Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (22 page)

“
Why do you think we can communicate like this, Pride
?
”

My heart starts beating faster
and a
s the truth
begins to
unravel
inside my brain
I can’t believe I hadn’t figured it out before now
.
The courtyard sways
in front of me
, my vision going a little fuzzy
around the edges
,
and it forces me to lock my knees to keep myself upright
.

No.
It can’t be…

“
Ye
s it can be and it is
,” he responds
,
still
tapping into my thoughts.

I push him out
of my head
and build
a
defens
ive wall
around my thoughts
before
my
gaze flies from his face to
Logan
’s.
Logan’s
back goes straight
and there is
a
weariness about him
as I glare at him in challenge
.

“Did you know this?”
I ask, my voice trembling
, my throat tight
with emotion.

“Pride,” he reaches for me,
his eyes filled with tender concern
as the hard angles of his face soften.
But it’s that sorrowful expression
in his eyes
that
makes him
so transparent and
tells me everything I need to know.

Confusion and anger come at the same time
and I st
ep back, needing to distance myself as my
mind rac
es
, trying to
wrap my brain around this new information and what it
might
really mean
for all of us
.

“Logan,” I choke out
,
my heart picking up tempo as
I
give a
perplexed
shake of my head
.
By small degrees his body
tightens
and
his hands fist
s at his sides.
I see concern reflecting in his eye
s
when they meet mine
.
It shocks me that
Logan
knew
all along
that only
true
mates can speak telepathically when in human form
and h
e
purposely kept th
at
information
from me.

I realize that while I’m
just learning about love and trust,
I thought
mates
,
true
or not,
were
supposed to be
open and
honest with each other.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I question
,
trying to keep the hysteria from my voice
as I watch
a
deep sadness invade his blue eyes
.
As I study him, I realize that for
the first time I see something in Logan I’ve never seen before.
Real fear
.

But
I’m not sure how I feel
about all these secrets
and I know I’m not prepared for the mix of emotions they bring
.
A
ll I know is that
my stomach is sick,
my head is spinning
and well…
okay,
maybe I do know how I feel.
Foolish
.
I
should have known
better
.
I should
have figured it
out.

“
Don’t beat yourself up.
I kept you in the dark about a lot of things.
I
n this place it
was for your own good
.”

“Don’t,” I say to him out loud, wanting to sever the intimate connection, and hating that he kept thin
g
s from me.
Important things.
Things that might have made a differen
ce
.

Or might not have.

But those decisions were mine to make, not anyone else’s.

A
s conflicting emotions rush through me,
the starting gun sounds again and
pulls my attention
.
It’s a
remind
er that
I have more
important
matters to worry about right now.
I shake my head
to clear it.
I can’t be worrying about who my mate is and who he isn’t when I have more pressing
concerns
like
how I’m going to sneak
into the master’s
dungeon
and get my hands on those keys.

And I need these two backing me
if I want to pull it off
without getting caught
.

“
I
’
ll go,”
Stone say
s
and I realize he’s
reading my thoughts
.

I turn on him, and say.
“You know as well as I do that I can get in and get out quicker than you.
Besides I need you
both to
cause a distraction to keep the handlers and guards busy.
”

“
How do you know which key you’ll need
?” Logan asks as he peruses the courtyard
, everything in his expression letting me know he’s looking for potential danger
.

“
I have a new lock.
”

“
Right,” Stone says
, his voice tight as he kicks at a rock
.

My head jerks to him.
“
What do you mean
right
?
”

With his back to the wall,
he bends one knee and presses the pad of his foot to the stone barrier.
H
e looks away
from me
for a moment
, breaking eye contact, and I get the sense the
next words are too painful for him to
deliver
.
He draws in air, slowly
turns back to me,
and
says, “Jace broke it.
When they were taking him
…
” he swallows before he says, “away.”

I shudder involuntarily
and blow out a shaky breath
.
Stone
doesn’t
have
to
say what ‘away’ really means
for me to understand,
and I’m glad
he doesn’t
voice
th
at awful
truth
because I
’m not sure I can bear to hear it
.
I choke down the emotions clogging my throat and think more about Jace and Clover, the elders who died to give me freedom.
Both warmth and sadness touch me, because I know a
ny sort of disobedience on
Jace’s part is out of character.
No, he broke that lock for
one reason and one reason only
.

M
e.

Everything inside m
y gut
tells me so.

I look at Stone, and whil
e
he might think
the elder
wolf
snapped
the
lock in a fit of rage, I know he did
n’t.
So
mewhere
deep inside
, Jace
knew I’d be back
and this was his way of giving
me an advantage, something that could
hopefully
help
aid in my escape.

And I’m not about to let him down.

Clearing my mind to focus only on the task at hand, I turn my back on the two alphas.
“I need to go,” I say, and casually walk away before either can put up a fight.
“You two do what you need to do.”

I inch my way along the perimeter and make my way toward the mansion.
A moment later,
I hear a shout and the ground practically shakes beneath me as I slip inside the kitchen door
.
I feel a slight sense of relief to know the
two
boys
are causing the distraction I need
, instead of trying to stop me
.

Mica turns to me, and for a moment my heart stops.
She’s always been
kind
to me, but she’s also under the master’s control.
I hold my breath and wait.
Will she scream?
Will she call for a handler?
Will this be the end for me?

With
no time to waste, I keep my eyes on her and
begin to
pad softly along the cool tile floor
.
As
she watches me,
dark lashes blinking over cloudy eyes,
our
gazes
lock in a
silent
battle.
The last thing I want to
do
is
to get her into trouble
for
my disobedience, but the only
route
I know to the
dungeon is through her kitchen.

My hands brush along the wall as I feel my way along, and when I
see
some small part of her give
,
relief rushes through me.
Her head inclines slightly, a
nd she gives me
a
g
entle nod of
understanding
before
she
turns back to her baking
.
With her back to me,
I
take the corner
quickly
and move toward the
heavy door
leading to the elevator
.

Remembering the distinct sound
s
associated with each number,
I punch in the code and my heart practically b
reaks
through my chest as the door slides open.
With desperation outweighing fear of getting caught, I
peruse the long
hallway, looking for threats
before I dive in
.

After determining all is clear,
I move with speed, my steps quick as I slip into the corridor and
retrace my
earlier
path
back to the
elevator.

I press the button and crouch low as I wait for it
to reach me
.
When it
finally
comes I slip inside and as I punch the key to the bottom floor, I try to not to notice the quickening of my pulse, the sweat on my hands
, the fear inside me
.
Needing a distraction, I pull the elastic off my wrist, quickly braid my hair to get it off my face and secure it with the rubber band.

My head spins as I descen
d
, and when the elevator come
s
to an abrupt halt, I can
feel
t
he air seize in my lungs. The door isn’t
opening
.
Why isn’t the door
opening?
I
examine
the tight space, and keep the panic at bay as I work to figure out my next move, but when the doors finally
spread
to reveal the master’s underground chamber
, I draw in a sharp breath.

I climb out, and mov
e urgently down the hallway
until I’m standing outside the master’s
dungeon
.
I
search
the walls for monitors and try to keep one step ahead of them.
I
carefully inch open
the door and the hot familiar scent of blood curls around me.

Logan’s blood.

As it stings my eyes I choke on it, and press my nose into
the crook of
my elbow until I can get my
revolting
stomach under control.
I don’t bother to
turn
on the light.
I don’t need
to
.
Working quickly
before I get caught
, I inch the door closed
behind me
but when I find the
lid on the metal
security
box
close
d
and
locked, my heart goes
into
my throat.