Wild Hunts (10 page)

And worst of all, he didn’t know why. What the hell had he done wrong?

The hinges on the cabin door creaked. Micah closed his eyes and slowed his breaths, soaking in the wild scents surrounding him. When the sweetness he knew belonged to Kasa, and Kasa alone, crept into the mix, his heart did an unusual double thump. Subtle weakness shot down to his ankles on a ripple of warmth.

Brittle leaves crunched in time with footsteps. Each approaching step added strength to the energy that connected them. Never in his life had he experienced such a phenomenon. His nerves hummed like live wires, desperate to connect with her. He
ached
to feel her in his arms again, to know she didn’t cast him off like a rogue wolf. He hadn’t been given the chance to prove himself to her.

From the corner of his eye, he caught the pale glow of flesh brimming the top of the truck bed. His breath hitched and he lifted his chin off his chest to better capture the delightful sight of his precious mate.

Kasa’s amber eyes quickly averted his own. She ducked her head, her lustrous black mane falling over her face like a cape. Tension slowly coiled as the silence drifted between them.

At last, Micah realized he had been holding his breath and let it out with a sharp sigh.

“Kasa, listen. I’m sorry for whatever I did—”

“No. It’s not your fault. You didn’t know. I–I’m sorry.” She turned her eyes—those beautiful, magical eyes—back to him. The sadness, the grief, damn, that
shame
filling her eyes twisted his heart. He began to sit up when she shook her head. “Can I come up there with you?”

“Of course.” Micah climbed to his knees, halting her in her trek to the tailgate. “I can lift you. Come on.”

Kasa’s gaze flickered between him and the closed tailgate. The faintest of grins tugged the corner of her mouth, and she reached up for him. Micah hooked his arms beneath hers and hoisted her over the high side without any exertion. Hell, she was light as a leaf, delicate as rose petals in this winter night.

He briefly noted her attire—sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt—that hid every curve of her body from his sight. And yet, having only seen her for a short time, he could easily make out the gentle slope of her breasts and calm flare of her hips.

“I have another pad,” Micah murmured. He flipped open the tool box and pulled out a rolled bed pad. When Kasa moved to help him, he issued the softest smile he knew and eased her back on her rear. “I’ll get it for you. Just relax. I’m sure your night’s been far more taxing than a simple trot in the woods.” With a lighthearted chuckle, despite the heaviness in his gut, he added, “We probably triggered much of your anguish.”

“Micah.”

The throaty tinge to her voice was electricity against the wires of his nerves, bringing him to pause. His fingers curled into the foam. Questions rumbled through his mind. God, that voice nearly whispering his name could unravel him in a blink.

Moistening his suddenly dry lips, he unrolled the pad and lined it up alongside his. He pulled another wool blanket from the box along with two small pillows and fixed up a comfortable bed.

Kasa nodded as he sat back. “Thanks.”

“I’m sure you’ll be hoppin’ out of the bed soon enough. The night’s not conducive for camping without heat.” He patted the area beside him. “Settle in, precious.”
I’ll keep you warm.

Kasa crawled up to the new pad as he settled back on his. Tucking an arm beneath his head, he noticed she hesitated. A small furrow etched into her brow.

“Would you…I mean, can I…” Her eyes lingered along his chest. Micah couldn’t help but smile at the cute way she nibbled her lower lip. He spread his arm out.

“Come here.”

Kasa lowered into the side of his body. He tugged her close. This was where she belonged. Snug against him, the silk of her hair caressing his arm. The sweet, lovely scent of white wolf filling his nostrils. Her fingers spread over his chest and her head came to rest over his heart. Did she notice the unsteady beat it held? A waver in his usual composure?

“What happened earlier, Micah. It really wasn’t your fault. Jordan convinced me it was safe to speak about what happened to me a few months ago, so I told Slade.” Another sting to his pride. His brother knew her secret before him. He did everything to swallow back the tension that threatened to bubble up from his gut. Two of her fingers played with a button on his shirt. “I’ve tried to forget, but there are times the memories are triggered. When your…the feel of your teeth on my wrist…well, it reminded me.”

That was it? Such a simple, rather arousing, motion triggered her panic?

He lifted his head and glanced down at her. She lay with her head tilted too far down for him to see her expression.

“What happened to you?” Micah urged quietly.

“I was dating someone a few months back. He was the first guy Jordan actually approved of in my line of eligible boyfriends. The man’s name was Tom Hardy, and he belonged to a small pack that held grounds just beyond the Washington border into Oregon.”

“But your brother was aware you were appointed mates,” Micah said. He glanced up the shadow-shrouded hill. A dim light flickered in Jordan’s cabin at the crest, obscured by thick trees. That bastard allowed his woman to frolic around with other men? “Why the hell would he—”

“It’s done, Micah, but it explains Tom’s vague detachment from me, even if he showered me in affections,” Kasa said. Her words held a wisp of clarification that did little to settle the jealousy stirring in his soul. Having her now, in his arms, he didn’t want to imagine her bed-mussed by another man. Except for Slade. “Regardless, we had been dating for roughly two months when he disappeared. Jordan insisted that he would be back. He probably had to settle some small territorial dispute back home. But even I could tell he was as curious as I about Tom’s abrupt leave.

“We tried to learn of his whereabouts through our connections with other packs. No one heard of him, knew of him, or had seen him. One of my brother’s pack mates had a friend who had connections with Tom’s pack and learned that he never returned home.

“Three weeks later, Tom reappeared. Jordan was furious. I was hurt. I ignored him until he was at my door, groveling for my forgiveness. He brought me gifts every day for a week straight. He wrote me long notes of apology, spilling open his heart. In the end, I gave him a second chance.”

Micah’s teeth clenched hard. A dull pain started thudding in his temple. Jealously was a nasty fuck, one he never cared much for. But his jealously tangled with his need to protect, and here he lay, listening to a story from the past, knowing the outcome would leave him helpless.

Just like with Reiny.

“His apology wasn’t genuine, I’m assuming,” Micah said. The raspy bite in his tone had Kasa turning to look up at him. The pain in her eyes twisted his heart. Tears shimmered along her lashes. He reached up and wiped them away with his thumb. “Sorry. I’m a jealous bastard.”

“You barely know me.”

“I know you all the same.” He inclined his chin. “Go on.”

“Something happened to Tom when he was away. Something that made the wolf in his spirit snap at the smallest things. Within a matter of days, I went from hopeful to fearful. His moods reflected those of a rabid animal. His apologies became more and more hollow. His eyes…They scared me shitless. They’d go from comprehensive to mad in a blink. He had turned violent. I broke it off with him. Jordan threatened to kill him, and his pack, if he didn’t leave me alone.

“He left, and a couple days later, returned with a man I’d never seen. The scents that surrounded them were acrid, evil. The stranger shackled my ankles and my wrists until I was helpless, tied to my bed with a beast hovering over me. Tom started talking about caves and captive wolves. He started muttering about the Dark Moon sisters and their hunt for the whites. He laughed when he declared my destiny at the hands of those women, and he’d be rewarded when he turned me over to them. He told me that there were so many wolves that the sisters had, so many members of their pack they had kidnapped and retrained.”

A shudder coursed through her. It resonated through the solid wall of Micah’s ultra-tight muscles. This was sounding awfully familiar…

He tried to swallow, but his rage had swelled in his throat. Air barely drafted into his lungs around the sudden constriction. A flash memory of his sister filled his mind before Kasa’s soft, expressionless voice filtered through the vision.

“They held me captive to their own torture. Jordan had been beyond reach, hunting with the pack. I screamed for him for minutes. For hours. At last, he heard me and came to my rescue.”

“And this Tom?”

“Jordan slaughtered him and the man, after torturing information out of the two wolves. That’s why we began tracking the holding cells. After I healed, we realized there were so many helpless wolves out there, lost to their packs, being held captive against their wills. With each hunt and release, we learned more about who was behind it. The more cells—nothing more than deep, secluded caves—we breached, the darker the secrets became. We continued to get closer and closer to the den.”

“The den is here,” Micah revealed. Yes. He already knew that from tracking the very same creatures that had nearly taken his mate.

Before he could stop himself, he muttered, “Our sister was murdered by one of the turned wolves. The Dark Moon sisters have stepped up their game after Laela and Eliza were murdered by your cousins and their mates. They’re desperate to avenge their deaths, and will stop at nothing to do so.”

The flood of that nightmarish evening wrapped a cold hand around his heart and squeezed until ice chipped in his blood.

“She was ambushed one night while we were hunting. I suspect they thought she was you, the sacred mate to Slade and myself. Those wolves aren’t the brightest, even after their reprogramming. They’re sent out with one objective in mind: kill the white. Most of the wolves held no memory of their arrival at the den. Slade and I managed to corral a few before disposing of them. We learned what we needed to start our course of action.”

“Slade didn’t mention you had a sister.”

“I let Micah bring her up.”

Micah tipped his head and spotted his brother gazing over the back edge of the truck bed. Kasa shifted onto her forearms, bracing herself against Micah’s chest. He refused to let her go.

“Mind if I sidle up? I’ll help the convection in the bed keep us warm for the rest of the night.” He glanced up at the horizon, his eyes narrowed. “Or pre-dawn.”

“I’m sure not even
I
could keep you away tonight,” Micah groaned. Slade chuckled and vaulted into the bed. He stretched out on the pad Micah had laid out for Kasa, crossing his arms beneath his head. He kicked one leg on the wheel well and sighed. A wave of heat cracked the wintry blood in Micah’s veins when Kasa edged her leg over his hip.

“Micah still holds himself responsible for Reiny’s death. He was the one who issued the orders to track a peculiar scent, which split us up and left us open for the attack,” Slade explained quietly. Micah closed his eyes. He rested a kiss against Kasa’s soft hair. The guilt he bore from that evening never stopped haunting him. He had led them astray. He had caused them to split up, weakening them. Reiny would’ve survived had both Slade and he been next to her. “What he doesn’t realize is that I hold just as much guilt from that night as he. We can’t change what happened. We lost our sister, but within days of her death, we caught your scent trail. And so did those fucked-up dogs.”

“Jordan and I have been very careful to throw our scents. If any of the rebels tracked us, Jordan disposed of them immediately,” Kasa said.

“He might have disposed of them, but with each death, the sisters have gotten smarter. There has never been a time you have
not
been tracked,” Slade said. Micah caught the stiffening of Kasa’s arms. A faint scent of fear permeated the air. She twisted her head and looked at Slade, who continued to stargaze. When he failed to explain further, Micah nodded. His woman’s attention turned to him.

“He’s right,” Micah offered. “Your brother is efficient with what he knows is there. He’s always done away with the pursuers, but never thought to pursue what he couldn’t sense. There was a gap between you two and the both of us. We trailed you, catching the wolves that stalked you. They were a proverbial crumb trail. We knew where you were by the rebels staking you out. On a few occasions, Slade and I spoiled their pathetic plans of attack.”