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Seattle, Washington
Later that Same Day
“Shit, bugger, and damn,” Colby swore as he reached for Brie and discovered she was gone.
He knew it. He knew she was feeling vulnerable and there had been something sad and almost finite in the way she’d clung to him the last time he’d taken her in his arms. Colby thought perhaps she’d finally surrendered to him. Perhaps she was finally able to admit to herself what they’d both known for years. He’d fooled himself into believing she would return to Windsong with him.
Perhaps he should have shared with her his vision for their future. He planned to name her his beta. Hamish Campbell was a good man, but he was devoted to Trudy and to helping her try and save the Tasmanian devils and devil-shifters from extinction. They were planning to travel Down Under, and Hamish had asked to be released from his vow to Colby. Truth be told, it had been a blessing. Colby had not relished the idea of asking Hamish to step down in order for Brie to take her place at his side.
Colby knew it was unusual for an alpha’s mate to serve as his second-in-command, but Colby could think of no one better than Brie. It helped that his clan had always been an entity unto itself, and a female beta at Windsong was old news.
Reining in his emotions, Colby established a calm demeanor and went to join his men in the dining room downstairs.
“Alpha? Will Ms. Hawthorne be joining us?”
“Not today. I’m afraid things didn’t go quite the way I planned. Brie is being difficult—not only as my mate, but as the leader of the Shadow Sisters. She is convinced anything male can’t be trusted, including me.”
“Surely that can’t be true. Windsong has always been allied with the Sisters…”
“But they’ve always been a separate and distinct entity. A great many of those women have backstories that make them leery of men.”
“But you’ve always been their greatest supporter and I do not believe you could find anyone at Windsong, including our women, who would say a word against you.”
“Agreed, but Brie is convinced that her destiny lies along a different path than mine. It doesn’t. I convinced myself that Brie would fall into my arms,” Colby said melodramatically, “see the folly of her ways and agree to come home with me. She didn’t. I should have expected her to bolt from the warmth of our bed. Brie is nothing if not resourceful.”
“She is the equal of her mate. I think she may be hard to bring to heel, but once there, I suspect she’ll purr to your tune, Alpha.”
Colby chuckled. “From your lips to Fate’s ears. Let’s pack it up and head for home. We should be able to spend Christmas with our clan.”
They turned over the hotel to the innkeeper, who had bookings to prepare for. Colby smiled. What had started out as having a secure location in Seattle had become a profitable endeavor. His investments had a way of doing that. Most people thought he was some kind of financial genius. He was a genius, but it wasn’t his understanding of finances and property values that had made him and his clan wealthy. No, it was his ability to pick the right people for the right job.
His time in the forest after his escape had allowed him to observe people in all kinds of situations. He’d seen happiness and despair, victory and defeat, kindness and cruelty and he had learned to read people’s body language and micro expressions. Colby grinned—he was impossible to beat at poker.
As he observed the crowd in the general public area of SeaTac, the region’s international airport, he smiled. He loved having private planes and helicopters. It pleased him that his clan was wealthy. It was good to be him, and Brie would come to understand that.
Windsong Manor
Mystic River, Alaska
The flight home had been smooth and uneventful. It had allowed Colby to catch up on a lot of paperwork that required his attention and authorization. As the plane touched down on Windsong’s private landing strip, Colby gathered his papers, putting aside those he’d hand off to his executive assistant in the morning. It was Christmas—no one needed to work on Christmas.
The mood in the manor had been filled with joy and celebration. Some of his people were joining their lives together. One of them was a pair of lynx-shifters, the female having been brought to Windsong by the Shadow Sisters. The others were Hamish and Trudy. Colby was pleased for both couples but would have been more pleased if he could have announced that he was taking Brie to mate as well.
The following morning, Hamish surprised him by joining him in his office.
“So, what brings the newly-mated snow leopard to my office this morning? I take it you and Trudy had a spectacular night?”
Hamish chuckled. He did that a lot. The pretty Tasmanian devil kept him happy and sated. “We did, Alpha, but I didn’t come to talk to you about my spectacular love life and your rather dismal one.”
Colby grinned. “It isn’t dismal when it’s active. Brie is my match in every way…”
“Aye, but it’s hard to be spectacular when she isn’t near.”
“You do have a way of getting to the crux of the matter. So, what does lure you out of your mate’s bed at this hour of the morning?”
“The Shadow Sisters reached out when they learned Strode had set his sights on ‘acquiring’—his word, not mine—Adriana Mulroney. She’s an Irish wolf-shifter/witch hybrid.”
“Why?” Colby asked, knowing that Strode wouldn’t be after the girl if he didn’t think she had something he wanted or needed.
