He inhaled deeply, seeking patience. And instead filled his lungs with her scent. God, that fucking scent . . . wildflowers, black cherries, and innate sensuality layered with a tint of arousal. He could almost taste it on his tongue. So she wasn’t quite as unaffected by him as she seemed.
“He’s worried that you’ll ask me to return him to his pack,” said Makenna. “You should know that I won’t allow that.”
“What happened to him there?”
“Zac won’t speak of it. But he shows all the signs of an abused child, which is why I will do whatever it takes to ensure he never comes in contact with that pack again.”
Ryan liked her almost animalistic ferociousness. This was a female who was confident in her ability to protect herself and anyone she considered under her protection.
“I ask that you meet with Zac a few times, get to know him. Then, when he’s comfortable enough to do so, he can visit you on your territory and meet all of your pack members. That could be all it takes to make him want to stay with you. However, it may take some overnight visits. It’s all about building trust. If you rush this, if you try to take him against his will, he won’t feel safe with you. He’ll run again.”
The same part of Ryan that balked at leaving his relative in a shelter also balked at causing the kid that kind of distress. Ryan wasn’t that much of a bastard. For the most part. “I’ll agree to take this at Zac’s pace.”
Makenna had to smile at the way he’d said “Zac’s pace” not her pace. It was a message that she best not think she was in control here. “Good.”
“But I want to see him soon.”
“Today won’t be possible, but tomorrow would be fine. You know Trevon Park, right?”
“I know it.”
“Zac and I will meet you there at noon tomorrow.”
Ryan didn’t like being made to wait for anything. As a rule, he generally didn’t deny himself the things he wanted. But it would probably be best to take the time to speak to his pack before meeting Zac anyway. So he nodded. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Makenna.”
Makenna almost shivered. His words sounded more like a sensual threat than a good-bye, although that was most likely because his voice had that gravelly quality to it. As she walked away, she felt his gaze burning into her back. Her wolf was disappointed to leave him; she liked his quiet, confident, mysterious air. Makenna couldn’t deny his appeal. But she’d sure like to.
As she slowly drove out of the lot, Makenna noticed Ryan standing by his Chevy, watching her leave with a deep frown. That natural snarl should have been off-putting, and she couldn’t work out why the hell it was far from it.
Chocolate. She needed chocolate.
Passing through the security gates of Phoenix Pack territory, Ryan nodded at Cam, who was manning the security shack. He then drove into the wooded area, taking him onto the rocky trail that led to what his Alpha female called “Bedrock.”
Most packs lived in cabins on a large stretch of land—some even lived in one single pack house. The home of the Phoenix wolves, however, was built into a cliff. Deep into the expansive wooded territory, the inconspicuous ancient cave dwelling had been increasingly modernized over time. Even when its arched balconies or windows were lit, they weren’t easy to see. As such, it was doubtful that anyone would recognize the dwelling for what it was unless they were looking for it.
Having parked in the concealed parking lot at the base of the cliff, Ryan ascended several flights of steps that were carved into the mountain wall leading to the main entrance. He then walked through the maze of limestone tunnels, taking himself deeper into the mountain, as he headed for the living area. Only as he turned one corner . . .
“Ryyyyyyyaaaaaaaaannnnnn!” A three-and-a-half-year-old came dashing toward him and scrambled up his body like a monkey, wrapping his little arms around Ryan’s neck.
Not good with kids, Ryan awkwardly put one arm around the son of his Alpha pair. It was then that he noticed the object in Kye’s hand. “Um, I don’t think that’s yours.” Kye’s new favorite game seemed to be “let’s see what I can steal today.”
Tao, the Head Enforcer and Kye’s personal bodyguard, rounded the corner and sighed. “That kid is fast.” He held his hand out for the cell phone. “Give it back, pup.”
Smiling impishly, Kye shook his head.
Tao arched a brow. “What did I say earlier?”
“Don’t eat snot.”
“What did I say before that?”
“Don’t pick your nose.”
Tao sighed. “Forget it.”
Kye snapped his little teeth when Tao tried to detach him from Ryan. “No! I want to stay with Uncle Ryan!”
Ryan cleared his throat as the little boy rubbed his cheek against his. Ryan wasn’t good at receiving or giving affection.
Sensing his discomfort, Tao smirked. “Hey, this is what you wanted. When you first heard Taryn was pregnant, you told us you’d be the kid’s favorite uncle. You are.”
Ryan had said it to needle the other males. He knew little to nothing about kids. He was even worse at dealing with them than he was at dealing with adults. Fisting a handful of Kye’s shirt, he dangled the pup in front of him like he often did. As usual, Kye squealed in delight, kicking his legs.
Grabbing the pup by the waist, Tao took him from Ryan. Giggling, Kye squirmed like a cat, stopping Tao from being able to keep a firm grip on him. Then Kye was once again scampering through the tunnels with Tao chasing him.
Ryan continued to the living area, where he found his Alpha pair, Beta pair, and Rhett on the sectional sofa, watching TV. “Rhett, I need you to do a background check on Makenna Wray—she’s a lone wolf.” Rhett was a talented hacker, and there was very little he couldn’t uncover. “And get whatever information you can on Damian Lewis and his pack.”
Rhett blinked. “Um . . . sure. Can I ask why?”
“I’ll explain soon. Just see what info you can find for me.”
As the male left the room, his Alpha female, Taryn, looked up at Ryan. “Who’s Makenna Wray?”
“Isn’t Damian Lewis your cousin?” asked Trey, her mate. “I mean, wasn’t he your cousin?”
Ryan nodded at Trey’s question before answering the first. “All I know about her is that she’s a lone wolf, she volunteers at a shelter for loners, and she’s hoping we’ll accept my younger cousin into our pack.”
Taryn smiled gently. “Ryan, sweetie, I know you’re more of a grunter than a talker, but I need some more info here. How did you meet her? Why would the kid need you? What happened to him?”
Settling into an armchair, Ryan gave them a bullet-point version of the morning’s events. As his Alpha female had rightly stated, he was a man of few words. Although he was detached and unsociable, he wasn’t completely without social skills. He simply didn’t care to be what others would define as “social.” He didn’t believe in fluff talk or that smiling should be his default expression.
People sometimes assumed that he wished he were talkative. That wasn’t the case at all. When he was quiet, it was because he simply didn’t have anything he wished to share at that moment. But his quiet nature often made people feel uncomfortable, even though not everyone who talked actually listened. They wanted to talk mostly to fill a silence.
Having grown up in a house full of drama, he found something about silence very comforting. Words were overrated, in his opinion. They could be used to hurt and scar, and they could easily achieve it.
“I didn’t know there was a shelter for loners,” said Jaime, the Beta female.
“I suppose it’s not something they’d want to advertise, since loners don’t have protection from packs,” Taryn pointed out.
“Did you know Damian well?” asked Dante, the Beta male, as he toyed with his mate’s long sable hair.
Ryan shook his head. “I only met him a few times when we were kids. He was my father’s first cousin, and my second cousin.”
“How did he die?” asked Jaime.
r /> “He challenged his Alpha for the position, lost the duel, and refused to submit.”
Shocked, Jaime leaned forward. “He chose to die rather than submit, even though he had a mate and son to take care of?” Her horror was understandable. Shifters often didn’t survive the breaking of a mating bond—a metaphysical connection that allowed mates to feel each other’s emotions and bolster each other’s energy. Damian would have known his death could lead to that of his mate and, consequently, leave his son without parents.
“That’s what I heard,” said Ryan. At that moment, Rhett returned. “What did you find out?”
Returning to his spot on the sofa, Rhett replied, “Damian Lewis is your cousin, which I’m guessing you already knew.” At Ryan’s nod, Rhett continued. “He mated when he was in his twenties. His mate gave birth to twins, but one died within hours of being born. His son, Zac, was eight when his father died in a duel with his Alpha. Damian’s mate died days later. His pack—the York Pack—is small, extremely private, and resides about five miles from Lance’s pack.” Lance was Taryn’s father, who she didn’t have a great relationship with. “Apparently the Alpha, a guy named Brogan Creed, is a tough son of a bitch who runs his pack with an iron fist.”
“What about the loner?” Taryn asked. “What did you find out about her?”
“Nothing.”
Dante arched a brow. “Nothing?”
“Either Makenna Wray doesn’t exist, or someone’s erased her proverbial paper trail. There’s absolutely no record of her anywhere.”
Ryan stilled. He was assuming Makenna had been cast out of her pack, since it was rare for shifters to choose to be a loner. If she’d changed her name, she must have done something so bad that she was in hiding—maybe even had a bounty on her head. Volunteering at a shelter could mean that she regretted her actions and was seeking some form of redemption. Or maybe she was simply using it as a place to hide.
Trey looked at Ryan. “I don’t like this.”
“Asking you to meet her could be some kind of trap—an attempt to get you someplace, alone and vulnerable,” Dante warned.
He was right. But . . . “I have to know.”
Trey inclined his head. “So, Dante and I will go with you.”
“And me,” added Taryn. “You’re not leaving me out of this.”
Jaime gave Dante a look that said, “Nor me.”
Trey pinned his tiny mate with a hard glare that had no effect. “I’m not okay with you being around a lone shifter. They’ve been hired to breach our defenses and invade our territory many times in the past.” He looked at Jaime. “Hell, you were shot by a loner.”
“So was Roni,” Dante pointed out, referring to the mate of their fellow enforcer, Marcus.
“Not all loners are hired guns,” said Jaime. “Makenna said she works at a shelter.”
“Yeah,” Trey confirmed, “but we don’t know for sure if that’s true.”
Taryn raised a hand. “Let it go, Flintstone. Ryan is one of my wolves, and this situation is a tricky one. I intend to be there tomorrow.”
“I’m going too.” Jaime looked up at her mate when his fingers clenched in her hair. “I won’t stay behind, Popeye.” She’d given him that nickname due to his very muscular frame.
Of course, Dante—a wolf who valued control as much as Ryan did—wasn’t too happy with his mate’s response. Apparently he hadn’t yet resigned himself to the fact that Jaime would never be someone he could control, because he continued to pressure her to change her mind.
Several futile minutes later, a defeated-looking Dante burst out, “Fine, we’ll all go. But if this Makenna person makes a wrong move, we end her.”
Ryan’s wolf’s claws sliced out as the animal released a threatening snarl. The same snarl built in Ryan’s throat, and he forced himself to swallow it back. The idea of causing her harm . . . it went against something inside him. The reality that she was a lone shifter and had likely committed an appalling crime against her pack didn’t change that.
Ryan always listened to his instincts. And at that moment, they told him that Makenna Wray was going to be a world of trouble.
CHAPTER THREE
He’s not coming.”
Makenna looked at Zac. His eyes were darting everywhere as he slouched on the park bench, shoulders hunched, arms folded; he was subconsciously making himself seem smaller, just like prey. “He’ll be here.”
Zac looked at her, dubious. “What makes you so sure?”
“Because he almost ripped me a new asshole for keeping you from him. I’ll warn you, the guy’s pretty intense; he seems to have a natural scowl, and you might find him a little intimidating. But I don’t believe he’s a danger to you.”
“Why?”
“He’s protective of you.” It had been clear in not only his eagerness to meet Zac but his concession to go at Zac’s pace. She sensed that protectiveness was a part of Ryan’s makeup; that he’d ensure that anyone he classified as under his protection would have whatever they needed to be safe. “Some people have that trait stamped into their very bones—it’s in their nature to defend and protect.”
“Like you.” He shrugged at Makenna’s frown. “Even Dawn says you’re a natural-born protector.” Dawn owned and managed the shelter. It would be more accurate to say she was the heart of the shelter. Unmated, she’d dedicated her life to the cause of helping loners. Makenna was one of the many shifters that Dawn had helped over the years.
Uncomfortable with the admiration in his eyes, Makenna shifted in her seat. “We’re talking about Ryan, not me. He’s a dominant male, which means his instinct is to take control of every situation. They’re not really into that whole compromising thing, and they like to have their own way. Letting you call the shots shows that he cares about you.”
“He doesn’t know me.”
“You’re family; clearly that’s all that matters to him.”
Zac shook his head. “Even if he does come, he won’t want me. I’ve heard about the Phoenix wolves. They’re strong and powerful. I’m weak and—”
“Hey, hey, hey, look at me.” Makenna pinned him with her gaze. Voice hard and insistent, she said, “You are not weak. I don’t know what happened to you, but I do know you were strong enough to get yourself out of that situation. What a lot of people don’t realize is that it takes guts to run and take the chance of being caught. But you did it. You braved the lone wolf lifestyle. You survived the streets. You were brave enough to come to the shelter with me when I found you. And you were brave enough to agree to meet with Ryan today. You are not weak. You got me?”
Zac swallowed. “Yeah.”
She smiled brightly. “Good.”
“You’re scary.”
“Scarier than Madisyn?” she asked hopefully. She was not only Makenna’s best friend but another volunteer at the shelter.
He smiled. “She’s crazy. I like her. I like you. I like everyone at the shelter, and I like it there. Why can’t I stay? I won’t get in anybody’s way. I’ll help out. I’ll be good—”
“Kid, you’re breaking my heart here.”
“I don’t want to be in a pack, Makenna. I want to be like you.”
“Me?”
“You’re strong, and you look out for everyone, and nothing scares you.”
“Zac, I’m a single, mostly uneducated, deliberately annoying loner who works evening shifts at a gas station when she’s not doing volunteer work at a local shelter. Do not aspire to be like me.”
Sadness clouded his eyes. “You want to get rid of me, don’t you?”
“Hey, you listen to me. I’ll be very sad to see you go, Zac. But I can’t claim to care about you and then not do what’s best for you, can I? The shelter is a special place, but it can’t give you the things that come with being part of a pack.”
He scowled. “If being in a pack is so sick, why didn’t you join one?”
She knew “sick” loosely meant “great,” since she’d learned to interpret his slang
over the past few months. “I was twelve when I first went to the shelter. Back then, Dawn didn’t aim to rehome loners. Instead, she taught us how to integrate ourselves in the human community.”
“You’re the one who changed it and started rehoming them?”
“Yes.”
“But you could join a pack now, right? Why haven’t you?”
“Because it’s highly unlikely that any Alpha will condone one of their pack associating with loners, let alone volunteering at the shelter. And I like my life exactly as it is. But it still isn’t easy to be without a pack. My wolf accepts the situation, but she’ll never be satisfied and content. She’ll always feel like something’s missing, because being a loner goes against our nature.” That was why she worked so hard at rehoming lone shifters.
A football came bouncing their way. Makenna caught it and threw it back to the group of human teenagers a short distance away. The park was quite busy, which would hopefully reassure Zac.
After a moment of silence, Zac said, “I didn’t think I’d have to meet Ryan so soon.”
“And you felt like I was trying to get rid of you in a hurry. No, sweetie. He’s really intent on seeing you. I thought it would be best to get the first visit over with quickly. It might placate him a little.”
Zac frowned thoughtfully. “Oh.” He exhaled heavily. “What if I don’t like him? What if he wants me but I don’t want him?”
“Then you don’t go with him. But you can’t make a decision like that until you get to know him. All I’m asking is that you give him a shot.”
Zac looked away. “Whatever.”
She wondered why that one-word response from a teenager had the potential to make her want to scream. “So . . . do you think stairs are supposed to go up or down?”
He smiled. “Why do you always ask weird questions?”
“You’re assuming I do it for a reason.”
Chuckling, he shrugged. “Up.”