Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (31 page)

I do as he says, and soon
my legs are moving again.
I
make my way though
the vents
guided
only
by instinct
until I can feel his voice getting stronger and stronger inside my head.

When I reach his vent, I ease myself out, and land on the hard cement floor with a thud.
Heart hammering,
I
take in his quarters and that
’s
when I see his sle
eping bunk mates,
C
ruz and
S
tar.

Stone presses his fingers to his lips and gestures me closer.
With my knees threatening to give,
I sag against his cage and when he reaches through
the bars
and curls his arms around me, we both sink to the floor.
A shiver wracks my body and he hold
s
me tighter
,
offering
me
his warmth and protection.

We stay
locked together for a long
time, two lost wolves seeking comfort in the darkened cellar.
I choke back tears and when I sniff I breathe in his scent.
There’s something so primal and raw about
this alpha
that it almost makes me feel safe.

“Stone,” I begin, breaking the quiet, but
then I close my mouth because
no words need to be said between us.

Sensitive to my needs,
Stone brushes
the rough pad of
his thumb over my cheek
and the tenderness in his touch has me melting against him
.

“Shh,” he whispers and I sidle closer
as his soft words fall over me like a comforting blanket
.

Cradled in his arms, his warm familiar scent
seeps under my skin
and
I know it’s wrong to take comfort in his touch—which
feels
far more emotional than physical
.
Yet,
as Stone
adjusts his body and pulls me impossibly closer
, I don’t
stop him
.
I don’t even lecture myself
on how wrong this is
.

H
is hold tightens
and my small frame crushes against his
and while
everything inside me is warning
that I should
run, t
hat I should
get as far away from this alpha as I
possibly
can
,
I
let him wrap his arms around me
, l
et him absorb my grief
and
fears
.
H
e’s protective, caring and familiar and right now
and
I need that
more than I need my next breath
.

“You were trying to protect me,” I
finally
say
, tipping my head to look into his eyes
.

He drags his fingers through my hair
to tuck it behind my ear
,
then his eyes move over my face before
dips his head and presses his mouth to my forehead.
His warm breath washes over my f
lesh
when he whispers, “I
didn’t want you to know.”

I blink a fat tear from my eyes.
“How long have you known?”

“Only recently.”

I take a minute to process then say,
“He reached out to me the other night.
”
A shudder moves through me when I
add
, “
Until tonight,
I never knew if he was really here
in the mansion
or if he was simply a figment of my imagination.”
For a brief moment my mind goes to the bread and bacon
left for me
.
I’m not sure why I’m thinking about that
, or why it seems significant
, but I suddenly have the sense that he left it for me.
Honestly,
i
f I had known
,
I never would have touched it.
I’d rather starve than take anything from him
.

Stone inches back, his brow furrow
s
as he looks me over. “He
came to you in your cage
?”

I nod and Stone’s face goes dark.
“What did he want?”

I run over our conversation.
“My forgiveness.”

This seems to take Stone by surprise.
“You
r
forgiveness
.
What is he asking you to forgive?
”

“I…I guess for what he’s done.
Or maybe it’s for something he’s going to do.
I don’t know.”

“I don’t know either, Pride.
I just don’t know.”
He goes quiet and
he
brushes
the rough pad of his thumb over my cheek.

I blink up at him.
“What I don’t understand is how he
started working w
ith our master.
I know I was young and don’t remember a whole lot but wasn’t he a caged wolf like the rest of us?
”

“Your father was a very powerful alpha.
Maybe he was the one who had our master under control.”

That thought catches me by surprise, but s
peaking of powerful alphas has me thinking about tomorrow.
I swallow uneasily
and
when I say, “About tomorrow,” I
see a strain in hi
s
eyes
when they settle on me.

“What about it?”

“
Can you walk away
?”

Anger sharpens his words
and his muscles tighten
, but he still doesn’t pull away from me
.
“
S
o you’ve made your choice then?”

“Stone,” I hurry out. “I don’t want anything to happen to you or Logan.”

I see a flash of possessiveness in his eyes
and a low growl rumbles in his throat as his lips compress
.
“I’ll be fine
,
”
he answers through grit teeth.

I work to keep
myself from sounding
frantic
, knowing he won’t be fine
.
In a struggle for power,
Stone
should never underestimate Logan
, which makes it all that much more important for me to put a stop to this
.
“You
don’t have to
do this.”
An ominous wave of h
eaviness falls over us and the air crackles with tension.

“Do you really think I’m going to walk away?”
His nostrils flare and emotions thicken his voice.
“
And here
I
thought you knew me better than that.”

“
Can’t you just be happy and settle
down
with Sandy?
” I plead
, trying to change tactics
.

He gives me a perplexed frown and questions, “Sandy?
Why would you think I
’d
want to
settle
down
with Sandy?”

“Aren’t you
…
?”
My voice falls off as I reconsider the situation.
“Didn’t the master make you
…
?
”

“Make me what?”

“
M
ake you b
reed with
Sandy
,” I finally choke out.

Understand dawns in his eyes, then it
fades to
disappointment.
“So you think I’d do that?”

“Only if you had no choice
,
”
I
go on to explain, wanting him to know I understand.
Sometimes we do what we have to do to survive.

Which begs the question, did I mate with Logan because it meant surviving?
Or did I mate with him because I chose him?

Stone’s
face goes dark, thoughtful for a moment
and he gives me a look I can’t quite decipher
.
“When
you first brought up her pregnancy in the courtyard I thought you were angry with me for not being able to stop it.
”

“
That’s why you
were defensive?
”
I pause for a moment.
“
I thought it was because—”

“I’m not the father, Pride,” he says, and I feel a strange sense of relief rushing through me
, then anger moves in to take
its
place
, considering I shouldn’t be
worrying about such a thing when
there is so much more at stake.

“Then who is?”
I ask quietly.

“
I don’t know.
You’ve seen all the new
wolves in the courtyard
.
It could be
any
one of them.
”

Thinking about all the new wolves—animals under the control of my
dear
old dad
—has me once again thinking of the master and what he wants Stone and Logan to do.
A
moment of silence falls between
us
then I blurt out, “I don’t want you to fight with Logan.”

“You know I don’t have a choice
,
”
he counters
and the look on his face is almost frightening
.

I briefly close my eyes in distress.
“Yes
,
you do.
You can walk away.”

The muscles along his jaw ripple and his eyes are hard, unwavering when he says,
“What if I don’t want to
, Pride?
Have you ever
stopped to think of that
?
”

“Stone,” I say, and pound on his chest, the lump in my throat aching painfully.

His forehead creases
as h
e grips my fis
ts
and
pulls them to his mouth
.
His
warm lips
press against my fingers
to seal my protest
and he
just holds me like that for a long moment.
Then
, taking me by surprise,
h
e lowers my hands and
his lips
move to
mine
.
M
y breath catches in my throat
at that first s
oft
touch
.
His k
iss is so gentle
, so
achingly
tender
and so needy it catches me
off guard
and has my entire body going weak
.

Blindsided by his actions, m
y thoughts derail and a
melee of emotions run through me
.
A
s
Stone
connects with me in a
possessive
way
, a way
only a mate should
, it begins whittling away what little control I have
.
Then when I feel his hunger
—dark, primal, needy—a
nd hear a low growl in the depths of his throat
my composure
begins to
slip.
I trembl
e
from he
a
d to toe and my hackles bristle,
a physical reaction to
Stone’s
alpha
wolf
.

As a storm broils inside me
and my head begins to buzz
,
Stone
inches away and severs the intimacy.
He lets out a long
-
suffering
sigh and
I’ve never seen him look so
tortured
when he
says,
“It’s getting late.
You’d better get back before
someone
notices you’re missing.”