Dual Embrace: 3 (Shadowpeak Wolves) (34 page)

“You’re wrong.”

Dusty looked up at Brynn, shocked by his words.

“I am?”

“Yep, you do a damn fine job of expressing yourself.” Leaning in, he kissed her. Cain moved in beside them, joining in.

“You really love me?” he asked Cain. “You don’t just tolerate me for Dusty’s sake anymore?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Dusty replied, rolling her eyes. “He never tolerated you for me.”

“Not anymore,” Cain replied seriously, surprising Dusty. “I care about you regardless of Dusty’s feeling for you.”

Dusty hugged Brynn.

“Thank God you came back when you did tonight. How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“How’d you know I was in trouble?”

“I guess Cain’s unease was rubbing off on me. I was coming back to check on you when I felt your fear.”

“Where did you get rid of the bomb?” Cain asked.

“I took it as high as I could go then threw it.”

“Lucky it had enough time left.” Dusty leaned back in his hold to stare at his face. “How did you know it did? You didn’t seem to look at it.”

He grinned. “I didn’t. Guess I was in luck."

Cain’s gaze grew deadly. “What? You had no business carrying around a bomb that could explode at any moment!”

“So I should have left it to implode, right there with Dusty and your Alpha’s mate in close range? Besides, I’m immortal, remember?”

“You’d survive a bomb blast?” Dusty asked in amazement.

His gaze dropped away.

Cain crossed his arms over his wide chest. “If he was at full strength, maybe. But not now, not on Earth. Am I right?”

Brynn shrugged. “I’m more vulnerable on this plane. If my energy levels were low it may have killed me.”

“Brynn,” she said, exasperated.

Cain placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “The two of you will be the death of me, you really will. Now sit. Both of you. And someone start telling me what the hell this guy said!”

Dusty smiled at Brynn and, taking both men’s hands, tugged them to the bed.

“Wait,” Brynn piped up. “I’ve got bacon on.”

He hurried away, quickly reappearing and joining them on the bed.

“So it didn’t really take all that long for us to break this guy. He’s from the Highmoon pack—”

“Wait, aren’t they from Texas?” Cain asked.

Dusty nodded. “Yep.”

“What the hell do they want from us? Why would they try to hurt Laney?”

“They’re not.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Someone else is.”

“Well, who?”

“Don’t know.” She shook her head then told Cain everything.

“He thinks we have a traitor?” Cain growled.

“Yeah. It makes me feel sick that one of the pack could betray us like that. But how else did he get that tip-off?”

“It’s worse than that,” Cain said coldly.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Not all the pack knew what we were doing. Just the enforcers.”

Now she really felt sick. “Jesus.”

Cain ran a hand over his head. “Sounds like he spilled his guts. Guess he didn’t have any reason to keep quiet.”

“None, except his wife. Edwards reckons he doesn’t care what happens to him, but he wants to get his wife out of their hands.”

“Did he have any idea where they’re holding her?”

Dusty frowned and shook her head. “Edwards thinks the cabin they’re hiding her in can’t be far away. He was blindfolded when they transported him from there into Landon. But he estimates they drove fifteen minutes on rough ground then twenty minutes on a main highway. They took off the blindfold on the north side of town.”

Brynn nodded. “I’ve been looking. Couldn’t find anywhere that fit that description, but I’m going to go out again.”

Dusty hugged him and squeezed tight. “Be careful.”

Cain stared at him intensely. “What she said. You find them, you come back for me.”

Brynn rolled his eyes and with a salute to them both, disappeared.

Dusty sighed as Cain’s phone rang.

“Morning… What? Are you kidding me?” His face paled slightly with fury. “Yeah, yeah… Yeah… All right.”

He hung up and looked at Dusty solemnly. “That was Rye. Edwards and Tina are dead.”

She gaped at him, her mouth flapping. “W-what?”

“Tina was inside, guarding Edwards. Josiah was outside. Rye found Josiah. He was shot from behind in the stomach and shoulder. He must have hit his head when he fell and knocked himself out. Either the shooter assumed he was dead or didn’t care. Luckily, Rye got to him in time and he’ll live. Tina didn’t have a chance. She took a bullet to the head at close range. So did Edwards. Except Tina was shot outside the cabin.”

“Outside the cabin?” Dusty asked in amazement. “Why would she leave the cabin when she was guarding a prisoner? If she had to leave she’d have called for backup.”

“If she had time,” Cain said grimly.

“You’re thinking someone drew her out of the cabin. But that would mean…” Her voice dropped off as the implications became clear.

“It was someone she knew, probably someone she trusted. They drew her out, shot her then killed Edwards.”

“What about scents?”

He shook his head. “So many of the pack have been into that cabin, used it for storage, there were too many. And what’s to say the shooter touched anything? If Tina left the door open, they could have shot Edwards without entering the cabin.”

“Jesus. Do we really have another traitor?”

They’d dealt with a traitor recently. Justin had been third-in-command and Laney’s brother—although she hadn’t known it at the time. He’d attempted to kill Laney so he could gain control of the pack. It seemed inconceivable that they would have another traitor.

“What the hell is happening? God, Tina,” she cried. Pain slashed through her.

“Come on,” Cain sighed, looking sad. “Let’s head over to headquarters.”

* * * * *

Brynn was grateful he didn’t need to breathe to live. But the woman did. And if he didn’t get her out of the burning cabin now she was a goner. Brynn grabbed the slight female lying bound and beaten on the floor and sprinted from the room.

He exited the small structure just as the roof fell in, the flames greedily eating what little was left. Brynn carried Hanna Edwards into the forest, wishing he could transport a human body. He hid her in the woods and pulled out the phone Cain had bought him.

“Cain, I need a pickup. I found the woman but she’s in a bad way. Better bring your healer.” He gave him directions before ending the call and looked down at the girl. Still breathing. He supposed that was good, although from the look of her injuries she might wish otherwise. Her skin was covered in bruises, burns and soot.

Thirty minutes later, Cain, Marcus, Rye and Mason arrived. Cain nodded at him, grasping his shoulder in a tight squeeze. Heat from Cain’s touch surged through Brynn’s body. Dusty might be the focus of his arousal, but there was no denying his feelings for Cain. He was attracted to him. Intrigued by him.

He loved him.

As Mason got Hanna ready for transport, Brynn filled them in on what he’d found. Sirens sounded in the distance.

“Damn,” Cain swore. “Someone must have seen the smoke and called 9-1-1. They’ll be here soon. Any evidence will be completely flushed away.”

“Don’t think you’d have gotten much anyway,” Brynn replied. “There’s really nothing left.”

“Marcus, take the woman and the doc and get them out of here,” Rye ordered. He looked at Cain. “We’ll stay here—see what we can find before the humans get here. Then we’ll watch the cabin, see if anyone comes back. We can take it in shifts.”

Cain nodded grimly. “Brynn, you go home. Tell Dusty what’s going on.”

Brynn frowned. “I’ll stay with you.”

Cain grabbed his shoulders and, pulling him close, kissed him. He pulled back slightly to stare down into Brynn’s eyes. “Go,” he said huskily. “Dusty will hate being out of the action.”

Brynn looked over at Rye—shocked Cain would kiss him in public. But the other werewolf was paying them no attention. He was already studying the smoldering remains. The sirens sounded close.

Brynn smiled at Cain before transporting himself to their house.

“Dusty?” he called out. The smell of burning hit him and he raced into the kitchen, coming to a skidding stop in front of Dusty as she stood in the middle of the smoky room, waving around a dishtowel.

“Where’s the fire?” he yelled.

“There,” she yelled, pointing at something black and charred in a pot on the stovetop. Brynn grabbed it. Ignoring the way it burned into his palm, he quickly disappeared outside, reappearing by a small creek about half a mile away.

When he came back to the house, most of the doors and windows were open. He stepped up beside Dusty, who was still flapping around a dishtowel, her shoulders slumped, her hair in wild disarray, flour and other bits of food he couldn’t name coating her clothes.

“So I guess we’re having toast for dinner?”

Her glare was hot enough to light him on fire.

“Your hand?” she asked, grabbing his wrist. “Did you burn yourself?”

He shook his head, showing her his clear, white palm. “Already healed.”

“Where’d you throw it?” she asked.

“The creek.”

She nodded and threw the dishtowel on the counter, looking around in dismay. “Shit. Cain’s going to kill me.”

“Cain is still at the cabin where I found Edwards’ wife. The humans were almost there when I left. He and Rye are going to wait for a while, see if anyone comes back. I think we can get this cleaned up before he gets back.”

“So you found her?”

He nodded.

“Thank God. Is she okay?”

“I’m no doctor but I think she will be okay. She was pretty badly beaten.”

“Bastards,” Dusty snarled. Sighing, she looked around the dirty kitchen. “You really think we have time to clean this up?”

She looked at him so hopefully he would have promised her the world.

“Yes, my own.”

An hour later the place was spotless and Dusty lay on the sofa, a hand over her forehead.

“I don’t know how other people do it, this whole cooking and cleaning thing. Imagine if you had to take care of children as well.” She looked up at him aghast. He chuckled and sat beside her.

“We should really go help Cain.”

Brynn had told her all the details while they’d cleaned. “Nothing we can do, hellcat. Nothing they can do either, but they didn’t want to give up.”

“Let’s hope Hanna lives.”

The last update they’d received on her condition was that she was stable but had yet to wake up. She had a large bump on her head, and Mason was concerned she might have swelling. They were transporting her to the werewolf hospital in New York.

“So what would you like to do?” Dusty asked.

She looked up tiredly. Poor darling, she really was exhausted.

“Do you know what I would really like to do?” he asked her.

Dusty shook her head.

“Hold you.”

Brynn pulled her up from the sofa, then lay down and tugged her until she lay on top of him. He tucked her head into his chest and kissed the top of her head. Ten minutes later, he was smiling as he heard her breathing slow and sleep overtake her.

“Well, this is a surprise.”

Brynn opened his eyes to find Cain standing over them. Dusty snuffled against him and Brynn rubbed her back, soothing her.

“I must have fallen asleep,” Brynn whispered.

Cain rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. “Come on, bed.” He reached down and picked Dusty up. She snuggled into Cain’s chest, murmuring his name before falling back asleep.

Brynn stood and followed his family into the bedroom. Standing in the doorway, he watched Cain place Dusty in the middle of the large bed.

Cain stripped and, hopping into bed, pulled her into his arms so he spooned her.

Not for the first time, Brynn questioned whether he truly deserved this. After everything he’d done in his life, all the people he’d slept with, stolen their energy. All the chaos and trouble he’d caused.

“Brynn, come to bed,” Cain ordered. Brynn climbed in on the other side of Dusty. Cain leaned up and over her to kiss Brynn gently.

“Everything will still be there in the morning.”

Lord, he hoped so.

He let his worries slip away and took what was offered. Because whether he deserved them or not, he wouldn’t be letting them go.

Dusty raised her glass and drank deep from the rum within. The flames of the pyre burned higher, hotter. She could scarcely believe that Tina was dead. Quiet, dedicated Tina. Nothing had been too much for her. Dusty hadn’t been truly close to her—they hadn’t had that kind of relationship. But they’d understood each other and she was going to miss her.