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Show no mercy. Kill on sight.
Brutus whispered beside me, “When we catchthem, we won’t leave anything lying around for some human to find.”
Brutus grabbed a plastic shopping bag from the back of the SUV. He stuck his hand inside the bag, then reached into the dumpster to gather the bloody gauze.
“We’ll need someplace to burn this or bury it.” He looped the bag handles into a knot. “Seriously, didn’t Rule teach his inbred pack a damn thing?” He tossed the bag into the back of the SUV. “Let’s get on the road before someone comes snooping around, wondering what we’re doing digging through their trash.”
After about twenty minutes on the freeway, Sorrel pulled into a drive-thru, where we grabbed burgers and fries, coffee, and hot cocoa to drink. He drove us to a park on an undeveloped plot of land a few miles from our destination—the Garden of the Gods. With the sunlight nearly gone, the temperature had dropped dramatically. We brushed the snow off a long picnic table and ate our meal while Seff and Decker answered questions about the rogue attack in Lake Crescent a couple of weeks ago. My food sat like a jagged rock in the pit of my stomach after Seff described the one-sided battle and victory over so many of Rule Arwan’s inbred offspring.
“What I want to know is how long was Rule building up his army of purebreds and do we really know how many are still out there unaccounted for,” Brutus said. “And, yeah, that many offspring is a fucking army. No Alpha has purposely spawned so many offspring since the ancient feuding times. That’s where the laws came from.”
Seff finished the last bite of his burger and wiped a napkin across his mouth. “My uncle Sorin met up with a bunch of Alphas, and they questioned every one of Rule’s offspring they could find. He hadn’t filled the pack in on what happened before Deck and I headed to Red Lodge. All I know for sure is, after all the inbreeding, Rule’s male offspring were sterile and not one Breeder among ’em.”
Decker pointed at Seff. “You see that scar running across Seff’s face?”
Everyone sitting around the table looked in mysakana’sdirection. Seff drew a finger along the thin white line running from the corner of his mouth below his earlobe. The scar was barely visible beneath his short beard.
Decker went on, “We tracked them one night before the big battle and found a bunch of them surrounding one female from our pack. We jumped in to rescue her. One of those bastards caught Seff a good one and sliced his cheek open. The fight didn’t last too long. The rogues ran off, and since Seff was bleeding so badly, we didn’t chase them.”
“Jules stitch you up?” Brutus leaned a little closer as Seff nodded. “She did a damn fine job.”
“Yep. She’s one hell of an Alpha female,” Seff said around a bite of his fries.
Brutus’ shoulders sagged as he stared down at the few fries he had left in front of him.
After a drink of his coffee, Seff spoke up. “How long have you known Jules?”
The big male Breeder’s face turned sad. “All her life. I pulled her from under a car after she witnessed her father’s death in a challenge. Her mother...well, she wasn’t in any shape to care for offspring. Our Alpha made me Jules’ guardian, until she met hersakana.” He ran a hand over the short beard covering his jaw. “Now, my duties are done. We’re just friends.”
Just friends? By the look on his face and the sound of his voice, I could tell there was more to his friendship with Jules. He’d loved her. Was still in love with her. I wouldn’t ask if Jules returned that love. If she had, it wouldn’t have made any difference. I knew from my own new experience with Seff, thesakanabond was all-encompassing. If there were any other romantic relationships beforehand, the bond was an overriding force, nullifying the attachment. Jules might have felt somewhat torn, probably even sad, but obviously, she had chosen hersakanaover her lifelong guardian.
Growing up, I’d seen my parents’ unconditional love and trust. I’d seen the same bond between my Alpha and his mate. Sharing thesakanabond might have also given Jack and Vera the emotional strength to leave the care of their twins to the pack. After finding the same unbreakable soul connection with Seff, I knew there was absolutely no question how deeply love goes between those who shared the ancient bond. Still, looking at Brutus, I saw how devastating it might be to lose the one you loved to another wolf.
Seff wrapped his arm around my shoulders and placed a lingering kiss on my temple. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth from his lips seep through my veins.
Seff will never leave me. There will never be a time where we are ‘just friends.’
“It may be dark, but it’s still too early to go hunting.” Brutus crumpled up his food wrappers and tossed them into the paper bag they’d come in. “I can’t just sit here. I need to work off some energy before the hunt. Anyone up for a run?”
He lifted his leg over the bench seat he’d been straddling. Without waiting for someone to speak, he walked off toward a thick stand of trees. Decker followed him.
“What about you?” Sorrel asked Carmine. “Do you feel like taking a run?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Carmine answered.
“Are you two coming along?” Sorrel helped his mate gather their meal wrappers and shove them into the trash bag.
Seff squeezed me tighter. “Nah.”
And staying here, alone, with mysakana, was fine with me.
“Well, here.” Sorrel held out the rental car key fob. “In case you get tired of waiting out here in the cold.”
Seff grasped the fob and set it on the table. “Thanks.”
The two males seemed to hold some kind of silent conversation before they both grinned and gave a quick nod of their heads. Sorrel took his mate’s hand, and they raced off toward the tree line.
“What was that about?”
