Wolves among men (30 page)

“
I can do it sure.” I
nodded. “But can I do it without ripping his face off? I don’t
really know.” She chuckled as I moved past her and reached for the
door. We walked in silence through the empty courtyard and I held
the door open for her as we stepped into the large main building.
Grant and his team were already hard at work, Logan and Matt
watched from the shadows as they nursed their morning Coffee. It
wasn’t surprising to see James with his nose in a stack of papers
and taking notes but as much as I wanted to know what it was that
had him so engrossed, there were more pressing matters to attend
to.

Sam took me by the hand and led me
toward the front, stopping to look up at me one last
time.

“
Are you sure you’re gonna
be alright?” I nodded.

“
I can go with you if you
want,” Matt offered from the small round table where he
sat.

“
Thanks,” I called back.
“But I’ll be okay.”

“
Please don’t be offended
if I listen in,” Grant spoke quietly from behind me. I turned to
face him as I shook my head.

“
No not at
all.”

“
Good.” He nodded. “Not to
be a pain but-”

“
You’re just looking out
for me, I know.”

“
Exactly.” He smiled. I
turned back to Sam and took a deep breath.

“
Are you
ready?”

“
No.” I
smirked.

“
We’ll be here if you need
us.” I nodded in thanks and stepped around her, sucking in a sharp
breath as I pulled open the large steel door and stepped out into
the morning sun. I recognized his figure immediately as I stepped
down onto the gravel and inched my way toward him.

“
Hello, Ethan,” he spoke
softly without even turning around to face me. I stopped in my
tracks and watched him as he peered up at the leafy canopy above
us. “Beautiful day isn’t it.” He turned to me and
smiled.

“
Does it matter?” I asked
as I shoved my hands deep into my pockets. He shrugged slightly and
took a step toward me.

“
No I suppose
not.”

“
You asked to see me.” He
nodded. “Well what do you want?”

“
Just a friendly chat, I
thought I might see how you and your little friends were holding
up.”

“
Peachy.” I snapped.
Jonathan nodded as he took another step toward me.

“
I am deeply sorry for how
things turned out when we last met. It was not my intention to
fight.”

“
You were sent to kill
me.”

“
That is
not
true.”

“
Okay fine you were sent
to kill my sister.” He sighed heavily and shook his
head.

“
No, no you misunderstood.
I was sent to find out what was responsible for my brother’s death,
not to harm anyone.”

“
Bullshit.” I snapped as I
shook my head. He shrugged.

“
Believe what you want but
I only speak the truth.”

“
Why do you talk like
that?” I smirked.

“
Like what?” He smiled.
The tone in his voice was enough to make me want to tear him to
pieces but he wouldn’t do us any good dead and thankfully it was
the bigger part of me that knew that.

“
Like a condescending
asshole.” He laughed lightly and shook his head, taking a few
unneeded steps toward me.

“
You do have quite the
attitude don’t you.” He sneered at me.

“
Well pardon me if I’m
just a little less than happy to see you. Where are your goons by
the way? It’s kind of strange to see you here without any backup.”
A look of satisfaction crossed his face as he nodded.

“
Oh I’m not alone, Ethan.
Do you really think I would be that stupid or are you just
hopeful?”

“
Maybe a little of both.”
I shrugged. “You know, you never did answer my
question.”

“
Ah yes,” he spoke
quickly. “The reason I am here is to relay a message from my
boss.”

“
Malik?” He stepped back
and offered me a satisfied smile.

“
I see you’ve been doing
your research, I’m sure he will be happy to hear that,” He spoke
proudly.

“
You can do me a favor
while you’re at it and tell him to shove his pompous ideals up his
self-righteous-”

“
Okay.” He interrupted me
with a smile. “Please don’t sully this beautiful morning with
vulgarity although I would be happy to relay that message for you.”
I nodded in thanks. “Back to what I was saying,” He sighed. “Malik
wanted me to extend to you an offer, one I think you should
consider.”

“
What kind of
offer?”

“
A trade.” My heart
thumped loudly as I stared into his cold blue eyes. “A peace
offering so to speak,” he continued. “You see Malik is quite
interested in you.”

“
Why?”

“
You do know that without
a teacher most new pups become feral within a matter of days.” I
nodded. “Have you not considered why this did not happen to
you?”

“
Luck.” I shrugged. He
laughed loudly and took another step toward me, close enough to pat
my shoulder. I looked at his hand in disgust and took a step
back.

“
Perhaps you are right but
what if you’re wrong? There is also the matter of Michael’s
death.”

“
Who?” He looked up as I
cut him off.

“
The man you
killed.”

“
You mean the wolf that
tried to kill me.”

“
No matter, the point is
that Michael was a soldier and a well-trained one at that but
somehow you managed to best him.”

“
It wasn’t that hard.” I
shrugged.

“
You see that there is
exactly why Malik has taken an interest in you, you have surpassed
all expectations of a new pup on his own. If it were anyone else
they would be quite insane by now.”

“
So what’s this offer?” I
asked quickly, wanting to get back to the subject and get him away
from me as soon as I could.

“
Join us.” I shook my
head. “Think about it, if you come with me, I can reunite you with
your sister and you can live with us as though none of this ever
happened.”

“
My sister?” He nodded.
“You have her?”

“
Of course.”

“
Is she okay?” I snapped.
My heart thundered loudly as I looked behind him searching for even
the smallest sign of her. Jonathan turned around and whistled
loudly. Almost instantly I heard the rumble of an oversized engine
and a silver van began to creep around the corner. It pulled up
just behind him and the engine stopped, I held my breath as I
waited for what felt like an eternity.

“
See for yourself.” He
sneered as the side door slid open and Cordillia was pushed out
onto the gravel in front of me. She fell forward and landed on her
knees, wincing in pain as she struggled against the rope that held
her hands tight behind her back. She kicked and fought as he snaked
his fingers underneath her arm and forced her to her
feet.

“
Let me go!” she shrieked
as he struggled to steady her. Jonathan reached over and pulled the
blindfold from her eyes, turning her to face me as he tossed it
behind him.

“
There’s quite a lot of
fight in this one.” He chuckled, turning his face to her as she
scowled. Cordillia spat, silencing his laugh and turning his amused
smile into one of rage as he reached up to wipe his face. “That
wasn’t very nice.” He growled as he backhanded her, knocking her to
the ground.

“
Leave her alone!” I
roared and lunged forward only to be stopped by the point of his
blade as it pressed dangerously into my throat. Jonathan turned to
me, his piercing blue eyes sharp as daggers as he glared into
me.

“
Back up.” He growled. His
eyes locked with mine. I did as he asked, my fists clenched at my
side and my body shaking with rage as he bent down once more to
lift Cordillia to her feet. He turned her toward me, pulling her
back into his chest as he pressed his knife to her throat. “I
didn’t want to use such force.” He smiled down at her. “But you
left me no choice,” he whispered as she went limp in his
hands.

“
Now, back to business.”
He smiled as he turned his gaze on me. “It’s a simple choice,
Ethan, come with me and you can have her back.”

“
And if I don’t?” Jonathan
looked toward the van and shrugged.

“
Then I wrap up this
little family reunion and you’ll just have to hope you find her
before she becomes a corpse.”

“
I’m afraid that’s where
you’re wrong.” I was startled as Grant came to a stop at my side
and I was excited as I turned to see the mass of growling faces
that stood just behind us. I didn’t hear the door open and I had no
idea when they decided to join us but for a moment I couldn’t help
but feel empowered. He was outnumbered, outgunned and any smart man
would leave with his hide intact. I could only hope he would choose
not to risk it over her.

“
I wasn’t expecting
company.” He sneered.

“
And I wasn’t expecting
trespassers.”

“
Well then I guess that
means this meeting is over.” He growled as he turned away from us.
Grant stepped forward as Jonathan moved toward the van.

“
You’ll be leaving the
girl,” he called loudly. Jonathan stopped in his tracks and turned
back to us slowly, a condescending smirk twisted his lips as his
eyes darted between us.

“
I’m afraid you have no
say in that.”

“
That wasn’t a request.”
Logan and Matt moved to his side and I followed as we closed in on
the blond haired man.

“
And how do you intend to
stop me?”

“
The way I see it you’re
outnumbered, two maybe three to our thirty.”

“
You’d kill me? Is that
the threat?”

“
No,” Matt chuckled. “But
we’d be happy to send you back to Malik a broken man.” Jonathan’s
eyes darted between us. Gauging his odds or planning attack, I
couldn’t be sure. I held my breath as he held her tight, the pack
closing in on him inch by inch, growling together as one as they
waited for Grant’s order.

“
All this for one
girl?”

“
Do you have any humanity
left?” I growled as I approached him. “Or did you lose it all when
you sold your soul?” His eyes softened and for a moment I could
have sworn I saw a glimmer of empathy, even basic understanding
before his expression hardened and a soft growl escaped his
chest.

“
I’ve better things to do
than stand here arguing with a dog.” He spat. He pushed her into me
and shoved his knife back into the sheath at his hip. “I’ve no use
for her.” He sneered as he brushed himself off and climbed into the
van behind him. “You should have taken my offer,” he called behind
him.

“
Not a chance in
hell.”

“
That’s too bad.” He
slammed the door shut before I had the chance to reply and I
watched as the van sped off in a cloud of dust.

“
Good riddance.” Cordillia
sneered as they rounded the corner and disappeared from
sight.

“
Are you okay?” I asked,
pulling her attention back to me. She nodded and offered me a weak
smile.

“
Fine I guess.”

“
Are you hurt?” She shook
her head. “Were you bitten?” My questions were quick and frantic as
I struggled with the rope that bounder her.

“
No, Ethan, I’m fine.” She
chuckled and rubbed at her newly freed wrists. “Really.” I pulled
her into my arms and held her tight against me, closing my eyes as
I rested my chin on the top of her head.

“
I’m glad you’re back.” I
smiled as she squeezed me back.

“
I’m glad to be back.” She
chuckled as she pulled away from me. “Is there somewhere we can
sit?”

“
Of course.” Grant smiled
as he stepped forward and made his presence known. He led us into
the factory and pulled a chair around for Cordillia at the large
round table in the middle of the room. I took a seat next to her
and pulled her into a quick one armed hug.