Un.Wavering (Claimed Series Book 3) (18 page)

Hayden withdrew from Cole and stood up, her pulse racing. She rarely grew upset, but she was desperate. “Is a small possibility even worth your life?” she demanded sharply. “What if we find nothing? You’re not feeling well, Cole. I’m not going to risk your
life
.”

She looked around at the two males, both of them gazing at her stonily. Scoffing in disbelief, Hayden turned her heel and left the room. Her vote was irrelevant. This was a personal family issue, and they were too obstinate to acknowledge when to let go.

Breezing through the kitchen and out the back door, Hayden stood in the sun, bathing in its comforting, warm glow. A cool wind played with her hair and dried her frustrated tears before they could fall.

Her back remained towards Cole as he followed her outside. He shut the door behind them, giving them as much privacy as he could offer.

“Hayden,” he consoled soothingly

He stepped behind her, his chest not touching her back, yet she could feel the significant heat emitting from his body. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gently kneaded her tense muscles.

“It’s funny,” she started, her tone thick with irony. “You were against accompanying Nicolas in the beginning. Now that you’re facing a direct threat, you refuse to leave his side. I think it’s a selfish thing to do. Not only is it not fair to me, but also the rest of the pack.”

He remained silent, and instead, buried his face into her hair.

Her anger faltered and sorrow took its place. She stared unhappily into the distance. “All I can do is express my concern. I just don’t want to lose you.”

“And you won’t,” he reassured. “I will make sure I get through this, Hayden. For you. But this is something I need to do. I need to know what my father was doing before his death. If he’s responsible for what Celeste is doing, then I am obligated to destroy her.”

“What if we don’t find anything?”

“We will find her son, Julian. If that leads to a dead end, we will go back to the pack.”

Her hopes soared with his promise. She tried not to reveal her optimism that Julian
would
be a dead end. The woman they spoke with this morning, Mavis, claimed Celeste was close with her son. Hayden highly doubted he would voluntarily hand them information about his mother.

Just as well, Julian’s loyalty to Celeste could spell disaster for Hayden and the two brothers. They could be walking straight into a trap. Their last lead was a dangerous lead. It wasn’t necessary to point this out, simply because Cole and Nicolas were most likely aware of the fact.

She craned her head back, catching his deep, green eyes. “And you won’t keep this distance you’ve been keeping.” It wasn’t a question, but a command.

Cole closed his eyes briefly before he leveled Hayden with a patient look. “I was doing it for you. I thought it would help in case—”

“There isn’t going to be an ‘in case’ scenario, Cole. You promised me that.” 

He leaned down and kissed her upturned face, his lips melding perfectly against hers. Breaking contact, he turned her around and pressed her firmly against his chest. Cupping her face, he kissed her once more, this time more passionately, more possessively.

She leaned into him, her heart feeling too large for her chest. He held her fiercely, as if he’d never let her go again. It eased her fears and banished her concerns. She hadn’t known how much she’d missed this, missed Cole.

Still, despite Cole’s reassurance, Hayden couldn’t seem to extinguish the small, persistent flame of apprehension burning in the back of her mind.

Hayden couldn’t seem to shake Nicolas’ relentless attention.

It wasn’t if the Alpha male made the act obvious, for every time she looked in his direction, his focus wasn’t on her. She could feel him, though. His presence was persistent and overbearing and she could do nothing to stop herself from noticing.

There was something deep down inside her that preened at his attention. But as soon as she detected that particular feeling coming to the surface, she hastily pushed it away. It was clearly her canine half that felt the unmistakable, almost animalistic attraction to Nicolas and only Nicolas.

But why did her wolf focus on someone other than her life mate, who stood just a few feet away? She felt safe and comfortable with Cole. She intended to be with him, finally acknowledging and embracing the sacrifices and the dangers of such a union.

She didn’t understand it. She didn’t want to understand it. And she certainly didn’t want to ask her current company about it.

At times, it was difficult not having a female companion.

“Why is it always taverns?” Hayden asked, gazing listlessly at the bar, clearing her mind to everything but their current task. “Werewolves aren’t even affected by alcohol as much as humans.”

“It’s all about mingling and socializing, my dear.” Nicolas emerged confidently from the trees. “I want you to stay back, Cole. Keep watch. Wasting your energy on something so derisory is counterproductive.”

Hayden sneered at his formal vocabulary. As if sensing the reason behind her aversion, Nicolas offered her a wink. 

“So you expect to be confronted,” she stated dully. “This should be fun.”

“
You
are going in first. Alone.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. A silent, but just as wary Cole stood next to her.

“What do you have planned?”

“Never underestimate the power of female distraction.”

Nicolas gave her body a once over before reaching over and unfastening a set of buttons on her shirt. Hayden ignored the instantaneous flutter of her pulse, forcing herself to gaze unhappily at the man opposite of her.

As soon as Nicolas noticed the first set of knives peeking out from underneath her blouse, he changed his mind altogether and refastened the buttons. 

“I will slip in after you make an entrance and begin questioning the men on Julian’s whereabouts. It is better to do so as undetected as possible.”

“Glad I can be of use,” she murmured dryly.

She did not possess a single seductive bone in her body. What was she supposed to do in a bar full of male werewolves if she didn’t even have money to buy a drink? Stand listlessly in the middle of the room and hope to hold their attention?

Cole stirred dangerously in protest. “I don’t want—”

“I will take good care of her, brother,” Nicolas reassured coolly. “Not a single hand will touch her.”

“I am standing right here,” Hayden reminded. “I can take care of myself.”

“Of course you can, my dear,” Nicolas replied with intentional slowness, as if he were indulging a child.

Her hackles rose before she realized Nicolas was only trying to placate Cole. Knowing she couldn’t contribute to the situation, and would probably make it worse, she turned her heel and approached the bar.

Distractedly, she unraveled her braid and let her hair fall around her face.

They wanted a distraction. She would provide one to the best of her ability.

Her boots made small indentations in the sand as she approached the bar. While there were plenty of trees and greenery surrounding the tiny town, rocks and sand made up the majority of the terrain. It was dry here and the ground was as hard as cement.

It hadn’t taken them long to reach the small town outside Porterville. Nicolas seemed to have a general idea of the location. He claimed he knew Celeste had a son, yet he had never once laid eyes on the ‘boy’.

Boy,
he said, because Julian couldn’t be older than twenty-years-old.

Mavis, the human woman, claimed he led a large pack. Cole and Nicolas seemed to believe his surname gave him the ability to lead a pack of such magnitude. Logan Crow was an influential figure, especially in the South. Many werewolves would pledge their loyalty to his son, even if that son was a mere pup.

Hayden wouldn’t underestimate Julian until she actually interacted with him. Her naivety and blindness had caused her to overlook Celeste’s true nature. She refused to do the same with her son, no matter how young he may be.

She glanced inside the windows of the tavern. The light emitting from inside the bar allowed her to see a fairly large group lounging inside.

Gathering her courage, Hayden pushed open the door.

It was comfortably warm outside, but inside the bar, it sweltered. Her eyes roamed the occupants of the bar, noticing how the dim lights danced across their perspiring skin. Most of the men appeared gruff in appearance. Even the few women in the bar gave off a rough façade.

Hayden kept her face neutral as she wandered further inside. They were staring openly now, as they should. While it was not Julian’s marked property, it
was
his neighborhood.

An uninvited werewolf, especially a lone female, raised silent alarms. No matter what Nicolas claimed, the werewolves watched her out of wariness, not lust.

She sat heavily on a bar stool, trying to appear fatigued. For good measure, she ran a weary hand through her hair, slumping her upper torso on the counter.

“What can I get you?”

“Just a cup of water please.”

The bartender, a shaggy-haired werewolf, grunted and turned his back to retrieve the water. She gazed across the bar, stiffening when she realized she’d been wrong about the lack of appreciation she garnered. The majority of the inhabitants were male and they eyed her as if she were their next meal.

And why not? She was unmated. They could probably smell Cole and Nicolas on her, yet they would also know she was unclaimed. Nicolas’ mating mark hid behind the collar of her blouse, concealed from prying eyes.

“Why don’t you let me buy you something a little stronger, eh?”

Casting the man next to her a sidelong glance, Hayden flashed a bashful smile. “I’m only looking for a quick rest before I continue on the road.”

Movement over the man’s shoulder caught her attention. She watched the dark figure of Nicolas move in the background, approaching a few men around a table. What he expected to find, Hayden didn’t know. If these men were part of Julian’s pack, she found it doubtful they’d give his location willfully.

“Where are you headed?”

The question didn’t come from the ginger-haired man on her right, but a platinum blond male on her left. Hayden appraised him through lowered lids, instantly noticing his appreciative leer.

Though just established, her coy performance abruptly crumbled and she grew vigilant. Something was not right about these men. They weren’t simply flirting, they were preying on her and looking at her as if she were defenseless to their influence.

“I don’t know yet,” she replied stiffly, accepting the cup of water placed in front of her. “Maybe San Diego.”

“A young, pretty thing like you shouldn’t be traveling alone,” it was the ginger who chimed in this time, his tone pitched low in hopes he’d come across as seductive.

“Leave the pup alone,” the bartender scolded the two.

“We’re just having a bit of fun.”

“Is that what you’d like to call it?” Hayden mused bitterly.

Ginger and Platinum both turned on their stools to face her, all but caging her between them. They were relatively handsome men, but their features too plain and their expressions too open. There was also a layer of sinister taint clinging to their aura like a second skin.

If she weren’t in the company of Cole and Nicolas, and if she didn’t possess any combative skill, she knew these men would take advantage of her. Hayden wondered how many women they had preyed on before her.

The thought upset her.

“We’d like to show you a good time.”

Her teeth set on edge and the hairs on her arms stood.

“How about you tell me how I can find Julian Crow,” Hayden requested tautly. Nicolas might have preferred the stealthy approach to getting answers, but she didn’t particularly care to play the distraction any longer.

Her patience grew thin.

Ginger whistled. “Did you hear that?” his tone was full of thick ridicule and mockery. “She wants to see Julian. You think you can keep up with an Alpha male, eh?”

“Oh,” she scoffed darkly. “I think I can manage.”

Ginger laughed appreciatively, hardly taking her seriously. Unaware of Hayden’s growing irritation, he pressed on. “We have a feisty one on our hands.”

Slowly, she turned toward the redhead, leveling him with a cold stare. “You think you can keep up with an Alpha female…
eh
?”

Raw hilarity crossed the redhead’s face. “That title doesn’t hold much—”

Hayden kicked the stool out from under him. Before he could regain his balance, she grabbed a handful of his hair and slammed his forehead into the corner of the bar. He slumped to the ground, dazed and confused.

Sensing the attack from behind, Hayden anticipated the grab, latching onto the man’s arms and flinging him over her back. He flipped in the air before landing violently on his spine.

Hayden crouched down over the blond, intentionally leaning her knee on top his genitals. The man gasped sharply and she smiled sweetly down at him. 

“Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t look like you
can
handle me.” She pressed down harder on his genitals, garnering a high-pitched moan from the man beneath her. “I want to see Julian Crow. Take me.”

“I—I can’t take you,” he lamented pitifully. 

A deep, tenured voice interrupted her private interrogation. “While the attack was warranted, I’m afraid it was for naught.”

Hayden turned to look at the newcomer from over her shoulder. Of course she knew she was in a crowded bar, but she’d been so distracted by the male scum, that she hadn’t given her audience much thought or consideration.

The man who addressed her appeared far more put together than the men currently at her mercy. Indistinctly, she noticed the dim lights reflecting off his bald head and the small patch of hair underneath his stern lips. He stood tall and confidently next to a table, his companion none other than Nicolas.

She glanced at the Alpha male, curious about his reaction to her latest actions. He’d wanted her to sit pretty and attract all the men’s attention. Or maybe he
had
expected her to cause a scene and that was why he didn’t want Cole inside to intervene.

No matter his reasons, he didn’t appear frustrated or amused. His expression was ablaze as he regarded her from the back corner of the bar. There was appreciation in his gaze, but also something stronger, darker.

Desire.

Hayden stiffened in recognition, her chest tightening and her hands curling to stop their trembling. She looked away quickly, the back of her neck washing with cold sweat. In order to distract herself, she surveyed the man who had interrupted her interrogation.

“I am Marcus, Julian’s beta.” He did not offer a smile or any other inviting gesture. “Those two on the ground are not part of his pack.” He motioned a hand towards Hayden. “Come. Let us talk in private.”

Slowly, the noise resumed in the bar. Hayden looked down at her prey, noticing the deepening lines of pain around the man’s eyes and mouth. Unsympathetically, she removed her knee from his groin. He winced, scrambled up, and quickly assisted his comrade from off the floor.

Without wasting a moment, they escaped the bar, a few mocking snickers following their wake. Hayden stood, contemplating their escape. A large part of her wanted to follow them, to ensure they never preyed on women again.

Considering death was the only means of truly preventing their future antics, Hayden stayed rooted in place, letting them escape.

It took a great deal of restraint to turn her shoulder and approach Nicolas and his latest find. Trust the eldest Slayter to zero in on the one person who could assist them with finding and speaking to Julian Crow.

She wondered if he had even needed her for distraction, or if he’d simply wanted a bit of entertainment. Hayden wouldn’t put it past the man. Often times, Nicolas enjoyed stirring the pot and causing his own brand of mischief.

“You have a very resilient mate,” Marcus praised Nicolas quietly with a respected glance at Hayden. “A rare trait in one so young.”

Hayden opened her mouth to heatedly deny and correct his claim, but stopped herself when she finally surveyed the situation. They were currently situated in the back of the bar, a shaded and unlit corner compared to the rest of the tavern.

It was not only Marcus and Nicolas occupying the space, but a half a dozen of other males, their postures motionless but their eyes sharp and calculating. They possessed intelligence in their stare, and a healthy mix of diligence and readiness.