Treeland Pack Tales 3: A Trace of Ivy (7 page)

Scarlet inhaled deeply and studied Ivy. “I’m not completely
sure. Your wolf is dormant, but she’s strong. I sense her presence. I suspect
you’re nearer to a full-blood.”

“But then both of my parents had to be at least part wolf.”
Her head whirled as she remembered her grandmother shared her freakishly
sensitive nose. She’d often thought the odd trait the only thing they had in
common.
Is it possible grandmother is a
latent in denial of her own heritage? Maybe their issues are the explanation
for their inability to love me.

Ivy’s birth father had ceded custody and stayed out of her
life other than providing a generous trust fund for her. She’d never asked why
he hadn’t fought for her, simply assuming he didn’t care about her. Perhaps
he’d stayed away because he wanted to protect her. Add in the constant nudges
from something feral inside her. Wolfie DNA made sense. She still wasn’t sure
being part beast was better than just being unlovable. After all unlovable also
made good sense of her pathetic history of family rejection.

“True. Werewolves usually mate with other werewolves—works
out better.” Scarlet’s pretty mouth grinned suggestively as she added her
panties to the pile.

Her form blurred, changing in frightening and wondrous ways
until a round red wolf with Scarlet’s beautiful brown eyes and gold chain stood
in front of Ivy.

She wasn’t the least bit scary. The small werewolf was as
far from a rogue as a healthy Irish setter was from a rabid wolfhound.

The animal, still very much Scarlet and yet not, laid her
head on Ivy’s knee, then leaned against her. The wolf touched something wild
inside her, making her happy. Comfort and peace flowed from the plump furry
body into Ivy through a gentle connection. The sensation left her wonderfully
calm and eased away the last lingering aches from her injuries—she even felt
less dirty. Her unexpected response to the healer also ended the delusion she
was human.

After the females left, Chet asked, “Who led the trackers?”

“Joe.”

“He couldn’t smell his mother down the hall.” Chet snorted.

“Yeah, but he plays well with others.” Daniel’s nostrils
flared. “Speaking of scents down the hall, Scarlet shifted. Her healing gift is
stronger in wolf form. Not real sure if that’s a good sign.”

“No clue.” Chet kept his feet planted on the kitchen tiles
and continued to tear lettuce, hoping like hell he would have the chance to
feed Ivy.

“This isn’t going to be a ‘one time and she’s done’ kind of
thing.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Might be better if she stays with us for a while.” Daniel
took a swallow from his longneck.

“I know that too.”
Don’t
like it, but I know it.

“Gotta be her call.”

Chet turned away from his Alpha, hiding his hangdog face
while he popped the bakers into the hot oven.
Go ahead and just end me before I get any sappier.

He sipped his wine and swallowed some pride. “I want Ivy to
heal, and I appreciate Scarlet’s help. It’s crazy, because I hardly know her,
but I want to be the one taking care of her.”

Daniel squeezed his shoulder. “Right there with you, GQ.
It’s part of the whole bonded-male thing.”

“How can you be so damn sure I’m bonding with her?” Chet
heard the crankiness in his tone and cringed inside.

“If you could smell yourself, you wouldn’t ask.”

Chet set aside the salad bowl and placed a couple of
chilled, steamed baby beets on the cutting board. “That obvious, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“How can I be superglued to a female I recently met and have
never fucked?” Great, now he was whining to his Alpha.

“Hasn’t anyone ever talked to you about this stuff?” Daniel
finished his beer, chucked the empty in the recycling bin, and opened the
refrigerator.

Chet raised a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “Never paid
much attention, I figured bonding was for other poor saps. No offense, boss.”

“None taken.” Daniel backed out of the fridge with a
drumstick in one hand, second beer in the other, and platter balanced on his
forearm. “Got any more turkey?”

“Just the carcass you’re picking at.”

“Suppose you have plans for those porterhouse steaks.”

“Uh-huh.” He’d eat both of them if Ivy left with Daniel and
Scarlet.

Daniel snagged another chunk of dark meat from the platter.
“Where was I?”

“In the middle of your remedial bonding lecture for old
dogs.”

“Right, so you’re sweating bullets, thinking your bachelor
days are history.”

“Not quite,” Chet muttered. “You said I was bonding, as in
I’m not bonded yet.”

“True.”

“How will I be able to tell if and when the superglue
becomes permanent?”
Please let there be a
final warning buzzer, so I can run like hell. Yeah that’s going to work great
when I can’t even take her being down the hall with the Omega.

“Trust me, you’ll know.”

Chet glared at him, willing an answer out of his boss.
Daniel shrugged. “Your scent will deepen, for openers.”

“There’s no way to stop it?”

“Death works.”

That was out. He couldn’t protect Ivy if he passed into the
shade. “Nothing else?”

“No guarantees, but an itty-bitty chance, if you abstain
from sex.” Daniel clapped Chet on the back. “Good luck with that.”

“I’m not a drooling pup. I can control my cock.”

“Uh-huh. Have you kissed her?”

Chet kept his big yap zipped.

“I figured. Gotta tell you my first reaction to bonding was
pretty much the same as yours—a whopping load of oh-shit laced with plenty of
no-fucking-way.”

Chet’s ears perked up. “What changed your mind?”

“Wolfie boy caught on way before me. I was minding my own
business one minute, kissing Scarlet the next, and then irrevocably bonded. So
help me goddess.” Daniel polished off the turkey and chased it with a healthy
chug from the longneck. “For a while I thought I’d wind up one of those
pathetic walking-dead dogs.”

“She didn’t bond with you?” Chill bumps mamboed down Chet’s
spine.

“Not right away. Females never do bond like we do. Probably
a good thing, since they rarely go rogue either. Thank the goddess.”

“So what did you do to win her?”

“Same thing you’ll do if you’re half the dog I think you
are. You’re going to court that little Beta until she’s crazy in love with you.
And then you’re going to work your sorry old ass off to keep her happy.”

“Sounds rough.”

Daniel snorted. “Scarlet is the best time I’ve ever had.”

Envy and doubts warred inside Chet’s head. He poured more
Syrah and changed the subject. “What are we doing about the rogues?”

“A whole lot of nothing much until we get a break.”

“You put out the word.” Chet didn’t make it a question.

“Throughout the state and farther north. We need more
information about what we’re dealing with—how stable they are and how well
organized. Ivy is our best bet for the answers.”

A growl rolled from Chet’s mouth without permission.

Lucky for him, Daniel was more amused than offended. “Yeah,
I figured. We’ll see how she’s doing.”

“She’s been through too much. She’s not ready to be
grilled.”

Daniel crossed his arms. “I’m not going to push her, but
when she’s stable, you have to let her do this, GQ. She needs the closure.”

“Fuck,” Chet snarled.

“You’re lucky your Alpha happens to be bonded and
understanding as hell.” Daniel chuckled rudely. “Just remember bonding isn’t a
matter of choice. Falling in love is.”

Chet’s hopes for the return of normal sank at Daniel’s
cheerful pronouncement. So his world would turn around Ivy for the rest of his
miserable life. She was too damaged to enjoy sex, let alone commit to a
lifetime relationship. And the good news just kept coming.

He caught a whiff of her sweet scent and whirled toward her.
Every bit of self-pity and his resentment at the goddess’s fucked-up mating
system must have been painted across his mug.

Ivy flinched. Glints of pain blurred her eyes.

Knowing he’d hurt her devastated him like an elk stomp to
the gut. He usually had a smooth line of patter for the females. Now when he
needed a golden tongue more than he ever had, his throat knotted up and not a
single word emerged.

Scarlet broke the silence with a quelling glance at Chet.
“Come home with us, Ivy. We’ve got plenty of room. Even Chet will admit you’ll
be perfectly safe with us. We’d love for you to stay at our place. Please say
yes.”

“When you’re up to it, I’d like to talk to you about the
rogue pack.” Daniel added.

“What do you want to know about them?” Ivy asked, skirting
the need for a response to Scarlet’s offer and giving Chet a twig of hope.

“Everything.” The boss was short and to the point.

“We were never allowed to go outside, so we lost track of
time. Best guess, I was with them for over a month. They drugged us whenever
they moved. There were eight males the night before I left. The day before
there’d been nine. One was executed for taking the human girl. They sleep
during the day, leaving one on duty.” She paused to catch her breath, then
asked, “Is this the kind of thing you want?”

She was so slight a good breeze would flatten her. Chet
wanted to wrap her in his arms and keep her safe and warm. But she held herself
so stiffly he didn’t think she’d let him.

“Yeah, keep going.” Daniel encouraged her with a grim nod.

Chet poured a glass of wine and offered it to Ivy.

She accepted the goblet without looking at him. “Thank you.”

“Can I get you anything, Scarlet?”

“Thanks, but not now.” She tugged on Daniel’s arm. “Ivy
needs to eat and rest.”

With me
, Chet
wanted to howl.

“I’m fine.” Ivy’s eyes were huge in a much-too-pale face.

“Come home with us, have something to eat, and then you can
talk to Daniel in the morning.” Scarlet tried again.

Ivy shook her head. “The rogues still have my friends. If
there’s anything I can do to help find the monsters, then I don’t want to
wait.”

“Fair enough.” Daniel agreed mildly. “Tell me about the
other captives. Are they latents too?”

“Probably. Tess’s father was werewolf. Her mother left him
before Tess was born, so he never knew his daughter. Her mother was terrified
she’d give birth to a beast, but Tess looked as human as…” She paused and then
ended, “any other baby. Kat’s father stayed with them, until her mother died
from cancer. After the funeral he left her with her grandparents.”

“How old are the other survivors?”

Ivy shrugged. “I’m not sure, late twenties, maybe early
thirties.”

“Full adults then, but they’d never shifted?”

“No, neither of them ever had.”

“The packs are already dangerously low on females. Rogues
sniff out dormants better than we do. That needs to change.” Daniel gave Chet a
speaking look.

“Damn straight.” Chet agreed with his leader. They needed to
do a hell of a lot better job protecting the weaker members of their endangered
species.

“Who’s in charge of the rogue pack?” Daniel asked Ivy.

“Vic. Bro is a close second.”

“There are six others?”

Ivy opened her mouth, but the Omega nudged her mate’s side.
So Ivy just nodded.

“You’ve given me plenty for tonight. Scarlet’s right, you
need food and sleep.” Daniel’s brow furrowed as he cupped Ivy’s shoulder. “You
did well.”

“Thank you.” Ivy’s hadn’t flinched from his Alpha’s touch,
but Chet knew holding still had cost her precious energy. Her hand trembled as
she took another sip of wine.

Chet couldn’t fix all her problems tonight, but he could
damn well feed her. Cooking had the added benefit of relaxing him. The
distraction might not work, but it sure as hell couldn’t hurt. He took a tray
of tart shells out of the freezer and set them in the warming oven while he
minced parsley, snipped chives, and diced cold lobster—blending everything with
a good dollop of homemade mayonnaise.

The females chatted as he prepped. Daniel excused himself to
make a call.

By the time Chet had finished the salad, the chill was off
the pastry shells. He scooped in the lobster, plated the biscuit-sized tarts,
and passed the appetizers.

Ivy accepted one, and he hovered while she took a bite. Her
eyes softened, then closed as she savored the treat. After the first small tart
disappeared, she reached for a second. “These are amazing.”

“Don’t go with them. Stay with me.” He held his breath,
hoping her kind heart and the appetizers had won him another chance.

Her eyes popped open. “I understand better than most how
horrible forced intimacy is. You may be right, and I may be a dormant werewolf,
but I’m not a monster. I never asked you to rescue me.”

“I’m so—” Was as far as Chet got before Ivy’s palm rose.

“Please let me finish.” She waited for his nod before
continuing. “Scarlet told me a little about bonding. I understand you don’t
have a choice. I do. I want to be fair to you, but I had a life in San
Francisco before this nightmare began. Once the rogues are eliminated, I’m
going home. If we aren’t together, there’s much better odds you won’t bond with
me. So are you sure you want me to stay?”

Hell, if you leave,
then I’m not sure I want to keep breathing.

”Yes.” He let every bit of the longing he felt show and
prayed for mercy.

She studied him for a long moment. “Then I’ll stay.”

Chet had won. His mouth stretched into a sappy grin, and he
didn’t care.

“If Ivy stays here, you need backup.” Daniel added enough
Alpha power to his words to make it a command.

“I can take care of her.” Chet bristled.

“Not if you leave the building. Ivy is the first female to
ever escape a rogue pack. She can identify them, maybe track them better than
we can. We aren’t taking chances with her safety.”