Trust (9 page)

T
he back entrance
wasn’t actually a back entrance. The system of caves and tunnels went all throughout the mountain, going so far as to spill out on the western side. Those areas were not part of Hale’s territory—
yet
—so they’d been temporarily sealed off.

The ‘back entrance’ that he was entering through was more of a side entrance. It was about ten minutes from the main entrance—three in a wolf form—and hidden behind a waterfall that wasn’t really a waterfall. It was more of a creek that ran down the side of the mountain.

Beka was sitting on a flat stone near the waterfall-creek, glowering in Hale’s direction. He had expected as much.

“Don’t bother trying to sneak in,” she said. “Everyone knows you were gone.”

Hale spared her a glance before ducking behind the stream of water and into his den. Beka followed.

“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

He didn’t spare her a second glance. “I wasn’t aware I had to answer to anyone, least of all you.”

“Fuck you.”

“I’m too tired.”

She let out a seething breath. “I’ve been waiting outside for hours.”

“You mean pawning your responsibilities off on your friends?”

It was well past midnight. The hunt would have been over by now, but he didn’t smell blood on her. As usual, she had managed to find a way out of her job.

“Don’t lecture me on responsibility. Alder was attacked by Whiteriver.”

Hale halted mid-stride, turning to look at her. “What?”

Beka’s eyes flickered over him and then softened. “He’s okay. He’s with Holly and Fenix now.”

Regaining his composure, Hale said, “What is he doing back already?”

Alder left once every season to visit their family in the south. He was never gone for less than two weeks and this particular time Hale had been depending on Alder being gone for a while longer. This could be problematic.

“He brought a human back,” she said. “Lark says that he’s going to make her his mate.”

He didn’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction.

“Why else would he bring a human back here?” Hale said, continuing down the passageway.

Beka followed him. She put a hand on his shoulder. “I want her gone.”

Hale turned around, his temper flaring. He had already had a shit night and it had just gotten significantly shittier. The last thing he cared about was Beka’s bullshit.

He grabbed her wrist, backing her up against the wall. “What do you expect me to do about it?” He leaned in, his mouth over her ear. “Want me to put her in a barrel and send her down the river or do you want me to just snap her neck for you?”

“I don’t care. I just want her gone.”

Hale pulled back, heaving a sigh. “We both knew this would happen sooner or later.” He gave her chin a flick. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

He move to continue down the passageway but stopped again as a strange, unfamiliar scent captured his attention. Sniffing at the air, he frowned. “What is that?” He couldn’t place the scent, but whatever it was, it made his cock twitch.

Beka folded her arms under her breasts. “He left her in your bed. Have fun with that.”

T
aylor was
awake when Alder returned. She wasn’t sure how long she’d slept, but she’d been awake at least twenty minutes, debating whether she should try to go back to sleep or do the walk of shame back to Lark’s room.

She sat up when she heard him approach the furs, smiling at him. He was wearing what looked like some sort of stitched deer pelt. It was draped over one shoulder and fell down to cover his groin. It was oddly sexy.

“I’m glad you’re back,” she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Is there anywhere I can clean up besides the lake?”

Bodily fluids, both hers and his, were still between her legs, making her feel gross and sticky.

Alder stopped at the edge of the pallet, staring down at her with an odd expression that she couldn’t quite place. She noticed that his hair looked exceptionally messy and she could see twigs and leaves sticking out of it.

“Go on a nature run?” she asked, still smiling.

Taylor could tell there was something off about him as he joined her on the pallet. He approached her on all fours, looking very much like the wolf that he was. She lay back against the furs as he came to lean over her, caging her with his limbs.

She saw his nostrils flare. “You smell like me.”

There was something different about his voice. It was a little deeper, a little gruffer.

“I must smell pretty amazing, then,” she said, reaching up to place her hands on his neck. He tensed as she did so, and she immediately pulled back, suddenly feeling awkward. “Sorry. I thought you liked that.”

Was she being too clingy? Alder had always been touchy-feely with her and he’d seemed fine with it when they were in bed together earlier. Still, maybe she was being too presumptuous.

“I make you nervous,” he said.

Taylor blinked at him. “What?”

His eyes narrowed. “You heard me.”

“You don’t make me nervous,” she said, shifting uncomfortably. “Honestly.”

Alder lowered his head, sniffing at her neck. His stubble felt scratchier than it had earlier and it tickled her skin. He pulled back enough to examine her, his eyes calculating.

Taylor stared up at him, trying to stem the unease that was growing in the pit of her stomach. Though he looked a little worse for wear, he was definitely Alder, but there was something in his eyes that wasn’t right. A coldness.

Those eyes roamed over her as he pulled back the furs to expose her chest. He traced his index finger down her scar and then around each of her breasts.

Despite his strange behavior, her body was hardwired to react to his touch. It seemed different than before, as if his finger was electric; everywhere he touched tingled with increased sensitivity. His hand closed around one of her breasts, cupping it in his palm. He squeezed it twice, as if testing the feel of it, and then moved on to the other breast.

His eyes on hers, he lowered his head to her breast, taking her nipple into his mouth. It was still sore from earlier, but he didn’t show her any mercy. Using his teeth, he applied pressure to the tender nub of flesh, just enough so that it hurt but not so much that it didn’t feel good. She moaned, her eyes rolling back in her head.

Alder pulled away from her chest. She could feel his erection pressing against her and wondered if he was going to have sex with her. Though she still hadn’t cleaned up from earlier and she was pretty sure it would hurt, Taylor kind of wanted to do it again.

“You’re paler than females I’m typically interested in.”

What?
“What?”

He rubbed his chin. “Does that bother you?”

Taylor pulled the furs around herself, not sure what to make of his abrupt commentary. “No, it’s fine. Honestly.”

“You’re lying,” he said.

Her brows furrowed. “What? You’re being really weird.”

“You maintain too much eye contact when you lie,” he informed her. “Also, you say ‘honestly’, which outside of ‘believe me’ is just about the worst tell I can possibly imagine a liar having.”

She sat up, now feeling intensely uncomfortable. Although she had the furs covering herself, she felt stripped.

“Why are you acting like this?”

Taylor had more than enough reasons for being guarded, but in only a few days, Alder had managed to slip past her defenses. She’d felt safe with him, safe enough to open up a little, safe enough to show him her scar, and safe enough to give her virginity to him. It was huge for her and the way he was behaving was making her feel entirely too vulnerable.

Looking irritated, Alder said, “Because I wanted to come sleep and now all I can think about is fucking you.”

Glaring at him, she moved to get up from the bed. Alder grabbed her shoulder, forcing her back down. With a mixture of indignation and anxiety, she pushed at his chest.

“Stop it,” she said.

He gathered her wrists in one hand, pinning them above her head as she struggled beneath him. Taylor tried to knee him in the groin, but he was too fast. He shifted his legs to press the full weight of his lower body down on her.

“I said stop it,” she said through her teeth.

Alder gave her a bland look. “Or what?”

“You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

He laughed, a hollow sound. “Is that a fact?”

Taylor spit in his face. He wiped the saliva away, never breaking eye contact with her. His lack of reaction made her apprehensive and she waited for what he would do next, her body tense and ready to counter whatever his next move was.

To her surprise, he sat up, letting go of her wrists. Taylor immediately scrambled back away from him, searching for her dress.

Turning his head away from her, Alder said, “You have the strangest tastes when it comes to females.”

Taylor looked over in time to see Alder being yanked up from the furs by…Alder. She did a double take, looking between the two identical men in the instant before Other Alder punched Asshole Alder in the nose, both audibly and visibly breaking it.

“Shit!” Asshole Alder staggered back, holding a hand over his bloodied nose. “We agreed, never in the nose, damn it.”

In a low voice, Other Alder said, “Get the hell out of here.”

“I wasn’t going to fuck her,” said Asshole Alder, sounding defensive.

“Get. Out.”

Everything had happened so fast, but at some point during their glare-fest, realization dawned on Taylor.

Twins
. They were twins.

The name that had kept coming up all day hit her like a ton of bricks:
Hale
.

As things started coming together for her, Hale raised his chin, muttered something under his breath about this being his fucking room and then stalked away. When he was gone, Alder turned to look down at her, his face awash in concern.

Coming down to her level, he reached out to touch her. She flinched.

“Taylor,” he murmured.

She glared at him. “Don’t you think, if you have an identical twin, especially one who’s a total dick, you should make sure people know about him?”

He put a hand on her head, smoothing her hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was back. Don’t cry.”

She pursed her lips. “I’m not crying.”

Alder brushed his finger over the corner of her eye, revealing trace amounts of incriminating liquid.

“It’s dust getting in my eyes,” she said, brushing his hand away. “Honestly. Can we just go? I really want to get out of here.”

T
aylor slowed
as the water came up to her breasts. Alder placed his hands on her hips and nudged her forward, deeper into the lake.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Giving him a dubious look, she said, “The water’s all dark.”

Alder bent to kiss the space between her brows. It was becoming his new favorite spot. “There’s nothing in the water that can hurt you, and I’m not going to let you drown.”

She let him guide her out farther, and he relished the feeling of her relaxing in his hold as the ground disappeared beneath her feet.

It had been an hour since Alder had gone to check in on Taylor, only to find his brother straddling her in the furs. He’d never stuck Hale in anger before. Hale had taken his fair share of beatings over the years, from their brothers, from their uncles, and far too many from their father. Now, Alder had joined their ranks.

While he disliked that he’d had to punch his brother, Alder wouldn’t take it back if he could. Hale had stepped over the line by touching Alder’s female.

Taylor leaned her head against his shoulder, her finger absently tracing his collarbone. “Am I too pale for you?”

His brows rose. “Why would you think that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just something your brother said. It’s not important.”

Alder ground his teeth, inwardly cursing his twin. He wanted to ask Taylor to recount everything that had happened and every word his brother had said, but he knew it would only make him angrier.

“Forget about Hale,” he said, squeezing her arm. “You and I are going to be leaving here soon, anyway.”

She looked up at him, tilting her head to the side. “Huh? Where are we going?”

“My older brother, the one I was going to visit, has a territory to the south of here,” Alder explained. “There’s a small river valley he offered me a few years back, and I’m going to take him up on the offer now. Without the truck it’ll be a long walk, but once we get there we’ll have a place of our own.”

Taylor put her head back down on his shoulder. “Oh.”

He could tell that something he’d said made her uncomfortable. Venturing a guess, he said, “You’ll be just as safe there as you are here. No one’s going to find you.”

Alder knew what it was like to be hunted. In years past, when humans had invaded the pack’s lands, running and hiding had been the only reality he’d known. He would do everything he could to make sure Taylor never had to live in fear.

“I can protect you,” he said. “I can’t say if living in the wilderness is better than Mexico City, or wherever it was you were going, but I’m going to do everything I can to give you a good life.”

“Alder…” She chewed her lip. “Isn’t this your home? Why would you want to leave it behind?”

He wanted to tell her everything. About the life he envisioned for them and the family he wanted with her, but he could tell she’d been through enough for one night.

“This isn’t what I want anymore,” he told her.

When they had finished bathing, Alder walked her to the cabin. He’d wanted to bring her to the den, but she’d been adamantly opposed to the idea. While he didn’t like leaving her out in the cabin, he knew the area was safe, so he didn’t protest.

She stopped him when they arrived at the porch. “You don’t have to come in. I’m sure you’ve got things to do.”

Alder had a
lot
to do. He still hadn’t found out what Hale had done to incite the Whiteriver pack. He had half a mind to make arrangements to leave immediately, and if Hale didn’t have a damn good excuse for what had happened, Alder wouldn’t be sticking around to help him clean up the mess.

“I’ll come by and check on you in a few hours,” he told her. “Get some rest. Forget about Hale, okay?”

She nodded. “I’ve honestly already forgotten all about him.”

T
aylor closed the door
. Leaning back against it, she sank to the floor and put her head in her hands. The air was musty and the floor was coated in dust, but she didn’t care. All she needed was some alone time to decompress and try to process what was happening in her crazy life.

“Is he gone?”

Taylor was so over being startled that she hardly jumped when Lark stepped out of the darkness, her head low as she peeked out the window.

“What are you doing here?” Taylor groaned, running a hand through her hair.

“Sometimes I sleep here,” Lark said. “I like being surrounded by wood. It reminds me of when I used to live in a tree. Hey, are you okay?”

No, she was not okay, not in the slightest. The man she’d met less than a week ago—the impossibly gorgeous and frustratingly perfect man—wanted to leave his home and his life behind to be with her.
Her
. The woman who just an hour ago couldn’t even tell him apart from his evil twin! Oh, and there was the fact that she was still
wanted for murder by the federal government
.

“I’m fine,” Taylor said under her breath.

Lark squatted beside her. “Are you sure? You look a little pale.”

If looks could kill, Taylor would have been responsible for another murder.

“It’s complicated,” she told Lark as she slumped against the door. “So very, very complicated.”