Bonded (34 page)

Victor must be
pushing for Brandi to stay, most likely because she’d found out
something she shouldn’t have—like the fact that the rights of the
half-weres had been violated. He clenched his fists under the cover
of the table. How could a woman as pleasant as this waitress
condone the ill-treatment of her neighbours? Of course, maybe she
didn’t condone it but it was quite likely that she was at least
turning a blind eye to the situation, and that was all it took.
Evil didn’t need much of a toe-hold to start spreading.

“Well, that
certainly is news to me.” The woman was recovering from her
surprise and there was a certain gleam in her eye. She had news to
spread and probably couldn’t wait to start sharing it. “I’m sorry
that you and Brandi didn’t work out, but we’ll all be mighty
pleased to have her back living with us. Such a fine girl. A bit
too spirited at times, but still a nice young lady.”

Nancy patted his
shoulder in what might have been consolation over the supposed loss
of his fiancée. Or possibly, the pat was in thanks for giving her a
scoop on the local gossip, because she immediately hurried away,
probably to spread the latest news. Even before Reno had taken the
first bite of his meal, he could hear her whispering away to the
other servers.

Slowly, he ate his
dinner trying to ignore the buzz that was growing around him.
Glances were cast his way, but he kept his gaze fixed on his meal
or out the window, using the reflections off the glass to keep
track of what was happening around him. By the time his meal was
done, everyone seemed to have heard the news and he bit his cheeks
to keep from smiling at the comments from some of the female
patrons that followed him as he left the building.

“Brandi’s turning
down that?”

“My gosh, the
woman must be blind!”

“I’ll take him, if
she doesn’t want him!”

He chuckled to
himself. In different circumstances, if Brandi really had thrown
him over for Victor, those women would have gone a long way towards
soothing his broken heart, he thought.

Darkness was
rapidly falling as the sun dipped down behind the mountain range.
The dim light that hung over the diner door seem designed to cast
only enough illumination to ensure that no one tripped on the
steps. Beyond that, the parking area was mostly in shadows as the
clouds obscured the almost full moon.

Reno crossed the
parking lot, heading towards the room that was supposedly Brandi’s.
He was sure she wouldn’t be returning to spend the night. It was
doubtful the Alpha would allow her out of his sight as long as her
supposed fiancé was in the area. His wolf growled at the idea of
someone claiming Brandi as their own, and for once he had to agree
with the beast’s feelings on the matter. Up until today, he’d never
had a clear idea of exactly how he felt about her but the day’s
events were making one thing certain. For his own peace of mind, he
needed to discover the truth about how Brandi felt and once this
situation was resolved, he planned on confronting her.

He rubbed the back
of his neck as he contemplated how he’d go about doing that, then
stiffened imperceptibly when he suddenly sensed he wasn’t alone.
Two...no, three other Lycans were following him. His footsteps
crunched loudly on the gravel—he was making no effort to hide his
presence—and they were walking in almost perfect unison with him,
only the slightest lack of synchronization was giving them away. He
quickly deduced that one was shorter than him and was being forced
to take exaggerated steps in order to keep up.

His lip curled and
his wolf rose from its sleep ready to fight. There was barely a
breeze but it was enough to give him a hint of their scents. All
males, about his age, middle rank within the pack. Likely hoping to
move up the hierarchy by beating up the stranger in town.

Reno gave no hint
that he’d noticed them and continued on towards the back of the
property where the rooms were located. It was more private and
there’d be less chance of bystanders joining in the fight. Three on
one would be easy to handle but if the diner’s entire patronage
joined in... Well, he didn’t have too exaggerated of an opinion of
his own fighting skills!

Just as he
extracted the room key from his pocket, he sensed them closing in.
A large hand fell on his shoulder and jerked him around, pushing
him against the wall.

“Hey, Smith!” The
Lycan kept his hand on Reno’s shoulder, a look in the man’s eyes
letting Reno know he was just begging him to try and knock it
off.

No, you’re not
getting me into a fight that easily, Reno thought. Raising an
inquiring brow he looked at the assembled posse. He’d been right.
Three males, average build, brown hair. Nothing to make them stand
out in a crowd.

“Gentlemen. What
can I do for you?”

“It’s what we can
do for you.” The one who was just slightly shorter than the others
rocked back on his heels as he spoke.

“And that would
be...?”

“Not kill you for
trespassing on our territory.” The third kept his arms loosely at
his side, his fingers twitching as if he’d like nothing better than
to throw a punch.

“Your...er...sheriff, Walt, knows I’m here as does your Alpha,
Victor.”

“Yeah, well, they
aren’t too happy that you stopped by to visit. And we don’t like
you showing an interest in one of our females so we want to make
sure that you leave real soon.” Shorty, as Reno dubbed him, spoke
again.

“I’m planning to
leave first thing in the morning. My business here is over.” He
deliberately kept his voice even.

“Humph. Well, just
to make sure you don’t take it into your head to go wandering
around town tonight we have a message for you. Stay in your room.”
And with that, the fellow who’d been holding his shoulder let go
and punched him in the stomach.

Air whooshed from
Reno’s lungs but it only took him a moment to recover. Without even
thinking, he let his arm fly out, catching the man in the throat,
and then kicking the fellow’s legs out from under him.

The other two set
upon him. Their skills were adequate but Reno’s were better. As
much as he’d have loved to take them all out, another thought
crossed his mind. Carefully, he held back allowing them to slowly
gain the upper hand. While it galled his wolf no end, Reno figured
a few cuts and bruises were a small price to pay for what he had
planned.

A fist clipped his
jaw and he made a show of staggering backwards. Hands grabbed his
arms and held them while blows were landed to his body. He started
to slump, giving his attackers the impression that he was beaten
and they were the winners.

“Okay guys, that’s
enough.” The restraining hands let him go and he sank to the
ground. A final kick was delivered to his back and he landed face
first in the gravel, his grunt of pain not entirely a facade.

“Not so tough
after all, are you, Smith?” Shorty mocked him and Reno looked up
through a haze of sweat and blood, one eye already swelling shut.
“Make sure you stay in your room tonight and hightail it out of
here first thing in the morning, or me and the boys here will whip
your sorry butt again. Got it?”

Reno nodded and
the three men swaggered off, congratulating each other on how
they’d managed to best one of Lycan Link’s lauded Enforcers.

Slowly Reno got to
his feet and staggered into the motel room. Pushing the door shut,
he flicked on the lights and made his way to the bathroom. The
sight that met him in the mirror wasn’t pretty. One eye was swollen
shut, his lip was split, bruises adorned his cheekbones, and bits
of gravel were embedded in his skin.

Carefully he
pulled off his shirt, hissing as his ribs protested the movement.
Bruised, not broken; years of experience had taught him the
difference. Grabbing a washcloth, he dabbed at the damage, cleaning
himself up as best he could. A memory flashed by—Brandi tending him
after the Langstaff affair, her fingers undoing his shirt and
gently easing the material away from his wounds. Her presence that
night had made the difference, he was sure of it. True, his
physical wounds would have healed on their own, but mentally and
emotionally... It was as if she’d known exactly how he felt, what
he was thinking. She’d gone beyond the call of duty and he’d been
an ass. Little wonder their relationship never got off the
ground.

But we’ll try
again,
his wolf insisted
. Once she is free, we’ll try again.
You said so earlier.

Maybe. He wanted
to, but given what she’d said earlier—if there was even a shade of
truth in her words and she really felt that way—was there any
point?

Throwing the dirty
washcloth in the sink, he made his way to the bed and flopped down,
groaning in relief as his body relaxed into the softness. He hated
getting beaten up. However, it would prove to be worth it if his
plan worked. Having received what the locals thought was a thorough
beating they wouldn’t be expecting him to be prowling around town
tonight. With their guard down, his chances of success improved
greatly.

A yawn escaped him
and he rubbed his eyes wearily; it had been a long day. He’d been
awake ever since Brandi had called him the previous night, making
travel arrangements, racing to get to the airport, then renting a
car, and finding his way here. A few hours of rest before skulking
about the town seemed advisable. Shutting his eyes, he allowed
himself to drift off to sleep.

Chapter
22

Several hours
later Reno jerked awake to the buzzing of his cell phone. The
signal must be stronger depending on the time of day, he thought as
he fumbled for the device and flipped it open.

“’lo?”

“Reno? Where the
hell are you? You said you’d check in with me.”

It was Damien.
Reno chuckled at the concern in the kid’s voice. “Right where I
said I’d be. In Kolding’s Pass. What’s the matter? You miss
me?”

“Miss your ugly
face? No way. I just need someone to get Fielding off my tail. The
man has a real burr up his ass over you being gone.”

“Too bad. We’re
supposed to be off duty.” Reno shifted on the bed and winced as his
ribs protested the movement. Being ‘off-duty’ seemed to hurt more
than being ‘on-duty.’

“Yeah, well his
interpretation of that isn’t the same as yours. I tell you, he’s
pissed off at you. Reamed me out wanting to know where you were and
what you were doing.”

“Did you tell
him?”

“Nah. I just said
you were taking a vacation, maybe in the mountains. He didn’t like
that answer though and stormed off swearing a blue streak.”

“Huh.” Reno
wondered why the old man was over-reacting like that, then
shrugged. He had more to worry about right now than the captain’s
reaction to his absence. “You alone?”

“No. Beth’s
here.”

“Oh. Right. You
said something about the two of you...?”

“We’re mated.
Blood bonded.” Damien gave a deep rich chuckle. “Man, Reno, you
gotta try it.”

Reno snorted and
ignored how his wolf’s ears immediately perked up at the mention of
a blood bond. “I’ll leave that to you young studs.”

“Yeah, I guess at
thirty-one, you’re too old for hot sex anymore; wouldn’t want you
to die of a heart attack or something.”

“Keep it up, kid,
and I’ll wipe the floor with you when I get back.” Reno grinned at
his partner’s good natured ribbing.

“And you’ll be
back...when?” Damien’s voice suddenly became serious.

“Soon.” He rubbed
his chin and added a qualifier. “I hope.”

“Problems? Do we
need to act in an official capacity?”

“I’m not sure
yet.” Reno stared across the room at Brandi’s suitcase. She might
claim she wanted to stay but there was no way in hell he was
listening to her on that point. “First thing I have to do is get
Brandi out of here.”

“She’s in
trouble?”

Reno grunted. “I
think so. She gave me some cock-and-bull story about leaving Lycan
Link and staying in Kolding’s Pass. And the Alpha was acting as if
he owned her.” He clenched his jaw and didn’t mention the part
about mates—he wasn’t prepared to handle any comments Damien might
make about that just yet.

“Do you need
help?”

“Maybe. I don’t
want you in town, but if you were a bit closer than half way across
the country, just in case...”

“I’m on it. I’ll
tell Fielding that Beth and I are taking a little honeymoon.”

“Beth? I don’t
know if that’s a good idea.” Reno frowned. She’d seemed sort of
fragile.

“She’ll be okay.
We’ll find a place in a nearby town and I’ll have her stay well
away if anything starts to go down.”

Reno said nothing.
It was hard to think of Damien being blood bonded; the kid had been
intent on sowing his wild oats for so long. But if his partner had
found some happiness in his life, Reno wasn’t going to stand in his
way. No point in everyone being lonely...

“Reno? You still
there?”

“Yeah, just
thinking.” He rubbed his hand over his face and concentrated on the
problem at hand. “Listen, tonight I’m heading out to search the
town. I’ll see if there are any halves hidden away and try to find
where they’re keeping Brandi. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to talk
to her with no one around.”

“I can be there by
noon tomorrow. Wait and I’ll go with you.”

“No, it has to be
tonight. Some of the locals made it all too clear that they want me
out of town in the morning.”

“And if you get
caught?”

“I won’t. They’re
pretty sure they have me scared and holed up for the night. And I
thought this would be a good time to test that chemical mask
they’ve been developing at Headquarters.”

“You have a
sample? I thought it wasn’t allowed out of the labs yet?”

“Technically not,
but I was helping with the trial subjects and got a vial to use on
myself someday. It worked in the lab. The next step was to test it
in an open space where wind or humidity might lessen its
effectiveness.”