Reluctantly Lycan (10 page)

Being in his arms equaled being home. They’
d grown up together. He’d been her first friend, her first kiss, her first lover. That was what made the betrayal so painful, especially when she’d been carrying his child. But, despite his hotheaded nature, she knew he was a good guy. Maybe they could find their way back to their destiny.

Kaden shot out of bed when he heard the rallying howl of his pack mates. He’d forgotten about Mara, accustomed to sleeping alone, and she was slung off him to the side, bounced a few times on the mattress and barely missed being knocked to the floor. He stole a glance back, saw that she was on her feet, and darted out the door.

Jak
had come out of his room at the sound of the howls.

“Stay here.
Both of you.” Kaden said as he opened the front door and stepped outside. Not surprisingly, neither listened. Though, they did remain on the porch as he stalked toward the ruckus.

Nashoba
was in wolf form, snapping at the heels of a human as Blake and Luke held the man up by each arm. Levi led the way.

“You!”
Kaden yelled, closing the distance between him and the intruder.

“You know this guy?” Levi said. “We found him snooping around the property. Had a camera and this….” He handed
Kaden a tiny item.

“Yeah, we’ve met. What is this?
A dart?” Kade’s entire body shook as he tried to keep himself in check. The wolf did not need to be out right now.

Levi nodded.
“Could have been used on Mason.”

“Impossible.
This guy was in New York when I received the call.”

“Unless he had someone working for him.”

“True enough.” Kade agreed.

Taylor lifted his head and spit, blood splattering near
Kaden’s feet. “I’m really pissed your boys bruised up my pretty face.”

“What are you doing here and what do you know about this?”
Kaden showed Taylor the dart.

“I followed
Brynnara. Left my car a good distance down the road and hiked. Found that dart on the trail.”

At the mention of their sister, Blake and Luke bared teeth and nearly shifted.

“Let him go and step back, boys.”

They shoved Taylor forward and
he fell to his knees. The wolves had worked him over good. Busted lip and swollen, black eye. Kade knew the guy was hurting pretty bad.

“Why are you here?”

“I wanted to make sure my girlfriend, Marala, was okay.” He lifted his head and managed a half-hearted wink in her direction.

Most of the town’s residents had gathered to watch. Gasps and whispers drifted to
Kade’s ears. “It’s a death sentence to speak of my mate in such a manner. Aside from the fact you’ve seen one of us as a wolf.” He cracked his knuckles, preparing to beat the man to death as a demonstration.

“No!”

Kaden turned around to see Mara running. She positioned herself in front of Taylor. “Don’t. This is not the way.”

More shocked voices. The gossip and disrespect was getting old. “It’s the law of the pack.”
Kaden said.

“I’m not your mate.” She kept her voice steady and firm, not breaking eye contact with him. “You’re killing no one. I’ll clean him up and he can go on his way.
Brynnara, help me.”

The girl didn’t move, afraid to defy
Kaden. She looked to him for permission.

“Go ahead,
Brynn. We need to keep him around for information.” He said, grabbing Mara by the arm and leaning in close to whisper in her ear. “Defy me again in public and you will regret it.”

Mara gulped, but held her head high as she led Taylor toward the house.
Brynn lowered hers as she ran after them.

“
Nashoba, stand guard. Make sure that human doesn’t try anything else stupid and keep Mara safe. The rest of you, with me, we’re going to Old Finn’s.”

Nash, still in wolf form, entered the house with the women and
Jak. Kade knew the wolf would kill the human at the slightest provocation. He hoped it came to that. Then the blood would be on Nashoba’s hands, not his.

“Taylor, what are you thinking?” Mara asked, stealing a glance at
Nashoba who was sitting a short distance away.

He smirked, but winced and gingerly touched his lip. “Hey, it got me here with two beautiful women, right?”

Brynn frowned. “I didn’t tell him anything when he came to the shop. I swear.”

“It’s okay. We know.”
Marala said.

Mara used a cloth
to wipe off the excess blood while Brynn held an icepack against Taylor’s eye. He turned slightly to look at the large wolf. “I had to find out if all this wolf talk was true. I’m curious by nature. I honestly wanted to make sure your ex wasn’t holding you against your will or something, too.”

Jak
stood next to Nashoba and crossed his arms. A second guard. Though much smaller and nowhere near as violent.

“This is my home, Taylor. You have to leave.”

“Brynn wants me around, don’t you, baby?” He smiled at the girl, but she wouldn’t agree.

“Humans don’t live with us.” She finally responded.

“It has happened. Rarely. They didn’t receive the honor by sneaking onto our personal property and disrespecting the pack leader. That’s for sure.” Mara frowned. “Kade never forgive me for taking up for you.”

Taylor slowly got to his feet, holdi
ng an arm over his ribcage. “So my ego gets me in trouble sometimes. Let me make it up to you. Figure out this dart mystery.”

Nashoba
gave a low growl. Pack business wasn’t shared with outsiders.

“Nothing you can do.”

“Sure there is. Who’s Mason? I heard the name when we were outside. That man talking to your ex seemed awfully anxious to accuse me.”

“Well, yeah. You had a weapon.”

Brynn placed the ice pack on the counter. “May I go now, please?”

“Sure. Thanks.” Mara said.
Nashoba moved, letting the young woman leave.

“I like her.” Taylor said.

“She’ll be mated soon, so you’d best look elsewhere.”

“Does it make you jealous?” He grinned, forgetting about his injuries again and cursing at the pain.

Marala sighed. “Would you two leave us alone for a couple of minutes? On the porch is all I’m asking.”

Nashoba
lifted his head at Jak in a nod and her son opened the door, letting them both out.

When they were gone, Mara lowered her voice. “No, I’m not jealous. When a female comes of age, she goes into the forest clearing for her ritual and chooses a mate who will bond with her. Then, she’ll shift the first time afterward.”

“Brynn did seem anxious about her birthday. Wait, does
bond
mean
fuck
?”

“Basically.
It’s primitive and crude, but we’re animals and that’s how it works. There are usually more males than females, so it’s an honor to be chosen.” She explained.

Taylor appeared disgusted and intrigued at the same time. “You di
d that?”

“This is personal, Taylor, but no, I didn’t. I was pregnant.”

He sat back down, standing too much for his sore body. “Tell me about Mason.”

“He went missing while
Kaden was in New York. Levi was in charge. That’s why he’s so intent on finding the boy. None of them can find him and wolves are good trackers.” Mara explained.

“Do you think you can arrange for me to talk to
Kaden alone about it? I can help.”

“
Why do you want to help?”

Taylor shrugged.
“Because I’m supposed to.”

Kaden hated leaving Mara alone with that human. He knew about guys like that. Where Kade would rip pants off, Taylor would talk a woman out of them. If he were being honest, though, he didn’t think Marala had serious feelings for the guy. He also didn’t think the guy had anything to do with the kidnapping. One thing was for sure, he had eyes for Brynn and the brothers were not happy about it.

Blake and Luke, usually mellow, were raging during the entire trek up to Old Finn’s.
Brynnara had wanted to date boys from school, live as a human. Begged not to change. The brothers, being her guardians, firmly refused. Now, she’d led an intruder home.

Levi mentioned a few more times how odd it was for a human to “find” the tranquilizer dart when th
e wolves had searched the area.

Kaden
sighed. His thoughts and emotions ranged from one extreme to the other. Holding Mara had been heavenly, bringing back memories of the warm nights of his youth underneath the moon. But she defied him at every turn. But, maybe she saved him from making mistakes.

The chance of finding Mason alive dwindled with each passing hour. He didn’t have time to babysit humans or make a wrong move.

“Hey there. Bringing the party to Finn’s?” Finn asked. The old man had a long scraggly white beard and short, unevenly cut, frizzy hair.

“We’re going to sniff around and see what we can find. Show
us where you saw the person.”

Finn led the way, staggering as he walked. Not from being old, but inebriated. “
It was a big fella, like you boys, and he had something thrown over his shoulder. I’d swear it was a body. Thought it was in my head until Blake and Luke came by and started askin’ questions.”

“Go on back to the house and we’ll dig up some clues. Appreciate it.”

The men had shed their clothing and transformed in a matter of seconds. Kaden kept his nose to the ground, flaring his nostrils as he tried to find any scent that was familiar or out of place. Frequent and unpredictable thunderstorms washed away evidence quickly. From the cloud cover, one was on its way. Without a clue soon, they’d probably never find Mason.

When he was on the brink of giving up, an indentation caught
Kade’s eye. On the moist forest floor, there was a partial boot print. The mark itself helped immensely because it pointed in the direction the young wolf had been taken. Kaden recognized it as a hiking boot, but it could have belonged to anyone. One of the wolves, a fisherman, or hunter. Hiking boots were commonplace. He ran off in the direction of the clue, his pack at his back, and searched until his paws ached and night had fallen.

For hours, Marala had anxiously swayed back and forth in the creaky old porch swing. Nashoba had taken Taylor home with him, promising that no harm would come to the human without Kaden’s word. She’d reluctantly agreed. Taylor hadn’t been thrilled, but he’d been asking questions to the irritable Chocktaw who had changed to human form when Jak had brought him a pair of sweatpants. Taylor’s resourcefulness impressed her, but she feared for his life.

A sliver of moon had lit the night for a while, but now it had been covered and the rain poured down. The only time she could see in the darkness was when flashes of lightning streaked through the thick storm clouds.

She strained her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the dangerous black wolf or the equally terrifying, handsome man. Mara loathed how easily Kade had weaseled his way back into her heart. But the truth was he’d never left it. Taylor was attractive and interesting, but her love was for only one man. Hopefully, when he returned home he didn’t kick her out of his house and shun her from the pack.

Would he exile me?
The thought sent chills through her body and she hugged her light sweater tighter over the large t-shirt she’d taken from Kaden’s closet to wear as a nightgown. Like everything he touched, it held his masculine scent. She pulled the neck up over her mouth and nose, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. An adult, a
mother
, should not be acting like a girl with a crush. But the thought came anyway.
I wish I had never left.

“What are you doing? You should be in bed.” Her eyes flew open and she saw
Kaden standing a few feet from her, drenched from head to toe and splattered with mud.

Mara had intended to put her foot down and forbid him for harming Taylor. Tell him that her wishes had to be respected or she would never bond with him. That she’d take
Jak and go somewhere they’d never be found. None of that happened.

“
Kaden.” The confidence had disappeared. By the look on his face, she didn’t have to ask if they found the missing boy.

“Where is
Nashoba and that human?” He shot her a disapproving frown.

“Nash
took Taylor to his house.”

Kaden
rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead, wiping off some water, but smearing mud in its place. “Good. You’re wearing my shirt.”

“I, uh, yeah.”
She hunched her shoulders a bit. Her soft red hair rested loosely over her back, frizzed slightly from the wind and humidity.

The tension built between them. Neither knew what to say or
was willing to apologize. Mara caved first, tossing herself at the filthy, shirtless man and wrapping her arms around him.