Betrayed (Wolf Gatherings Book 6) (11 page)

Marcus returned her warm smile. “I’m starved. Thank you so much again.” He glanced around. Drake and his mate weren’t there. And for that small concession, Marcus was relieved. He could face that problem later.

“Please. Sit. Let’s eat. We can talk again after our stomachs are full.” Natalie nodded toward the table as she returned to the kitchen.

Everyone took a seat quickly. An immense amount of food was piled on the table. Indeed there was a roast with all the vegetables, but there were other side dishes scattered around the table also.

“I’m so grateful for your hospitality,” Marcus said as he scooted his chair in. “To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve eaten.”

“I figured.” Natalie smiled at him as she took her own seat.

Heather set her hand on Marcus’s thigh under the table and squeezed.

He nearly spilled the glass of water he’d picked up. He set the drink down, reached under the table, and squeezed her fingers. The imp.

Heather giggled, not so subtly.

No one commented. Of course they all knew newly mated couples were prone to unusual antics. Marcus wouldn’t have believed he’d be in such a position someday, lured by the wiles of a sexy woman, but here he was. And her hand on his thigh hardened his cock with a force that punched him in the gut. Everything they said about mating was true. His ardor didn’t lessen after claiming his mate. If anything, it was stronger. How was he ever going to leave her?

Marcus piled his plate with several dishes of the best food he’d ever seen. His own mother never cooked a meal like this even for Thanksgiving. Natalie was clearly a fantastic cook.

They ate mostly in silence. Marcus was glad for the reprieve. He really was starving. When he was finished, he felt much better, and he turned to find Heather watching him with a smile on her face.

He lifted a brow.

“Need more?”

“I think I’m good.” He kissed her briefly on the lips, unable to resist.

Heather awoke the following morning to the smell of coffee. The sun was high in the sky. She’d slept late. She was burrowed under the covers, but she knew immediately she was alone. The scent of her mate was faint.

Voices from the rest of the house told her he was undoubtedly already working hard with the Spencers to formulate a plan against the Romulus.

Heather took a deep breath and rolled out of bed. Her ankle hit the floor and gave very little protest.
Good. At least I don’t have to hobble around all day
.

When she entered the bathroom, she stared at herself in the mirror for a few moments in horror. She looked tired and…well fucked. Embarrassment jerked her awake, and she flipped on the shower immediately, glancing down at her body, her skin covered with a pink flush.

As soon as the water heated, she stepped into the steam and closed her eyes, luxuriating in the cascade of water. When she finally inhaled slowly and reached for the soap, she took her time.

After the shower, she felt somewhat alive and headed out to find her mate. Her body still tingled at the idea of getting close to him. Even if he was preoccupied all day, at least she would be near.

When she entered the great room, she found Jerome and Scott standing at the table, maps and documents spread out in front of them.

Jerome nodded. “Hey, Heather. Marcus went into town with Drake to get some things. The poor guy has nothing of his own.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

She crossed to the kitchen counter at the lure of coffee, deflated that her mate was not in the house or even on the property. She blew out a breath. “I’m sure. Nothing like traveling halfway across the country without a single item, including clothes.” Her hands shook as she tipped the coffee pot to fill her mug.

Her heart beat faster as she turned back toward the table. “You guys don’t waste any time, do you?”

“We can’t. We need to act fast.” Jerome took a seat in front of a huge map of Minnesota. “Lives are at stake. Marcus feels guilty for waiting as long as he did to come forward. Not that he should, mind you. But he does. And he wants to put an end to whatever his grandfather is up to as much as anyone. I urged him to take a few days, but he’s adamant.”

“What have you done so far?” Heather asked, glancing at the array of papers, unease creeping up her spine.

Jerome pointed to the stacks of files. “We filled Marcus in on all the details of the last two months. Evan, the private investigator who spearheaded all this, is coming from St. Louis. And Ralph Jerard, the head elder, is coming from Seattle. He’ll have his right-hand man with him, Alex Marshall. We will all meet to discuss the next steps.”

“And you’re certain it has to be Marcus who infiltrates the Romulus?”

Jerome nodded. “As much as I wish there was another way, this seems like the best option. Melvin Cunningham has no other grandchildren, so he’s obviously intent on using his only heir to secure his family line, and not in a good way.”

Heather swallowed the bad taste this arrangement gave her. The only thing she could picture was the enormous risk involved in sending the mate she finally joined with yesterday to fake his way behind the scenes of the enemy.

A chill raced down her spine as she sipped her coffee.

Natalie came in through the back door. She smiled and hugged Heather. “I didn’t get a chance to properly congratulate you yesterday.” She held Heather at arm’s length and looked her in the eye. “Happy?”

“Worried is more like it.”

Natalie pursed her lips for a second. “Understandable.” She turned toward the oven and pulled out a plate. “I saved you some breakfast from the savages. Eat. You’ll feel better after a meal.”

“Bless you.” Heather took the plate and followed Natalie outside to the back porch. When the door shut behind them, blocking out the men’s voices and the ominous papers, she felt instant relief. “I can’t fathom what this all means.”

“I’m sure. Last month, when all of you arrived and my son Daniel realized Allison was his mate, I thought they would both have a coronary sorting through the mess of his involvement with NAR and her precarious safety issues. But they survived, and you will too. It’s a bump in the road. When this is all over, you can relax with your mate and live happily ever after.”

Heather lifted her gaze. “Do you believe that? I mean that good will prevail in this case? What if the Romulus wins, and we all end up living in a new world?” She shivered. “We may not even be a secret from the general human population by the time this fight is over.”

“It’s a possibility. But we can only hope it doesn’t happen. Now that we know more about who’s behind everything, we have the upper hand again. Thanks to Marcus.”

“Is it selfish of me to wish he’d never come here?”

Natalie smiled warmly. “Not at all. It’s normal. But then you wouldn’t have met him, and we wouldn’t be sitting here now.”

“I could be dead.” Heather looked out toward the field where she’d collapsed when the diamondback had bitten her. Had it been just two days ago?

Natalie set a hand on Heather’s leg. “But you aren’t.”

Just as Heather finished eating, having no idea what she’d consumed or how it tasted over the lump in her throat, a truck pulled up and Drake and Marcus headed toward the porch. Marcus’s face lit with a smile when he saw her. “Hey, sleepy. I tried to hurry. Have you been up long?” He stepped onto the porch and immediately leaned down to kiss Heather, straddling her with his palms on the arms of her chair.

He had nothing in his hands. She wondered what he’d bought in town and where it was.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

Natalie took Heather’s plate and silently went inside.

Marcus reached for her hand. “It’s so nice out this morning before the heat of the day moves in. Come on. I’ll watch out for snakes.” He grinned at her.

Heather took his hand and let him lead her down the steps and away from the house. They walked in silence for several minutes. Marcus didn’t falter in his steps. This wasn’t a leisurely stroll. He had a destination in mind.

Her heart beat faster as she kept up with his longer stride. Just being next to him made her pulse beat faster. She held him tight, trying to close the distance between them.

“It’s beautiful here.” He lifted his gaze to the sky. “I can see why you stayed.”

“Yeah. I love it, and the Spencers are wonderful people. They took me in and treat me like their own. I could never repay them.”

“And they don’t expect you to.” He pulled her closer, tucking her under his arm. She warmed. Marcus led her to the edge of the corral and leaned against the fence.

“I spoke to Kenzie earlier.”

Heather lifted her gaze to his. “Oh. How’d it go?”

“You were right. She’s very gracious. Drake had prepared her. I’m not sure I could be as forgiving if someone treated me the way I treated her at The Gathering.”

“Kenzie’s very sweet. I expected nothing less.” She watched his face, seeing the calm descend. Speaking to Kenzie seemed to have lifted a weight off his shoulders he’d carried a long time.

Marcus cleared his throat. “I want you to tell me what happened to you. All of it. It’s niggling at the back of my mind.” He paused. “I get the gist of it, but you’re my mate and I don’t want this unspoken horror between us while we’re starting off together.”

Heather swallowed. She’d relived her week of terror several times for counselors and The Head Council, and even in group sessions with the other women. They all had a story to tell. And Marcus was right. It would be weird for her not to share what happened with him. Clear the air.

She ducked her head. “I was out jogging near my home in Oregon. It’s a small town. I told you that much. Nothing happens there. No real crime. It’s the safest place on earth. Or it was.” She shivered. It was half the reason she couldn’t go back, if she were honest. She’d never feel safe there again.

Marcus tipped her face up. “Go on.”

“Someone grabbed me from the road I was jogging on, threw a hood over my head, and tossed me in the trunk of a car so fast, I didn’t have time to react.” Her voice rose, and she wrung her hands together as she thought back again. It only got marginally easier with each telling. “I fought hard. I swear. But there were several of them, and I’m small. I wasn’t strong enough. It was pitch dark under the hood, and they easily wrestled me into the trunk. I tried to kick. I screamed. But no one was around to hear me. A needle jabbed my thigh, and in seconds everything went black.

“When I woke up, I had no idea how long I’d been out or where I was. Someone was carrying my body over their shoulder. I still wore the hood. I didn’t know if it was day or night. My arms were tied behind my back, and my feet were strapped together.

“Panic like you can’t imagine filled me. My heart raced through the fog of the drugs. I couldn’t have escaped even if I hadn’t been bound. I was weak, barely lucid.

“Whoever carried me made no attempt to be gentle, which scared the fuck out of me. I thought I was dead for sure. I screamed inside the hood as soon as I could get my voice to work, but all I got in response was laughter.

“The next thing I knew, the man had entered a building. I heard the door shut behind us. His footsteps made more sound on the wood floor. I could smell coffee and cigarette smoke. He took me down some stairs, slamming my body into the sides of the narrow stairwell without a care. When he reached the bottom, he flopped me on a mattress on the floor and injected me again.”

Heather looked into Marcus’s eyes. They glistened, but he didn’t interrupt. His lips were pursed tight. He uncrossed his legs and fisted his hands at his sides. His chest rose and fell.

Heather set her hands on his pecs. “Don’t freak. That’s about all there is to tell. I spent the next week in that basement. I don’t think the men who brought me there were around very much. They didn’t stay there. They left me alone most of the time. I had a bathroom, and they left me food and water.

“The worst part was the injections. Scared the fuck out of me. But everything has left my system by now.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and held him.

He seemed to need the comfort more than her. It took him several moments to unclench his fists and grasp her, but when he did, it was with tremendous force. He knocked the wind out of her, holding her so tight and burying his face in her hair. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

She squirmed to lift her gaze again. “And I’m okay now. I had it better than most. I had enough to eat, and I was only there a week before NAR busted into the house and found me. The other women have much worse tales to tell.”

“I don’t think I could stand that.” Rage lurked beneath the surface. She could see it in his eyes. “If I ever get my hands on those bastards…”

“Well, you probably won’t, so don’t get your hopes up. I couldn’t describe them if I had to. I only had a few glimpses. They didn’t let me see them.”

He met her gaze, his eyes hard. “I will find them.”

“Marcus…” She didn’t know how to finish her thought. The last thing she wanted was for him to go on a rampage traipsing around the country looking for two assholes so he could extract revenge.

He tucked her under his chin and held her against his chest again. “Don’t think about it now.”

“Okay.” As if that were possible.
Sure
. Now she had to worry about him going behind the scenes of the enemy
and
hunting down the assholes who’d kidnapped her.

They stood there for a long time, listening to the horses in the barn and the birds chirping in the trees. Finally Marcus pulled back. “Come on.” He took her hand again and led her away with purpose.

“Where’re we going?”

“You’ll see.”

He aimed for the row of cabins on the other side of the corral. She’d stayed in one of the ten cabins when she’d first arrived. Normally they were used for families on dream vacations. The Spencers ran a dude ranch. And one week a month they catered to children with disabilities.

But not for the last few weeks. They’d donated their ranch to help the women and hadn’t reopened for regular customers yet. And they wouldn’t until they were sure it was safe. It hadn’t been long since a massive battle of wolf shifters had been fought right in the middle of the clearing. Humans would have had a heart attack to have seen that. Hell, even regular shifters had a few years shaved off their lives when they saw the size of those enhanced wolves.