Territory (20 page)

“You hungry? There’s jerky in the glove box.” Pony motioned with his chin toward the glove box.

“Uhh, no…thank you. I’m good.” Kya couldn’t help but wonder about Briggs, but was too embarrassed to ask. Several times, she considered trying to contact him through their pack ties, but decided against it.
He must know I’m all right. Surely, I’d feel some emotion from him if he thought I were dead or still in danger.

Pony’s truck pulled to a stop outside of a long brown trailer. “Uncle Walter’s house.” He answered in response to her unasked question. “Briggs said he’d meet us here.”

Kya’s heart gave a little flutter at the mere mention of his name. She couldn’t resist asking, “When?”

“He’s driving; it’ll be a few hours.”

Pony led Kya up the steps and into the warmly decorated trailer. It wasn’t as small as it appeared from the outside. Uncle Walter was already seated at a kitchen table sipping a cup of hot coffee and merely looked at them as they entered.

“You want coffee?” Pony asked as he peeled the gasoline soaked coat off her shoulders.

“Please.”

Pony took Kya’s coat back outside and hung it on the porch railing before he returned, grabbing Kya’s arm and pulling her into the kitchen. “Cream and sugar?”

“Yes, thanks.”

Pony poured her coffee into a mug then retrieved creamer from the fridge directly behind him and handed it to Kya. “Spoons in the drawer there.”

Kya fixed her coffee and stood uncomfortably sipping for a minute as Pony finished stirring sugar into his mug.

“You wanna take that with you into the back there?” Pony pointed down a long hallway. “Bathroom’s the last door on your left. Clean towels are in the closet in there.” He took another sip then smiled at her. “No offense but the smell of you is giving me a headache.”

Kya looked down at her drenched clothes. “Good idea.”

As Kya walked down the hall, Pony shouted at her, “Hey! There are some clean clothes in the dryer by the bathroom door. It’s my wife’s laundry. She won’t mind.”

Kya stopped at the dryer to retrieve some clothes not even caring that she knew Stevie was too small for any of the clothes to fit properly. She snagged enough clothes to assemble a passable outfit before closing herself in the bathroom for the longest, hottest, best shower of her life.

Later, she was sitting at Uncle Walter’s dining room table, her hair pulled to the side in a lose braid as she sipped her second steaming cup of coffee.

At the sound of an approaching vehicle, Pony jumped up from the table and ran to peek out the window. “It’s Briggs!”

The excitement in Pony’s voice was mirrored by Kya’s emotions. She licked her lips nervously as she stood and smoothed her hands down the front of the white t-shirt she wore.

Just outside the door, footsteps pounded up the steps as Pony threw the door up. “Briggs! How you doin’ bro?”

Briggs shook Pony’s hand without looking at him. The instant he entered the home, his eyes locked on Kya.

Wordlessly Briggs dropped Pony’s hand, ignoring the litany of questions the younger man threw at him. Quickly Briggs stalked across the room, and with each step he took towards her, Kya’s heart beat harder.

Kya opened her mouth to speak, but before she got a word out Briggs had her crushed to him. He didn’t say anything, he just held her.

She knew it wouldn’t last forever, but while it did, she was going to enjoy it. Kya’s eyes slid closed and she wrapped her arms around Briggs finally feeling safe.

“Come on, we’re going home.” Briggs pulled back slid his hands down Kya’s arm, his hand claiming hers.

“It’s getting late. Don’t you want to spend the night?” Pony stepped in front of Briggs, and quickly jumped out of the way, as Briggs nearly trampled the lithe young man.

“I claimed her as my mate this afternoon and she almost died four hours later.” Briggs didn’t stop walking as he pulled his coat off his broad shoulders and wrapped it around Kya, his hand finding hers again as he pulled her along with him. “Thanks for all you’ve done, but we’re going home.”

Pony chased after them as Briggs led Kya down the front steps to his still running Dodge. “Well, let us know when the wedding is and I’ll be sure to bring Uncle Walter.”

Briggs threw a hand in the air wordlessly as Kya sputtered over her shoulder, “Thanks….for everything. Tell Uncle Walter thanks again…”

Before she could finish her thought, Briggs was lifting her up into the truck.

Chapter 2
6

They drove through the night in companionable silence. Honestly, Kya didn’t know what to say. She tried not to think of the true reason Briggs had claimed her, for fear he’d read her thoughts. He seemed just as content to remain silent.

Minutes stretched into hours and listening to the constant hum of the truck’s motor, Kya relaxed back in her seat and fell asleep.

When she woke, Briggs was still driving. His white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel had her wondering what had happened while she’d been asleep.

Kya shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
Great, now what’s wrong?

“Nothing. Everything’s fine.”

Kya’s head snapped to Briggs as her mouth fell open. Feeling slightly violated she demanded, “Just how does this thing work? Can you hear
everything
I’m thinking?”

He thought for another moment longer before answering. “You’re new at this so you don’t know how to properly block me out. When you try to
not
think of something, you actually think more about it. It’s hard to explain.”

Indignant now Kya barked, “Try!”

“You think I read your thoughts, but I actually read your feelings, emotions. Don’t get me wrong, I can hear what you’re saying to yourself as well, but that takes a little effort. If I really concentrate, I can see what you’re seeing. But, when you’re frightened for example, and you don’t want me to know it, you think about the color of the sky. All I hear is ‘don’t let him know you’re afraid’ repeated a dozen times while I feel your fear. There isn’t much you can hide from me right now. Especially you’re dreams. You have no control when you’re sleeping.”

They rode in silence for another few minutes as Kya processed Briggs’ reaction to her dream, before her thoughts wandered back to his revelation about her thoughts.

Kya crossed her arms and stared out the window, trying not to think about the dozen thoughts she’d had in the trunk of the car that she’d tried to keep Briggs from knowing.

Does he know that I know?
Christ, does he know I just thought that?
“How do I turn it off?”

Briggs’ mouth crooked, “You can’t turn it off? But you can control it.”

“How?”

“It takes awhile. First you have to surrender freely to allowing me in, get used to it, then you’ll feel how to keep your…
secrets
blocked.”

“I don’t have any secrets.” Kya snapped.

“Really?” The steering wheel creaked under the pressure of Briggs’ hands and Kya watched as his knuckles turned white. “What about your plan to leave Montana?”

“What?” Kya gasped. She’d thought about the idea only briefly in the shower at Uncle Walter’s. She knew that if Briggs had claimed her only to create ‘pack-ties’ so he’d be able to locate her, it would be too painful for her to stay. The thought developed quickly and she’d dwelled on it for only the briefest of moments. She considered denying the accusation altogether, but knew that his knowledge of her plan could only have come from her thoughts.

“I…I haven’t decided.” Resignedly, Kya leaned back in her seat and shoved her hands into her hair, exhaling deeply.

“I have. You’re not going anywhere.”

Kya turned to frown at Briggs, her nerves were too raw from the day’s events and she refused to be pushed around anymore today. “I’m amused you think you have a say in what
I
choose to do.”

“
I’m
amused that you think I don’t.”

Kya gritted her teeth. “Contrary to what you think happened between us, you do not own me.”

“You’re the one who’s confused about what happened between us.”

Kya blanched.
He knows.

“Yes…I know.”

“Stop doing that!” Kya put her hands to her temples, gnawing angrily at her bottom lip, as if the gesture could keep him out.

“I can read you like a book. There isn’t anything, and I do mean
anything
that you can hide from me.”

Incensed at his blatant dismissal of her request, Kya reached down and lifted the handle of the door. Before she could even crack the door, Briggs jerked her back to him, holding tightly to the collar of her coat.

“Let me go!” As she struggled out of the coat, Kya was overwhelmed by a dizzying sensation. She stopped struggling for a moment and clutched her stomach. Suddenly the truck was too warm, and she eyed the dash controls searching for the cooling options. She couldn’t find them as her eyelids became unexpectedly heavy. She shook her head trying to clear what felt like a fog overtaking her. She was swamped with exhaustion. The longer she sat the heavier her limbs became until she was barely able to lift them at all. She didn’t notice that Briggs had released her and was staring intently at the road.

Her eyes drifted up to him. “Something’s…wrong!” She struggled to free herself from her coat, no longer trying to escape Briggs, but to escape the suffocating heat that was stifling her. The harder she struggled the more she felt her body melting into the seat. She tried to lift her arms but could no longer control her limbs.

“Briggs?” Her voice now an alarmed whisper.

“Like I said,” Briggs ground out, “You’re not going anywhere.”

Her head lolled to the side and as her eyes drifted closed, she heard Briggs finish through clenched teeth, “We’ll finish this conversation at home. You need to rest.”

Kya tried to force her eyes open, but she was no longer in control of her body. Her shock was outweighed by her exhaustion and before she fell asleep the only word she could formulate was a breathy, “You?”

When Kya woke, she was lying in Briggs’ bed. Still wearing the borrowed sweat pants and t-shirt, her shoes were missing and she was covered to her shoulders by the thick plush blanket that covered Briggs’ bed.

She made to sit up but was swamped by a wave of nausea. She felt…hung over. Rubbing at her temples Kya angrily searched the room, but she was alone. Struggling to a sitting position, Kya was rubbing her temples when Briggs entered the room.

Crossing to her, he extended his cupped hand.

Kya scowled up at him before accepting the three aspirin and glass of water he held in his other hand. She swallowed the aspirin and downed the glass of water before falling back on the bed with a long moan. “What did you do to me?”

“Another mates’ privilege that you’ll have to learn.”

Kya curled into a tight ball, pulling her knees up. She turned her face into the bed to keep Briggs from seeing her trembling bottom lip.
Don’t ever do that to me again!

She felt the bed shift under Briggs’ weight before he pulled her body onto his lap, her head resting against his chest.

“You were becoming hysterical. I couldn’t restrain you and drive at the same time.”

You could have stopped the truck like I asked you to. You could have let me go.

Kya felt a deep rumble as it bounced around Briggs’ chest. He gently brushed the hair back from her face before his strong fingers found her chin and forced her head up so her eyes could meet his. His expression serious. “I don’t think you understand. I can
never
let you go now.”

What does that mea…
Kya’s thoughts were interrupted by her growling belly.

Briggs smiled down at her before he shifted her back to the bed. “I’ll get you some lunch, you must be famished.”

“Lunch?” Kya asked shocked. “How long was I asleep?” She turned her face to the window, wishing she hadn’t moved so quickly as another wave of nausea crashed over her.

Briggs stopped at the door, “You slept through the night, it’s late afternoon now. The sickness will pass once the aspirin have had time to kick in and you’ve eaten.”

With that, he disappeared from the room and returned later carrying a tray. He set the large tray on the bed, and Kya’s belly growled impatiently at the scent of stew and warm yeast rolls that wafted up to her nose. Kya grabbed the cold soda that sat on the farthest end of the tray. “I am starving!” She cracked the soda and took a long drink before she set the can down and grabbed the spoon. “Mmmm, I love stew.”