Rising Reign, page 10
part #3 of The Wolves of Crescent Creek Series
“Let’s just get through today, okay?”
She was quiet but didn’t look away, her gaze peeling back layer after layer.
I dropped my forehead to hers and breathed in the scent of wildflowers and rain. “We’ve got threats coming from all sides. My wolf’s on edge. And we’re both freaking the fuck out that we won’t be able to protect you.” And there was more. More I wasn’t ready to share. But this was enough. For now.
Wren’s fingers fisted in my shirt. “I’m fine. Look, I protected myself. And we’ll figure the rest out. One thing at a time. As long as we’re together, we can tackle anything.”
I wanted to believe her. More than anything, I wanted to believe that we would all make it through. But I wasn’t so sure she was right.
26
WREN
I kept a close eye on Puck all afternoon. The moment we came back inside, he’d donned his mask. The one of the flirty charmer. He’d laid it on thick for Ginger when she and Amos came in for date night and had gone above and beyond slinging drinks and chatting up everyone in the bar. Everyone except for me.
Annoyance and worry battled within me as I felt the distance growing. And it sure as hell didn’t help that Rhys watched the whole thing like he was taking in a tennis match. By the time our replacements came in for the dinner shift, I was cranky and more than a little pissed off.
Normally, Puck wouldn’t have let that stand. He would’ve pressed to know what was bothering me. Instead, he remained completely silent as he drove Rhys and me home.
Rhys leaned forward from the back seat, his focus moving between us like that tennis match was back in action. “Am I the only one feeling the awkwardness?”
“You’re lucky you’re not feeling my hand ripping out your heart,” Puck muttered as he hit a button to open the gate onto Arcane territory.
I turned toward the window, watching the familiar trees pass as the road curved toward the house. It only took a handful of minutes, but it felt like an eternity. The moment Puck slowed the SUV, I was out and heading for the house. As soon as I hauled the door open, the other guys and Hera were there.
Kingston looked particularly surly. “Puck said something happened. What?” he growled.
Locke moved into my space, his hand cupping my face as he swept my body to make sure I wasn’t injured. “You’re okay?”
“I’m totally fine,” I assured him.
“Then why,” Ender snarled, struggling to keep his breathing even, “is there a healing blade mark on your arm?”
A series of growls lit the air, and Brix moved to lift my arm for inspection. “This looks like it was deep.”
“Barely a scratch,” Rhys huffed.
“A deep wound because you wanted to conduct some sick experiment,” Puck snapped.
All eyes moved to Rhys, but Ender prowled toward him. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“She was perfectly safe,” Rhys defended. “I would’ve stepped in if things had gotten out of hand.”
“The fuck you would’ve. You knew Dent was out there. Knew he would try to kill Wren. You told me you had her back, but you’re a goddamned liar,” Puck snarled.
Kingston moved so quickly Rhys didn’t have a prayer of defense. His fist lashed out, striking Rhys square in the nose with a sickening crunch.
Rhys doubled over, cupping his face. “Damn it all to hell. You broke it.”
“You deserve far worse. You asked for our trust and betrayed it the first chance you got,” Kingston ground out. “You’re lucky I didn’t take your head.”
I crossed to King and placed a hand on his arm. “That’s taking it a little far. He really was trying to assess my fighting skills.”
“I don’t give a damn,” Kingston roared. “You could’ve been seriously hurt. Killed.” He hauled me against him, his breaths ragged.
I wrapped my arms around his waist, giving him what he needed. Contact. The assurance that I was all right.
“I need some air,” Puck muttered, heading back out the door.
My eyes followed him as he left, but I kept a hold of King. It was as if I were being pulled in infinite directions because we were all falling apart.
Rhys straightened and cracked his nose back into place. He let out a stream of curses at the fresh wave of pain.
I met his gaze with a pointed stare. “You did deserve that one.”
Ender snickered. “At least it wasn’t my nose for once.”
“I can remedy that,” Rhys challenged.
I released my hold on King and looked up into his eyes. “Are you okay?”
His hands ghosted over my face. “I’m all right.” He brushed his lips over mine. “Can’t stand the thought of you being hurt in any way.”
“I feel the same about you.” The idea that any of them could be injured because of some danger I’d put them in was almost more than I could take.
Kingston kissed me again. “We’ll get through it together.”
“Together,” I whispered, glancing over my shoulder at the still wide-open door.
“Go,” King said softly. “He needs you.”
I looked up at our alpha, searching his pale-blue gaze. “You’re sure?”
He nodded and then kissed my forehead. “Go. We’ve got things handled here.”
I didn’t wait. I took off at a jog out the door, hoping that having things handled didn’t mean a group beatdown of Rhys. I scented the air and followed the trail of smoky whiskey. Puck had put some serious distance between him and the house, but I finally found him about a mile away. He’d followed the creek’s path and stood staring at the bubbling water in the twilight.
His blond hair caught the purplish light, making it almost glow. But as I approached, his muscles stiffened. “I need some time, Wren.”
Wren. Not Birdie, like he usually called me. It was as if he was creating an invisible distance between us.
“Not leaving you alone when you’re hurting,” I said softly.
The tension flowing through Puck twisted his muscles tighter. One second, he stood before me as a man. The next, a golden wolf was bounding away.
I cursed, instantly letting my wolf free. She gladly accepted the challenge, but our shift wasn’t as quick as Puck’s. We could make up for that with our speed on the ground. That was the thing about growing up as a submissive. You got fast.
My paws hit the forest floor in a thundering beat as I chased Puck’s trail. It wasn’t long before I caught him in my sights, a flash of gold in the darkening woods.
I pushed harder, my muscles burning and my lungs heaving, but I gained. His smoky whiskey scent grew stronger, and it was the fuel I needed.
With one last push, I launched myself into the air. I caught Puck on the fly, the force of my leap taking us both to the ground in a roll. We landed just beside the creek on a mossy embankment.
I didn’t wait. My teeth pressed to the side of Puck’s neck, pressure without puncture. But I’d bite if I needed to.
Puck let out a low, frustrated growl. But then he shifted back to his human form, and a completely naked man was underneath me.
27
WREN
I tried not to let the golden skin and tan body distract me. My teeth stayed right at Puck’s very human neck as I growled.
Puck simply chuckled. “You got me. Shift.” His hands sifted through my fur as if wooing my human half back.
I was tempted to bite him just for the hell of it, but I still needed my human half to communicate with the bastard, so I began my shift. I felt the telltale pop and crack of bones, and before long, I was straddling Puck in my human form.
His green eyes flashed in the dark, his hands moving to cup my breasts. I smacked them away. “You haven’t earned that,” I growled.
“Birdie,” he cooed as if that would make me melt. “I need to feel you. Lose myself in you.”
I understood the urge. The physical was sometimes so much easier. A way to forget everything around you. But that wasn’t what we needed right now.
Grabbing Puck’s wrists, I held them over his head. He grinned. “Kinky. I like it.”
I let out a low growl. “I will bite you.”
“I’m into it.” He nipped my bottom lip.
“Not in a fun way,” I gritted out.
Puck pushed up, trying to kiss me.
“Don’t.” The single word cracked out like a whip as I released Puck’s hands and sat up.
“Birdie,” he whispered, losing the amusement.
“Tell me what’s going on,” I begged. That mask started to rise again, and pain flooded my system. My hands moved to Puck’s stubbled cheeks. “Don’t hide from me.”
A different sort of pain filled Puck’s expression, and I would’ve done anything to wash it away, to ease it by any means. My fingertips trailed over his cheeks, trying to bring comfort.
“I’m sorry,” he rasped.
“You don’t have to be sorry. You just need to let me in.”
Puck let out a shuddered breath. “I keep thinking about how I’ve let you down. How I pushed you away at first. How I let you get taken. Twice. How I haven’t protected you. And the threats are coming from all sides now. How the hell can I keep you safe?”
I stroked my fingers over his stubble. “Where is this coming from?” I knew we’d been facing a lot, but Puck had seemed good when I returned. Steady. His words now were filled with panic.
His jaw clenched, and the muscle there began pulsing wildly in a staccato beat I could feel beneath my fingertips.
“Puck, this is more than what happened recently. What’s going on?” I pressed. I could feel it now, sheer panic raking against my emotional shields.
“My sister called.”
I stilled. I remembered Puck telling me that he’d ceded leadership of his family’s pack to his younger sister after his brother and his potential mate betrayed him. He’d told me it was too painful to be there after he was forced to end his brother’s life. But I wasn’t sure how much contact he still had with his sister and parents. Apparently, it wasn’t much.
My hands trailed down Puck’s neck to his chest, finally coming to a stop over his heart. “Is that okay? That she called?”
Puck’s throat worked as he struggled to swallow. “I usually talk to them twice a year. Christmas and their birthdays.”
An ache settled in my chest, sadness making itself at home there. “Why did she call now?”
“Remember how King put out the word that the Diablos had found their mate and threatened anyone who wanted to do her harm?”
I muttered a curse. That wasn’t the way to find out that your brother or son had found their partner—through the black-market grapevine. “Was she mad?” I asked.
“I’m not sure if mad is the right word. But talking to her…it stirred things up. I started having nightmares from that time, and it heightened everything going on now. I feel like I’m jumping at every shadow.”
Everything started to make sense. I leaned forward and nuzzled Puck’s neck. “I’m right here. Not going anywhere. I’m safe and happy, just as long as you are.”
His arms came around me, holding me to him. “I love you, Birdie. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Good thing you’ll never have to find out,” I vowed.
“Clara, my sister, she wants to meet you.”
I stiffened at that. “Meet me?” I squeaked.
Puck’s chest began to shake with laughter. “Afraid of asshole MC members trying to kill her? Nope. Afraid of a wolf on a tear? Not at all. Afraid of meeting her mate’s family? One hundred percent.”
I nipped Puck’s neck. “That’s not nice.”
Puck rolled me so I was on my back, and he was hovering over me in a position that had my legs hooking around his waist and heat flushing my skin. “I’m not sure now’s the right time. I’m not sure I’m ready,” Puck admitted. “I haven’t seen her since I left.”
That ache in my chest was back, deeper now. “I’d be with you. Maybe it’s what you need. To finally face it.”
Indecision warred on Puck’s face before resolve set in. “Okay.”
I grinned up at him. “Love you.”
He lowered himself to me. “More than words.”
And then he slid inside me. Puck’s strokes began long and lazy as if he were in no rush at all. We soaked up every ounce of sensation and sentiment. And he showed me without words just how much he loved me.
28
WREN
The brutal call of one of those party air horns blasted into the soft glow of the rising sun. I jerked upright in bed, the guys all around me doing the same: Puck and Brix on my left, Locke and Kingston on my right, and Ender and Princess on the couch.
Princess hissed at the offender, and I had the urge to do the same.
“What the fuck?” Puck snarled.
“Time to train, Little Vixen,” Rhys announced. “We’ve got lots of work to do.”
“Someone kill him,” Locke muttered, flopping back onto his pillow.
“I’m immortal,” Rhys huffed.
Kingston narrowed his eyes on the vampire. “There are ways.”
And there were. Lore said that an enchanted stake to the heart would do it. Or removing the vampire’s head. Or burning them alive.
Rhys let out a little huff. “You could always try, but do you want the little firecracker to live or not?”
I threw off the covers, making the guys groan. “Nothing like the threat of death to get you going in the morning.”
“I’ll show him a threat of death,” Brix growled as he rose from the bed and prowled toward Rhys.
The vampire simply tapped the side of his head. “Remember who gets the visions.”
Brix kept right on moving. “If we remove his head from his body, think the visions will keep coming?”
“Possible,” Ender said, stretching.
Princess leapt from the couch and stalked over to Rhys. She swiped at his calf and hissed before taking off down the hall.
“Ouch,” Rhys said, bending down to rub his abused leg.
Puck grinned. “At least I’m not the only one she hates.”
The windows to the gym were open, letting in the air that had tipped cooler with the arrival of early fall. I stretched toward one leg, grabbing my shoe.
“At least she’s bendy,” Rhys muttered.
“Stop staring at her cleavage,” Puck griped, then smacked Rhys upside the head.
“Ow,” Rhys said, affronted.
Puck simply arched an eyebrow.
Rhys straightened. “I can’t ignore the fact that she’s beautiful.”
“I could pluck out your eyes,” Brix offered. “That would help.”
Locke snickered. “I’m so glad you haven’t fully lost your edge.”
Rhys’s nose wrinkled as he warily looked at Brix. “I did think that whole feral-demon thing had eased.”
“The psycho twins are still in full effect when they need to be,” Puck assured him.
Kingston crossed his arms over his muscular chest. “Tell us what we’re doing here.”
“I told you,” Rhys began. “Training. But we’re waiting for one more.”
“I’m here, I’m here,” Hera grumbled. She half-stumbled into the gym, wearing pale-green sweats with different types of plants emblazoned on them. Her face was bare, and her strawberry-blond hair was tied up in a haphazard bun.
Rhys studied her. “Not a morning person?”
Hera bared her teeth at him. “You woke me up at five-thirty. In the morning.”
“No rest for the wicked,” Rhys said cheerily.
“Easy for you,” Hera muttered. “Bloodsuckers don’t sleep.”
“You know,” Rhys began, “I could start taking serious offense to that term.”
“Maybe you’ll remember that the next time you try to wake me up before dawn,” Hera snarled.
Rhys held up both hands in surrender. “Touchy, touchy.”
“Why do you need Hera here?” Locke asked. “No offense.”
Hera waved him off. “None taken. I’d much rather be in bed.”
“We’re going to need her magic as the training progresses,” Rhys explained. “But first, I wanted to go over some weaknesses I saw in Wren’s hand-to-hand skills.”
I bared my teeth at him. “What weaknesses?”
Rhys shifted into professional mode. “You drop your guard when you’re thinking about your next attack move. It gives your opponent a chance to get in a blow.”
I thought about the battle with Dent in the alleyway and cursed. The damn vamp was right. It had begun to slip twice, allowing a blow to find purchase. My back teeth ground together. “All right. What else?”
“Your speed is one of your greatest hand-to-hand skills, but you don’t use it to its full potential,” Rhys went on. “You’re good with certain evasions, especially ducking low, but your footwork could be quicker. I’m going to set up some obstacle courses to help with that.”
“Running, yay,” I muttered.
Brix’s lips twitched, and he bent to kiss my head. “I’ll do them with you.”
I looked up at him. “You’re my favorite today.”
“Hey,” Puck protested. “I told you I’d make your favorite breakfast after training.”
I grinned at him. “Maybe you’ll be my favorite later.”
“That’s a little better,” he huffed.
“I want to know what you need Hera for,” Kingston demanded. “You aren’t telling us something.”
Rhys’s focus moved to the Arcane alpha. “After hand-to-hand, we’ll move to Wren’s shifting speed. She needs to work on her quick changes.”
I frowned. Rhys hadn’t seen me shift, so how would he know if they were fast or slow?
“Why?” Kingston ground out.
Rhys was quiet for a moment, but then he spoke. “I had a vision. If we don’t work on Wren’s shifting and empath gifts, she’ll die.”
Each word detonated like a bomb, leaving shrapnel in its wake. It wasn’t just the word die that left a heavy weight in the air, though. It was the word empath. No one but the guys knew what I was or that I had that gift. No one else knew because it put me at risk.
