Authors: Nicky Charles
Tags: #romance, #suspense, #paranormal, #supernatural, #werewolves, #series, #lycans, #law of the lycans
Rolling her eyes,
Brandi took a sip of her tea. Same old Tabi, talking a mile a
minute. One guy after another. Was it possible to say a wolf had
the morals of an alley cat? Oh well, at least she had a good heart
and when Tabi broke up with a man, she wasn’t left with a permanent
reminder!
“So, do you think
you’ll be able to come?”
“Pardon?” Brandi
realized she’d missed something important.
“To the bonding
ceremony. Finn and I are going to be mates.”
“What?” Shocked at
the news, she didn’t know what to say. She’d never pictured Tabi
settling down, at least not so soon. “Oh. Well... That’s...um...
That’s fantastic news.” She tried to inject some enthusiasm into
her voice but knew her tone didn’t match her words. Thankfully,
Tabi didn’t seem to notice.
“Isn’t it? It was
so romantic, the way he proposed. And you won’t believe this, but
we’re waiting!”
“For what?” Brandi
blinked having no idea what her friend might be referring to.
“To blood bond,
silly. I know it’s hard to believe, but Finn’s sort of traditional
and wants a proper ceremony overseen by an Alpha first. It’s been
really hard to control myself but...”
Brandi fought back
a new wave of nausea. This was so not what she wanted to hear about
right now. She was glad for her friend; however stories of ‘happily
ever after’ were just too much to take at the moment.
Tabi chattered on
and Brandi made what she hoped were the appropriate responses, but
all the while her thoughts were in turmoil as she compared her own
situation to her friend’s.
It wasn’t fair.
Tabi was the flighty one, going from man to man while she worked
her butt off, always following the rules, staying focussed on the
future. Shouldn’t there have been some kind of pay-off for her
dedication? Not that she wished bad things for her former roommate
but how could life be so cruel?
Blood bonds. Just
hearing about it made her throat tighten with unshed tears.
Something so personal, so sacred, the thing every female werewolf
dreamed about with stars in her eyes... Well, her stars were well
and truly burnt out now, nothing but bits of scorched rock. There’d
be no fancy bonding ceremony for her, no giggling conversations
with girlfriends about what it would be like to finally be one with
the man you loved.
“Brandi, I’m
sorry. I’ve been so busy talking that you haven’t had a chance to
say anything, have you?”
“No, but that’s
okay. I just wanted to...er...to see how you were doing.” She
fumbled through an explanation and then ended the call as soon as
possible.
Hanging up the
phone, Brandi sank down into a nearby armchair and let her head
fall back onto the cushions feeling totally exhausted. Calling Tabi
hadn’t helped at all. It had just made her feel even more alone,
more unsure of what to do. Tabi could announce her news to the
whole world and expect gushing congratulations, but that wasn’t an
option Brandi could consider.
She gave a dry
laugh and wondered if anyone would even believe her if she told
them. Wouldn’t that be a strange conversation? Everyone lounging in
the break room, drinking coffee, and she’d saunter in with a big
smile on her face to make her announcement. “Hey guys, guess what?
I accidentally blood bonded with Reno Smith!”
The room would go
dead silent and then a buzz of questions and expressions of
disbelief would erupt. What do you mean? How is it possible? How
could you
accidentally
blood bond with someone?
Brandi shook her
head. Yeah, as if anyone would believe that story.
But it was true. A
totally freak accident had landed her in this mess and she’d just
figured it out. And now that she knew, what the hell should she do
about it?
Brandi glanced
towards her computer where a file was displayed. She’d been doing
some research on accidental blood bonds; however, information on
the phenomenon was scant and mostly based on anecdotal reports
rather than actual scientific research. Apparently partial blood
bonds sometimes occurred when one party nibbled during the sexual
act but the other didn’t. However, the odds of a truly accidental
blood bond occurring, the type she had with Reno, were
astronomically small.
At first, she’d
never suspected she was the victim of such a strange happenstance.
When random thoughts and feelings started flitting through her
brain and haunting her dreams, she’d attributed it first to stress
from exams, and then to moving and a new job. Her mind had been
racing a mile a minute trying to assimilate all the changes in her
life, so it made sense that her thoughts and emotions might go a
little haywire.
However, last
month during the Langstaff case, it had all started to make sense.
She had just finished her orientation training and had been
partnered with Al Zimmerman. They’d been assigned a few minor
cases, more or less opportunities to get their feet wet and learn
to operate as a team, but nothing big had landed on their duty
roster. Then, a call had come in that a critical incident was going
down on the outskirts of a small town called Langstaff. She and Al
were the next team up and in no time she’d found herself aboard a
private jet heading towards her first major case.
Information had
been sketchy but she’d occupied herself by reading over the file
containing the preliminary reports. She noted Reno Smith was
heading the case and barely suppressed a snort. Of course there’d
be a critical incident if that man was involved. His foul-ups were
legendary. Sure, he got the job done but he seldom followed
regulations. Rumour had it he’d flushed his copy of the manual down
the toilet and operated solely on gut instinct.
Brandi had just
sighed, hoping she was up to dealing with the man, when out of
nowhere waves of deep and intense emotions had hit her. It had been
worse than ever before: fear, anger, soul-gutting grief,
self-hatred... A rollercoaster of feelings bombarded her while
vague images had flicked before her eyes: blood and fighting,
death, children crying, shouted accusations, pain...
She must have
paled, even looked ill, for Al had inquired about her well-being.
He’d found a cool cloth for her and asked if she was prone to air
sickness, even finding her a small bag to hold ‘just in case.’
Somehow she’d managed to pull herself together all the while
fearing she really was going insane. And then when she’d arrived on
the scene and realized the visions had been of that exact
location... Well, she’d been almost too shocked to talk.
Thankfully,
everyone attributed her behaviour to it being her first big case
and she’d been sent off to check on Reno. She hadn’t been keen on
the idea, given how they’d parted, but she’d put on her
professional face and found his room.
The professional
face hadn’t lasted long though. His grief had become her grief, his
pain was hers. How she’d hidden it, she still didn’t know. Maybe
he’d been so caught up in his own horrific thoughts that he just
hadn’t noticed. Whatever the case, she was grateful to have been
given some time to come to grips with the idea. To be sure, knowing
she wasn’t becoming mentally unbalanced was a relief, but learning
you were blood bonded to someone... Well, it just wasn’t something
you could put into words.
She’d left
Langstaff armed with her new knowledge, but still clueless as to
how it had happened. They’d only had sex once before and neither of
them had done any biting to break the skin. For days she’d gone
over every encounter they’d had and it wasn’t until she’d
accidentally scratched herself with a broken nail that a vague
memory had provided her with the key. It had happened during their
impromptu encounter in his self-defence class. She’d scratched his
face, his bloodied cheek must have brushed her mouth when he’d
nuzzled her neck and voila!
Usually a minute
blood exchange wouldn’t have been enough to start the bonding
process, but their mutual arousal—and she had no doubts now that he
had
been aroused—must have released sufficient levels of the
bonding hormone in her system to initiate the process. Unknowingly
licking the small smear of blood from her lip had done the trick.
The faint salty metallic taste on her tongue was just a dim memory.
The consequences, however, were not.
Just to be sure,
she’d gone to the clinic at Lycan Link and had some discreet blood
work done, the results of which had been handed to her today. She
was definitely bonded to someone, the doctor had proclaimed. While
it was a weak bond, rather like a light bulb partially screwed into
a socket, flickering on and off depending which way it was jiggled,
there was no denying its existence.
Her stomach
clenched yet again as she contemplated what her next step should
be. According to her wolf, there was no question.
Tell him. He
needs to know. He is our mate.
But he didn’t plan
on this. We aren’t mated. We aren’t even dating.
It makes no
difference. The bond is there. He is our other half now.
But does he want
to be my other half? And do I want him?
Don’t be silly.
Of course you do. We need a mate.
She stood and
paced the small living room, glancing at her phone, wondering if
her wolf was right. This did involve Reno since she was privy to
some of his thoughts and feelings now. And it was unlikely he was
even aware of the fact given that it was a one way bond. So telling
him was the honourable thing to do.
Giving a little
nod, she reached for the receiver only to draw her hand back. What
would she say? It really wasn’t something you could blurt out over
the phone. Perhaps she should ask him over and make him a nice meal
before breaking the news.
No, that wouldn’t
work. He was already angry at her about the Langstaff case. She
winced, thinking of the upcoming hearing during which she might
have to testify against him. The very thought made her already
nervous stomach do even more flip-flops.
The day after
she’d arrived in Langstaff, Reno’s team had been summoned back to
Headquarters and a full investigation was launched. As one of the
attending officers, she’d supplied a report, and while factual, it
looked damnably bad for Reno. She’d tried to frame her wording so
people would understand why he’d acted as he did, yet the fact
remained that the risk of exposure had been high. It was only
through the quick efforts of Al and herself that suitable
explanations for the events of that day had been constructed. In
fact, rumour had it she might even be given commendation for her
work by the time the hearing was over.
While the
acknowledgement of her skills was gratifying, she’d also seen Reno
storming down the hallway and heard him ranting about her report.
Based on precedent cases, he’d likely be docked pay and even have a
black mark added to his file if he wasn’t demoted from head of the
team.
No, inviting him
over definitely wouldn’t work. And if someone found out, they might
think Reno had instigated it in the hopes of swaying her
testimony.
Oh God, what a
mess! The only way this could be worse would be if she were
pregnant as well. Thank heavens she hadn't been in heat during the
Langstaff case!
She resumed
pacing, nibbling at a fingernail and wondering what to do. Her own
feelings were in such disarray, she didn’t feel equipped to handle
him right now. Maybe... just for the moment...she'd keep quiet and
let fate take its course. Some might think it was the coward’s way
out... Hell, who was she kidding? It
was
the coward’s way
out. But she was just too overwrought to come up with a better
idea. And if she and Reno were meant to be together, something
would happen to steer the course of events, right?
Chapter 8
Reno resisted the
urge to drum his fingers on the table and instead gripped the arm
of his chair even tighter. The Langstaff hearing was drawing to a
close and he was damned sick of the whole business. Spending days
listening to people reading reports and giving testimony was a
waste of time. Everyone knew what had happened. Why sit around
rehashing the case?
He eased himself
back in his chair and bit back a sigh, having been told by his
appointed representative to look sharp and guard his
expression.
“They won’t deal
kindly with you if they see bored contempt on your face.” The
elderly man—Ricardo Machado—had hissed the instruction at him at
least a dozen times over the past week. Machado was akin to a
lawyer in the Lycan world and represented any of the Enforcers who
were brought up on charges from events that occurred in the line of
duty. His job was to ensure that Reno and his squad were treated
fairly and without prejudice when facing the Council of Elders.
The fact that his
squad had been brought into this mess angered Reno almost more than
the charges that were against him. His men had done nothing wrong.
They’d followed orders, and if there was any wrong-doing, it was
his fault alone.
Of course, Damien
and the others had shot that story to hell and back as each man
insisted they’d acted under their own initiative and not Reno’s
orders. It had made him both humble and proud that his team was
standing up for him and not leaving him to hang in the wind by
himself. Yep, they’d come a long way from the ragtag team he’d
started with; near rogues more interested in fighting with each
other than working towards a common goal.
Too bad he’d have
to beat the crap out of them for being such fools! If the whole
team went down, who would be left to deal with the Purists? It was
better if one man took the fall rather than risking the whole of
the ACS. Of course they hadn’t thought of that.
He shook his head
at their misplaced loyalty, and began to scan the room trying to
keep himself occupied while waiting for the final verdict to be
read.