Betraying the Pack (16 page)

“It should be noted that, in both cases, the women had met their mates.
For Dana, she required an intimate act to trigger it, followed by a full moon,
while Bailey just needed for her wolf to sense her mate, or in this case,
mates. Could we have been wrong all this time? Could it be that some latents
only develop in the presence of their mates?”

The implication . . . damn. Gavin didn’t even want to think what it
meant. “So we could have any number of people running around with the Lycan
gene. Walking time bombs that could go off if they have sex with the right
person. How reassuring.”

“Actually, it’s not that likely,” John interjected. “Given that the
gene seems to only develop in the presence of a Lycan true mate, and given we
mostly keep to within the packs, the chances of unknowing dormants running into
their mate and thus triggering their latent side seems unlikely.”

“Say that to Bailey,” Wyatt wryly replied. “Okay, so we can all agree
we’ve been wrong about dormants, fine. The more serious problem at hand is how
Roderick knew, and why he wants Bailey.”

As usual, Wyatt bluntly went to the heart of the problem, and Gavin
didn’t like the look of it. “Did he know or suspect? Don’t forget, they took
all her mother’s information the night they abducted her. So while Roderick or
his minions might have suspected something special about her, they couldn’t
know for sure until they did more background.”

“Given their ardent pursuit of her, I think it’s safe to say they now
know what she is. We need to get this information out to the other packs
immediately,” Nathan ordered. “Tell them to start sifting through their records
and start contacting all dormants who’ve left the packs, and have their
children either brought in or put under observation.”

“I’ll get started on our own records,” John volunteered.

“What do you want us to do?” Gavin asked.

“For now, you and Wyatt should keep a close eye on your mate because my
gut says Roderick’s not done with her.”

Funny, because Gavin’s intuition said the same thing.

Falling into an enjoyable routine proved surprisingly easy, and Bailey
couldn’t recall ever feeling this content. Then again, she’d never had four men
striving to please her at every turn.

Already more than a week here, and she couldn’t imagine life without
any of them. But that still didn’t mean she’d jumped into bonding with Parker
and Jaxon just yet. With Gavin and Wyatt, it had just kind of naturally
happened. However, while Parker and Jaxon stole quite a few kisses—to her panty-wetting
enjoyment—interruptions and distraction kept things from going any further, and
she was too shy to claim them directly.

At least they didn’t seem to mind the wait, even if they did tease her
all the time. Perhaps, if the lusts they roused weren’t being satisfied nightly
by Wyatt or Gavin—sometimes with both men at once—she might have given them what
they so blatantly desired. Truth was, though, she liked things the way they
were, and she didn’t want to rock the boat or create cause for jealousy despite
their reassurances this was the pack way.

It was Dana who inadvertently made Bailey see that she needed to
perhaps step up her game and claim her men before someone else did.

They were strolling through the compound when Dana bristled beside her.
Bailey looked around to see what had caught her attention, but only saw a man
leaving a house, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Damned slut,” Dana muttered. “It’s not enough she’s got four mates
working their asses off to give her shit she doesn’t need. She’s now seducing
some of the single men into giving her more.”

Bailey’s brow wrinkled. “Why on earth would she do that? I have a hard
enough time keeping up with two.”

“Her men don’t work within the compound. They’re truckers, and to make
the kind of money she likes, they do long haul. Most women time it so that
there’s always one at home to keep her company. Not Missy. She spreads her legs
to give them a taste and then sends them off again. Hell, the door’s barely
slammed shut before she’s got some young pup in there, rutting his brains out.”

“Okay, that’s just wrong,” Bailey replied, making a moue of distaste.

“Yup, but there’s no pack laws against fucking,” Dana said crudely, “which
is why you’d better make up your mind on what you’re going to do with Jaxon and
Parker. I hear Missy’s got her eye on them. And she’s not the only one. Some of
the newcomers are single women looking for some men that they haven’t known
since childhood to settle with. With the disappearances of males from all over,
we’ve also got some females looking to pad their families with as many men as
they can get their paws on for added protection. Prime specimens like Parker
and Jaxon won’t stay single for long.”

“But they’re mine,” Bailey blurted, almost immediately blushing.

Dana snorted. “Not until you bite them, they’re not. And even then,
they can stray. My father wasn’t one to keep it in his pants.”

Bailey bit her lip. “You think they’ll cheat on me?”

Dana whirled and grabbed her hands. “Oh shit, I didn’t mean your men
would. Anyone can tell they’re nuts for you. You have a true mating bond with
them just like I do with my guys. But, not all women have that. Some just mate
because it’s convenient, or they’re lonely. Those are the ones that don’t tend
to have happily ever afters.”

“And are Jaxon and Parker my true mates too?”

“I’d say yes, but until you mark them, they’re also fair game. Keep in mind,
the bond only needs an exchange of blood, whether freely given or not. It’s not
unheard of for a man, or woman, for that matter, to trick someone. It’s
unethical, but it still happens. It’s partially why we had the laws
restructured, to eradicate that kind of behavior. But, once bound, there’s
nothing short of death that can break that circle.”

Before Bailey could question her further, a commotion caught their
attention. One of Dana’s mates approached with their son. The little bundle of
energy tore away from John’s hand and ran up the street, his little legs
pumping.

“Mama!” he bellowed.

Dana scooped the boy up and whirled him about to his chortling glee. At
just under two years of age, Braedon was the spitting image of his father,
John.

“What happened to his nap?” she asked, settling her son on her hip.

Reaching them, Dana’s mate shrugged helplessly. “Yeah, that didn’t work
out so well. I was hoping a walk would calm him down.”

“Not likely,” she grumbled, but her fierce expression melted as her son
kissed her wetly on the cheek with a loud smacking sound.

Looking upon them, a longing for a family of her own, a child, filled Bailey.
Now that I’m Lycan like them, will I be
able to have children? Could I already be pregnant?

As Dana made Braedon wave good-bye and left to put him down for an
actual nap, she couldn’t help watching them wistfully.

As if reading her mind, John said, “You’ll be blessed like that as well
soon.”

“You think?”

“When was your last period?”

Bailey turned red at his blunt question. Doctor to the compound or not,
outside in a social setting, such an intimate query rattled her. “I don’t know.
A week or so before I met Gavin and the others.”

“And that was about two weeks or so ago, almost three, right?”

She nodded.

“It’s probably too early to tell, although I’m sure they’ve been
diligent about their duty. If you’d like, though, I could drop by a few testers
so you can check for yourself without the hassle of coming to my office.”

“Could you?”

“Yes. I’ll have my secretary bring them around. They’re fairly
standard. Pee on the stick. A cross is yes. A minus is no.”

“What if I am? Will they be happy, though?” She wondered if it had even
occurred to her men that their copious lovemaking without protection might
result in pregnancy. She sure hadn’t until this moment. If she already were
with child, how would they react?

John’s knowing eyes saw through her trepidation, and he replied softly,
“All pregnancies are celebrated in the pack. Girl or boy, no one is ever upset
when a mating is successful. Knowing Gavin and Wyatt, they will strut around
like proud peacocks if their seed has already taken root.”

Bailey pondered her
conversation with John and Dana for a few days, masking her thought process
behind bright smiles that seemed to fool them. Well, except for Wyatt. He
watched her with those dark eyes of his, and even questioned if anything
bothered her. She evaded replying with an impromptu seduction that left him
barely able to say her name.

During that time of reflection,
she made her decision to take Parker as mate. Given all the time he’d patiently
taken to teach her how to use her new abilities and to defend herself, sparring
lessons that left her rubbing her posterior on more than one occasion, she felt
he’d earned the right to go next. Besides, she was tired of fighting her
attraction to him. Maybe once she claimed him, the wolf in her head, whose
presence no longer freaked her out as much, would stop her bitching.

Of course, she would make up
her mind on the worst possible day, the day Parker wanted her to coax her beast
out.

Bailey crossed her arms over
her chest and shook her head stubbornly. “No.”

Parker sighed. “Baby, I’ve
taught you everything else. It’s the only thing left. Come on, do it with me
now. It will be easier if you’re the one allowing it rather than waiting for
the next full moon to force it.”

“Can’t we do something else
instead?”

“Like what? I’ve stalled this
for far longer than I should have already.”

Now is my chance.
She’d
never initiated the kisses before, but there was no time like the present. Smiling
coyly, Bailey sauntered up to Parker until she stood just a hairsbreadth away
from his chest. A trembling invaded her limbs as she lifted her hands and
placed them on his chest. Her new hearing caught the increase in his heart
rate, a sign that encouraged her to lift on tiptoe and tilt her head back.

“I’m sure we can think of
something to do,” she said huskily.

If the smoky desire in his gaze
was any indication, he’d caught her innuendo. “We’re kind of exposed out here.”

“Out here” being still within
sight of the housing units that bordered the woods kept within the compound
boundaries. “Well then, let’s go find something a little more private,” she
sassed before sprinting off with a giggle.

Behind her, Parker let out a
howl that even in his man shape sounded animalistic, and the chase began.
Bailey ran through the woods, nimble as a jackrabbit—or in this case, a
wolf—leaping over debris, faster than she’d imagined herself capable. All the
exercise with Parker had an added benefit. Even in the short time she’d been
here, she’d noticed a change in her body, a tightening of her muscles that
secretly made her smile. Sure, she’d probably always own wide hips and a set of
boobs that needed a bra to harness them, but her arms and legs had lost their
flabby look.
And I feel great!

The crashing of Parker behind
her, his way of letting her know he still followed, made her grin. Anticipation
built in her as she imagined him catching her, and she knew just the place too—the
furthest corner of the compound, where a natural glade with a bed of the softest
grass awaited.

As soon as she hit the hidden
paradise, she stopped and whirled, in time to see Parker leap out after her.
His chest heaved, not with exertion but an attempt at control if the passion in
his eyes was any indication. Panting slightly herself, Bailey didn’t say a word,
but let her hands stray to the buttons on her blouse, slipping each one out of its
loop until her shirt came loose. Shrugging it from her shoulders, she let it
flutter to the ground and stood there, trying not to blush at her brazenness,
but failing. Wyatt and Gavin had done a lot in the last few weeks to give her
the confidence she needed in her own body to feel sexy.

“Oh, baby, you are so
beautiful.” He breathed the words with a reverence that made her shiver.

Parker stripped off his own
shirt as he stalked toward her, revealing slabs of muscle that made her breath
hitch. He stopped a few feet from her, and, eyes locked to his, Bailey reached to
her waist and pushed down the yoga pants she’d worn for their session. They
pooled around her ankles, and she stepped out of them.

Then, before she could lose her
nerve, she removed her bra and panties as well.

Naked, she didn’t have a chance
to shiver, or second-guess her decision, because Parker swept her up into a hug
that lifted her feet off the ground and brought her mouth level with his. The
heat of his embrace burned and ignited her own raging desire. His embraces of
before were nothing compared to the hunger he displayed now—a hunger
reciprocated.

Her own need unleashed, she
returned his kiss just as fiercely, her tongue boldly pressing against his lips
until he opened for her, allowing exploration. The deep groan that rumbled from
him made his whole chest vibrate, making her own body hum. Somehow, holding on to
her the entire while, he sat them down, and then he lay down at her urging so
she could plaster herself against his length.

But, there was one thing he’d
forgotten, and she kept encountering it every time she rubbed her cleft against
him.

Sitting up, she straddled his
waist and reached behind to unsnap his pants, needing to feel him inside her,
skin to skin. A flash of reflected light caught her attention, and she froze
midmotion, staring. Yellow eyes, with irises of deep red, regarded her from the
shadows of the trees.

Sensing something amiss, Parker
opened his eyes. “What is it, baby?” He’d no sooner asked than he stiffened
beneath her. In a flash, he’d rolled and gotten up on one knee, placing her
behind him.

“When I say go,” he murmured in
a low voice, “run as fast as you can back to the compound. Tell the others the
rogues have crossed the wall.”

Rogues? Here?
Instant
fear washed over her, a fear that trebled as more sets of eyes appeared beside
the first, then advanced.

“Get ready, baby,” Parker said
standing to his full height. “Go!” He shouted the word just as his body began
to morph, his pants splitting at the violent change and then falling away as
his legs took on the slimmer shape of a wolf’s. And just in time, too, because
he’d no sooner finished shifting than the renegade wolves leapt at him.

Frozen, Bailey could only watch
in horror as four wolves dove and snapped at Parker. Tears came to her eyes at
the first bloody gash, but while Bailey, the human, shook, her inner beast trembled
in fury. She whined in her head, begging to get out so she could help their
mate.

But it will hurt,
whined
her cowardly side.

And Parker might die, if we don’t,
retorted her inner bitch. Her mental battle only took seconds, but it
was long enough for one of the rogues to notice she still stood there, naked as
a jaybird, and defenseless.

When it took a step in her
direction, Bailey relinquished control.
Fine.
Change. But do it fast before they kill him.
Her wolf wasted no time,
bounding forward in her mind, taking over her body and pushing herself through.

A scream left Bailey’s lips as
her body convulsed and contorted, but the agony either didn’t last as long or
wasn’t as bad as she remembered because in no time at all, she was howling
instead, her wolf gleefully in charge and advancing on the rogue.