Dual Embrace: 3 (Shadowpeak Wolves) (22 page)

“I overheard her talking to herself.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” Cain asked quietly.

Brynn shrugged. “If Dusty didn’t want you to know why should I tell you?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want you to know. Well, okay, I didn’t. But I didn’t want Brynn knowing either. I didn’t want anyone to know.”

Cain’s wolf shoved forward, angered by the feel of Dusty’s pain, her terror. How horrifying would it be to suddenly find himself without his wolf? He couldn’t even imagine it. Her fear was more than he could bear. Grabbing her uninjured arm, Cain tugged her over to the sofa and sat, pulling her onto his lap, rocking her. He brushed his lips over her forehead, inhaling her scent.

“You must be so scared. Why didn’t you want anyone knowing?”

She shuddered then pulled back, looking up at him. “Because everyone would have pitied me. Even more than they do now. Poor Dusty, look how far she’s fallen.”

“Ahh baby, no one would think that. And I wouldn’t have told anyone.”

“Wouldn’t they? Don’t you? I’m practically human. I have no idea what’s happened to my wolf. It’s like she’s there but something is keeping me from reaching her. Almost like she’s asleep. What if she never wakes up? What then?”

He ran his hand over her hair, his heart hurt for the pain and uncertainty she’d been going through alone. “Your wolf will come back.”

She shook her head. “Don’t. Don’t give me false platitudes. You don’t know that. She might never come back and I’ll be stuck like this forever. Do you really want to be mated to someone like me?”

“What? Someone like my sister you mean?” They both looked up in surprise at Brynn’s sharp tone.

“Cassie can’t change into a werewolf. Do you think Jay loves her any less? Do you think of her as less than you?”

“She’s part-demon.”

“You just discovered that. Do you think less of her because she can’t grow fur and a snout?”

“Of course not,” Dusty replied.

“So why should anyone think less of you?”

“It’s different,” she protested. “I’m an enforcer. I need my wolf.”

Brynn shrugged. “So you find something else to do. There is more to life than being an enforcer. You should know that by now.”

“The weak don’t survive in a werewolf pack,” she insisted.

Cain frowned at her. “That sounds like Zachary talking. Dusty, you’re letting his prejudices color your judgment. Maybe when Zachary ran the pack that was true. But not now. You’re not weak. You can hold your own against a dominant werewolf and a trouble-making demon, can’t you?”

His efforts were rewarded with a small smile. He pushed her hair back off her face and kissed her. Brynn came and sat on the arm of the couch beside them.

“I promise you this, even if your wolf never comes back, I will always love you and you will always be my mate,” Cain swore.

Brynn hugged her from behind. Dusty nodded and leaned into them both.

“But you have to talk to us, Dusty,” Cain said. “Let us in.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He hugged her tight, accepting her apology silently.

Both men stilled. Then Dusty heard it, a car coming up the road.

“Cooper,” Cain said and stood, depositing Dusty on the sofa before walking to the door.

“Don’t tell him,” she whispered frantically.

“What?” Cain turned, scowling down at her.

“Please. Just not yet. Please.”

He nodded briefly and she sat back in relief. When Cain returned, Cooper and Laney were behind him.

“Cooper, Laney, this is Brynn,” he made the introductions. Cooper pushed Laney behind him when she started to move forward.

“Cooper,” she protested.

“Stay behind me, Laney,” he bossed, staring over at Brynn, who remained relaxed. “So you’re Brynn.”

Brynn raised a brow. “I promise your mate is safe from me. I have my hands filled with my own woman.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for it. I don’t know you. What I do know is that you’ve been watching my pack for a while. I want to know exactly why you’re here.” Cooper’s low voice reverberated throughout the room.

“That so?” Brynn’s voice cooled a little. Dusty placed her hand on his arm.

“Please. If not for me, for Cassie. Just cooperate, okay?”

“All right.”

She looked up in surprise at the easy agreement. He winked.

“Please, have a seat,” Dusty said tiredly.

Cooper grabbed Laney’s hand and together they moved to a chair. Laney sat on it while Cooper stood beside her.

“Originally my reason for coming here was my sister Cassie,” Brynn explained. “I wanted to check up on her, make sure she was happy with her guard dog. I’ve been watching her, all of you, for a while.”

Cooper stiffened, obviously furious. Laney reached up her hand and grabbed his. Not that she’d be able to stop him if he went for Brynn, but Dusty appreciated the gesture.

“You want to explain how you got onto pack territory without any of my enforcers stopping you?” Cooper asked coldly.

“If I don’t want to be seen, no one will see me. Dusty can attest to that.”

“I thought I was going crazy,” she said ruefully.

Brynn smiled. “That’s because I was invisible to everyone but you.”

“Why?” Laney asked. “Why not just turn up like a-a normal person?”

“Because I’m not normal and why should I pretend to be? And because I didn’t want to. I can learn a lot more if others don’t know I’m there. But then I saw Dusty. I was intrigued by her. I hadn’t felt interested in anyone or anything for a long time. She’s beautiful yet prickly as hell. When I found her at the bar, alone, drinking herself silly, I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t stay away.”

“How romantic.” Laney’s face turned dreamy.

“I think those pregnancy hormones are messing with your mind,” Dusty drawled.

“Dusty said you’re a demon. Why have we never come across your kind before?”

“Few demons come to this plane. Many don’t want to. Others aren’t powerful enough. And we tend to avoid werewolves. Humans don’t sense anything different about us. With werewolves it’s harder to hide that we’re different.”

“What sort of proof can you give us?” Cooper asked skeptically.

Brynn suddenly disappeared. At the same time flames flickered up the wall, making Laney gasp. Cooper jumped, standing protectively in front of his mate.

“Enough,” he roared. The flames disappeared instantly, leaving no mark. Brynn reappeared beside Dusty.

Cooper glared at him. “What exactly do you want?”

“What do I want? That’s simple. I want my sister happy and safe, and I plan on sticking around until that happens. I intend to find the bastards that hurt her.” Menacing promise colored his voice.

“Cassie is pack. We take care of our own,” Cooper said.

Brynn stiffened. “You haven’t been doing a very good job so far, now have you?”

Fury raged in Cooper’s eyes. Dusty squeezed Brynn’s hand warningly. He sighed.

“Look, Cassie is my family. She may be part of your pack, but she’s still my sister. I may not know her well, but I intend to look out for her.”
Whether you like it or not.
He didn’t say the words aloud but Dusty knew they all heard it.

“What I want is for you to stay off the estate unless you’re invited.”

“And just how are you going to stop me?” Brynn taunted. Dusty pinched him, hard.

“Oh I will stop you. Have no doubt of that.”

“Cooper. He is Cassie’s brother. And he has formed a relationship with Dusty and Cain. Maybe we could work together?” Laney asked.

“Not if he sneaks around, spying on us.”

“I wasn’t spying, not in the sense that I was going to tell anyone else about you. I was looking out for my sister.”

“Demons are evil. I can’t have you around my pack.”

Brynn raised a brow. “Didn’t you just tell me you’d never met one? There are people who believe all werewolves are mindless, killing beasts. Am I to believe them? In which case, I had best take my sister away from you all. She is half-demon after all, therefore by your definition, evil.”

Cooper’s eyes narrowed, mouth opening, but Laney beat him to it.

“We all know Cassie doesn’t have an evil bone in her body. But we don’t know much about you and you’re not exactly putting our minds at ease. You’ve been sneaking around without our permission. You told Cain and Dusty that you like to create trouble and chaos. How can we be assured you won’t harm anyone here? That you’ll get along with us?”

His brows rose. “I’m not asking to join your pack.”

“Aren’t you?” Laney asked.

Brynn stiffened beside Dusty.

“Yeah, he is,” Cain said. “If he’s planning on staying.”

Dusty held her breath, waiting for Brynn to reply. He was silent for a long moment.

“I can’t stay permanently. I will have to return to Hell often.”

“But when you can be here,” Laney said, “wouldn’t you rather be welcome than make Dusty and Cain choose between their pack and their mate?”

Brynn smiled wryly. “Smart one, aren’t you?”

Laney beamed. “It’s the little ones you’ve got to look out for. So are you going to cause trouble? You don’t seem very evil.”

“I have my moments.”

“And you all expect me to open up my hospitality to him, to let him into my pack?” Cooper looked around at them all.

Dusty braced herself, not wanting to go against her Alpha, her pack, but knowing she couldn’t lose Brynn either. Cain moved up beside them, making his allegiance to them clear.

“I won’t create trouble here. I wouldn’t hurt my sister or Dusty and Cain. Of course, if any of you did anything to harm one of them then I’d crush you. And believe me, you couldn’t stop me.”

“Brynn,” Dusty scolded, “you’re hardly putting their minds at ease here.”

Cooper waved his hand at her. “I prefer honesty. If he pretended to be harmless I’d be suspicious.”

“Look, if I wanted to, I could create as much trouble as I liked. I could slaughter the lot of you in your sleep. But I’m simply not interested in your lives. I wouldn’t harm you, because that would hurt them.” He nodded at Dusty and Cain.

“Would you help us?” Laney asked.

“Perhaps. If they asked me to.”

“So what has happened between the three of you?” Cooper asked. “Cain told me you’re tied to them.”

“Dusty has two mates?” Laney wondered. “You’re not a werewolf, how is it possible you mated with them?”

“Because my power tied us together. It was completely out of my control. But I truly care about them both. The three of us need to be together. To be apart for long lengths of time will be painful. For all of us.”

Dusty could see the glint of determination in Brynn’s eyes. Even though he’d run, it was obvious he hadn’t thought the ramifications through. They had to convince Cooper to let Brynn come and go. Because she knew Brynn would do what he liked, with or without the Alpha’s permission.

“So can Cassie bond with Jay this way?” Laney asked.

Brynn frowned. “I don’t think she has the power to hold this link. But I do think she could be changed. If she wished.”

“What?” Everyone in the room looked over at him in shock.

Brynn nodded. “I have to talk to her about it. I thought I would wait until she was fully healed. I think with me there, helping her, she’d come through easily. If that’s what she wanted.”

“Wow,” Laney breathed. “Not that it actually matters. We’re not allowed to change humans.”

“But she’s not human, not fully human,” Brynn pointed out.

“Well, hell,” Dusty said.

Cooper frowned. “We’ll talk to the two of them when Cassie is stronger.” Cooper looked over at Cain. “Cain? What do you want?”

“I want your permission for Brynn to stay with us. He won’t hurt the pack,” Cain reassured them. “He knows harming the pack is something we could never forgive him for. Right, Brynn?”

“Quite right,” drawled Brynn. “I had intended to find the bastards who ran Dusty and Cassie off the road and kill them myself, but I’m willing to work with you to locate them. I have abilities you don’t. I will cooperate with you, if you’ll let me come and go freely.”

“I want your word that you will do nothing to hurt any pack member, nor will you tell anyone about your time here.”

“I won’t hurt anyone as long as they do nothing to hurt Cassie, Dusty or Cain.” He grinned. “Not that these two can’t take of themselves.”

Cooper frowned. Dusty knew he’d never consider this if it weren’t for the fact that Brynn was tied to the lives of three of his pack. Cooper also knew that Cain and Dusty would never allow Brynn in if he were a threat to the pack.

Still, she was nervous. Cooper wouldn’t come to this decision easily.

“All right, you can stay for now. On probation. I want to see if you can be true to your word. Then I will think about the future. Cain and Dusty are vouching for you,” he paused, looking at them both.