Page 34 of Pack Ruin
“All five?” I raised an eyebrow, and he sighed heavily. “Brand can’t go with you, Flor. He needs to accept the pledges, and then gather weapons for the fight.” He scowled. “If they figureout Luke is your mate as well—if they evensuspectthat you’re connected to the Heirs—they’ll kill him to get to Brand. Or Finnick, or Glen.”
Glen cursed. “We have to get Luke away from them, from Torran.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard his name. He sounded like a real rat bastard, but I’d dealt with plenty of those before. “I know every hiding place and rabbit path in that pisshole pack. If anyone can get in and out without being spotted, it’s me. I think…” I didn’t want to say Grigor’s name and set Samuel off again. “I think I’ll have help when I’m there. Someone on the inside. Just get me close, and I’ll be back with an extra Heir before you know it.”
Samuel nodded slowly. “You can’t fly. You don’t have identification, and the Eastern pack will have eyes on the airports around here. Eyes on the roads. They’re waiting to catch Glen leaving the borders. They know I won’t have killed him.” He scratched his beard in thought. “Can you drive?”
“Nope. But I’m a fast learner.”
Glen’s hand tightened in mine. “I’ll take her. We’ll drive to Southern. Not to the gates, but to the back of the packlands’ hunting grounds. Flor knows the way in.”
I gripped his hand back. Just what I’d never wanted: to go back to Southern. But I didn’t have a choice. Grigor was there, with Luke. I had to get them free before Brand declared war.
“Let’s get those books, Samuel. I’ll need some light reading on the way.”
Brandand I made love that night, over and over, until the sun rose, like we might never see each other again. Glen slept in his own room, though I could feel his presence in the bond.
When I asked, Brand admitted he could, too. “It’s not as odd as I had feared,” he said, as he toyed with one of my nipples. “When you claimed Finn, I didn’t feel much change.”
I shrugged, brushing back my hair, which fell past my shoulders now. Being mated to powerful males came with some side benefits, it seemed. My hair and nails grew super fast and strong, and I healed from small wounds almost instantly.
If only the pain from Finnick’s infidelity would heal as fast. He hadn’t done anything else, not since that first hour or two of what felt like acid in my veins. But I could still feel the ache, and wondered if it might happen again.
“Maybe Finnick doesn’t feel the bond at all,” I mused.
“I think he does. How could he not be longing for you? You’re perfection.”
I rolled my eyes, even though my insides were flipping around at his matter-of-fact tone. “You know, Cityboy and I only bit each other. We didn’t butter the biscuit.” Brand groaned. “What, you prefer baking the potato? Planting the pars?—”
He placed a hand over my mouth, his fingers covering half my face. “Please don’t use Grandma Ida’s expressions when we’re naked together.” His eyes, almost silver in the dim light of the bedroom, gleamed with humor… and heartache.
How could I get along without my Bearman? It was silly to feel so desolate at the thought. I’d been more or less alone foryears, with only Del to help me when he could. But I’d grown dependent on Brand in a few short weeks. It wasn’t that I needed him to protect me. I mean, I wasn’t nearly as strong as him, but I was a hundred times meaner and sneakier, and even without my wolf, I could rain hell on anyone who tried to fuck with me.
But I would miss him.
“I’m in your thoughts, my love,” he murmured. “If you need me, I’ll know it, and I’ll come for you. Taking on this pack, being Alpha here, was only so that you and Glen would be safe. If I have to give it up, I will.”
I kissed him soundly, then scooted out of bed, hunting for my clothes. It was time to go. “No, Alpha Becker, you’re needed here. Glen and I can sneak out, and if they catch us?—”
He grabbed me up in his arms and kissed me again, his beard soft on my face. “If they catch you, if theydareto hurt you, I will bring down the Mountain on their heads.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m swooning,” Glen sighed from the doorway. He leaned against the open doorframe with one hand resting at the top, and the other tousling his golden hair, a pose I’d seen on a romance novel cover more than once. “Bring down the Mountain? I never knew you had such a romantic side, brother. I’m not certain I can measure up.”
Brand grinned suddenly. “You never could, Glenda.”
Glen leaped across the room to tackle him. The two of them tumbled off the bed and around the room, wrestling and mock-snarling, until they knocked into the lamp and I punched Glen in the kidney.
“Ah, shit!” he groaned, falling to the floor, in real pain.
Of course he was in real pain. I was his true mate, and I’d just punched a vital organ. I winced. “Sorry, Glen, I forgot.”
He whined from his spot on the rug. “Forgot I was your mate? I see how it is. Brand gets your sweet side, and I get your—”He shut up when I lay next to him, reaching under his shirt to rub my hands over the spot I’d punched.
“Feel better?” I asked after a minute.
A sweet smile on his lips now, he stroked the side of my face, and I moved so that I could brush his curls back from his. He took advantage of the position, pulling me close for a long, lingering kiss. By the time he broke it off, my toes were curling and my core clenching like it was ready for more.
“Good morning, mate. I would ask if you slept well, but I know you didn’t. You can sleep in the truck.”
