Page 89 of Healer’s Betrayal

I ignore Ransom’s annoying voice in my head and seek out Martin. I put out my hand, and he puts his hand in mine. I pull him close, grateful that he chose to take a shower some time in the last few days. You never knew with him. Most of the time, he was more wolf than human. At almost fifty, he was the oldest in our group; but he wasn’t the leader. He was more a dad figure than anything to these younger ones. I sigh. “Why are you here?” I ask quietly.

“You needed us.” He says simply, and something tightens in my gut.

I push my pride aside. Whether or not I think he made the right decision, the fact is he came and brought the rest of the group with him. “Thank you.”

He nods and tightens his grip on my hand. “Your mate?”

“She’s inside; safe,” I tell him.

“Good. Did you find them?”

I know he’s speaking about the vampires. “Not yet.”

He nods. “We’ll help.” He looks towards the men from the Northwoods Pack who have formed a nice little line, standing shoulder to shoulder. I know I’ve put off the inevitable for long enough. I’m met with more than one set of eyes filled with the presence of their wolves and know I need to tread very carefully here. I know they’re just protecting themselves and their mates against what they perceive is a threat; I am also keenly aware that a few of those females are pregnant, carrying the unborn children of these shifters. That makes them incredibly dangerous to anyone but especially to rogue wolves. I step forward, and the alpha’s gaze snaps to mine. I see his wolf clearly look out at me through his eyes, and I don’t take another step. “We are not a threat to you.” I keep my voice as calm as I am able, which isn’t all that calm. I am also aware that my mate is upstairs right now, vulnerable, and in pain. I can still feel waves of pain coming off her. It’s making both me and my wolf on edge. I need to deal with this so I can get upstairs to take care of her. My wolf gives his agreement, but he doesn’t back down in aggression. He knows the threat standing between us and our mate as well as I do. I decide to just rip the band aid off. “We’re all rogue wolves. None of these wolves are under my control.” Multiple growls sound around us, some from them and some from my group.

Are you trying to make them come after us? Ransom asks, but I ignore him. I know he’s positioned himself right behind my left shoulder, and Lucien has taken my right shoulder. I can feel the animosity coming off of Lucien, which isn’t helping our case. Ransom, at least, is a little more in control. I take a breath and force out the next words. “Most of them were in the facility that I was in. We got free, but what they did stripped any of them that were in packs of their pack status. A few of us are rogue wolves by choice, but a lot of these guys are not. Some of them are still in their teens. Nobody should be taken from their pack but especially kids and teens; they should be protected at all costs.” The men from the Northwoods Pack look less than pleased at my words, but they’re silent...for now. “We got free from that facility and for better or worse formed our own pack of sorts,” I put a hand up. “Without an alpha claiming them and dominating them. They’re all in this pack by choice. No, we can’t communicate mentally; and no, there is no chain of command. But we work.” I meet each of their eyes. “We’re pack in all the ways that count.” I let my wolf come to the surface now. “And if you threaten any one of them, I will destroy you.” My words are nearly a growl. “You won’t even see me coming.” There’s a darkness to my words that I don’t bother to mask. I let them feel the threat of my words.

“The same goes for him,” Jessie says from a few feet away. I turn to him, giving him a stern gaze. He ignores it. “Jackson’s our leader. If you mess with him, you mess with all of us.” There’s a chorus of growls and yeses backing him up.

Garrett gives me a contemplative look. “You sure you’re not a pack?”

Chapter 38

Kayla

I head upstairs to Ransom’s room and knock on the door. He opens it, and I catch the look on his face. He must know something’s brewing outside. He steps back and lets me in. “Hey, Noah.” I intentionally keep my voice upbeat. “Did you have a good time?” He nods, his eyes looking between Ransom and me. “We’re going to head back to our room now.” He walks over to me, his face as solemn as ever. “Thank you, Ransom,” I tell him at the door. He nods and holds the door for us.

“Did you have a good time?” Ransom asks.

I can’t resist smiling. “Yeah. We got to play with pygmy goats.”

His eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. “Jackson played with pygmy goats?”

“I’ve got proof; I’ll show you later.”

He smirks. “Please do.”

“Thank you,” I mutter to Noah, nodding my head towards Ransom.

“Thank you,” Noah manages to mumble as he joins me in the hall.

“You’re welcome.”

We walk back to our room, and Noah plops down on the sofa bed. “I’m hopping in the shower; I’ll be out in a few,” I tell him.

After taking a shower and taking some ibuprofen, I feel a little better; but I can’t relax. The girls asked me if I wanted company, but I declined. I really don’t at the moment. I pace the room and wait for Jackson. I didn’t miss the tension that was building outside, and I’m not really sure I get it. I’m trying to understand the dynamics. I get what Jackson said about rogue wolves, but Jackson’s not the bad guy. Neither is Ransom. They’re both really good guys. I look over at Noah, who’s currently preoccupied with his iPad. I make the bed and then sit, wondering what’s going to happen next. In the quiet, it’s impossible to not think all the thoughts I’ve been pushing away the last twenty-four hours. Now, those thoughts are center stage. I look over at Noah, reassuring myself that he’s healthy. Renee’s betrayal cuts deep, and I feel the hurt almost physically. I worry she might have broken something fundamentally in me that I can’t fix. I’ve always had issues trusting people; I’m sure it’s because of my childhood. She took that trust problem I have and just compounded it and increased it a hundredfold. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to trust anyone besides myself ever again. I think about Jackson being able to turn into a wolf and stand up and start pacing again. If I'm honest with myself, I’ve known since the very first time I met him that there was something different about him. I just couldn’t put my finger on it; now, I can. I think about how he changed into a wolf in merely seconds and wonder if that’s how it always is. I take a shuddering breath. I’m not afraid of Jackson, exactly; I’m more...uncertain. I don’t feel any danger coming from him in particular, but I can’t say the same for his wolf. My stomach growls, but I ignore it. It seems like the least of my worries right now. I feel guilty for coming up here; I should have stayed down there with Jackson. It was obvious something was going down, and they didn’t want me down there for it. The door opens, and I whirl around. I take in the sight of Jackson, and my breath catches in my throat. It doesn’t matter that I spent all afternoon with him. The sight of him in his tank and jeans with all those muscles on display short circuits my brain. He locks eyes with me and walks straight to me. “How are you feeling?” His words are gruff, but I don’t take them that way.

I wave off his concern. “I’m fine; what about you? What was that all about downstairs?”

“Are you in pain?”

I shake my head. “I’m fine. Now, what happened?”

Before he can answer, there’s a knock at our door. I watch in fascination as he sniffs and then growls low in his chest. His hands drop to my hips, surprising me. “The alpha and his mate are here.”

“You know it’s them just from sniffing the air?” He nods, his eyes intense. “Okay.” I glance over at the door. “Are you going to let them in?”

“Do I have to? I’d rather just keep them out.”