by Nalini Singh
Page 22
“She’s very, very good. ” Riaz walked to stand beside her, his arms loosely folded as he watched the group complete one section of the circuit and move on to the next. “I might have a go at the course myself—haven’t had the chance to do this kind of thing for a while. ”
“This’ll be too easy for you,” she said, fully confident that he would’ve continued to further develop his skills during his absence from the den. “You should run the outdoor one. ”
A stirring of interest. “Is it the same as when I left?”
“A few changes but nothing drastic. ” Remembering something, she smiled and nudged him with her shoulder. “I think you still hold the record for running the old course. ”
“Yeah?” Obviously pleased, he gave her a lazy smile that turned his looks from handsome to devastating. “Do it with me?”
Woman and wolf both read the hidden invitation behind the obvious one, hesitated, then shoved forward. Because he was perfect. There would be no games of one-upmanship with Riaz, no drain on her emotions or her self-confidence as she worried about whether her dominance was hurting him, no having to catch herself before she did something that might dent his pride. “Sure. You free after this lot is done?”
He started to nod, then frowned. “No, I have a videoconference with some of my European contacts. Can we do it around four instead?”
“That’ll work. ” Even as she spoke, Drew’s note burned a hole in her pocket.
Andrew had just put down the phone after getting hold of the last of the small group of men and women under his direct command scattered throughout the pack—to warn them to keep an eye out for further attempts by Pure Psy—when his wolf caught the burgeoning wave of excitement in the den. It was an almost physical push against his fur—though he was in human form.
Poking his head out the door of his room, he hailed one of the soldiers heading down the corridor. “Eli, what’s up?”
“Indigo and Riaz are running the outdoor course. ” Elias’s words carried a hum of anticipation. “You know how fast she is, and he holds the record. No way to tell who’ll win. ”
Andrew felt his spine knot with tension, a freezing chill spearing through his veins. “They starting now?” Somehow, his voice sounded normal, ordinary, when all he wanted to do was to hunt Indigo to ground and demand she fucking stop running from him. Because he knew exactly what was going through her head at this moment, knew exactly what her wolf would see in Riaz.
“Yeah. You coming?”
Andrew was already shutting his door behind him. “Wouldn’t want to miss it. ” His wolf was beyond agitated, but he’d always been good at keeping his emotions off his face. His current work for Hawke had only refined that skill. As he exited the den with Elias and jogged out to the training ground, no one would’ve been able to tell that he was walking the sharpest of knife edges.
“You going to take bets?” Elias asked with a grin.
Since Andrew had been known to do just that on occasion when packmates challenged one another, he couldn’t fault the question. “Not this time. Indigo might skin me. ” It was difficult to keep his voice light, to act as Elias expected him to act. He’d always known this courtship wasn’t going to be easy, but he’d never expected Indy to kick him this hard in the guts.
Then they were on the edge of the run and the kick turned brutal. Indigo and Riaz stood side by side, both of them shoe-less and clearly pumped. Indigo was wearing thin black exercise pants with white stripes down the sides, as was Riaz. The male lieutenant was shirtless, the tattoo on the back of his left shoulder striking against the naturally bronzed tone of his skin.
But it was Indigo who caught not only Andrew’s but Elias’s attention as well. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” It was a quiet comment.
The wolf bared its teeth inside Andrew. “You’re mated. ”
“It’s like appreciating a beautiful piece of art,” Elias murmured. “Yuki would say the same if she was standing beside me. ”
Andrew understood what Elias meant. Dressed in those practical pants and a black tank that clung to her body like second skin, her hair pulled off her face in a tight ponytail, Indigo was beauty without ornamentation—strong, lethal beauty. And an instant later, she was beauty in motion as someone—Judd—set off the starter bell.
Indigo was liquid lightning as she scrambled up the massive first wall. Riaz, his body heavier, was slower in getting up. But he had the advantage in the next section, which was all about upper-body strength. They were neck and neck as they crawled under the rope-mesh maze, their bodies muddy when they shot out the other end—to run straight up a steep, steep climb where use of claws to ensure stability would get you disqualified.
Indigo slipped, fell back on the slick log, but managed to break her fall with her hands.
Andrew’s wolf urged her to get up. She did.
And Riaz slid back down.
That was when Indigo turned to glance at her competitor. She was laughing, her wolf obviously exhilarated. Andrew’s blood turned to ice. That look in her eyes, that joy . . . He swallowed, forced himself to watch as Riaz got back up the rise and joined Indigo in swinging over a water hazard before they clasped their hands over the bars of the “jungle gym” that had undone many a SnowDancer.
Created with interlocking pieces that were shifted around before each run, it was by nature unpredictable—and had more than its share of booby traps. Indigo set off one, swore as she was thrown to the ground and had to go back to the start of the confusion of metal. This time, she managed to swing herself on top of the whole thing and began to pick her way through with nimble sure-footedness. Riaz, who’d gotten ahead, turned the air blue as part of the metal structure gave away, almost dumping him on the earth.
He caught himself by flipping up his body, but the delay had given Indigo time to close the gap, and they were moving beside each other once more as they dropped from the gym and shot through into the underground tubes that required both speed and strength. Riaz exited first, but Indigo was hot on his heels, and she was the faster runner. She flew past him on the last stretch of the curving run that brought them back to the start.
Laughing, she collapsed into a sitting position just over the finish line. “Too many baguettes, I think. ” She waved a finger at Riaz.
Riaz, his chest heaving, hands on his knees, grinned. “You’ve gotten faster since the last time I did this with you. ”
The shared history between the two of them didn’t need to be stated; it was all the more painful for being so casually understood. Andrew watched as Riaz held out a hand, as Indigo took it and let her fellow lieutenant pull her to her feet. No hesitation, no worries about dominance—because they knew they were equals, were comfortable with that.
In a way Indigo might never be comfortable where Andrew was concerned.
As everyone clapped and congratulated both Riaz and Indigo—they’d run the course in an incredibly fast time—Andrew hung back, his eyes on Indigo’s glowing face. No matter the mud on her cheek, the dirt that tangled her hair and streaked her clothing, she looked amazing. Stunning. And it wasn’t Andrew who’d put that look on her face.
She turned right then, and her eyes locked with his.
A furious mix of anger and pain threatened to blind him, but he forced himself to walk forward, to keep his tone even as he said, “That was some run,” directing his comment to both of them.
Riaz grinned, and his next words were good-natured. “She ran me to the fucking ground. ”
“You should do it with Judd next time,” Indigo said, a tiny frown between her brows as she looked away from Andrew. “He can do weird things with his speed—and he never slips on the climb. ”
“Never?”
Indigo shook her head.
“Might have to take him on, then. ” Glancing at his watch, the male lieutenant met Indigo’s eyes. “I’m starving. You want to grab dinner
together after we shower?”
Time froze. Indigo glanced at Andrew for a fleeting second, and he saw her decision in her eyes before she turned to Riaz. “Yeah, that sounds good. ”
CHAPTER 20
Indigo looked up after she accepted Riaz’s offer, expecting to meet Drew’s angry gaze, but he was gone, having melted into the crowd of packmates who’d come out to see her and Riaz run the course. Her stomach turned heavy, as if it was full of rocks—though she told herself she’d made the right decision.
Whatever it was that had blazed between her and Drew, it wouldn’t have lasted—and more, it would’ve hurt them both in the process. Better to nip it in the bud, to focus on a relationship that had the possibility of going somewhere. Except that she found herself looking for Drew again, her wolf pacing this way and that.
There was no sign of him.
At that instant, she knew he wouldn’t ever slip another note under her door. Because Andrew Liam Kincaid might be charming, he might laugh with ease and tease with smiling joy, but he was also a dominant male. He had pride in spades.
That pride would not allow him to approach her again when she’d openly—publicly—made another choice.
There would be no more presents of fossils or bribes of sweet desserts, no more ambushing kisses, no more challenges, no more Drew. The rocks in her gut turning to blocks of ice, she took a step toward the den, intent on following his fading scent.
“That was great!” A packmate slapped her on the back. “I knew you were fast, but that was something else. ”
There was no way to make a graceful exit, not with everyone around her—and she didn’t know what she’d say to Drew if she caught up with him. Because her decision was the right one. It was.
Having just watched Riaz and Indigo drive off for their dinner, Andrew slung a light backpack over his shoulder and walked to Hawke’s office. His alpha was marking something on the territorial map hung on one of the stone walls. “Drew,” he said, shooting a penetrating look over his shoulder, “what is it?”
