Amber Flame (The Flame Series Book 4) (12 page)

Make sure you go cottage-by-cottage carefully.

You know we will.
Warren’s deep voice had never sounded more serious.

Many of the pack homes had intricate dens belowground, but Warren knew that. His pack was similar, wolves being wolves.

Fergus contacted Mary and updated her.
My team will be heading to the ground level in a few minutes. How are you doing?

I’m fine. I’m still in the dreamglide. I’m searching your private rooms right now.

He heard her gasp suddenly, an odd telepathic sound.

Oh, dear God. Fergus, you need to get to your master bedroom immediately, but bring medical personnel with you. Several female wolves have been hurt. Bad.

CHAPTER FIVE

MARY REMAINED HOVERING in her dreamglide above Fergus’s bed. She felt sick at heart at the sight before her, yet not surprised. Sydon was the monster who had skewered Fergus’s heart and sent wolf females to work in the cartel-run Naked Wolf club.

Why wouldn’t he have three women chained to Fergus’s bed?

They’d been beaten and the sight of amber flame markings on their cheeks, necks and wrists told its own tale. In addition, each wolf had an unusual amount of fur showing on her breasts and all down the insides of her thighs. Amber flame had a terrible quality of forcing a partial shift and creating a pseudo-animal experience.

During sex, the women would exhibit a wolf-like need to be on all fours and to be dominated. They would howl and thrash. The men who liked rough sex enjoyed taking advantage of the women further
altered,
if temporarily, by the drug.

She heard the door open and watched from above as Fergus entered the room. He’d done as she’d suggested and brought a medical team with him, including two women who offered soft wolf-grunts as they approached the bed. Even Mary could feel how comforting these sounds were to the injured women.

The wolves cowered at first as each was released from her shackles.

Fergus wisely remained near the door, though she felt his fury rising.

Fergus?

I’m here.

Can you dial it down?
She asked.

What do you mean?

Your rage, Sweetheart. The women can feel it.
Earlier he’d called her ‘Sweetheart’, but until she’d entered the dreamglide she hadn’t realized she’d used the endearment as well.

She hadn’t said anything earlier, not when the only critical issue was saving Fergus’s men from slaughter. But the moment she’d entered the dreamglide, as before, all the memories of her time with him had returned, the way he’d made love to her, the wolfness of him that turned her on, his strength yet endless capacity for tenderness.

Her heart was full just looking at him through the dreamglide.

She felt his rage fall away at her words, reminding him that how he felt wasn’t the priority right now. He spoke to one of the nurses and excused himself, adding quietly, “When the women have been taken away and tended, I want this bed burned.”

She watched Fergus leave the room. Knowing the abused women were being cared for, she followed after him in the dreamglide.

He didn’t return to his men, but walked farther down the same hall and went into his library. He closed the pocket doors behind him, then sat down in a chair angled next to the fireplace.
You’re remembering more,
he said
.

Because I’m in the dreamglide,
she said,
I remember everything.

Fergus leaned forward in the chair and put his head in his hands. She knew he was upset and she valued his compassion for his people more than anything else about him.

You okay?

He leaned back in his chair and huffed a heavy sigh that ended in a typical wolf grunt.
I will be.

From the moment she’d entered the dreamglide, and the memories of their times together had come back to her, she’d felt confused. Not about what she could recall, but about what she ought to do with their relationship. She’d been making love with Fergus for the past several weeks. They were intense lovers and he’d satisfied her as no man ever had.

But it was more than just sex, that much she knew. She felt a profound affection for Fergus, something she couldn’t easily dismiss.

Where do we go from here, Fergus, you and me?

He shook his head.
I don’t know. More than anything, I’m feeling the need for an alpha-mate, for a woman in the pack, but you’re fae.

I know. And though I’ve come to appreciate who you are in this world, and wolves like Warren as well, the constant level of violence hurts me. It’s like a pain in my heart that I can’t shake. At least you have Sydon locked up. Are you planning to turn him over to the Tribunal?
Five Bridges had a court system run by the Tribunal, though more often than not the cartels’ reach extended well into its halls of justice.

I’ll leave his fate up to the Savage Pack Council, but only after I engage him in a dominance battle, without wrist guards. My primary goal is to re-bond with my pack. Nothing else matters.

Mary grew very still. She knew this was the necessary order of events, but her fae senses were screaming at her that it would be a mistake to let Sydon go free. He was an abusive, ambitious monster.
He should be put down, Fergus. Right now.

It’s not the way we do things. And if I killed him straight out, the Council would be within its rights to prevent me from ever taking the reins again.

But Sydon doesn’t play by the rules.

He rose from his chair.
I’m not going to argue with you, Mary. It’s important to me that I battle him according to rules I believe in.

She thought for a moment.
Okay. Then just make sure it’s a final battle. If you don’t believe in the necessity of eliminating Sydon as a future threat, then I suggest you check your newly acquired fae senses. You’ll see what I mean. He’s more dangerous than you or any of your fellow alphas know.

He spoke aloud. “Mary, I’ve heard you. I want you to know that. But I will do what I believe is right and best for my pack as well as for the future of Savage. I’m heading your direction right now. You can leave the dreamglide if you want. I won’t be long.”

I’ll be waiting for you.

With that, Mary left the dreamglide and with it her blocks fell into place once more. She was back in Warren’s map room and realized to her surprise that she was in a partially conscious state and had been the whole time. Always in previous instances, she was asleep or unconscious in order to be in the dreamglide. But not right now.

She rubbed her arms, feeling a wolfish kind of power invading her, strengthening her. She’d been part of a rescue operation that had saved the lives of decent wolves and she’d loved every second of it. Yup, very wolf.

Rising to her feet, she thought back to being in the dreamglide. She could recall everything about the experience, of breaking into the compound, of getting Fergus all the way through the hidden passage, and even helping to capture Sydon.

She remembered the women in Fergus’s master bedroom as well.

But she couldn’t recall the blocked portion, the several weeks with Fergus as his lover in the dreamglide. Her blocks held. Yet she knew that anytime she headed back into the dreamglide, she’d be able to remember everything about their time together. It was a bizarre disconnection.

For a moment she wondered if she should disable the blocks, but that would mean accepting more about her relationship with Fergus than she wanted to right now. There was a part of her that kept hoping what she was going through was only temporary, that maybe she was on a mission that would soon end and she could return to Revel and resume her life.

So, the blocks stayed.

She stretched a few times, angling her arm over her head and bending sideways one direction, then the other. She ached in a few places. The stone floor had a carpet, but it was fairly thin and she’d remained in one position way too long.

She didn’t disturb the guards outside the door but waited for Fergus.

He arrived barely a minute later. When he came into the room, he closed the doors behind him. She could feel the connection to him, even though she couldn’t recall the details of their time together.

“You’re back.”

“I am.” His deep voice, full of male resonance, swamped her senses.

He held her gaze for a moment and his strong wolf energy quickly permeated the room. She wasn’t surprised when he crossed to her and pulled her into his arms.

The kiss that followed was full, warm and moist. His wolf musk scent rose as well and took away her remaining restraint. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, her whole body moving against his. She might not remember all that they’d done, but the part of her becoming wolf was into him.

She’d never had this kind of experience with a man before, needing him the way she craved Fergus. In fact, if she was honest with herself, she’d never even been in love before.

She drew back from Fergus and couldn’t repress a sharp intake of breath.

In love.

She was in love with Fergus.

He held her loosely, his arms still wrapped around her. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t know what to say to him. She could hardly proclaim her love, not when the concept had just marched into her head.

She settled her hands on his chest, then chuckled softly. “You’re a big man.” She spread her hands over his pecs. A memory returned to her, of doing this with him, of touching and fondling him.

“Do you want me to take you home? Back to Revel?”

She lifted her gaze to his gorgeous dark eyes. She could see the amber rings emerging, the ones that always formed when he was aroused. His brows were drawn together in concern.

“No. I don’t want to leave.”

He released a sigh of relief. “Good. I’ve thought about where we should go. I have a place.”

“What do you mean?” She glanced around. “In Warren’s compound?”

He shook his head. “No, but I also don’t mean the Gordion Compound either. I have a home, not far from here, my first with a belowground private den. Will you be with me tonight and afterward through the day?”

Her head was nodding before she’d even formed the thought. Everything about her situation with Fergus felt as though it had an internal drive she couldn’t resist or even slow down. She couldn’t
not
be with him.

“Is that a yes?”

She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him.
That’s an I-can’t-say-no.

He drew back and smiled at her. “I know exactly what you mean. And I swear to you that I won’t make demands. I just want and need to be with you right now. Once my mate-hunting cycle ends, we can go back to, I don’t know, where we were before. I just don’t know what the future holds or what commitments I can make.”

She shrugged slightly. “Me neither.”

She stared into his eyes, mesmerized by him, by what was happening between them. “I loved helping out tonight. It was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.”

“You made everything possible. You played a critical role in saving my men and we captured Sydon because of you. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for my pack.”

She leaned close and dragged her nose over his jaw and cheek, taking in his scent, loving it, wanting more. “Who do you need to tell about where you’re taking me?”

“Warren. I’ll take care of that now.” He looked away from her and she could feel his telepathic frequency light up. When he was done, he shared the details. “Harley and Ryan will hold the fort at the Gordion Compound until the dominance battle has taken place. Warren’s there for a few more minutes to make sure the compound is secure. He’ll be sending a security squad over to the den-home once we head over there.”

She felt a blush warm up her cheeks. “What if we both get to howling, I mean if we get caught up in things?”

His lips curved. “I took precautions early on and soundproofed the den.”

She remembered how hard it had been to hold back her howls the last time she’d been with him. “I’m glad.”

She thought of something else as well; she wanted to hear him in full voice. The possibility of listening to his deep, resonant howls sent shivers all the way to her toes.

“We’ll be free to do whatever we want this time. But there’s one thing you should know. My wife, Sharon, lived there with me. I go back every once in a while, but her touch is in the space. Will that be a problem?”

Mary thought about the moment when Sharon had told her she’d be needed tonight. Sharon had been right. “No problem at all.”

Fergus finally released her and led her to the door.

Mary loved the feel of Fergus’s hand on her waist. She was in tune with the wolf. Even walking beside him, she fell easily into step, matching his long stride. Of course it helped to be as tall as she was, just short of six foot.

She glanced up at Fergus as he took her out onto the front stone walkway. The more she was with him, the stronger her wolf-like qualities became. Right now her nostrils quivered as she took in his alpha-mating scent. She swore she could separate out three different scents, one like grasses, the other a rich layered musk and finally the smell of stone. The latter seemed an impossibility, yet earth had a smell, everything did. Wolves could detect subtle variations, like dogs and other forest predators.

When he stopped and held his arm out for her, this time on his left side, she lifted her nose to the air in front of her. In a slow arc, she sniffed moving from the eastern portion of the front landscaping all the way to the west.

She smelled something in the air she couldn’t define. Because Warren’s guards were still in the front area, AR-15s in hand, she switched to telepathy.
What is it I’m smelling? It’s metallic yet has an odd odor that reminds me of the Graveyard.

When he lifted his nose into the air as well, she watched his nostrils elongate slightly, one of the fairly common attributes of shifting
alter
wolves.

She couldn’t do that, because her body was fae. But she understood the sensation.