Just a Taste of Me [Wolf Creek Pack 2] (18 page)
“How can you be so sure?” Devlin asked skeptically.
Reece just shook his head. He spoke in an odd but gentle tone as he responded to Devlin’s words. “I can’t explain it, Devlin. I just know. Keeley would never do anything to hurt me. He’s my mate and he’d give his last breath for me.”
“I
would
give my last breath for Reece,” said a soft voice from the doorway.
Reece turned to see Keeley standing there. His breath caught in his throat at the promise shining brightly in Keeley’s pale green eyes. “Hey, baby, you get everything together?”
“Yeah. It’s all sitting by the front door. I even have my shoes on. See?” Keeley remarked as he held up one foot and wiggled it around.
Reece chuckled at the look of distaste on Keeley’s face. “It won’t be for long, baby. Then you can take them off again. I’ll even paint your nails for you once we get them off, okay?”
“Promise?” Keeley grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest to pout over at Reece.
Reece eagerly nodded. He couldn’t believe how much he actually looked forward to painting Keeley’s nails again. Keeley had been showing him over the last several days how to do it and
paint in the lines
, as he called it. It was a very erotic part of caring for his mate, but only one of them. There was an entire gamut of erotic things where Keeley was concerned.
The most important part of caring for his mate was keeping him safe, which was what Reece needed to do right now. “Okay, let’s go. We’ll call Donovan and Joe once we’re on the road. I’m not taking any chances that we’ll get stuck here.”
Reece grabbed the small leather bag off of his desk and headed for the door, grabbing Keeley’s arm to pull him along as he went. “Coming, Dev?” he called out over his shoulder as he walked out of the study.
“I really wish someone would explain this mating thing to me, cause I don’t get it,” Reece heard Devlin mumble under his breath as he followed them out the door.
“And you won’t, not until you have your own mate,” Reece replied as he picked up the suitcase and headed for the door. He paused with his hand on the door handle to look over at Keeley. “Did you pack
everything
?”
Keeley’s face flushed red and he nodded his head. “Everything is packed in nice and tight.”
“Then I guess we can go.” Reece grinned as he opened the door and headed out. He had just reached the bottom step when he spotted several cars coming down his driveway. Anger and alarm rippled along Reece’s spine as he watched the cars approach.
“Devlin, I want you to take Keeley through the house and get him to
“No—Reece—” Keeley cried out.
“Now, Devlin!” Reece said sternly, his voice low, the tone hardened, as he watched the cars come to a stop before him.
“Re—Quilliam, no, please,” Keeley cried out again.
Reece turned when he heard Keeley struggling with Devlin. “Keeley, I need you to go with Devlin. I can’t concentrate when I’m worried about your safety. Please, baby, go with him. Devlin will keep you safe.”
He watched Keeley stop struggling to look over at him. His heart ached when the moonlight caught the tears on Keeley’s face. “Love you, Keeley.”
“Love you,” Keeley sniffled through his tears. “You’d damn well better come for me, Quilliam Reece. Do you hear me? I’ll be waiting for you.”
“I’ll be along soon enough, baby. Now, go on, go with Devlin,” Reece said softly. He felt tears prick the corner of his eyes as he watched Devlin escort Keeley back into the house and shut the door.
As he looked back at the people climbing out of their cars and coming towards him, Reece prayed that Devlin would get Keeley to safety in time, and that he could hold out long enough to find out what color Keeley wanted his nails painted.
* * * *
Keeley swiped his arm across his eyes to wipe away his tears as Devlin pulled him out the backdoor and into the trees directly across the backyard. Within a few steps they were eaten up by the shadows.
One hand in front of him to keep the branches from hitting him in the face, one hand on Devlin’s arm, Keeley blindly followed Devlin into the darkness beyond the backyard. The only sound he could hear was the rapid beating of his heart and their footsteps running through the forest.
Keeley sent up a prayer, then started calling out for Nate, for Justin and Taylor, for anyone that might hear him. He knew he didn’t have telepathic abilities but maybe someone would hear him calling. He could hope anyway.
Devlin was relentless, not letting him stop to rest or slow down their stride as he dragged Keeley through the woods. Keeley didn’t know how long they had been running when he felt a small prickle begin at the nape of his neck.
For an instant, he feared that they had been followed, that they were about to be caught. Then a small buzzing began to filter through his mind until it became a voice. Louder and louder it became until Keeley stopped walking and clutched his head.
“Keeley,” Devlin whispered loudly, “we have to keep moving. Come on.”
Keeley started forward again, his steps less sure as they had been moments ago as he honed in on the voice in his head until he could understand it and respond.
Keeley? Keeley? Can you hear me?
whispered the voice in his head.
Taylor
?
Keeley asked silently.
Yeah, hon, it’s me. I heard you calling for help. I didn’t know you could talk tele—
I can’t. I was just hoping one of you would pick up on it if I transmitted loud enough. But that’s not important right now. I need your help. My mate, Reece, is in trouble. Big trouble. He needs help
, Keeley quickly sent to Taylor.
What do you need me to do?
Call Joe and Nate. Tell them that Reece is at the cabin and he’s in big trouble. The pack came for him. He made me leave with Devlin, but he’s all by himself, Taylor. He’s strong, but I don’t think he’s strong enough to take everyone on by himself. Please, Taylor, you have to help him.
Okay,
Taylor replied mentally,
I’m going to call Joe, but I want you to head back to your mate. I have a plan, but I need you to be there for it to work.
Uh, okay, but I’m not sure how to get away from Devlin,
Keeley replied as he cast a look at Devlin through his eyelashes.
There is no way he’s going to let me go back to Reece. Not after Reece told him to keep me safe.
So hit him with something
, Taylor snickered.
Keeley could just image Taylor rolling his eyes.
Hit him with something? Have you seen how big these guys are?
Keeley asked.
Yeah, seems Justin and I are mated to Devlin’s brother, Chase. I know exactly how big they are
.
Whoa, dude, seriously?
That made Keeley stop. He looked up in time to see Devlin turn to stare at him in confusion. He quickly searched the ground for something to hit Devlin with.
Spotting a branch lying on the ground at the bottom of a large tree, Keeley started limping over to the tree. As he carefully lowered himself down to the ground, he heard Devlin walk over before he squatted down in front of him.
“You okay, Keeley?” Devlin asked in concern.
“I think—I think I hurt my ankle,” Keeley said even as his hand slowly moved back to grab the tree branch. He really didn’t want to hit Devlin, but he didn’t think Devlin would believe that his friend telepathically told him to go back to the cabin. He’d sound like a nutcase.
As Devlin lifted his foot and bent over to examine it, Keeley brought the limb up slowly over his head. “I’m sorry, Dev,” he whispered. Just as Devlin looked up at him in confusion, Keeley brought the limb down on his head.
Devlin’s eyes widened before they rolled back into Devlin’s head and he fell over backwards onto the ground. Keeley quickly crawled over and checked to see that he was okay. “Oh, man, he’s going to kill me when he wakes up,” Keeley said to himself as he got to his feet and began running back towards the cabin.
Okay, Taylor, I’m on my way back to the cabin. What’s this great plan of yours?
Keeley sent out to Taylor.
Is there a clearing there?
Taylor asked.
Yeah, why?
Keeley asked in confusion.
Because we’re going to need it. Here’s the plan…
* * * *
Reece crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the people that walked slowly towards him. Some of them he knew, like Douglas and Adrianna. Some of them he did not. But a basic head count said that it was nearly half his pack, which meant that it was probably everyone involved with the breeding program.
“Douglas, you left so fast. We didn’t have time to finish our discussion,” Reece said as the group stopped several feet from the bottom of the steps.
“We’ve come for your little pet, Reece,” Douglas said.
“That’s Alpha Reece to you, Douglas.”
“Not after tonight, it’s not. We’ve decided that you and your little pet need to go. Adrianna is going to mate someone else and be our queen.”
“Bitch, you mean,” Reece jeered.
“Bitch, queen, it’s pretty much the same to me. I’ll still be the one in charge,” Adrianna said as she stepped forward. “And this will still be my pack.”
“You can have it. I never wanted it in the first place,” Reece replied. He glanced at Douglas, hoping distaste showed on his face. “The willingness of some members to sacrifice others for their own greed sickens me.”
“We’re doing what’s best for this pack!” Douglas shouted.
“No, you’re doing what’s best for you, Douglas. Packs stick together through thick and thin. They don’t sell each other out to make a buck,” Reece spit out. “They don’t sell their souls to the devil for a little power.”
“This isn’t about money—” Douglas began.
“Don’t fool yourself, Douglas. This is all about money. Money and power. To have power, you need money. To get that money, you sell out your pack members, people you’ve known all of your life, just so that you can have power. But don’t forget, Douglas, you won’t be the one in power. I imagine it won’t be long before you’re eliminated just like me.”
“That’s not true. I’m one of the core members. Core members are off limits. That’s part of the deal,” Douglas shouted.
“For now…”
“Look,” Adrianna said as she regarded her perfectly manicured hand, “this is all very fascinating, but it’s getting a little boring. Just bring out your little boy toy so that we can get this over with. I have a nice, hot bubble bath and some prime werewolf blood waiting for me. I need to get home.”
Reece smirked over at Adrianna. “Oh, that’s right, your highness, some little human nearly took your throne tonight, didn’t he? How does it feel to know that a human almost ended your existence?”
If the sudden rage that came over Adrianna’s face was any indication, she was not happy about her scuffle with Keeley. Reece couldn’t keep his smirk to himself, not that he wanted to. He was proud of the fact that his little human mate had fought off this half werewolf, half bloodsucking bitch.
“Kill him,” Adrianna hissed.
Reece braced himself, his hands transforming into claws and his sharp canines dropping down as he crouched down in a defensive posture ready to take on anything that they threw at him. He had to give Devlin enough time to get Keeley to safety.
With that thought in mind, Reece dove at the nearest werewolf, striking out with his claws before moving on to the next one. Reaching for the next werewolf, Reece bit down on any piece of flesh he could get in his mouth. He swiped his claws at any movement, ripping into flesh.
Reece felt someone grab him from behind, tackling him to the ground. Before he could fight his way to freedom, more bodies moved in to hold him until he was unable to move.
As he panted heavily, a hand grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. Reece looked up to see Adrianna standing over him, her hand clenched in his hair.
“Not so feisty now, are you?” she drawled. “I wonder if you’ll be this feisty when I have your little pet in my grasp. Maybe I’ll drain him slowly and let you watch. Would you enjoy that, Alpha?”
Reece gave Adrianna a strangled sneer. “He’s gone. You can’t get to him.”
“Then I’ll just have to find him, won’t I? I hear Douglas is very excited to have a go at your little pet. Maybe I’ll reward him and let him play before I take his blood,” Adrianna taunted, the tone sounding high and brittle to Reece’s ears.
“You’ll never get your hands on him,” Reece growled, struggling between the two werewolves that held him until Adrianna slapped him across the face. Reece glared up at her as his tongue came out of his mouth to lick at the blood on his lip.
“Oh, did the poor little baby get hurt? Let me kiss that better for you,” Adrianna said as she leaned in and licked the leftover blood from Reece’s lips, groaning as the potency of Reece’s werewolf blood hit her system.
“Mmmm, delicious,” she whispered for Reece’s ears alone. “Werewolf blood is so good, much better than human blood. Once my brother sees the breeding program I’ve started, he’ll be crawling to me for more.”
Reece raised an eyebrow in surprise. If he was hearing Adrianna correctly, Adrianna’s brother knew nothing of her plan to start a werewolf breeding program. Wonder if he would be interested in this bit of news?
He’d have to get away from Adrianna before he could do anything about it, though. As Adrianna started to stand up, Reece pulled his head back and then forward as hard as he could, head butting Adrianna in the forehead.
Reece groaned as he felt the impact in his head, wishing his hands were free so that he could rub his head.
That hurt, damn it.
Probably not the smartest move he could have made but the stream of blood falling down Adrianna’s face as she stood up made all the pain worth it.
Adrianna wiped the blood from her forehead, staring at it briefly before she lifted her head to glare at Reece, venom and hate spilling from her dark eyes.