Page 50 of Stolen

Chapter 23

Late that same night, Gunn faced Thanatos in what the men called his throne room, on a subterranean level of his mansion at Outlaw Ridge.

Thanatos sat in a huge wooden chair behind an ornately carved wooden table. He wore a hooded cloak, and there was a bright light behind him, so that his face was shrouded in shadow.

As far as Gunn knew, none of the men had ever seen it.

Gunn, as usual, did not rate a chair. In fact, there were no other chairs in the huge, vaulted room. Like an ancient king, no one sat in Thanatos’s presence.

Gunn had no desire to sit. He wanted to fling himself over the table and strangle Thanatos.

He’d probably end up dead, but right now he didn’t care.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me Gregor was losing it?” he demanded. “Do you know how close the pack came to total implosion?”

Thanatos’s low, gravelly voice was as calm as ever.

“I told you there was a situation here that I wished to have you assess. That situation was Gregor’s deteriorating health, and possible successors to his role as alpha. I did not anticipate that he would get killed by a bullet before that happened.”

Gunn said, “There is no successor to his role as alpha. These guys are barely holding on. Didn’t you realize the effect that his quote unquote ‘deteriorating health’ was having on them?”

Thanatos was silent for a few moments. “Unfortunately, I underestimated that factor. Perhaps because I am not a wolf, and do not understand the nuances of pack relationships.”

“Are you sure about that?” Gunn snarled. “Because the old man gave me his amulet. Surprise—it’s magic. It’s part of how he bonded the wolves together. And since I was there when he died—at your orders—and I had the amulet, I got their shit together afterwards. Now they’re all bonded to me. I’m the alpha.”

He walked all the way up to the table—which he’d never done before—and put his palms flat on the surface, leaning over to get right up in Thanatos’s shadowy face. “Go ahead and tell me that wasn’t your nefarious little plan all along. Because here I am, trapped, until we can figure out how to unbond me and make somebody else alpha.”

Fury raged through him. He didn’t want to be alpha. He’d never wanted to be an alpha. He wanted to leave Outlaw Ridge, drag Mikey off to bed, and then figure out what they were going to do with the rest of their lives.

Thanatos leaned back in his chair, his hands together, fingers making a steeple. “And who did you have in mind?”

That was the fucking damn problem. He’d said it himself—there was nobody else. The wolves were all edgy from the battle and grieving Gregor. He was the one who’d held them together.

Gunn might suck as an alpha—and most of them didn’t want him to be their alpha—but the bond was there, strengthened by the amulet, which seemed to have also bonded with Gunn in some mysterious way.

He couldn’t get rid of it. He’d tried to leave it behind, throw it away—and it kept showing up in his pocket.

If he left, the whole pack would probably go rogue. He’d worked with them, lived with them. He couldn’t do that to them.

Thanatos was watching him, not saying anything. Finally he said, “You owe me, Gunnar Jorgenson, and I told you many years ago that one day I would ask you to pay that debt. This is what I’m asking of you—to remain here as alpha of the pack.”

Gunn snarled. He did owe Thanatos, but that didn’t make this any more palatable. “How long?” he asked.

“As long as it takes.”

Later still, Gunn stood at the edge of the airfield at Outlaw Ridge, staring out into the distance, reliving the last time he saw Mikey.

She’d still been angry that he wouldn’t take her with him.

“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I know you’d have my back, no matter what. But I told you, it’s not about me. If you came with me to where I’m going, I’d be compromising you and them. It’s not worth it.”

“It’s worth it to me.”

He cupped her chin in his hand. “This crisis—it shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to resolve. And after it’s over, I’m leaving there. For good. Then you and I, we can figure out what our next move should be. Together.”

He picked up his duffel and turned to go. Mikey caught his hand and shoved something into it—flat and hard and cold, like a coin.

He looked at it, turning it over in his hand. It was a gold disc, with a phoenix on one side, and a flame on the other. “What’s this?” he asked.