Page 94 of Pack Ruin
“You won’t. Youcan’t,” I said softly. “You’re going to follow the old ways.”
Brand’s eyes flared, then dimmed. “That is my plan.”
I didn’t like the way he’d said that, like there was some question as to what he would do. I turned his face toward me and mock-glared at him. “Brand Becker, one of the things I love most about you is how much you are like your pack’s name. Your integrity, your character, is as solid as a mountain. Following the old ways, following the moon, is the only way we’ll get all this shit sorted out. It’s how you were able to take on being Alpha without killing your dad, and how Glen and Luke and I are still alive. You channeled all that energy to me, and through me, right? You were able to do that because of this.”
I moved higher on his lap and kissed his eyelids softly, then stared into them. “We’re going to get Luke and Finnick free,” I whispered, silently tacking on Grigor’s name, though I knew Brand could hear my thoughts. I ignored his silent snarl. “I mean it. If I have to chop every Eastern head off myself, I’m getting them back. Then we’re going to the fucking lake. All of us.”
“The fucking lake?” Glen murmured in my ear. “Are we renaming it? Wait. That’s your safe word, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Brand’s lips twitched. “Little flower, are you saying lake?”
“No, I’m pretty sure she said fucking. What a great idea.” I laughed as Glen picked me up from behind and spun me around. “Fucking first, then saving all our brother mates, then the lake?”
“I like your priorities,” Brand agreed, before he stole me back, laid me down on the deerskins, and showed me—one kiss, one touch, and one whispered word at a time—just where his priorities lay.
My world was still a trash fire. My other mates were in danger. But for the next few hours, these two stood between the uncertain future and me, blocking out every worry about tomorrow. Replacing the fear with desire, and stoking the flames of our passion until they roared brighter than the darkness that threatened us all.
And somewhere in those hours, I felt four connections blaze to life, the energy of our joining supplying them with strength… and one dark thread snap.
Epilogue
INTERROGATION ~ LUKE
Iwoke inside a vehicle of some kind, in a back seat that was soft and smelled of expensive leather. A car, a large one.
I stunk of battle. Gunpowder and lead, blood and smoke. My skin felt as if someone had sanded it, every nerve blazing with remembered pain. Time had passed. I wasn’t sure how much. I was exhausted, but also… drugged? Maybe. It felt like I’d been kept unconscious.
My wolf was still asleep. I let him rest, as I forced myself to think. Think, and remember.
We’d gone to rescue Grigor. Flor had been caught. Glen and I had moved between her and… There was a hole in my thoughts, a place in my mind itself with scorched edges, as if something had burned it out.
Burned.Fire.Someone had shoutedfire. There had been guns.
That was all. I couldn’t remember anything that had happened after I was shot.
I had been shot, hadn’t I? Silently, I ran a hand over my abdomen. There was no wound, but there was definitely a holein my clothing. I lifted my hand to my throat. Flor’s mark was there. I could feel her, as well, alive.
I thought about the braided rope of spirit that had pulled me out of my coma two days ago. It was still present. Glen’s energy was, anyway, but the other strand felt odd. Numb, almost.
Where were they?
Where was I? It was dark outside, the windows tinted, and some sort of opaque partition kept any illumination from the car’s headlights from reaching me.
I blinked, lifting a hand to rub my eyes. An interior light clicked on at once, and I startled as I realized I was not alone, though I hadn’t scented anyone else. A woman sat across from me, her legs angled to one side, her head tilted slightly. She wore a black pantsuit, high heels, and a curious expression.
“Alpha Mate McDonnell?”
I’d never spoken to Finnick’s mother when I was fostered for those few short days at his pack. But I’d seen her, and even if I hadn’t, I would have recognized her face.She was an older, harder, female version of Finnick. The same cold strength resided in her, though hers made my wolf’s hackles rise.
But her reply had the hairs on the back of my neck rising as well, and fear filling my belly. It was the voice of my nightmares.
“I’m so glad you’re awake, Luke. I have so much to ask you.” Her eyes flashed with red fire as she lifted her hand to point at the mating claim Flor had left on my neck.“Starting with that. Who gave you that mark?”
I held my jaw shut, intent on saying nothing. But when her eyes flashed with fire again, I knew this was a battle I would not win.
“Her name is Florida Wills,” I said through gritted teeth, then opened them and bit my tongue hard enough to bleed, trying to stop the words from coming out.
Another flicker of red fire.
“Her name is Florida Wills,” I repeated, blood running down my chin. “And she is… my true mate.”
A smile as cold as the heart of winter curled her lips. “Excellent. Tell me everything.”
And I did.
