Seeking Pack Redemption (12 page)

So fucking
wrong. As a victim of abuse, she deserved compassion and caring, not lusty
thoughts. But knowing this didn’t stop him from imagining it, his tongue
sliding across her creamy skin while his cock was buried balls-deep in her and
her nails raked his back. He tried to focus on a different kind of hunger,
since it was hours since he’d eaten. What did he picture? Not a medium-rare
burger. Oh, no. He saw himself with his face between her thighs licking her
cream. Her on her knees peering up at him with her lips stretched around his
dick, bobbing and sucking.

No two
ways about it: he wanted her in his bed.
Or on the floor.
Wall. Actually anywhere he could get a few minutes of privacy and get rid of
the ache in his shaft. It made no sense.

As if his inexplicable
arousal wasn’t bad enough, she carried a babe in her belly. She was pregnant
with his brother’s kid. And there was the slight snag of the mating mark on her
neck that he’d seen and which he’d wager also belonged to David. Just freaking
great. It wasn’t bad enough he had all this other shit to deal with, now he wanted
to claim his brother’s bloody widow.

Someone shoot because I’ve obviously gone insane.

A smart
man would stay away from the girl, but then again, he’d never gotten good
grades in anything. And besides, he wasn’t sure if he could stand aside, not
with his wolf chafing to get closer, or with his jealousy burning and demanding
action as he saw the interest his friends showed in her.

Was she
meant to be their mate? Did their wolf howl to join with her like his did?
Could he settle down with a woman who bedded his brother first? Actually, that
was the least of his problems. In his world, brothers often shared the same
woman because it was easiest.

Humans
would be appalled that
Lycans
engaged in
polyamorous
relationships. Up to four men per woman. It had
always been that way, and while the shifter council was slowly coming around to
changing those laws, Trent didn’t see the packs adapting as quickly, not when
females of their kind were so rare.

Females of their kind?

Stunned at
a sudden insight, Trent got out of the truck and strode to the motel door. He
didn’t knock before entering and ended up facing off against Darren and Marc.
Jaxon
never budged from his chair, although he did have his
gun pointed at the doorway.

“Holy
fuck, Trent. Knock next time, would you? I could have blown your head off.”
Jaxon
lowered his weapon.

“Where is
she?” Trent asked when he didn’t spot her.

“Taking a
shower. Why?” Darren asked.

“She can’t
be pregnant with David’s kid,” he blurted.

“What are
you talking about? Are you saying she’s a liar?” Marc replied, arching a brow.

“Or are
you calling her a slut?” Darren growled.

“Neither,
but face facts. We’ve all smelled her.” Nods all around. “She smells human. We can’t
impregnate humans.”

His words
sank in, but
Jaxon
shook his head. “Wrong.
Kind of.
Yes, we can’t impregnate humans. But we discovered
something interesting about
dormants
. If they’re
mated to a true mate, sometimes their wolf can come forth.”

“Bullshit.
I’ve never heard of it.”

Jaxon
shrugged. “It’s not widely known, and the knowledge is only recent.
We found out with my mate, Bailey, it was possible. She was human when we met
her. After we rescued her from Roderick’s clutches, we noticed something different
about her, not quite wolfish, but not a hundred percent human. On the full moon
after Gavin mated with and bedded her she shifted. It wasn’t pretty.”

“So he
woke her wolf? And then she got pregnant?”

Jaxon
nodded.

“But
Thea
is pregnant and she still smells human.”

“What
would you like me to say? As I mentioned, this is new territory for all of us.
I know Nathan’s got some pack doctors working on the dilemma because in case it
hadn’t occurred to you, how many
dormants
have left
the packs over the years? How many of them are in the general human population,
oblivious to their possible heritage? How many of us have not met our true mate
because we didn’t look to those shunned for being considered unsound?”

Marc
whistled. “Which means how many have woken up, not knowing what’s happening and
not knowing how to find their way back to the pack?”

“Those
latent wolves aren’t our problem,” Darren interjected. “But
Thea
is. She smells
human,
no doubt about that, but despite
that, my wolf is fucking spinning. I’ve never had this kind of reaction to a
woman before. I know she’s gone through a trauma, but I’m stating right now, I
intend to court her.”

“I guess
we’ll be taking turns,” Marc added with a laugh. “What about you Trent?”

Trent
clamped his jaw before he also threw his hat into the ring. He wasn’t ready to
concede anything. “She’s my brother’s widow.
And a victim of
abuse.
I’d say it’s too early for anybody to be thinking of claiming her
as mate. While all your declarations are noble, I still don’t see how a human
can be pregnant with a wolf’s pup. We’ve had
dormants
mated with wolves before and not seen any progeny.”

“There is
that fact,”
Jaxon
agreed. “But
Thea
and Bailey have one thing in common. Roderick. In both cases, the girls were
victims in his care. Who knows what he did to them to make their wolf emerge.
Perhaps he’s the key in all this. If we go with that assumption, then let’s say
Roderick finds the girl and recognizes her somehow as latent. He knows from his
experiment with Bailey that a mating bond is needed to fully wake the beast.
Instead of immediately kidnapping her, probably because he had his hands full
fighting me and the packs off, he leaves her be but starts sending some of his
minions her way.
David in this case.
She and David hit
it off. Maybe her dormant wolf recognizes David as her mate. They hook
up,
Roderick does some of his vampire mojo, and her wolf wakes
but for some reason doesn’t fully emerge. Yet. But she changes enough that your
brother can impregnate her.”

“That’s a
lot of what-ifs,” Trent muttered.

“Got
another explanation?”

Marc
turned pensive. “So, if your theory is correct, she could turn furry on a full
moon?”

“Doubtful
until she’s carried the baby to term.”

Jaxon
laughed. “Who’s volunteering to explain that one to her? Hey,
Thea
, by the way, we think the vampire might have
experimented on you so you could turn into a wolf, but don’t worry, that
probably won’t happen until after you birth a puppy.”

“This
isn’t funny,” Trent growled.

“No, but
you have to admit, the conversation is going to be interesting.”

“Do we
have to tell her right away?” Darren asked. “Why don’t we wait and let her get
used to us first? I’m sure she’ll have a lot of questions about our kind. We
can reassure her that we’re not that scary, before springing the news.”

“We don’t
have time to mollycoddle her. She still needs to give us more answers on what
happened.” Because,
dammit
, Trent
wanted to find a way to deny what his brother seemed to have done and at least
have him die with dignity. A more selfish part of him wanted to be wrong about
his apparent mating to
Thea
. “How long has she been
in there?”

Several
sets of eyes turned toward the one closed door, and Trent heard the gurgle of
water.

“Can you
wait to question her until after she’s had a chance to bathe? It’s the least we
can give her after what she suffered.” Darren gave Trent a challenging stare;
however, Trent wasn’t about to drag a pregnant woman out of a well-deserved
shower. Join her maybe, but that was a whole different scenario.

“While
she’s out of hearing, should we discuss what we are going to do next?” Marc
asked.

Do next?
How about stripping and getting into the shower
with her? Trent’s mind filled with an image of
Thea
,
a wet and naked
Thea
.

“Stop
drooling, man. Weren’t you the one who said we needed to take it slow?”

Slapped
with his own rebuke, Trent scowled. “I don’t know what to do next. It’s not
like there’s a help book when it comes to dealing with vampires and their
minions. Or an 800 number we can call. I’d welcome any suggestions.”

Silence
greeted him.

“I think
what we all need is a good night’s rest,”
Jaxon
announced. “I’d recommend keeping someone on watch, though, just in case those
wolfies
managed to track us. We’ll regroup in the morning
once our heads are clearer.”

Somehow
Trent didn’t think the churning in his mind would disappear by morning. And
looking at his friends, staring at the closed bathroom door, he’d bet they
battled the same dilemma.

*
* * *

Thea
hid like a coward in the bathroom. She’d jumped on the chance for a
shower, locking the door behind her and stripping the stinking gown from her
body. Oh, to feel clean again. She cranked the water until steam rose before
she stepped in. The hot spray hit the gash on her thigh, and she hissed. In the
mad flight down the mountain then the wild race to get away, she’d actually
forgotten about it. Peeking down at it, she noted it didn’t seem as ragged as
before, the edges sealed together, healing already, impossible as it seemed.

Turning
her attention away from the cut, she tilted her face into the spray to let its
cleansing warmth wash the traces of her captivity from her skin. The tiny
shampoo bottle that all motels seemed to stock gave enough to soap and rinse
twice. As for the bar of soap, she scrubbed herself almost raw with it to erase
the taint of her captors and scrub the vile remembered touches from her skin
until she shone
more red
than healthy pink.

With
nothing left to wash, she leaned her forehead on the tile and just let the
water cascade down her bare shoulders. Let
herself
finally think.

What am I going to do?

Hours ago,
she’d waited to die, but her unexpected rescue meant she had a second chance.
We have a second chance.
She cupped her
rounded abdomen. But a chance to do what? And go where? Roderick wouldn’t let
her go without a fight. He’d have a hard time finding them tonight—or so she
hoped. However, he would track her, find her, and when he did . . .

Will I be alone, unable to defend myself, or among
men who’ve proven themselves capable of fighting?
Or at least they were
skilled at fighting wolves like themselves. How they would fare against the
vampire remained unknown. Chances were they’d cave to Roderick’s will like
David and the others had, doing his bidding, which meant she was screwed.

Screwed if I stay. Screwed if I leave.
The water turned cold,
matching the chill that clutched her heart as despair, her close friend,
returned.

She turned
off the tap and sank to the bottom of the tub, the noisy fan in the ceiling muffling
her sobs. She was so tired of being scared. So tired of . . .

A scream
left her lips as the door to the bathroom smashed open and bodies crowded
outside the curtain then tore it open. With only a heartbeat to scramble, she
pulled her knees up and together in front of her bulging belly, draping her
arms over the top as she tried to cover herself from the gaze of three pairs of
eyes turned her way.

“What’s
wrong?”

“Do you
need help?”

“For
Christ’s sake, someone hand her a towel.”

The
overlapping inquiries and demands stopped her sobs, but her breathing still
hitched as she stared at them, her cheeks damp with tears.

Darren
knelt at the side of the tub and draped a towel over her shoulders, the corner
of it hitting her legs. She clutched it and shivered.

“Why are
you all in here?” she stammered when they continued to watch with grim
expressions.

“We heard
you crying and thought you were in trouble.”

Heard her?
His simple claim slapped her with the fact that these men, no matter how nice
they seemed, were not human. They were animals. Animals like David and the
others who hurt her. Terror gripped her, and her tears flooded anew.
What do they want from me?

“
Shh
, honey. You’re safe now.” Darren reached a hand out to
stroke her cheek. She flinched, her head tilting back to escape his gentle
touch. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, chagrin thick in his voice. “I wasn’t
thinking.”

“The
girl’s fine. Just overwrought from her experience,” Trent snapped. “Sorry we
barged in. There’s a clean T-shirt on the vanity and some track pants. They
won’t fit too good, but it’s the best we can do for the moment.” The man with
the face of her old lover turned on his heel and stalked out.