Worth the Risk (13 page)

your mate. I’ll make sure your sister is safe.” It wasn’t a request.

Marisol’s eyes narrowed. “Did Stephan’s father put you up to this?”

She shrugged. “More or less.”

Marisol wanted to argue with her. Every fiber in her being wanted to throw a

tantrum and insist on staying by Paz’s side, but she knew when to pick her battles. Her

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sister was passed out for at least a few hours and this wolf wasn’t threatening to her.

Besides, she desperately needed to talk to her mate. “If she wakes up, you’ll get me?”

The woman nodded. “Of course.”

She placed a quick kiss on her sister’s forehead before searching for Stephan. When

she entered the bedroom they’d been using, she found the main lights off and he was

lying on his side, with his back turned to her. A twinge of pain twisted around her

chest, but she knew she deserved his anger. She’d done nothing but lie to him since

they’d met.

If she had to go back and do things over, she wasn’t sure she’d tell him the truth

though. Sighing, she slipped under the sheet and comforter and closed her eyes. She

had hoped they’d be able to talk, but it didn’t appear he wanted to.

“So that’s it?” Stephan’s voice cut through the quiet room.

Her eyes flew open. “Is what ‘it’?”

“You’re just going to go to sleep?”

She sat up in bed. “Do you have something else in mind?”

The sheets rustled beneath him as he turned to face her. The light from the

bathroom streamed in, letting her see the harsh lines of his face.

When he didn’t continue, she clutched the sheet tightly in her hands. “I wanted to

thank you earlier. I can never repay you for saving my sister…it seems lame to just say

thank you, but it’s all I can offer.”

He sat up and turned to face her. “Why did you lie to me?”

“I wasn’t sure if I could trust you.”

“I told you who I was, what I did for a living.”

She bit her bottom lip. “I know, I just… I don’t know. I thought if I told you I was

going to kill Perez you would stop me.”

“Damn right I would have stopped you!” He cleared his throat and his tone

softened. “How’s your sister?”

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“She must have used a lot of energy, but she’ll be fine. This has happened to her

before… Is your father going to tell the Council?”

“We’ll find out for sure in a few hours, but I think I can safely say no. You’re my

mate; he won’t do anything to betray family.”

She sighed and collapsed against the pillow. Her sister was alive and safe for now.

Just knowing Paz was still alive dulled the desire to kill Perez.

Stephan stayed sitting and stared at her. She shifted under his intense gaze. “What

do you want to ask?”

“You said it was your fault your pack died. Did you betray them?”

“No!” She jolted upright. “I made a stupid decision, but I would never betray them.

Never.
”

He reached out and took both her hands in his. She tried to tug away, but he was

relentless.

“Tell me what happened.”

“I was stupid. So, so stupid. I met a lone wolf, Preston Morales, and invited him

into our pack. I was…” She cleared her throat, wondering how she was going to tell

Stephan this.

“You were involved with him?” he prodded.

“Not physically, but I was attracted to him and I was thinking about sleeping with

him. He was charming and good-looking and it had been so long since I’d been with a

man who—”

“I get it,” Stephan cut in.

“Uh, sorry, I’m just trying to explain the history of what happened. I don’t know

exactly how he did it, but he poisoned the males of our pack and most of the females.

He kidnapped me—apparently he wanted to keep me alive—but I escaped. By the time

I made it back to my pack’s estate, everyone was dead or missing. For months I

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searched for the missing, but it was useless. After a while, I assumed everyone was

dead.”

“How did you find out about the connection between him and Perez?”

“I hired an investigator to tear apart Preston’s life. That led me directly to Antonio

Perez. I found out that my pack’s death wasn’t the first. It’s not as if I knew for sure, but

Perez and Preston were connected all over the States. Each time they did business,

werewolves turned up dead or just disappeared. The Doyle pack in northern New York,

the Harrington Pack in Montana, and I’m assuming that Shea’s pack was killed or she

was kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped.”

She nodded and continued. “When Perez settled in Miami, it appeared he was

going to stay for a while. There hasn’t been a sign of Preston anywhere so I’ve just been

waiting to make my move…until you came along.”

Stephan dropped her hands and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Why didn’t you go

to the Council?”

“I was scared and to be honest, I didn’t want their help. My sister has had to hide

who she is her entire life because of them.”

“Fair enough,” he muttered.

She could actually feel his anger dissipate and in that instant, she simply wanted to

make things right between them. “I never wanted to lie to you, Stephan.” She gently

cupped his face. His jaw tightened under her touch, but he didn’t back away.

The little vixen had him tied up in knots. He wanted to be angry with her, but he

couldn’t find enough energy to hold onto it. Not when she looked so dejected and

tired…and lost.

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When she touched him, he felt the touch all the way to his groin. Need burned deep

in his belly, but after the way he’d roughly taken her in the bathroom at Perez’s house,

he wanted to wait until they made love again.

He was embarrassed at the way he’d lost control. He’d just started fucking her like

an animal. She might have come, but it didn’t matter. She deserved better than that.

“You need to get some sleep.” The words tore from his chest.

“I don’t want to sleep.” The dark circles under her eyes told a different story.

“Don’t argue.” He lay back against his pillow and pulled her with him so that her

head was against his chest. Barely seconds passed before her body stilled and her

breathing was steady.

“Marisol,” he murmured.

She didn’t move.

He tightened his grip on her and savored her sweet, jasmine scent. His cock was

painfully aware of the sexy woman in his arms and he was slightly pissed because he

couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

Even if they were mates, they’d started sleeping together before they’d gotten to

know one another. If he could go back in time and do things differently, he wondered if

he would. Hell, if he
could
.

Just being near Marisol and his normally tight grip of control loosened. Sighing, he

closed his eyes and tried to think of anything but her lean body pressed up against his.

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Stephan’s eyes flew open as a scream pierced the air. Instinctively he reached out to

protect Marisol. She jolted upright at the same time he did but didn’t push him away.

“My sister,” she said, terror lacing her voice.

They both jumped off the bed, but he placed himself in front of her as they entered

the guestroom. His aunt Caro was trying to calm Marisol’s sister down, but the small

woman had backed up against the headboard and was clutching a pillow in front of her

in self-defense.

When her gaze fell on Marisol, she dropped the pillow. “Marisol? Where am I?”

“You’re safe. This is my mate’s house. His pack is going to protect us.” Marisol

hurried to the bed and sat next to her sister.

Stephan’s heart squeezed at the way she said “mate”. Her sister glanced over

Marisol’s shoulder and looked at him. “I remember you.”

“I was at Perez’s house the night you escaped. We came to rescue you.”

“Where’s Shea?” Her voice rose as she asked the question.

“She’s safe at my parents’ house,” he said.

Paz let out a sigh of relief. “Good… What about that bastard, Perez?”

“We don’t know where he is…yet. But we’re going to find him.”

“Not if I find him first,” Paz muttered.

“How did you escape your bonds?” He knew he should probably wait to drill her,

but his father was going to have questions later.

“I built up an immunity to his drugs.”

Marisol cleared her throat and glanced back and forth between them. “Stephan, can

I talk to my sister alone?”

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“Of course.” He glanced at his aunt who silently walked out of the room. As he shut

the door behind him, the blaring sound of his cell phone pushed him into action.

He hurried to his room and grabbed his phone. When he saw his boss’s number on

caller ID, he instantly tensed. “Yeah?”

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I guess you haven’t heard. Perez’s house was torched sometime early this morning

and his body was found mutilated in an abandoned warehouse. Whoever killed him

did a real number on his face. It looks like an animal ripped him apart.”

“Shit.” Stephan didn’t have to feign surprise.

“Since I know you’re not at the cover house, I want you to stay wherever you are.

Lay low for a few days.”

“What?”

“I don’t know what’s going on or if your cover’s been blown. You need to stay out

of sight. I’ve already got the rest of the team doing the same thing. Keep your phone

close to you. I’ve also got an outside team investigating Perez’s death. As soon as I’m

convinced it’s safe, I’ll bring you and everyone else back in.”

“All right, boss.” Under normal circumstances he would’ve fought his boss to come

to work, but right now, he needed the downtime with his family. They needed to

regroup and now they needed to figure out who had killed Perez. It wasn’t any of them.

Of that, he was positive. That left a lot of questions.

When they disconnected, he started to head back to check on Marisol but changed

his mind. After a quick shower and shave, he figured he’d given them enough time

alone. It was close to noon and he needed answers from her sister before they headed to

his parents’ house.

As he started to knock, the bedroom door swung open. Marisol nearly stumbled

when she saw him.

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“I was just coming to find you.” She sounded nervous and out of breath.

“We need to leave soon.”

“I know she’s awake but…I was thinking Paz doesn’t need to come. She’s been

through a lot and she needs to rest. Meeting the whole pack now will be too much.

Especially since they know…what she is.”

“Okay.” The word was out before he could stop himself.

The megawatt smile Marisol bestowed him with was completely worth it though. It

lit up her face and eyes. Before he realized what she meant to do, she threw her arms

around his neck.

“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.

Her breath tickled his skin, sending unwanted desire shooting through him. He was

an idiot. His Alpha had given him a direct order, but if it made his mate happy, he’d

sell his fucking soul.

She pulled back and glanced over her shoulder at her sister. “There’s food in the

kitchen. Hopefully we won’t be gone long.”

Paz stood near the edge of the bed clutching a pair of jeans and a sweater—no

doubt clothes from Marisol. “Thanks. And Stephan, thank you…for everything. I

promise to meet with your Alpha in a couple days. I just need some time to adjust.”

He nodded and pulled the door shut behind them. “They’re going to have a lot of

questions, Marisol.”

“I know. I’m ready to answer all of them. I just can’t believe my sister’s alive. That

monster’s been holding her for a year. She thought all of us were dead too.”

“Your sister can sleep easier because Perez is dead.”

“What?” She jerked to a halt in the middle of the hallway.

“I got a call from my boss this morning. He was found dead in an abandoned

warehouse.”

“Who killed him?”

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“Don’t know yet.” But he planned to find out.

“Wow.” Marisol shook her head as they entered their bedroom.

“What?”

“It feels sort of anticlimactic. I’ve been hunting him for the better part of the year. I

expected to feel, I don’t know, different. Now that I have my sister back…” She

shrugged and pulled her pajama top off.

His throat seized as she started to strip out of the rest of her clothes. Braless and

wearing only a skimpy thong, she knelt in front of her suitcase and started rummaging

through her things.

Stephan sat against the edge of the bed and drank in the sight of her. Even though

she was a werewolf, he’d noticed her apprehension at getting naked in front of him

before. Now it seemed she had no such hang-ups. His cock jerked when she shimmied

into a pair of jeans. There was nothing intentionally sexual about what she was doing,

but his body tingled with excitement as he watched her.

When she pulled a black bra from her clothes, he stopped her. “Don’t wear a bra.”

Her head jerked up. “What?”

“Please,” he rasped.

A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips. “Okay.” She let the bra slip from her

fingers, but instead of putting on the sweater she clutched in her other hand, she