Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (13 page)

My mother, as well as many of the other elders in the compound used to live normal
l
i
ve
s
until they were captured. They
all
used to be productive members of society and take to the mountains
during the full moon
in order to avoid hurting an
y
innocent
bystander
s
.

If only the world knew the truth
.
B
ut how can I change the minds of millions
?
I’m only one girl.
I can only take on one mission at a time, and currently that mission
could
mean the difference between life and death for every wolf in this compound.

As
the master
looks me over
again
—n
ot a trace of softness to be found in his sinister eyes
—t
he rain slows
overhead
, the
dark
clouds
scuttle
by in
a
brisk
,
noonday
breeze.
The afternoon sun struggles to make a presence and when a long warm ray
finally
manages to
break through and streaks across the courtyard, the mas
ter lowers his umbrella
and
I blink against the
sudden
brightness.

Once again
the master’s
tone takes on a hard edge and he says, “You will be bred.”
He
pins me with a glare, gauging my reactions when he
adds
, “
One week from tomorrow.
”

When the moon is at its fullest.

My heart
thunders
,
but
thoughts of the full moon have me thinking of Logan and how he saved me from myself three weeks ago.
I try to reach out to him, to connect, but my efforts prove futile.
As I look into the
m
aster’s hard face I wonder why he hasn’t tossed Logan into the courtyard with the rest of us
.

What does
he
want from him?

What will he do to
get it
?

Despite the years of hardening myself, there is nothing I can do to keep that worry off my face.
The
master
opens his mouth to speak, but then stop
s
to
study me carefully.

I swallow and
needing to get hi
m to
focus on something else I
say,
“If you don’t need to tame—”

“Maybe I need you to breed for other reasons, Pride
.
”

Why would he
need
to breed me?

He takes a threatening step closer and
once again
the hot stench of his anxiety washes over me
like a
deadly
wave
and turns my stomach
inside out
.

“
Be thankful for that.
”
He grabs my
cheeks
, squeez
ing
hard, and
puts his face dangerously
close
to mine
, so close in fact, I can smell
the
coffee
and
cinnamon
danish he’d
eaten
for breakfast
.
His voice drops an octave, as if to emphasize his next point when he says,
“
Because if I didn’t need you, you’d already be dead.
”

With that
warning
hovering in the air
and
zinging through my blood like
a
hot
bolt of lightning,
he lets me go
and
turns to
Lawrence
.
With
a dismissive wave, he says,
“G
et her cleaned up and bring her to m
e
.
You know where I’ll be.
”

Lawrence
hooks my collar with a chai
n
and
shoves me from behind to set me into motion.
My feet move in front of m
e
, but they feel numb
and
cold
—m
uch like the rest of my body.
As my mind races
I no longer
register
the mud or
gnarled
roots tangling in my toes, no longer feel the uncomfortable wetness of my drenched nightgown
clinging to my
body.

All I can think about is how terribly wrong things have gone, and what I must do to fix them.
I
’d made a vow long ago and
will
stop at nothing
until I free these wolves and crush the master.

Stone is talking to me, reaching out to me, but I block him
—m
y mind
is
too chaotic to understand what he’s trying to tell me
—a
nd the worry I hear in his voice simply makes me realize how
desperate the situation has become.

But it’s that desperation that fuels me on and has my brain strategizing my next move.
I
consider the kitchen and all its contents
as I’m led inside, looking for some
thing, anything that can help me.

Water drips from my body and pools on the floor, and Mica hurries to mop it up.
Her eyes meet mine as she moves past me and I can tell she wants to say something, but with Lawrence watching she pinches her lips
together
tightly
and
obediently
returns to her duties.

The enticing smells coming from the
bubbling pot on the
stove
causes
my stomach
to
grumble
, but I ignore the
aching
discomfort as Lawrence leads me to Miss Kara’s
suite on the second floor
.
We move down the long hall
way
and I notice the
hou
s
e seems to
be
exceptionally quiet, the drone of the
overhead lights,
and the hum of
the air
conditioner
piercing against the
deafening
silence
.

I inhale as he leads me down the hall, searching for Logan’s warm, familiar
scent
, but
the
faint,
memorable
fragrance
I catch instead has my senses going on high alert and
my feet slowing.

No.
It can’t be!

I glance at the vent
ilation
system overhead and a
hot fireball of terror blasts in my stomach
as the scent hits me
with the force of a
hurricane
gale wind
.
Unlike the faint aroma
the master
used to bait me in the forest, this smell is strong, fresh and instantly takes my mind on a journey back to when I was just a pup, to when my parents coddled me in the nursery.

What if I’m wrong?
What if he’s not dead?

Papa?

My
thoughts whirl
out of control
and
my
questioning
mind rac
es
a
million miles an hour
as I’m led
toward
Miss Kara’s suite
at the far end of the hall, which suddenly seems to be
closing
in
around me
, causing my lungs to seize in the most painful way
.

Could my father really be alive?
Could he really be here?
In the mansion?
Or is this
simply another
sick
way for the master to
bait me
.
To
break me.

My heart crashes hard against my chest
and my insides reel
as
Lawrence nudges me
along, my shoulder bouncing off the wall
.

“What’s the matter with you
?
” he taunts tightening my chain in his hand as my rattled mind wanders back to the past, to the
very bitter
day
the master removed my father from his cell.

It might have been a long time ago, and I might have been a mere pup, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
Remember
my mother’s
hot
tears
running down her face, remember
her valiant effort to comfort me
when she was in desperate need of comforting herself.
What I don’t remember
, however,
is being led
t
o the courtyard to watch the slaughter,
nor do I remember he
aring
the gun
shot
s reverberate off the distant mountains.

The master force
s
us to watch when he ma
kes
a kill, to teach
us
puppies that disobedience comes with a price
.
But he didn’t bring us into the courtyard that day, which s
uddenly
has me
question
ing
everything
.

Is it possible that
my father
hadn’t been
killed
that fateful day long ago
,
that the master had a b
igger purpose for him
?
If he’s been alive all these years,
however,
why
is he only
resurfacing now, when the master is
building himself an army to fight a threat I’ve yet to discover
?

With my legs trembling
and my mind focusing on
those I’ve loved and lost, I
stumble forward
and push down the pain I cannot afford to feel.

But how can I possibly stop thinking about my father’s scent?
How can I possibly stop wondering if he’s really alive or if
this is
simply the master’s way
of confusing my thoughts and keeping me off balance
?

Then again, after experienc
ing
freedom for the last three weeks, maybe being held captive again suddenly
has me imagining things
, conjuring up scents that aren’t here.
Maybe I’m simply losing
focus of what’s real and what isn’t.

Either way, a
s Lawrence shoves open the double doors leading to Miss Kara’s suite, I
know I must
pu
t all thoughts of my father out of my mind
for the time being
.
And the only way I can get through the next few hours is by convincing myself
that t
he master planted his scent on purpose.

Otherwise,
I’d be asking questions I might not want the answers to.
Like
why would
my father
have stayed away so long?
Why wouldn’t he have
tried
to
come for me?

Because there are things you don’t know
, some inner voice whispers.
Things you’re better off not knowing
.
I think of Stone, and remember his warning that I shouldn’t have come back, because it’s too dangerous for me now.
Could he have been talking about my father?

Disliking the dark path my thoughts are taking, and knowing I need to keep my head in the game
if I want to win the war
,
I
gather myself and
concentrate on my surroundings
.
I can’t let
the
master mess with my thoughts or shatter my hard
-
fought focus when survival dictates I look for a
new way out
of this prison
.