Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (7 page)

Perhaps that was his intention all along.

A long time later a noise finally penetrates the quiet of the cellar, and
when I catch the tantalizing taste of bacon on the tip of my tongue
I know morning is upon us.

Desperate to face
the
master, desperate to know what happen
ed between him and
Logan last night
and what he really wants from my mate,
I shake the fog from my sleep-deprived brain
and prepare myself
.
M
y knees ache
in protest
as I pull myself to a standing position
and
stretch out my stiff limbs
.

The sound of m
y popping joints
echo in the quiet
and m
y ears perk
for sound
from above
.
A
s I
diligently
wait for the
upstairs
door to
creak
open,
fresh outside air rushe
s
into my cell from the ventilation system
and
I drag
the vineyard’s scents into my
lungs
.
Beyond the grapes
I catch hints of rain in the air, and off in the distance I can hear the low
, menacing
growl of thunder.

Since
it rarely rains in California,
especially this time of year,
I can’t help but think the approaching storm is a
warning
sign of things to come.
But
with a
n autumn
storm comes rain, and the
downpour
will help mask
both the
scent
and the tracks of the
wolves waiting
in the shadows
.

When I think about my small army, m
y mind briefly flashes back to th
ose
dark,
vague
images I
glimpsed
on the security monitors
last evening
.
I can only hope that everything on the outside is going accord
ing to
plan and my team is ready and
awaiting the signal
.
If not,
if
by some chance
there is
a
fatal
flaw in
our plot to overthrow the master
it could mean
…

Refusing to
contemplate the prospect, I
will the basement door to open and wait for a hint of
morning
light to filter downward
.
I can sense Sandy staring at me
,
sense the
anger
simmering just below the surface.
When a low, threatening
growl rumbles in the depths of her throat
,
a sinking
sensation
begins in my
core and
spreads onward and outward
.

I
slant my
head
to see
t
he
young wolf
.
With her golden hair hanging in wild curls, her cold
, calculating
eyes look stark against her small face and sunken c
heeks
.
When those big orbs
shoot
silver
darts
into my back
I feel nausea well up inside me
.

Without bothering to hide her hate, s
he climbs to her feet
and
stalks to her door
to await the handler
.
S
he
wraps bony fingers around the bars
and when I see how thin she’s become
,
it renews my purpose to get her out of here, to get her safe, warm and
properly
fed.

Both sadness and guilt
force my
watery
gaze
back to the
stairwell
.
While I’m unable to face those accusing eyes
of hers
,
it doesn’t mean I don’t want
to go to her,
to
pull her into my arms and
console her
.
T
o let her know I hadn’t abandoned her
here while I chased game and gorged on fresh meat in Olympic National park
.

I want
to tell her how sorry I am
about the elders
and that I’
ll do whatever it takes to
free her, to get
her out
from beneath the master’s
brutal
control
.
But
before I can push any of those words past
the lump
lodged
in my throat
, she speaks first, and her words
chill me
more
than a
winter
y
dip in
the
icy cold
o
cean
.

“
He doesn’t need you any more, Pride.”
Her tone is low, her
voice
laced with venom.

As I digest
the meaning of h
er
words, m
y
blood pressure soars and my
vision
p
ulse
s
, the room fading in and out of existence
.
Shock keeps me motionless and
my body stiffens, my addled brain
hardly
able to
digest and
comprehend what she’s saying
to me
.

When
I hear a
rustling sound
I
don’t need to turn to know she’s rubbing her
belly, and I
can hear
the sheer pleasure
in
her
young,
naïve
voice when she adds
,
“
You’re not the only one who
can give him what he wants
, you know
.
”

As her words echo desperately in my head, I
think about
last night a
nd co
mprehension slowly sinks in
.
It suddenly becomes perfectly clear to me that
S
andy
hadn’t
gone from surprised to cold
because she
’s
angry with me.
She’d
turned on me for one reason and one reason only.
S
he wants the master to herself
.
Her
wolf is threatened by m
ine
—the only other fertile female in the compound.

When
that reality registers,
I want to scream
at her
.
I want to cry
for her
.
I want to break free of my cell and tear the master’s head clear off his shoulder
s
for what he did to her
.

Tears prick my eyes and I swallow, hating
that she’
s
been broken, hating
t
hat she had to endure such
torture at the hands of
our cruel
master.
I can only
hope
that once I get her out from under his hold, I can help her
heal
and
become whole again.

“
You should have stayed away
, Pride.
You’re
nothing but
trouble
for the rest of us
and no one wants you here
.
”

Anger
and sadness
churn inside my belly as
I
briefly close my eyes against the flood of emotion.
“
Sandy—”
I begin, not exactly sure what to say, but my words dissolve when my
gaze shifts to her
stomach.

Her eyes sparkle, her lips twist viciously.
“You
’re
nothing but a runt
,
Pride
,
and
you
could never have give
n
a
powerful
alpha like Stone the offspring he deserved
anyway
.”

Stone!

Unnerved
by
th
at
wild
i
mplication
my
stomach
sours
and a bitter
cold shudder runs along my spine.

Could it be true
?

Had
Stone
done this to her
?

The sheer lunacy of that
notion
has my
legs
going weak and my brain racing to catch up
.
Then again, what if he had no choice
in the matter
?
The master isn’t a man who tolerates mistakes or insubordination.
What if
mating with Sandy was the
only way
for
Stone
to
prove his loyalt
ies
to the master
after returning to the compound
empty
-
handed
?

I swallow.
Hard.
What would the master do to make me prove my loyalt
ies
?

As I think about Logan,
my heart goes on a roller coaster ride.
He’s strong, I remind myself.
The strongest wolf I know, physically and mentally.
And w
hile he’s assured me numerous times that he can handle
whatever punishment
the
master
is capable of
delivering
, I can’t help but
worry
.
If you find a person’s weaknesses, then you’ve found a way to destroy them, and i
f there is one thing I know it’s that everyone has their
breaking point.
And
it’s only a matter of time before the master finds it.

For a minute I wonder about my own breaking point.
What would it take for me to back down, to become the obedient wolf the master wants?

When Sandy begins to hum a lullaby, one I’m familiar with from my days in the nursery, I get the distinct impression that she’s trying to taunt me.
Once
again
I wonder if Stone is the father, and what
other
corrupt
things
the master made him to do prove himself
trustworthy
.

That thought has my rage
surg
ing, and a volatile storm begins to
brew inside me
just
as
the door at the top of the stairs
flings
open
.
When light filters down, h
ot
panic invades my stomach
.
I might have waited all night
for
a handler to come for me
,
to lead me to the master,
but
a
fter
learning Stone could be the father to Sandy’s pups,
t
he timing could
n’t
have
be
en
worse.

With my world tilt
ing
on its axis,
I need a moment to compose myself, to desensitize
, to concentrate on my
mission
.
I
look
around frantically and when I spot my mother’s old den it helps me remember my purpose, my commitment to destroy the master and make
him pay for what he’s done to us
.

With no choice but to force
Sandy’s
disturbing news
to the back of my mind,
I
call on calm, and
diligently
struggle to get my head on straight.
I’ll need all my wits about me when I face the master
and the last thing I want him to know is how desperate I am to get into the courtyard before noon
.