Alpha (29 page)

I rubbed my forehead slightly, trying to ease a headache that was starting to develop.

"It was hard keeping a closer eye on you when you were in another pack's territory," he said as he threw a look in Cade's direction.

"If you'd told me I would have allowed you into my territory," Cade threw back.

"I couldn't tell anyone the truth in case it got out. If Victor finds out about her..." He couldn't even finish his sentence as he held Cade's gaze. I was pretty sure I didn't want to hear what he couldn't say.

"Your sister is my mate and this is her pack as well so you are welcome onto our territory any time," Cade said to Kyle.

At his words, I touched the healed bite mark on my throat and blushed. My brother just smiled and shook his head.

"I'm glad you found your mate," he said as he wrapped one arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

"Me too," I said as I shot the lucky guy who was my mate a smile.

We'd been so wrapped up in the conversation that I'd totally forgotten about Gary, who'd been quiet the whole time. I glanced over to see him still sitting in the chair, watching us.

I smiled. He got up and walked over to stand beside Kyle.

"Thank you for taking such good care of her," said Kyle to Gary as they shook his hands.

"Your parents would be so proud to see you now," said Gary, still looking at Kyle like he was looking at a ghost.

"I hope so," he replied softly.

It was hard to say goodbye to my bother a little while later. I'd only let him go because he'd insisted that he needed to get back to tell Nate that I was safe.

"I'll be back in a couple of days," he'd reassured me before hugging me tightly. We stood by the open gates of the property that overlooked the forest.

"Okay," I muttered, not happy about letting him leave.

He shot me one more smile before he shifted into his massive wolf. I watched with Cade beside me as Kyle and his pack disappeared into the forest.

You okay?
I felt his fingers intertwine with mine.

Yeah, I'm just tired,
I replied through the mind-link.

He gently tugged me forward and we walked hand-in-hand back to the house. Silently, we went up to our room.

I went straight for the bed and lay down on my back and rested my arm over my eyes. My headache was still pounding. I heard Cade walk across his room and then I felt the bed dip. I moved my arm to look up at him.

"Here, take these," he instructed as he gave me a glass of water and two headache tablets.

"Thanks," I mumbled as I did what he asked.

I handed him back the glass and lay back on the bed. A few moments later, I felt the bed dip again and I turned to see Cade lying next to me.

"Sometimes, you can be really awesome," I said, watching him look up at the ceiling.

He smiled and turned to face me.

"Only sometimes?" he asked playfully and my smile widened.

"Yeah, only sometimes." I stayed firm.

"I'll have to work at it."

Then I had a thought. I knew something that would make me forget the emotional day I'd had, and I knew for sure it would make me feel better. I got to my knees on the bed and leaned in to kiss Cade. He smiled against my lips.

"I thought you were tired," he said when I lifted my lips from his.

"I'm never too tired for this," I replied in the same playful tone.

"Are you sure, Scar?" he asked with a more serious tone as his eyes held mine.

"I need this," I admitted to him. He studied me for a moment, then his arms snaked around me and brought my lips against his.

He moved his lips against mine and he gripped my waist as his tongue slipped into my mouth. I groaned and my stomach flipped at the intimate action.

It was exactly what I needed.

Afterward, I lay with his arm wrapped around me with my head against his chest.

"I think you're going to have to keep working at it," I teased. His chest rumbled with laughter.

A little later, after we'd both showered, we went downstairs to have dinner.

"Blake is joining us tonight," Cade informed me as we entered the dining room.

"Hey, look at you, all mated, shifted and everything," Blake teased as I walked in first. He was already seated.

I gave him a playful glare as I sat down across from him. Cade took the spare chair beside me and sat down as he laughed at the two of us.

We'd come a long way in a short span of time. It was hard to remember how much I'd disliked Blake and Cade when I'd first met them. I cared for Cade in a way I'd never cared for a guy, and I cared for Blake as family.

A few minutes later, Gary arrived and we started to eat.

"So, you said you had some stuff you needed to tell me?" Blake asked Cade.

"Scar and I had an eventful day," Cade began. "Kyle came onto our territory without permission."

"He can't be that stupid," Blake remarked, all humor and playfulness gone. He was all alpha.

"He was desperate to find his sister," Cade replied.

"He doesn't have a sister," scoffed Blake. I kept quiet as they talked about my brother. Before Cade continued, he glanced in my direction.

"What am I missing?" asked Blake as he witnessed the brief look.

"I have a brother," I revealed.

"You have a brother?" he repeated in disbelief. "But how?"

"I only found out about him today," I added, setting my fork down beside my plate.

"You have a brother you didn't know about and Kyle has a sister no one knew about. What are the odds," he said, shaking his head. It took him a few moments to put those two puzzle pieces together.

"Kyle is your brother." He gasped when he finally got it.

I nodded my head.

"But, I don't understand," he said, still looking bewildered at the shocking revelation.

"Remember the stories about Kyle's parents abandoning the pack?" Cade began to explain.

"Yeah, I remember the stories."

"Well, they didn't abandon the pack. They left Kyle and their pack to keep them safe," Cade explained further.

"Why?" Blake asked.

"Victor."

Blake's features changed from confused to angry. For the first time, I wondered how well they knew Victor.

"What did he do?" asked Blake. He clenched his jaw as he pushed his plate aside. Clearly the subject of Victor was enough to ruin his appetite.

"You remember the story of him losing his mate."

"Yeah," Blake confirmed.

"When he met Scar's mom, he wanted her as his mate despite the fact that she was already mated to an alpha," Cade explained.

"I can't say I'm surprised—the guy is a fucking lunatic," Blake replied.

"They couldn't reason with him. He even went as far as to try and kidnap Scar's mom," Cade explained. "They decided that it was best to leave the pack to keep them safe. Victor didn't know about Kyle so they thought it was best to leave him behind. Nate, their dad's brother, took Kyle and passed him off as his own son."

"Holy crap," Blake muttered as he shook his head in disbelief. When our eyes met, he gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Their parents ran and kept a low profile. But he found them ten years later and killed them," Cade said, emotion starting to creep into his voice. "He didn't know that they'd had a child at all, never mind two."

Cade paused for a moment as he shared a look with Blake. Blake looked somber as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Kyle said they managed to keep tabs on her. As long as she hadn't turned sixteen, she was still undetectable and they thought it was safer to leave her in Gary's guardianship than take the risk of bringing her back into the pack and Victor discovering who she really is."

Cade's hand reached for mine.

"Kyle panicked when he heard there were rogues on our territory and he was scared Scar would be unprotected against them," Cade finished.

"This shit is like something out of a soap opera, you know," muttered Blake.

Blake pushed back from the table and stood up. He was agitated as he began to pace up and down. Cade and I watched him silently.

Then he turned to face us.

"You do realize we are fucked if he finds out about her," Blake said, getting straight to the point.

Cade stood up, pushing his chair back.

"I'll talk to you in the study," he barked at Blake.

Without another word the two of them strode out of the dining room. Why wouldn't they talk in front of me? I glanced at Gary. He knew me too well because he shook his head gently.

"I would tell you not to, but I know you well enough to know that you aren't going to listen to a word I say."

He definitely knew me too well.

I got up and left the dining room. I snuck as quietly as I could to the study so I would be able to overhear what they were saying. It was at times like this that I appreciated the fact that Blake didn't belong to our pack so they couldn't communicate through the mind-link. They had to talk to be able to communicate.

I strained my ears.

"...I have a bad feeling about this." It was Blake and he sounded stressed. For the short time I'd known Blake, he was always so laid back, but there was no doubt he was seriously stressed.

"I know," sighed Cade.

There was silence.

"The rogues aren't a coincidence," said Blake. It wasn't a question; it was a statement. “They were planted by Victor to capture Scarlett.”

It meant Victor knew about me.

"I know.” It was Cade, his tone resigned.

I felt a little bit betrayed that he hadn't shared his suspicions with me. Was it his way of trying to protect me?

"We have to join our packs," said Blake.

Wow!
I hadn't expected that. I wondered how complicated that would be.

"We can, but I don't think that's going to help," said Cade.

"You're like a brother to me and I'll do everything I can to keep you and Scarlett safe," Blake told him.

My heart squeezed at his words. They were closer than best friends; they were non-blood-related brothers.

"I know, I just don't think we stand a chance," Cade admitted. The heaviness in his voice pulled at my heart. It was the responsibility of every life in our pack that weighed on his shoulders.

"Even with the help of Kyle's pack it isn't going to be enough to defeat Victor and I can't lead so many innocent lives into a slaughter," admitted Cade.

"Running isn't going to help," said Blake. He knew his friend well enough to know that that was going to be the next thing he'd contemplate.

"I know that."

There were no other options. No matter which option we chose, someone was going to die. The option to run would be a better one because it would at least save the pack, but I couldn't live with an option that would end Cade's life.

Fear and desperation filled me as I began to realize the full effect of the situation we were in.

Having heard enough, I snuck upstairs into our bedroom.

I began to pace up and down. It was a good thing I was protecting my thoughts, otherwise Cade would know I'd heard what they'd said.

I rubbed my forehead as I tried to come up with an alternative option where less lives were sacrificed to keep me safe. Any life other than my own was too much to sacrifice.

My own!

Then it struck me. I had a third option I hadn't thought of. I could give myself over to Victor.

If I gave myself willingly to Victor, I'd be able to keep Cade and our pack safe. I'd also be keeping my brother and his pack safe as well. It was the only option that didn't cost lives. I swallowed hard as I tried not to think about what that choice would cost me. It didn't matter. It was the only option. I wouldn't contemplate another one.

Now that I'd made up my mind, I had no idea how to put it into effect. Kyle had told me that Victor's territory bordered his and Cade's so I knew exactly where to go.

My mind began to set up scenarios of how I could get away without anyone stopping me. I knew that if Cade even suspected what I was going to do, he would lock me up to stop me.

I only had one chance to do this and I couldn't fail.

My failure would cost lives, and I wasn't prepared to live with that.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Scarlett

Once I managed to make my decision, I felt a calmness settle over me. I still needed to work out how I was going to get away without Cade or anyone else noticing. That part of my plan might prove to be the most difficult. I took a deep breath and expelled it. I had to go downstairs and pretend everything was fine.

Cade and Blake were in the formal lounge with Gary, talking to one another when I found them.