Mated to the Pack(8)

"You don't speak like that about the alpha's mate. Ever again." All traces of playfulness were gone from Tamsin's face.

She looked at Mac with such a ferocious expression Cassie felt the nape  of her neck ruff up. Mac immediately dropped his eyes as well as his  grin. Finn looked anywhere but Cassie.

Well, then. She'd known Tamsin was an alpha female who ranked very high  in the pack. But to see it in action was another thing. To watch other  wolves, male wolves, instantly respond to her power almost like they did  to Trevor, was very interesting.

Cassie looked at Tamsin in a new way, too. Not submissive-no, she  recognized that she ranked above Tamsin now-but with a respect deeper  than the sisterly kind of bond they'd pretty much established from the  beginning.

"Wow, Tamsin," she heard herself say. "You're a pretty tough chick."

Three pairs of eyes swiveled toward her. Hmm. Even in wolf form, some of  her human silliness seemed to leak through when she wasn't battling for  her life. Perhaps this meant her sides were starting to integrate  themselves.

Then Tamsin snorted, sounding very much like her brother having a  sarcastic moment. "Yes. The females in this pack must be tough," she  said. More quietly, she added, "Just like you are. As you proved  earlier."

Right. Shaking her head at that still-awesome thought, Cassie said to  Mac and Finn, "Look, it's good to see the two of you. I'm glad you're  back. Um...did any of you see Trevor just a moment ago?"

Silently, Mac and Finn looked at Tamsin. Tamsin sighed, then nodded at  the two male wolves, motioning them away with a no-nonsense gesture.  Gorgeous Finn blew a kiss at Cassie, winking with exaggerated effect.  Charming Mac gave her a jaunty salute, and the two moved off down the  hall. Looking after them, Cassie charitably thought to herself that they  would make some lucky women quite happy one day. Then she returned her  thoughts to the most pressing thing on her mind.

"Tamsin, please tell me what's going on? He won't tell me, but I know there's something wrong. Very wrong."

Tamsin looked uneasy and conflicted all at once. Her violet eyes  darkened as something like sadness flashed over her face. But she shook  her head. "I can't tell you."

Cassie narrowed her eyes at Tamsin, who didn't seem phased by it at all. Alpha female. Right.

"Can't tell me, or won't?" Despite being a kind of fierce wolf, Cassie suddenly felt like stomping her foot. Paw. Whatever.

Sighing, Tamsin said, "I can't. Literally. The alpha commanded me to not  tell you. No one here can talk about it. They all know better." She  looked toward the direction Cassie knew the alpha had run, her lips  twisted in what seemed to be pain. Looking back at Cassie, she carefully  whispered, "He-wants to leave the past in the past, yet without  acknowledging it ever happened. I have never been able to convince him  he must confront it if it is to ever let him go. It is killing him.  Slowly, but it is indeed destroying the man he truly should be. He does  not need to hide everything." She stopped short, almost as if she'd  clapped her own hand over her mouth. By her expression, she wanted to  say more, but literally couldn't.

The power an alpha held over his pack was seriously impressive.

Something nervous scurried along Cassie's spine under her coat. "The past? Please, Tamsin. Why did he just run from me?"

Even she could hear the little wobble in her deep wolf voice. Awesome.

Shaking her head in resignation, Tamsin said, "I cannot say any more.  You must get him to tell you why. Make him listen to you, as his mate,"  she said more fiercely. Then, softer, she added, "If this pack is going  to keep its alpha, he needs to share it with not only you, but himself.  Otherwise..."

She hesitated for so long Cassie thought she might bust out of her skin with the suspense.

What was it with these wolves and all their secrets, and politics, and  just things nobody would tell her? Wasn't she one of them now?

"Otherwise? Otherwise what?" she finally said, actually leaning toward Tamsin in hushed expectation.

Tamsin answered very quietly. "Otherwise I think Thayne and Aliana might  as well have succeeded in their plans, because we'll lose our alpha  anyway. I hoped he would be made stronger by your presence. He has, but I  see something in him that he hasn't dealt with yet. It's going to kill  him if he can't break through." She looked Cassie square in the eyes,  the intensity behind her words leaping across as if over a live wire.  "And because he's an alpha male, through and through, he simply will not  acknowledge that his heart must open to you completely. We need our  alpha to be whole, Cassandra. You hold the key to that now."         

     



 

Feeling dread abruptly quake its way through her body, Cassie stood  motionless for a long moment as she tried to understand everything  Tamsin was saying without really saying. She only moved when Tamsin put  her hands on Cassie's strong wolf shoulder and pushed her.

"Go. Go find him. Make him tell you. It's past time." The fierceness in  her voice again made Cassie's spine stiffen in determination. "You are  making him feel again, Cassie," she said in a low voice, looking behind  her as if she expected Trevor to burst out and scold her. "Trust me when  I say he needs that far more than you can know. Don't let him stop  again, Cassandra."

To hear Tamsin using Cassie's full name was enough to spur Cassie into  action again. Yes. It was about damn time her mate stopped hiding  whatever the hell it was he was hiding, because she really hadn't gone  through every single crazy thing she'd gone through only to be met with  the Blank Staring Face of Mr. Granite Man again.

And, she thought with a hard swallow, while she didn't know what Tamsin  meant when she said the pack might lose its alpha, she would do every  darn thing in her power to make sure that didn't happen.

Leaping down the corridor, she headed for the woods after her gorgeous, apparently tortured mate.





Chapter 7



Trevor crashed almost blindly through the forest, although his steps  were as quiet and stealthy as ever. Even in this state, he could not  overcome a lifetime of training.

Whatever in the damned fucking hell "this state" meant. He had a good  idea, though, and he wanted no part of it. Flashes of a laughing  dark-haired woman scampered through his mind, along with a stunning  blonde woman shifting into a magnificent golden wolf before his eyes.  The two merged into one as he ran. No matter how fast he ran, he could  not outpace them. Relentless, they stayed with him, tormenting his mind.  Fear, loss, and fury mingled together in an eruption so confusing all  he could do to escape it was run.

His fine, logical alpha's mind, melting down into a puddle of idiotic  feelings. Snarling at himself, Trevor stretched out to his full pace,  effortlessly weaving through the trees and ducking low-lying branches.  The coolness of the forest at night surrounded him, as did the  primitive, shivering scents as he tore ever deeper into it. Wild and  soothing all at once, it seemed like the woods welcomed him, just as  earlier they had welcomed his mate on her first run.

His mate. Cassandra. His beautiful, strong, courageous wolf mate.

The one he had just slunk away from, like a cowardly omega wolf at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Shame, fear, and the other emotions that had stunned him the other day  slammed into him again, full force. Almost whining from the onslaught,  he forced himself on. His loping stride ate up tremendous distances,  hurtling him farther and farther from the estate.

Farther from Cassandra. Her crystal blue eyes, clearly hurt and also  angry from the suddenness of his departure, stayed with him as he ran.

My love.

The words whispered through his head again. My love.

Trevor threw back his head and loosed a howl out into the late night  air. The sound of it lifted above the trees, high, lonesome, and  lingering.

Again and again, he cried out, furiously unsure of why he so desperately needed to speak.







Cassie bounded through the woods. It felt different than the run  earlier. Then, she had felt in control, strong, and absolutely crazy  excited about her new shape.

Now, she felt nothing but an urgent drive to find her mate. Whatever was  going on with him, Tamsin had scared her about it. She needed to find  him, to make sure he was okay.

She also basically needed to thump him for being such a guy. Locking her  in the room for some pig-headed, old-fashioned, stubborn-ass reason.  Hmph.

Soaring over a mossy log, she landed on the other side on almost silent  paws. Cool. Really cool. The fact that she could run like the wind was  also pretty awesome. And her nose was amazing. She was following  Trevor's scent like it hung on the air, leading her straight to him.

Just then, an enormous howl shattered the night. Cassie skidded to a halt, every hackle on her body standing at attention.

Again, the alpha of the pack howled. And again. And once more.

Sadness knifed through his voice. Sadness, confused rage, and pain. Definitely pain.