OtherKin: Tranquility (4 page)

By pack law, if
Roane ripped out Marcus's throat, he would ascend to the rank of
alpha. Only the strongest of the Wolven could hold the title. If
the alpha was challenged and killed, the challenger ascended.

I don't want
to be alpha, Scarlet. I'll prove that to you both right now.
Roane released Marcus and backed away.

Marcus flipped
to his feet in one powerful move, lowered his head and laid his
ears back. The fact that he'd been bested and his alpha title
challenged by Roane—and could have been won—had to sting his
ego.

Her brother
glowered.
This means nothing, Roane. I want you gone from
Tranquility.

Yes, probably
now more than ever. Roane had just shown how easily he could take
Marcus's title from him.

Marcus changed,
eyes and body posture still as threatening as when he'd been in
shadow. Blood marked him head to toe, mostly coming from the thigh
and shoulder wounds he'd sustained.

Scarlet also
shifted, the cool air biting into her naked human flesh. She
stepped toward Marcus to help him.

"Don't touch
me," Marcus snarled. Limping and moving slowing, he gathered his
clothing, dressed, and dragged himself to the door. "You have
disobeyed pack, Scarlet. Disobeyed me." He didn't look at her.
Breathing heavily and grimacing in pain, he only put a hand to the
door jamb and stared out into the hallway. "You'll be
punished."

She stared at
the open door for a moment while Roane shifted. He groaned and she
raced to the door, closed it, and went to his side. Blood coated
his thigh from a vicious wound.

"Your brother
has a good set of teeth." He winced and pushed to his feet.

"Yeah, well, so
do you."

She helped him
to the bed, where he laid down. "I'll clean up your wound."

After she'd
gathered what she needed to wipe the blood away and bandage the
gash, she sat down on the bed beside him and began to work. He
yelped as she wiped the area to the left of the gash.

She shot him a
look of exasperation. "Oh, come on, you just kicked the alpha's
ass. You're not going to cry at a wet wash cloth, are you?"

He grinned at
her. "I was hoping I might get a sympathy kiss or something."

She ducked her
head. "I'm sorry about my brother."

Roane stroked
her hair. "Not your fault. Part of that was probably related to the
fact that I'm falling for his sister, but most of it was because he
feels threatened by me and has nothing to do with you at all."

He was falling
her....? Those words made something in her belly and chest feel
warm. It was nice. She hid a smile and glanced at him. "Apparently
he has good reason to feel threatened by you."

"He doesn't.
Look, I don't want his job. I left Fury because I didn't want the
job. I'm not a loner, but I don't want to be the top dog either.
Thing is, I can't help how other Wolven perceive me. I can't help
that they don't believe me. I just want a community and to be left
alone." He paused. "And you." Roane reached out and cupped her
cheek. "I think I want you too."

Scarlet's hand
stilled in the air over his thigh, shock rippling through her.

Roane leaned in
and kissed her.

* * * * *

Roane pulled
reluctantly away from Scarlet. He licked his lips, trying to hold
on to the taste of her kiss. Her eyes were wide as she stared at
him, undoubtedly as surprised by his words as he was.

Man, he'd
really dug himself a hole this time. Not only was he doomed to
leave Tranquility, he'd fallen in love with Scarlet. That wasn't
even the worst of it, since the only way he could stay here, stay
with her, was to kill her brother. Roane figured Scarlet would
probably frown on that. It was no way to start a relationship.

He had no wish
and no intention of killing Marcus anyway. Wolven nature was
usually contrary, but not in this case. The wolf within him didn't
want to do away with Marcus, didn't want to be alpha. Roane only
wanted to be left alone to live within the pack. The human part of
him wanted the same. Where Scarlet and Tranquility were concerned,
both his shadow half and his human half were in perfect accord.

He simply
couldn't have what he wanted.

Roane turned
away. "I shouldn't have said that."

She caught his
hand and forced him to look at her. "Really? Because I'm glad you
did." She smiled a little and her eyes were wet with tears.

He reached up
and cupped her cheek. Her skin was warm and smooth against his
palm. "This can't work, Scarlet. There was little chance of your
brother letting me exist here before today. Now that I've shown him
I can beat if I choose, he'll either set the pack on me or run me
out of town. I either have to kill him or leave Tranquility. I
showed you both that I don't want to kill him, so that leaves one
option."

He wouldn't ask
her to leave with him. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to give up
her family for a man she'd just met.

Even if his
wolf had claimed her as his mate within moments of meeting her.

"I don't want
you to leave," she said quietly.

"I don't
either.”

She stared at
him for a long moment, her eyes going wider and fear flicking
through them. Suddenly she stood and walked away, pacing toward the
other end of the room and back again with her hand pressed tightly
to her mouth.

Roane frowned,
watching her. "Scarlet? What's wrong?"

"This is
crazy," she muttered with a shake of her head. "Totally nuts." She
glanced at him and said loudly, "I barely know you."

"Scarlet, what
are you talking about?" He tried to stand, winced with pain and
collapsed back onto the bed.

"How badly do
you want to stay here, Roane? Are you really sure you want to make
this place your home?"

"I'm sure I
want to stay here for you, Scarlet." He struggled to his feet and
walked to her, limping. "The moment my wolf caught scent of you, I
knew."

"Kn-knew
what?"

He hooked her
hair behind her ear. "That you were mine."

She bit her
lower lip. "I think I knew too...and it made me angry. Why do I
have to be so attracted to a man my brother would most definitely
never approve of?"

"Yeah, sucks,
doesn't it? Attraction doesn't obey any set of rules."

She gave a
little laugh, leaned up and kissed him. "No. It is what it is.
Roane, if you want to stay here, there's another way."

"What's
that?"

A sliver of
doubt passed through her eyes. "Mate me."

Those two words
made the wolf in him swell with a sense of triumph.
His.
Scarlet was
his.
His wolf wanted to prance around and howl.
His jaw locked and he tried his best not to jump on her again
despite his injuries.

Scarlet
continued, "Tranquility pack law says that the mate of a sibling is
under protection. The alpha can't kill him or her. They have
immunity of sorts. It's an old law, one they've tried to have
overturned many times, but it would provide you protection."

Pack law and
organization varied from pack to pack. Back in Fury, Minnesota, his
old pack, the laws were made by the council of elders. There was an
alpha who ultimately ruled absolutely, but in all the history of
the Fury pack, there had never been alpha who hadn't listened
carefully to the elders and treated their advice and guidance like
gold.

Roane shook his
head and turned away. "As much I as I love the idea of mating you,
Scarlet, I won't let it happen this way. You're not ready. I can
see it in your eyes. I won't let you sacrifice your future that way
for me. It's fast, too soon, and it's for the wrong reason."

Wolven mated
for life. If Scarlet wasn't sure she wanted to accept Roane as her
mate, she would be miserable in a short time. The last thing Roane
ever wanted to see on Scarlet's beautiful face was misery.

Scarlet took
him by the upper arm and turned him to face her. "I want you,
Roane," she said angrily. "I've wanted you from the first moment I
saw you. My wolf wants your wolf." She paused. "My heart wants your
heart."

"Scarlet, I
want to court you the right way. If we're meant to mate, we
will...but not like this. I'll find a different way to deal with
your brother."

She stared up
at him for a long moment, fear for him lighting her eyes. "He'll
kill you, Roane. Don't you understand—"

The door burst
open and Wolven streamed into the room. Roane pulled Scarlet flush
up against him as the men circled them. Roane recognized a couple
of them as Tranquility cops. Marcus came in last, strolling in as
confidently as he could with a bad limp and some significant
injuries. He'd wasted no time. Dried blood still marked his
clothes.

Marcus stood in
the middle of the room, surveying the scene before him with a sneer
on his face. "Scarlet, you sure know how to pick them."

"Don't hurt
him, Marcus. Don't do it. I'll never forgive you!"

Marcus flicked
a glance a couple of his men. "Restrain her and take the male."

Two men grabbed
Scarlet and yanked her away from Roane, kicking and screaming.
Roane snarled and tried to fight them, but several huge Wolven
males were on him in a moment. They pulled him arms back and
wrestled him to the ground. They pinned him there and snicked a
pair of cuffs around his wrists.

The men hauled
him to his feet and Marcus gave him another once over. "Take him to
the jail until I decide what to do with him." The men yanked him
toward the door.

Marcus turned
to his sister. "I couldn't risk a mating, sweet sister. I know your
mind better than you do."

* * * * *

Roane came to
and groaned. Pushing up on the gritty floor of his cell, he gazed
bleary eyed past the bars to a man's back. One of Tranquility's
Wolven cops, no doubt. The cop had the paper spread out on the desk
in front of him.

He touched the
back of his head and winced, his fingers coming away bloody. They'd
pistol-butted him; he remembered now.

Scarlet. Where
was she?

He forced
himself to his feet and lurched to the cell door. The cop stilled
at the sound Roane made, but didn't turn. Roane curled his fingers
around the bars. "Hey." No response. "
Hey!
"

The cop, a
skinny brown-haired man, turned and regarded him with wariness in
his eyes. The hair on the back of Roane's neck stood on end and a
growl trickled from his lips. He could dominate this one with his
gaze alone, even from inside his cell. The cop proved his
assertion, casting his gaze to the floor. Roane guessed Marcus had
left this submissive pup to guard him because Marcus figured he was
secure in his cell and couldn't break free. Unfortunately, he was
right.

"Where's
Marcus?" Roane growled.

"He-he's with
his sister," the cop stammered.

He trusted that
Marcus wouldn't hurt Scarlet. Marcus hated Roane, but he loved his
sister.

"Tell Marcus I
want to see him."

“He won't be
summoned by anyone below him in terms of pack rank."

Roane's fingers
tightened on the bars. "Just tell him." He melted back into the
shadows of the cell.

"I will." The
cop turned away with obvious relief.

Roane sat down
on the cot that ran along one wall and closed his eyes. He wanted
two things—Scarlet, and to be able to exist in a pack without being
the alpha.

He wanted
Scarlet more.

Since he wasn't
giving up Scarlet no matter what, that presented a hell of a
problem. Because of his innate alphaness, Marcus would always
consider him a threat and would never believe Roane didn't want to
challenge him for rule. That meant either he and Scarlet had to
leave Tranquility and suffer the hardship of being loner Wolven, or
he had to challenge Marcus for control of Tranquility and kill
Scarlet's brother to take it.

Doom Scarlet to
a life of lonely banishment or kill her only sibling and make her
hate him. Decisions, decisions.

* * * * *

Marcus's hand
caught her cheek and Scarlet stumbled back, pain blossoming across
her face. She fell against the wall and put a hand to her face,
staring up at her brother through her tangled hair.

He'd never hit
her before. Numb shock made her gawp at him. This was a side of her
brother she'd seen before, but it had never been directed at her.
Roane terrified Marcus and he was taking it out on her.

“You have
disgraced me," Marcus yelled. "You have disrespected me and my
rule!" He turned away and paced to the opposite end of the room. "I
really don't know what to do with you," he said in a low, growling
voice.

The tone of his
voice made a chill run down her spine and distracted her from the
pain of her cheek for a moment. But if he thought she was going to
beg, he was wrong. He wasn't the only Wolven in the family with the
backbone of an alpha.

Scarlet pulled
her hand away from her face and saw that blood marked her fingers.
He'd split the skin on her cheekbone. "Nice, Marcus, Mother would
be so proud." She spat the words at him.

He stiffened
and started to turn, but someone knocked on the door. He jerked it
open and spoke low and violently to someone on the other side.
Right before he slammed it in the person's face, Scarlet had a
glimpse of Amy, her roommate. Amy stared at her for a moment, her
eyes wide.

Marcus turned
toward her, rage giving his face a brutal set. "You were going to
mate him, weren't you?" He took two menacing steps toward and
bellowed, "Weren't you?"

"Yes," she
hissed. "Yes, I was going to mate him, but he wouldn't agree to it.
He thinks I need more time to make that kind of commitment. But I
don't need more time, Marcus, because I know he's my mate! I can
feel it to the center of me. I've known it since the first day I
saw him here in Tranquility, I was just fighting it out of loyalty
to you."