Bound to the Tribe (Bound to the Pack, #2) (7 page)

“When we got back from the club, they were waiting for us in our room.” She nodded towards the front of the car. All I could make out was the backs of their heads in the early morning light.

We had been taken.

Barely two days on the run. How had they found us? “Where are Kris and Troy?”

“Probably in another car,” Jen answered and turned to look out of the back window. “I didn’t see them though, so maybe they got away?”

Hope radiated from her but I was unable to find any within myself. Capture teams like this did not make mistakes; if a group was waiting for us, one would have been waiting for them as well.

“I’m amazed you’re not still drunk.” Jen looked at me, concerned and curious.

“Should I still be?” This had been the first time I had ever drank in excess. It had been fun at the time, now, however, was another story. I didn’t really understand the appeal.

“By all rights you should either be incoherently drunk or non-functionally hung over.” She grinned suddenly. “I bet it’s just another of the unfair advantages of being a shifter. I’m still a bit out of it myself, but not too bad, I drank far less than you did.”

“Enough talk.” The shifter in the passenger seat turned back to look at us both. “We’ll be at the drop off in less than an hour. I’m tired and irritated enough without being forced to listen to the two of you prattle on.”

The sun lighting him up from behind did nothing to help my own mood as he turned back to face the road. Not being able to place their scent was going to frustrate me to no end.

Jen put an arm through my own restrained ones and hugged them to her as she leaned in to rest her head against my shoulder. It felt good to have her beside me, touching me, in what would likely be some of our last few hours together.

Basking in the feel of her against me I settled in, attempting to relax as we closed in on the town we had left little more than a day ago.

The time passed by far more quickly than I would have wished, and before long we were driving through the town and pulling into the parking lot of a massive gym.

The departure point to the trails leading to the tribe and my fate.

Our two guards parked the car, exited the vehicle, and opened my door to assist me in getting out. It was made more difficult by how tight my restraints were, a fact noticed by one of the shifters escorting us.

“Odd, these shouldn’t nearly be so tight.” He walked around me, making adjustments while the other watched for me to attempt anything. “Ok, better,” the first guard finished.

I was able to stand up fully and breathing became far easier. I felt far better already and nodded my thanks to the observant guard.

As he was stepping away several more cars pulled into the parking lot. Surprisingly, one was Jen’s. More surprisingly, Kristen was at the wheel and there were no guards with her. The other two vehicles each held a pair of guards like my own, but were otherwise empty.

The four of us waited while the new arrivals parked and everyone in them was walking our way. Well, the guards were walking. Kristen was doing something that seemed to be half jogging and half stalking.

“Are you guys all right?” She looked Jen and I over as she gave each of us a quick hug. She was furious.

“As well as can be expected.” I smiled in spite of everything, it was good to see her.

“Let’s move,” the irritable guard from earlier spoke as the others arrived. He followed his own words as he said them, turning and beginning to walk towards the building.

“Why did we come
here?
” Jen asked as she looked around. The gym was the only building close by and we were being herded towards the entrance.

“This is the closest place to park for the reservation,” Kris replied offhandedly as she looked our guards over. “The gym is really just a front.”

“A front?” Jen was getting even more confused.

“Yeah,” Kris nodded. “A gym is the perfect cover if you think about it. Plenty of lockers for us to leave our belongings in, so we don’t have to bring them with us. Plus the tree line comes right up to the back.” She gestured over the building as we approached, the tops of trees visible above the roof.

She looked Jen up and down while also gesturing to herself. “Plus we can grab a change of clothes, since doing a two day hike in clubbing clothes? Not a good idea.”

Two of our escorts stepped ahead to hold the doors for us. This early in the morning there were few others around, thankfully. A shifter at the front desk nodded at us as we passed, eyes lingering on me.

It wasn’t every day a fugitive was brought through.

“Makes sense,” Jen chuckled suddenly, “And since you all look like you live in a gym anyway, it’s totally believable that one of you would go in and leave a week later.”

“Humans aren’t that observant,” I answered, watching as some of the guards headed off towards that area. “There are several rooms here for our use when needed.”

“She was making a joke about how muscle bound and fit we all are, Li.” Kris chuckled as I shook my head, having completely missed it.

We were taken into what looked like a shop for the gym, stacks of clothes were everywhere and there was a wall of shoes to one side. Kristen and Jen were allowed to get items in their sizes and change into them. I wasn’t given the opportunity, either because of my bindings or because my clothing wouldn’t hinder me on the trail.

The girls finished quickly and we moved on, passing through the building to find ourselves outside in a secluded area near the tree line. The remaining guards watched the forest for something, most likely the guards that would take us the rest of the way to the reservation.

Rustling alerted us to someone approaching, clearly wanting to announce themselves or there would have been silence. A shifter only made noise in the woods if they wanted to.

A moment later my heart sank. Making his way into view was a large grey and white wolf with heterochromatic eyes. The deep brown of his right eye seemed to say ‘welcome home’ while the ice blue of his left eye felt to be judging us. Judging, and finding us all lacking.

He was the alpha of my own pack, the only shifter whose opinion I truly cared about.

Ian.

He looked over us, gaze lingering on Jen and causing her to step closer to my side as unease wafted from her. He then turned and walked off, an indication that we were to follow.

One of my guards came to me and undid the bindings on my arms, leaving the rest of the harness in place. They wouldn’t want me to fall and break my neck before they had the chance to try me and find me guilty.

As the guards went back inside, Jen looked around. “What’s going on?”

“We are to follow,” I replied simply, and walked off to the trail that lead to the reservation.

“Wait,” Jen continued, searching around as we all moved into the trees. “Where’s Troy?”

That was a good question.

“
Fuck
Troy!” Kristen hissed angrily. “He’s a traitorous ass and I’m going to fucking kill him.” I could hear her teeth grinding as she growled, fists clenched.

“What?” Jen moved closer to Kris. “What happened?”

“He sold you guys out,” Kris growled. “The minute he left us by our cars the other morning, while you were passed out. He was telling them exactly where we all were. He even left them the extra room keys so they could be waiting for us when we got back from the club.”

White hot anger flared within me, no wonder they had found us so easily! I wanted to charge off right then and hunt him down to end his miserable life.

Kristen must have known my thoughts because she stopped ahead of us and turned to face me. “He’s mine,” she spat out between clenched teeth. I nodded slowly.

It wasn’t like I could actually leave, anyway.

The scents and sounds of our escort surrounding us were brought to me no matter where the wind blew from. There were at least two packs worth of guards out here. Representatives from each of the clans seemed to be present as well; deer, fox, and moose.

This matter wouldn’t be left to be handled internally by just wolves.

Our hike continued quietly for a time, the scent of sadness coming from Jen while an unrestrained anger flowed off of Kris. Surprisingly, my own anger had died down quickly. It was difficult to focus on staying angry when you faced your own approaching death.

It brought an odd sense of serenity.

“How long will we be hiking?” Jen asked some time later. The pace we were moving at was blessedly slow. Ian taking pity on the human perhaps, as unlikely as that would be.

“It depends on whether we are to arrive tonight or in the morning,” I answered simply. We would arrive when we were required to.

Morning passed into afternoon with little of note occurring and few conversations. We were all lost in our own thoughts as we progressed further into the hills.

The highlights of my day were the simple moments I spent assisting Jen. Holding her hand as she crossed wet rocks over a stream, pulling her up a steep incline or onto a boulder, holding her waist as we crossed a fallen log over a short drop.

I relished every second we were in contact.

An unfortunate side effect was that as the day wore on Kris became more sullen and withdrawn.

It was late afternoon when I confronted her while Jen drank from a stream nearby. When I had asked why Troy would do this the answer shocked me.

They had never bonded.

“Why the hell are you smiling, Liam?” she asked, hurt that I could smile at her loss and the instrument of my capture.

“I succeeded,” I replied as I continued to smile down at her, a huge weight removed from my shoulders.

“What?” Kristen was confused. “What do you mean?”

“I came down to prevent you bonding Troy and, whether or not I have any credit for it, you didn’t.” Seeing her anger rising I walked to her and hugged her tightly. “You’re safe. You won’t be exiled.”

“Fat lot of good that does you.” She smiled sadly up at me.

“It does me worlds of good, sister.” I smiled again, genuinely happy. “I know you will be all right.”

She sighed and shook her head before giving me another squeeze. “Your definition of all right is much different than mine, but I’ll do my best.”

I nodded, it was all I could ask for.

An hour or so before sunset I began to plan how best to get Jen through the trails in the dark. Carrying her again was likely the best option.

It was a relief, however, when the familiar grey and white wolf came into view as we rounded a bend in the trail. He was resting on his haunches and waiting for us to close the distance. As we approached he stood up and trotted off of the trail.

Jen groaned softly as we turned to follow, the smell of exhaustion had been radiating from her for hours. It had become difficult for her to lift her feet very high so I made sure to find a path she could shuffle through.

The scent of roasting pheasants and rabbits reached us long before we arrived at the camp. Even Jen’s limited senses had picked up the aroma and set her stomach growling. She continued onward with a renewed determination.

Stepping into s small clearing we found a single man sitting on the ground by the fire, tending the roasting meat. Logs had been set up for us all to use as seats and a tent stood nearby.

I growled despite my best intentions not to. These were all subtle insults, insinuating that I had lost myself to human comforts.

Kris walked up and took the seats gratefully, but I eschewed them and lowered myself to the ground, opposite from my mentor. “Ian,” I said simply.

“Liam,” his response was just as flat. “Kristen.” He turned and looked at Jen, who shied away from his unsettling gaze. “And the human,” he finished, his tone a mixture of curiosity and disdain as he watched Jen, still standing at the edge of camp. Fear rose within her under his piercing eyes.

“My name is Jen,” she spoke quietly, anger beginning to replace some of her unease, “Not ‘the human.’” She stared back at Ian, both unblinking, then slowly walked to the open seat across from Kristen, brazenly sitting nearer to Ian than to me.

Kristen watched Jen, worried. Ian wasn’t someone to be pushed.

After a time Ian spoke. “Very well then. Jen.” He regarded her with thinly veiled surprise.

I turned my gaze from Jen and watched Ian as Kris relaxed nearby. The scent of Jen’s emotions lingered in my mind and I marveled at what an amazing person she was.

She couldn’t have known that the fear coming from her had angered Ian. Ian was a hunter through and through, and any weakness would be exploited.

The only chance she had to get by safely had been to do as she had done. Take a chance and confront her fear boldly.

A true hunter respects nothing more than something facing its fears and overcoming them. In doing what she had done, she had upended the image Ian had built up of the weak human I had bonded.

“Ian,” I spoke as he continued to watch Jen as she stared into the flames. “Tell me, what is the general feeling of the tribe? What are we likely to encounter when we arrive?”

Jen and Kris both looked up at me before turning to Ian as he answered. “You know I spend little time on the reservation.” He met my gaze and poked the fire, sending sparks dancing up into the air.

“Still, you must have been there if you are here now.” I watched his face for a reaction and was rewarded with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. A quickly suppressed grin.

“Clever, and true.” He grinned fully before continuing. “It’s been quiet. Suspiciously and intentionally so.”

I stared at him, confused, as Kris spoke my own thoughts. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” he looked at us each in turn, “That once word came in of what you had done, the few who knew were sworn to secrecy.” He stared me down and his face grew darker. “We were also forbidden to speak with any of you.”

“Then why are you here? Is that why the rest of our guards are off in the woods around us instead of being close ‘in case?’” Kristen’s words caused Jen to stare off in random directions through the trees, fear spiking slightly but never reaching her face.