Seeking Pack Redemption (15 page)

Lights
switched on in the various motel units as the cacophony of the attack woke the
human patrons. Trent didn’t worry about being recognized. The sight of three
men riding atop an SUV probably paled in comparison to the number of wolves
snarling in the parking lot.

Driving
like a man possessed with a need for speed, Darren careened onto the main road
and really poured on the gas. Wind whipping through Trent’s hair, holding on
for dear life lest he fall off and suffer a major case of road rash, Trent
couldn’t help but laugh when Marc whooped.

“
Shiiiit
! Now that’s what I call a getaway.”

And while
it seemed a clean one, one crucial fact remained, Trent thought as he listened
to the howling behind them. The rogues located them once against all odds,
which meant they could find them again.

At a red
light, Darren slowed down, less for the possible cops than for a chance for
Trent and the others to clamber into the truck. Trent found himself in the
backseat with
Thea
beside him. Shaking like a leaf,
she hugged herself and a wave of compassion flowed over him.

Without
thinking twice, he tugged her against him. She resisted at first, but against
his strength she couldn’t escape. Arm wrapped around her, he didn’t say a word,
just let her soak in some of his warmth and strength. Slowly, the tension in
her body eased.

“Better
now?” he asked quietly. More to not startle her because surrounded by
Lycans
, short of mentally projecting his words, he couldn’t
speak low enough for them not to hear.

“I guess.
That was pretty scary. How did they find us?”

“I don’t
know.” He hated admitting that because it made her tense up.

“It’s
because Roderick has a link to someone in this truck,”
Jaxon
stated quietly.

“I’m
sorry,” she whispered.

“For what?
Just because you were his prisoner doesn’t make you the automatic suspect,”
Jaxon
said. “For all I know my bond with the devil works
two ways and he can sense me, too. Or he managed to snag a hook in one of your
suitors.”

“No one’s
controlling me,” Trent growled.

“So you
think,”
Jaxon
replied with an enigmatic smile.

Marc
craned around in his seat. “How would we know
who’s
the culprit? Is there some kind of test we can do? Shine a flashlight in our
eyes and look for red spots or something?”

“Or eat
some garlic while standing in sunlight?” Darren retorted. “I can’t believe the
paranoia coming out of all of you. Did it ever occur to you to look for the
logical explanation?”

Trent
frowned. Why had he assumed so quickly that
Jaxon’s
theory was the correct one? He didn’t believe in mind-controlling vampires.
Sick rogues, yes. Vampires who could make people dance like kites on a string,
no.

A sigh
preceded Darren’s next words. “Hello, folks. We live in an age of technology.
What we need to do is ditch this truck or find the GPS tracker they obviously
put on it.”

Jaxon
laughed. “You know what, dude. You might be right. Actually I hope
you are.”

Because,
Trent thought grimly, as
Thea
snuggled deeper into
him, if there was no GPS device transmitting
their
position, then that meant he needed to believe in the impossible. That one of
them might be an inadvertent spy.

*
* * *

Thea
didn’t say much from her spot under Trent’s arm. What could she add
to the conversation other than despite what Trent and his friends thought, she
knew it wasn’t a radio type signal giving them away.
It’s me.
It had to be.

She knew
the things Roderick could do. The fact she didn’t recall him jerking her around
to do his will, didn’t mean he’d not left a nasty surprise in her mind.
Or in the mind of others.

While
strong in presence and mind, Trent could carry a grain of the parasite’s
touch
as could his friends. Was she doing the right thing
staying with them? If she wasn’t the lure drawing the rogues, then was she
perhaps safer on her own?

But what if I’m wrong.
What if she was the
lodestone? Without the guys to protect her against something like Roderick sent
tonight, a dark wave of wolves, she wouldn’t have lasted thirty seconds.

She
preferred to not think about it at all. To let her mind go blank and pretend
they’d managed to escape, that the rogues finding them was a fluke. A
coincidence that wouldn’t reoccur because of the way Darren, then Marc, and
finally
Jaxon
, drove through the night and most of
the next day, changing routes, backtracking, hitting dusty side roads.

The plan
to ditch the truck never ended up panning out because they simply didn’t have
the funds or time to get a new vehicle. They did, however, stop long enough for
her to stretch her legs and take care of business. During that short break,
they searched the truck
bumper to bumper
, axle to axle,
and found nothing, as she expected.

The first
leg of the trip, she spent squished up against Trent, a haven that almost made
her feel safe. Something about his casual strength and demeanor called to her,
and she caved to her need for protection. He wasn’t the only one to offer her
comfort; when Marc and Darren took a turn in the back, she felt Marc’s hands on
her ankle and lower legs where she had them tucked up on the seat. But the
chest she chose to snuggle against was Darren’s. Like Trent, he made her feel
safe—among other things.

The ease
with which they managed to gain her trust should have made her suspicious. But
she ignored the tiny voice warning her in favor of the louder voice that kept
repeating
Ours
.
For some reason that sounded right even if she didn’t know what it meant.

Twelve
hours of driving later, her body sore, her eyes gritty from fatigue, they
finally stopped to rest. In case their truck did hold a hidden transmitter that
they just couldn’t find, they parked the truck at a local hardware store then
hiked to a motel a few miles away. Well, they walked, while Darren carried her,
after a token protest on her part.

Hiding in
the shadows, they waited while
Jaxon
booked a room,
actually a pair so they could take turns showering and sleeping.

Shown to a
room with a pair of beds covered in floral print, she didn’t argue too hard
when they gave her first dibs on the shower.
A new pair of
track pants and a T-shirt were
a welcome relief, even if they were so
huge she could have fit two of herself in them. Wolfing down a dinner
comprising a salad, pasta, and garlic bread, she could barely taste the food so
quickly did she ingest it. Tummy full, she managed to keep her eyes open only long
enough to chew a cookie for dessert.

Tucked in
by Darren, and her forehead kissed as he murmured good night, she quickly fell
asleep. And dropped into a nightmare.

*
* * *

Trent
didn’t say much when they congregated in the adjoining room, the door
separating the spaces open a crack to allow them to hear if anything untoward
occurred. As an added precaution, Trent watched through the window, satisfied
that the bathroom windows weren’t large enough to admit anyone, which meant any
attack would come from the front. Despite the fatigue pulling at all of them,
they decided to talk. They kept their voices low so as to not wake
Thea
as they discussed ideas and hashed out plans.

Participating
seemed moot to him. He already had his course plotted. Get the biggest fucking
gun he could find, return to the mountain, and shoot everything that moved. Twice.
Then he’d torch the fucking camp. If there
was
a
vampire hiding under one of the cabins, he’d burn to a crisp, which was kinder
than the bastard deserved for messing with his brother.

The time
they’d spent in the truck, long hours spent covering their
trail,
he’d had plenty of time to think. It pissed Trent off to know he’d arrived too
late and that David offed himself when he didn’t rescue him in time.
Why couldn’t he have held on a little longer?
Anger mixed with chagrin also simmered inside him that he didn’t feel more
grief at his sibling’s passing. He and his brother weren’t really close growing
up; David was a quiet and weak
Lycan
compared with
Trent, who oozed alpha tendencies even from birth. Even though only a few years
separated them, Trent veered more into a leader and protector role when it came
to interacting with his younger brother, a role his brother resented. When Trent
took over the pack upon his father’s death, uncontested among their small
group, the only one who had a problem with it was the weakest one in the place.
Without much explanation other than a feeble “there’s better prospects
elsewhere,” David left and other than a monthly phone call Trent made more out
of obligation, he’d not seen much of his brother since. And until now, not
really cared.

Some would
have questioned his decision to accept a rogue status to go after his sibling
rather than stay safe within the pack. Sure, he and his brother weren’t the
closest of family or friends, but they shared the same blood. The same mother
and father.
I promised Dad I’d take care
of him.
No matter his feelings for his younger sibling, Trent owed it to
him to look. To rescue if needed. But he failed in his quest, and his brother
died.

So he was
left with only one true option at this point: revenge. The injury done to his
brother couldn’t go unanswered. He didn’t care if Nathan feared the boogeyman
he claimed was both his father and a vampire. He didn’t give a fuck if
Jaxon
said the guy was virtually invincible. All things
died eventually, some were just tougher than others.
And as my friends know, I am one tough son of a bitch, and I’ll be
damned if I let Roderick or any other bastard fuck with
me or
my family
.

A family that now included
Thea
and her
unborn child.
His brother’s widow.
A woman that draws me against all logic.
Despite his wishes on the matter, he
couldn’t ignore one basic fact. His wolf clamored to sniff her. Lick her. Claim
her. The more it scented her, the more it wanted her. Handling his furry side
was easy: Trent held the reins of control. However, he couldn’t control his own
desire. Much as it appalled him, Trent wanted
Thea
,
too. Wanted to hold her when she cringed so pitifully in the tub. Wanted to
kiss the smile that tilted her lips. Enjoyed holding her when she needed
comfort, which in turn made him want to strip her naked and make her cheeks
blush with pleasure instead of embarrassment. He longed to touch her skin, a
skin his brother had already touched. To go where his brother had already gone.

I don’t want to be second!
And that’s what it
boiled down to. No matter his attraction to
Thea
. No
matter how much his beast clamored she belonged to them, the simple truth
remained. She belonged to David first. She carried
his
child. His nephew. Anything he had with her would always be
second. Or third, maybe even fourth if Marc and Darren charmed their way into
her heart first. Only a blind man would have missed the scorching glances they
bestowed upon her or the way they kept touching her, leaving their scent on her
whether she knew it or not. But their interest didn’t bother him too much.

Truthfully,
he’d always suspected when he settled down one day, his best friends would
probably end up at his side. The best
matings
were
the ones where the males got along. So, honestly, he couldn’t argue that
hooking up in a foursome with his two best buds and a woman was a bad idea.
But I hate leftovers.

If he were
to allow himself even more truthfulness, he also feared comparison. Would she
find him rough compared to David?
Less handsome with his more
rugged exterior?
Less polished because he wasn’t as well read? Given a
choice, if David lived, would she have preferred him more? And even more
annoying, would she even want Trent at all?

Doubt
truly sucked. It made a man want to do rash things. Bold things like staking a
claim as her guard. “You can stop arguing about who gets to sleep in the same
room as her,” he snapped, finally joining the conversation that currently
revolved around who would stay in the room with her.

Eyes
narrowed and jaws clenched, both Darren and Marc faced him.

“We can’t
leave her alone,” Darren protested.

“Of course
not, but given your evident interest in her, you’ll never come to an
agreement.”

“So what
do you propose?” Marc asked. “We take turns? Both sleep in the room?”

“Neither.
I am going to guard her.”

“Why you?”
Darren asked as he gave him the evil eye.

“Yeah,”
Marc added. “Why you?”