Found in Flames (7 page)

“Alpha,” Chad called, pulling Luka’s focus back to the moment. The younger wolf was coming up from the edge of the territory, the line he’d been patrolling during the night.

Luka arched a brow at him, staying silent. He expected Chad would want to head off straight away.

Inclining his head as a show of respect, Chad said, “The twins just departed for their hunt. I haven’t caught any traces of the lion’s scent, I don’t think it’s come back. Also … I suspect Max will want to stay and defend the pack today instead of come hunting with us.”

Not a word about the chase….
That was a good thing, but it honestly surprised him. Instead of voicing that, however, Luka replied, “Good. And you’re probably right. We’ll be another nose short today. Go get some rest. I’ll send Lew to wake you when the meal’s ready.”

Chad nodded and moved away to do as he’d been told.

Luka stayed still for a moment, reflecting on the aspect of their situation he hadn’t really given thought to yet. With Justin gone, he had no Beta. And while it was true a wolf pack could function without a Beta, it was just as true that a pack couldn’t function well or for long without a properly established leadership. As much as he loathed the idea, Luka really needed to be thinking about his options. He could hold off on choosing a new Beta until the chase was over, return with whatever was left of the pack to their former home territory, and choose from whomever stuck around. But that was all presuming he survived. And if he didn’t—if he died before a Beta was in place—the pack would fall apart.

They’d become Rogues.

Michelle and Lew’s pups would never be safe. The twins would likely get themselves killed. No one would put up with their attitudes for long. If Emily wasn’t healed yet, she and Max would be easy targets. Chad and Russell had a chance on their own. They were strong and not incompetent. But even if the entire group stuck together, there wasn’t an Alpha among them. There would be in-fighting at best, they’d tear each other’s throats out at worst. In reality they would likely split and be picked off one at a time.

He needed to choose a Beta. A Beta could hold them together long enough to get them back home, where hopefully they could find or establish a new pack. So he would pay attention today, and maybe tomorrow, and see who seemed to be the most pack-minded. See who, if it came to it, took it upon themselves to back or enforce his calls. Who the pack listened to and who the pack ignored.

In the meantime, now that his rounds were done, all he could do was return to
Joella
and wait for the twins to return with their breakfast. And, hopefully, no one would wander out of the territory while he was hunting.

Chapter Seven

“I can’t believe you destroyed my bra,”
Joella
said, again, when Luka returned to the small ‘cave’ he’d adopted as his spot. She’d attempted to lecture him on this same subject when they’d woken at daybreak, too. It was such a shame humans were raised to hide their bodies so much.

“It was in my way,” Luka countered, knowing his response wouldn’t appease her. She was sitting on a boulder with her back to the cave, as if to get fresh air. She’d changed, of course, into some of the clothes he’d acquired for her the day before. They suited her far more than the stiff professional clothes she’d previously been wearing.

Joella
scrunched up her nose and stood. “You didn’t pick up a replacement, so what am I supposed to do? Hide in this hollow rock all day?”

“Of course not,” he said, deliberately stepping into her personal space. “Why would you do that?” He knew the answer, but he wanted to make her say it.

“Because I’m—!” She cut herself off, waved her arms in a broad generic gesture, and finally said, “I’ve got big boobs, okay? They’ll bounce all over the place. It’ll be embarrassing!”

At this Luka grinned and swept his hands up beneath her shirt until he’d caught her aforementioned breasts in his hands. She gasped, cheeks immediately flushing, and he leaned close. “Oh, I noticed,” he assured her with a deliberate squeeze. “But these aren’t anything to be embarrassed about.” He grazed his thumbs over her nipples as he spoke, enjoying the shudder that rolled down her spine and made her breath hitch in her throat.

“
Th
-that’s cheating,” she whispered, trying—and failing—to keep the desire in her scent from coming out in her voice.

Luka danced his lips over her jaw, up to her ear, and purred, “Just be glad I didn’t destroy
all
your clothes.”

Her hands landed on his bare chest bracingly and her head fell to his shoulder as he continued to knead her breasts. It took her several seconds to find her voice, and when she did the desire in it shot straight to his cock. “What if I … destroyed your pants?”

Letting his nose slip into her hair at the base of her throat, Luka replied, “Then I guess I’d be naked. Would you like to destroy my pants, Ella?”

Her nails curled into his pecks and he distinctly heard a heavy swallow. “At the moment … maybe,” she finally admitted, voice breathless.

He grinned and took a single step backwards, withdrawing his hands from her shirt. “Glad we understand each other, then,” he said with a smirk. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were glazed over with lust. The scent of her arousal had him straining in his jeans and he was very seriously tempted to continue their game, but he knew he couldn’t. Not yet. “Come sit with me,” he requested, stepping past her and into the little cave. “I want to ask a favor of you.”

That was bound to get her attention.

“You what?” she asked, clearly thrown enough for the lust to be cleared a little from her brain. She followed after him immediately, claiming a seat within arms’ reach next to him.

Good.

Dropping an elbow onto a lifted knee, Luka said, “While I’m out today I’d like it if you could interact with the pack. Keep your ears open, but don’t be obvious about it. I want you to listen to their conversations, try to get a sense of their impressions of each other.”

Curiosity was flooding her scent now. “What do you mean? Do you have a traitor in the midst or something?”

“No,” he assured her. “I need to choose a new Beta, and the Beta has to be someone they trust. Someone they respect.”

Joella
was quiet for a moment, processing his words. “I kind of get that, but…. Is ‘Beta’ wolf-speak for, like, ‘prince’ or something?”

Again Luka’s lips twitched and he met her gaze easily. “Not quite. Think of it more like your military. It’s ‘wolf-speak’ for ‘second in command’.”

Her delectable lips made a perfect ‘O’ and she nodded. “Okay, I get it.”

Unable to help himself, Luka teased, “Otherwise it’ll have to be you.” Not that that was possible, but she didn’t know that, and all of a sudden he just had to have a little fun with her.

Joella
sputtered, eyes widening, and screeched, “
Me
?” Shaking her head, and her hands, wildly, she added, “Uh-uh, that would never work. For one, I’m human.”

“Obviously. I’d have to
Turn
you.” And he knew she didn’t know the implications of that. He had no intention of explaining them just yet, either.

She paled, swallowed, and hesitantly asked, “Are you … planning on doing that?”

So she wasn’t ready. That didn’t surprise him. Hell, he wasn’t really sure
he
was ready for that, either. But the fact that he’d thought it, in a round-about way earlier, had forced him to realize he would very likely need to be giving that idea some serious thought in the near future. For now, though, he could answer honestly. “No,” he replied. And to distract her from his own terrible choice of subject, he exaggeratedly rolled his eyes and added, “I’d have thought you had a sense of humor.”

Joella
balked. “That was a joke?” She reached out and swatted his scarred shoulder. “I didn’t think
you
had a sense of humor!”

“I like to keep everyone on their toes,” he said easily, glancing forward as a new breeze rolled in. The twins were returning, breakfast would be soon.

“Now that I believe,”
Joella
mumbled. Then she did the most unexpected thing. She adjusted her position until she was leaning into his side, her head on his shoulder, and let the fingers of one hand dance along his nearest leg. Except her scent indicated she wasn’t trying to make a move. She was just … resting. Casually.

And he liked it.
Fuck.

She sucked in a sharp breath, body immediately tensing, and straightened as if she’d taken offense to his realization. Which was impossible, so he frowned, intending to ask her what was wrong. She groaned before he could speak and turned horrified eyes to him. “Luka … we didn’t…. Oh my God, I can’t believe I was so thoughtless!”

What the hell is she talking about?
Tapping her forehead deliberately, Luka said, “Whole sentences, Ella. We didn’t what?”

She swallowed, grabbed his wrist in both hands, and carefully breathed, “Protection. We didn’t use protection. Am I pregnant? Exactly how fertile are you guys? Am I going to die?”

Using her grip on his wrist to pull her into his lap, Luka locked an arm around her waist and caught her cheek with his other hand. “Breathe,” he commanded firmly. “You’re not pregnant. Werewolves can’t reproduce with humans. It’s physically impossible.”

Her eyes widened again and she dragged in a deep breath. Silence stretched for a moment and then, slowly, she relaxed in his hold. “Oh. Okay. That even kind of makes sense.” She sagged against him, then, her head on his shoulder. “Sorry.”

Slipping his fingers into her hair, Luka said, “No problem.” He held her like that until the scent of cooking meat wafted into the cave. Someone would be coming to get him if he didn’t show soon. It was time to make another appearance.

****

Joella
took a deep, steadying breath as she prepared to embark on Luka’s requested favor. He’d taken the twins, along with Chad and Russell, for the hunt. Max still insisted on staying with Emily who was, of course, still recovering from her battle with the mountain lion. But he had agreed to help Lew on border patrol. A necessary, but inconvenient, choice. She’d barely said two words to Lew or Max in the time she’d been there. How was she supposed to figure out which members of their pack they respected most if she couldn’t talk to them?

One thing at a time, Ella.
She wanted to check on Emily anyway, so she’d start there. And talking to Michelle would be easy enough. Maybe the women would say something to indicate their mate’s preferences. Or maybe she’d have to try and find them. Either way, this was the least she could do for Luka.

She pulled her lip between her teeth as a memory of the night before danced across her mind. Never had she felt so desirable. The way he’d looked at her, the way he’d touched her, it was like something out of one of her crazier fantasies. Like he needed her. She knew she was deluding herself even coming near thinking of it that way, but what they’d shared had been so passionate—so powerful—that she couldn’t stop herself. And Luka had been right. Any future lovers she might have would fall far short. There was just no way an ordinary man could compare. Certainly the kind of human man she attracted wasn’t capable of half the things Luka had made her feel. It was disappointing, really.

But this wasn’t the time to think about that, so she forced out another breath and pushed to her feet. It was time to find Emily.

Unfortunately, it hadn’t occurred to
Joella
that Emily might be covered in fur and sporting four legs when she found her. That did make holding a conversation just a tad more complicated. Still, she at least wanted to say hello, so
Joella
tapped her nails against the nearest rock and quietly called, “Knock
knock
.”

Emily was curled up, full tail resting over her nose, on a patch of grass nestled beneath a row of thick bushes. There was no visible blood on her light brown fur that
Joella
could find, but that didn’t mean she was anywhere near recovered. At
Joella’s
voice Emily’s ears flicked and she lifted her head just enough to see. She offered a soft whine and twitched her tail in response.
Joella
could only hope that was a welcoming response.

Moving forward until she was close enough to talk quietly,
Joella
knelt down and said, “I just thought I’d check in on you. I didn’t get to thank you yesterday.”

Emily whined again and shook her head slightly as if to say ‘no need.’

Smiling,
Joella
asked, “Do you need any water or something?”

Again Emily gave a small shake of her head, this time leaning forward enough to briefly lick
Joella’s
nearest hand.

Hoping that was a ‘no, thank you,’
Joella
reflexively reached out and lightly scratched Emily’s head. “I’ll check back in a bit, okay? Get some rest.”

It wasn’t until she was halfway to the rock formation surrounding Michelle’s ‘den’ that it even occurred to
Joella
to be embarrassed about petting Emily.
I can’t believe I did that!
Was that considered rude? Too personal? She had no way to know. When they were in wolf form it was so easy to forget that they had ‘human’ minds. Or did they?
Surely they do.
And she never would have petted a person.

Rolling her eyes at herself,
Joella
stepped up in time to hear the laughter of small children.
The boys.
A moment later the trio came into view. The boys were in human form, playing tag around a boulder maybe three yards away. Michelle was closer, watching from a seated position and, thankfully, also in human form.

Michelle turned warm brown eyes up to her and said, “Good morning,
Joella
. Come sit with me.”

Returning the smile,
Joella
obliged. “They look recovered,” she said as she settled.

“For the most part,” Michelle assured her. “That’s the beauty of youth, I suppose. And I don’t think they really understand other wild animals yet.”

“And how are you?”
Joella
asked carefully. She really wasn’t the spy type, come to think of it. Luka had asked her not to be obvious, so she couldn’t just come out and ask what she needed to know, but she wasn’t sure how else to get the information.

Michelle took a deep breath. “I’m still recovering,” she admitted. Returning her smile to
Joella
, she added, “But, thanks to you and Emily, I will. My boys are fine. I really can’t thank you enough.”

“I can’t take much credit,”
Joella
pointed out. “Luka was the one who saved us from Char. I was just stalling.”

“You did the best you could,” Michelle said. “That means everything.”

Joella
smiled. It had been a while since she’d heard such straightforward, honest appreciation—whether or not she felt she deserved it. “Of course I did.” She paused, trying to figure out how to guide the conversation, and found herself blurting, “Tell me honestly, should I be afraid of Vanna?”

Michelle blinked at her for a moment before huffing and leaning back against the rock behind them. “No,” she said. “Vanna’s a petty little brat, but she’s ultimately obedient. She’ll never cross Alpha, and neither would Morgan. They’re just jealous.”

“The jealousy I’d figured out,”
Joella
replied. “But sometimes women can be violent about that sort of thing.”

“Human women, maybe,” Michelle argued. “And maybe if the male isn’t also the Alpha, or if they actually outrank the other woman. But Alpha’s protecting you, which means the most they’ll do is glare and sling insults.”

Joella
nodded. “That’s a relief. I feel like I’m safe with you and Emily, and I don’t have anything against Chad or Russell, but those two I wasn’t so sure of.”