Mate of Her Heart (8 page)

Chapter 10

Acksel had never felt such fury as he stared at the three males.  He had known Barry, Rufus, and Taylor his whole life.  Considered them friends.  And they’d tried to get him to kill Luke.

He glanced over his shoulder to where his father was carrying Luke while Eveny walked beside them.  Eveny’s face was pale, her eyes filled with worry.  He knew that he’d crossed a line somewhere in the last hour.  If another human in town had hit and killed a wolf, he would have turned them over to the local police.  But he’d smelled Eveny on Luke, seen her mark on his neck, and that had enraged him.  He hadn’t stopped to question his pack members about the wild tale they’d spun of the human purposely hitting Vince and killing him.  He had ignored the burns and singed fur that spoke of something other than getting hit by a truck.  He’d wanted to have a reason to rough the human up.

Luke hadn’t even really defended himself.  Only once had he said that he did kill Vince, but it hadn’t been with his truck.  Acksel hadn’t given him a chance to explain.  He’d called for a pack meeting, inviting males and females to watch as he held the human accountable for Vince’s death.  They’d wanted blood.  And he’d allowed it.  Encouraged it.  Turned a deaf ear to the part of him that knew it wasn’t right to make a person helpless and beat them within an inch of their lives.

Dread pooled in his stomach.  He’d done a lot of shitty things to become alpha, but he’d never outright abused his power.  Where had his calm head gone?

“You have one opportunity to tell me the truth,” Acksel said.

All three males refused to raise their heads to meet his gaze.  That alone spoke volumes.  Rufus finally cleared his throat.  “It was as your sister said, alpha.  Vince invited us to join him for her heat-cycle.  He did not care whether she lived or not, and knew that you would be vulnerable in your grief whether she was hurt or dead.”

He felt the betrayal like a crushing weight on his shoulders.  His pack members – males he’d considered friends – were willing to attack his sister when she was at her most vulnerable.  The best possible scenario was that she would have been pregnant and mated to one of them, a male that thought nothing of sharing her with his friends. The worst was that they could have killed her in a sexual frenzy.  Regardless of the outcome of her life, they had planned to challenge him and use her against him as he’d always feared would happen.

But he was no better than they were.  He’d broken a promise to his dad.  He’d betrayed his sister.

He would deal with the males and then he would deal with his sister.

“Chain them up,” he ordered and strode purposefully to the pole that was streaked with Luke’s blood.  The pack watched with curiosity, remaining where they were until he dismissed them.

He spoke in a loud, clear voice as the three males were chained to the pole.  “I will not tolerate lies within this pack, or those that betray any pack members.  These males attempted to attack a female during her most vulnerable time, and were beaten by a human.  Then they attempted to frame the human for the death of one of our pack members.  For these crimes, I sentence them to the same beating that they administered against the human, and then to banishment from the pack and Wilde Creek for the remainder of their days.”

There were unhappy murmurings from the pack, but he growled loudly and threateningly and no one spoke up on their behalf.

He stalked forward and punched Rufus in the face.  His head struck the pole and he grunted as blood welled from his nose and his upper lip split.  He punched Barry and Taylor as well, and then stepped aside and directed Auro and the handful of males that had helped restrain them, to finish the job.

Blow after blow, the males begged for mercy, but Acksel tuned them out.  Luke hadn’t begged.  Hadn’t shed a tear.  He wondered now if he’d been thinking of Eveny.  It was true that Acksel didn’t particularly like humans, but Luke had always been good to Eveny.  And she clearly loved him enough to walk away from everything.

For an hour, he watched the males being struck again and again, and then he called a halt to the proceedings.  The three were hanging limply from their chains, bleeding profusely.  He let loose his beast enough for his eyes to change and his hands to partially shift into paws, and he lifted his voice.  “I separate you from the Wilde Creek Pack from this day forward, Rufus Eddinger.  For the span of your life, there is a mark upon your head.  If you should step foot or paw inside this town, you will forfeit your life, according to our laws.”

Acksel slashed his claws across Rufus’s bicep and the male moaned pitifully and hung his head.  Acksel performed the marking for the other two males and stepped away.

“Remove them and take them out of town,” he spoke to Auro.  “They can make arrangements for someone to pack up their things.”

“Right away, alpha,” Auro said and turned around and took action.

Acksel dismissed the pack, reminding them that he was alpha and what had transpired that day was dictated by their traditions.  He waited until the yard was empty and then he went into the house and shut the door.

Picking up his cell from the kitchen counter, he called his father.

“I’ll want to speak with you, Eveny, and Luke in five days.  Until that time, I’m making no rulings on their relationship or membership within the pack.”

“I understand,” his dad said.  “Anything you’d like me to tell your sister?”

Acksel swallowed past the lump in his throat.  “Tell her I’m sorry.”

Chapter 11

When Luke woke, his head was pounding and he couldn’t see out of one eye.  Every bone in his body ached, but his only thought was of Eveny.

“Hey, I’m here.  Don’t move,” Eveny said.

“I can’t see you.”  His voice was rough and his throat was raw.

The bed shifted and she leaned over him so he could see her.  She blinked away tears.  “Can you see me now?”  She gave him a watery smile.

The fear that had taken root in his heart the moment he woke up eased slightly.  “Yeah.  You okay?”

She chuckled and wiped at a tear that slipped down her cheek.  “You got beaten all to hell by my pack and you’re asking me if I’m okay?”  She sniffled and nodded.  “I’m good and so is the baby.  Can I get you anything?  How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay if you’re okay, Ev.”  And that was the truth.

She told him that he’d been unconscious for five hours and that her dad had called in the pack doctor, who’d examined him.  “He bandaged your wounds, and gave you some medicine, and said he’d come back after you were awake.  I got to give you a sponge bath.”  She laughed and he groaned.

“I missed it?  Damn.”

She kissed his cheek softly.  “I’ll give you as many as you want.”

Although part of Luke wanted to fall back into unconsciousness, he knew that lying around wasn’t going to be doing anyone any favors, so with some help from Eveny, he managed to sit up.

The pack doctor came by a half hour later, while Eveny was feeding him some chicken broth.  After examining him, the doctor, whose name was Gedding, said, “You’ve got a couple of bruised ribs and a mild concussion.  I won’t know if there’s any damage to your eyesight until the swelling goes down.”

Luke asked about infection from the claw marks.

“It’s unlikely you would get an infection unless you were attacked by a wolf that had been in his shift a while and had dirty claws. However, I already gave you a tetanus shot when you were unconscious, along with an anti-inflammatory and pain medication.  I’ll leave pills with your mate and you can take them as needed.  Take it easy and give me a call in another couple of days when the swelling goes down in that eye.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Luke said.

Eveny and Dade thanked him, and Dade, who had brought the doctor into Eveny’s apartment, walked him to the door. Turning around, he leaned against the door and said, “We’ve got five days before we have to meet with Acksel.”

“What for?”  Luke asked.

Eveny said, “He’s going to banish me from the pack.  He’s giving you time to heal and us time to pack.”

Luke had heard what happened to the three males who had told Acksel that he’d killed Vince with his truck.  He thought Acksel should have chained himself up to the pole and let his pack take swings at him for an hour.

“At least Acksel listened to reason.”  She stroked her hand through Luke’s hair as she sat next to him on the bed.

Dade snorted.  “He behaved like a child.  Anyone with half a brain would have known those idiots were hiding something.  Acksel knew something was going on between you two and took the opportunity to use the pack to take out his frustrations.”

Eveny told Luke that her dad had talked to other pack members and found out that her boss and Luke’s boss had both been encouraged to keep them busy so they wouldn’t have time to talk before her heat-cycle.

Luke had asked if they thought Acksel planned to have Vince go to her all along and they both agreed that it was the most likely scenario.  Luke didn’t particularly care what Acksel’s reasoning was for sending Vince to Eveny, and he was glad that Vince was dead and the truth had come out.

“Do you think Acksel will lose his position?”  Eveny asked her dad.

“Why would that happen?”  Luke asked.

She smiled at him.  “Because he let you go.  A lot of wolves feel that humans are inferior and that pack members should be held in higher esteem.  They know that I mated you.  They watched me and my dad take you out of the chains at Acksel’s direction and leave.  Then he punished the three wolves.”

Dade said, “Acksel told the pack that it was according to pack law, but it will be hard for many wolves to understand why he would change his mind like he did.”

Dade straightened and opened the door.  “I’m going to grab some boxes and head over to your place, Luke.  We need to be ready to go in five days.”

“Thank you.”  Luke said.

Dade said, “You’re not picking an easy path, Luke, but we’re a family now and family sticks together.”

He shut the door behind them and Eveny turned on the bed to look at him.  “What can I get you?”

“Another kiss would be great.”

She chuckled and leaned forward, kissing the corner of his mouth.  “You’re insatiable.”

“Just for you.”

* * * * *

By the morning of the fifth day, Luke was feeling less like he’d gotten run over by a truck and more like himself.  He could see clearly out of both eyes now, and the doctor had given him a clean bill of health.  Dade had packed up Luke’s apartment several days earlier and brought everything over to the house, filling the garage with boxes.  The apartment next to the bar had come furnished, so there was no furniture to move.  His grandmother had visited every day and fussed over him and Eveny both, cooking, cleaning, and helping pack Eveny’s and Dade’s homes.

Luke looked into the garage and saw his life packed up in boxes.  Eveny’s arms went around his waist and she leaned on him.  “You okay?”  she asked, peering up at him.

“Yeah.  I’m going to miss Wilde Creek, but I’m glad that I get to keep you.”

She grinned.  “I never thought I’d leave town, either, but it’s better to go with you than stay and be alone and miserable.”

He leaned down and kissed her.  His lips were still healing, but he’d been unable to stop kissing her whenever the mood struck, which was often.

She sighed and rested her head against his chest, over his heart.  He wished that things could be different.  That they wouldn’t have to leave town and live in a cabin.  He’d broached the subject of finding another place to live besides the cabin, but realized quickly that they needed the safety of the woods around the cabin to hunt in their shift.  Finding a new place to live required extensive research on their part, since they had to make sure that the place they chose to live was friendly towards shifters and had room to roam safely.  Wilde Creek was a shifter-friendly town, but there were other places where shifters were not welcome.

The cabin was in the town of Potter, which was a tiny community that was friendly towards shifters, though not as friendly as Wilde Creek.

“You’re giving up so much to be with me, Ev,” he said quietly, holding her tightly against him.

“I’m happier to be leaving, Luke.  Sure, Wilde Creek is nice, but the pack is stifling in its traditions.  If I weren’t leaving this year, it would be next year.”  She lifted her head to look at him.  “I would have come back from my heat-cycle and told you that I wanted to be with you and we would have left anyway.”  She paused and then smiled.  “Besides, I don’t want our kids to grow up thinking that they can’t love whoever they want.  Only the inside of a person should matter, not whether they can shift or not.”

“Kids?”  He wiggled his brow.

“Oh yeah, lots.”  She winked and laughed, squeezing her arms tighter around his middle.

A loud engine rumbled and they turned to see Dade’s truck, with a fifth-wheel camper attached, pull into the driveway with Dade behind the wheel.

“What’s this, Dad?”  Eveny asked when Dade got out.

“I borrowed it from a friend.  I’ve ordered a trailer for myself, but it won’t be delivered for a few weeks.  The cabin is small enough as it is, so I’ll stay in the camper.”

Luke hadn’t said anything before, but he’d wondered how he and Ev were going to find time to be together with her dad staying in the same one-room cabin.  He breathed out a quiet sigh of relief and Eveny giggled.

“I heard that,” she whispered.

Dade headed into the house and Luke looked down at her.  “Can’t help that I want to make love to you again, baby.  And again and again.”

“Are you sure you’re well enough?”

He pressed her close as his cock sprang to life.  “I’ll never be too beat-up to make love to you.”

Her hands flexed on his back and she growled lightly.  “I’m so happy to be your mate, Luke.”

“I’m happy to be yours, too, Eveny.”

By the time they were ready to go to Acksel’s house for the meeting, all of their belongings were loaded into Luke’s truck and the fifth-wheel.  They took Eveny’s car to the meeting.  Luke had very little memory of how he’d gotten to Acksel’s the last time; he wasn’t even sure who had knocked him out.  He’d woken up as he was being chained to the pole and knew right away that Acksel had been lied to.  His only worry had been that Eveny was safe, so he hadn’t tried to defend himself by drawing her any further into the situation.  Only once did he tell Acksel that he had the wrong information and was being lied to.  He’d managed to stay conscious until Eveny showed up, and once he knew that she was safe, he’d let the darkness pull him down.

He was aware that if Eveny and Dade hadn’t shown up when they did he most likely would have died chained up to a pole.  The pack had been cheering for blood, calling for his death, and Acksel seemed all too happy to comply.  Luke had never had a problem with Acksel before, but he had lost all respect for the male now and was glad to be taking Eveny away.

Acksel was standing on the back porch of his home and the pack was kneeling in a group several feet away.  Luke gripped Eveny’s hand tightly, ready to step in front of her at the slightest provocation.

Acksel’s arms were folded across his chest and he regarded them silently as they came to stand in front of him, Eveny between himself and Dade.

His eyes narrowed and Eveny and Dade went to their knees.  Eveny gripped his hand and pulled him down with her.  He hadn’t planned to kneel before the wolf, but he realized that he might make things intolerably worse for Eveny if he made a show of resisting.  He’d never kneel before the bastard again, that was for damn sure.

Acksel looked at them for a long moment and then looked to the pack behind them.  “An alpha cannot be a rod made of steel, unbending and unyielding to change.  He must be willing to bend when he sees that the laws of old are choking the life from his pack.”

Stillness settled over the yard and Luke looked at Acksel in confusion.  Those didn’t sound like the words of a man who was going to be sending his sister packing.

“As is my right as alpha, I declare that from this day forward, the members of the Wilde Creek pack may mate with whoever they choose, be they wolf, other supernatural creature, or human.”

Acksel’s voice rang out clearly and full of authority. Eveny gasped and Luke looked down at her.  She glanced at him, but turned her attention back to her brother.

An angry murmur moved through the crowd and Acksel’s voice rose over it.  “Who speaks against their alpha?”

Two males stood up slowly and one said, “You cannot abandon the old ways because your sister is whoring with a human.”

The other said, “Banish her and let us be free of the bad influence on our young.”

Acksel moved so fast that Luke didn’t even see him leave the porch. One minute he was standing calmly in front of them and the next minute he had the first wolf off the ground with his hand clasped around his neck.  Blood poured from where Acksel’s claws were digging into the male’s skin.

“Call my sister a whore again and I’ll rip your tongue out, Rever.”

The second male crouched low behind Acksel and leapt at him, but Acksel tossed the first male aside and leaned into the other man.  Their bodies hit with a loud sound and within seconds Acksel had the male pinned and twisted his arm behind his back until it cracked and the male howled.

Acksel stood slowly, blood dripping from his claws.  He ripped his shirt off and howled.  “I am alpha and my word is law!  Defy me and know pain.”

Eveny shivered next to Luke and he put his arm around her.

“What the hell is going on?” Luke said in a low voice.

Dade said, “Acksel is making a stand for Eveny.”

“What does it mean?” he asked.

Eveny twisted her hand into Luke’s shirt and hugged herself closer.  “I don’t know.”

No one else challenged Acksel; every wolf bowed their head.  “Our pack was built on blood,” Acksel said, “but there is room for peace here.  We live among humans, we can accept them as the mates of our members.  You have until the next full moon to decide if you want to remain in the pack.  Those that wish to leave will be allowed without fear of reprisal, but once the full moon has passed, the only way out of the pack is through banishment or death.”

He dismissed the pack and walked through the yard, not stopping as he said, “Come inside,” and continued on into the house.

Luke stood and helped Eveny to her feet, and the three of them followed Acksel into his house.  He was watching out the kitchen window as the pack members cleared out.  For several minutes, no one said anything, and then Acksel turned around and leaned against the counter.