Desert Wolf (24 page)

“I’m going to enter the Reaping.” She’d not even told Cassius she would yet. Gripping Faust’s hand, she held his gaze.

“Not alone.”

“It has to be alone. Every competitor stands or falls alone. They enter their name, and they are drawn by lottery if they have no rank, which means I go in the first rounds.” She didn’t have to join his pack. Outsiders could win a place in the pack by competing.

“I’m bloody well aware of the rules,” he snarled, then gave her a hand a squeeze before standing. He almost seemed to waver on his feet a moment, but then he steadied and paced around in a circle.

When Sovvan glanced at the living room window, she found Cassius staring at them again, his hands braced on the window frame of the window as though physically holding himself in place. Catching her gaze, he gave Faust a significant glance then looked at her again. Did she need Cassius to save her?

He was so damn Alpha. Not giving into the indulgent smile his aggressive protectiveness deserved, she merely shook her head.

“How far did you go when you entered the Reaping?”

Faust stopped entirely at her question. “He told you.”

His resentment toward Cassius, his heated observations, and the quiet objection he’d had since they arrived. The men shared a history, and Cassius never said a word to her about Faust. “No, but you just confirmed it.”

“It was before I came to Delta Crescent. I was still angry, luv, and looking for a purpose. I drifted into the States and found my way south.”

She’d always thought he’d chosen them first, but apparently not.

“Sutter Butte was desolate—
is
desolate. I thought it was perfect for me. I was wrong.”

“How far did you get?”

“Far enough to face him.”

He’d fought Cassius. Sovvan twisted and stared at him. “What happened?”

“I’m alive, aren’t I?” Despite the sardonic twist to his smile, his gaze went far away. “He could have killed me, yet he didn’t. He sent me east, told me to try Delta Crescent, because I was too soft for his pack.”

Ouch
. Not only a loss in status, but a hit to his pride.

“I’m glad he did, because I ended up in the Quarter…getting drunk when I met Etienne and Poppa.”

“I’m glad he did, too. Is that why you hate him? Because he beat you?” Could it be that simple?

“No, luv, the hard feelings we share are because he used that win to back me down when he went after Serafina.”

The news rocked her. “What?” When the hell had Cassius pursued their Alpha? “Go after her? As in court her or try to kill her?” Which was worse?

Faust folded his arms, his expression unreadable. “Would it change your mind?”

Unease burned the back of her throat, and acid churned in her stomach. Unfolding from her position on the chair, she stared at Faust. “Tell me.”

“This one time, you really will need to ask lover boy in there. I smell him all over you. If he’s lying to you or keeping the truth, then you need to hear it from him or you’ll only think I’m trying to undermine him or your own resolve.”

Dammit, he was right. “I don’t know if I can ask him that question.” A lie. Of course she could ask, but did she really want the answer? What if he had tried to bed Serafina? Wolves were sexual creatures. It was years ago, so it shouldn’t matter. But it did. The pettiness welling in her gut wasn’t her, but Sera was her friend, and she was mated…
What if he tried to kill her? What if he tried to usurp Delta Crescent?
“I thought he came to witness the battles for Ascension.”

Faust said nothing.

“Did he fight in those, too?” Wouldn’t someone have told her? The Hounds had barely let her leave the house. They’d closed ranks around her. Everyone not in the fights had divided their time between her and the rest of the pack. She’d learned of Serafina’s win the same way everyone else did—when the pack’s axis rocked as the new center took her place.

“Ask him, luv. Ask him, and make sure he tells you the truth. You shouldn’t walk into any fight unarmed and ill-informed. If you really want to enter the Reaping, I’ll help you. We’ll train together, and I’ll be your second. I’ll guard your back, and I can claim a fight for you if that bastard in there won’t stand up and claim you himself.” The ugliness collided in her stomach, and all she wanted to do was throw up.

Was his history with Sera what he wanted to avoid her knowing? Was that why he went out of his way to tell her he wouldn’t interfere with her reaching out to her Alpha? She’d defended him…but had he lied? Even by omission, to gain her support?

“He won’t claim that right. He needs me to fight as an Omega, which means he can’t. It means you can’t…”

“The hell it does.” Faust snarled.

No matter why Cassius kept the truth from her, no matter what that truth was, saving his pack was still a worthy cause. After she helped him save it—if she still lived—she could go home to Delta Crescent and maybe she could heal the gashes in her soul.

“Yes, it does.” Spine stiffening, she lifted her chin. “That’s an order, Faust. Even if I go down, even if it looks like they will kill me, you will not step in. You will not interfere. This is my fight now.”

Win, lose or die.

T
he Arizona landscape
held a lot of options, but Cassius led the crew northwest. In an hour, the telephone tree would send out the alert via text, call and email to the wolves of his pack. The messages would then be relayed from there. The call to join the Reaping would summon his wolves from the whole territory; they would arrive in trailers, caravans, campers and cars. More would be on motorcycles like he and Trask’s wolves or in combination, escorting a series of vehicles—in his case Sovvan’s SUV along with Bianca in a second SUV with Maddy and a third one which joined them north of Phoenix with Claire and Tyler. A tent city would be erected and, for five days, the whole of Sutter Butte would be in one location—outside of Sutter Butte territory, in unclaimed land they’d once held.

Well, everyone who could travel. Some of the elderly would stay behind, as would some mothers and some children, but most would come. Over the years, it had grown into quite the spectacle, but it was also a guaranteed way to get everyone in the same location under the same security and obeying the same rules.

Checking his mirror, he throttled back his accelerator to settle into a parallel with Sovvan’s SUV. He’d invited her to ride with him, but she’d turned him down. Despite her obvious enjoyment, she hadn’t even made the pretense of considering the option. Instead, she rode with Faust, whom she insisted still recovered from his poisoning. The Hound, funnily enough, had nothing to say on the subject.

At all.

His silence coupled with Sovvan’s distance left Cassius to chew on the cause. Ever since he’d witnessed their tense exchange at the pool the day before, she’d drawn away from him. Though she slept in his bed, she didn’t seem to be with him at all. Had he pushed it too far with the request?

If she refused him, it would suck monkey balls, but fuck it, he’d find another way. Glancing sideways, he tried to catch her eye, though her attention remained on the road before them. He wanted to see her face when she discovered the setting for the Reaping. The last rise spread before them, the pounding desert heat slicked him with sweat, but excitement pounded him.

The location appeared like a shimmering mirage, riding the waves of heat from the scorching pavement and sand. Thunder Town sprawled before them, a caricature of a 1950s town right down to the plastic people. Straddling the desolate wasteland on the border between Nevada and Arizona, the area technically sat just beyond Sutter Butte’s borders, yet once upon a time, they’d laid claim to the whole state.

Whether the Lone Wolves roamed Nevada or not was irrelevant, none would be in Thunder Town. Like its twisted cousin Boom Town much farther north, the military had used Thunder Town for nuclear tests in the 50s, and for ground invasion tests.

A relic of the Cold War, it had been all but forgotten by the seventies, disappeared off requisition orders in the 80s and been erased from the maps in the 90s. Retired Army specialist Gil Tanner told Cassius about it over a cold beer during their courting period, after Claire introduced Trask and his wolves to him. The men hadn’t been any more certain of him than he had been of them. The town, though, proved to be a useful piece of intelligence. Over the last couple of years, he’d done several scouts on his own.

No one came there anymore. No military, no tourists, no random wanderers hiding out. It had a functional town, and a lot of eerie mannequins, and no one to interfere. It was perfect for the Reaping. Would Sovvan appreciate the symbolism of the Cold War throwback, no longer necessary to their time?

She leaned forward, one hand on the dashboard, staring at the site ahead. Excitement lit her face, bridging the remoteness she’d worn since they left Summit before dawn. Pleased she enjoyed it, he looked forward to showing her around. Accelerating, he pulled ahead to lead them in. He’d selected the high ground for their encampment. Another perk of Thunder Town, it had zero WiFi signal and no electricity. His packmates coming in would be isolated. Trask had a satellite system; he could and would hook up.

Thirty minutes later, he finished his circuit of the area and met Trask and Gil back at the campsite where the other wolves got the tents set up and sleeping quarters arranged. Claire finished nailing a tent stake in before giving him a significant look then she nodded to a spot nearly twenty yards away. Sovvan and Faust weren’t with the group. They’d parked their SUV and set up a tent elsewhere.

“Stay here,” he told Trask, and stalked across the intervening space. Faust spotted him and said something to Sovvan. Dressed in a tank top and shorts, she gleamed with sweat. The desert could dehydrate her swiftly if she didn’t drink enough. Her long dark hair had been pinned to her head, and she wore a bright, scarlet scarf around it. The effect dazzled him. Climbing their little hill, he stripped off his jacket. “This isn’t secure here, so you need to be closer to us.”

Not precisely what he’d meant to say. In fact, he’d planned for her to share his tent. Twisting to face him, Sovvan put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. No welcome awaited him in her gaze. “No.”

“Explain.” Again, not what he had any interest in saying. If he didn’t like her answer, he’d rip the damn tent apart and carry her back to his camp. He wanted her where he could protect her.

“You want me to enter the Reaping, and you can’t interfere, so no one who is coming needs to know we’re lovers.” At least she didn’t shy away from it. “As of this morning, we aren’t lovers.”

Pain blossomed in his chest at the repudiation.

“Your laws and your ways are pretty straightforward. I spent a couple of hours talking to Claire on the drive. She was very explicit, especially on the matter of what the pack knows and doesn’t.”

He would kill her. “What did she say?”

“Leave her alone.” Turning, she claimed a cooler and carried it inside the tent. Giving the Hound a scorching look, Cassius followed her inside.

“What. Did. She. Say?” They were alone, or as alone as they could be for the next five days. If Faust wanted to eavesdrop, let him. The shade of the tent helped with the temperature, but not much. Sovvan rolled up one side of the tent, pinning the corners to allow what passed for a breeze access to the interior.

Tugging a couple of water bottles from the cooler, she paused long enough to toss him one before opening the second. When she poured half the bottle over her face, then drained the other half, he opened his bottle and handed it to her.

Dripping, she blinked a couple of times and gave him a small smile. “Thank you.” Then, blowing out a breath she said, “It’s simple. Faust can already smell you on me. Chances are high the other wolves will easily, too. They will wonder why you aren’t standing up for me if I am actively your lover while they are here. On the other hand, you’ve been known to…take a lover here or there briefly before, but never more than a couple of nights in the same watering hole as it were.”

He instantly loathed the expression.

“You need them to follow you and to have faith in you. If they think you’re abandoning a lover, they will likely question whether you would abandon them. You need their faith to change everything about their way of life. Doubt will be your downfall.” She took another long drink then rubbed a hand over her face, which swiped away what was left of the moisture from her earlier dunking. “You brought me here to help you. This is how I’ll help you.”

The fact her argument seemed based in logic and reason did nothing to ease his hatred of it. “You’re alone here. During the Reaping, assassinations aren’t uncommon.”

“She’s not alone.” Faust spoke from the opening. “She is never alone. No one will touch her unless she enters the ring to fight.
I
will protect her.”

“You need to go,” Sovvan told him. “Faust and I are going to train and rest. Since we’re apparently having this combat in a hellhole, I need to acclimate to the temperatures.”

Rejection stung, burning him like acid. “The battles will happen at night. It will be cooler, with less chance for observation, and it allows combatants to rest during the heat of the day. Tempers are less frayed as well.”

“Great, sounds like it’s going to be a real party.” She stalked past him toward the SUV, and he caught her arm, tugging her back to him and locked his gaze on her.

“We’re not finished, you and I.” No matter the soundness of her tactic, he hated it. “I can find another way.”

She glided right past his declaration. “Really? In five days? You spent months trying to get me here. Killed a lot of people to make sure I could deliver what you needed. You’ve summoned your whole pack…how are you going to find another way?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s my problem. Faust can take you to Phoenix. You can stay at a nice hotel until we’re done, and then we can figure out where to go from there.” As plans went, it was feeble. Sending her into the Reaping had to be the worst idea…

“Fucking me doesn’t make me more valuable.” She tugged free of him. “Nor does keeping your past with Serafina a secret make me more amenable.”

When he opened his mouth, she raised her hand.

“I don’t want to know. Neither she nor you felt I needed to know some key pieces of your attempt on her—whether it was to court her or kill her, you didn’t seem to want it to impact my choices. So I won’t let it. I am the Delta Crescent Omega, requested by the Sutter Butte Alpha to assist him in reforming his pack. I have seen your flaws and your weaknesses, and I have heard your request.” With every word she seemed to draw on some inner strength, and pride held her so poised and utterly in control. “You want me to face your wolves, force them to confront their demons, to test their mettle—and I will do it. I will fight to survive and to save them from themselves.”

Power ringed her, and her eyes went gold. Whoever decided Omegas were the lesser of their species had to have seen their own tarnished reflection in the mirror they provided.

“When it’s done, if I survive, Faust will take me home.”

The battered remains of his heart shuddered amongst the rust.

“Alpha.” She clasped her hands together and bowed slightly. Formal. Elegant.

Catching a hand around her nape, he dragged her in and slammed his mouth against hers. She resisted for a second as his tongue teased across the seam of her lips, but then she opened beautifully and a wealth of emotion poured through him. Releasing her mouth slowly, he pressed his forehead to hers. “We’re not done. If you run, I will chase you.”

She shuddered then brought her palm to his cheek. “You have to think of your pack.”

“I am thinking of you.” It was the truth. He’d spent months, years, searching for a way to make Sutter Butte better. To fix it. Maybe it wasn’t the pack he needed to fix, but his way of thinking. One more brush of his lips to hers, and he released her. “Don’t fight until the last moment. Know that no matter what happens, I will not let anyone truly harm you. You are
mine
to protect.”

Raising his head, he met Faust’s gaze and the other wolf glared at him for a long moment.

“Protect her.”

Touching his fist to his heart, the Hound bowed. “With my last breath.”

Before he could make a fool out of himself, Cassius stalked away from her tent. Every step drove a nail into the remnants of his heart. Five months before, he’d stood in Willow Bend discussing the fate of a pack he didn’t give a shit about while courting a wolf he’d tried to kill to gain the favor of a wolf he wanted to use to win his cause.

Sutter Butte versus Sovvan.

He couldn’t lose them. He’d worked too damn hard for the first and waited too damn long for the second.

A
fter two days
in Thunder Town, Cassius began to stalk every movement Sovvan took. Some of his wolves began arriving the night before, and every newcomer sought him out to offer a greeting or a word. Everyone seemed to be seeking favor. Trailers and rigs pulled in carrying supplies for meals. Families poured out of vehicles and went to work, and by the third day a full tent city would be in place. Not all of them, though. More had broken with him. He’d felt the fragile tethers snap and vanish, some in clusters, perhaps smaller families leaving. Calling the Reaping early had been a gamble, but a necessary one. Their absence, however, increased his bad mood. Those who’d come to him, he could identify. The wolves he’d lost remained a mystery. After this Reaping, he would know them all and he’d never be in this position again. His wolves needed the connection.

Dammit, he needed it.

Claire stood next to him as he surveyed the wolves. Her mate stood under the shadow of the tent guarding her back. No matter where she went or what she did, Tyler went with her. They made excellent partners, and Ty seemed to respect her strength.

“Did you miss it?” It hadn’t been all that long since she last ran the Reaping herself. In addition to the tents for the wolves, they’d begun to demarcate the fighting rings. The early matches would be confined by space. If a wolf crossed the line or went out, they had three seconds to re-enter or they were classified as lost.

A wolf could run out, too. Their challenger was not allowed to pursue, though such cowardice carried a social stigma. So many goddamn rules and stupid conditions. No wonder his wolves were half-psychotic and mad for blood. Some of the families had already made an appearance, though neither the Garcias nor the Quinteros.

“Not even a little.” Claire’s snort amused him. “I hated it here. I hated every part of this nightmare.”

“Don’t hold back, tell me how you really feel.” Sovvan stood in the center of her tent stretching. She and her Hound had spent the night running the dunes around the encampment. Wanting to follow them had left him distracted and restless, so he sent Gil and Trask to shadow them and make sure no one else did the same.

“I did and you’re working on it.” The weight of her gaze struck him. “Which impresses me. I thought you should know.”

“I did know, or you wouldn’t have come.” The wolf next to him was smart, savvy and she could be so good for Sutter Butte.

“Good, so now that I’m here, and I’ve run the errands you needed and proved to Trask I still support you, and dealt with the last of Justin’s lapdogs…” Yes, her mission had been successful. “Why am I still here? And why are you insisting that girl fight when you want to fight for her?”