Wolf Moon (28 page)

“
I
don’t like you,” Roxanne said after a long, awkward silence.

Nick
had left the room, but Roxanne didn’t say anything until we heard him hit the
bottom stair. Now I knew why. I forced a smile, but didn’t try to make it
appear the slightest bit friendly. What would be the point?

“Yeah.
You haven’t been overly discreet, so you’ll forgive me if your confession
doesn’t take me by surprise,” I responded dryly.

“Nick
says we can trust you.”

My
eyebrows rose with the assumption that she was referring to her and Nick as a
unit. “We?”

Roxanne
sighed, exasperated, and rolled her eyes. “The Pack,” she clarified.

“And
you don’t agree,” I interjected. “You don’t feel I’m trustworthy?”

“Your
brother kidnapped and killed our Alpha’s youngest child and took sick pleasure
in torturing and taunting this pack. He and
Gianna
were building an army, and now that they’re out of the way, this army is still
storming our gates.
Without a leader.
How can I
believe that your family loyalties aren’t stronger than Pack blood?”

I
stared at her, incredulous. “Are you saying you think I’m somehow involved with
what’s going on?” Silence, but her eyes spoke volumes. “I haven’t seen my
brother in seven years. I thought he was dead and buried.”

“How
do I know that’s not just some kind of cover story? Maybe this was the plan all
along.”

I
rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, frustrated. “Oh, yeah. I’ve
totally
been in league with a coven of
vampires. You got me. In fact, I orchestrated that night in the park and got
myself bitten
just
to infiltrate your
fortress of solitude and destroy it from the inside out.” I whipped back around
to find her staring at me. “God, I was
so
dedicated to this master plan that I allowed one of them to break into my home
and kill the man I loved.”

Roxanne’s
eyes widened, and I realized my mistake the instant the words left my mouth. I
tried to think fast; I needed to backpedal and try to explain why I just
admitted that my relationship with Nick wasn’t exactly what we’d been
portraying. Sure, it was closer, but now Roxanne knew a portion of the truth.
Would she use it to her advantage and try to worm her way between us?

I
took a deep breath, admitting defeat. “Look, I get that it’s not easy to accept
given my familial ties,” I began. “But I didn’t ask for any of this, and I sure
as hell am not the Trojan
Horse
in some grand scheme
to destroy the Pack from the inside out.”

Roxanne
stood slowly, wincing as though her mid-section was in pain. I smelled fresh
blood as one of her wounds opened slightly. “I didn’t realize.”

I
shrugged. “You couldn’t have. We—Nick and I—chose not to advertise
it in order to pass off our own relationship.”

“Which
is?” she asked, sounding almost hopeful.

“Complicated,”
I replied before realizing that if I was going to try and forge some sort of
accord with Roxanne, then honesty was the best policy. “At first, nothing more
than a farce. Though, I’d be lying if I told you that things were still that
way.” I took a slow step toward her, watching her to be sure she wasn’t going
to attack me. “Roxanne, he was my first love, and even though we’ve been apart
for seven years, our connection hasn’t been weakened in any way. We grow closer
by the day, and I do still love him.”

A
whisper of a smile played at the corner of Roxanne’s mouth, but she cleared her
throat and shook it off. “I’m sorry.”
Her voice was so quiet
,
I almost didn’t hear her
.

I
bit back a laugh, but my smirk couldn’t be contained. “Did that hurt?” I
quipped.

Roxanne
rolled her eyes. “I still don’t know if I trust you, but I’m willing to give
you a chance. Don’t expect me to go around singing your praises or anything—”

“Wouldn’t
dream of it.”

“I’m
still pissed about how everything went down between us, but I realize that’s
not your fault.” Her apology continued to surprise me.

“Nick’s
always been shitty at communicating,” I interjected, and Roxanne gave me a
genuine smile.

“He
says you found me and stayed on the trail of my attacker.” I nodded. “Thank
you.”

The
detective in me stepped forward in that moment. “I know Nick already asked, but
do you remember anything about the guy who attacked you?”

Roxanne
shook her head. “Just his smell—which is no different than the rest of
them, really—and that he
was
male.”

“So
you didn’t see him.”

She
shook her head again, closing her eyes tightly as though she was trying to
force the memory. “I’ve been trying to remember something that could be useful,
but I can’t. I’ve never been caught off guard like that before.”

My
heart clenched with empathy; I knew how it felt to be caught in a vulnerable
state and be taken advantage of. Just like I vowed to never let it happen to me
again, I would also do whatever I could to keep it from happening to the rest
of my Pack. This was
our
territory
those parasites kept trespassing on. It was supposed to be our safe haven, and
every time they stopped by, they left nothing but blood and destruction in
their wake. They were poison, and they needed to be stopped.

A
light knock on the door caught our attention, and when I turned around, I saw
Nick standing there.

“I
don’t mean to interrupt,” he said softly, “but Marcus won’t let anyone eat
until everyone’s there, so you can imagine that the guys are getting a little impatient.”

I
looked back at Roxanne. “Will you be joining us?” I asked.

“No.
I’m still pretty wiped out.”

I
understood all too well, and I nodded. “Can I bring you anything then?”

Roxanne
smiled appreciatively as she crawled back into bed. “That would be great. Thank
you.”

Nick
and I headed for the stairs, leaving Roxanne to rest. Before we even started to
descend them, Nick took my hand and turned me to face him. “What was that all
about? I thought you hated each other.”

I
smiled. “We realized that neither of us is going anywhere, and we came to an
understanding.”

Smiling
proudly, Nick raised a hand and pushed a strand of hair away from my face. His
fingers brushed my cheek before tilting my face up to his. “You’re amazing, you
know that? You completely turned that situation around.”

Having
found my second wind, I was feeling reenergized and a bit playful. “Well, there
were compromises to be made.” It was difficult, but I kept my smile concealed.

“Such
as?”

“We
discussed the importance of sharing. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and every other
weekend, you’ll stay with Roxanne.” Nick’s eyes widened and my laughter started
to bubble inside me. My lips started to curl up into a devilish grin. He caught
on instantly, his eyes narrowing. “It’s important when you make friends that
you share your toys.”

His
arms wrapped around me tightly, lifting me off my feet and bringing me level
with his height. “Is that all I am to you? A toy?”

Being
this close to him—wrapped securely in his arms—dulled my playful nature
and reignited the flames of my desire. “No,” I said to him. “You’re so much
more. You always have been, and I’m glad we’ve been given a second chance.” His
lips touched mine, softly at first, and then a little harder. It was a chaste
kiss, and when I pulled back, we were both grinning like Cheshire cats.
“Besides, you know I don’t share my things.”

Nick
laughed, setting me back on my feet and taking me by the hand. “Come on, we
shouldn’t make the Pack wait any longer. They get cranky when they’re hungry.”

Once
Nick and I joined the table, Marcus gave the order. It didn’t take long for the
conversation to shift to the hunt Nick and I had been on the night before. Nick
had already filled Marcus in, but the rest of the Pack needed to be kept in the
loop as well. Nick told them how we made it to the mountains before the trail
disappeared. This triggered my memory, reminding me of the journals I’d read recently.

“What
if you guys aren’t looking deep enough?” I asked, drawing the attention of the
entire Pack. I suddenly felt nervous with so many sets of eyes on me.

“Go
on,” Marcus allowed, taking a bite of his eggs.

I
shifted nervously in my seat and told myself that this was no different than
standing in front of a room full of cops and briefing them about a case…though,
that had a tendency to make me anxious, too.

“I
was reading through the…um…case files?”

“Dossiers,”
Nick amended. “But same idea.”

“Well,
what if you guys aren’t looking deep enough? Literally.”

Marcus
regarded me with genuine intrigue while the rest of the Pack looked on with
confusion. “What do you mean? We’ve combed those mountains for years. We’ve
followed them out there and then they just vanish without a trace.”

“Exactly,”
I interjected. “Where did they go? Or are they capable of flight and I just haven’t
gotten that far in my research?”

Everyone
at the table laughed at my attempt at humor, but a part of me wondered if that
might be a possibility. It happened in the movies. I pushed the thought aside
for a moment, committing myself to the issue at hand. “If becoming what I am
now has taught me anything, it’s that nothing is impossible and to trust my instincts.”
All eyes were on me as I spoke. “What if they’ve got some sort of hidden fortress
deep inside—or under—the mountains? I mean, think about it, they
don’t like sunlight, so what better place for a coven of vampires than
inside
a mountain? No windows, no chance
for natural light, it’s cold and dank and probably smells better than them.”
Beside me, Nick chuckled.

“Problem
is,”
Jackson
piped up, “we’ve combed every surface of
those mountains. We’ve checked cave entrances and have found nothing that
alludes to what you’re suggesting.”

I
furrowed my brow and thought about it a little more. “They have to be there.” I
took myself back to the night before when we were searching the mountain. True,
we found nothing and it was frustrating, but I knew I was on the right track. I
could feel it in my gut, and if I learned one thing over the years, it was to
follow my gut instincts. “Maybe they have some high-tech hidden entrance
somewhere.”

“Makes
sense,” Miranda spoke up. “It could explain why the trail just ends.”

Layla
nodded her agreement
also. “Maybe you guys should take stock in what she has to say. This could be a
means to an end.”

Next
to
Layla
, Vince spoke up. “Brooke was the one to take
out
Gianna
, so I’d say she’s more than proven herself
to be a valuable asset to the mission.”

Nick
placed a hand on my thigh and gave it a supportive squeeze. My smile widened as
I met his proud gaze. My ego inflated significantly, and my confidence soared.
Even though I couldn’t locate an entrance the night before, I started to think
that, with the rest of the Pack behind me, maybe we actually stood a chance.

After
breakfast, I stood to help clear the table when Marcus stopped me. “Brooke, I’d
like to see you and Nick in the study. Maybe discuss last night a little more
in detail.”

“It’s
fine,”
Miranda
said when I glanced toward her. “We’ll
handle this. You go talk strategy with the big kids.”

Beaming,
I followed Nick and Marcus from the dining room. Vince and Jackson tagged
along, likely because they were integral to the hunt. The books I’d been looking
at were still out on the tables as we stepped into the room. Marcus stood in
front of them and looked down at the pages.

“Before
we get started,” Marcus began, “I’d like to take the opportunity to tell you
how impressed I am by you, Brooke.”

Like
before, my confidence grew. Having the Pack behind me earlier was incredible,
but there was something truly empowering about your Alpha praising you. It
helped to squash any lingering insecurities from the past few days.

 
“Last night, you knew before any of us
whose blood was on that rock. You pushed your animosity aside and acted
selflessly, putting a pack member’s welfare above your own.”

I
thought back to the moment I knew it was Roxanne’s blood on that rock and
realized that, even with all the crap she’d given me since I’d arrived here, I
did
feel a loyalty to her. I didn’t
understand it at first, but, after listening to Marcus, I understood just how
much of it was instinctual. The Pack connected us by default. Maybe that was
what made it easier for us to work through our issues after what happened between
us the night before.

A
blush crept into my cheeks, but I maintained my composure, hoping to appear
humble and not arrogant. “Thank you.”