Authors: Nicky Charles
Tags: #romance, #suspense, #paranormal, #supernatural, #werewolves, #series, #lycans, #law of the lycans
Reno dropped his
hand away quickly and Katie laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care
of you.” She grabbed his hand and grinned at him. For a moment Reno
stiffened, unsure what to do when someone that young tried to flirt
with him. He cleared his throat and extracted his hand from her
grip.
“I’m an Enforcer.
I take care of myself.” He spoke gruffly then set off to follow
Klaus. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Katie sidle up to
Brandi and start walking beside her, then overheard the young
girl’s whisper. “I think Reno’s scared of the tunnels.”
“Really?” Brandi
shot a glance in his direction and he looked away quickly. Dammit,
how the hell had Katie come to that conclusion? Hadn’t anyone told
her that Enforcers were considered fearless and the next thing to
invincible? That, with their rogue tendencies, their sense of
self-preservation was skewed and they were more likely to fight to
the death rather than give up? Everyone knew it made them
formidable opponents and basically fearless in the face of danger.
Up until today, Reno had firmly believed that last fact, but these
fucking tunnels were messing with his mind and he didn’t like it.
Not one damned bit!
“Here we are.”
Klaus announced and suddenly the confines of the tunnel seemed to
fall away and they were in a relatively large space that loosely
could be called a room with several tunnels leading off from it.
Reno felt a wave of relief wash over him. While they were still
underground, it didn’t seem like it. There were a few pieces of
furniture and, as Klaus moved about turning on other lights that
were mounted near the walls, the room grew progressively brighter.
Even the air seemed fresher too and when he mentioned this, Klaus
jerked his chin up towards the ceiling.
“This is a
naturally occurring cave. The stone is quite stable so you don’t
have to worry about cave-ins. There’s also a vent that leads to the
surface and we installed a fan that recycles the air. Keeps this
area breathable.” Klaus explained.
“The other areas
aren’t?” Reno asked sharply, staring back at the tunnels they’d
just left.
“Depends. My
tunnels are good because of the venting I’ve installed and we
routinely check air quality, but I can’t say much for some of the
older ones. There are gases that can kill you before you even know
there’s a problem. Black damp—that’s a mixture of carbon dioxide,
nitrogen, and water vapour—causes asphyxiation, and methane’s a big
worry too because of possible explosions.”
Reno nodded, a
muscle working in his jaw.
“What’s the plan
now, Klaus?” Peter and the others sat down on old wooden crates
that were scattered about to serve as chairs. “Will Alice be here
soon? And my girls?”
The others nodded
in agreement and looked at the Alpha expectantly.
Klaus checked his
watch. “Should be, but it takes time. Everyone can’t suddenly leave
town and hightail it into the hills. And extracting the children is
trickier. They need to sneak out of their rooms without alerting
the bastards they work for.”
“I’m willing to
head into town and create a distraction,” one of the men said,
suddenly standing up. “My life, for the freedom of my mate and
daughter, would be a small price to pay.”
“No need, Aran.”
Klaus shook his head. “My spies are out there overseeing the
process. We’ve been planning this for months.”
Aran sat down, but
didn’t look happy with his inactivity and the others muttered and
shifted in their seats, their expressions equally displeased. Reno
didn’t blame them. Any male, even a human, wanted to protect his
family and being jailed—forced into inactivity—for so long had to
be a bitter pill to swallow. His admiration for the men grew.
Mating a werewolf
and joining a pack took guts. While the men before him were fit,
the pack members would always be physically stronger. Humans had to
use the force of their personalities and strong wills to hold their
own in a pack.
“I know this has
been hard on you,” Klaus looked at the assembled humans. “But I’m
damned proud of how you’ve held up and followed orders. A
pure-blooded were couldn’t have done any better.”
“Don’t compare me
to those bastards. It’s the pure-bloods that caused this damned
mess,” a blond haired man stated bitterly.
“Darcy’s right.”
Aran chimed in, his face twisted with emotion. “I’ve listened to
Victor’s taunts for weeks; his threats against me and my family,
that Purist garbage he’s always quoting. I was always proud to be
part of a pack, to be accepted as one of you, but now I hate every
one of them.”
The others
grumbled in agreement and a tense silence fell over the whole
group.
“Does that include
me?” Klaus asked quietly. “And Brandi and her friend Reno? Or, for
that matter, your mates?”
“Of course not,”
Darcy shook his head. “It’s just... I believed in this pack and
now—”
“They’ve let you
down and shattered your trust.” Klaus finished the thought and
sighed heavily. “If it makes you feel any better, they’ve done the
same to me. I’d never have believed they’d be so easily
swayed.”
“Some of them are
just afraid.” Katie piped in. “That’s what Mama says.”
“Afraid or not,
they should have stood up for what they knew was right. They were
our friends and neighbours. But when we really needed them, they
just looked the other way.” Peter stared down at the floor, his
hands loosely clasped between his knees. “I shouldn’t have believed
that crap about how noble wolves are.”
Aran stood up and
paced the room. “When the other mixed families left, I thought they
were weak, that I was more of a wolf than the ones who caved into
their fears. In reality they were the smart ones and we were the
fools.”
“I’m at fault,
too.” Klaus added. “I allowed the serpent into our pack. I thought
he was charismatic; full of energy and new ideas. I took him at
face value rather than really analyzing what he was saying.” The
Alpha suddenly looked old and tired. “I’m sorry. If it’s anyone’s
fault, it’s mine.”
“Laying blame and
deciding who you hate, won’t solve the problem,” Reno decided to
interject. “I’ve seen quite a few packs face this same problem and
you’ve got two choices. You can live in the past and dwell on the
wrongs done to you. Or you can move on. That doesn’t mean you
forgive and forget—some things are too big, too painful for
that—but if you let your hatred rule your life, you become no
better than they are.”
The group was
silent for a moment and then Peter slowly nodded. “True. I don’t
know if I want to stay with this pack—I’ll have to talk it over
with Alice—but hating all weres makes no sense. Purists are a small
percentage of Lycan society and I won’t let them colour my
thinking. I won’t give them that power.”
Katie’s young
voice broke the sombre mood that had fallen over all of them.
“Gramps, why don’t I take them closer to the first exit? That’s
where everyone will be coming in and they can see their families
sooner. That will make you all feel better, won’t it?”
Her youthful
enthusiasm made the others smile and Klaus agreed. Katie grinned
obviously happy to have an official role.
“We’ll talk some
more, once this mess is sorted out, but for now Katie’s plan sounds
good.” Klaus gave a nod. “I need to check in with some of my spies
and see what’s happening in town. Victor will have discovered that
his prisoners are gone by now and I’m curious to see what he’ll
do.”
“What do you want
me to do?” Reno shoved his hands in his back pockets and shifted
his weight, unused to being on the sidelines.
“Stay put. Walt’s
friends are looking for you and I don’t have enough manpower to
help you if you get caught. Same for you, Brandi.” The Alpha shot a
look her way and Reno bit his cheeks to keep from smiling when her
mouth snapped shut and she started to glower. It appeared he wasn’t
the only one who didn’t appreciate twiddling his thumbs.
Katie led her
small contingent down one of the passageways and Klaus watched her
for a moment, a mixture of pride and exasperation on his face. “I
don’t know what I’m going to do with that one,” he muttered before
shifting his attention back to Reno. He raised a brow and cocked
his head. “I couldn’t help but notice you two had a mighty
interesting way of greeting each other back in the cellar.”
Reno opened his
mouth to explain even though he had no idea what he’d say, but
Klaus kept right on talking.
“I expect it will
be a good hour, maybe longer, before any of us return. Just thought
you might like to know that.” He gave Reno a slow wink, picked up
his flashlight and disappeared into yet another of the tunnels.
Brandi gasped. “I
can’t believe he basically just said he was leaving us alone so we
could...” She clamped her mouth shut, apparently unwilling to
finish the statement.
“He thinks we’re
going to have sex.” Reno stated bluntly, smirking at her affronted
expression.
Just hearing Reno
speak those words sent shivers through her and Brandi struggled to
hide the fact. It had been so long since Langstaff—over two and a
half years—but she vividly recalled the feeling of being possessed
by him. In her mind’s eye she could still see Reno lying on the
bed; how his tanned skin, still showing evidence of the previous
night’s battle, had contrasted with the white sheets. He’d looked
like a warrior; proud and strong, yet vulnerable too, and a feeling
of love had welled up inside her.
She’d done nothing
to stop his advances. In fact, she’d urged him on, caressing her
fingers along his shaft, rejoicing as he grew harder. And then,
she’d guided him into place and impaled herself, the feeling of
fullness almost enough to send her over the edge...
Suddenly the cool
dampness of the underground room seemed to disappear and warmth
flooded through her. She swallowed hard and tried to regain her
composure, hoping he couldn’t scent her arousal.
“We are
not
going to have sex down here in a mining tunnel. That kiss in the
cellar was just... Well, it was...” She furrowed her brow and
thought for a moment before planting her hands on her hips. “Why
did you kiss me, anyway?”
It was Reno’s turn
to look confused, the playful grin fading from his face. He worked
his jaw and looked about the room, before sighing. “Hell if I know.
It just seemed the thing to do at the time.”
Brandi huffed at
his answer. She’d wanted him to confirm the emotions she’d seen
passing over his face, but being a typical man he’d taken the easy
way out. For a moment she considered letting the matter ride but
then she came to a decision and set her jaw. No. He’d kissed her.
Even after all the awful things she’d said to him, he’d kissed her.
And it hadn’t been a punishing kiss or a ‘getting even’ type of
kiss. It had felt hot and real and full of emotion.
He must feel
something for her, and even if she was wrong—if it was just
lust—she wanted to know
, needed
to know. For all that she
might say she was moving on with her life, little episodes like
this kept kindling hope inside her and she wouldn’t allow the spark
to linger. Either it was extinguished now by his declaration that
he felt nothing or...
“Reno...?” She
took a tentative step towards him—it was easy to think about
confronting someone, but actually doing it was a different matter
entirely—then cleared her throat. Her wolf, pleased with her
decision, pushed her to take another step.
“Yeah?” Reno
darted a glance at her and a wary look came over his face. With her
eyes, she followed the movement of his throat as he swallowed and
wondered what it would be like to trace that path with her tongue.
“Listen, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that kiss
meant something and...”
His voice trailed
off as she stepped even closer and heat flared in his eyes making
her stomach twist in nervous anticipation, though why she didn’t
know. They were just going to talk...right?
“We really need to
talk. To clear things between us.” By now she was close enough
that, in the relative coolness of the room, she could feel the
warmth of his body. The expanse of his chest was even with her
eyes, his dark t-shirt outlining the musculature beneath. Her palms
tingled with the need to touch him and she slowly raised her hands,
allowing them to hover mere inches from the desired
destination.
“Between us?
There’s...uh...” He stuttered to a halt.
She could hear the
change in Reno’s breathing, see the rise and fall of his chest
speeding up. Raking her teeth across her lip, she lowered her hands
until they touched the soft material. Actual contact had her
closing her eyes, absorbing the moment, feeling nerve endings
flaring to life.
It was difficult
to gather her thoughts, but she forced her eyes open and tried to
continue the conversation. “Yeah. Us. Sometimes we seem so close
and then...” She broke off when she felt his muscles contract under
her touch.
A rumble rose from
deep in his throat, and he slowly lowered his head. His nose
brushed her temple... Skimmed her cheekbone... “And then...we
aren’t.”
She drew a
shuddering breath and began to gently move her hands over him,
exploring his body as he explored her face. His lips brushed her
ear. She traced his collar bone. He followed the line of her jaw as
she moved her hands to his shoulders. Palms on his bare skin, she
absorbed the feel of supple flesh over bone and muscle. All
thoughts of conversation fled.
He slid his hands
from her hips to her waist before moving down again to clutch her
rear. He kneaded her flesh and slowly pulled her closer into full
contact with him.
He was hard. She
could feel the length of him pressed against her stomach and cursed
the barrier of denim that kept them apart.