Ties (Running With Alphas Book 6) (2 page)

The air smelled of wet earth, decaying leaves, and sweat. Alder navigated the trees briskly, his gait just short of a run. He’d deliberately remained in his human form, as he found it easier to keep his calm when he didn’t have fangs and claws. He was already on the brink.

“You can’t go charging in without a plan,” Holly warned. She flanked his left side, while Laurel flanked his right. They each sported dark circles under their eyes.

Neither female had slept more than a few spare hours since Snow’s abduction. Unlike Hale, who seemed to be taking every opportunity to laze about in his chamber, they actually cared about the safe return of Alder’s daughter. It was because of that, that Alder was able to rein in his temper, issuing only a curt response.

“I don’t need to be lectured.”

Sensing that he was on a razor’s edge, Holly immediately apologized. A rare gesture. Of course, being Holly, she couldn’t entirely drop her point.

“I still think we should bring Hale,” she muttered.

Laurel remained silent, but Alder could tell from the way her mouth flattened that she wanted to agree.

Part of Alder wished that it had been Taylor who’d been taken and not Snow. Not because he valued Snow’s life any more than his mate’s, but because if it had been Taylor, Hale might have gotten off his ass to do something.

In many ways, Alder was in this alone. Hale was glued to Taylor’s side, and aside from being the daughter of their alpha, Snow was nothing to the Halcyon Pack. He knew that his pack would support him in his endeavors to get her back, but they would never fight for her as if she was one of their own.

For the first time in years, Alder wished that his brother Cain would show up. Cain never buckled under pressure and always seemed to find a solution, no matter how dire the circumstances.

After a moment, Alder banished the thought. Cain wasn’t here, and if Alder wanted any chance of getting his daughter back, he’d have to be every bit the man his older brother was.

The trees gave way to the narrow stretch of land that divided Mount Ezra from the Halcyon territory. They were downwind from the mountain, so it must have been the higher vantage that had alerted Whiteriver to their presence. Six wolves prowled between the sparse trees that dotted the foot of Mount Ezra. Alder could discern the scent of at least four more hanging back in the thicker woods.

Their greater numbers didn’t bother Alder. One of the many advantages of being a shifter was an acute sense of sound. They could each stand on their side of the divide and hold a conversation without closing the distance. If the Whiteriver wolves did decide to breech the gap, Alder and the others would be able to fall back into the safety of their forest before their enemies could reach them.

Perhaps the first pleasant surprise of the day was the sight of Silas. The dark brown alpha stood in stark contrast to the smaller wolves, making him appear all the more imposing. He met Alder’s gaze unflinchingly as he shifted.

While Alder had seen Silas when Whiteriver had chased him and Taylor from Mount Ezra, it had been years since he’d seen the alpha in his human form. When Alder and Hale had killed Silas’s father and taken Halcyon, Silas had been a boy, perhaps tall for his age, but otherwise unremarkable.

Alder barely recognized the young man Silas had become. Although he couldn’t have been much older than Glenn, he was nearly twice the gangly teenager’s size. One thing that hadn’t changed about Silas were his eyes. Were he a lesser male, Alder may have been unnerved by that piercing amber gaze.

Not allowing himself to be intimidated by the younger alpha, Alder raised his chin and took one defiant step forward.

“What do you want?”

Silas tilted his head to the side. “What? No talk of peace or treaties?”

“I think we’re past that.”

In truth, Alder would have negotiated treaties until sundown if he thought it would get him anywhere. After everything that had happened over the last two months, he knew that Silas wouldn’t trust any promises Halcyon had to make.

“I agree,” was Silas’s demure reply. “So let’s get right to business, then. My pack gets to hunt in the valley. Your wolves play nicely with my pack and I’ll continue to be hospitable towards your daughter.”

Alder couldn’t stop the muscle tick on one side of his face. The slight gesture betrayed the storm that was brewing within him.

“Maybe I wasn’t specific enough,” he said through gritted teeth. “What do you want for the
return
of Snow?”

“
Return
?” Silas repeated the word, adding a strange slant to it, as though it were foreign to him. Then, his lips pulled into a humorless smile. “Really, you have to see how, from my perspective, that would be a very bad move. If I give her back to you, what guarantee do I have that you would hold up your end of our agreement?”

Cold fury swept through Alder, not only directed at Silas, but also at his brother. Hale had been the one to break the peace between Halcyon and Whiteriver. Now, thanks to his brother’s antics, there was nothing Alder could possibly say to convince Silas that they wouldn’t double-cross Whiteriver again.

Alder’s hands balled into fists at his side. “You can’t honestly expect me to let you do as you please while you have my daughter in captivity?”

“You’ll just have to take my word on it,” Silas said with a slight shrug. “After all, my word is a lot more credible than yours.”

It was a testament to how much Taylor was being overlooked that neither brother seemed to care that they were fighting in front of her.

Frankly, she didn’t much care, either.

Taylor had woken a few minutes back, feeling sore, nauseous, and…drained. Just the act of propping herself up on one elbow had taken an inordinate amount of effort. After that, it had taken her a least a full minute to force herself into a sitting position.

She rubbed her eyes, wincing as she accidentally irritated the wound on her cheek. At some point, she was going to acknowledge on an emotional level that she was probably scarred for life. But right now, she’d rather just listen to Alder and Hale argue.

Perched at the prime vantage point of Hale’s bed, she looked down at the brothers. They stood at the bottom of the slope, faintly illuminated by lamplight.

Hale had carelessly thrown one of the bed furs over his shoulders, likely more to do with the temperature than a newfound modesty. He stood with his arms crossed.

Alder wore a pair of worn blue jeans and nothing else. Taylor’s eyes were instinctively drawn to his hard chest, but she could only ignore the severity of the situation for so long.

“It’s pretty fucking impressive how badly you can screw things up without taking even a modicum of responsibility.” Alder’s sharp tone had Taylor shrinking back, even though she knew that she wasn’t the target of his rage.

Hale went on the offensive. “You want to talk about responsibility? This was the first time in your life that you’ve ever had to be responsible for Snow and look what happened.”

Alder’s hand shot out to fist the furs at Hale’s neck. He gave a hard jerk, drawing his brother’s face in.

“
You did this
,” Alder seethed. “You’re the reason he won’t negotiate for her return. You’re the reason he took her in the first place.”

Hale wrapped a hand around Alder’s wrist. “And I’ll do everything in my power to get her back, but—”

Alder cut him off. “Then how about you offer yourself up in exchange for her?”

Claimed by a surge of energy, Taylor rushed to stand. As soon as she was on her feet, she doubled over. The abrupt movement had antagonized her nausea and she was powerless to stop her body’s reaction. After a few dry heaves that sounded like a theatrical impression of an asthma attack, she began to throw up.

Her body felt hot all over. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten and wasn’t surprised to find that all she had in her was bile. In between heaves, she managed to choke a few words.

“No…no, not…that…”

As the sickness finally subsided, her skin turned clammy. She became aware of warm hands on her hips and allowed herself to slump back into the warmth of an embrace. As one of the hands began to stroke her side, Hale appeared in front of her. He glanced down at the soiled furs and gave her an exaggerated look of disgust before smoothing it over with a wink. He gathered the furs up, wrapping them in a clean fur and setting them aside.

As she watched him, Taylor realized that it was Alder who was holding her. She breathed in his scent, relishing in the display of affection. It had only been a couple days since he’d held her like this but it felt like half a lifetime ago. Solely for the attention, she was tempted to feign sickness longer. Reluctantly, she didn’t.

“You can’t trade Hale.” She held her hand in front of her face, certain her breath was still unpleasant.

“Relax,” Hale said, offering her a flask of stitched leather. “That’s not going to happen.”

The water in the flask was cool. She swished it around in her mouth, swallowed, and took another long drink. While she chugged the water, Alder became argumentative again.

“If it’s not you, then it’s going to be me.”

She nearly choked in an effort to quickly swallow the water. “What are you talking about? Did Silas say he’s willing to trade Snow for someone?”

Alder’s lips flattened and he shook his head. Beneath the anger, Taylor could see lines of stress, as well as an uncommon vulnerability.

“I went to see Silas this afternoon,” Alder told her. He recounted what happened between them and the Whiteriver alpha. Taylor could feel the tension rippling through his body as he spoke and knew he would lash out with the slightest provocation.

When Alder finished speaking, Hale offered up his take on the scenario. “Basically, Whiteriver gets free range of our territory and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“What choice did I have?” Alder’s tone was acerbic.

Taylor was sure that if she hadn’t been between them, they’d be fighting again. As usual, she found herself stuck between the two stubborn males. Only this time, she couldn’t afford to take sides. Now, more than ever, the pack needed its alphas united.

Or do they?

“I think you did the right thing,” she said to Alder. She tilted her head towards Hale and, before he could object, added, “Now you have to call the agreement off.”

“What?” they asked in unison. She suppressed a smile.

“Silas thinks he has you by the balls,” she said to Alder. “And he kinda does. But while it’s true that
you’re
not in a position to negotiate, you’re not the only alpha. If Silas believes that Hale isn’t going to accept the agreement, he’ll be forced to negotiate.”

She pointed a finger at Hale. “You have to make it look like you don’t give a damn what Alder thinks; that you’re going to attack Whiteriver regardless.”

A slow grin crept across Hale’s face, but Alder appeared unconvinced. “But what if he decides to kill her?”

Taylor shook her head. “No way, he can’t. She’s the only thing he has to bargain with. Halcyon has the strength and the numbers to wipe Whiteriver out. If you can make it look like you’re the only thing standing between Hale and the decimation of Silas’s pack, he’ll do whatever he can to make you happy.”

“But he’s not going to give up Snow, so what’s the point?”

“We don’t need him to give up Snow,” Hale said. Taylor could see the beginnings of a plan forming inside his head. “All we need is to put him at a disadvantage, then you can make any demands you want.”

“Such as?”

“For starters, we can give them Lark.”

Taylor’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

That was not where she’d expected this to go. Yeah, she was pretty pissed at Lark, and yeah, Lark definitely deserved some sort of punishment, but kicking her out of the pack and handing her over to the enemy felt extreme. After all, it was Lark’s terrible judgment, not deliberate betrayal, that had led to Whiteriver infiltrating their territory.

“We can use her to spy for us,” Hale clarified. “Look, I have some ideas on how to get there, but ultimately we can convince Silas that if he lets Lark move freely between the two packs, we’ll let him use the hunting grounds and keep Snow, for now.”

“He’s going to know that she’s spying for us,” Alder said.

“And we tell him that’s what she’s doing. She’s ensuring that they hold up their end of the bargain and take care of Snow. Lark will have to report back to us every week. We tell them that if Snow’s mistreated in any way, we’ll take our chances and attack them.”

“And how long is this supposed to go on for?”

Hale shrugged. “Until Lark brings us back something useful. Could be weeks, could be months, but I don’t see any other way we can resolve this without risking Snow’s life.”

“How do we know Lark’s even going to find anything useful?”

“It’s
Lark
,” Hale replied flatly. “She finds everything out, sooner or later.”

“Her ears,” Taylor cut in. “I doubt they know how good her hearing is.”

Hale nodded, his grin widening. “They’ll get complacent and sooner or later, one of them is going to say something in earshot of her. As soon as Lark gives us information we can exploit, we’ll get Snow back.”

As Alder contemplated the proposal, Taylor’s stomach churned with nervous anticipation. While Hale had come up with using Lark, he would have never gotten the idea in the first place had Taylor not offered up her own thoughts. It was the first time she felt as though she’d contributed to the pack in a meaningful way. It was the first time in a long time that she didn’t feel entirely useless.

After only a few seconds, Alder shocked her by pulling her in for fierce kiss. The injured side of her face smarted with pain, but it was insignificant in comparison to the exhilaration that came with his kiss.

It was over far too quickly and Alder resumed his conversation with Hale. The vulnerability she had seen earlier was now replaced with enthusiasm and a renewed determination.

While she was glad that they were on decent terms again and that they had a solid plan, the future still seemed bleak for Taylor. Hale had said that it could be weeks, even months before they get Snow back. Taylor wasn’t naïve enough to believe that this wouldn’t weigh heavily on Alder in the weeks to come. Each day that Snow remained in Whiteriver’s clutches was another day that Alder would be consumed by the loss of his daughter.

Maybe it would have been bearable, if not for the fact that her pregnancy was also advancing. Not only was she losing Lark, her closest friend, but she would also have to cope with Alder being distant at a time when she desperately needed his support.

As the brothers strategized over their next meeting with Silas, Taylor leaned into Alder, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

She could only hope that she was overthinking the situation.

That Alder wouldn’t let the situation with Snow interfere with their relationship.

And that she wasn’t a selfish bitch for wishing that.