Authors: Unknown
“So we’d better start making plans,” Grant said.
“We can’t. Until we know if Gallagher is on the team. Because he has to be an integral part of any attack,” Antonia said.
This time the riders were not in complete agreement. Some of them seemed to think that they could go up against Vandar on their own.
Kenna knew they were fooling themselves. “You do it,” she blurted, “and we all die. Or end up as his slaves. Then he’ll get into this world, and there will be nobody to save the rest of the people.”
Talon gripped her hand.
“Let’s be optimistic,” Ross said into the silence that followed her pronouncement.
They drove to where they’d left the other SUV, and half the team piled out and into the second vehicle.
“I’ll head for Rocky Mountain National Park,” Ross said. “There are some towns between here and there. We’ll look for a comfortable resort in a quiet location, preferably with cabins. That way, we’ll have more privacy for our planning session.”
She saw Talon glance at her and felt a sudden jolt. He was thinking about privacy, but not because he wanted to make invasion plans. He was thinking about the two of them.
They rode through the unfamiliar scenery, so different from the land around Breezewood or Talon’s lodge. Maybe there was no way Vandar could conquer this whole, vast land, but she didn’t want to leave that to the gods—not when it could go the wrong way.
They stopped at the Mountain Escape Lodge. It had the same kind of name but it was a lot bigger than Talon’s lodge. In addition to the main building, cabins were scattered in the trees around the grounds.
When Ross got out and went into the office, Talon followed. When the two werewolves came back, they both looked pleased.
“We’ve got a group of cabins up there,” Ross said, pointing to a ridge overlooking a lake where boats were tied up at wooden boardwalks.
“It’s been a long trip, so why don’t we all try to relax for a few hours. I’ve got a larger cabin, where we can bring in dinner and have a planning session.”
He dropped each of the couples off at a cabin. The moment they were inside the door and Talon had kicked it closed with his foot, he and Kenna fell into each other’s arms.
She should have been thinking about how to defeat Vandar. Instead, she’d been thinking about this, because every moment alone with Talon was precious.
When he lowered his mouth to hers, she met him with an intensity that seemed to explode in a burst of heat.
They devoured each other as their hands worked at buttons, buckles, and zippers.
She hadn’t even taken a look at the bedroom. All she’d seen was the rug on the wooden floor in front of the fireplace. They made it that far, falling naked together, where they held each other and rocked.
He was inside her almost as soon as they were horizontal, and she was ready for him, her hips moving as frantically as his as they pushed each other to an explosive climax. Afterwards, they lay breathing hard.
Still joined to her, he rolled them to their sides, kissing her tenderly as his hands moved over her.
She had thought the storm was over, but as he stroked and kissed her, she felt her arousal building again. He was still inside her, and she could feel him hardening again as her inner muscles made involuntary little clenching movements around him.
He grinned down at her. “That’s nice.”
“I didn’t know it could be like this,” she whispered.
“Neither did I.”
She stared at him in wonder. “But you must have . . .” She let the sentence trail off.
“It’s
never
been like this. Because we belong to each other—a werewolf and his life mate.”
She couldn’t stop herself from saying, “What if it all ends in a few days?”
“It won’t!”
“But what if it does?”
“Then we will have had this together.” He gave her a fierce look. “I thought I was going to lose you on the road when that thing came swooping down.”
“I thought I would lose you when you jumped in front of me. You couldn’t fight him!”
“But I had to try.”
She felt her desperation surging as she found his mouth again and began to kiss him with an urgency that shocked her. He was her mate, and she was going to lead him into danger. Perhaps fatal danger.
“No,” he answered, and she knew that the intimacy had given him access to her mind. “We’ll win.”
She let herself absorb his certainty, because maybe that would be enough for the two of them.
He bent to suck one of her taut nipples into his mouth using his lips, his tongue, and his teeth while he pulled and twisted the other with his thumb and forefinger, building the heat rushing through her veins.
As he did, he moved his hips, just a little, just enough to inflame her.
When she surged against him, he slipped one hand down her back, clasping her hips. “Stay still.”
It was difficult to obey when she wanted to push for completion. But she did as he asked, letting him build their need slowly, until it was impossible to simply stay passive.
She reached around him, stroking and kneading his ass, hearing his growl of approval.
They made the decision at the same time, both of them suddenly moving with frantic urgency. Climax rolled over them, pressing them together as it lifted them into a place high above the mountains where the air was almost too thin to breathe.
They clung to each other, finally drifting off to sleep in each other’s arms. Some time later, a ringing noise woke her, and she blinked, trying to remember where she was.
“The phone,” Talon said, getting up and answering.
He talked for a few moments, then hung up. “Ross is getting the meeting started in half an hour.”
“Then let’s hurry. I don’t want to walk in late and have everybody staring at me again, knowing I’ve been making love. They’ll think that’s all we do.”
He laughed.
“I see that doesn’t bother you at all. You’re a man.”
“Yeah. But I’ll hurry up, because that’s what you want to do.”
She grabbed her clothes and made a quick trip to the bathroom, then combed her hair, wishing she had a little of the makeup women used in this world.
Talon appeared in the mirror in back of her. “You’re beautiful.”
When she looked uncertain, he turned her toward him. “Never doubt yourself.”
She met his eyes. “I had the confidence beaten out of me by Vandar. Well, not literally. He didn’t actually hit me. But you know what I mean.”
“Yeah. And we’ll make sure he doesn’t do it to anyone else—ever again.”
They walked to Ross’s cabin, where they were the first to arrive. And that made her uncomfortable, too.
“Can I help you set up the meal?” she asked Talon’s cousin, amazed that a man was doing domestic work.
He answered easily, “Sure. I’m not that great at this kind of thing. But I knew what to buy at the grocery store down the road—from get-togethers my mate and I have had. Plastic plates and cutlery. Meat for the guys. Salads for the women.”
He began setting up. After watching for a moment, Kenna made herself busy helping put out the plates and utensils. As the other women came in, they joined her, and she felt good about the way they worked together.
When the others had all arrived and helped themselves to food and drinks, they pulled chairs and sofas into a circle where they could discuss the problem.
“Are we talking about opening a new portal?” Rinna asked.
“Is that too difficult a way to start off?” Ross asked.
“I’d prefer to use my energy to fight the adepts,” she answered.
Ross looked at Kenna. “How many does he have?”
She considered the slave population. “Maybe fifty or sixty. But only a few have great power.”
“And how many soldiers?”
“Also fifty or sixty. Swee, Barthime, and Wendor are the chief adepts. They opened the portal.” She stopped and thought. “With help, I guess, because they told me it took ten men. They also prepared me for the trip here.”
Ross nodded. “They’re not the only ones who opened a portal. There’s one near Jacob’s home in Maryland.”
Her eyes widened. “I didn’t think about there being another one.”
“That’s where Rinna first came through.” Ross paused for a moment. “But in this case, I don’t think we should use it, given the difficulty of traveling through the badlands. That would also drain too much of our energy.”
“Okay. Let’s assume we’ll use the portal that Vandar’s adepts opened.”
Ross turned to Kenna. “Do you think he’ll have adepts at the portal, or just soldiers?”
“I think he’s not expecting adepts from our world. So I’m guessing he’ll just have soldiers. But I can’t be sure,” she added quickly.
“Then let’s assume we can overpower a conventional force with wolves and our superior weapons,” Ross said.
“Then what?” Logan asked.
“Then we subdue the rest of the soldiers and the adepts.”
“How?”
“We’re going to need Sara and Olivia,” Ross answered. “Those are the wives of my brothers, Adam and Sam. Sam changed his last name to Morgan when he moved to California.”
“Will they want to risk getting into this?” Kenna asked.
“I think so, when they hear an evil monster from the other universe wants to take over
this
world.”
Antonia cleared her throat, and everyone turned toward her.
“There’s something we haven’t discussed,” she said. “Is this too big to handle by ourselves? I mean, have you considered telling someone in the U.S. government?”
The group was silent for several moments. Ross finally answered. “I’ve thought of it. I’d like to get help, but there are too many problems. We’d have to reveal that there
is
another universe parallel to this one. Who would believe that? If they did, what kind of panic would it create?” He stopped and made a rough sound. “And would the government try to exploit it?”
There were murmurs of agreement around the room.
“And then there’s the danger of revealing who we are,” Antonia’s mate, Grant, said.
The other men nodded.
“So I think we’re stuck with handling it on our own,” Ross said.
“I was just posing the question,” Antonia murmured.
“I know. And it was something we had to consider,” Ross answered. “But at the end of the day, we can’t.”
“Which means we need more concrete plans,” Logan said. “And better intelligence. We’ve worked together as a team before, but never fighting such a large force.” He glanced at Talon. “Well, the rest of us have worked together.”
“I’m with you,” Talon snapped.
“He’s the one who initially called me,” Ross reminded them.
“What about Vandar’s soldiers?” Talon asked. “Won’t they be right at the entrance to the portal?”
Kenna thought about that. “When I came through a few days ago, some of them came to guard me, but only the adepts entered the cave with me. The soldiers were outside, so they couldn’t see what I was doing.”
“Okay,” Talon answered. “So let’s get back to Vandar himself. Will he make us come into his lair to get him?”
“He’s not going to hide from you. He’ll put on a show of force,” a voice answered from the doorway.
Everybody turned to see that Ramsay Gallagher had stepped into the cabin.
“How did you get here?” Ross asked. “I didn’t tell you where we were.”
“I noticed that little oversight.”
Kenna knit her fingers together so hard that they ached, and her knuckles turned white. “You didn’t have to tell him,” she said in a strained voice. “He knows. Because of me.” She gulped. “Now that we’ve done that mind thing, I guess I can’t hide from him.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
MITCH SUTTON WAS about to step out of the woods when he heard the sound of a vehicle coming up the long drive that led to Talon Marshall’s house.
He’d stayed away since the big dog had chased him. Now he was back—prepared to finish what he’d started.
Before he could approach the house, a couple of SUVs pulled up in the driveway, and a whole crowd got out. Men and women.
Were they customers? People who were coming here at the start of a wilderness trip?
He peered at the men. Most of them were similar types. Tall, rangy, and dark-haired. Maybe Marshall was having a family get-together, which was bad timing for a fire. Or a robbery.
Time to get the hell out of here for a while.
AFTER unlocking the door, Talon stood on the porch, sniffing the air. Once again, he thought that it didn’t smell quite right, like there was someone lurking in the woods who shouldn’t be there.
“Smell that?” he asked his cousins.
“I’m not sure,” Ross answered. “You know this area better than we do.”
“I’m wondering if that guy who tried to burn the place down is back.”