Reina's Mate (3 page)

“
We know the risks,”
Xavier spoke up. “We think they're worth it. If things go
south...we were playing with the idea of just leaving anyway. Guess
that would be decided for us.”

I looked toward the trees to find Griffith
walking towards us.

“
They want to help,” I
repeated.

“
I heard.” He looked the
men over. “Why should we trust you? It isn't every day people are
willing to betray their Alpha.”

I watched as they all flinched slightly at
having it put so baldly.

“
We're looking out for the
good of the people in our pack. John is starting to lose sight of
what's important. The people
are
the pack.”

I looked at Saccone thoughtfully.

He was right. Using Sofia in a political
deal was just the latest example of how he used different people in
the pack. Those incidents always made be feel uneasy, but he
justified them by reiterating that the end result was good for the
pack as a whole.

It was passed time to rethink that mode of
operation.

The fact that it took something happening to
Sofia to shake me up enough to actually do something didn't exactly
show me in a good light.

“
Alright. Last chance-
anyone having second thoughts?”

All of them remained silent.

“
Fine. You're adults.
You're allowed to make your own choices. I just hope this isn't one
you regret later.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “Some
information would be helpful. Has dad contacted Manny?”

“
No,” Donald said firmly.
“And I doubt he will. Makes him look weak that he can't control his
pack, especially his own daughter.”

That sounded accurate.

They filled us in on everything that had
happened after I'd left. Apparently, they had orders to use any
force they deemed necessary to bring me in.

Not surprising, but still hurtful.

And they'd all volunteered to come find me
when the last group had to head back after they drove into that
ravine.

“
OK. Well, we're waiting
on some information right now. Hopefully it'll come in soon and we
can move.”

“
Sounds good. It says no
vacancy up front, so we'll find somewhere to stay nearby. Just give
us a call if you hear anything.”

I nodded, shaking each of their hands as
they walked away.

“
That was really
unexpected.”

Griffith stepped up next to me.

“
Not to me.” I looked over
at him, surprised. “Your dad isn't someone who generally inspires
loyalty. And for good reason. But you...you're the kind of person
someone could put their faith in.”

I could tell he meant it.

Even after he'd put himself out there for me
all those years ago and I'd shot him down.

He still thought that of me.

Not knowing what to say, I kept silent as I
followed him back inside.

I could still remember the day he'd come to
me. He'd laid his heart out fearlessly, willing to put our
friendship on the line for the chance of something more.

And I'd been too young and too afraid to
take what I wanted.

Instead, I'd done what I'd thought was
right, what my father would have wanted me to do. He and Griffith
had never really gotten along, and as Griffith got older, their
relationship had worsened.

With the perspective age had given me, I
could see now that my father had lost Griffith's respect and he'd
known it. The fact that Griff was so obviously a dominant in the
making had just made the friction worse.

And now here I was. Finally on the same page
as Griffith about my Alpha, but only after something that affected
me too personally happened.

I didn't know if I was the kind of person
that someone could put their faith in.

But I knew that I liked that Griffith
thought that. And I was going to try to live up to it.

When we got back to our room, Griff headed
to the shower and I collapsed onto the bed.

I knew there was no way that I'd be able to
sleep, but maybe my body could rest a little. If I didn't hear back
from Bar in the next few hours, I might just call it and go in
blind.

This waiting was killer.

The bathroom door opened and Griffith came
back out in nothing but a towel.

I almost swallowed my tongue.

He'd filled out in all the right places, his
torso lean and ripped, his shoulders broad. His arms and legs were
thick with muscle.

And if that wasn't enough, he'd gotten
tattoos. An intricate black one on his left shoulder and another
one along his ribs on the opposite side. The artwork was gorgeous,
fluid and difficult to pin down.

And fucking sexy.

I unconsciously licked my lips as I forced
my eyes back up his body to his face.

To find him looking right back at me, his
light brown eyes darkening.

“
Don't look at me like
that unless you mean it,” he growled, turning away and walking over
to the window.

I stared at his wedge-shaped back, his
shoulders hunched in the slightest bit.

He was still vulnerable to me.

He was still vulnerable to me, but he'd said
yes to helping me without a second thought.

I felt so humbled.

And...and I felt hope.

Maybe...

“
I mean it,” I said
quietly, sliding out of bed.

His back tensed as I came up behind him. I
stared at my hand as I raised it and placed it gently on the
smooth, golden brown skin of his back, between his shoulder
blades.

He raised his arms and braced his forearms
against the glass of the window.

“
Reina, you're not
thinking straight right now. You're under a lot of
stress-”

“
Bullshit.”

He took in a shaky breath.

“
That's bullshit. Do you
think this is a spur of the moment decision for me? Do you think I
haven't lain awake in bed at night and thought about what I'd given
up when I didn't take what you were offering? When you were
offering me fucking everything?”

I smoothed my hand down the deep furrow of
his spine, still slightly damp.

His head dropped between his arms.

“
But if you can't forgive
me, or you don't want me anymore, just say the word. I won't
disrespect you like that.”

I waited, my hand resting on the soft skin
at the small of his back, covering the two shallow dimples there on
either side. My hand practically itched to move lower, down to the
round curves of his ass covered only by the cream-colored
towel.

He shook his head. His collar length hair
was drying, the sunlight gilding the edges of the wavy honey and
chocolate covered strands.

I let out a breath, my heart sinking as I
slowly withdrew my hand.

“
OK.”

His hand clamped down on my wrist, stopping
me from stepping back.

“
No.” He turned around,
resting his back against the windowsill. “I was shaking my head at
myself. You make me crazy. So crazy that I'm willing to risk being
hurt again.” He smiled, the edges of it a little sad and
self-deprecating. “There you go. Pathetic, huh?”

I shook my head, stepping in closer until
our fronts were just touching.

I looked into those eyes that were still
just as familiar to me as my own. I'd seen them full of mischief,
anger, happiness. And in the end, I'd seen them heartbroken and
known that I'd done that.

I cupped his face. It was older than it had
been, the planes and angles more sharply defined, the stubble
adding to that rugged, masculine face. But those eyes were still
the same.

Those eyes belonged to my best friend.

“
No. It's not pathetic.
It's brave. You always had more courage than I did. It was one of
the things I always admired about you. Your bravery and the
conviction you always seemed to have in your beliefs.”

He closed his eyes, reaching up to hold my
wrists.

“
Yeah, well, one of us had
to be irresponsible and selfish.”

“
Don't sell yourself
short. You weren't either of those. Well, not any more than any kid
is. You were exactly what I needed to balance out.” I stopped,
thinking about how life had changed from one day to the next when
he'd left. “It was really hard when you left.”

His eyes opened and he let go of my wrists.
He kept eye contact as he closed his hands over my hips and pulled
me even closer.

He was only an inch taller than me at a
couple of inches over six feet. The eye contact was almost
painfully intimate this close up.

“
I've waited a long time
for this. I can't wait anymore.”

He closed the distance and set his mouth
over mine, softly at first, brushing his lips against mine.

I made a sound in my throat and moved one
hand to the back of his neck, sinking my fingers into the soft hair
there.

He groaned.

And let go.

His mouth turned voracious, his tongue
sliding into my mouth, hot and silky.

He clamped a hand on my ass and slowly moved
us back until my knees hit the edge of the bed. I fell back with
him on top of me.

He pulled on my shirt impatiently and I
backed up to get it off, as frustrated with it as he was.

As soon as it was off, he was back on top of
me, our mouths attacking each other.

My hands were all over him and his were all
over me. I felt like I needed more hands just to touch everything I
wanted to all at once.

Griff ground his erection against me through
the towel that had somehow magically stayed on this whole time.

I slid my fingers along his waist until I
found the tuck and pulled it out.

Yanking on it, I managed to get it off his
back, but it was still stuck between us. Too impatient to work on
it immediately, I reached down with both hands to cup that round
ass.

Oh. Oh, yeah.

I dug my fingers into the resilient flesh,
kneading it as I slid my tongue against his.

He broke the kiss and reared up.

“
Take off your
pants.”

Roger that.

I unbuttoned and unzipped as he took my
shoes off. He came back up to hook my jeans and underwear and pull
them down, getting rid of the towel at the same time.

He stopped with them midway down my thighs
and leaned down to give a firm lick up my center, his tongue
flicking against my clitoris.

My eyes rolled back in my head.

“
Shit.”

He laughed as he finished pulling down the
last of my clothes.

My eyes focused again as he twisted to get
them off my ankles.

His erection bobbed with the movement, thick
and hard and obviously more than ready to go.

My hand was reaching for it before I even
realized it.

Griff hissed out a breath as I wrapped my
hand around his cock. He pushed into my hand watching as I
tightened my grip.

I heard my phone buzz with an incoming text
message.

My body almost staged a rebellion as I let
of Griff to reach for my phone on the bedside table.

I swiped to the texts and found one from
Bar.

“
What does it say?” Griff
asked, putting his hand on my thigh.

“
We have an hour to get
into place.”

We headed down to wait in the car. The
others said they'd be there within the next ten minutes.

I'd given my body a stern talking to and it
had decided to subside with a whine and a grumble.

It was just some bad fucking timing.

“
So, what's the
plan?”

“
Bar's called in a few
favors to get the guards over toward the edge of the territory. But
that means she can't stay- she's going to be coming with
us.”

Griff nodded.

“
We're going to have to
get past the normal patrols on that side, which shouldn't be a
problem now that we have some backup. We don't have enough time to
coordinate a way to get through without being seen- we're just
going to have to play it by ear.”

“
And once we have
them?”

I turned to Griff with a sardonic smile.

“
We run like
hell.”

He nodded.

“
Alright. I like the
simplicity- less chance of screwing shit up. But where are we
running to?”

I took a deep breath and let it out.

“
Back home. I'm not an
idiot- people are putting their faith in me for a reason. And I
have no desire to let anyone down.”

And if he was the first person on that list
in my head, so be it.

Griff put his hand on mine. I turned mine
over and squeezed his.

We switched gears as the guys showed up.

Then we drove back into Manny's territory,
heading for the area Bar had told us to. Once we got there, we
parked on the side of the road and stripped.

It was more practical to head in deeper on
all fours.

I stripped and let the burn of the change
sweep through me.

I shook myself, my fur ruffling out before
setting down smoothly.

Griff raised his head next to me, his
silvery coat tipped with a darker edge. He looked at me with the
same eyes he had in his human form.

Turning, I saw the rest ready to go.

Now or never.

I led my small army into the forest, knowing
we would probably get out by the skin of our teeth.

If at all.

The point we were supposed to meet at wasn't
far on foot.

Griff and I took point with Singh, Saccone,
Xavier, and Donald following close behind.