Healed: True Mates Book 3 (Wolf Shifter) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) (6 page)

Wolves were pack creatures for a reason. We loved contact, human or wolf, and the feel of her hands on me soothed that part of my soul. I could only hope it was soothing hers.

“Are you going to shift back?”

I ignored her, instead leaning into her firm fingers, which were digging into a particularly nice spot behind my ears.

She chuckled softly, sounding much more carefree than I had ever heard her. “Hmmm, I’ll take that as a no. I take it your shoulder is feeling better?” It wasn’t really a question, but I huffed in reply.

“Your wolf, he’s the playful type, isn’t he? Is that why you are so…easy going? Because you share your soul with him?”

She was right. It was hard to be as dominant at James, as moody as Sean, as aloof as Oliver, when you shared your soul with a pup that refused to grow up, but I liked it. Rather than fighting my animal all the time like some of the others, we got on great. He was also fun, preferring to joke around than mope and whine. An optimist, something that rubbed off on me. He was still adjusting to having found his mate, though, and I could tell he was considering the fact that he might just have to grow up—not sure if he liked the idea or not.

It’s time, friend. You had to grow up sometime,
I whispered inside his head, and he chuffed into Amanda’s lap. His way of telling me that he would think about it.

Leaving her to interpret my wolf’s reaction in any way she wanted, I closed my eyes, determined to enjoy having my mate’s attention for once.

“Do you think Sean will find his dad?”

Amanda’s words drifted to me, jerking me from the sleep I had been drifting toward. Sean’s dad, Bert, was a first class jerk. Having beaten his child within an inch of his life, just to make him a
real
man, he now appeared to have a vendetta against the Colstone Pack, and James in particular. Having teamed up with the Sunclaw Coyote Pack, we weren’t sure quite what his involvement was, or how it tied to Eric and Smithrock. But it did, and we would find out.

“Things have been a little too quiet around here. It’s like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop or something. The pack is restless, which is understandable, given what happened, and the new leadership, but there’s something else. Something I can’t quite put my finger on.”

I knew what she meant. The fire, then the shooting, had confirmed what I had already been thinking. Eric’s lieutenants were still working behind the scenes. Specifically, Gary, Eric’s Beta and second in charge. Whether they were still working with the coyotes? That, I wasn’t sure of.

The need to speak overwhelming my need for comfort, I lurched to my feet, shaking off the lethargy that had infused my legs.

Padding across the room, I pawed at the office door, waiting impatiently for Amanda to open it for me. I needed a shower and some clothes. My pursuit of my mate would have to wait. First, I had to make sure she was safe, and that meant eliminating all threats.

Which meant being serious. And for once, my wolf was in agreement with me. Maybe he was finally growing up.

CHAPTER SIX

Amanda

After Tarq had bolted upstairs in a mad flurry of paws and fur, I busied myself tidying away the blood-stained knife and rags. Picking up the knife, my heart clenched in an echo of fear—a useless emotion, especially since he was fine—but I couldn’t stop the macabre images that snuck their way into my head. Of Tarq lying there, his skin cold, his chest not moving—what
could
have happened. My fingers tightened on the handle, rage flooding me.

Now that was an emotion I could work with! No one was going to threaten my pack, and if they thought getting rid of me was going to be easy…?

The office door burst back open, and Tarq strode back into the room, fully dressed, his hair dripping with water. His jaw was tense as he surveyed the room, his eyes flicking around and finally coming to settle on the desk.

In a smooth motion, he clamped his hands on either side of the mammoth oak monstrosity and lifted it clear off the floor. With his legs braced, he shuffled over a couple of feet, turning the desk so that it was parallel to the wall.

I watched in wonder, my mouth hanging open, as he let the legs connect with the floor, the only sound a soft thump. What was he playing at?

He stood back, surveying the desk, then turned back to get the chair, which he deposited neatly behind the desk in its new place.

“The window,” he said, by way of explanation, dusting his hands off on his low slung jeans. “You were in line of sight.”

Ah! That made sense.

“Sit down, Amanda. We need to talk.” His voice was brusque, almost hard, and I wondered what had brought about this change. What it meant?

I almost didn’t do as he asked, my metaphorical fur bristling at the almost-order, but then I relented, chiding myself for imagining a challenge—he was my Beta. Sliding into the chair, I leaned back, the supple leather cupping my small frame, and waited for him to begin.

Dragging a chair right up to the other side of the desk, Tarq flipped it around and sat, his arms resting across the top of the delicate frame. “We need to stop thinking of this as a singular problem and start looking at the whole picture,” he began, then he frowned, regret flashing in his eyes. “I should have been doing this already, as your Beta, so, I’m sorry. I was distracted.”

“As Alpha, it’s my job to—”

“You need to be focused on the pack. They are your highest priority at the moment.
Nothing
else.”

“I see.” And I did. He was taking a step back. Giving up the chase—for the time being, anyway. I should have felt relieved, but instead, a strange feeling of loss tugged at me.

“Sean’s dad is still out there. Gary, too. Plus others we probably don’t know about. They’re aiming at the Colstone Pack, but they have an interest in Smithrock, one they won’t want to give up. Putting you here might have been a mistake.”

“I am—”

“It’s not about you, as an Alpha. It’s about who you are. You are James’ ex-girlfriend. A member of Colstone. And, yes, a woman.”

“As I was trying to say, I can meet any challenge—”

“But they didn’t try and challenge you this time, did they? No, they tried to take you out with a bullet.” Tarq’s voice was blunt, void of emotion, but I could see it simmering in his eyes. “I will
not
let anything happen to you,” he growled, his irises flashing silver.

So, maybe he hadn’t completely backed off… A traitorous part of me celebrated with joy. “Well, I’m not leaving. Not now. We’ve made progress here and I’m not going to turn my back on them.”

“Spoken like a true Alpha.”

“What does James say? I take it you’ve reported in?” I was guessing, but the sheepish look on his face confirmed it for me. “You have?”

“Not reporting in, so much as gathering intel. They still haven’t found Bert or Gary, though Macey and Cole have a lead on Jason, the coyote shifter they were sent to look for.”

I nodded, absorbing the information. “Still, the fact that I’m a woman doesn’t come into the equation.”

“It shouldn’t, but it
does
when you’re going up against shifters like them. Who like to use and degrade women for sport. I know what they’re like, what they’re capable of. If they got to you—”

I had never seen him so angry, and at the same time, I sensed real fear underneath it all. “They won’t. I won’t let them—”

“You’re damn right they won’t. I’m not letting them get within a hundred feet of you,” Tarq growled.

“Then we need a plan. I take it you have an idea?” Because he looked like he did. The man was so tense, he looked like he was going to burst out of his skin, his muscles rippling with every movement, his fists clenched on top of the chair. Gone was the softer side I had seen earlier, replaced with someone I had never seen before, and wasn’t sure anyone else had either. Something had changed in him. He was different.

“I have. But I don’t like it much.” He grunted, then looked down at the floor, his mouth twisted in a grimace. “I was thinking that we have a public falling out, dismiss any ideas that we are…close—” the grimace deepened, “—and then you go about your business. But I’d be watching…waiting.”

“So, I’d be bait?”

He nodded, then added, “I don’t like it, but I can’t think of any other way to get the traitor to reveal himself. And I wouldn’t let them get near you.”

“You think they’ll try again?”

“Yep. And soon. We don’t know what’s being planned, but I’m nearly one hundred percent sure they want you out of the way before it happens.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Babe, I’ve waited a long time to hear those words from your gorgeous lips. Sucks that they’re not begging me to—”

“Distance, remember?” I scolded him, but my own lips quirked in answer. I had thought the easygoing Tarq had gone, replaced by this more serious version of him, and it had bothered me…just a little, I told myself.

Tarq sucked in a breath, then grinned at me. “Yes, ma’am. Though we’ll have to figure out some ground rules. No going out in the open, no standing in front of windows. Map your exits.”

This time I was the one nodding. “Right—” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the desk in readiness, “—let’s plan.”

“First, do you trust me?”

What sort of question was that?

He must have read my reaction on my face because he leaned forward, lining his elbows up with mine.

“You need to trust me, Amanda. Otherwise, I can’t keep you safe. I can’t be a good Beta.”

He was so tall, he leaned over the back of the chair easily, his face inches from mine.

He continued, his breath hot on my lips, “You need to find the Beta bond and channel it, strengthen it. Once you have, then I will be able to sense you…”

I could do that, it was natural for the Alpha and Beta pair to have a bond that was stronger than with the rest of the pack, and it sounded like we would need it. I closed my eyes, searching for the bond.

“What do you see?”

“It’s like a mass of tendrils, some wispy and fragile, others stronger, all reaching out and spiraling into the distance.”

“Those are the pack bonds linking to you, their Alpha. Some are more formed because they have accepted you, others are holding back. Can you see any bonds that are stronger, and I mean a lot stronger?”

I could. There were two. One would be Tarq, the strongest, and the other James, one that was obviously fading. “Yes,” I whispered, my mind’s eye watching the threads in wonder. They glowed, pulsing with energy.

“Tug on them. Their energy will
taste
like the person who you’re connected to. This is how the Alpha knows their pack.”

I did as he asked, and tugged on the bond that pulsed with the most life. Tarq’s essence flooded me, his joy, his love for life, his mischievous flavor of fun and strength. But also, surprisingly, I felt insecurity, longing and intelligence. And creativity, artistic passion. My eyes blinked open. “You’re an artist?”

“I think that’s a discussion for another day, or never,” Tarq said, dismissing my question and indicating that I close my eyes again.

“But I’ve already found our bond—”

“You need to explore all the strong bonds, in case you need them at any point. You want to know how to use them to your advantage.”

He was making sense, so I tugged on the bond that linked me to James. And nearly fell off my chair in shock, my mind desperately wanting to go back, to un-see.

The bond wasn’t with James, it wasn’t a fading bond. It was with Tarq, and it was only just beginning.

***

Tarq

I felt the tug on the Beta bond and opened myself up, allowing Amanda access, knowing that she might need to be able to pull on my strength, should anything go wrong. I couldn’t choose what she would see, and it felt like I was standing naked in front of her, baring my soul for inspection.

After convincing her to test the other bonds, I waited, holding my breath. I knew it was there, but maybe she—

Her eyes flew open and she stared at me in what looked to be horror, shadows of pain in her eyes that I didn’t understand. Why was it so bad? What was so wrong with me that she didn’t want to be tied to me in this way?

“You— We— What have you done?” she stuttered, her usual poise gone, swept away by emotion.

“I haven’t done anything, our souls are reaching out for each other, trying to bond as mates—”

“But— I can’t!” It was my turn to feel pain as tears swam in her eyes, the brilliant sapphire dulling to a murky blue.

I grabbed her hands, stunned to find them cold and shaking. I shouldn’t have shown her, dammit, but I had wanted her to be as strong as possible, and with two bonds connected to me, she could draw on my strength two-fold.

“Amanda, talk to me.
Why
is it so bad? I can’t understand if I don’t know!”

But she wasn’t listening, her eyes closed tight again. I could see rapid movement beneath her lids, as if she was searching for something, then she let go of the breath she had been holding in a big gush, her shoulders sagging.