Treeland Pack Tales 3: A Trace of Ivy (23 page)

Sin strolled into view. “Anyone else thinking campfire?”

“Shoulda brought some weenies and s’more fixin’s.” Joe added.

Ben joined the circle. “I’ve got a light, if you lazy dogs
wanna pile up the bodies.”

“Good job, dogs.” Daniel met Chet’s eyes. “You and Ivy
okay?”

Chet helped her up, again. “Aside from heart failure, I’m
fine.” He turned to his mate, drinking in the sight of her alive. She was pale.
A bruise already colored one cheek, and her eyes still took up half her face.

All he wanted to do was toss her over his shoulder and take
her home. Naturally he kept his expression stony and did his best to sound
reasonable. “I suppose you’re up for more hunting?”

“The rogue pack has been wiped out. But I’d like to find my
friends.”

Daniel tapped his ear piece. “Hold on.” He paused,
listening, then continued, “Gun’s got it covered. They’re in a boarded-up bungalow
half a block southeast of us.” He turned his attention back to his enforcer.
“Hang tough, I’m sending them your way, bud.”

Every time Chet blinked, the scene with the rogue hiding
behind Ivy presenting him with an impossible shot he had to take replayed in
his mind. While they made the short trip to her friends, he wrapped one arm
around her and let her nearness leach away the waking nightmare.

* * * *

Kat and Ivy huddled together on the front steps. Someone had
given each of them a soft blanket. Ivy tugged on Chet’s arm. He released her in
an instant.

A grin of sheer joy stretched her mouth. She ran toward Kat
and Tess. As she got closer, details came into focus. Kat’s cheekbones looked
sharp enough to poke through her sallow skin, and dark shadows eclipsed her
pretty brown eyes. Even the always-round Tess’s bones were plainly visible.

“Oh my God, you’re real, I thought I’d never find you
again.” Tears of relief spilled down Ivy’s cheeks as she hugged her friends.
Both females clutched their blankets and her until the three of them made a
single, tight ball of love.

When she looked around for Chet, wanting to share the
miracle, he’d turned his back to her, the cell phone pressed to his head. She
shook off the disappointment, grateful he was there—protecting them.

Gun met her gaze and prowled over. “You ready to go?”

She swiveled to check with Kat and Tess. They’d edged behind
her.

“You’re safe,” she promised them.

A scary fit of coughing racked Kat. Tess tightened her hold
on the frail female. “Will you be with us?”

“Sure.” Ivy gently cupped Tess’s shoulder. “Just try to get
rid of me.”

Gun cleared his throat. “Everyone good with walking?”

“Lead on,” Kat croaked, with a flash of her old attitude.

The enforcer strode down the cracked sidewalk.

“I’ll carry you.” Ivy didn’t wait for Kat to agree. She
swept her up, stunned by how little her friend weighed.

Chet ended his call and parked himself in front of them.
“Let me give your friend a ride.”

Kat stiffened in her arms, and her nails dug into Ivy’s
neck.

“Easy.” Ivy tightened her hold to reassure the frightened
Beta. “He’s with me.” She shifted her focus back to Chet’s gorgeous face. “Kat,
this is Chet—no flirting, he’s mine.”

Her friend eased the death grip she had on Ivy’s throat and
allowed Chet to carry her.

Ivy whispered to Tess, “You’re barefoot, and I can carry
you. I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

“Don’t be silly; my feet are tough.” Sweat popped out on
Tess’s face after a few yards. “Is the hunkalicious good to you?”

“He spoils me outrageously.” Ivy wrapped an arm around Tess,
forcing the female to lean on her and slowed to match her friend’s halting
pace.

When they got to Chet’s SUV, he’d already settled Kat
inside. He held the passenger door open and helped Ivy and Tess into the
backseat. “Scarlet is waiting for you.”

“Who’s Scarlet?” Tess asked.

Ivy touched the back of her hand to Kat’s forehead. Her skin
was near scorching. She swallowed the surge of worry. Kat had survived so much.
She had to hang on for a few more minutes. She kept her tone casual. “Scarlet
is sheer healing magic.”

“Thank goodness. I’m worried about Kat.”

Chet passed a bottle of mineral water over the seatback.
“She needs fluids.”

Ivy uncapped the bottle and dribbled some into her friend’s
cracked lips.

“Drink for me, Kat.”

After she’d swallowed a couple of sips, Ivy’s hope rose.
Werewolves were tough, even the dormant ones. She continued to coax the cool
liquid into Kat. Half the bottle disappeared before she batted it away.

“You got any more water stashed up there?” Tess asked.

Chet cocked an eyebrow but handed back another half liter.
“I’m Chet. You must be Tess.”

Tess took a long gulp, nearly emptying the container.
“Pleased to meet you. How did you know my name?”

“Ivy talked about you and Kat a lot.”

Tess gave him a small smile. “She’s something else.”

Chet might have dipped his head. When Ivy glanced his way,
his attention was glued to the road. She couldn’t read scents anywhere near as
well as he did, but she caught whiffs of the fresh snow she associated with
sadness coming from his broad back.

He hadn’t spoken to her directly or touched her more than
with the minimum required to assist her. A wall of ice seemed to separate them,
and she didn’t understand why. Now wasn’t the time to confront him about what
was wrong. Kat was desperately ill, and Tess wasn’t much better, although she
put up a cheerful front, fussing over Kat, patting Ivy, and chattering to Chet.

The big SUV rolled through open gates, four black-clad
soldiers, armed to their fangs, stood at attention, saluting as they passed.

Chet returned their gesture of respect before pulling to a
stop in front of pack headquarters. Scarlet and two other females rolling a
pair of stretchers flew out of the building to meet them.

“I can walk,” Tess protested.

“Nonsense.” Scarlet bundled her onto one of the two gurneys.
“Please secure her for me, Nina.” The Omega bustled alongside Chet as he gently
moved Kat from the vehicle to the second stretcher. Before her friend was
buckled in, Scarlet was cupping Kat’s face and murmuring softly. After a few
moments, she straightened. “Please take her to the clinic, Linda. Keep them in
the same room. I’ll be right there.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Linda wheeled Kat through the door Chet held.

Scarlet gave Ivy’s hand a tiny squeeze. “I know you’ve had a
hard night, but I have to shift to heal the kind of damage your friends
sustained. I think they would appreciate a familiar face. I know I would. Can
you stay?”

I want to, but I don’t
want to hurt Chet
. Ivy’s gaze roved over his dear face, seeking approval.

His expression softened. “Take care of your friends. I’ll
pick you up tomorrow.”

Then he was gone without a good-bye kiss. Things between
them were definitely not all right, and she wanted to cry.

* * * *

The next morning Ivy was a bit groggy. She’d caught a couple
of cat naps in the last twenty-four hours—not nearly enough. Despite the lack
of sleep, she was close to giddy from relief. Her friends were safe, Kat napped
comfortably after a healthy breakfast with Scarlet’s red wolf curled beside her
on the narrow bed. Tess bustled around the medical room, mothering everyone who
would hold still for it. Ivy showered and put on a pair of borrowed scrubs. Not
even the shapeless pastel bunny-covered outfit dampened her mood.

Last night Daniel commended her bravery and invited her to
join the enforcers on their next rogue hunt. For the first time ever, she was
part of a community where she made a difference. She contributed and belonged
to the Treeland pack. Her new status gave her value—independent of Chet—and
that made her worthy to be his mate.

On her way to back to the clinic from the kitchen, she heard
Chet and hurried to meet him.

Daniel clapped Chet’s shoulder and ushered him into the pack
leader’s office. The unhappy rumble of male voices slowed her steps. The males
were involved in an intense discussion by the time she drew close enough to
grasp actual words.

“Ivy wants to lure rogues. Kat and Tess wanted in on the
deal. Given they can’t shift, I vetoed their plan. Your Beta has real grit, and
she’s a rogue magnet. She would make a big difference in this war.”

Both males were too involved to notice Ivy had joined their
discussion.

She watched from the doorway as Chet’s hackles rose and he
plainly struggled to keep his wolf in check.

“Don’t go all stiff-legged on me. Talk to her about it, GQ.”

“Hell, no! There’s nothing to discuss. I will not risk my
mate.”

Chet’s vehemence hit her like a bucket of wet snow. The last
of her bubbly excitement disappeared under a flash of temper.

They quit talking before she’d fully entered the room. The
dogs probably smelled her rage.

She met Chet’s hard eyes with plenty of her own grit. “So
it’s fine for you to go hunting feral beasts night after night, leaving me to
wonder whether or not you’ll come home. But it’s not okay for me to do this one
little thing to help the pack?”

Daniel coughed unconvincingly. “I gotta check on Scarlet.”

Chet stayed right where he was and glared back at her. “I
trained from the time I was a pup to be an enforcer. I am not recklessly
endangering my life when I do my job.”

“Do you really believe for one minute that I would be
reckless?”

“I think you don’t have a damn clue what you’re facing.”

For a moment, red rage hazed her vision. She crossed her
arms and made herself take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re
forgetting I lived with rogues. I’m an expert on Alpha assholes. And you’re
being one.”
Okay, I could have phrased
that a bit more tactfully, but I’m too furious to care.

“Clearly you don’t give a damn about what I want.”

“What about what I want?” Ivy had more to say, but Chet cut
her off with the universal halt sign of his extended palm.

Her cheeks burning with temper, she snapped her mouth shut
and tried to actually listen to the big jerk who just happened to be the love
of her life.

“Since you’re determined to make me one of the walking dead
or worse, I prefer to join the ranks of the hopelessly mated with my honor
intact.”

She glimpsed shards of pain in his dark eyes and managed to
find a shred of calm. “This is not about making you miserable. I respect you
for the male you are, and I appreciate the safety enforcers provide for the
whole pack. But can’t you understand that I need to contribute too?”

“I cannot tolerate you deliberately endangering yourself.”

She couldn’t believe the arrogant male double-standard
babble coming from his mouth. Calm left the building. “So that’s it? The mighty
Chet has spoken?”

“There’s nothing more to say.” He spun on his heel and
stomped away.

Still angry over his arrogant male thinking, his refusal to
discuss the issues only made her madder. She watched him stop and talk to
Daniel for a few seconds. Then Chet shook his head, leaving headquarters and
her life.

Damn it, I wasn’t
done. I didn’t get to tell him no matter how much I love submitting to him
during sex, it doesn’t translate to being his pet 24-7. I’m never going to obey
his commands when compliance means not doing what’s right. At least this time I
acted like a grown-up instead of a rejected child and tried to make him
understand how I feel
. Ivy used her palms to scrub away the tears running
down her face and soaking her top.

I’ve cried more in the
last twenty-four hours than in the rest of my life. Isn’t love grand?
Her
legs seemed to weigh a thousand pounds each on the long shuffle back to the
clinic.

Daniel must have taken a different route, because he was
there, waiting.

She forced herself to hurry, knowing how nervous any male
made Kat and Tess.

The pack leader’s face had regret written all over it. Ivy
braced for more disappointment.

“Give Chet time. He’s a stubborn old dog and newly bonded.”

She tilted her neck in respect. Since she was a “rip the
bandage off fast” kind of female, she asked, “If he doesn’t change his mind,
what then?”

“Let’s not borrow trouble.” He gave her arm a friendly pat.

Ivy read the answer in his eyes. A choice between her and
Chet was a no-brainer. The werewolf community needed him while using her to
lure rogues was no more than a shiny possibility. She wasn’t a full,
contributing member of the pack. The only real value she had was as Chet’s
mate. Since he no longer wanted her, she was jobless and homeless on top of
brokenhearted. Okay, she wasn’t exactly out on the streets. For now she was
still a temporary guest at Treeland’s headquarters.

She nodded, too upset to speak. There was no need for her to
do so—the Alpha inhaled her emotions as automatically as she read a text
message.

Hurt, discouraged, and exhausted, she stumbled into Tess’s
arms and cried herself to sleep.

A few hours later, Nina, one of Scarlet’s assistants, poked
her head into the clinic. “Ivy?”

For a few seconds she blinked, disoriented. Details came
into focus, and depression hit her all over again. “Yes, Nina?”

The slip of a female grinned. “You have presents.”

Too sad to even wonder what gifts Nina meant, Ivy padded
after her to the entrance. The rack of clothing and all the boxes from Newman
and Porter were neatly stacked in the hallway.

Obviously Chet was unwilling to have her back in his life
even long enough to pick up her clothes.

As she drew nearer, a pristine white envelope addressed to
her in a bold hand held her gaze. Her fingers trembled as she picked up the
heavy stock and opened the flap. She blinked back more tears while tiny pieces
of safety blue—the check she’d written Chet for her clothes—fluttered to the
floor.