Bonded (33 page)

Finally he gave a
quick nod. “Fine. If that’s your choice then I won’t stand in your
way. But when you realize what an asinine decision this is, don’t
expect me to come running to your rescue.”

“I wouldn’t dream
of it. Thanks for your concern. I’ll see you around.” She gave him
a saccharine sweet smile and held out her hand.

He stared at it
for a moment before slowly reaching out to grasp it lightly.

As always,
awareness of his touch flared through her and she fought to give no
sign of the reaction. He stared at their joined hands then flicked
a glance up at her face before completing the perfunctory shake and
letting go.

Reno worked his
jaw then surprised her by reaching out to cup her face. Gently, he
rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. “Be happy, Brandi.”

She felt tears
welling in her eyes and blinked rapidly to keep them back but
couldn’t stop the small catch in her voice when she bid him
farewell. “Thanks. You too.”

And with that he
left.

As the door shut
behind him, Brandi’s knees almost gave out and she leaned against
the wall for support, wrapping her arms around her stomach. While
part of her was glad he’d gone and would be safe, another part of
her felt like it was dying. He’s leaving. Oh, God, he’s really
leaving! I managed to chase him off and now he’s leaving me to face
Victor and the rest of the Purists on my own.

Her wolf
whimpered, unhappy and confused that Reno was giving up so soon.
She tried to comfort it with soothing words and logic. It’s for the
best, she told the creature. You don’t want him hanging around and
getting hurt, do you?

Our mate
wouldn’t abandon us this easily to another
, the wolf countered
sounding hurt.
Something is wrong, there has to be.
Through
a side window, Brandi watched Reno walking away. She could feel the
beast projecting pleading thoughts towards him, begging him to
return. A part of her hoped he would but of course it didn’t
happen.

The door that led
to the back rooms opened and Walt appeared, swaggering over to his
desk. “Appears that Reno guy isn’t as tough as they say. Victor had
him shaking in his boots.”

No, he didn’t, you
idiot. Reno backed down because I asked him to. Brandi bit back the
words that formed on her lips and merely nodded dully.

“Victor says I’m
to escort you back to your room. He wants you to stay here tonight,
just in case Smith tries to come back to talk to you.” Walt grabbed
a set of keys from his desk drawer and gestured for her to
move.

Reluctantly,
Brandi walked out of the town hall’s main office to the small back
room where she’d been held the previous night. Once she was inside,
Walt locked the door and left.

She sank down onto
one of the wooden chairs and propped her elbows on the table,
cradling her head in her hands. Okay, Reno was gone. Her heart was
broken. Now what the hell was she going to do?

Chapter
21

Reno headed back
to his motel room in a foul mood. Being chewed out wasn’t high on
his list of favourite things and it rankled knowing that bastard,
Victor, had been listening in. When the man had laid claim to
Brandi, he’d almost lost it. If it hadn’t been for her intervening
he might not have been able to stop.

He tightened his
lips. The whole situation had him angry and confused, unsure if
what she’d said had been for show or if there were some kernels of
truth in her words. And even if it had been for show, those
thoughts must have crossed her mind at some point in time for her
to be able to spout them with such ease.

‘More brawn than
brain.’ He frowned. No one had ever said that about him. Sure, he
was a strong and highly skilled fighter, but as the leader of a
squad he did a lot of planning and strategizing, too.

‘Did you actually
think I’d consider a permanent relationship with an
Enforcer
?’ Hell, he hadn’t been looking for a
relationship...had he? And where did she get off using that tone of
voice?

‘Once the thrill
of having slept with a rogue was over...’ Shit. Could he have been
mistaken all those years ago? Was she just another Enforcer
groupie?

It stung his pride
to hear her speak so disparagingly. Hell, it had fucking hurt! He
hadn’t asked to have a rogue wolf and had done his damnedest all
his life to keep it under control. And then, to have to listen to
that kind of crap from the woman he lo—

He stopped his
thought before it was fully formed and forced his clenched fists to
uncurl. His feelings for Brandi were only mild interest. Lust.
Maybe even fascination. But nothing deeper. He gave a sarcastic
laugh. According to her, he wasn’t even capable of ‘deep’ feelings.
Just a rogue that nobody wanted. Yeah, in her book that’s all he’d
ever be.

Reno strode down
the road, looking neither left nor right, not even caring what the
locals might be thinking. If one of them wanted to take exception
to his presence in town, that was fine with him. Getting into a
fight was exactly what he’d like to do right now.

Unfortunately, no
one approached him and he arrived back at the motel with no other
means of venting his anger except slamming the door shut. A picture
fell off the wall, cracking the glass and making him smile in
satisfaction. Too bad he hadn’t been able to throw it across the
room, though.

He took a deep
breath and forced himself to calm down. Okay, so Brandi’s words had
hurt, but he shouldn’t just assume she really meant them. After
all, she was a DC. Lying was her life. And the asshole Alpha had
been lurking in the background. So maybe what she said was only
partly true. But which part? He began to pace the room.

The idea that
she’d called him in a fit of pique didn’t sound right. If Brandi
was mad at someone, she let them know—in no uncertain terms. No,
calling him in the middle of the night claiming Purists had taken
over her town was likely the truth. And she changed her story and
let that bastard touch her because...? Well, given what he knew
about Purists, Victor must have some leverage over her. Threats
were their favourite way of controlling a pack.

Reno nodded; that
scenario sat better with him than thinking Brandi held him in
contempt. If she actually hated his guts, she wouldn’t have kissed
him like she had back at Clancy’s, right? Or maybe he was just a
fool, trying to hang onto the image that someone actually cared
about him.

Brandi’s words had
hit at his deepest insecurities and it twisted his gut to
acknowledge that fact. Just an Enforcer, a trained rogue.
Disposable if he didn’t toe the line. He’d devoted his life to
trying to be something. To make up for the fact that he was
innately flawed. But no matter how hard he tried, he knew it would
never be enough. Did she have to rub his face in it?

He pinched the
bridge of his nose, forcing the painful truths back into the hidden
recesses of his mind where they belonged. Damn, it had been years
since he’d allowed himself to wallow in self-pity like that.

Giving his head a
shake, he decided maybe Brandi was right. Maybe he was more brawn
than brain. A smart man wouldn’t let a woman get to him like
that.

Glancing at his
watch, he realized it was time to check in with Damien. However,
when he tried to place the call, his phone couldn’t pick up a
signal. Flicking it shut, he cursed the mountains for interfering
with communications and prowled restlessly about the room wondering
what his next move should be. Even if Brandi hated him, he wasn’t
going to leave, at least not until he figured out what was going
on.

Spying her
suitcase, he placed it on the bed and opened it. A small twinge of
guilt attacked him over poking through her things but he reasoned
he was looking for clues, so that made it all right.

Shirts, pants,
socks... Reno picked up lacy undergarments and spent a few minutes
examining them while imagining how her curves would fill the
delicate cups. Suddenly realizing what he was doing, he dropped the
clothes and stepped away from the suitcase. God, he was acting like
some sort of perv, getting off by rifling through women’s
underwear.

Not just any
underwear
, his wolf reminded him.
Only hers
.

Underwear is
underwear he snapped back and shut the suitcase decisively. And she
doesn’t want us, remember?

Deciding he needed
a different type of distraction, he headed for the diner. He hadn’t
eaten since the previous day, except for the meagre portions they’d
tried to pass off as food at the airport. Walking across the
parking lot, he could hear the sound of people talking and laughing
inside the small eatery, but as soon as he entered, it all died
down.

Finding himself
the centre of attention, Reno froze in the doorway and let his gaze
slowly move around the room. The patrons were studying him
carefully, some with suspicion, others with nerves, and a few with
mild curiosity.

He looked each
person in the eye briefly, making sure there was no aggression in
his expression but no hint of submission either. He wasn’t here to
cause trouble, however, he wouldn’t take any crap either, not after
the type of day he’d been having.

Nancy suddenly
bustled up and took him by the arm, hollering out to the staring
customers, “Oh, for heaven’s sake, you’ve all seen a good-looking
man before. Get back to eating before he thinks we’re all just a
bunch of hick Lycans who’ve never even been out of the county.”

There was a
general shuffling and few self-deprecating chuckles before everyone
returned to their meals.

“Thank you,
ma’am.” Reno gave the woman a nod and a slow smile.

She flushed
slightly and slapped his shoulder. “Now don’t be trying out that
Western charm on me. It won’t do a bit of good. I’m old enough to
be your ma. Sit down here and check out the menu. I’ll be back in a
minute with some fresh coffee.”

Reno sat down in
the corner booth she’d led him to and made a show of studying the
menu. Conversation was slowly returning to normal levels as the
patrons became used to his presence. A few were still shooting him
uneasy glances and he committed their appearances to memory. If
they were uneasy, they likely had something to hide and he’d have
to make it his business to find out what.

Nancy returned
with coffee and took his order. While he waited for his food to
appear, he gazed out the window studying the scenery. It was a
pretty part of the country. The distant mountains were varying
shades of purple and those that were nearer showed splotches of
green forest. Occasionally, dark scars marred the sides, possibly
evidence of past mining activity.

That reminded him
of his encounter with the young girl and he turned his face to
study the land nearer the town. Now that he knew what to look for,
he was able to pick out the remains of the coal conveyor as it
snaked up the mountainside.

Just as he was
turning away, a flash of light near the conveyor caught his
attention and he narrowed his eyes trying to determine what had
caused it. There was nothing shiny up there; everything had been
covered in rust.

He watched
carefully, alert to any movement then...another flash. Yep, someone
was up there, but who? The girl had claimed the area was posted as
off limits. Either someone wasn’t following the rules or she’d lied
to him. And if so, why?

Nancy returned and
set a plate of rare steak, fries, and gravy in front of him. A
basket of fresh biscuits and salad arrived too. Damn, it was good
to eat in a restaurant run by Lycans. They knew what size portions
a werewolf could handle!

“That looks mighty
tasty, ma’am.” He emphasized his western drawl and as a reward she
elbowed him in the shoulder.

“Like I told you,
boy. Enough of that. That fancy cowboy talk won’t worm a bigger
piece of pie out of me.” She glared down at him and Reno grinned,
not at all offended by the mock scolding.

“Wouldn’t even
think of trying.”

“Good. Now do you
need anything else?”

Reno surveyed the
full table. “Nope, everything looks just fine, but I was
wondering...” He paused and framed his question carefully. “What’s
that metal structure going up the side of the mountain?”

Nancy leaned
forward and peered out the window. “That? It’s left over from the
coal mining days. Some sort of conveyor. I’m surprised you even
noticed it.”

“The sun was
shining off it and it caught my eye.”

“The sun shining
off that old thing? It’s only rust holding hands. Nothing shiny up
there.”

“Oh. Maybe it was
a hiker and the sun was reflecting off his binoculars.”

“No... Not likely.
Area’s posted as off limits. There were a few accidents up there in
the past and Klaus, our previous Alpha, ruled it out of bounds.”
She nibbled on the stub of a pencil she wrote down orders with then
shook her head. “You must have been mistaken. Not even the pups
dare go up there.” She chuckled. “Klaus concocted some grand ghost
stories to scare the young ones away.”

“Perhaps it wasn’t
something shiny I saw after all. Maybe a bird—a white pigeon or
something—landed on it and that’s what I saw.”

“Humph! Could be.”
She eyed him thoughtfully. “You know, that’s the sort of crazy tale
Brandi would have come up with when she was living here. You two
must work closely together up there at Lycan Link.”

Reno gave a
non-committal shrug. “Well, she certainly seems set on giving up
her job and staying on here now. We’ll miss her.”

“She’s staying?”
Nancy stared at him in surprise. “But I thought you said—”

“She claims to
have had a change of heart.” Reno shook his head regretfully while
studying the woman’s reactions. His announcement was obviously news
to her and working in the restaurant she likely had access to all
the latest gossip. Yep, something was definitely wrong with the
story Brandi had fed him.