Deception (Dark Alpha #3) (2 page)

He literally owed his life to Gage Crittenden.

And now he was going to not only leave his alpha’s pack… but kill Gage’s brother in the process.

This situation is so fucked up.
Jak’s logical side insisted there had to be another way around this, some way he could save Arianna from the same fate Jak’s mom had endured without having to kill Mace... but he just couldn’t see it. Mace would never let her go—he’d rather see her dead.

And Jak could all too easily picture her that way.

“Hey, you all right?” Gage’s boots tramped through the leaves nearby.

His voice startled Jak out of his morbid thoughts. “Yeah, just… have a lot on my mind.”

Gage gripped his shoulder for an instant in a manly sort of way then let his hand drop. “Don’t let this thing with the bounty hunters rattle you. They’re nothing but cowards and assholes.”

“Cowards with guns,” Jak grumped. He had ended up telling Gage most of the truth: that Jak had found the bounty hunters, beat the shit out of them, and that they’d fled the area… but that he hadn’t gotten much out of them in the process. Jak had verified that they’d left by checking on their dive of a hideout on his way back from the witch’s coven.

He folded his arms and gazed out at the pack. They’d shifted to wolf form and were wrestling through the leaves, nipping at each other’s tails. It was like watching overgrown children play—the innocent kind, not the kind who tried to kill the weak among them.

“Just wish I knew what the hunters were after.” Jak’s wolf growled his unhappiness.

“Probably just freelancers,” Gage said, leaning against the van next to him. “Got wind of who you were, or maybe Arianna, through someone… then kept that tidbit to themselves until they could profit from it. If they were affiliated with someone we know—someone with a grudge—they wouldn’t have given up so easily. And they would have offered up a name under your
gentle
persuasion.”

Jak snorted a laugh and nodded.

“Honestly?” Gage said, drawing Jak’s gaze back to him. “I was mostly concerned it was your family looking for you. I know it’s been a long time, but blood runs thick.”

Jak shook his head fiercely.
“This
is my family now.” And he meant those words, but it only clamped the knot in his stomach tighter.

Gage gave him a half smile. “You know you’re more family to me than my own blood, right?”

Jak’s throat grew tight. “That’s only because you got screwed in having Mace for a brother.” If only he could confide in Gage, gain his help in this… but as much as his alpha hated Mace, Gage would never approve of actually ripping out his throat.

“At least I only have
one
asshole brother,” Gage said with a smile.

Jak coughed through the thickness in his throat.

Gage looked over the wrestling wolves of his pack. “It was here, wasn’t it?”

“Eight years, three months ago,” Jak said with a small smile. “Not that I’m keeping track.”

“It was a lucky day for both of us.” Gage gave him a nod, and Jak thought he might choke on it. How was he going to betray the only wolf who had ever had his back in all things?

Jak swallowed and lifted his chin to the meadow. “Are we doing the ceremony here next week?” The full moon was next Saturday—time for Jak and the rest of Gage’s pack to officially renew their submission to their alpha. It was what made them a pack, strengthened them, and bolstered the magic in all their blood, Gage most of all. The submission ceremony made their alpha strong. And it would be the day Jak betrayed the man who was even more than an alpha to him.

“No,” Gage said. “I think we’ll stay close to home this time. I’m fairly certain those bounty hunters are history, but no need to tempt them. Besides, I doubt Mace will let Arianna go off property.”

“Yeah.” Another problem he had to face: how to tell Arianna that his plan with the witches won’t work, and he has to kill Mace instead... not to mention the details of their grand deception scheduled for next Saturday.

“That’s why I wanted to come here today. We won’t get to run as a pack after the ceremony, like we normally do. And we need that time together. I don’t know who’s out there targeting us, but if those hunters can find out who we are, anyone can. We need to stay on our toes, work together to keep things tight. I don’t want this rattling them…” He lifted his chin to the rest of the pack. “…any more than I want it to rattle you. We’re in this together. Got it?”

“Got it, boss.” But his stomach just churned more. What would it do to Gage’s position in the Red pack if his own beta betrayed him? How would it shake the confidence of the others? Not to mention that the wolves who were his brothers today would, by this time next week, want a piece of him for betraying their alpha—a very bloody piece.

He and Arianna would need to get far, far away from Seattle.

“All right, time to get these guys started.” Gage shifted, leaving his clothes next to the van, and loped over to where his pack were still wrestling in wolf form.

Jak took a moment to banish all thoughts of Arianna, Mace, and the coming deception from his mind: once his was in wolf form, Gage and the others would be able to hear his thoughts. He could control them a little, but you never know when a stray thought will slip through: there are no true secrets in the pack, not for long anyway.

With that thought, a chill settled deep in his stomach: he would never be able to keep his feelings for Arianna secret forever. Eventually, it would come out. Jak needed to be gone before his entire pack realized he had already broken pack law. As much as he hated the idea of leaving, staying wasn’t really optional anymore.

Jak took a deep breath and shifted. His clothes fell to the ground, and the cool fall air was even more crisp with his shifter senses. It was filled with earthy scents that spoke to his wolf form. He yipped and trotted over to join his pack. Already he could hear their jumble of thoughts, excited for the hunt.

Gage had to use some of his alpha command voice to settle them down.
Listen up, assholes!

They quieted immediately, whimpering a little. Even Jak bent his head a little with that tone in Gage’s thoughts.

Mason has the prize. Jak dropped him north of us, near the top of the ridge. We’ve got ten minutes to scent and recover the prize or Mason keeps it for himself.
Gage looked up at the half moon. It was a decent amount of light in the meadow, but the forest would be slow traveling.
Wolf form only until we’re done.

They all yipped agreement, including Jak.

What’s the prize, Jak?

Come on, tell us!

You idiots will just have to find out when you get there,
Jak responded.

Their complaints were half-growl, half-groan, but Jak was glad to have an excuse to keep his thoughts quiet and focused on the hunt.

Time to go,
Gage thought. He led the pack away from the van, quickly working up to a fast lope. The run felt good—cool air in Jak’s ears, soft grass on his paws. The moon bathed them in silver light.

Once they dived into the murk of the forest, Jak took the lead.
Drop off point is about a quarter mile ahead.
He could get them there, but all bets were off after that—Mason could have gone anywhere with the prize. The pace was slower, with fallen logs, unsteady footing, and undergrowth in the way, but soon they padded into the clearing for the turnoff from the main road. 
The pack quickly fanned out, scenting for Mason.

Johnson yipped from back in the forest.
I’ve got him!
The rustle of his pounding paws, charging off on the scent-trail, followed. The rest of them scrambled after, making sure to stay in thought-range and not lose him. Jak and the others quickly caught the scent as well, and soon they were a force of fur, black and brown and silver-frosted by pockets of moonlight, trampling the undergrowth in the heat of the chase. Their thoughts were tight and focused.
Mason, Mason, Mason.
Jak was flush with the feeling of
belonging
that was part of being
pack.
He reveled in it, let it permeate his mind… and tried not to think about losing it.

A splash ahead and ripple of moans showed Mason had crossed a stream.

Lost him!
Billy complained, but Sampson had already leapt ahead, splashing down the stream. The rest followed after, fanning out at the edges, scenting for Mason as they went.

He could have gone upstream, idiots,
Jak thought. Billy circled back and joined Jak and Gage in scenting upstream. Even though Jak had set up the game, he had no idea where Mason would go… and half the goal was not so much claiming the prize as keeping Mason from getting it. Just as Jak was about to lose telepathic contact with the wolves downstream, a rapid-fire thought-argument resolved into a series of
This way!
thoughts that had half the pack charging off in a single direction again.

Jak and his cohort quickly circled back and loped after them. They only caught up as the pack broke from the forest into another clearing. On the far side was a tree that stood alone… and in the upper branches sat Mason, fully clothed next to the keg of beer that was today’s prize. The moon glinted off the silver metal, but even from this distance, Jak could see Mason’s grin.

Bastard broke the rules!
was the resonant thought cycling through the pack, but Jak just wore a toothy wolf smile as he, Gage, and Billy trotted toward the front of the pack. Rules were
all wolf
for the game… but for the chasers, not for the chased. Jak had no idea how Mason had hauled the keg up into the branches, but staying human was the only way he could move the prize, so the
all wolf
rule didn’t apply to him. However, the trees were off-limits precisely because wolves couldn’t climb.

Make a pyramid!
Gage ordered. It was a decent way to make up for the fact that they had paws not hands, but Jak could see there was no way they would get far with that. Still, they piled one on top of another, claws digging in to furred backs to form a wolf pyramid that would at least reach the lowest branches. While they could hold on with their razor-sharp claws, they’d just rip the bark right off the tree if they tried to scale it.

Coming through!
Jak threw a thought out into the pack. As a beta, his order carried a lot less weight than one from Gage, but the pyramid of fur tolerated his climb up their backs well enough to get him to the top.

He paused.
Boys, when your enemy breaks the rules, you've gotta to do the same.
He shifted right there, taking a leap as he did to catch the next branch up.

“Oh, shit,” Mason said as he saw Jak coming, buck naked in the moonlight, climbing hand-over-hand up the tree. Yips and howls from down below cheered him on, and so far, Gage hadn’t called foul on his move.

When he reached the branch Mason was perched on, Jak saw he had carved a notch into the thick wood with his claws and lashed the keg to it with a rope he must have secreted away in the forest prior to the hunt. Jak braced himself to fight Mason for the prize, but he just looked defeated as he watched Jak climb up next to him.

“Hidden rope,” Jak commented casually. “Nice touch.”

“You’re the game master,” Mason said, grumbling. “I didn’t count on you breaking the rules.”

Somehow that stabbed Jak in the heart. He was going to miss Mason. All of them, really. Now that he was human again, his stomach was back in knots.

“We could just keep it for ourselves,” Jak said, patting the tap on the keg.

Mason’s face lit up—his reddened cheeks looked like he had already taken a few slugs to drink. “Yeah?”

Jak just laughed. The pack was howling their impatience below, now that Jak was just cozying up to the keg like Mason. “No. But it was a respectable try.” His smile faded. “Maybe next time, I’ll tell Gage to make you game master.”

Mason’s grin was ear to ear then.

“Let’s lower this thing down,” Jak said. “I don’t want Billy breaking his damn neck trying to get up here.”

As they worked the rope, the clench in Jak’s stomach just grew. Breaking the rules was all fun and games within the pack, but the truth of his words plowed into him like an avalanche:
his enemy had already broken the rules.
The rules of being alpha. Of protecting your own. Of caring for your mate. Jak hadn’t been born alpha—he was the last in brutal line of brothers competing for dominance in their tiny pack—but even he knew that a dark alpha like Mace was a betrayal of everything their kind stood for. Being alpha meant doing everything for the ones you loved. Everything for your pack.

Mace had broken the rules.

And Jak would do the same to take him down and give Arianna the alpha she deserved.

Saturday nights… Arianna dreaded them even more now.

The weekends were when Mace came home with another girl’s scent on him, usually ready for a drunken round two. If she were asleep when he arrived, he would just awaken her—and half-asleep was no state to deal with her alpha. She needed all her wits about her to get through it with the least amount of pain, physical and emotional.

But now… now that Jak had promised an escape… it was almost unbearable to contemplate another Saturday night with Mace. Whatever dark art deal Jak was making with the witches to free her, no matter how painful that might be to endure, it would eventually be
over—
unlike the purgatory she lived in now. Like she told Jak in the forest, he had given her
hope.
But back in Mace’s house, the mating bond still hung over her, wringing her with guilt and fear about even the possibility of leaving Mace. She felt feverish, running hot with anger and cold with fear, one moment contemplating taking a butcher knife and plunging it into Mace’s heart, the next curling up on the floor in a ball of self-loathing for even thinking of raising a hand against her alpha.