Seeking Pack Redemption (21 page)

“Old wives’
tales and legends that up until a few years ago we thought were make-believe.”

“But, as
you well know, most legends have a kernel of truth. I believe the vampires have
no use for us because they can’t control us. Roderick is an anomaly because he
started out as a
Lycan
.”

“Fine. You
want to meet with the bloodsuckers. How? How are you going to find them? It’s
not like we have an address.”

“Yeah,
this is where it gets tricky. Trent says we should try placing an ad in the
paper.”

Dana
smirked. “Oh, yes. I can see that working. Hey, vampire dudes, alpha wolf wants
to meet to discuss how to kill your kind. P.S.: BYOB. Bring your own blood.”

A chuckle
escaped him despite the gravity of the conversation. Dana grinned, too, before
flopping back on his lap and twining her arms around his neck.

“What
would I do without you?” he murmured as he nuzzled her neck.

“Whack off
a lot.”

He snorted
against her skin. “Such a lady.”

“Oh, shut
it. You love that I know how to get down and dirty.”

“That I
do,” he agreed even as she found his lips for a hot kiss.

He allowed
himself to enjoy her distraction for a moment before he pulled away with
regret. “I still have to do this.”

She made a
moue of annoyance. “I was hoping you’d forget.”

“You would
have needed to start further south then,” he replied with a wink and leering
smile.

Laughter
shook her. “Note taken. Fine. If I can’t convince you it’s a bad plan, then let’s
at least make sure we go about this in a way that doesn’t leave us too exposed
and keeps you safe.”

“Safety
will only come when Roderick is vanquished. So, now that you’re planning to
help, how should we word this ad so that we don’t attract the wrong sorts?”

“I thought
we were the wrong sort.”

“Dana!” He
said her name while laughing. She knew how to draw him out of his moods.

She chuckled.
“Leave it to me. I’ll design something guaranteed to have the vamps running for
a phone.”

“While you
do that, I’m going to call in the guys in charge of defense.”

“Aren’t
you worried about showing your hand to the spy?”

Nathan
grinned. “I saw a movie that gave me a great idea. I’m going to start several
rumors, all of them about Roderick.”

“There’s
already a half dozen, so that won’t be hard. What about that girl, though?
Bringing her in is still risky.”

“I know,
which is why I’m rejecting that part of their plan.”
And not
just because she posed a danger to his people.
The plan called for bait,
and while Nathan didn’t have a problem sticking his neck out as a tempting
morsel to draw his father in, it wouldn’t hurt to have backup. Not that he
would tell Trent that. A man newly mated wasn’t likely to want to risk his
female, whether it was for the good of the pack or not. It was up to an alpha
to make the hard decisions.

“You’ll
refuse even though she’s pregnant?”

As usual,
Dana pinpointed the one thing that gave even Nathan pause. Could he condemn
both mother and child for something that wasn’t their fault? Sacrifice them for
the greater good of his pack?

I’d sacrifice a hell of a lot more to keep my
family safe.

“She’s
pregnant with a rogue’s baby while under the influence of a vampire. Who knows
what kind of monster she carries. I can’t risk it.”

“They
won’t like it.”

“Too
fucking bad. I rule this pack and the council. They should count themselves
lucky I’m willing to even help. And if they don’t like it, then they’re welcome
to talk to my fist.”

“
Mmm
,” she purred in his ear. “Talk tough again. It makes me
hot.” She nipped his lobe, and desire shot through him.

Screw
talking. He placed his hands on her waist and picked her up, then placed her on
his desk. She helped him sweep the papers off it as he
lay
her down. After pushing up her skirt, he dropped his pants far enough to expose
his erection. Legs wrapped around his waist, she drew him into her body,
a
warm, wet haven he never tired of.

“Harder,”
she begged.

She wanted
tough, he’d show her tough. He pounded into her body, hips
pistoning
while she cried out, but even as he let himself ride the wave of pleasure their
quick coupling brought, he couldn’t quite forget the battle he was going to
provoke. And win.

The guys
no sooner made their phone calls than they were piling out of the motel into
the truck.
Thea
could tell by the glower in Trent’s
face he wasn’t happy. Not daring to ask why, she listened avidly when someone
else did.

“What did
he say?” Marc asked
,
his eyes trained on the road as
he drove.

“He’ll
help us to a certain extent.”

“Okay.
What part is he balking at? Asking the other vamps for help? Gathering a posse
to take Roderick out once we figure out how? Dangling himself as bait?”

“No. He
agreed to all that so long as we can get the information we need from the
vampires.”

“Then what
did he say no to?”

Trent
clamped his lips shut, and
Thea
suddenly knew. “He
doesn’t want me at his compound.”

He shook
his head.

“That’s
bullshit,” Marc exclaimed.

“What the
hell?” Darren growled. “Don’t tell me they’re afraid of one little pregnant
woman?”

Even
though she was curled into Trent’s side, she couldn’t help a spurt of warmth at
the
little
comment.

“They
are,” Trent admitted. “He was really apologetic but he says given her close
experience with the vamp, she’s too much of a risk to bring into the pack.”

“He is
right,”
Jaxon
added. “Little cutie pie over here
might look like she’d only hurt a fly, but if Roderick’s planted a bomb in her head,
she could go psycho and cause all kind of damage.”

“You agree
with him?”

“No, but I
understand. It’s why I wanted Bailey to leave,”
Jaxon
admitted.

“And?”

“She
blackmailed me!”
Jaxon
sounded part shocked, part
amused.

“What does
she want?”

“She won’t
agree to leave unless she sees me.”

Trent
frowned. “But you’re banned from the pack. How does she expect you to do that?”

“Once we
get close enough, I’m supposed to call her and arrange to meet in a public
place so her other mates don’t kill me.”

“Will you?”

“I
shouldn’t.”

“But you
will,”
Thea
said. “She wants to see you, and I know
you want to see her. What can it hurt?”

“Everyone,”
Jaxon
growled.

“But
you’re her mate. Don’t you owe it to her?”

“I owe it
to her to keep her safe.”

“And if
she won’t leave because you won’t meet her, then aren’t you failing at that?”
Marc interjected. “Sorry, dude. But didn’t you tell me she was pregnant? Which
makes her an emotional write-off. You better do what she says.”

“Maybe.
Now how about instead of worrying about my personal problems, we focus on
yours. What are we going to do with
Thea
?”

Too many
sets of eyes fixated on her. She diverted their attention. “Forget me. I’d like
to know instead what exactly you’re planning to do that is so dangerous I can’t
come along.”

An
uncomfortable silence fell. “Well? I’m waiting,” she said.

Darren
cleared his throat. “Um, it’s like this . . . Uh, you see . . .”

“Keep in
mind we came up with this plan last night just after you went to sleep.”

“What
plan?” She narrowed her gaze on her lover, and Trent met her eyes, barely.

“We get
you somewhere safe, then use
Jaxon’s
internal vampire
GPS to find Roderick and keep tracking him while Nathan meets with the vampires
and finds out how to kill him.”

“And then
you use this info, charge in like heroes, and save the day?”

Jaxon
winced. “Ooh, dudes, when she puts it like that . . .”

“It sounds
crazy,” she said quietly. “You know, since you’re so suicidal I wonder why you
didn’t just plan to meet the vampires yourself.”

Trent
shifted in his seat.

“Oh, my God;
you did? So what made you give up that part of your brilliant plan?”

“When did
she get so bossy?” Marc whispered to
Jaxon
.

“I heard
that. You rescued me on a bad day. Today I feel great. Or did,” she said with a
pointed stare at Trent.

“I told
you we decided this before it happened.”

“And
should have mentioned it before, we did, you know.” She clamped her lips tight
and tried not to blush in remembrance.

“You’re
right. I should have. But that’s the only plan we have for the moment, so unless
you have something better . . .”

She
slumped, suddenly deflated. “No. But I still think your plan is crazy.”

Trent
cupped her cheek and turned her head so she faced him. “Sorry, beautiful.” He
brushed her lips, a quick kiss that still created a flicker of heat.

“We all
are,” Darren said from the other side, leaning over the seat to rub her arm. It
should have made her claustrophobic having two big males overshadowing her or
at least uncomfortable given she’d slept with one and not the other. But she found
it comforting instead. Actually, craved it.

“Oh, gag
me with a spoon,”
Jaxon
chided from the front. “Can
you keep the foreplay to the privacy of your room?”

Thea
blushed. Growling, Darren leaned forward and smacked
Jaxon
in the back of the head.

The male
laughed. “Damn, if that doesn’t remind me of my days in the pack.”

While
Darren bantered with
Jaxon
, Marc joining in as he
drove, Trent pulled her onto his lap and put his lips against her ear. “I’ll
keep you safe.
No matter what.
And we’ll make him pay
for hurting you. That I promise.”

But will his promise kill him?
She knew firsthand what
Roderick could do. Or did to others.

Nestled
against Trent’s chest, her mind whirred. She’d heard enough of
Jaxon’s
story to know he thought himself immune to Roderick
because he’d tasted the vampire’s blood.
I
drank some, too.

Not
willingly.

The
memories came when the monster fed from her wrist that first time, while David
watched, and she thought she would die. A floodgate opened in her mind and a
passage of time she’d not realized she’d missed played in all its horrific
detail.

It was early in her relationship with David. He’d
brought home a bottle of booze.

“We should celebrate,” he announced as he held up
the tequila.

“What’s the occasion?”

“It’s been one week since you made me the happiest
man alive.” He followed up his claim with a kiss, but he pulled away when she
tugged at his shirt.

“Not yet, hot stuff. First a toast.” He wandered
into the kitchen and sliced up a lemon, placing it on plate on the breakfast bar
along with the saltshaker and some shot glasses. He filled the small cups and
handed her one.

“To us.”

“To us,” she repeated. The fiery liquid burned its
way down, while the lemon made her face screw up. Laughing at her expression,
David then kissed her and insisted on another shot. And another. They drank—a
lot.
Most of the bottle, as a matter of fact, in between
lovemaking.
At one point, she passed out and when she woke the next day,
she couldn’t move. And not because of her pounding head.

It took her a moment, for she was dizzy and
sluggish, to realize she was tied to the bed. Panicked, she pulled at the
restraints, but manacled by the wrist and ankle, she got nowhere.

“She’s awake,” someone said.

Startled, she turned her head to see a stranger
sitting by her bedside.
A scruffy-looking man who leered at
her naked body.

“Oh, my God. Help. Help me! David!” she screamed.

To her surprise, he walked in, his face an
expressionless mask. He flicked his gaze over her, but said not a word.
Shocked, she could only stare as he handed something to the stranger in the
room. It turned out to be drugs. The other guy pressed a syringe in her arm,
and although she fought it, blinking and cursing and straining, she slipped
into sleep once again.