The Siege of Kadenburg (11 page)

And that’s what caused Rutley to pull away from him. He slowly opened his eyes, catching a glimpse of the pain in the other male’s eyes before Rutley got out of the bed and grabbed for his jeans.

Shit.

“I’m sorry.” Dimitri whispered.

“Don’t be,” Rutley shrugged as he hopped up and down, tugging his jeans into place. He glanced at him over his shoulder. The pain was no longer in his eyes, but Dimitri knew he was only hiding it from him. He could still feel it. “He was a hell of a guy.” Rutley didn’t give him a chance to say anything else as he pulled open the bedroom door and disappeared, leaving Dimitri with only his shame.

“You’re a hell of a guy, too,” He whispered. A guy he couldn’t, under any circumstances, fall in love with.

———————————

G
od, this really needed to stop happening. Rutley was seriously confused by Dimitri’s bipolar behavior. One minute he was mad at him and telling him to stay away from Kia, and then the next he was being nice and telling him they should give it a shot. Not that Rutley was relatively interested in dating a woman he barely knew, but what the hell?

He shook his head in frustration, opening the fridge door to peer inside. Damn it, the power was still out. Everything was probably ruined by now. Perfect.

He slammed the fridge door and moved to the cabinets above the sink, roaming through each one in search of some peanut butter and jelly. God, if they didn’t have any more PB&J, someone was going to be in for a world of hurt. How was he supposed to survive without his PB&J?

He was trying very hard not to think about the night before. He hadn’t meant for that to happen at all, but it
did
happen and they needed to deal with the consequences. He didn’t want things to get weird with Dimitri. They were friends, weren’t they? Surely they could work past it…..

“Morning.” Came the very feminine voice of Kia as she entered the kitchen. Rutley slowly turned his head to gaze at her, noting the way she lazily leaned against the doorframe.

For fuck’s sake, why was she wearing
only
a t-shirt?

Mother of God, somebody’s got it out for me today.
Rutley thought bitterly as he closed the cabinet door and decided to give up on his hunt for food. He had worse things to deal with right now. Being turned on by Dimitri, and now by the sight of Kia’s creamy thighs…it was going to be the death of him.

“Mornin’.” He muttered, his jawline working into overtime. This was bad. This was very bad. He needed to send her away, but then that would make him more of a prick than Dimitri had been last night. As it turned out, Kia Fallon was their brand new neighbor they didn’t even know about, and someone had trashed her place while she went out for drinks with some friends. She was too scared to go inside. Ironically enough, when Rutley went to investigate for her, he discovered her kerosene heaters were gone. What shitty luck, huh?

Of course they couldn’t just put her out in the cold like that. Dimitri wasn’t even
that
cruel, so the alpha wolf decided she could crash on the couch, but Rutley had to be in the bedroom with him. Rutley still wasn’t sure as to why given he
did
have his own bed to sleep in.

“So where’s your boyfriend?” Kia asked, catching Rutley completely off guard.

“My
what
?” Rutley sputtered, his eyes widening slightly as he stared at her.

“Your boyfriend. The hottie with the red hair?” She motioned to her own hair before grinning. “Still sleeping?”

“Yeah….but he’s not my boyfriend,” Rutley frowned. “We’re roommates.”

“Uh huh,” Kia replied. She did so in a tone that told Rutley she didn’t believe him. Ugh. Women. “Well, I’ll be out of your hair in a little bit. The power has to come back on at some point today, right? But I thought I’d try to stick around to say thanks to him. Is that okay with you?”

Rutley shrugged his shoulders, rubbing at the nape of his neck as he lowered his gaze to the linoleum floor, “Knock yourself out.” He mumbled.

There it was again. Her freaking scent was taunting him. It was so much worse considering she’d been in their apartment all night-letting her scent touch
everything
. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Between Dimitri’s intense fuck-me eyes and her fuck-me smell, he was going to die.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Rutley was pulled out of his seriously stressful thoughts when he realized Kia was standing right in front of him. She was staring up at him with wide Bambi eyes, and her perfect plump lips were forming a pout of worry. Jesus Christ, was she trying to kill him?

“I’m fine,” he blinked, his breath hitching in his throat. “I’m still trying to wake up. I usually have coffee by now but the pot’s not exactly working at the moment.”

“Ah, so you’re one of those types,” She grinned, her hands falling to rest against her curvy hips. “Gotta have that coffee, don’t ya?”

“As a matter of fact, he does.” Dimitri glowered as he stepped into the kitchen. He was still shirtless, but he’d at least put on some jogging pants. They fit snugly against his hips, not leaving much to the imagination. God damn, someone was trying to kill Rutley for sure now.

“Oh, hi!” Kia chimed as she whirled around to face Dimitri. She put on a bright smile, showing all her teeth as she twirled a lock of bright purple hair around her finger. “Thank you so much for letting me crash here last night. Chivalry isn’t dead yet, is it?”

Rutley snorted softly, rolling his eyes. She had no idea the trouble he’d gone through just to get Dimitri to let her stay. Dimitri didn’t do it because he felt the need to rescue damsels in distress. He did it because Rutley had gotten exceptionally good at giving ‘puppy eyes’.

“Don’t sweat it.” Dimitri mumbled as he started roaming the cabinets. The muscles in his back danced beneath his skin, causing Rutley’s eyes to bulge out of their sockets. He’d seen Dimitri shirtless hundreds of times. This wasn’t any different, right? Of course it wasn’t. Why did he suddenly feel like a teenage boy who’d just seen his first pair of tits?

“Where’s the fucking PB&J?” Dimitri asked as he turned around to stare at Rutley.

“We don’t seem to have any,” Rutley frowned. “Trust me. I already looked for it.”

“Oh, no PB&J?” Kia frowned. “That bites. Do you guys want to get breakfast with me?”

Both males turned to stare at her as if she was out of her mind.

“You do realize there’s about a foot of snow out there, right?” Dimitri asked. “Kadenburg is basically out of service until this shit clears up. The only open place you’ll find is the hospital.”

She chewed her lower lip, rocking back and forth on her heels. She didn’t seem to be bothered by Dimitri’s glares or the contempt laced in his voice. Rutley was a little fascinated by that. Either she had really tough skin, or she simply didn’t care. He wasn’t sure which one it was yet.

“Well then let’s go to the hospital,” she nodded. “I’m sure they have PB&J-and coffee.”

“I’m not going to the hospital just for a sandwich,” Dimitri rolled his eyes. He reached into a small box on the counter, pulling out a snack cake. “I’ll do just fine with this. Thanks.”

“Oh my gosh, is that an Oatmeal pie?” Kia asked with wide eyes.

Dimitri glanced at the cake in his hand before staring at her. He lifted a brow, “Yes…..”

“I
love
Oatmeal pies.” Kia sighed.

A total of five seconds ticked by before Dimitri grunted.

“Would you like to have an Oatmeal pie?” Dimitri asked flatly.

“Oh, thank you. How very sweet.” Kia batted her eyelashes, and damn it, Rutley felt his rock hard length twitching within the confines of his jeans. Was there anything this girl did that
wouldn’t
turn him on? It wasn’t easy having both of them in the room with him at the same time.

The she-wolf and the ‘hottie with the red hair’ would surely be the demise of Rutley Holter.

H
e’d never touched a cigarette in his entire life, yet as soon as his parents pulled up outside, Lorcan was immediately asking for one. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to deal with what his mate had just told him. How was he supposed to comfort her? How was he supposed to accept the words she spoke in their bedroom? It was so far-fetched….yet anything was possible in the world of ursithropes.

“Where is she?” Mrs. Bamey asked as she trudged through the snow, making her way towards the steps.

“Inside,” Lorcan replied, lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag. He immediately regretted that. He instantly began to cough, earning a chuckle from his father as he held the cigarette back out to him. “She’s trying to take a hot bath to relax.”

“A hot bath?!” Mrs. Bamey wailed as she turned to stare at him from the top of the steps. “Lorcan, there’s no power anywhere. She’s going to freeze to death.”

“No, she’s not,” Lorcan frowned as he took the steps two at a time, stomping his boots against the wooden flooring to remove the excess snow. “I put a heater in there with her. She’s fine. I wouldn’t let my future wife freeze.”

“Your mother knows that, Lorcan. She’s just on edge,” Mr. Bamey frowned as he joined them on the porch. He had the cigarette Lorcan had previously been smoking between his lips, staring back and forth between his wife and son. “Everybody’s a little on edge.”

“I’m catching onto that.” Lorcan muttered with a frown.

“What’s going on, Lorcan?” His mother asked as her brown eyes gazed at him, full of concern. “You can talk to us, you know.”

“I know,” Lorcan nodded. “But not out here. We need to go inside where it’s warmer.”

“I’m not opposed to that.” Mr. Bamey nodded as he opened the front door and stepped inside. Lorcan and his mother followed behind the older male, welcoming the warmth that embraced them as the door swung shut.

Mrs. Bamey made herself comfortable on the couch with Mr. Bamey at her side, while Lorcan opted to sit down in the recliner across from them.

“I need to know what’s happening to her. She says she saw Liam in her dreams. She says he showed her things about her father and Aunt Natalie. She says..” He lowered his voice. “She saw Urseth himself.”

“What?” Mrs. Bamey gasped. “I mean…Liam?” She asked. “And Urseth?”

Lorcan nodded, “And she said that Liam needed to show her memories she had to understand. He said it’s what Urseth wants.”

“Oh, heavens,” Mrs. Bamey clutched her chest. Her face paled significantly as she turned her head to stare at her husband. “She is a delegate!”

“A what?” Lorcan frowned. How did his parents and Presley know the term, but he didn’t? Wouldn’t that be a part of his vocabulary? He’d known about his heritage a hell of a lot longer than Presley. That just didn’t make sense.

“A delegate,” Mr. Bamey echoed. “They are messengers of Urseth. Ursithropes who are specifically chosen to carry out tasks. They represent Urseth here on earth, and they share his will with the rest of us.”

Lorcan stared at his father in disbelief, “So you’re telling me Presley is one of his messengers?”

“Oh yes,” Mrs. Bamey nodded eagerly. “It is such an honor to be given, and I am not at all surprised.”

“What do you mean?” Lorcan frowned. “I mean…I knew she was special. She can feel others’ emotions and-”

“She’s an empath! Like Louisa!” Mrs. Bamey nearly squealed in excitement. “Oh, good Urseth, she is so gifted. Who could’ve ever imagined she would take after her father and Natty!”

“Wait, what?” Lorcan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Pierce and Natalie Carroll were just like Presley? How had he never known any of this? Why was he just now hearing about a freaking delegate in the first place? Somebody had a lot of explaining to do…..

“Yes,” Mrs. Bamey stated sadly. “Pierce and Natalie were two of Urseth’s delegates, and we all had high hopes that Breslin Connor would carry through with his word of the truce. We were so certain…..he could be persuaded by Pierce.”

“But instead the fucker killed him.” Lorcan mumbled.

“Lorcan Charles Bamey!” His mother snapped angrily. Lorcan actually winced. It was very rare for his mom to toss in the middle name. “I better never hear that word leave your mouth again. I do not care how old you get, I will bend you over my knee and blister your rear, do you hear me?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Lorcan replied apologetically.

“What’s going on?” Presley asked in a soft voice as she entered the living room.

Lorcan turned his head in her direction, taking note of the soft pink robe she was hugging around her body. Her damp curls were still clinging to her face as her green eyes drifted from one person to another.

“Presley, you shouldn’t let your wet hair be exposed to cold air right now,” Mrs. Bamey stated worriedly as she stood from the couch and hurried towards her. “Come here, dear. Sit down.”

Presley was confused as the older female guided her to the couch.

“Did something happen?” Presley asked as her eyes met Lorcan’s.

“Oh, no, sweetheart,” Mrs. Bamey cooed gently before she pushed the golden haired beauty down onto the couch beside of Mr. Bamey. “We just wanted to come check on you; make sure you’re surviving the power outage.”

“Don’t lie to her,” Mr. Bamey grunted as his gaze settled on Presley’s face. “We’re here because Lorcan had a lot of questions.”

“Questions?” Presley frowned. Again she found Lorcan’s gaze as her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth.

Crap. Now she’s going to be mad at me,
Lorcan thought as he offered her an apologetic smile.

“Yes. He told us about your dream,” Mrs. Bamey responded as she remained standing, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not trying to pry or anything, sweetheart, but it would help if you could tell me exactly what happened in that dream.”

——————————-

L
ouisa hated feeling awkward, but what was she supposed to do when her cousin decided to leave a nearly frozen sheriff’s deputy in her care? She didn’t know how to help the poor girl, and she definitely couldn’t handle the fifty different emotions wafting off the female’s body. She was confused, angry, sad, scared, lonely, and so many other things that Louisa couldn’t be sure which was which at this point.