Ties (Running With Alphas Book 6)
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Authors: Viola Rivard
Copyright © 2014 by Viola Rivard
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This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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“I’m so sorry.”
A tense silence followed Lark’s stunning admission. Taylor’s jaw slackened and her limbs felt as though they’d been filled with lead. Her mind struggled to process the inconceivable into something rational, but repeatedly failed.
Yesterday, their territory had been infiltrated by Whiteriver wolves. As a result, at least one member of the Halcyon pack was dead and Alder’s daughter had been taken hostage. Why—
how
could Lark possibly have had anything to do with that?
Taylor was startled back into motion at the sound of Glenn’s voice. She hadn’t seen him enter the room, nor registered his approach.
“I—”
Before he could complete the thought, Taylor all but threw herself at him, flinging her arms around his neck. Her shock at the situation took a backseat to relief. Although openly she had held out hope that Glenn was all right, she had secretly assumed the worst. Glenn had been stationed to guard the perimeter around her home, along with his friend Penny, the young wolf whom Taylor had found torn apart in the woods.
She drew back, cupping his bright red cheeks in her hands.
“You’re okay,” she enthused.
Glenn’s embarrassment quickly turned to distress. His rough hand grazed the side of her face. Taylor frowned.
Just before she’d been beaten unconscious, one of the Whiteriver wolves had gashed the side of her face. The wound had since been cleaned and stitched, and with everything that had happened, the most she’d registered was the moderate pain on her cheek. Still, she could tell from the furtive glances the pack members had given her, as well as the mournful look that Glenn was presently giving her, that it was bad.
Glenn turned his gaze to Lark, who was still awkwardly standing in the middle of the room. She looked intensely uncomfortable and averted her eyes.
When he spoke, Glenn sounded as though he had aged years in the day that he’d been gone.
“I’m sorry, Taylor. I didn’t question it when Lark said that Fenix was coming to take over my post. Or that Alder needed me to patrol the other side of the mountain. They send her on errands like that all the time, because they
trust
her.”
Lark flinched.
“I don’t understand,” Taylor said, her head shaking back and forth.
Lark looked to her with pleading eyes. “I just wanted to help her. I didn’t realize that—”
Alder cut her off. “Where did they take Snow?”
She held her hands up in front of her. “I don’t know. I didn’t know any of this would happen, I swear.”
With preternatural speed, Alder was in front of Lark, one hand wrapped around her throat. Taylor rushed to intervene. She wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, given the circumstances, but she couldn’t stand by and watch him hurt Lark.
By the time she reached them, Lark’s face had begun to color. No doubt some sort of pack instinct, Lark went completely limp in Alder’s grip, her body utterly subdued, save for her eyes, which flew around the room in a wild panic.
Not sure which part of the large alpha she should take on, Taylor opted for placing her hands on his straining bicep.
“Alder, let her go.”
Alder’s eyes narrowed on Lark. He looked downright vicious and Taylor realized that she was actually a little bit afraid of him.
“Snow is gone because of her,” he said, his voice low and guttural.
“I understand, but—”
His head snapped to the side to level the full weight of his anger on Taylor. “You don’t understand. She’s not your daughter.”
“Exactly. She’s not my daughter, which is why I’m not freaking out right now, which is exactly why you should listen to me. You’re going to hurt Lark, and that’s bad because she needs to explain what happened. Whether she knows it or not, she may have information that can help us find Snow.”
Alder didn’t immediately remove his hand from Lark’s neck, but Taylor could feel the tension in his muscles ease as he loosened his grip. To her relief, Hale came up behind his brother, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Come on,” Hale said. “Why don’t you take a walk? We can handle this.”
Alder shrugged his hand away, but released Lark. Appearing to take his brother’s advice, Alder turned towards the mouth of the cavern. But before he took his leave, he glanced back at Taylor.
“I doubt you’ll be feeling as diplomatic once you see your face.”
Taylor watched him walk away, not knowing whether to feel angry or upset. She lost the option altogether as the courage she’d built up over the past few moments fled her body, leaving her feeling faint.
Lark’s voice seemed to fade in and out as she began to speak, recounting the events of yesterday in one prolonged breath.
“Tulip came to me and said she was stuck in Halcyon territory and all she wanted was to go home and to do that she just needed a clear path through the guards and I only sent Glenn away because I thought it would give her a chance to get home and I had no idea that—”
“You were trying to help? After what she did to me?” Taylor recognized Holly’s angry voice, but her vision had begun to blur, making the leather-clad fox shifter look like a black and orange watercolor.
“I-I’m sorry,” Lark stammered. “You’re always so mean to me and I guess I just liked her a little more.”
Taylor thought she heard the sound of someone being slapped, but sound faded out again and suddenly she was falling.
Losing consciousness was almost pleasant by that point. The day had been so overwhelming that she just wanted it to be over. Even in her state of quasi-awareness, she wasn’t so delusional to think that when she woke, everything would have just been a bad dream. But who knew? Maybe she’d wake up to find that they had rescued Snow, that Alder was back to his normal, warm and affectionate self, and then she and Alder and Hale would all make love and everything would be right with the world.
Okay,
now
you’re being delusional
.
It was her final thought before surrendering to darkness.
***
Hale had been watching Taylor as she had begun to sway. Quietly positioning himself behind her, he let her fall back into his arms. He resisted the impulsive urge to wake her, but couldn’t stop himself from growling as the others tried to come near her.
While he had done his best to stay calm through the whole affair, his wolf was bristling with pent-up rage. Perhaps just as much as Alder, he needed to separate himself from the situation, and quickly.
He motioned towards Lark. “Take her to one of the lower chambers and don’t let her out of your sight.”
His pack mates nodded their understanding.
“And new rule,” Hale said as he positioned Taylor in his arms. “No one in this pack does shit unless it comes directly from me or Alder.”
Laurel and Glenn exchanged glances. Scratching the back of his neck, Glenn asked, “Do you, um, want us to tell the others?”
Hale sighed. “Fuck, I don’t know. Tell them there’s a pack meeting before the hunt. Now go.”
Hale stalked away towards a tunnel, not thinking of where he was going, just that he needed to get away from all of the noise.
It had been a long, shitty day.
The night that Taylor had gone missing, he had experienced a new type of fear. All his life, his reaction to fear had been that of a cornered beast. He had lashed out against the source of his fear with his teeth and his claws, fighting anything in his way.
But this fear had been paralytic in nature. As Alder and Fenix had taken off in a frenzy, following the trail of blood that Taylor had left behind, Hale had remained frozen to the spot. His muscles had locked up and all he could perceive was the blood-soaked dirt and the relentless hammering of his heart.
He had snapped out of one stupor, only to be claimed by another. The scent of her blood seemed to be everywhere. He didn’t know which way to go and all he could think was that his mate was dead.
It had gone on a lot longer than Hale would ever admit. By the time he had finally collected his senses, Taylor had been found. She was wounded, but alive.
Although he knew he wasn’t deserving, Hale wanted nothing more than to take her to his bed and bury himself inside of her until he forgot everything. Her wounds made that impossible, and when they found out that Snow was taken, even resting fallen to the wayside.
Hale had many nieces, all of whom he liked to a certain degree, but he had always held a certain fondness for Snow. It was probably instinct. Although she was Alder’s, she smelled and looked like she could belong to Hale and it was something he had never been able to ignore.
Sometimes, he thought he might love her, as a father loves a daughter. That had proved to be a naïve assumption.
While they had scoured the territory between Halcyon and Whiteriver, Alder had been in a near-frenzy. Hale, too, had wanted nothing more than to find Snow, but for a much different reason: he wanted to go home and be with his mate.
It was selfish, and perhaps even spoke to the fact that he wasn’t ready for fatherhood, but Hale needed to be with Taylor. He needed to smell her, to touch her skin, to hold her warm body close, and to make sure that she knew he was there for her.
When they had finally determined that Whiteriver had taken Snow back to their den, it had been Hale who had convinced Alder to retire for the day. They needed to regroup and come up with a plan of attack, he had told his brother. Alder had reluctantly agreed, but rather than sleeping, he had gathered their weary pack mates into a meeting. Hale hadn’t waited around to add his input. At the first opportunity, he had slipped away to be with his mate.
Tired as he was, he had still wanted to fuck her, maybe even more than before. Fortunately, he was starting to recognize the desire for what it was. A coping mechanism. He let her be and tried to rest. Sleep came with surprising ease, as his wolf seemed to finally be placated by the presence of its mate.
Now, this day had hardly begun and already there was more bullshit than he cared to deal with. He wanted to go back to sleep. Maybe he’d wake up and Whiteriver will have returned Snow, his brother would stop being an asshole, and he’d have an excuse to stay in bed and fuck for a few solid hours.
As if he could be so lucky.
Hale arrived at his chamber and made his way to the pallet of furs. He set Taylor down and moved to the edge of the bedding, using his last match to light a dim lamp. Part of him had hoped that Taylor might wake, but she remained in a placid sleep.
The light illuminated the side of her face where a deep gash had been drawn. The stitches had done little to minimize the shock of it and Hale knew she would never look the same. Her scar would be a constant reminder of this long, shitty day.