Bonded (52 page)

He knew he had to
stop the Purist. There was always a chance the bastard would
escape. But even as Reno shifted his weight to move towards Victor,
more lightning pierced the sky. The structure shuddered once more
and the smell of sulphur filled the air. A deafening crack of
thunder made everything vibrate and with that the entire conveyor
began to fall.

Brandi’s scream
filled the air. Reno twisted towards the mountain and jumped. It
wasn’t an impossible expanse to cover if he had been at his best
but with only one good leg propelling him forward his chances of
success were slim.

His body slammed
into the ground, dirt filling his nose and mouth, splinters of wood
piercing his clothing. He sputtered trying to breathe, to spit out
the bits of soil and ignore the pain wracking through his body, but
really that was the least of his worries.

Deafening sound
surrounded him, the very ground beneath him seemed to be moving,
falling away. He clawed at the muddy ground, trying to find
something solid to hold onto, but it slipped though his fingers and
he kept sliding downward. Bits of rock abraded his skin, a piece of
metal fell across his bad leg. Instinctively, he jerked away from
the pain, losing his meagre grip on the ground. His descent down
the mountain seemed to be picking up speed. There was no way in
hell out of this mess and he knew it.

Suddenly, he
jerked to a stop.

For a split second
he was stunned before realizing hard fingers gripped his wrist.
Looking up, he saw Damien holding onto him, and Brandi gripping the
other man’s waist.

“Don’t just stare
at me like an idiot,” Damien growled. “Help out!”

If he’d had the
breath to do it, Reno would have laughed. Instead he saved his
energy and tried to help lever himself up. His foot hooked onto a
stone but it gave way when he put weight on it. More pebbles and
dirt trickled down around him. His wrist slipped in Damien’s
grip.

“Reno...” Brandi
called out his name, worry thick in her voice.

Reno gritted his
teeth and dug his free hand into the soil while feeling for another
foothold. There! Something solid was under his foot.

“Okay, I’m braced
on something.” He took a deep breath and began to try to claw his
way back up. Slowly, inch by inch he moved upward. Damien was able
to move his grip from wrist, to forearm, to elbow and then,
finally, Reno found himself lying face up on solid ground.

For a moment he
just lay there, the rain beating down on him washing away the dirt
from his face. He never realized how much he disliked being dirty
and a small bubble of laughter at the idea escaped him.

There was a
snorting sound beside him and he opened his eyes. It was Brandi.
The clothes she wore were soaking wet and filthy. Her face was pale
and streaked with mud, little corkscrew curls clung to her
forehead.

He eased himself
up and gave her a crooked smile. “Hey.”

In response she
smacked his shoulder. “Don’t ‘hey’ me! What the hell were you
thinking of taking off after Victor like that?”

Reno blinked in
surprise. So much for tea and sympathy after his ordeal. “Well,
someone had to.”

“Yeah, well it
shouldn’t have been you. The other ACS officers could have done
it.” Brandi sniffed and looked away, her arms crossed and her chin
jutted out. She seemed to be blinking a lot and Reno wondered if
she was crying or the rain was getting in her eyes. He was going to
ask but something she said drew his attention.

ACS! That had Reno
looking around. A group was just appearing a few yards away and
Damien was standing near where the conveyor had been just moments
ago. It appeared as if a good thirty or forty feet of it had
collapsed.

“Any sign of
Victor?” He called out the question.

Damien shook his
head and walked over to where Reno was. “Nope. No sign of movement
down there. Good riddance.”

“We’ll have to
send a team down to check.” Reno began ticking off all the jobs
that would need doing.

“Uh...” Damien
poked him with his foot and gestured towards the ACS officers that
had now gathered around. Almost a dozen grim faces looked down on
him.

Hell. Reno had
forgotten he was under suspicion of conspiring with the
Purists.

Chapter
32

They were back at
the site of Victor’s bunker, Damien having helped Reno hobble down
the mountain under the watchful eye of the ACS. Brandi had walked
slightly behind them, still peeved at Reno for the foolish risk
he’d taken. He’d been in no condition to go traipsing over the
mountains trying to play hero. A Purist could have ambushed him or
one of the ACS might have found him and carried out the ‘lethal
force’ Damien had said was a possibility. And then of course Victor
had
nearly done him in by bringing the conveyor crashing
down. If she and Damien hadn’t been there to pull Reno to safety,
he’d likely be dead right now, crushed under the weight of metal
and stone. The mental image of his broken body made her throat
tighten and her eyes prickle.

Brandi pushed her
still wet curls back from her face and tried to keep her anger well
stoked. If it died down, she’d probably start crying and she didn’t
want to do that in front of these people. She scanned the area from
her seat on an exceptionally uncomfortable stone. The Purists who
still remained didn’t deserve the satisfaction of seeing her in
tears and she wouldn’t show weakness in front of the ACS,
especially not when they were accusing her of breaking her oath of
loyalty to Lycan Link.

She glanced over
to where Reno sat on the tailgate of a nearby pickup truck. Aran
was checking his leg; the human had been a doctor before joining
the pack and still served its members by helping out with small
injuries. Did Reno’s injury fall into the ‘small’ category? From
the way he’d been walking, she suspected not. And whatever was
wrong with him obviously hadn’t been helped by him shifting forms.
Idiot. He’d be lucky if he wasn’t permanently disabled.

Tears threatened
once again, but she forced them back and compressed her lips
tightly. A part of her hated seeing Reno hurt and wanted to rush
over there to offer whatever comfort she could. However, he’d
barely looked her way in the past hour and when he had done so,
none of the warmth and caring of earlier in the day was present.
Somehow she got the impression that he wouldn’t welcome her
attention.

Did he believe she
was guilty? Was he angry that the accusations against her had
somehow rubbed off on him? It could be that he was just upset
because she hadn’t cooed all over him after they’d saved him.
Probably she should have done that, but she’d been so scared that
the first words out of her mouth had been an accusation. Initially,
he’d seemed happy to see her; surely her minor tongue-lashing
hadn’t killed his feelings. Or maybe he hadn’t cared that she was
there. Perhaps the smile on his lips had just been a sign that he
was grateful to still be alive?

Lost in
introspection, she was surprised to suddenly look up and realize
Reno was staring at her. She gave a tentative smile and lifted her
hand but Aran must have said something that drew his attention away
for he turned his head. At least that’s what she tried to tell
herself; it wasn’t that he was ignoring her...was it? The look on
his face had been...blank. There was no real expression at all. No
warmth. No dislike either. Just...indifference.

It’s not
true,
her wolf whispered.
He cares. Just look into his
mind.

She was tempted,
so tempted. A quick peek inside his head and she’d know. But could
she bear the truth? Wasn’t it better to hold onto the vague hope
that he still cared rather than having all her hopes and dreams
totally crushed? She’d been through so much lately she didn’t know
if she could withstand anything more.

Up on the
mountain, just before the conveyor collapsed, she’d had glimpses of
his thoughts. She’d been too terrified to maintain the wall between
them, yet at the same time too caught up in what was happening
before her to actually focus on his thinking. Reno had been
fighting a mental battle, she knew that. His sense of duty had been
warring with... What? Self-preservation? For a moment she’d been
sure he’d been thinking of her; had in fact known he was recalling
the intimate moments they’d shared. But the connection had fizzled
out and he’d turned towards Victor, seeming to have chosen to go
after the Purist.

He’d chosen duty
over life. Had he also been rejecting her? Given his behaviour
since then it seemed likely. Her throat tightened at the very
thought. If Reno really had turned his back on her, how would she
survive the next few weeks of interrogations, of having every
aspect of her life looked at under a bright light? Someone was sure
to find out about the partial blood bond and then the gossip would
begin. And once Reno found out, what would he do? Or would he even
care?

Brandi rubbed her
chest, feeling a physical pain at the thought that Reno would have
no response to her whatsoever. She sniffed and looked around
wishing she had a tissue and then shrugged and wiped her nose with
the back of her hand. What was a bit of snot given the filthy state
she was in? Her clothes were ripped and mud-stained, fit only for
the garbage and she’d give almost anything for a bath.

A weak ray of
sunshine managed to break through the clouds and the warm beam fell
across her outstretched legs. Well, at least that was one positive
thing; the rain had finally let off. The area around her, however,
still looked decidedly waterlogged. Large puddles covered the
ground, and mud spattered as yet another van loaded with captured
Purists drove past. Brandi wondered when she’d be loaded up. Her
hands weren’t bound this time but she didn’t have the energy, or
will, to try and escape. What would be the point? It would just
make her look guiltier and besides, she had no doubt the ACS would
track her down.

“Brandi.”

She turned to see
Peter standing beside her. “Hi.”

He eased himself
down onto the rock. “You okay?”

“No. Not really.
But thanks for asking.” She tried to force her lips into a smile
but it seemed too much effort. Instead she stared down at her
hands, idly wondering when she’d broken her nails and why she’d
ever cared what they looked like.

“I think I know
how you feel. It must be like when Victor locked me up just because
I wasn’t a Lycan. Being accused when you’ve done nothing wrong
sucks.”

“Yeah. It sucks.”
She paused and scuffed the ground with her shoe. “Thanks for
helping to distract the captain so I could get away.”

“No problem. We
know you aren’t guilty. It has to be a set up. Any idiot can see
that.” He spoke the words heartily as if trying to boost her
spirits. “Klaus told your captain as much.”

Brandi actually
chuckled at that, turning her head to look towards where the
captain was talking to some of the other Enforcers. “No one’s ever
called Captain Fielding an idiot before.”

“First time for
everything.” Peter smiled. “And maybe he isn’t a complete idiot.
Maybe he’s just worried enough about the fate of the halves that
he’s willing to take extreme measures to protect them.”

The fate of the
halves. That had her thinking. She’d been so wrapped up in her own
drama that she’d almost forgotten how this had all started. “How is
everyone? Have you had any news of Alice and the girls?”

“They’re fine.
Some ACS officers sent back news a while ago. The families are
meeting at my house and the ACS has agreed to post guards.” He
rubbed his neck and shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s necessary or
not, but some of Victor’s followers are pretty hot-headed and we’re
not sure what they might do in retaliation. Klaus and Captain
Fielding are going over the pack membership right now to see if
everyone is accounted for and to decide on how to deal with each
individual.”

Brandi nodded.
“I’ve seen cases where the Purists that escape have tried to seek
revenge, either on any remaining halves or on the ACS officers
involved. From experience I know most victims aren’t willing to
live with the possible threat and choose to leave.”

“The sense of
trust that’s essential to holding a pack together is gone. I’m
heading back to town in a few minutes with the others. We need to
decide what we’re going to do; stay here and help Klaus rebuild the
pack or move somewhere else.”

She reached out
and squeezed his hand. “No one will blame any of you if you leave.
Packs need to be able to depend on each other and after what
happened... Well, whatever you decide, I wish you the best.”

“Thanks. What
about you? Once your name has been cleared, will you stay with
Lycan Link or have the accusations against you shattered your
trust?”

“
Once
it’s
cleared? Don’t you mean
if
it’s cleared?” Brandi gave a
cynical laugh. “If the charges against me are dropped, I’m not sure
what I’ll do. I’d already planned on moving to a different unit
for...personal reasons and I’m not sure if those reasons still
exist. As for trusting Lycan Link...” She shrugged. “No
organization is perfect. They have to oversee a lot of Lycans and I
suppose sometimes the individuals just become names on a page.”

“But your captain
is like your Alpha. He knows you and he should have trusted
you.”

Brandi thought so
too but didn’t answer. It still stung that people she thought were
her friends had been so quick to turn on her.

“Maybe he’s
looking for a scapegoat?” Damien appeared beside her, once again
making no sound as he approached. Brandi wondered how he managed to
do that and planned to ask him some day, when being up on charges
wasn’t foremost in her mind. “He’s probably under pressure from
Lycan Link to fix the leak as fast as possible before the general
were community learns of it.”