Inequities (4 page)

“Shit,
Ry
, why did you do that for?” Another of his pack had joined them.

Ryerson hadn’t seen him or the others. No matter. They could take care of the body for him.

“He was speaking against his alpha. Anyone else feel the need?”

A chorus of ‘no’ followed Ryerson’s question.

“Good. Now get back to work and somebody find me some answers. There has to be something here that will tell us where they would go. The first person who finds information will become my new beta once we get home.”

Satisfied that the others would do as they were told, he went on his own search for something of Vivian’s. She had been there for a few days and had to have left a trace for him to find.

He wasn’t delusional no matter what Bart might have thought. He knew Vivian wanted nothing to do with him and wasn’t happy in their tribe, but he really didn’t give a fuck. She was promised to him and would be his. Those fucking wolves had better not touch her or he would obliterate them all.

Hell, he could take down the old alpha no problem, but it would be easier to control the masses if he did his take over the right way. And he would be in charge. His mentor thought he’d be a puppet on the string, but that wouldn’t be the case. He was more powerful now than ever before. He would take over. They would all bow before him. But if Vivian continued to elude him he would go home with guns blazing and her dead body along for the ride. A war would be nice. He could blame the whole thing on the wolves. That plan was even better. Anyone could die in a war and Ryerson could step right in and take control. Maybe spread things out and take over this area too.

Ryerson liked to dream big. It came from all those years of having nothing and he wasn’t going back.

“Ryerson, Bill found something.”

Good. All he needed was to be patient and things would fall into place. He was due some good luck. Ryerson followed his subordinate into the office, happy for the first time in weeks. He liked it when things came together.

* * * *

It had been hours, but Russ was finally happy that they had lost their tail. He’d find a hotel soon and get them settled for the night before taking off again in the morning. He wanted to make certain that there was no trace for the foxes to follow. So he was going to weave through the state before going on the right trail to the safe house. He hoped the others were gone and he didn’t want to think about the foxes defiling his home. That would make him angry and he needed a cool head to take care of his family.

Hot heads didn’t win. His father taught him
that years
ago. A cool head and logic worked best every time.
And patience.
He used to have that in spades. It was time to get it back.

Russ felt better than he had in days. Some of it might have to do with his mate clutching him so tightly. He finally spotted a hotel in the distance and turned his signal on letting the others know his destination.

They pulled into the parking lot and switched off the bikes for the first time in hours. They’d have to find a gas station soon too.

“Why are we stopping?” Greycen edged off the motorcycle.

Russ looked over to see Peter had let Greycen drive his bike. That was something he didn’t expect to see. Peter loved his bike and no one touched it. Something bigger was going on there.

“We lost anyone that was following us and we need to get some rest before we head on,” Russ explained.

“We should—” Greycen tried.

“No. We shouldn’t. Vivian is tired and not used to riding. Do you really want to chance her slipping off? I know I don’t. We’ll rest.”

“Don’t stop on my account,” Vivian interrupted Russ.

“Enough you two.
Stop questioning me. Let’s get a couple rooms and discuss what will happen in the next few days.”

Russ strode to the main office and got two rooms. He figured one of them would be on watch in short rotations through the night so they only needed four beds.

The group was where he’d left them. He gestured for them to follow. They had two bottom floor rooms in the back of the motel. It didn’t look like many people stayed here and that was fine with Russ.
The less people to worry about the better.
He opened the first room and had
them
all come in.

“All right.
We have some time. Let’s talk. Vivian. Can you call your parents and get this group to back off?” Russ wanted to start out easy.

“I’ll call, but I don’t think it will do any good. My parents might call Ryerson off, but that doesn’t mean he’ll leave. He wants to be in charge too bad. He’ll find a way around the order or twist it so my parents listen to him anyway.”

Russ looked at Greycen for confirmation. The other man nodded. Well fuck.

“Okay. We’ll have you call later from a disposable mobile phone. There was a shopping centre we passed not too far from here. They should have something. Is there anything else I should know?” Russ looked pointedly at Peter then Greycen. They were on opposite ends of the room, but Russ couldn’t help but notice they couldn’t keep their gazes off each other.

“Well, let’s see. My tribe is a bunch of bigoted snobs. They want to force me to mate with another fox that I have no desire for. That about covers it.” Vivian sank onto one of the beds.

“Assholes,” Peter muttered and looked over at Greycen.

Russ didn’t blame him. Not with Peter’s background. How could his sweet mate have grown up in that environment? From what he could see, there wasn’t a hateful bone in her body. Just her short interaction with other members of his pack showed him that. It made him want to get to know her better.

“Hey, don’t look at me.” Greycen held up his hands in surrender. “I was ready to leave as soon as I was old enough, but my sister and I were charged with protecting Vivian. There was no way I could get us out of there until Vivian was ready.”

This seemed to relax Peter to some extent.

“This is fucked up. And foxy one—stop with the lusty looks at my cousin before I give you the smack down,” Everett spoke up.

“
Ev
!”
Peter’s face was blazing red.

“Everett, back down. Your cousin can take care of himself. Why don’t you take first watch? I’ll see about getting us some dinner.” Russ made it a question, but Everett knew it was an order.

Everett
grumbled under his breath, but left the room.

“Maybe I should—” Peter started, but Russ didn’t let him finish.

If he was right, Greycen and Peter were mates. If Russ couldn’t run from his, he wouldn’t let Peter run either. And the other wolf deserved to be happy.

“Peter, you and Greycen head out and get some food.” That should give the two men a chance to talk and it was time he followed his own advice.

The men left with little fanfare. Vivian still sat on the bed looking dazed. He’d bet she wasn’t used to all the commotion.

“How’s the foot?” Russ took the easy way out.
For now.
She had been injured not that long ago. Shifters healed fast, but not instantly.

“I still have some aches, but it is much better.” She rotated it for him so he could see. “But now my legs are sore. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before. It was exhilarating.” Vivian’s eye shone as she spoke.

“We’ll have to do it again—when we aren’t being chased.”

“I’d like that,” she whispered and looked down.

Russ wondered how long they had before the others returned. He sank down beside her and took her hand in his.

“I never wanted to reject you, Vivian. I hope you know that. I—fuck this is hard. I was questioning myself. I’m weak compared to others in my tribe.”

“Stop!”
Vivian stood. “I can’t have you doing this to yourself. So what if they have magic. You are brave and strong and a leader. You were born to take charge. You were brilliant at the house. You knew what to do and kept a cool head when you could have exploded and went out with guns blazing. It’s what Ryerson would do. He isn’t a leader. You are. And you need stronger members in your pack to help you maintain a balance.”

Vivian placed a hand on his cheek. Russ spread his legs so she could step between them and bowed his head only to have Vivian lift his face. She leant in and brushed her mouth against his.

“
Viv
—”

“I won’t have anyone talk bad about my mate. Not even you.” She kissed him again and he let go. This moment was right.
Even if they were on the run.
Right here, right now was special.

Russ took control of the kiss and flipped so he could bring her down on the bed and hover over her. She was so beautiful. Her blonde hair spread out around her.
Her blue eyes dark with passion.
Her lips plump from his kiss.

“This should be more. Our first time shouldn’t be in some sleazy motel room. And it isn’t going to be. I refuse to claim you in a rush. I want to take my time and discover every inch of your body.” Russ kissed her eyes and made his way down her cheek.

He didn’t press a kiss to her lips again. Instead he went to her ear and sucked it into his mouth. Vivian arched off the bed. His cock ached and he wanted nothing more than to plunge into his mate. Making her his.
Finally.
Russ pushed off Vivian and paced the room, trying to cool down. Fuck. His wolf howled in denial.

Chapter Four

Vivian growled in frustration.

“Russ.” She took a breath. It was hard to control. Her fox wanted her mate. “Don’t you understand? It doesn’t matter where we are. It will be special because it’s you. Claim me.”

A knock sounded at the door. Damn it! The timing sucked. Vivian was so turned on her nipples throbbed and so did her pussy. She made herself stop before her hand could wander down and take care of her ache. She bit her lip hoping the little bit of pain would bring her to her senses.

Russ let Grey in.

“Where’s Peter?” Vivian had the clarity to ask.

“He took his dinner with his cousin outside,” Grey snarled.

“He’ll come around, Greycen. He’s been hurt,” Russ consoled her friend.

Not what she had been expecting. But she should have. Russ was very intuitive when it came to his pack.

“Who hurt him? I’ll kill them.” Grey turned to Russ and thrust the bags of food at him and moved to leave. Like he could go now and kill whoever had harmed Peter.

“Calm down. It was a long time ago. I’ll let Peter fill you in when he is ready. As it is, get some sleep. In the morning, we split up.”

“I’m not leaving you, Russ.” Vivian’s anger returned. Why was he always trying to get rid of her?

“No. You aren’t. You and I are going in a different direction.
Ev
, Peter and Greycen will go to the safe house. If anyone is following us, this should smoke them out. And give Greycen and Peter some time.
You and I as well.”

The look Russ gave her sent shivers down her body. He wasn’t running anymore. It was about damn time.

“Okay. I’ll call my parents before we head out.”

“All right.
Let’s eat.
Greycen?
Why don’t you go get some rest? I think you’re going to need it to deal with Peter
and
Everett.” Russ smirked. “We’ll have a meeting before we get going in the
morning,
make sure we’re all on the same page.” Russ dismissed the other man and pulled dinner from the sacks Grey had brought them.

The food smelt heavenly. She could almost forgive Grey for interrupting them. She went over to the big man and gave him a hug.

“Thank you for coming after me. I’m sorry
Ive
and I left without you, but we had a short time to work with. Things were happening too fast and you were off on a hunt.” Vivian kissed him on the cheek in apology.

Grey looked over at Russ before returning the gesture.

“It looks like you were right to come. And I should thank you for leading me to my mate.”

As Vivian had suspected, but it was nice to have it confirmed. She was happy for Grey. She knew it was hard to be gay in their den. That was why she and
Ive
were the only two who truly knew. Others suspected, but Grey was a big man and could easily defend himself. Not many would challenge him. Vivian thought it would be only a matter of time before the other fox left their den.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Grey.” Vivian smiled and went to the table.

Grey left quietly and it was time to eat.
If she could focus on food with Russ so close.

A cheeseburger and fries wasn’t the most romantic meal in the world. And Russ was right, the motel wasn’t the best, but none of that mattered. Not with her mate at her side. Everything else faded to the background.

Vivian’s stomach rumbled.

How embarrassing
.

Russ just chuckled. “Sit down. Eat.”

She couldn’t take her seat yet. Vivian thought he was gorgeous when he was brooding, but when the man smiled his eyes lit up. She’d never seen him happy and comfortable in his own skin. This was the man of her dreams. The one she’d craved from the time she first knew boys and girls kissed.