Half Truths (A Helheim Wolf Pack Tale) (16 page)

Rhett shook his
head. He couldn’t make such a reckless promise to her when he was responsible
for her safety. ‘Just tell me,’ he replied through gritted teeth.

‘Yesterday I
felt really sick, but it didn’t last long and I didn’t vomit.’

‘This was after
you fed while I was here?’

She nodded.

He knew
something had been wrong with her. Panic threatened to take over logic, but
Rhett wouldn’t allow it. Instead he took a deep breath in and let it go. ‘Why
didn’t you tell me?’ he asked, trying hard to keep the worry from his voice.

She gave him a
hard stare. ‘I don’t need you to worry about me. Jerry does that enough for the
both of you.’

‘I’m
supposed
to worry about you Indi. You are the last of your kind. There are no others.’
He looked into her eyes hoping to see them soften just a little, hoping that she
understood, but the hard edge of her rage glinted back at him.

‘Is that the
only reason you worry about me, for the sake of the pack?’

Her words cut
him deeper than he cared to admit. But what was he supposed to say? ‘Yes,’ he
croaked, denying himself to really feel anything more for Indi. But it was like
trying to push a boulder up a hill: there was no way that it was possible.

‘For no other
reason?’ she pressed angrily.

He shook his
head resolutely. ‘No,’ he replied; his jaw tight.

She climbed out
of bed, stalked over to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her.
Rhett ran a hand roughly through his hair. Glancing at the clock, he cursed
under his breath.

‘Ind? We’ve got
to haul ass if we want to get to work on time.’ She didn’t reply, not that he
was expecting one.

Rhett had left the Jetta parked
behind the café the previous day, leaving them both to walk to
Jerry’s
.
Indi’s anger was a tangible thing between them, and although he wanted to tell
her everything—tell her that she meant everything to him—he didn’t. He kept his
mouth shut, grinding his teeth together until his jaw hurt.

They were
passing by an alleyway when Rhett stopped dead; his nostrils flaring at the
scent of rival wolf. Indi stopped when he did, staring at him through narrowed
eyes.

‘Your eyes have
changed colour. What is it?’

Rhett pushed her
body behind his, protecting her from the threat he hadn’t seen yet, but knew
was there. His wolf growled, low and steady, warning the other wolf still
hiding in the shadows to tread very,
very
carefully.

‘I’m not here to
cause trouble,’ a female said from the shadows.

‘Show yourself,’
he growled. Rhett heard her inhale sharply before emerging from the inky
blackness. ‘Leona?’ he asked in a hiss. His wolf snarled this time, the hair on
the back of its neck standing erect.

‘Rhett,’ she
said softly, keeping her eyes lowered. If they had both been in their wolves’
skins, she would have licked at his chin to show her submission. She wasn’t
there for a fight, so what was she there for?

‘What do you
want?’ he asked, keeping his body rigid in case her submission was just a ploy
to get him to relax. His mind ran through the possible reasons before she could
explain. Could she have been sent to scout out for Indi? Marcus would be a fool
to send any of his wolves into Helheim territory, especially alone. Could she
have been the wolf who broke into Indi’s apartment? He inhaled deeply. No. Her
scent wasn’t anywhere in her apartment.

‘I came for your
help.’

‘Help?’ he
asked, surprised. ‘Why would I help you?’ he spat back contemptuously.

Her black eyes
lifted to his just for a second. ‘Please?’

He shook his
head, folding his arms across his chest. ‘No. I won’t help a Dragos wolf.’

Leona kept her
head ducked, but glanced sideways at Indi standing just behind him. ‘Is that
her?’ she asked softly.

He took a step
towards her, causing Leona to back off a few steps; lowering her body even
closer to the ground. ‘You will not look at her,’ he spat; his voice rolling
with a growl.

Leona whimpered,
keeping her eyes cast down at the slush-filled alleyway.

‘Who is she?’
Indi asked from behind Rhett.

Rhett fixed
Leona with a hard glare. ‘She’s nobody.’

‘Please,’ Leona
begged again, her voice wavering.

‘What does she
want?’

‘I—’ Leona
began, but Rhett cut her off.

‘She was
leaving. Now. Unless you want me to tear out your throat instead?’ Rhett’s
voice was hard, cutting and sharp. ‘You are trespassing on Helheim land. We
have the right to tear you apart on the spot.’ He was channelling some serious
alpha vibes, and by the look on Leona’s face, she could feel it too. Her head
bobbed up and down once. She skirted the edge of the alleyway, and hurried down
the street and out of sight.

‘Who was she?’
Indi demanded once Rhett had torn his gaze from where Leona had disappeared.

Rhett blinked at
her, letting her see how close his wolf was to taking over. Leona was playing a
dangerous game by coming onto Helheim territory especially while their félvair
was in the area. Having a rival wolf come into someone’s territory was one of
the things that almost guaranteed the wolf to take over for the man.

‘Rhett?
Answer
me!’ Indi demanded.

He shook his
head, not trusting his voice. He was concentrating too much on keeping control
of his wolf.

‘She was a wolf,
wasn’t she?’

He nodded
reluctantly.

‘One of your
pack?’

He shook his
head furiously.

‘Another pack
then? Which one and why was she here?’

Rhett swallowed
thickly. ‘Her name is Leona and she is a wolf from a rival group called the
Dragos pack. Their territory is everything west of the river through Buxton and
all of Dayton-Hollis.’

Indi frowned.
‘So why was she here?’

He shook his
head once. ‘I don’t know. I don’t want to know. She shouldn’t have been here.
This part of town is deep within our territory. She took a hell of a risk
coming here.’

‘So it must have
been important.’

‘Maybe,’ he
admitted. ‘But I’m not interested in anything she has to say to me.’
Tentatively, he took her hand and squeezed it softly, but Indi pulled free from
him.

‘I know you have
to protect me Rhett, but you have to stop treating me like I’m fragile. I made
it this far through my life without your help, so what makes you think I can’t
keep doing that?’ She stormed off.

‘Indi!’ he
called out after her. He jogged to catch up with her. ‘Indi, please.’

‘No, Rhett,’ she
replied through gritted teeth. ‘Not until you start being honest with me!’

As Rhett walked
Indi the rest of the way to work, all he could think of was Leona. She
had
taken a hell of a risk to speak to him in person, but he still couldn’t figure
out why. Maybe Marcus put her up to it just to fuck around with his head. Maybe
she just had a fucking death wish. Whatever the reason, it didn’t concern him.
All that concerned him was keeping Indi safe and finding a way to get Eaton
back.

Rhett drove Indi home after their
shift, jogging down the stairs to his Jetta as soon as she was safe inside her
apartment. Just as he started the ignition, he received a text message. Pulling
his phone from his back pocket, he unlocked it and read the message. It was
from an unknown number, and he was instantly suspicious. He’d read it twice
more before he could comprehend what it was saying. This person—whoever they
were—said that they had information about his aunt and wanted to meet him at
Buxton Park as soon as possible.

Putting the car
into Drive, he drove to his best friend’s place. Brax lived in a two-bedroom
apartment down by the river. How he afforded the rent, he had no idea. Rhett
knocked on the door; B opened it with a towel slung low on his hips.

‘Rhett,’ Brax
said. Leaning in and mock-whispering behind his hand, he added, ‘I’m
entertaining if you know what I mean.’ Rhett’s eyes travelled over his best
friend’s broad shoulder, taking in the smattering of female clothing around his
apartment.

‘Get rid of her.
We have a problem,’ he replied, pushing past his best friend and into his very
tastefully decorated apartment. Rhett hoofed it over to the wet bar near the
kitchen, pouring himself a glass of Lagavulin while B disappeared into his
bedroom.

‘But why do I
have to go?’ a female asked a few minutes later; her voice grating on Rhett’s
already fragile nerves.

‘My brother’s
here, baby. We have business to discuss.’

The woman’s pale
blue eyes latched onto Rhett when she finally emerged from the room. She smiled
lazily. ‘What kind of business you in?’ she asked in a seductive drawl, slowing
down to get a better look at Rhett.

‘Real estate,’ B
replied without skipping a beat. He shoved her gently in the back to keep her
moving.

‘Well maybe when
you’re done, you, me and your brother could have a little business of our own,’
she suggested in a low purr. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and chewed
it.

‘Maybe. I’ll
call you later.’ B gave her one last shove and closed the door behind her. B
grinned at Rhett. ‘I met her down at The Imp. What do you think?’

He wished he
could go back to those days when he could just pick up a female at some bar
with Brax. Humans didn’t care about his mismatched eyes. They found it sexy and
mysterious and Rhett was more than happy to play the part. But all that had
changed when he met Indi. ‘She’s hot,’ Rhett replied absently, keeping B happy.

‘Damn right she
is. Her name’s Lauren,’ he added, dropping into the couch beside him. ‘So,
what’s up?’

Rhett took
another sip from his glass and told him about Leona showing up that morning.

‘What do you
reckon she wants?’ B asked.

‘Don’t know. I
don’t fucking care to be honest. I almost shifted this morning because of it.
But there’s more.’ He took his phone out of his pocket. ‘I just received this,’
he said, pulling the message from his inbox. Brax read it as many times as
Rhett had, frowning when he was finally done.

‘Any idea who
it’s from?’

He shook his
head. ‘No fucking idea.’

‘You going?’

‘We don’t have
anything else to go on, so yeah.’

‘But what if
it’s a trap?’

He shrugged.
‘It’s a possibility, but what other choice do I have?’

Brax’s eyes
slipped colours until Rhett’s stomach began to churn. ‘Give me five.’

‘What for?’
Rhett asked as B stood up and walked towards his bedroom.

‘I’m coming with
you.’

Ten minutes later, Rhett and Brax
were on their way into the park. A second text message had come in that time,
telling Rhett to go to the pond in the middle of the park. The cold weather
guaranteed the park to be empty once the sun went down. Rhett and B approached
the pond from the east, staying downwind from whoever had texted them. Rhett
caught a whiff of them, and his body instantly stiffened. It was Leona again.
He motioned for B to stay where he was.

Rhett marched
into the clearing. Leona spun around like she was frightened, but made no show
of aggression towards him.

‘Rhett, thank you
for coming,’ she stammered.

‘Leona, what do
you want? Surely risking your life twice in a day isn’t worth whatever it is
you want.’

‘I’m sure it’s
not, but the information I have for you is.’

‘You said you
know something about my aunt. Why are you telling me?’

She bit her lip,
glancing around nervously and sniffing the air. ‘Did you bring another pack
mate with you?’

He narrowed his
eyes at her before calling B out from his hiding place. Like she’d done in the
alleyway, Leona lowered her eyes submissively to Brax.

‘You are Brax,’
she said, still without looking up.

Brax didn’t
answer.

Rhett said, ‘You
said you knew something about my aunt. Tell me what you know.’

‘I will, but I
need to have your word on something first.’

‘What?’ he
barked.

‘I require sanctuary.’

‘No deal.’

‘Please!’ she
said, reaching for his arm. Rhett took a step back, pinning her with a hard
look.

‘Tell me what
you know first
then
we’ll consider giving you what you want.’

Leona cracked
her knuckles; conflict clearly written all over her face. ‘Okay. Okay. I know
where they’re keeping Eaton.’

‘And?’ Of course
she fucking knew. She was Marcus’s Captain of the Enforcers.

‘I want to help
you get her back.’

‘And all you
want in return is sanctuary?’

‘Yes,’ she
replied fervently. ‘Sanctuary is all I ask for.’

Rhett looked
over at B. He shrugged. ‘I think we need to talk to Antain about this. It’s his
call,’ Brax said conversationally.

Rhett agreed,
but didn’t say so in front of Leona.

‘Fine. Come to the
farmhouse in two hours. You’ll meet with Antain and plead your case. Tell us
what you know and he’ll make the decision.’

For the first
time, Leona’s face relaxed; some of the tension leaking out of the tight lines
around her mouth and eyes. ‘Thank you. Thank you,’ she said fervently. She
turned, sinking back into the shadows of the park.

 ‘What the fuck
do you think that’s about?’

Rhett shook his
head. ‘No fucking idea. But I’d love to find out.’

*

Leona ran back to her car and
gunned it back to the pack house. Marcus was always suspicious of any wolf who
was away from their pack for any period of time except for work.

She was driving
faster than she should have been, but fear and anxiety were ratcheting up in
her chest, making it hard for her to breathe, hard for her to even think. Rhett
was right. She had taken a risk going to see him, but she could see no other
way. She didn’t want to be a Dragos wolf anymore. She didn’t want to have to
live with the guilt.