Her Forbidden Alpha (7 page)

Killion’s hand hung poised over the speakerphone. “Want me to accuse him outright or act like nothing’s wrong and see if I can tease some intel out of him?”

“The latter. If that doesn’t work, we can always accuse him later.” Darius sat down next to the phone as Killion started to dial. “If we get to that point, I might take over. Fair warning.”

“No problem.” Killion hit the last number and the phone began to ring.

Lidano didn’t pick up until the last minute. “Colonel Lidano.”

“Killion Bishop. You were going to get back to me, Colonel. What happened?”

Darius glanced at his watch. Killion was right—Lidano was overdue by a full half hour.

“I’ve been trying to get a firm answer from the General. He’s been hard to track down today.”

Not surprising. He was overseeing war preparations.

“Well?” Killion said.

“I haven’t gotten approval yet.” Lidano paused for a long breath. “You’d better not take it out on Aislinn.”

“That’s not the first time you’ve accused us of hurting her, even though she told you herself she was unharmed. What exactly do you think we’re doing to her?”

“We’ve heard about how you treat humans.” Lidano’s voice sounded harsh. “Torture, rape…sure, she said you were treating her well, but how do I know she wasn’t under duress?”

Darius took a deep breath. Oddly, Lidano’s assumption that they’d been raping and torturing Aislinn didn’t bother him that much. He knew the propaganda the Humans Firsters put out. They probably assumed the wolves had Aislinn chained in a dank dungeon while they gang raped her.

“Did she sound like she was under duress?” Killion said. “Although, Colonel, if we’re treating her so badly, isn’t that good incentive for you to get her out as quickly as possible?”

“I have to talk to the General. I’ll call you back after I’ve done that.”

They were going to lose him. Darius nodded to Killion.

“It must be hard getting ahold of him when he’s in Connecticut,” Killion said.

Nice.

A long silence followed. Finally, Lidano said, “Why would he be in Connecticut?”

“Overseeing the preparations to attack the Holding, of course. You didn’t really think you could slink into our territory and we wouldn’t notice.”

“We have no plans to attack the Holding,” Lidano said quickly.

“Boiling oil,” Darius whispered.

Killion grinned, his fangs showing. “You do know what you face if you attack us, right? Maybe not. You’re a young pup, and it’s been awhile since the Humans Firsters attacked us.”

Lidano sputtered.

“There’s a reason for that,” Killion said. “The Holding doesn’t just look like a medieval castle. It’s built like one, too, with a few modern enhancements. We don’t just have arrow slits and gun turrets. No. We’ve also got good old-fashioned boiling oil. If you manage to get across the alligator-filled moat…”

Darius choked back a snort. Alligators? In Connecticut?

“…you’ll be boiled alive when you try to scale the castle walls. So there’s only one logical path for you—negotiate. And considering we asked for a cease fire and your response was to escalate your war machine, you’re not doing so well so far.”

“I assure you, we’re not planning to attack the Holding,” Lidano said. “Unless, of course, you won’t let Aislinn go. Then all bets are off.”

So he wanted them to believe this was preventative? Negotiate first, and if that failed, go in with guns blazing? Maybe. Although at this point, Darius didn’t believe a word they said. It hadn’t been too many hours since they’d served him and his people poisoned food.

He had to assume they were going to attack. That would explain the General’s not being involved in the negotiations and his being so unconcerned as to be unavailable to Lidano. Or perhaps they were just stalling. Either way, an attack seemed the most likely outcome. Once again, he had to wonder why the General would risk his daughter’s life by attacking.

“Who is it who holds the cards here, Colonel?” Killion said.

Lidano didn’t answer.

“We do. If you attack us, scores of your men will die, and you won’t retrieve Aislinn.”

“I need time,” Lidano said.

“Take all the time you want,” Darius growled. “We’re going to go clean out our woods.”

“No!” Lidano breathed heavily. “We’ll agree to the cease fire. Just give Aislinn back.”

Darius leaned toward the phone. “We’re not doing a goddamned thing until you get the hell out of Connecticut.”

“Wait!” Lidano said. “You don’t understand what you’ve done by taking the General’s daughter. He won’t be able to think about anything else until he knows she’s safe. You have to let her go, or I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“It’s really simple,” Killion said. “Withdraw from Connecticut then issue a press release apologizing for trying to poison us at our peace negotiations and stating that you agree to an indefinite cease fire. Once that’s public, we’ll release Aislinn.”

The only thing that kept Darius from protesting was that he knew the General would never agree to those terms. Not in a million years.

“I don’t see the General agreeing to that, but I’ll try to convince him.” Lidano’s voice sounded a little more steady. “It would help if Aislinn were released first.”

Darius just barely kept from laughing.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Killion said. “Release her when you’ve got troops amassing at our doors? Release her with only your promise that the General will behave afterward? Not on your life.”

“He’s convinced the only way to get her back is to attack,” Lidano said.

“And as soon as we let her go, he’ll be convinced the only way to keep from having a daughter taken again is to attack,” Killion said. “To punish us. To warn us off. There’s no way we’re releasing her first.” He leaned closer to the phone and dropped his voice. “But maybe we should never release her at all.”

Killion waited several seconds but Lidano didn’t reply.

“Think about that, Colonel. You push us too far and we’ll never give her back.”

“You wouldn’t want to keep a hostage indefinitely.” Lidano’s voice sounded raw. “The trouble, the expense…. We must be able to come to some sort of agreement.”

“Aislinn’s no trouble,” Darius said.

“But a hostage—any hostage—is by definition a bother. We can work this out. I’m sure you want that as much as I do.”

This was the man who’d been stupid enough to dump Aislinn. Not that Darius was complaining—it would be far harder to get her to fall in love with him if she still loved Lidano. Still, he didn’t think much of a man who voluntarily gave up the most amazing woman in the world.

“Give me an hour,” Lidano said.

“Another hour?” Killion injected doubt into his voice.

“I need time to talk to the General. I can’t authorize anything without his say-so.”

That rang true. But that didn’t mean Darius liked it.

Even though he’d already spoken aloud, Darius hit the mute button to tell his brother what to do. “Give him his hour. And in the meantime we’ll take up positions around the intruders in our woods. In an hour we’ll be in an even better position to negotiate.”

Killion nodded once, then hit the mute button and followed out Darius’ orders. After he’d hung up, he sat back in his chair. “This feels like a stalemate.”

“Worse,” Cael said. “They still think they have a chance of getting the General’s daughter back. What happens when they realize Darius has no intention of giving her up?”

Jennalynn stood up. “Clear the room. I want to talk to my brothers.”

Some of the other wolves—the male ones--looked disgruntled to be ordered around by her, but they knew very well that even if she weren’t the sister of the Alpha, she had earned her right to be Darius’ fourth.

As the other wolves on the council filed out of the room, Cael hung back. He waited for the last wolf to close the door behind her before he said, “I’m third. I’m staying.”

Jennalynn gazed at him for a moment then waved her hand toward a chair. She didn’t wait for him to sit before she spoke. “You have to give her up, Darius.”

Darius leaned forward and growled before he even realized what he was doing.

Putting up a hand, she said, “Hear me out. It’s not just because the Humans Firsters will attack us if we don’t eventually hand her over. It’s for her own sake, too. She’s an outsider here. I’ve already heard the wolves whispering about her. They hate her. They want her gone. What kind of life do you think she’ll have here if you make her stay?”

“They’ll get over it,” Darius rumbled. He couldn’t stand the thought of giving her up. His people would learn to love her. Things might be tough for her in the meantime, but he’d smooth it over.

“Really?” She paced toward him. “They know she’s the reason the Humans Firsters are at our doorstep. If we don’t give her back and they attack, this will erupt into war. You know it will. After hundreds, maybe thousands of our warriors have died, do you really think the people will warm up to her? They’ll never forgive her. Worse, they’ll never forgive you. How can you lead if they don’t respect you? If they hate you?”

Darius stood, his chair screeching against the floor. She went too far. Worse, he knew there was some truth in what she said.

“I’m not just your fourth. I’m your sister.” Jennalynn rested her hands on the table and leaned toward him. “I want what’s best for you. Don’t you think I want you to find happiness with your mate? But this is bigger than one person. You know that. You don’t want to admit it, but you know it’s true.”

Was she right? Was he being stupid to think that he could make things work with Aislinn, with his people?

Even as he thought it, he felt a pressure in his chest like he’d never felt before. He couldn’t give Aislinn up. He couldn’t live without her.

Jennalynn must have seen something in his face, because she approached him and put her hand on his arm. “I know the thought of releasing her must be painful. That’s why you need to do what Killion suggested and see the Elders about breaking the mating. Ease your pain. Then do what’s right.”

“I’ll consider it.” His voice sounded choked and he felt a frisson of horror that his highest ranked wolves had seen his weakness.

“I’ll contact the Elders,” Killion said. “Set up a meeting.”

As Darius nodded his consent, his chest grew tight, his body heavy. His gaze dropped toward the floor and he swallowed hard. He’d never felt this way before, but he knew what it was. Despair.

***

Aislinn heard voices outside the door of her room. She hoped they were bringing some food. It had been over an hour since she’d asked for a sandwich and a bottle of water and had been told they’d bring it right over. Not that this was a restaurant or hotel or anything, but she was hungry.

She wished she could convince them to let her cook her own meals but she didn’t think she should even ask. They’d laugh at her. Hostages didn’t get kitchen privileges.

The door opened a crack and she could hear Heath’s voice. “...seems harmless enough but you never know.”

“I just don’t even know what she’s doing here,” a woman’s voice said.

“I heard she’s the one who tried to poison our people,” Heath said. “We should shoot her rather than giving her back.”

Aislinn’s whole body went numb, her face heating so much her eyes watered. As the door opened further, she paced toward the window, her back to the werewolves coming inside, so they wouldn’t see.

“Here you go, Your Highness,” Heath said.

Her stomach fluttered. She’d known they’d dislike her here, but she hadn’t really thought about what that meant. After a deep breath, she turned toward him.

Heath stood next to her table with a plate in one hand. A bottle of water sat on the table. The woman hadn’t come in–maybe she was too afraid of Aislinn to risk it.

“Thank you,” she said. Hopefully he’d leave. She just wanted him gone.

He put the plate on the table. “You shouldn’t be here.”

No kidding. “Open the door and I’ll leave.”

“Just because Darius forces you down our throats doesn’t mean we have to take it. Don’t think you’re going to get away with what you’ve done.”

Chapter 7

Aislinn took two steps toward Heath. “I didn’t do anything!”

“You tried to poison our soldiers.” His jaw tightened.

“No, I didn’t. Someone else put the poison in the food. I didn’t know.” Why was she even trying to convince him? He was bound and determined to see her as the enemy.

And wasn’t that just how her father looked at the wolves? What she really needed to do was move far away from all of this. Change her name, become someone else.

Right. Like that was going to happen.

“You need to convince Darius to let you go. If you don’t, we’ll make your life miserable. We’ll make sure—”

”What’s going on here?” Zack stepped inside the room, a scowl on his face.

“Just letting the little bitch know her place,” Heath said.

“Get out.” Zack pushed the door wider.

“It’s no problem—” Heath said.

“Get out!” This time, Zack finished up with a growl.

Heath jumped. “Fine! I’m going.” He stomped across the room and pushed past Zack to go out the door.

Zack watched him go then closed the door behind him. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s nothing.” Aislinn crossed her arms over her stomach.

He shoved both hands in his pockets. “It was like this for my mom when she first came here.”

Ivy? “She was a Humans Firster?”

Zack chuckled. “No. She’s black.”

“Black.” What did he mean? There were black Humans Firsters. Aislinn’s legs felt a little weak so she headed across the room to the table and chair.

“You might have noticed.” His mouth twisted into a half-smile. “Things were different back when she first got here. Parts of the South were still segregated, and the North was no better, just a little less obvious. She was the first black person to come to the Holding. Not that there weren’t black werewolves before then, but everyone here was white. They didn’t know what to do with her. Some of them really resented her and did their best to make her want to leave.”

“I’m sorry.” She slid into the seat.