by R. E. Butler
Trinity jerked in surprise. “No, wait! Don’t leave, please. I’m sorry. But it’s the truth. Everything I told you happened—Wrath and I have been dreaming about each other for twelve years. I know everything that’s going on in this world because I saw and heard things in the dreams.”
Her gaze remained skeptical. “Then tell me something that I’ve never told anyone.”
Trinity stared at the woman. She was angry and confused, and Trinity could relate. She thought back to what she knew about Gemma. She was twenty-one, raised in a human settlement called Markston, a forty-minute walk from pack territory. Her parents disowned her because she mated Veltris.
“Your family disowned you when you joined with Veltris,” Trinity said.
“Everyone knows that,” she snapped. “Even Wrath, because one of his males taunted me about being abandoned.”
Trinity nodded. “Yeah, it was Rook. You shouldn’t take that so seriously, though. Blood Wolves are always abandoned because their parents are either killed for having them or disown them.”
“Rook told you what he said to me?”
“No, I dreamed about it. It’s why you sprained your ankle, because when he said it, you lunged at him and he was too fast for you. You got tangled in the chain and wrenched your ankle.”
She shook her head dismissively. “He could’ve told you about that. It doesn’t count.”
“All right,” Trinity said, blowing out a breath. Then it came to her. She just hoped that Gemma hadn’t told anyone about it. “One of the guys who came to coerce you back to the human settlement with your family was named Greg.”
Gemma’s eyes rounded a little in surprise.
Trinity continued, “He was the man your parents wanted you to marry because his parents had money and status in the settlement. You never liked him. You always called him a jerkhole, and when everyone showed up at the pack territory line, your parents said Greg was a much better man than you’d ever find with an animal.”
“There were a ton of people there when that happened,” she said. “Anyone could’ve told you.”
“Maybe,” Trinity said. “But what you didn’t say that night was that you’d had a suspicion that Greg was up to no good—that his whole family was. Before you met Veltris, and the subject of marrying Greg had come up, you’d decided to follow him and see if you could figure out what he was hiding. You never trusted him in school, and that opinion hadn’t changed. One night you followed him and his brother—all the way to a vampire kiss, where they took money in exchange for donating a vein to vampires. You watched through the window of a house and saw him strip naked and let two vampire females bite him in the thighs and feed from him. It’s why you never saw any bite marks when they were healing—they were hidden by his pants. You stopped watching when he started to have sex with them after they fed.”
Gemma’s mouth fell open.
Trinity felt a little smug at being able to stun the woman. “You ran back home after that, and you didn’t tell anyone what you saw. You told your parents that you weren’t attracted to Greg, and no matter how much they tried to push you together, you refused. A few weeks later, you and Veltris crossed paths.”
Gemma wrapped her hands around the bars. “I was afraid to tell my parents about what I’d seen. They’d have been angry that I followed him and went into vampire territory. In our settlement, it’s strictly forbidden to feed vampires. Only poor people do it as a way to get money, but no one talks about it. I was honestly afraid that if I told anyone, Greg and his family might come after me to shut me up.”
“I’d say that’s a pretty good bet,” Trinity said. “His whole family’s fortune was built on feeding vampires, hidden behind a facade of banking and finance.”
Gemma stared at Trinity for a quiet moment. “Veltris is going to kill you. Either before he kills Wrath, or after. The man I mated isn’t usually this cruel. He’s never, ever harmed an innocent. But in his eyes, because Wrath is evil, that makes you evil by association.” She closed her eyes with a sigh. “His wolf won’t allow him to let what happened to me go. He wants to avenge me.”
“I know. I’m sorry that Wrath abducted you, and I’m doubly sorry that you were terrorized.”
“In your dreams... did you see me in their prison cavern?”
“I did.”
“Did you tell Wrath to let me go?”
“I couldn’t. Wrath and I shared dreams about once a month. When I saw you, it was after you’d already been freed. I told Wrath how pissed I was that he’d take an innocent, but he said that was how it worked in this world. He didn’t want to kill you, he wanted to use you as leverage to make Veltris move the pack so Wrath could take over the territory. You were a means to an end. But I was pissed, trust me, and Wrath knew it.”
“He was under the influence of the blood lust.”
“Yep. Even though we were mates in the dreams, neither of us knew if the other was actually real. I mean, hell, I thought I had a great imagination. Imagine my surprise when I woke up in his arms.”
“I don’t like being afraid,” Gemma said. “Can I... can you take me to Wrath? I want to tell him what I think about what he did. I know it won’t change what happened, but I might get some closure.”
“Of course.” Trinity’s heart soared. Gemma was going to set her free! “I promise he’s sorry for what he did. And not just because I told him how angry I was about the whole thing. After being abducted myself, I understand your fear.”
Gemma unlocked the gate and then the cuffs on Trinity’s ankles. “You guys have a healer in the pack?”
“Yes,” Trinity said.
“Good. I’d offer you ours, but I can’t do that without alerting everyone to what we’re doing. So let’s get the hell out of here and find your mate, so I can give him a piece of my mind.”
Gemma led the way out of the cell to the door. She looked out the window first, and then opened the door an inch, listening carefully for a moment before finally opening the door enough to slip out entirely. Trinity felt the sweet taste of freedom for the first time, never more grateful for the knowledge she had thanks to the dreams.
They moved quickly around the side of the building. The trees—and safety—were so close Trinity couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Once she was in the woods, she’d get out of pack territory and find Wrath before he did anything stupid in retaliation for the purebred’s actions.
“Stop right there!” A man’s voice cut sharply through the quiet, and Trinity cringed. She glanced at Gemma, who looked guilty and worried as she turned to face the man behind them. Trinity wanted to just make a run for it, but more men moved out of the woods, their faces carved in anger, their fangs and claws at the ready.
Her shoulders dropped and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She’d been so damn close.
Turning to face the man, she saw Veltris, who looked furious.
“What do you think you’re doing, Gemma?” he demanded.
“Setting things right,” she said.
Trinity heard a howl. It wasn’t the sound a wolf made, but the battle cry she’d given Mytan, an “arrooo” unique to huskies from her world, and the way her dog Montana had talked to her.
Mytan was coming for her. And judging by the relief that she suddenly felt, she knew that Wrath was with him.
Chapter Fourteen
Wrath first saw the line of wolves as he and his pack stalked from the woods into the cleared area where the wolves lived. They were all growling, claws showing from their fingertips. And each one was focused on something.
Mytan moved stealthily next to him. He stopped suddenly and lifted his head in a howl that made the trees shake.
Wrath felt the connection to Trinity bloom within him again. She was close!
“Let’s get her, pup,” Wrath said.
Mytan bowed his upper body and Wrath swung himself up onto his back. Grasping two handfuls of thick fur, he leaned forward and said, “Go!” Mytan took off with great strides, h
is claws digging into the ground as he moved like lightning through the trees. Behind him, his males roared a battle cry and raced after them. Mytan ducked and wove between the purebreds, bounding into the cleared area.
Trinity was on her knees, Veltris’s claws at her throat.
Wrath pulled up sharply on Mytan’s fur to stop him. He whined as his head kicked back, but he obeyed, claws digging for purchase and tail swishing angrily.
“Let my mate go,” Wrath said. “She’s innocent.”
“So was Gemma,” Veltris said, squeezing Trinity’s neck. Blood dripped down her throat, and she gasped, her cheeks darkening and her eyes wide.
The purebreds came out of the woods and surrounded them. Wrath and his males were vastly outnumbered, even with Mytan’s help. Seeing Trinity at the mercy of a male he didn’t trust did strange things to Wrath. He was simultaneously tempted to shift and kill Veltris, and also to drop to his knees and beg for her life.
The blood lust had driven him to do terrible things, but he knew it wasn’t just that. He’d carried a chip on his shoulder his entire life against purebreds and vampires. How many had he killed in the name of taking over territories simply because he’d felt the need to prove himself the better male? He’d avenged his parents’ deaths, but then he hadn’t stopped. He’d attacked the purebreds because they hated Blood Wolves and refused to acknowledge them.
His whole life he’d felt like he wasn’t worth anything unless he was winning a battle.
But now he had Trinity. Now he and his pack were carving out a new life for themselves. A better life.
A life without war.
If he could help it, anyway.
Wrath exhaled sharply and slid from Mytan’s back, dropping to one knee. He cast a sharp glance at his males and they followed suit, despite the clearly confused looks on their faces. Lowering his head, Wrath said, “Veltris, I’m sorry for all that my pack and I have done. It wasn’t only the blood lust. I was angry at being an outcast, and I took it out on every purebred pack I could find. I held you accountable for the actions of your elders, and that wasn’t fair. I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t make up for anything, especially abducting your mate, but I do offer my apologies now. Let us forge a new era of peace between our people. I swear on my life that I will no longer come against your pack—or any others—that don’t come against us first. If you’ll let Trinity go, we’ll leave in peace.”
Veltris scowled. “You expect me to believe you? I think the moment you get your mate back, you’ll come against us.”
“I won’t, I swear.” Aside from telling Trinity that he loved her, Wrath had never spoken a truer statement in his entire life. He’d never raise a claw in anger again.
Trinity mouthed the words, “I love you,” as fresh tears tracked down her cheeks. Wrath mouthed them back.
Gemma stepped between them. She looked at Veltris and then Wrath. “I hated you. I feared you. But you didn’t hurt me. If I’d waited for Veltris to rescue me, I wouldn’t have gotten so injured and exhausted. But I’m not a shrinking violet or a damsel in distress, and you and your pack were far kinder to me than Veltris was to your mate. She was drugged and man-handled, and then chained up in a cell and threatened. I think my mate is just as culpable as you in this war between purebreds and Blood Wolves, but it needs to end. Today. No more abductions. No more territory wars. No more macho bullshit.”
“Gemma,” Veltris said, his voice low. “Stand down.”
Veltris jerked his head at a few males at his side, and they advanced on Gemma.
“Your males touch me, and I’ll run to the Blood Wolves for protection,” she said. “I’m not fucking around, Veltris. This has to end. Let Trinity go. She’s not from here, but more than that, she’s Wrath’s true mate. Think how much you hated when I was taken! You’ve done the same thing to Wrath.”
She took a warning step away from her mate and toward Wrath, and Veltris put his free hand up with a growl. “You can’t expect me to simply trust him.”
“If you don’t trust him,” Gemma said, “then trust Trinity. She told me something about my past that I never told anyone, even you. I believe she’s telling the truth, and just knowing that a witch brought her here—for Wrath—to stop the bloodshed and constant fighting... Veltris, you have to let her go. Otherwise, you’re inviting the witch to come against us for ruining her plans for peace.”
Wrath stared at Gemma and then turned his attention back to Trinity for a moment before he looked at Veltris. “I’m sorry I brought us here. I never should’ve abducted your mate. When you took Trinity, it was like someone chopped off my arm.”
Veltris’s grip on Trinity’s throat relaxed, and she coughed and wheezed. He looked down at her and then at his mate. “There’s never been peace between purebreds and Blood Wolves.”
“We can have peace now,” Wrath said. He slowly rose to his feet. His beast wanted him to rush to Trinity’s aid and slash Veltris into pieces for touching her, but he kept a tight rein on that part of him. There would be no retaliation.
The males around Wrath rose to their feet and drew close to him. “Wrath’s right,” Cael said. “Our parents were killed for having us, for having relationships, when there shouldn’t be anything wrong with following your heart. You can’t control who your true mate is any more than you can control the rising of the sun. Wrath swears he’s done with fighting, and I can promise you that the rest of us are done with it, too. We want to build, not destroy.”
Gemma walked to Veltris and tugged on his wrist until he let go of Trinity fully. Trinity fell to her hands with another coughing fit.
Mytan growled and stalked over to her. The purebreds backed up with snarls and warning growls, but Mytan wasn’t scared in the least. He bent low and snuffled at her, and then she wrapped an arm around his neck, and he helped her to stand.
“She tamed him,” one of Veltris’s males said with awe in his voice.
“No,” Wrath said, meeting her and Mytan. He swung Trinity up into his arms. “She created him.” Wrath wanted to race home with Trinity and have Magnus heal her, but he stayed put. He wouldn’t leave until he was certain that the purebreds wouldn’t come after them.
Veltris put his arm around Gemma and looked down at her with warmth. “Get your mate home,” he said. “We’ll meet tomorrow morning at the witch’s house. I want to hear from her lips what she did to bring your mate here. If she confirms what you’ve said here today, then I’ll broker peace between our groups, and I’ll send word to the other alphas that we’re allies and no longer enemies. But trust me when I say that if you’ve lied to me to free your mate and gain the upper hand against us, I will slaughter you all. I haven’t forgiven you for what you did to my mate.”
Gemma rolled her eyes. “I forgive you, Wrath.”
“Thank you,” Wrath said. “Until tomorrow.”
The Blood Wolves turned and headed into the woods toward home. Trick and Dare were at Wrath’s back, and he was relieved for their support. He didn’t like giving his back to anyone, particularly their enemies, but if he’d been aggressive in leaving, they might not believe he was serious about peace.
And he absolutely fucking was. He’d built an unfortunate reputation for himself, and he hadn’t really expected the purebreds to trust him outright.
“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked. Mytan walked next to them, making worried, whining noises. Trinity reached out to grab hold of his fur.
“I am now.”
“I couldn’t feel you,” he said. “I didn’t think you were dead, but it was like my whole heart was cut out.”
“I think it was whatever they drugged me with. Even after I woke up, I couldn’t really feel you that much until the effects wore off.” Her voice was rough, and he guessed that Veltris’s rough handling of her, and maybe even the drug’s effects or thirst, were contributing to it.
“You’re safe now,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“You’re my mate, Trinity. I’d die for
you.”
She hugged her arm around his neck a little tighter. “I don’t want that to happen. I just got you.”
He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “I’d one hundred percent do anything to ensure your safety.”
“Even bending the knee to a male you don’t trust?”
“Absolutely. And it’s not that I don’t trust Veltris, it’s that he’s still running on the assumption that I physically harmed Gemma. I didn’t treat her well, but I never laid a hand on her. Or allowed anyone else to.”
“I know.”
“Did Veltris hurt you? Aside from what he did in the clearing?”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, and Wrath’s beast rose up in him. It was only through sheer force of will that he didn’t hand his mate over to one of his males, shift, and slaughter the entire purebred pack.
“He slammed me into the wall,” she said finally. “My head hurts still, and whatever the drug was they used to knock me out, I’m still feeling groggy. Mostly, though, he scared me. He used me for bait. He planned to kill both of us. If Gemma hadn’t helped me escape, then you would’ve ridden into the purebreds and killed them all. I know that for a fact. Veltris might have the numbers, but they can’t beat Blood Wolves in combat like that.”
Wrath grunted. “I’m sorry you were hurt.”
“I think it had to happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Gemma finally got Veltris to understand the truth of her abduction. He wouldn’t listen. He was using what happened to her as fuel to gather the other packs against you. He didn’t want to believe that you were honorable, because his whole life he’s been told that Blood Wolves are abominations.”
Wrath mused on that while they walked. She was probably right. He certainly hadn’t behaved as if he had any honor, but being with Trinity made him want to be a better male. She deserved his best.
“There are a lot of things I wish I could take back,” he said finally.
