Page 93 of Pack Ruin
Instantly, he dropped the boys, who I didn’t think were hurt, mostly just stunned. They’d obviously been playing possum, too, since they both scrambled to their feet instantly.
Leroy whispered, “Ghost eyes,” gaping at Brand for no more than a second before he and Bo started backing out of the cave.
Those odd, white eyes met mine as I jumped up into his arms. “I missed you,” I mumbled before I couldn’t speak any more.His kisses were wild, desperate, hungry. They felt savage, almost, and when I explored his mouth with my tongue, his teeth were definitely sharper than human.
Since he was supporting my entire weight, I held onto his face, then ran my hands lower as the kiss lengthened. His beard was oddly furry, and so were his shoulders and arms. Even his chest was furrier than normal. What was up?
I pulled back to catch my breath. “Did you just shift or something?”
He made a sound that was half despair and half delight as he wrapped his arms even more tightly around me—definitely furry arms—and buried his face in my neck, inhaling deeply.“I did,” he growled, his voice breaking. “I needed you… Flor! You werehurt.” He held me away now, off the ground, inspecting me for injuries.
“It was my back.” I wriggled to be put down. “I got shot, and then there was a huge battle, and my back was broken again, and if you hadn’t been sending all that mojo—uh-oh.”
I guess telling him all of that wasn’t exactly smart. Brand started growling and dropped to all fours, his nose elongating into a snout.
“Ah, they’re all dead, if that helps?” I finished, ignoring Glen’s soft laughter behind me.
“Never again,” Brand said, or at least that’s what I thought he said. By the end of the last word, he’d transformed completely into the familiar, dark chocolate-brown shape of his wolf.
Though I was almost certain he hadn’t been this big the last time I’d seen him.
“Holy cow,” I breathed, as Brand circled me, scent-marking me with his fur everywhere he could. Which was pretty much from my chin down, since he was almost as tall as me.
“No, holy wolf.” Glen eased up next to me, Brand’s wolf growling slightly as Glen embraced me from behind. “Brother, I’m glad you’re here. Thank you for healing her, and all of us.” He led me by the hand back to the furs, where the three of us sank down, wrapped around each other.
“I need to tell you what happened. Can you shift back?” I whispered.
Brand whined slightly.
Can you understand me?I thought. I took the lick he gave my chin as a yes, and told him—and Glen—everything that had happened in the night.
By the end of the story, Glen looked almost as enraged as Brand’s wolf.“If they weren’t all dead, I’d go now and kill them.”
“They’re not. I think Torran got away. And Finnick’s parents have Luke,” I reminded them. “They have Finnick, and Luke… and Grigor. We have to rescue them.”
Brand’s growl reappeared, and his face was suddenly in front of mine, his pearly eyes glowing. “Don’t you start,” I said, bopping him on the nose. He looked at his own nose cross-eyed, like he couldn’t believe I’d done that. “Grigor isn’t all bad.”
“He’s ninety-nine and a half percent bad, Flor,” Glen said, before he got up and began rummaging around in the crates for food. He came back with jerky, handing some to me and Brand, then taking a piece for himself. Neither one of them would eat until I’d taken a bite. I rolled my eyes and started chewing. Brand ate his piece in one big bite, and I would’ve put money on him imagining it was Grigor’s face or something.
“Okay, he’s not a good guy. But he’s not pure evil. He’s had a hard life.”
“A hard, immortal life, killing thousands upon thousands of shifters?—”
“He gave that up,” I argued. “And we all make mistakes.” They both stared at me like I’d lost my very last marble. “Whatever. The point is, we need to get the guys out of there.” I wiped my eyes, annoyed at the tears. This wasn’t the time to cry. This was the time to kick ass. “They’re gonna torture them, maybe even kill them. We have to go now. He was just healing, not even back to full strength, and then was shot?—”
Before I could finish, Brand had transformed and pulled me into his human arms. “We’ll rescue him, I promise. But we need to plan. Finn isn’t in danger. I don’t think they have any idea he’s mated to you. He wouldn’t have told them, and his mate mark is on his tongue, remember?”
I nodded.
He hummed. “I don’t think they’ll hurt Luke either. Or at least, they won’t kill him. They’ve called an emergency Councilmeeting in three days to vote on Aidan’s position as Head, as well as sentencing for Margarette and Bradley, for killing their own Enforcers without cause.”
Glen and I both cursed a blue streak at that. Glen started to pace as he thought aloud. “They won’t kill Luke as long as they think they can force him to vote their way. Since Northern is implicated in the sentencing, they’ll be recused from the vote. All they need is one of the other main packs—Southern, since they must know you won’t vote their way, Brand—to ally with them, and they’ll have the majority.”
“Don’t underestimate Aidan McDonnell,” Brand growled. “He’s called me to Eastern as well, no later than the day before the emergency meeting, to submit to the Council’s leadership, as my father did. As all of the other recognized Alphas have.” He sighed heavily. “They know you’re my mate. They suspect you’re also Glen’s. If they know that you’re tied to Luke, or Finn, I might be forced to…”
“No,” I gasped.
His jaw hardened. “If I must pledge to the Council in order to keep you alive, or keep them alive, I might.”
