Nostrils flaring, he didn’t scent any blood, just fear, hunger, weariness, and…female. She was wearing a form-fitting black turtleneck, which was preposterous considering it was full-on summer in Montana. Her black leggings disappeared into dark combat boots that reached mid-calf, and her long, inky-black hair hung damply around her face. He assumed it was damp from perspiration, but she could have come onto his territory across the Missouri River, too. It was her face, though, that kept drawing his glances. Her skin was super pale, so much so that he wondered if she was sick. Or maybe she just looked like that because her clothes and hair were so dark. Her delicate brows were black, too,but her eyes… He’d never seen eyes like hers before. They were impossibly light, and there was no dark line around the iris, so it was almost impossible to tell where her faint eye color ended and the whites of her eyes began. The most prominent color was the black pinpoint of her pupil. She was ethereal-looking.
“What are you going to do with me?” she asked quietly.
Her query went unanswered for long minutes as they stalked toward his compound because he honestly didn’t know yet. Finally, he offered the truth. “It depends on what my boys find.”
Quickly, she prompted, “If they find nothing?”
“Then there’s still the transgression of coming onto my territory, unannounced, uninvited, and unwelcomed.”
Thunder cracked the sky again, and the swollen clouds breached; a hard rain began to fall. That ominous feeling seized Koe again, sending chills blasting up his spine as all the fine hairs on his body went on end. Grey eyes scanning the trees around them, he listened hard. Beside him, Jury stumbled again and went down. Koe caught her just before she crashed onto her knees. Helping her stand, he frowned down at her. He could feel theviolent tremble in her body, and while rain ran down her face, Koe swore he saw tears in her eyes as she asked, “C-can we rest a minute?”
Shaking his head, he clenched his jaw. Hell no, they weren’t resting. Without asking, he swept her up into his arms and double-timed it to the compound.
Chapter 3
By the time they reached Koe’s pack compound, Jury was soaking wet and trembling hard. Her wolf was spent from getting them away from Biter territory, which meant she had no more strength left to offer Jury any warmth. It was okay because the heat radiating from Koe had Jury shamefully snuggling against him. She didn’t care. She couldn’t. Her teeth were chattering so damn hard, she thought they’d shatter. Nuzzling her face tighter into his throat, she tried to breathe out of her mouth because the smoky scent of him was doing funny things to her belly. She ignored the growl that rattled his chest when her lips accidentally brushed his neck. Tough! She was too cold to properly control her own movements, and she didn’t ask to be held here. She didn’t ask him to carry her. In fact, she’d happily race from his territory if he’d let her. But that wasn’t about to happen.
Glancing up as they approached the compound, Jury felt her heart stutter. His compound was beautiful. Even in the miserable downpour, it looked inviting. Resembling the Tudor manor’s she’d seen in magazines, she stared in awe at the all-brickexterior. Honey-colored wood framed the dozens of windows and the arched, double-door entrance, a sunny accent to the light gray bricks of the facade. There were multiple chimneys piercing the roof, which was comprised of terracotta tiles in a heather color she’d never seen on a roof before. It was a beautiful complement to the lilacs that snaked up trellises framing the large bay windows at both ends of the house. The yard was immaculately manicured; the grass was mowed short in a checkerboard pattern, and there were several large vases filled with intricately trimmed shrubbery lining the wide gravel driveway that led to the manor. Jury had never seen a beautiful pack compound before. The manor was so beautiful that it was almost laughable that a pack of rugged wolf-shifters lived there. The Biter compound was basically a run-down mansion in the middle of the forest. No mowed grass, no lined driveway, certainly no flowers, and no obvious pride either. Her pack compound was run-down, dilapidated, and embarrassing.
Instead of taking her in through the front doors, Koe skirted the house and carried her through a hedge archway that led into a lush garden. It was breathtaking, with patio furniture and a pergolathat had lights hanging from it. It was probably beautiful when it was lit up. The garden narrowed to a set of stone stairs leading to a side entrance.
As soon as they stepped inside, the shelter from the rain and the warmth of the house had Jury pressing her head against Koe’s chest in relief. She’d been seriously worried about hypothermia. Her fear of freezing to death twisted into something else when Koe took her to an ominous-looking wooden door with an iron-grille peep window and iron clavos running down the length of it. It looked like something that led to a medieval torture room.
Koe used the hand beneath her knees to type a code into the electronic keypad beside the door. When it beeped, Jury rushed out, “Where are you taking me?”
His response was a weighty sigh that had Jury’s stomach dropping.
Instead of the scary-looking door opening, the stone wall beside them cracked along the grout lines between the pale bricks and slid open.
A secret passage? Fucking great!
Worried now, Jury tried again. “You could let me go. I swear I won’t…”
“You can’t even walk,” Koe bit out tersely. “You’re shivering so damn hard that I can barely keep hold of you, and your stomach has been growling the entire trek to the house. You’re in no condition to go anywhere.”
“I don’t have to be your problem,” she offered hopefully.
Without hesitation, he snarled, “You should have thought of that before you trespassed.”
Her belly dipped again and only sank further when they stepped into a hallway. There were three closed doors leading down the hallway, and at the end of the hall, a giant metal door stood open with bright white light pouring into the hall.
Koe carried her down the hall and into the room, a cell. The walls were all raw cinderblock, the floor simple concrete. A small cot, with a decent-looking mattress sat in one corner, folded blankets and one lone pillow sat atop. Across from the cot was astainless steel toilet/sink combo. And that was it. No window, nothing else, just a bed and a toilet.
Koe set Jury on her feet, gave her a hard look, then, without another word, he turned and exited the cell, the sound of the heavy metal door echoing his departure and piercing her soul. It was abrupt and cold, and, sadly, Jury understood. She was an enemy in his territory, here unannounced. He owed her nothing. Still, that little spark inside her that hoped he’d somehow be her savior was extinguished with painful finality.
Exhausted, freezing, starving, and homesick for Narae, Jury paced to the cot and then turned and slowly sat. The second her ass settled on the mattress, she lowered her head and finally allowed herself to cry. Shoulders shaking with the quiet sobs that left her, she shook her head and huffed a watery laugh at how pathetic her life had become. Because sitting in a cell beneath the Allegiance pack compound, she felt safer than she ever had back with her own pack. And how did that happen? How had captivity become more desirable than simply existing where she was supposed to belong? She didn’t cry long because, honestly, shedidn’t have the energy to do proper justice to her emotions. Turning, she eyed the cot and hugged herself. Her wet clothes clung to her shivering frame, and she wasn’t sure that lying down was a good idea. What if her wrecked body just gave out? Thinking back on what had been done to her at the Biter compound, she realized her poor body had endured a great deal of trauma.Shehad endured a great deal of trauma, and she was worried about falling asleep and never waking up. She didn’t want that to happen. She hadn’t come this far to only come this far. She owed it to Narae to make it to the light.
Narae.The thought of her sister brought another wave of grief crashing over her. It had her doubling over as she fought to keep from thinking of the consequences Narae would face if Bragga ever found out that she’d not only saved Jury but had also helped her escape unseen. She was deep in her pool of self-pity when the sound of the door opening had her head snapping up.
Koe was back. There were clothes hanging over one arm while the other held a tray of food. Food that Jury could alreadyscent. It had her belly growling loudly as she stared at him hopefully.
“Sorry, it’s cold. We ate over an hour ago, but I didn’t want to waste time reheating since I knew you were down here soaking wet.”
And just like that, the little spark of hope that had earlier been extinguished flickered back to life.
Koe set the tray of food on the mattress beside her. “I hope you like halibut. The guys had a fish fry.”
Glancing at the food, Jury wanted to dig in but stalled because Koe held out some clothes with one hand while the other lifted to scratch at his head.
