Bonded (31 page)

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Authors: Nicky Charles

Tags: #romance, #suspense, #paranormal, #supernatural, #werewolves, #series, #lycans, #law of the lycans

BOOK: Bonded
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For a moment he
considered calling for backup but knew he lacked the evidence
needed to convince Lycan Link to authorize a deployment of
Enforcers. No, it was up to him to get Brandi out of here and
gather proof that the Purists were actively persecuting the
halves.

Since the
settlement was small, it took only a matter of minutes for him to
be standing near the edge of the forest, the transition from town
to wilderness being rather abrupt. Tall trees jutted out of the
rocky mountainous surface, their trunks thick and sometimes scarred
giving evidence to their age. Apparently no one had cleared this
particular area; the wood for the houses must have been harvested
elsewhere. Giving a trunk a congratulatory pat for having withstood
the spread of civilization, Reno began to hike up the mountain.

The incline was
steep and he soon found himself breathing deeply from the exertion.
The fresh mountain air was a balm however, and his spirit calmed as
he became more in tune with his surroundings. Tension eased and his
movements became easier, more wolf-like. His nostrils flared as he
took in and analyzed the scents that drifted on the breeze, his
gaze noting every movement, his ears catching every sound. It would
be easy to shift forms and revel in the wild beauty that surrounded
him but he resisted the temptation, not willing to trust his wolf
quite yet, given its violent thoughts a short while ago.

Eventually, the
trees began to thin and those that grew in this part of the forest
appeared to be younger with newer growth. Curious as to the change,
he looked about and found himself confronted by tall metal columns
that supported what appeared to be an old coal conveyor. He traced
the length of the decaying structure with his gaze, noting how it
snaked up the side of the mountain as far as he could see.
Apparently a swathe had been cut through the forest to accommodate
the machine and now nature was slowly reclaiming the land.

The steel trestles
that suspended the conveyor some twenty feet about the ground were
entangled with vines, but between the greenery it was easy to see
thick layers of reddish orange rust. He made his way to the base,
at times having to fight against long grasses that wrapped around
his ankles as if trying to keep him back. Once there, he tested the
structure’s strength and, while it creaked ominously, it still
remained upright, though for how long he had his doubts.

“Quite the sight,
isn’t it?” A voice spoke behind him and Reno spun around
automatically dropping into a defensive crouch in preparation for
an attack, while at the same time cursing himself for being taken
unaware.

A young teenaged
female stood before him, with long blonde hair and coltish legs,
her body yet to show signs of maturing. Reno relaxed when he
realized she wasn’t a threat but scanned the area anyway in case
she wasn’t alone. No one else appeared to be nearby though, just
the girl. Where had she come from? Surely he hadn’t been that
absorbed in the conveyor that he wouldn’t have heard someone
walking through the brush!

“The coal
conveyor. It’s quite the sight, isn’t it?” She prompted him again
and he glanced behind him at the metal structure.

“If you like
rust.”

“No one’s used it
in years, of course.” She wandered over and agilely climbed up a
few feet, moving from beam to beam with the ease of familiarity.
The metal creaked in protest and Reno resisted the urge to tell her
to be careful. Obviously she was from the area and had played on
the structure numerous times. “Gramps said Kolding’s Pass used to
be a thriving community with hundreds of men working the mines day
and night. The clatter of the coal carts was his lullaby, he always
told me.”

“Is your Gramps
around?” Reno scanned the area once again.

“No.” She made a
sad face and lightly dropped back to the ground, landing just a few
feet from him. “He’s gone now. I miss him but—” She broke off and
clamped her lips together and shrugged.

Reno nodded and
didn’t press her. He still recalled the pain of losing his family
when he realized he couldn’t endanger his pack by returning from
the Academy. Loss hurt no matter if it was from death or voluntary
separation. Switching topics seemed a good idea, so he did.

“You must live in
town, right?”

“Yep, but I like
being out in the woods better. I practise my tracking skills so
that someday I can be a scout or maybe even a Beta.”

“A Beta?” He
chuckled at her ambition.

She bristled in
response. “It’s possible. Just because I’m female doesn’t mean I
can’t hold a position in the pack!” At that moment she reminded him
a bit of Brandi and he felt a pang in his heart. Brandi had
probably been a spitfire as a pup too.

“You’re right. You
can be anything you want,” he conceded.

“As long as Victor
agrees,” she added sullenly.

“You don’t think
he’d want you as a Beta?”

“No. He’s just an
old—” Once again she compressed her lips and held back on what she
wanted to say. She narrowed her eyes and studied him. “You’re not a
friend of his, are you?”

“No. I’m most
definitely
not
a friend of Victor’s.”

“Then why are you
here? Only his friends ever come to visit anymore.”

“I’m here to see
Brandi Johansson.” Reno chuckled to himself. He’d never been
interrogated by a child before.

“Brandi? Really?
You’re a friend of hers?” Her eyes brightened with interest.

“Yep. We work
together—sort of—at Lycan Link.”

“That’s
so
cool. I was hoping to talk to her while she was here, to see what
it’s like going to the Academy.”

“You haven’t seen
her yet?” He frowned. It was his understanding that Brandi had been
there for several days and the town wasn’t that big that the girl
wouldn’t have encountered her if she’d really wanted to.

“No. Mama won’t
let me.” She looked down and kicked at the ground. “I wanted to
talk to her but Victor says we’re to ‘limit contact’ for some
stupid reason. And Mama threatened me with a whoopin’ if I didn’t
listen. She doesn’t want any more trouble with Victor she
said.”

“He’s been giving
your Mama trouble?” Reno went on alert, wondering what the girl was
alluding to.

“No... Not really.
But Gramps was Alpha before Victor and...” Her voice trailed off
and she shifted nervously.

“I understand.”
Poor kid, he thought. Since the takeover hadn’t been amicable the
old Alpha’s family was in a tricky spot, going from a position of
status to possibly being barely tolerated by the new regime. Damn,
he hated it when packs fell back on the old ways to solve
differences.

“Look,” the girl’s
voice suddenly seemed more urgent and she twisted her fingers
nervously. “You shouldn’t be out here all alone. That’s why I
stopped to talk to you. There are gorges and mining shafts you
could fall down, old machinery that could hurt you, and the mine
tunnels have made some areas prone to cave-ins. Didn’t you see the
sign that said to keep out?”

“No, I can’t say
that I did, but thanks for telling me.”

“Please, don’t
come up here again. Gramps said this place is haunted by the men
who died in mining accidents.” Her eyes were wide as she spoke,
darting from side to side as if expecting to see spirits at any
moment.

Reno started to
laugh but then noted how sincere she seemed. The kid really was
worried; he could scent the concern radiating from her. “Ghosts
don’t bother me but I suspect the rest of my time here will be
spent in town anyway.”

She sighed in
relief, then smiled at him and a hint of the beauty she’d be one
day suddenly shone through. “Good. I just don’t want you to get
hurt. You’re sort of cute!” And with that she turned and ran
off.

Cute? Reno
frowned. No one ever called him cute.

“Hey! What’s your
name?” He called after the girl, but she didn’t stop. He shook his
head and checked his watch. The hour was almost up. Mindful of the
girl’s warnings he stayed alert for mine shafts and signs of
unstable ground as he made his way back to town.

It was exactly one
hour and five minutes later when he climbed the steps of the town
hall. Entering the front office, he noted the clerk—Martha—was
gone. Walt sat at a desk in the corner and didn’t even look up when
Reno entered, instead the man leaned back casually making a show of
being busy reading a file.

Fine. If that’s
the game you want to play, Reno thought. He arranged himself
comfortably against the counter and proceeded to stare silently at
the back of Walt’s head. Minutes ticked by and Reno smiled inwardly
as he watched Walt try to ignore him. The man shifted in his chair
and rustled the papers in his hand but never turned a page which
made it obvious he was well aware of the steady gaze boring into
his back. Walt’s shoulders twitched. He tightened his fingers on
the thin sheath of papers in his hand. The scent of nervous sweat
began to fill the air and a tick showed in the man’s jaw.

Finally, Walt
slammed the file down and spun around in his chair, glaring at
Reno. “Why the hell are you back here again? Can’t you see I got
better things to do than wait on the likes of you?”

Reno straightened
slowly, keeping his face bland while his wolf chuckled over the
man’s discomfort.

We won that
round
, the beast crowed.
He is subordinate to us, unable to
withstand the weight of our stare!
Reno mentally nodded in
self-satisfied agreement. Walt was all bluster and show. In a
fight, he’d be easy enough to eliminate.

“Sorry to bother
you, especially when you’re so busy.” He flicked a glance at the
clean desk surface and the thin file the man had just set down,
“but you did say to return in an hour’s time. I want to see Brandi,
my fiancée...now.” A faint hint of aggression was added to that
final word and the ‘sheriff’ flinched.

Grumbling under
his breath, Walt stood, shoved his chair back and stomped towards
the doors that led to the rear of the building. “Let me check with
Victor to see if he and Brandi have concluded their business yet or
not.”

“Even if they
haven’t, I
will
see her. I’ve been more than patient,” Reno
stated quietly. Walt’s steps faltered for a moment and Reno knew
the man had heard the implied threat.

Once Walt was out
of the room, Reno took a deep calming breath. Both he and his wolf
were getting too worked up over this. I need to treat this like any
other investigation, he reminded himself. ‘All Enforcer
interactions with the public should be governed by the utmost use
of diplomacy and tact. Aggression, whether verbal or physical, is a
last resort and employed only if the other party instigates it.’ He
repeated the Enforcer code like a mantra.

He drummed his
fingers on the countertop, impatient to get Brandi out of Kolding’s
Pass. Being alone in a town of probable Purists made him twitchy.
You never knew what the bastards might be up to or what skewed
interpretation of the Book of the Law they’d use to justify their
actions.

Thankfully it
wasn’t long before he heard the sound of light footsteps
approaching. He looked towards the rear doorway, anticipating
seeing Brandi with greater excitement than he cared to acknowledge.
His heart was pounding and his senses heightened as her scent grew
ever stronger. Sweet and heady, he could get lost in it and easily
forget the world around him. He clenched his fingers on the edge of
the countertop and gave his head a little shake. Clear thinking was
what was needed now. Not romantic crap.

And then she was
there, framed by the battered wood of the door casing, appearing
fine except for the faint lines of strain at the corners of her
eyes and mouth. It was all he could do to hold himself back and
assess the situation properly. She was here but not completely
alone. A shadow could be seen in the hallway behind her. Someone
was keeping her on a short leash, but who and why?

“Reno?” When she
caught sight of him, delight momentarily flashed in her eyes and
she took a few hurried steps towards him before seeming to catch
herself and slowing to a walk.

She’s supposed to
be my fiancée, Reno muttered to himself and took charge of the
situation by crossing the distance that separated them and pulling
her into his arms.

A sense of
homecoming filled him as he wrapped his arms around her body and
held her tightly. Damn, it felt good to be with her again. His wolf
murmured in delight and without thinking he dipped his head and
nuzzled her neck, only to be hit by the scent of a strange
male.

His fingers
tightened on her waist and a low threatening growl rose from his
throat.

Another male
has touched our mate!
Jealousy surged through his wolf and
before he realized what he was doing, his teeth were grazing the
skin of her neck. Only at the last moment did he manage to rein his
beast in and restrain himself from breaking the surface.

Brandi stiffened
and then seemed to melt into him, her hands clutching at his
shoulders, a sigh of delight escaping her lips.

The way she clung
to him soothed some of the inner rage he was feeling. She hadn’t
willingly gone to another male, he was sure of it. And while he’d
like to challenge the one who had tried to usurp her affections, he
knew now was not the time.

Burying his face
in her hair, he inhaled deeply, taking in her scent in an attempt
to erase the offensive memory of the other male. He absorbed the
warmth and softness of her body, the faint caress of her fingers as
they played over his chest. Contentment filled him and he’d have
stood there for the rest of the afternoon, just holding her, if
she’d allowed it.

Instead, within
moments, she began to move, pushing herself away. “It’s good to see
you but—”

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