Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (21 page)

Shivers skid down my spine
and I lean forward to brace my hands on my knees
.
I
slowly exhale
.
“Meaning, they’re deadly.”

“I remember overhearing Malcolm talk
ing
about them
when I was younger
,” he continues to explain.
“
While these cats are deadly, h
e
did point out they
lived alone in the African jungle and bothered with no one
but themselves
, but he also said if they were ever captured and harnessed, the world would be in a load of trouble.
”

I stand back up
,
understanding
that
this presents a whole new set of problems for us
.
“
If we fi
gure out their weaknesses we can figure out how to defeat them.
Clearly someone has found
a way to gain control over them.
”

“
It’s dog against cat,” Stone says.
“
How bad can that be for us
?”

Logan’s brow rises.
“
Lethal
, considering cats have nine lives
.
”
He looks at me
and I take that time to wonder who is controlling them and what they might want with the master.
Had these panthers chased away our small army, or had they—
?
I
shut my mind down, refusing to go there, refusing to believe it could be true.

“Do you have any idea w
here
Gem
is?”
Logan asks.

“
The master put her
near
his quarters and is
keeping her close
.
I can only assume he’s distancing her because he
suspects she’s with us.
”

“
We can’t break out of here with her still trapped
,” Logan says.

“
And
exactly how do
you plan
on breaking out of here
?
Do you have a new plan
?” Stone asks
, his voice
challenging
, skeptical
.

“I
do
,” I announce
and they both turn to stare at me.
“Well not a plan exactly, but
a crucial first step in figuring one out.
”
At least I hope it is.
E
qual amounts of confusion and shock
spread across their faces
when I add, “
It requires me getting back into the
dungeon
.”

Logan
’
s
body stiffens as he
stares at me long and hard
, and I know he’s thinking about his
own
horrific experience
in the dungeon.
“Why?”

“What do you mean
why
?” Stone barks out
and once again I feel his mounting rage
.
“She’s not going anywhere near that room
, for any reason
.”

“
Stone—”
I begin
, frustration mushrooming inside of me
as I cut him off
.

Logan steps closer to me in a show of protection and his voice is low, concerned
,
when he says, “
Tell me why, Pride.
What’s in that
room?
”

With t
ension
visible
in his posture,
Stone cuts us both off and stares at Logan’s fresh scars.
“
Are you kidding me?
”
he barks out.

Logan
bares his
sharp white
teeth
, a warning for the other alpha to back down
.
“We need to listen
to her
.”

Stone gives a hard
shake
of
his head and adds, “
For a guy who
’
s
just
been
subjected to a round of torture
,
I can’t believe you’re
actually
entertaining the idea of letting her walk into that
hellhole
.
”
Stone
runs unstable hands through his
dark
hair, mussing the ends
before continuing, “
Do you have any idea what will happen to her if she gets caught.”

“Pride,” Logan says
, uncertainty flickering in his eyes
as they focus on me
.
His worried
gaze
move
s
over my face.
“Talk to me.
Tell me what’s in that room?
”

My heart quivers, because after everything Logan has been through because of me, he’s still willing to believe in me,
to
p
ut his future
, his very life,
in
my
hands.

I
’m not sure I deserve such faith because I’m not sure I can live up to it.
I
keep the emotion from my voice when I answer.
“
It’s where he stores the
keys to the compound.
I think I spotted the key to my cell.”

His blue eyes narrow carefully.
“You can’t think, Pride.
You have to be sure.”

I steady myself.
“I
am sure and I
have to get in there.”

“And once you free yourself, where are you going to go?
What will you do?
We’ll all still be caged.”

“I want to get to Gem.
To find out what she knows and figure out a way to free her
before we
come up with a new plan and
try to break out of here
.”

“How can you get to her
?
Th
e house has motion sensors.”

“Through the vents,”
I say.

Logan smiles at me
.
I
t’s warm and soft and
so
full of
unfettered
pride that my heart tightens
with
emotions.
“
See, s
o
metimes it really does pay to be small
,
”
he responds.

For a moment I think about how much Logan taught me
—a
bout myself and about the world—while we were running in the park
.
If it wasn’t for him, I never would have thought
of
my size
as
a strength
instead of a weakness
.

“
Maybe she can tell us what happen
ed
to your pack.
”
I
take in
the wall surrounding us.
“
With any luck they’re
still out there waiting for
some sort of s
ignal
from us
.”

Logan frowns.
“
I don’t think so, Pride.
I’ve been trying to communicate but can’t reach any of them.”

We both go quiet for a moment, thinking things over
and I can’t help but feel
both
sad and guilty.
How will I ever live with myself if something happened to them because they were trying to help
me?

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”
Stone
turns on
Logan
again
.
“And I can’t believe you actually let Pride return
here
.
She had her freedom
.”
He drives his finger into Logan’s chest, provoking him.
“Y
ou should have ensured she kept it.
You’re a sorry excuse for an alpha.
”

Logan’s nostrils flare, and I can feel his wolf pacing
, his every movement threatening
.
“Don’t push me
,
Stone,” he warns, keeping a level head
as Stone taunts him
.
“It’s not the time or place
for this.
A
nd Pride is strong
er
and smarter than you’ll ever know.
She can make her own decisions, and as her mate, I
’ll
support her
in whatever she decides.
”

“How can you possibl
y
call yourself her mate?
” Stone scoffs.
“
A
real
mate is supposed to protect, not let her walk
straight back
into danger.”

Something in the way Stone says
real
catches my attention, and take
s
me back to my time in the woods with Logan
.
I think about the way Logan reacted when he
first learned that I could speak telepathically to Stone in human form.
As my hackles rise I wonder exactly what’s going on here.
What do they know that I don’t?”

“Stone,” Logan warns
,
his teeth gritting
in
anger
, challenging the alpha with an unwavering stare
.
“I
am
her mate.”

Stone’s
eyes go suddenly
black
and
the sound coming from the depths of his throat is low and menacing
,
portraying his every
dark
emotion.
His
lips twist and the two share a knowing look
, one that disturbs me and has me questioning everything
.

“Right,”
Stone
responds
and
then my heart punches into my throat when he adds, “Except we both know otherwise.”

With that
Logan’s
control snaps and he hurls himself at Stone, delivering a hard punch to the alpha’s jaw.
Stone flies backward, and hits the ground
hard
, t
he sound
thunder
s
in the
air and prompts me into action.

Like Mario,
I’m smart enough to know that g
etting between two alphas in
the middle of
a dog fight isn’t
an intelligent
move, but I
need to neutralize this situation, partly because they’re drawing unwanted attention and partly because I
want answers and I want them now.

“Stop,” I say to Logan
, holding my hand against his chest
before he pounces
again
, then
I
turn on Stone
as he climb
s
to hi
s
feet
.
T
he look on his face
is
so
intense, so
dangerous I almost forget how to breathe
.
But
the anger still can’t mask the hurt I see
beneath that outer shell
, a
deep sadness that has my heart
squeezing.

“What are you talking
about?
What do you both
know?
”
I
demand
.

My nerve endings tingle as
Stone rubs his jaw, his
black
eyes lock
ing
on Logan’s
.
I try to tap into his
thoughts
but he’s blocked me and for a minute I’m not sure he’s going to tell me
what they know and I don’t
.
Then as if to taunt my mate
and provoke him
even
more than he already has
he
opens up
his thoughts
and
speaks to me telepathically.