Chief (Skin Walkers Book 19)

by Susan Bliler

  “A fucking human!” Chief snarled.

  “Yes,” Monroe clipped out. “A human. Like my Eden. Like RedKnife’s Cindy, and like King’s Lilly. Like any of the dozen humans I have mated to Walkers. Humans aren’t a problem, your ego is. Fix it! And know that I am the one who won’t be tested. You’ve got a week to claim Alise before I start…how did you put it? Ah, playing my fucking games you’ve heard so much about. Rest assured, the rumors do me no justice.”

  The line went dead, and Chief stood frozen for long minutes processing Monroe’s words as the receiver beeped an incessant cadence in his ear. Staring unseeing at the wall, it felt like an eternity before his anger snapped him right out of his reverie.

  Fucking domineering, egotistical, sonofa…

  Stalking back to the table near the wall, Chief slammed the phone down on the receiver so hard that the damn thing smashed into bits. With a frustrated backhand, Chief sent the pieces flying off the table and raining across the room before he turned with a snarl that died in his throat as he instantly froze.

  Sometime during his conversation or his following outburst, Alise had stood and backed toward the door. Hands clasped and held tightly to her chest, her eyes were wide with fear as she watched him like a lamb cornered by a lion.

  Chief took a step toward her with every intention of calming her, but when she jerked back, he froze. Slowly lifting his hands palm side out in a placating gesture, he murmured, “Hey. It’s alright. Everything’s alright.”

  But Alise was shaking her head and backed further away. “Forced some woman on you?”

  It took a second for her words to register.

  Awww, shit! “Alise, I didn’t mean…”

  “A fucking human,” she breathed out dropping her eyes to the floor as a hand flattened over her stomach.

  “Alise…”

  “Yeah,” she clipped out and gave him her back. “It’s fine. I get it.”

  “No. You don’t.”

  “Look.” She reached for the door. “I’m not your burden. You didn’t ask for this. Neither did I.”

  “Alise.”

  She tossed a, “Good luck,” over her shoulder as she jerked the door open.

  Chapter 6

  Just as Alise pulled the door open, a hand planted on the hardwood above her head and shoved the door closed.

  “Alise,” Chief growled and grabbed her upper arm, but she jerked out of his hold.

  “Don’t,” she snapped and turned to frown up at him. “Don’t touch me! I don’t know you.” She rubbed at her arm where his hand had been. “You don’t get to touch me!”

  “I’m sorry,” Chief held out his hands. “About what I said. I didn’t mean it like…”

  “Like the way it sounded?” She frowned up at him. “You didn’t mean for me to know that you don’t like humans? You didn’t want me to find out that having me forced on you is offensive? Newsflash! I didn’t want this either.” She jabbed a finger into her chest. “I came here for my best friend’s wedding. I came to celebrate her big day and maybe, just maybe get a date with James. I was just as blindsided as you, but at least you know what I am. A lowly human. While I’m trapped here in a cabin with a…a what? What are you?” She shook her head. “Aside from a shifter that wants nothing to do with me.” She backed up until her shoulders pressed into the door. “I don’t know you, and you have no right to keep me here. I’m leaving.” Reaching behind her, she twisted the doorknob half expecting Chief to try and stop her again. Instead, he shook his head slowly back and forth looking as lost and angry as she felt.

  “The pain’ll come back,” he said. “Separation from each other makes it worse.”

  “I’ll push through it,” she vowed, opening the door and stepping out of the cabin with a murmured, “I’m sorry I ruined the reception for you. Have a nice life.”

  Outside, a cold blast of mountain air slammed into Alise as she pulled the door closed behind her. A storm was coming. The bitter sting felt good on her flushed skin up until she was down the stairs and then trudging through the forest. Walking in her high heels was extremely difficult, and the long skirt of her bridesmaid gown wasn’t helping as it flapped wildly in the growing wind. Worse, the arctic blast had her shivering before she was even twenty yards from Chief’s cabin. The cold and her shoes were the least of her problems though. She made it just inside the tree line before a spasm seized her and her doubling over. One hand planted on the trunk of a tree, she clamped the other over her stomach and tried to slow-breathe through the pain.

  Christ! I don’t know if I’m gonna make it!

  Panting, she curled her hand against the tree trunk and gnashed her teeth as she forced herself upright. She had to make it because there was no way in hell she was going back to that jerk, Chief, who clearly wanted nothing to do with her.

  Hurt at his reaction to her, she forced herself to stagger another five yards. Even in the arctic chill, beads of sweat formed on her face and arms. The hand over her belly starting shaking and she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from the pain, but she forced one foot in front of the other.

  “Oh, God!” A wave of pain hit that was so intense it dropped Alise to her knees. Hearing a rip, she knew she’d torn her dress somewhere but couldn’t care.

  Falling forward, she caught herself on one hand and could only rock back and forth as she prayed for the searing pain to pass. It didn’t, and rolling to her side, Alise lay on the forest floor dying for long minutes.

  Biting her bottom lip to keep from crying out, she felt tears slide down the sides of her face. A scream wrenched its way up her throat, and it took everything in her to keep it from escaping. What did escape though was a long, low moan as she rolled to her other side and curled into a tight ball. Please stop, please stop, oh God, please make it stop.

  “Alise!”

  Eyes pinched tight against the pain tearing through her, Alise heard the hurried crunching of steps covering the forest floor before strong hands lifted her. The second her body was settled against the warmth of Chief’s chest, she was able to suck in an agonized breath that filled her starved lungs. When she was finally able to exhale, it was on a sob of relief.

  “Jesus Christ!” He stood with her quickly and was rushing through the forest with her nestled against his chest before she could even blink her tear-filled eyes open. “You’re shaking like a damn leaf!”

  She was, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold, the pain, or the relief at being in Chief’s arms and having the pain finally stop.

  “I-I…” She swallowed thickly before trying again. “I need Jenny.”

  “Shhh,” he soothed. “It’s gonna be alright.”

  “S-s-stop!” she stammered, and when Chief kept right on walking she demanded more firmly, “Stop!”

  He slowed to a halt and frowned down at her.

  Blinking up at him, she whispered, “I-I don’t wanna go back,”

  Brows gliding up, Chief smirked down at her. “Tough. Because I ain’t letting you suffer, sweetheart. It ain’t happening.”

  “Jenny can…”

  “Jenny can’t do shit.” He started heading for the cabin again, only this time his steps weren’t as rushed. “The only way to stop our pain is to mate, and since that can’t happen any time soon, the only other recourse is to stick together.”

  “But you hate humans.”

  Alise watched as his jaw worked beneath the dark scruff of his beard. Biting his bottom lip, he angled his head away from her and hesitated answering. Finally, he said, “It ain’t you being human that I don’t like, Alise.”

  Quietly, she asked, “Then what?”

  After long minutes, he finally answered. “You don’t know what it’s like. You’ll never understand what it’s like for a beast like me to need you as much as I do. I’m a wolf shifter, Alise. And, I’m a lone wolf. I’m not part of a pack because I can’t be. I don’t know how to rely on others, I don’t know how to trust. And I sure as shit don’t want to need you
like this. To crave you like I already do. You’re already so all-consuming, and I don’t even know you yet. And with each passing second in your presence, my wolf ties me to you even more. He’s started the claiming process, and if I’m going to rip myself away from you, I need to do it now before I know anything else about you. Problem is that for me to do it, I’ll have to hurt you. Physically, you won’t be able to stand the separation, and both the wolf and the man in me refuse to allow you to suffer. I can’t even send you the Skin Walker healer, Jenny, and see if she can help because right now you won’t be able to stand anyone else’s touch, male or female. And just the thought of someone hurting you has my beast riled up and ready for war.” He lowered his chin and looked at her. “War, Alise. I haven’t even known you an hour, and I’m prepared to go to battle for you and to die if need be.”

  She shook her head, “Why? It doesn’t have to be this hard, does it? I mean, other shifters have done this without it being so complicated. How did they make it work?”

  A lopsided grin claimed his lips, “Is that what you want? For this to work?”

  Alise frowned. “I just…I don’t want you going to war. No one needs to get hurt, especially over me. But, I don’t want you tied to something you hate either.” More quietly she murmured, “I don’t know why this is happening to us. But I do know how much your kind has suffered. Shifters and Walkers. You don’t deserve that. You don’t deserve to be stuck with me.”

  “Don’t,” he growled. “Don’t talk about yourself dismissively like you’re not important. Because the second you dropped me to my knees, your name became the word for God on my wolf’s tongue. Right now, you are the single most significant thing in my universe, and for as romantic as it sounds, it’s scary as hell too. Before I came here, I didn’t even have a universe. Now, you’re it.” He smirked, “You ever own a monster before? Because you’ve got one now.”

  Chief fell into silence, and Alise did too as she thought on all he’d said. He’d talked about wars and beasts, and everything sounded so damn scary and violent, and yet underneath it all there was one shining silver thread. Devotion. Chief was pledging the allegiance of himself and his wolf to her without knowing a single thing about her, and all while not liking humans. He was right. It did sound romantic, but it wasn’t. Something about having his blind loyalty didn’t sit right. She knew it was because he didn’t have a say in the matter. Fate had thrown them together, and Chief had made it abundantly clear how he felt about humans. If he’d had a choice in the matter, it wouldn’t have been her. Him being bound to her without his desire to be not only made his allegiance feel hollow, but it was also downright scary. Peeking a glance up at him, she wondered if he resented her for it.

  Without looking at her, he asked, “What are you thinking in that pretty little head of yours?”

  She considered whether she should admit her thoughts or not. Part of her was afraid to say the words aloud lest he hadn’t thought them at all. She didn’t want to inspire the ponderings, but she didn’t want to be eaten alive by the insecurity of it either. “Best just to know,” she muttered and swallowed hard when Chief shot her a quizzical look. Clearing her throat, she said, “I’m worried you’re gonna hate me for this. If you don’t already.”

  His feet slowed until he came to a stop. Beneath the sweep of his black bangs, bright golden eyes landed on her. His gaze was intense as he studied her.

  “You didn’t have a choice.” Alise sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and released it when she realized it was sore from biting it earlier. “I took that away from you, and I’m not what you want, but you’re stuck with me all the same. Aren’t you?”

  Chief dipped his chin once in a nod.

  “You talking about war and getting all protective over me… You shouldn’t feel that way because you don’t know me and you don’t like humans.”

  “I didn’t say I don’t like humans.”

  “Chief!” Alise cried as she bit back stinging tears. “Can we please just be honest! I’m telling you that I’m afraid of what this is going to do to you. To your head. You’re bound to someone, something that you don’t want. And you’re gonna hate me for it. You’re gonna resent having to keep me close and safe, and I don’t want that. I don’t want to be your burden. I don’t want to be anyone’s burden.”

  Chief’s brows speared down, his complexion going pale a moment before he breathed, “You’re…you’re afraid I’ll hurt you.”

  Alise angled her face away from him and cursed the tremor in her voice when she said, “I’m afraid you’ll hate me.”

  “And you think that if I hate you that I won’t be able to control myself.”

  She didn’t look at him. “You said you were a lone wolf, not part of a pack because you couldn’t be.” Turning her head, she stared up at him. “Why? Why can’t you be part of a pack?”

  She saw his Adam’s apple dip low in his throat as he swallowed hard. The action was the only response she got, and it spoke volumes.

  Chapter 7

  As the silence yawned between Alise and Chief, she clipped out, “It’s fine. You don’t have to answer to me.”

  Whatever reaction she was expecting, it wasn’t the explosive sigh that left Chief or the softly muttered curse. He didn’t address her fear though just started walking again, and as he closed the space to his cabin without saying a word, her anxiety mounted. Quietly, he let them back in, and she thought he’d deposit her on the couch like he’d done earlier, but that didn’t happen. Instead, he carried her up the narrow stairs that led up to a loft bedroom. The room was warm because heat from the fire he’d started had risen up into the rafters. A shiver coursed through her with how nice it felt.

  Chief carried her to the bed, and she thought he’d just deposit her there and give her space, but he didn’t. He sat on the mattress with her on his lap, and the bed springs creaked loudly under their combined weight.

  Instantly, Alise made to scramble off his lap, but his firm hand on her hip halted her.

  “I wanted a she-wolf because I know how strong they are.”

  His admission had her glancing up at him.

  “I’m not disgusted, or offended, or deflated because you’re human, Alise. I’m worried. There are things about humans. You’re soft. All women are.” Lifting a strong hand, he cupped her cheek and brushed a thumb beneath her eye. “But you, you’re like tissue paper to a beast like me and just the thought of tearing you, of ruining you,” he swallowed thickly. “It fucking guts me.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. “And I know you don’t think you’re as fragile as all that.” Lowering his hand from her face, he settled it on her thigh where he curled it into a tight fist and stared at it. “But in these hands, even iron feels like butter. I’m a lone wolf, Alise because I’ve got a beast inside of me, and you’re right. He’s one I can’t control. I can’t be anyone’s Beta, there isn’t a submissive bone in my body. And I can’t hold Alpha because my wolf’s too uncontrollable to lead. I hurt everything. I ruin everything.”

  “You said you can’t be in a pack, but you’re here. You’re living with the Skin Walkers. That…that counts for something right?”

  Letting his head fall back, Chief closed his eyes as he spoke. “I’m here because I lost a bet.”

  “A bet?”

  Lowering his head, he chuffed a humorless sound. “A battle actually. I was in Glacier fighting in the pack battles for a female. One of Monroe’s Skin Walkers showed up and wanted to claim the prize. Hell, he already had. Baymac was afflicted, but Monroe still gave Clay and me a shot at Grace. The deal was that Baymac would fight us both. Whoever won got Grace. Whoever lost came to StoneCrow for a year to work. Cocky fucks that we are, all three of us thought we’d win.”

  Alise sounded shocked when she asked, “But you lost?”

  “Yeah,” Chief muttered, lifting a hand and scratching the back of his head. “For the first time in my life, I lost a battle. The fight was fierce, but my hear
t wasn’t really in it. I mean, yeah, I wanted a female. Like I said, I thought a she-wolf could fix mine, but that wasn’t what we ended up fighting for. I found out after the first four rounds that Grace was all human. But, I’d already made it to the victory rounds, and my wolf wouldn’t let me back out. We couldn’t. Our reputation was on the line. Then Baymac showed up, and he was afflicted, which was an out. My wolf ended up fighting an enraged African lion who was there to claim his mate.” He shook his head and smirked, his voice held humor when he said, “I didn’t stand a chance.” He looked at her. “It’d be comparable to someone coming in here right now and trying to take you from me.” Snorting, his lip curled up. “I’d end a motherfucker.”

  “So you went to battle for a mate and lost and because you lost you had to come here for a year to work?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And then you met me and were stricken?”

  He just looked at her.

  “When you were on the phone with Monroe you said it was too convenient. You accused him of forcing me on you so that he could study you being stricken. Could he do that? Could he force you into being stricken? Does he have that kind of power or ability?”

  Chief shrugged. “Dunno. What I do know is that rumors are swirling around this place about how he meddles in the love lives of his Walkers. Some say he has a list. A list of every Walker here and that Walker’s mate. Some believe that he intentionally interferes and throws two individuals together to force the affliction. Granted, it would happen in its own time, but some say he wants the pairings now.”

  “Why?”

  “Who the fuck knows. I’m new here, and not only do I not know much about Walker ways, I honestly don’t give a fuck.”