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The explosion, however, was the least of what he expected. He could tell by the sound it wasn’t in the compound, maybe not even near it.
Ryan returned. Just as I thought. Kryder blew up your burrow.
Grant was more relieved than anything else. Then I’m beyond grateful you had this plan for moving my stuff. Though how you achieved it, without my knowing, I’ll never understand.
He heard Ryan’s telepathic chuckle. I had a lot of help.
It’s extremely well done. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Ryan paused then asked, Battle stations for the rest of the night?
Yup. I’ll be surfacing in a few minutes.
Good. How’s Natalie?
Shaken up but holding steady.
Also, as expected. See you in a few.
Grant broke the connection about the same time Natalie pulled away from him.
“My turn to shower.” Before stepping in, she asked, “What did Ryan say?”
He explained about his burrow and she shuddered visibly. “I feel bad. I’d wanted to see it.”
He tried not to think about the place that had given him peace for the past six years, especially each time he had to recover from one of Kryder’s beatings.
“We have a lot of plans in place. I never expected to return to my burrow once I became alpha.”
She nodded several times in a row. “This is all new to me.” She turned on the showerheads.
“I understand. I’ll apologize now, because I have to go. I want to make sure the compound is secure.”
“Go. Please, go. I’ll be fine.”
He nodded then left the bathroom. He felt oddly disjointed, like he should have said something more to her, but his mind was already racing toward pack business. Now that he was alpha, he needed to be doing.
He hoped to hell they’d planned for every contingency, or the compound would fall.
~ ~ ~
As Natalie showered, she spent a lot of time shampooing her hair, maybe longer than necessary. Grant had already left his rooms, but he’d locked her in.
For that, she was grateful. The explosion had rattled her as nothing else had. It was probably a good thing since it shocked her back to the reality that despite the pack’s celebration with a barbecue and after the great sex with Grant, the Meldorin Compound would no doubt be under siege for some time to come.
She questioned Grant’s wisdom in allowing Kryder to live. After all, he’d killed off a number of his challengers and would have obliterated Grant given the chance. Grant had the right to do the same.
But she knew Grant and understood clearly that he didn’t want to begin his tour of duty as alpha by killing his predecessor. It was a bad precedent to set no matter who did it.
With her hair well-rinsed, she finally left the shower and dried off. Wrapping herself in one of the larger towels, she set about blow-drying her hair. She was unable to dismiss that her eyes had a deer-in-the-headlights kind of stare. The breaths she took tended to be ragged and uneven. With all the adrenaline of battle gone, she was left alone, feeling very cold toward her presence in the Meldorin Pack and wondering what she’d been thinking in the first place.
She’d wanted to help Grant because she’d wanted to take Kryder down as well. But Kryder had also just blown up Grant’s burrow home in immediate retaliation.
Losing heart, are we?
Natalie jumped at the sight of Renee, now sitting in her mist-like form on the marble counter near the sink, her long blond hair in a wave over her shoulder. Natalie shut off the blow dryer and wrapped the cord loosely around the small machine. She tucked it in a basket beneath the counter.
She had no reason to lie to Renee. “Suddenly, I’m scared shitless. What the hell am I doing here?”
