Luke's Dream (21 page)

“It was just a name,” I said.

She didn’t respond, but some of the tension
eased. When I reached the apartment, I set her on her feet just
inside the door and cupped her face.

“There’s no room for anyone else in my heart.
Only you.”

“Then why?” Her gaze pleaded with me, and I
knew she was asking why I wouldn’t allow her to Claim me.

“Because I promised I would protect you. Even
from myself.”

Her eyes drifted closed for a long blink, and
I gently traced my fingertip over her dark eyebrows.

“You need rest,” I said, wrapping an arm
around her to guide her down the hall.

Fully dressed, she curled up on the mattress.
I pulled off my shirt and lay next to her, determined to help her
get some true rest.

As soon as I was on my back, she moved
closer. She didn’t snuggle me as tightly as before—likely due to
her cut—but her cheek rested in its usual place on my bare chest. I
gently smoothed my hand up and down Bethi’s arm that lay over my
waist. A moment later, she did that pre-sleep leg twitch that most
people did. Normal. I smiled slightly and kept touching her. She
exhaled slowly and was out.

Left with my own thoughts, I stared up at the
ceiling in the quiet room and let recent events settle in my
mind.

Urbat? Balancing three races? Six women with
special powers? I sighed.

I’d already accepted that Bethi knew things
because of her dreams. But hearing that Michelle and Gabby also had
abilities made my head hurt. What were the odds? And why six of
them? And what were they supposed to do to keep the balance,
exactly? They were human. Or mostly human. Look at what had
happened to Bethi already. They weren’t built to fight against us.
Even humans had weapons that made them a very real threat. I didn’t
want Bethi to be anything but special to me. I was tired of her
being in danger. But, from the way she was talking, the danger was
only beginning.

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“What did we get ourselves into?” I said
softly.

A mess, that’s what. It was weird to think
there were more of us out there. Not us. Close to us. Close enough
that I hadn’t known there was a difference. If they were so close,
why were they attacking Bethi? Why didn’t they value females like
we did? None of it made sense.

How was it possible to have another version
of werewolves running around without us even knowing it? Elder
Joshua was one. How had the other Elders not known?

Suspicions began to worm their way in. Joshua
had been with Thomas’s pack a long time and had trained with the
Elders for just as long. Why hadn’t there been any attacks until
now? And why hadn’t the Elders noticed their communication problems
before now? If Joshua was one of those Urbat wolves, why was
everything just coming out now?

Winifred interrupted my thoughts.

We need to speak to you.

It’ll need to wait,
I sent back.
Bethi can’t be left alone when she’s sleeping, and she needs
rest.

I pressed my lips to Bethi’s head and waited
for more, but nothing came. Relieved, I sighed and continued
staring up at the ceiling. I hated all of the doubt that filled me.
Could we trust the Elders? Obviously not Joshua, but the rest?

Someone knocked on the outer door. I ignored
it, but the apartment door opened anyway.

“Luke?”

I recognized Grey’s voice and sighed.

“What?” I answered.

His steps moved to just outside our door. He
didn’t look into the room but remained hidden in the hallway.

“I’m here to keep an eye on Bethi for you, so
you can talk to Winifred and Sam.”

“Well, that’s sweet of Winifred to send a
sitter, but I think I’ll decline.”

“Luke, we need to understand what’s
happening. Your silence might be endangering the lives of everyone
here. Might. We don’t know though because you’re not talking. No
one is. We don’t want to force you, but we will if we have to.”

That pissed me off on several levels. The
Elders were threatening to force their control without even knowing
if there was a threat. That wasn’t their purpose. It was a prick
move a pack leader would pull. And, leaving to listen to their
questions, which I wouldn’t answer, wouldn’t help Bethi rest. But
if I didn’t leave, they would command me to share what I knew, and
I didn’t want that. Bethi needed to be the one to talk to them. It
was her secret to share.

Knowing I didn’t have much choice but to
leave, I eased myself out from under her.

“She doesn’t sleep well without me,” I said,
reaching for my shirt. “She’ll twitch, cry, and likely scream.
Don’t try to wake her.” Bethi was far too good at fighting and
wasn’t always lucid coming out of a dream. I didn’t want her adding
to the questions they likely had.

I pulled on my shirt as I passed him in the
hallway. He quietly followed me to the living room and watched me
go through Bethi’s things until I found two pain pills. Then, I
went to the kitchen for a glass of water.

“Why doesn’t she want the rest to tell us?”
Grey asked, following back to the bedroom.

“Because trusting is hard for people who’ve
been betrayed. And I think Gabby and Michelle understand that.”

I set the pills and the water on the night
stand. Bethi was still sleeping peacefully, but I knew it wouldn’t
last long. Turning to Grey, I gestured to the pills.

“I hope she doesn’t wake up, but if she does,
can you make sure she takes them?”

“What are they?”

“Something for the pain.” He nodded and
followed me out of the room again. “I’ll be back as soon as I
can.”

I left the apartment and, at the bottom of
the stairs, found Emmitt pacing.

“Tell them what you know,” he said.

“Yes, pack leader. Wait. That’s right. You
can’t command me.”

Emmitt’s eyes narrowed. I turned my back on
him and walked toward the sound-proofed room. His steps echoed
mine.

“I might not be able to command you, but they
can.”

I snorted. “They won’t.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Unlike pack leaders, Elders aren’t there for
the power trip.” Well, they weren’t supposed to be. We’d see if
that was still true by the time I walked out of the soundproofed
room.

Emmitt growled, but I knew he wouldn’t do
anything more. He was too disciplined. Too much of a rule
follower.

“Neither are pack leaders. Most of us never
wanted to lead. It’s something that falls on us because no one else
wants to step up.”

“Is this where I’m supposed to feel pity for
you?”

I could feel Emmitt’s anger as he silently
followed me to the meeting room. When I knocked, the door
immediately opened. Gabby, Clay, Sam, Winifred, Michelle, Jim, and
Grey’s protégé Carlos waited within.

It didn’t matter how many people they had
inside. The outcome of the conversation wouldn’t change.

“Winifred, you saw how she sleeps,” I said
walking in. “Check with Grey. By now she’s crying and not getting
the rest she needs. Why are your questions more important than her
well-being?”

“She’s crying?” Michelle said, looking
concerned.

“In her sleep,” Winifred said. “She’s
restless.”

Michelle and Gabby shared a look. Bethi had
told them what she experienced in her dreams, so they had a good
idea why she’d be crying.

“Not always,” I said. “When I’m with her,
which I’m not, she sleeps peacefully.”

“Luke, please sit,” Winifred said, gesturing
to the open chair. Her tone didn’t allow for a no.

Annoyed, I stepped inside. Emmitt closed the
door behind us and crossed his arms like he was some sort of
guard.

“Yet another mockery of the freedom of choice
we have,” Gabby said quietly. The flush in Gabby’s face matched her
pink shirt.

Once I sat, Winifred glanced at Sam, who
watched Gabby.

“I know I’ve let you down,” Sam said. “But
keeping secrets won’t change that. We’re only trying to help…to
protect you. The number of unmated who tried coming for
Bethi”—Gabby glanced at me briefly—“was unimaginable. We don’t want
the same thing happening to you.”

“Or Michelle,” Emmitt said.

His concern for his Mate would have been
touching if…no, it wasn’t touching. He was still a bloody git.
However, it was interesting to hear that the attacks Bethi and I
had faced were the first. There had to be a reason. Why now?

When Gabby remained quiet, the three Elders
looked to me.

“Luke, we would like to know why those
unmated attacked you.”

“Me too,” I said, leaning back in my chair.
“Say, I understand why the two of you are here. I even understand
why the two protégés are here, but why you,” I said, looking at
Jim, “and not your da?”

Jim smiled slightly. “I’ve always gotten a
kick out of accents. Say bloody hell.”

“Jim,” Winifred said with warning.

“Bloody hell,” I said, laying the accent on
thick.

Jim grinned wider, and Winifred scowled.

“Jim is here to learn as an Elder in
training.”

I laughed. “Good luck with that.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I’ll need it. Now…we
need answers in order to know how to protect our people. We don’t
want to command you, but we will if necessary.”

Grinning widely, though I wasn’t the least
amused, I answered.

“You’ll command me to share whatever was said
in this room because you think it might hold a key to protecting
our people? That could be dangerous for you. What if the ladies
talked about their knickers?” This time both Clay and Emmitt
growled. “If you used a command, forcing me to share something that
didn’t have anything to do with preserving or protecting our race,
would you drop dead? I mean, that’s your purpose, right? Protect
without trodding on our rights?”

Winifred’s gaze held mine for several long
moments. I knew she was contemplating my words. Not that she would
die—I knew it didn’t work quite like that—but that what had been
shared might not be any of the Elders’ business. They were careful
with where they stuck their noses. At least, they always had been
in the past.

Sam sat back with a sigh and looked at Gabby
once again. I knew what they were doing. They were trying to find
the weakest of us. The one most likely to speak. Good luck with
that. I’d meant what I’d said to Grey about trust. None of us had a
reason to trust them from the way Bethi was talking.

“You’re like a daughter to me,” Sam said. “If
anything happened to you...”

Gabby snorted. “You have an odd way of
showing affection. If there had been another way to help Bethi and
Luke, I would have taken it rather than asking anything from
you.”

The scent of Sam’s pain was real. Gabby,
however, was human and wouldn’t know how much her words had hurt
him.

“How did you find Bethi, Luke?” Winifred
asking, watching me closely. “We find it odd that we found two
within a single year.”

“We?” Gabby snorted. “Looks like another one
won’t have a choice.”

“Winifred, I’m worried about Bethi,” Michelle
said. “I’d like to check on her. I don’t have anything to add to
what I’ve already said. What she shared in confidence, I’ll keep in
confidence because I don’t believe there is any immediate threat to
us.”

Winifred sighed. “Fine. Go. Emmitt, I’d like
you to stay.”

“Don’t try to wake her,” I warned Michelle. I
didn’t want to see her hurt or Bethi upset by something she
couldn’t control.

Michelle nodded and left the room.

“I think I’m done here, too,” Gabby said,
standing.

Sam reached out and grabbed her wrist. Clay’s
chair skid against the floor as he stood suddenly and leaned toward
the pair. Winifred exhaled heavily.

“Gabby, Sam truly cares for you. Never doubt
that. Sam,” she said, glancing at him.

He released her wrist, a sorrow filled
expression on his face, and slowly sat.

Gabby sat, too, her resentment filling the
room with an acrid odor.

“As you said,” Winifred said turning toward
me, “our very existence is for the protection of our kind. If you
know anything that could help us understand what’s happening, we
ask that you share it with us now.”

“I don’t think I do. You never said…why isn’t
the pack leader here? Or the other Elders.”

“Elder Joshua is on his way here. We are
missing two others, who are currently assisting in Europe, but we
will communicate with them through our link.”

“Europe? What are they assisting with?”

“Nothing of your concern,” she said, not
unkindly. “Your concern is Bethi and keeping her safe. Now, how can
we help you do that?”

“By letting me go to her. What if my
knowledge of what’s happening in Europe would keep her safe?”

“I highly doubt that,” Winifred said.
“Michelle will watch over Bethi for you while we wait for Grey to
join us.”

“Is he bringing the spotlight to shine in our
eyes? Which one of you will play good cop this time?”

Sam flushed red and Winifred looked at the
table for a moment.

“Gabby, perhaps you’d like to step out for a
few minutes.”

“Finally, something I want to do.” She stood
and Clay was a half a second behind her. “Clay, could you stay for
another minute?” He watched Gabby walk out of the room, but didn’t
sit again.

“Your secrecy is creating discord in their
relationships,” Winifred said.

“Yeah. Rough to have Mates who keep secrets,”
I said, indifferent to their problems.

Emmitt fisted his hands and Clay growled.

“Are you certain you have nothing you want to
tell us? Nothing that might help us keep the peace?” Winifred
asked.

“Yep. There’s nothing I can tell you that
will help keep the peace.” Quite the opposite.

She sighed. “Very well. Clay. Emmitt. Please
wait for your Mates in the commons with Luke.”