Reina's Mate (2 page)

Which gave me an idea.

I looked back at them still steadily gaining
on us and pushed down the accelerator a little more.

“What should we do?”

“Hold on.”

Reina looked over at me and then grabbed the
bar above the door.

The car rocked as we made one of the turns
and I eased up on the gas a little.

No use if we went careening off-road
ourselves.

There was another turn up ahead that was not
that bad, but it was misleading because there was one right after
that one which was much sharper, with the ravine on one side. If
you didn't slow down before the first turn, you would have to
adjust quickly to make the second.

And that was going at a normal speed.

If you were going as recklessly fast as the
the car following us, there was no way you could make the
adjustment in time.

I was counting on the fact that the pack
tried to stay away from other claimed territories. They shouldn't
be very familiar with the roads in this area.

The crash into the ravine wouldn't kill
them, but it would total their car and slow them down
considerably.

I eased off the accelerator for the first
turn and kept an eye on them as they screeched around it.

Here came the second turn.

I felt the back tires lose traction for a
heart-stopping second and Reina cursed next to me.

But they caught the road again and we made
the turn, avoiding the dark crevasse to the right of us.

The guys following us weren't so lucky.

We watched them lose control and go flying
into the pit. There was what seemed like a long pause, though I
knew it wasn't very long at all.

Then the crunch of metal as the car plowed
into the rocks below.

“Fuck,” Reina said quietly.

I slowed back down to a more reasonable pace
now that they weren't on my tail anymore.

Reina turned back to look.

“Are they going to be okay?”

“They should be. It's not deep enough to
kill them. Injuries, sure. But unless there was some kind of freak
accident, they should be fine.”

“Shit.” She leaned her head back against the
headrest. “They were just following orders.”

I paused, thinking about how to handle
this.

“Would you have gone back with them
willingly?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Do you think John told them to handle you
with kid gloves?”

It was Reina's turn to pause as she chewed
on that.

“No,” she said slowly. “The good of the pack
supersedes my well-being. He would have told them to stop me by any
means necessary.”

I didn't say anything about how shitty a
father that made him.

Not that he was winning any father of the
year awards anyway.

“There you go. I simply stopped
them
by any means necessary instead.”

Reina nodded, looking out the window.

I sighed to myself. This was one of the
things that had drawn me to Reina even as it frustrated me at
times. She was such a naturally empathetic person.

I would have wondered if she was really
John's daughter if I hadn't also met Mariana.

That part of her was definitely from her
mother.

We were silent as we continued driving.

The buzzing of an incoming text message
broke the silence.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as
Reina checked her phone.

“
Fuck me.”

“
What is it?”

“
My contact just got back
to me. They're keeping her smack dab in the middle of the territory
with beefed up security. Apparently, Manny isn't exactly sure of
her compliance.”

I snorted.

If Sofia was anything like she'd been as a
child, he should be worried.

But this did make things tougher.

“
Does he have any
advice?”

“
It's a she. Yeah, she'd
sending me the schedule of the guard shift changes. But if we
manage to sneak in during that time, we'll have to stay in the
territory until there's another opening to get out.”

I thought about that, tapping my fingers on
the steering wheel.

This whole rescue was really a shot in the
dark, and I knew Reina realized that too. If we were caught, I
sincerely doubted Manny would show any mercy.

“
Is there any way to get
word to her? Get her more toward the edge of the
territory?”

“
Let me see.”

She texted back quickly.

“
She's pretty isolated.
Not a lot of people are allowed to talk to her. And when she is
out, she's always accompanied by a pair of guards.”

“
Well, we can handle two
guys a lot easier than a whole pack.”

“
True. Bar says she'll try
to get a message to Sofia. But even if she does, Sofia might not be
able to convince her guards to accompany her too far from the heart
of Manny's territory.”

“
It's worth a
shot.”

Reina grunted her agreement as she sent off
another text.

“
Why is she helping you?”
I asked casually.

I wasn't jealous. That would be crazy.

Fuck. I was jealous.

And apparently crazy.

I hadn't had any indication that Reina swung
the other way, but I hadn't been around her for a good while
either.

“
She doesn't particularly
like or respect Manny. She's made some tentative overtures to join
our pack, but dad doesn't think it would be politically expedient
to take a female from Manny's pack.”

That sounded like him.

“
So, she's willing to put
everything on the line and back your play? What if this doesn't
work and she gets caught? She won't have either pack to turn
to.”

“
I guess she's willing to
take the risk. I don't plan on leaving her out to dry. And I
wouldn't exactly call her the meek type.”

I chuckled.

“
Sounds
accurate.”

I kept driving. We passed the edge of
Manny's territory as the sun began to climb in the sky.

“
Any word yet?”

“
No,” Reina said,
frustrated. “I feel the urge to just rush through and get closer,
but it would be smarter to wait and see if anything could be
coordinated.”

I thought about everything in the area.

“
There's a town about
twenty minutes outside of Manny's territory. We could stay there,
rest up until we hear back. Better to be as sharp as possible if we
run into trouble.”

That was a very optimistic way of looking at
it.

It would be more accurate to say when.

“
Yeah. OK.”

I drove past the stretch of Manny's
territory, feeling the same itch to act that Reina was no doubt
suppressing.

But we needed to be smart about this.

Sofia depended on it.

There was a small bed and breakfast that was
exactly where I'd remembered it from the last time I'd been down
this way. It was designed to attract the tourists with its
gingerbread like charm and pretty rose garden.

I parked in the small drive and we headed
inside, the tinkle of the bell on the door soft and musical.

The little old lady who came puttering out
was round and plump, a sweet smile ready on her face.

“
Good morning! How can I
help you?”

“
Can we have two rooms,
please?”

“
Oh, well, I'm very sorry.
We only have one available at the moment. There's a bird watching
group that has booked up all the rest for the week, I'm
afraid.”

Bird watching? Was that a thing?

“
We'll take the one room
then.”

And hope that I didn't go crazy trapped in a
room with Reina. With a bed right nearby.

“
Certainly!”

I gave her my credit card and she showed us
up to the room.

It was a nice room. A little too lacy and
floral-y for my taste, but it smelled nice and was clean.

And it had a massive bed with a mattress
that looked like it could handle four people.

“
Fresh towels are already
laid out. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“
Thank you, ma'am,” Reina
said, walking her back to the door.

I went to the window and saw we had a good
view of the driveway.

“
I'm going to take a
shower while I have the chance.”

“
Alright.”

I heard the bathroom door open and close and
then the sound of the shower turning on.

I turned to look at the thin, closed
door.

Reina was just beyond that flimsy barrier.
Naked and wet.

Fuck. I needed to get out of here.

I took one of the keys and left the room,
going down the stairs and outside. A walk to clear my head sounded
like a good idea.

I walked down the drive and turned on the
street.

The small town was nice. The other people
walking gave me friendly smiles that I returned half-heartedly.

I was still trying- unsuccessfully- to put
Reina out of my head when the smell of food had me turning down a
small side street.

Fuel was a good idea.

I went inside and ordered some burgers to
go, knowing Reina probably hadn't eaten anything for even longer
than me.

Thanking the teenage boy at the counter, I
took the heavy bag and started back for the bed and breakfast.

I was just about to turn into the drive when
I saw a black car parking on the street just around the corner.

Something about it had the little hairs on
the back of my neck rising.

Ducking into a doorway, I watched as four
men got out and walked cautiously toward the bed and breakfast's
drive.

One of them looked over in my direction.

I froze, hoping my lack of movement would
keep me hidden.

He turned away, unaware.

I recognized that face. Which meant that was
actually four wolves.

And someone had spotted us. I couldn't think
of how else they would have found us again so quickly without
someone tipping them off.

As soon as they were out of sight, I called
Reina's phone, hoping she still had the same number.

I tried not to think too hard about why I
still had it programmed into my contacts.

“
Hello? Griff?”

The familiar nickname caused an
uncomfortable twinge.

“
Four of John's men are
coming up the drive right now. Unless you're willing to hurt them-
and I mean badly- you need to get out of the room.”

Her curse was muffled as I heard her
moving.

I kept the phone pressed to my ear as I back
tracked and circled around.

The place was toward the edge of town, which
meant that the back faced the woods. If Reina could get down in
time, she would try to come out that way.

“
I'm waiting out back, in
the tree line.”

“
Got it.”

She hung up and I slid the phone into my
pocket, focusing on moving quietly.

The smart thing to do would be to get in the
car and wait for her. Or figure out a way to disable their car and
then get into mine to wait for Reina.

But I couldn't do the smart thing when I
wasn't sure if she'd get out okay.

I'd just gotten into position to see the
back door when it opened and Reina ghosted out silently.

Unfortunately, that was when two of the
wolves I'd seen circled around to the back.

Reina realized she was made the same instant
I did.

Heart in my throat, I made myself wait. They
might not know that she wasn't alone. Which meant keeping the
element of surprise could only help us.

I was a short sprint away right now.

My hands clenched into fists. I dug my
fingernails into my palms, using the pain to help ground me and
keep me from rushing out there before I should.

Wait, Griffith.

Chapter 2

Reina

I stared at Singh and Saccone.

I didn't want to hurt anyone who was just
following orders, but if it meant the difference between me being
able to get Sofia and not, they were going down.

They stopped a few paces away, their hands
up.

“
I'm not letting you take
me back.”

“
That's not why we're
here,” Singh said calmly.

I moved to put my back to the side of the
building as I heard two pairs of footsteps behind me.

Xavier and Donald.

I suppressed the hurt that wanted to take
over. These were all good men. But I knew intellectually that they
had an obligation to obey the Alpha.

It still felt like a betrayal deep
inside.

“
Why are you here
then?”

They all looked at each other.

“
We want to throw our lot
in with you. We're here to help.”

Here to help?

“
Here to help?”

“
Yes. Your father hasn't
exactly won us over. This latest...incident...has us re-thinking
our loyalties.”

I felt completely blindsided.

And then I started thinking about all they
were risking.

“
This is too dangerous.
Chances of success aren't exactly stellar. And if we do fail,
you'll have just burned your bridges with your Alpha. Even if I
succeed...”

I shook my head.

I hadn't really thought ahead to what would
happen if I did succeed. I knew going back to the pack would be
impossible. Disobeying direct orders and breaking a newly formed
alliance like this just wasn't something that would be
forgiven.

And I couldn't trust that Sofia wouldn't
just end up right where she was now.