Wild Instinct (23 page)

“No.”

The hairs on the back of Teri’s neck stood on end. “Oh, my God.” She looked around “Where’s Megan?”

“She’s napping.”

“You left her alone?”

It came out harsher than she wanted. Sarah Anne’s eyes narrowed. “Garrett’s with her. Why?”

Teri rubbed her arms. “I just don’t like the thought of her being alone. What if one of those lone rogues gets in here?”

Sarah Anne turned and met her gaze. “They’d never get past the guards.”

“That spy didn’t have any trouble getting in here.”

Sarah Anne’s gaze didn’t waver. “They wouldn’t get past Garrett.”

“You have a lot of faith in him.”

There was the faintest of smiles. “I discovered there’s more to him than arrogance.”

Sarah’s hand went to her neck. It was the same place where Daire had bitten her, Teri realized. The place that heated up on Teri whenever Daire was near. She put her hand over the spot on her own neck. The mating mark. “You’ve bonded to him?”

Sarah Anne shifted uncomfortably. “Not a life bond, not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Apparently”—her lips quirked in a grin—“Garrett thinks I need to be courted first.”

“Courted?” Werewolves courted their women?

Sarah Anne didn’t meet her gaze. “I know it’s only been a couple years since John died. . . .”

Teri ran her hand through her hair. It was longer now, shaggy. She didn’t like the way it stuck to the back of her neck. It was getting long enough to need to style. Long enough for someone to wrap their fingers in, hold her. A cold chill raced over her skin. “Just tell me one thing.”

“What?”

“Are you happy?”

“You know”—the grin blossomed into a smile—“despite everything that’s going on, despite how it came about, I really am. I used to mock the old myths that talked about the beauty of mating with your true mate.”

“But you’ve had a change of heart?”

“Yeah. Garrett makes me very happy. Way down inside where it matters.”

“Good.” Teri hated to knock that small smile off Sarah’s lips, but she had to know what’d been going on while she’d been laid up. “What news has there been of Rachel and Josiah?”

Sarah Anne bit her lip. She folded her arms across her chest. The way her fingers dug into her arms was a bad sign.

“It’s not good news, is it?”

“What makes you say that?” Sarah Anne asked.

Teri motioned with her hand. “The way you’re gripping your arms. You only do that when you’re nervous.”

Sarah Anne looked down, and sighed. “I guess before I work on my poker face I need to work on that.”

“We’ve known each other a long time.”

Sarah Anne’s gaze dropped to Teri’s scars. Teri’s went to Sarah Anne’s bare ring finger. “And been through some tough times together.” Her attack, John’s death. The struggle to rebuild their lives. “And we’ve always come out on top.”

“I’m not sure we can this time.”

That didn’t sound good. Teri sat back on the couch. “Shoot.”

“I’m sorry.” Sarah sat beside her. “You’re tired.”

She was tired, but not weak. This werewolf metabolism was an amazing thing. “It’s more I’m bracing for the worst. Daire wouldn’t tell me a darned thing.”

Sarah didn’t immediately respond. It had to be worse than Teri thought. “No matter what you tell me, I’m not going to fall apart,” Teri said as she sat on the sofa. “I think the one thing to come out of all this is there’s not much that’s going to shock me and not much I can’t handle.”

“Maybe I should let Daire—”

“If you do, I’ll go to my grave ignorant, and that’s unacceptable.”

Sarah’s lips twitched. “Finding him a bit protective?”

“Yes and if you laugh, I’ll hide all the chocolate.”

“He’s a very traditional wolf.”

“Then he’s going to have to modernize fast, because I am not the little-woman type.”

The twitch spread to a grin. “No, you’re not.” Sarah Anne leaned over. Her arms came around her shoulders. She hugged her tightly as her voice choked with emotion. “Thank you so much for saving my daughter.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You paid an awful price.”

Teri closed her eyes, tears burning behind her lids, clinging to the memory of that bright light that had been her own daughter, hearing again Megan’s terror as the wolf had lunged for her. “Some things weren’t meant to be.”

Sarah Anne stepped back and wiped at her cheeks. “Your daughter—”

Daire must have told her it was a daughter.

“I meant Megan,” Teri said, cutting her off. She couldn’t talk of the baby she’d lost without breaking down. “She was never meant to die like that. And if I had to do the same thing all over again, I would.”

As she said the words, Teri realized she meant it. It wasn’t a matter of what-ifs. She would make the same choice again. It was like a weight lifted from her shoulders. No matter what the consequences, she’d made the right choice that night.

“I can never thank you enough.”

“You would have done the same.”

“I wish I had been close enough.”

“But I was and it all worked out.”

Sarah Anne opened her mouth. Teri cut her off. She might have made the right decision, but that didn’t make it hurt less. “Now, tell me what’s going on with Josiah and Rachel.”

Sarah perched on the edge of the couch, fingers digging into the cushion. “They didn’t show up at the meeting place.”

Meeting the next morning had been an absolute. Only something horrible happening would have kept Rachel away. Fear shot up Teri’s spine as she contemplated all the horrible things that could happen to a woman and a child with werewolves on their trail.

“They’re not dead?”

“Oh, no. We just don’t know where they are.”

She said it as if that was a small thing. No doubt so Teri wouldn’t stress. Too late. Little Josiah with his too-brave moments and his little-boy smile? Rachel with her soothing manner, missing? Teri grabbed Sarah Anne’s hand and squeezed, prepared for the worst, hoping for the best. “They were captured?”

Sarah Anne shook her head. “No. This Protector, Cur—”

“That’s an awful name.”

“Yes.” Sarah folded her arms back across her chest. “This Cur seems to think Rachel doesn’t want to be found.”

Teri let out her breath. They were alive. “Our Rachel?”

“Yes.”

“Then she must have a damn good reason.”

Was it her imagination, or did Sarah Anne seem relieved? “That’s what I said.”

“I hear a ‘but.’ ”

“Garrett and the others think she’s being deliberately evasive.”

“Well, why wouldn’t she be? She probably thinks she’s being chased by rogues.”

As if the words snapped an inner coil of tension, Sarah Anne collapsed against the back of the couch, closed her eyes and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better.”

“Missed me?”

“You and your logic.” She glanced at Teri out of the corner of her eye. “I’d forgotten how obsessive wolves can be when they get an idea in their head.”

Teri looked out the window at the bright sunshine dappling the shaded front yard. “And they think Rachel stole Josiah?”

“Yes.”

A squirrel hopped across the yard, his tail gracefully flowing behind him. Just hopping across the yard as if he didn’t have a care in the world. As if the cat crouched behind the bushes wasn’t a threat. As if he had forever. “Because of Megan.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Teri wished she’d bitten her tongue.

Sarah Anne sat up. “What about Megan?”

“I don’t fully understand the whys—”

“You’re a lousy liar.”

“Well, it’s your legend.”

“Legend?”

“Yes. The one about the child with powers.”

Sarah sat back. “Oh, my God.”

“You didn’t know, did you?”

“No. It never occurred to me.” From the look on her face she thought it should have. Now. “She was just my daughter,” she whispered. “I worried about people knowing she was telepathic, but the child from the legend?” Sarah Anne shook her head. “That’s just a myth.”

“The healthy reaction of a sane person. So refreshing to see.”

The joke went over Sarah’s head. Where a minute before she was relaxed, now she was so tense she looked as if she’d snap. “Does Daire think she’s the child of the legend?”

“No, but he’s not dismissing others’ assumptions.”

Sarah Anne licked her lips. “But does he . . . fear her?”

There had been nothing of fear in the emotion she’d felt between Daire and Megan. “I got the impression he thinks she’s an amazing little girl.”

Blowing her hair off her forehead, she whispered, “Thank God.”

So much relief made Teri suspicious. “What about Garrett?”

“Believe it or not, he loves her.”

Teri half turned and tucked her foot beneath her. “And what’s not to love? She’s a wonderful child.”

“Garrett’s wolf. They see things differently.”

“Half wolf,” Teri corrected. “And obviously it’s his human half that has a hefty dose of common sense.”

“Because he loves Megan?”

“Because he loves you both.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I can tell from the tone of your voice when you speak of him. You’ve got that warm fuzzy thing going on.”

“That sounds awful.”

“I think it sounds nice.”

“You would.”

Teri couldn’t resist. “Too bad he’s wolf. Otherwise, he’d be about perfect. “

Sarah managed a weak chuckle. Teri was surprised she managed anything at all with her daughter threatened and her son missing, but Sarah Anne had always been a resilient woman. “Wolves aren’t that bad.”

“Neither are humans, and I think you werewolves do yourselves a disservice by dismissing any human influence as inferior.”

“Purity of bloodline is important to werewolf culture.”

Teri shook her head. “I don’t know why you cling to that belief when everyone knows mutts are the hardiest.”

“It’s not the same.”

“I bet it is. Genetics are genetics, no matter what the species.”

“Wolves are stronger.”

Teri traced the furrow in her neck until it crossed her collarbone, skimming the two inches to the side until her fingertip touched the mark Daire had left during the bonding ceremony she didn’t even remember. The spot was cool, barely discernible. When a werewolf mated for love, was the mark different? Deeper? More significant?

“I wouldn’t be so quick to count us humans out.”

And if Daire was smart, he wouldn’t be so quick to count her out, either. She could be one hell of a right mate if she wanted to be.

Seven

THERE wasn’t a sign of the spy anywhere. Daire cast his senses wide. Beside him, Donovan and Kelon stood shoulders back, heads up, listening. He felt the flinch of discomfort at so obviously using his powers in front of Protectors. In any other pack they would be sworn to kill him upon the revelation. Even now it was a risk. He reined in a bit of his energy. All Wyatt had to do was rescind his permission and a death sentence would be carried out.

Kelon looked over at him. “Giving up?”

“No.”

Donovan didn’t take his gaze away from the direction they were assuming the wolf was going. “Then why did you pull back?”

Interesting that the twins could sense the fluctuations in his power so easily. “A momentary aberration.”

“I assume you’re not feeling nervous?”Kelon asked with a lift of his brow.

Daire kept his energy focused first north and then south. There was nothing. It was as if the wolf had disappeared into thin air. “Do I have cause to be?”

“With any other Alpha but Wyatt, I’d say yes.”

Daire glanced over at Kelon. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“And probably wondering where this is all heading,” Donovan added.

Daire cast his senses to the east. “It doesn’t matter where it’s headed. I mated a human.”

“Which means you’re pretty much along for the ride, right?” Donovan inserted smoothly.

Kelon pushed his hair back from his face. “And if you think we believe that, you’re not the ancient we were told you were.”

There was no trace of the wolf to the east, no lingering threat of energy, no trail of scent. There wasn’t even an odor of petroleum to suggest he left in a vehicle. “The old ways are changing.”

Donovan cocked an eyebrow at him. “And you’re changing right along with them?”

“It’s always been an adapt-or-die world.”

Kelon shared a glance with Donovan. “Which explains why he gets along so well with Wyatt.”

Daire smiled. “And what I said grates on your nerves so much. I heard right up until the moment you met your pretty little mate there was no way you’d sanction a human/werewolf mating.”

Daire had the pleasure of feeling Kelon’s internal flinch. The man was quick to rally. Daire liked the way he didn’t make excuses, just laid out the truth. “There are some women that make a man rethink everything, including his devotion to duty.”

And it had been a huge moral conflict for Kelon to make the choice to mate with Robin. As a Protector, he had been born to put pack first. Mating with Robin meant he’d become one of the packless lost, given up being Protector. Given up his identity. But he’d done it.

Over the years Daire had wondered if there was anything that he would ever be able to put above his sense of honor, and his devotion to pack. As a pup, he’d believed in the power of a true mating, listened to the stories with a sense of hope that for him there would come that one perfect moment when the woman made for him would touch his soul. But then the years had passed, his powers had grown, and calluses had grown over his optimism. And gradually, reality had pushed back fairy tales. Like Kelon, he’d backed tradition, not seeing any point in diluting the blood of their dwindling numbers. He’d also given up seeing the world in black and white.