Peyton had laid down the law to her in no uncertain terms that if she tried to elope like that there would be hell to pay.
She supposed the least she could do was appease the two of them.
No, she hadn’t had a normal upbringing, even by wolf standards. Badger, more or less an uncle by pack relations, had done a great job of rearing her, training her, and giving her fatherly love and affection despite there technically not being a blood tie. Beck, too, although when Dewi had turned eighteen she’d finally managed to get Beck to quit resisting her advances.
And then…
Then she’d met Ken. Of all times, while hunting down a wolf who’d sold his own daughter to be a sex slave in exchange for paying off a drug debt. She’d claimed Ken right there in the bathroom of the sports bar, executed her target, and then…
And then.
Life.
Got.
Crazy.
Well, crazier. Even by Dewi’s usually hectic standards.
Maybe things will slow down now.
A wolf could hope.
Now they had another Enforcer, Martin Brunhaus, to help them out. He was staying behind in Tampa to keep an eye on things while they were all in Idaho. Peyton had authorized the formation of an expanded pack council in Tampa, comprised of Dewi, Badger, and Beck, to expedite pack business in this part of the country.
Yes, it was a lot of extra work. But now that she had Ken, she no longer resented the time she spent not out in the field. Before, field work had been a way to keep her mind off her crushing loneliness.
She wasn’t lonely anymore. Their little private pack was growing. First Ken, then Nami. Maybe Martin would eventually meet his mate, and then they’d add her to their widening circle.
Pups…
Dewi tried not to think about that right now. Yes, she did want kids. She’d never thought it’d be a reality before, not in any concrete way, until Ken tripped into her life.
Now…
She’d need a sit-down with Peyton. If he thought he would order her out of the field if she got pregnant, he had another think coming. She was damned good at what she did. Lives—literally—depended on her being good at what she did. Yes, Beck and the other Enforcers were good.
They were not, however, Prime Alphas. That huge advantage she and Badger had over the other Enforcers had pulled their asses from the fire more times than she cared to think about.
With her parents’ killer now mulching a wooded portion of land out behind their house, she could finally shift her focus to looking forward, toward the future.
On what she really wanted to do with the rest of her life.
Long overdue healing could begin without the idea of avenging her parents’ deaths always invisibly hovering in the back of her mind.
Their family had been fractured for years even before her parents were murdered. When Dewi’s maternal grandmother had died, killed in a tragic car accident just three months before her parents’ marriage, it had sent her grandfather, Duncan, into a depression.
The generally held theory never spoken aloud amongst their packmates was that Duncan had killed himself a year after Charles and Chelsea’s younger son was born. Prime Alpha Peyton ensured the pack had a Prime Alpha heir to follow in Charles’ footsteps.
Dewi’s father’s parents were already deceased, and her aunts on her mother’s side had moved away. She saw them from time to time at pack Musters, but not very often.
She’d had Badger…and Beck. She loved her sisters-in-law Gillian and Asia, but neither of them were Alphas. Dewi hadn’t exactly needed advice on how to put on makeup or how to style her hair when she was a teenager.
Making stealthy kills, improvised weapons, tracking, fighting techniques—those were the kinds of hands-on training she’d needed, which Badger and Beck had skillfully provided.
Dewi and Nami hadn’t exactly been buddies when Beck first brought Nami home. Mostly because Nami hadn’t understood about wolves and mating bonds. But now…
Now, Dewi loved Nami and knew those feelings were reciprocated. Sure, Dewi had grumbled and fussed during the dress fittings and other wedding planning sessions.
Secretly, it was also nice to have the attention. Normal, average, human kind of attention that she’d never received growing up. The kind of attention she couldn’t have had, not when at twelve she was already named the Head Enforcer and going up against fully-gown male wolves to keep the peace in the pack.
Her first kill had been five months after her twelfth birthday while on a mission with Beck. He’d told her to hang behind, and the wolf they’d been pursuing—who’d killed his own mate while in a drunken rage—had doubled back.
Dewi had shot him between the eyes, without hesitation or remorse.
They had a pack edict. The woman’s family had demanded blood, and Peyton had granted it.
Beck had wanted Dewi to talk to someone after the fact but Badger pointed out that there really wasn’t anyone for her to talk to. She was unique, a Prime Alpha female, and the Head Enforcer.
She already instilled fear in others, even at that young age.
That wasn’t exactly a quality which encouraged close personal relationships with many other people.
Now, at least, she had Nami.
* * * *
Ken did his best to relax. No, he didn’t like flying, and he could already tell the chances were he probably never would. Knowing that Dewi felt calm and relaxed about their flight went a long way toward relaxing him.
Well, it helped keep him from freaking out, which was nearly as good as “relaxed,” in this case.
He’d take the win.
After they landed in Denver and taxied to the gate, Dewi gently squeezed his hand before carefully prying his fingers from hers.
“How you doing?” she asked. “Still okay?”
He flexed his fingers. “If I survived this long, I guess can make it all the way.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind doing it.”
“No, I need to get used to this. I have a feeling we’ll be doing it a lot over the years, and you might not always be with me when I have to fly.”
“Thank you. I mean it. I know this was tough for you.”
He took a long, slow, deep breath and let it out again. “It’s tough, but it’s a lot easier than…what happened. If I lived through that, this should be a cakewalk.”
“What happened” was their euphemism for how, after Ken had been wounded, he managed to override Dewi’s standing Prime order, grabbed a gun, and killed a Prime Alpha wolf.
And yes, after surviving that, Ken figured he could handle pretty much anything life threw at him.
* * * *
Manuel Segura didn’t just want blood. He wanted the guts, nuts, and head of the fucking animal who’d had the nerve to kill his little brother, Raul, at Raul’s daughter’s wedding, and in front of their friends and family.
Including their mother, who was now bedridden with grief. Doctors thought the shock had induced a stroke.
The worst part of this was he didn’t know why the fucker had killed Raul. The people standing close by who’d heard Carlomarles swore he’d mentioned “taking blood,” but Manuel didn’t understand why. Never before in their dealings with any other cartel had they run across Carlomarles, or could find anyone who knew of him before that moment.
Ah, but he would learn all of that, when he tortured the information out of the beast.
His men had lost track of Joaquin Carlomarles in Bogotá, but it looked like he’d hopped a cargo flight to Miami. The man had shown up on US Customs lists there. Manuel’s contacts in the States were working on that angle now. Somehow, the guy had made it to the Tampa area, where he’d boarded a flight to Spokane, Washington.
Considering another contact of his had tracked ownership of the apartment the animal had been living in to a shell Mexican corporation controlled by an American corporation based in Idaho, he suspected he had an idea where the man was heading.
It
wasn’t anything but a coincidence and a start, and a good one, but he wanted more.
Manuel wanted to listen to the man’s screams for mercy as he slowly killed him.
He would have his retribution, if it was the last thing he did.
He would take blood for blood.
And he would make sure the man knew terror before he died.
Chapter Three
They rented three vehicles upon their arrival at the airport in Spokane. Originally, they’d been slated to only have two large, all-wheel-drive SUVs. When Ken booked Joaquin’s last-minute plane ticket, he had the foresight to add another car.
Unfortunately, all that had been available when he made the additional reservation was a little two-door Honda. Still, Ken took it, knowing it was best to keep Joaquin as far from Beck as they could for now.
Ken liked Beck and didn’t want his friend to get in trouble for beating the crap out of Joaquin. Even though from the vibes he felt from Beck—and more than a few from Dewi, too—it seemed Joaquin had a habit of engendering those kinds of feelings in some people on a regular basis.
Beck, Nami, and Badger would return to Spokane tomorrow with the SUVs to pick up Nami’s family from the airport, leaving the other car at the compound in case Dewi or Ken needed it. So in the end, it worked out better than the original plan.
Badger and Joaquin took the little car and sped off ahead of the rest of them, with Badger behind the wheel. Dewi and Beck hung back in Spokane to enjoy a late lunch with Ken and Nami.
And to let Badger put a few miles between Joaquin and Beck. It would give the other wolf a chance to get settled out of sight in the compound before the rest of them arrived.
“Where does your family live?” Ken asked Beck. He realized that during the past couple of months, while he had grown close to the shifter, there was still a lot he didn’t know about the man. Ken had been so busy with pack business, and working on the new private secure computer network for the pack—and settling in as mates with Dewi—that they hadn’t had much time for small talk.
And then Beck had met Nami.
As a result, Beck had been rather busy and scarce in his own free time lately. Understandably so.
“They’re all over the place,” Beck said. “My parents live in Maine. One of my sisters lives over in Seattle.”
“That the one Joaquin slept with?” Nami gently teased.
Beck scowled. “No. Jacie lives in Seattle. Joaquin messed around with Sadie. She lives in Little Rock. Lucie lives in Maine, not far from my parents. They’ll all be flying in next Friday for the weekend festivities. Well, except for Jacie. I’m sure she’ll drive. It’s just a few hours from Seattle to the compound. They all have hotel rooms reserved in town, just outside the compound.”
“How long of a drive do we have?” Ken asked.
“Just over two hours,” Dewi said. “It can get a little hairy if the weather’s bad, but it’s warm and clear, no snow on the ground this time of year. It’ll be an easy drive.”
“Two hours?” Nami asked. “I thought it was closer than that.”
“If this was Florida,” Beck explained, “we’d probably be there in less than an hour. But the roads in there aren’t exactly highways, and there are mountains to get through. Many of the roads aren’t even paved. The compound is located inside the boundary of the Coeur D’Alene National Forest. We own a chunk of the land there.”
“How did that happen?” Nami asked.
“It’s not unusual,” Beck said. “As the government buys up land around parks, some people don’t sell, especially if it’s a large enough parcel. It’s not just a wolf thing. Then the private property is encompassed within the park boundaries.”
“So how many people live there?” Nami asked.
“Between there and in town just outside the compound, quite a few,” Dewi said. “Especially older pack members. Ones who are so old they can’t work anymore. The pack always takes care of its own. But there are families who live there, too. Some of them even work for the pack. Probably a couple hundred people who live there year-round. There’s also camping facilities inside the compound, for pack members who want to come in and run and hunt.”
“Shifted?” Ken asked.
Dewi smiled. “Yeah. Exactly. And for people who don’t want to stay in a hotel for a Muster or other get-togethers. Some people, they don’t get a chance to run and hunt shifted where they live, and they like to take every opportunity to do it while they’re here. Not everyone in the pack who’s local actually lives inside the compound. A lot of people do, but most of them live close by outside the compound. Some even live here in Spokane. Especially important in the winter when the roads are crap. It would make a daily commute from the compound nearly impossible on some days.”
“I’ve never driven in snow,” Ken said. “If we come here in the winter, I’m going to need a few lessons.”
“Peyton keeps the roads into town and the compound plowed and groomed so everything’s usually accessible,” Dewi said. “But if there’s a bad winter ice storm or something, it can get hairy.”
“I bet you were glad to move to Florida,” Ken said.
Beck snorted. “You ain’t kidding.” He hooked a thumb at Dewi. “This one, she was griping and moaning about how it didn’t feel like winter our first winter there.”
Dewi scowled. “I was twelve.”
Beck continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Badger and I told her she obviously hadn’t spent enough time up to her armpits in the cold, white stuff, trying to shovel the driveway out to the road. Then, the first time we come back here in the winter, she’s bitching how cold it is.”
“Again, I was a kid.” Ken couldn’t help but laugh as Dewi’s face pinked up a little. “Well, it was cold,” she mumbled. “An ice storm, if you’ll recall. One of the worst in like, oh, fifty years, according to the weather guy on TV. So it wasn’t just me bitching.”
“I was watching the weather before we left,” Nami said. “I hope we don’t get a storm this week. I saw where they thought there might be rain or even a snow shower or two coming through. Weather fronts from Canada dipping down into the area.”
Dewi perked up and started to say something.
Ken cut her off. “No, we are not postponing or canceling the weddings. Peyton said the great hall is large enough to fit nearly everyone if we have to move things indoors at the last minute.”
She scowled at him.
He leaned in and kissed her. “You are going to be a gorgeous bride. Think of it this way—you only have to do it once.”
That finally drew a smile from her. “True. Then Peyton and Trent will finally get off my case.”
“Well, about that, anyway,” Ken teased.
* * * *
Ken was more than happy to let Dewi drive. Now that they’d safely arrived in Spokane, he was thoroughly enjoying the scenery. He’d never been to this part of the country before. To the Florida native, it was like visiting a foreign land.
A few miles after crossing from Washington into Idaho, they got off I-90 and headed north, with Beck and Nami following them, winding through deep, thickly wooded valleys and past tall mountains that were nothing like he’d ever seen. With the sun dipping low in the western sky, it cast long, golden shadows through the rugged landscape.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Dewi asked.
“It is. Looks even prettier than it did on Google Earth.” He offered her a playful smile.
“I have to admit, I’m partial to Florida now,” she said.
“Why?”
“I’ve lived there a little longer than I did here. I sort of grew up in Florida. The years that really mattered the most. Yes, I love being able to come out here and literally let loose, to shift and run and hunt in a way I can’t at home, but I love the ocean and the beaches and the way the air smells in Florida. Florida’s my home now, and always will be.”
He sensed something else from her. “Will we go visit their graves?” he gently asked.
She blinked as she nodded. He hadn’t even needed the mental bond they shared as mates to know what she’d been thinking. “I wish Grandfather Duncan’s body had been found. I always felt bad that we only have his name on a headstone.”
Ken didn’t interrupt, his attention now focused fully on her and not the scenery.
“Sometimes after school,” she said, “when I was real little, I’d go there to the graveyard. I’d sit in the shade near my parents’ and my grandmother’s graves and talk to them. I’d do my homework there, read to them from my assignments, stuff like that.”
He could easily picture it, too. A younger Dewi, a girl who never smiled, who never laughed.
The serious girl who became an even more serious woman.
“Do you think that’s stupid?” she asked.
“No,” he softly said. “I don’t think it’s stupid at all. I think it’s very sweet in a sad kind of way.”
“Do you remember your father?” she asked.
This was a tricky question for him. “Sort of. I was only four when he died. I remember what my mom said about him more, I think, than actual memories of him. She’d sit with me and go through photo albums and tell me stories about stuff that happened. I remember his heart attack. I remember the ambulance coming and taking him. I remember a bunch of people, and I remember standing in the cemetery. I had Mom buried next to him after that fucker killed her. Dad was the love of her life, anyway. The only reason she married my step-father was because she thought she needed to so she could take care of me.”
“I’m sorry,” she quietly said.
“It’s not your fault. I feel awful that she stayed with the dick for as long as she did. If I’d known what he was doing to her, I would have begged for her to leave him sooner. She thought she was doing what was best for me. I had no idea he’d been abusing her like that. I spent a lot of time holed up in my room, studying and trying to hide from Dave.”
Ken hated his step-brother, who was five years older than him. Not only had Dewi put Dave in his place during an encounter at Ken’s office, but Ken had found the intestinal fortitude to beat the guy when Dave tried to ambush Ken a few days later.
A Bleacke Wind (Bleacke Shifters Book 3) Page 3
