liam. That was plain. Heavy chains held him back. He strained so hard against them the veins bulged from his temples.
“Come on,” Mac said. “Let’s leave them be.”
Each step to Liam’s cavern sent pain shooting through my heart. We passed the main rotunda and Keara’s refugees. They already knew her fate. They stood with silent tears staining their faces. I knew by instinct that they had known the moment she died. Jagger’s grief had torn through the cave walls.
“You’re all right?” Mac asked. I sank slowly into the pallet of blankets Liam slept on. His scent comforted me. I gathered the top blanket, wrapping it around my shoulders.
Mac’s eyes were kind, though edged in sorrow like all of ours. “It was so fast,” I whispered. “It happened so fast.”
I wondered if the vision of Keara breaking against the wall would ever leave me. For now, it stayed branded behind my eyes. In the end, Tenley had tried to stop it. He knew Keara was more valuable to the Alpha alive than dead. But, Mason had gone fully feral. Keara had been too close to him. Oh, God.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “We never should have let the two of you make that drop alone.”
“You had no choice. Oh, Mac, none of us ever had any choice. It was my fault. I trusted the wrong person.” My last words came out in a sobbing hiccup.
As if my guilt conjured her forth, a shadow darkened the mouth of the cavern and Bess stood there. Tears stained her cheeks as well. Mac growled and turned on her.
I hated her. I blamed her. And yet, she was just as much a victim in all of this. It was my turn to put a steadying hand on Mac.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Mac shook his head and let out a bitter laugh. “It’s what comes from trusting the Pack. You’re lucky it wasn’t you who died.”
“I wish it had been,” she sobbed, leaning against the cave wall. If she wanted sympathy from me, I wasn’t ready to give it.
She did get it though. My heart thundered and broke as Liam came to her side. He put a hand on Bess’s shoulder. “You’ll blame yourself,” he said. “I can’t stop you. There’s enough blame to go around for all of us.”
Mac acted quickly, ushering Bess away leaving Liam and me alone. I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders. My vision wavered as my eyes filled with tears. At the same time, my heart soared.
Liam was my Alpha. He had not yet marked me. But his soul still filled mine.
He came to me, breaking. Sinking to his knees before me, I gathered my arms around him and pulled him to my breast.
“He’ll die,” he whispered. “I’m afraid Jagger will die.”
I kissed the top of his head. I had no answers. Slow tears fell from my eyes as I held Liam close. I never wanted to let him go again. His shoulders wracked with violent sobs. They were for Keara. They were for me. Finally, he tilted his face toward mine. I smoothed my thumbs over his strong cheekbones. Then, I leaned down and kissed him.
My heart mixed with
guilt and love. Liam came for me. I never doubted it. My heart soared to be near him. But, the loss of Keara was so great.
“She wouldn’t want that,” I whispered. “She wouldn’t want any of this. Keara knew the risks. She believed they were worth it.”
“Tenley,” he said. “His name was Tenley.”
I nodded. “Yes. One of the Alpha’s top generals. He kept the Pack at bay. I don’t know how or why.”
Liam straightened. He sat beside me on the ledge. “He wanted something more.” Liam’s tone darkened. Those last few moments with Tenley replayed in my brain.
“He wanted me,” I said. “I taunted him. Liam, I could see it in his eyes. He was fighting the pull of the Pack. He was tempted by the thought of freedom and choosing for himself. Oh, God, I felt it burning through him. Why didn’t they come? Why aren’t we all dead now? Why aren’t you and the others back under Pack control?”
Liam ran a hand over his face. “The Alpha can’t control the entire Pack alone. He uses his top men to control territories for him. It must have been up to Tenley to make the call to the rest of the Pack. You stopped him from doing it, Molly. My brave, strong, Molly. Oh, God, do you know how close I came to losing you? I’m selfish for feeling it, but God help me, I’m relieved.”
He sobbed against my shoulder. “I’m relieved it wasn’t you.”
“Shh.” I kissed him and pulled him close. “I know. I know.”
“If anything had happened to you. It would kill me, baby. I love you. You’ve seen what it’s doing to Jagger. I can’t let that happen to you. I won’t let…”
I straightened my back and held Liam’s gaze. I knew what he was going to say. I also knew what I needed to say.
“Liam,” I said. “When Tenley...touched me...he could have marked me. He wanted to. If he had, you and I both know what would have happened. He would have been able to make me betray you. And Keara...did you know Davis Tenley was the general she was meant for?”
Liam reared back. “She told you?”
“They both told me.”
Liam put his face in his hands. “Then why didn’t he just take her? At least she’d be alive. At least we’d have a chance to try and get her back.”
“Jagger’s mark repelled him. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Liam, and I...we belong together. I never want to be put at risk like that again.”
“I know,” he said. “Baby, I know. I’ll figure out a way. I’m sorry. I’ll make a plan to send you far away. Michigan, maybe. Over into Canada would be even better…”
“Liam, no. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying I don’t want to do this halfway anymore. In spite of all of it, I know where I belong. And that’s with you. Forever. Baby, I love you. I want you to mark me. Claim me.”
Liam pulled away. He bolted to his feet. As the man inside of him tried to search for logic, the beast within him flared with desire. His eyes flashed gold.
“Molly.”
“I’ve made up my mind. It’s what Keara would want, and you know it.”
“No. You can be safe now, Molly. You can walk away from all of it. Tenley and his companions are dead. The Pack doesn’t know about you.”
I stood, facing him. “But, I know about the Pack. Liam, we’ve only just begun. If I leave now, everything Keara fought and died for will be in vain. There are others like her and like me. Women marked and taken against their will. Tenley mentioned a place...Birch Haven. I think it’s where they send them. It meant something to Keara.”
Liam didn’t get a chance to answer me. Payne and Gunnar came to the cavern opening. Grief still colored their expressions, but there was something else there too.
“Liam,” Payne said. “I think you need to come with us. Just for a few minutes.”
He looked back at me. Payne and Gunnar hadn’t invited me along, but I decided at that moment that I wasn’t leaving Liam’s side. I clasped my hand in his and squared my shoulders. Payne and Gunnar exchanged a look, but they made no move to stop me. I’d fought just as hard as they had today.
We walked out of the cavern together. Payne led the way up the passageways until we emerged into the deepest part of Mammoth Forest.
The sky had gone from inky black to pink. Dawn had come.
Mac was already topside. He stood with his hand gripping a tall poplar a few yards away. When he turned, his eyes flashed silver.
“Listen,” he said. “Do you hear it?”
Liam bristled beside me. His heartbeat tripped right along with mine. Slowly, he inhaled and let his eyes go hooded. One beat. Two. Peace settled over him. I squeezed his hand.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“The link,” he said, snapping his eyes open. “It’s broken.”
“Not broken,” Mac said, coming toward us. “But it’s definitely grown weaker. The Pack’s moved off or something.”
“No,” Payne said. “They’re not gone. Not all the way.”
“No,” Liam’s voice dropped. “But we sure as shit made a dent.”
“Is it because of Tenley?”
“I think so,” Liam answered.
So, we had a greater war to fight. But today, a battle had been won.
Payne and Gunnar moved away from us. They dropped to all fours and shifted. I’d never seen their wolves in daylight. Payne’s was russet with flecks of gold through his fur. His green eyes shone like emeralds. Beside him, Gunnar’s wolf was pale silver, almost platinum.
They howled and ran up an embankment on the other side of the small stream flowing near our feet. When they reached the top of the hill, Payne and Gunnar threw their heads back, howling in unison.
It was a mourning cry. My skin pricked and my blood heated. Liam stirred beside me. I gave him a nod and he dropped my hand. He shifted then joined the others. Mac was soon to follow.
Four wolves stood shoulder to shoulder, their majestic silhouettes cut into the horizon. Their howls honored one fallen warrior and the one she’d left behind. I felt Liam’s vow vibrating through him, a promise to Jagger. To me. Keara would not die in vain. She would be avenged. She would be set free.
Twenty-Four
Liam
I let her walk ahead of me, enjoying the set of her shoulders and her strong back as she found the place. I hadn’t told her where to go. Instinct drew her.
We waited until the moon was full again. It seemed fitting to let a month pass. Now, it could be more our time, not a decision made in the haste of grief. If I ever thought Molly viewed it as such, she proved me wrong tonight. When she reached the clearing near the deepest part of the stream, she turned to face me.
Her pale skin shimmered beneath the moonlight. A breeze kicked up. She should be cold here. The leaves had already begun to turn and we’d had the first snowfall last week. Molly held her hand out to mine; her smile lit me from the inside out.
“You’re sure.” I’d said it a thousand times. There was never any need. I could sense it in the way she breathed, the way she squared her shoulders, and the strong, steady beat of her heart.
My heart. My love.
She went up on her tiptoes. I tilted my head down and kissed her. I could be gentle now. In another moment, I wouldn’t be. Even now, the strength of the pull between us stirred my wolf. My vision darkened and I knew she could see the golden glint of the beast she’d grown to love.
“I love you,” she whispered. Molly tasted like sweet cinnamon. Her heart throbbed. I trailed my fingers down her arm, loving the gooseflesh I made. I took a step back, wanting to admire her again.
Her nipples peaked. I reached for one of them, tweaking it. She threw her head back and groaned. I didn’t have to tell her what to do.
Molly sank to the soft earth. Her full lips parted in a wicked smile. She let her thighs fall to the side. Her sex glistened with the dew of desire. I could watch her like that forever. Without even thinking, Molly reached between her legs, drawing a finger between her slick folds. Her breath hitched as she stroked herself for me.
“Baby,” I whispered, dropping to my knees before her. It seemed fitting that I did. I wanted to worship at her feet. Molly’s scent reached me. More cinnamon mixed with darker lust, mingling with the woodland smells that drew me home.
I pressed my palms against her thighs, spreading her wide. I licked my lips, loving the way she squirmed in anticipation. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to tease her, draw her out. She’d begged me time and again for this, but I couldn’t get enough of it. She tasted so good.
“Liam!” She gasped, threading her fingers through my hair as I drew her out. She bucked and writhed beneath me. I nipped her thigh. She went still except for the hitch of her breath. I loved the way it made her breasts quiver.
“Liam,” she said. “Please. I can’t wait.”
“Oh, yes, you can. You can do anything I ask of you.”
She threw her head back and moaned. I was a liar, anyway. I was just as eager as she was. She thrust her hips forward, beckoning me to use my tongue on her again. I did. I flicked that sweet little bud until it grew hard beneath my touch. Then, I knew she’d reached her breaking point.
“Not yet,” I said, nipping her thigh again. She squirmed, but went still. I slid my hand beneath her buttocks, gently urging her to turn.
She did. Her legs shuddering, she went on all fours. Molly dropped her head, letting her hair fall to the side. My dick was rock hard for her. Every part of my nature demanded this. I felt my fangs come out. Leaning forward, I grazed her shoulder with them. Molly gasped with pleasure. I slid my hand between her legs. She was wet. Dripping.
I stroked myself, edging my cock between her legs. Molly dug her fingers into the soft earth to brace herself.
“Hold still,” I cautioned her again.
She gasped, kicking up a grouse from the nearby brush. Its wings fluttered. So did Molly. I worked my fingers between her legs, stroking her, coaxing her to the edge once again.
“Liam! I can’t hold back!”
My wicked laughter brushed her temple. “Yes, you can, baby.”
