Half Truths (A Helheim Wolf Pack Tale) (31 page)

Leona shook her
head, looking like she’d rather put her head in an oven than answer that
question. ‘I don’t know. I swear I don’t—only that if she saw me, she would
tell Marcus and I’d be charged and punished for treason.’

‘Okay. So what
did you want to talk to me about this morning?’

‘Marcus is
planning on moving Eaton.’

‘What?! Where?
When?’ Rhett fired the questions at her, letting his wolf out for a moment.
Leona’s eyes were bright yellow as she stared at him for the briefest of
moments—a flicker of defiance—before dropping them to the ground.

‘I don’t know.
He doesn’t openly talk about anything to do with Eaton in front of me anymore.
I think he suspects I’ve been coming to see you. All I know is that security
around the cabin has been beefed up in anticipation for a second rescue
attempt.’

‘Beefed up?’

‘Marcus has
called in favours. More enforcers will be sent to back up our pack. You’ll be
outnumbered at least five to one.’

Rhett cursed
under his breath and slumped down onto the milk crate. He ran his hands through
his hair furiously. ‘Is that all?’ he asked; his voice crawling with a burning
anger half directed at her and half at himself. He heard her moving closer
towards him; his wolf snarling and snapping. Its hackles were raised. ‘Stay
where you are, Leona,’ he warned.

‘I’m sorry, but
I need to know … will Antain offer me sanctuary?’ Her voice sounded desperate.

‘I’ve told you
before that I can’t give it to you. Only Antain can.’ He looked back down at
his pizza box—his appetite gone. Their whole plan had just been blown out of
the water and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Nothing was
salvageable.

Leona dropped
into a crouch beside him, grabbing his arm; digging in her nails. Pain
instantly hit him. He’d heard a rumour that her nails were coated in silver,
but until that moment he hadn’t believed it.

Leona’s fingers
were embedded into his skin, drawing five crimson rivers from his skin. He
shook her off roughly, shoving her off-balance and onto the ground.
Desperately, she scrambled to regain her footing, reaching for his arm again.
Her eyes were pleading, desperate. ‘Please Rhett. I need this,’ she begged,
trying to dig in her fingernails again. Rhett pulled free from her grasp and
shoved her back down to the ground.

‘Don’t. Fucking.
Touch. Me!’ he hissed. Anger bubbled beneath his skin, boiling his blood and
sending his wolf into an agitated pace. Tears filled her black eyes,
threatening to spill over, but stubbornly clung to safety.

‘Please!’ She
flung himself onto his legs, curling her hands around his ankles. There was
something so pitiful about her. Leona—the great female enforcer—was begging at
his feet like a common cur. He stopped fighting her, bending down to pull her
up under her arms.

‘Stand up Leona.
Begging doesn’t look good on you.’ Tears were falling freely now, streaking
down her smooth, ebony skin; leaving tracks. She whimpered.

‘What are you
going to do? Can I come and speak to Antain again? I can come in the morning. I
have to guard Eaton tonight. If I don’t show up, Marcus will definitely know
something’s wrong,’ she added softly, biting down onto her bottom lip.

‘So they’re not
moving her tonight then?’

‘I don’t think
so, no.’

‘Speak to Antain
in the morning. I’ll set it up. Now get out of here.’ He let her go, gently
pushing her towards the door.

‘Thank you,’ she
said softly, disappearing before he could respond.

He kicked the
crate and started pacing. Leona’s news put a huge spanner in the works. There
had to be a way around it. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, finding there
was a voicemail there for him. He hit the button, holding the phone to his ear.

‘Rhett.
It’s me. We have a problem. Call me back when you get this.’
It was Vaile.
He dialled his number. He only had to wait two rings before Vaile answered.

‘Rhett.’

‘Yeah?
What’s the problem?’

‘Leona.
She’s the one behind the murders. She’s been killing the humans and carving up
their chests.’

‘What?!’

‘We’ve
found the surveillance tape. We can place her at the scene of each murder, plus
eyewitnesses place her there too.’

‘What
are you going to do?’

‘Until
we get Eaton back, nothing. But once we’ve got her back, her ass is mine.’

‘Rhett?
Break’s over,’ Jerry called helpfully through the door.

‘Fine.
I’ve got to go.’ Rhett snapped the phone shut and threw his cold pizza into the
bin. The marks of his forearm hadn’t stopped bleeding yet; still open and raw
from the silver poisoning.

‘Rhett?
I need help!’ Jerry called desperately through the door. ‘A big corporate order
just came through.’

‘Just
a minute!’ he called back, rummaging under the sink for the first aid kit and
hastily wrapping a bandage around his arm before going back to work.

*

Leona pushed out of
the café, checking the coast was clear as she went. She hated the scraping and
bowing she had to do with the Helheim pack, but it was a necessary evil. If it
meant she got what she was asking for, she’d do just about anything.

She
was supposed to be out getting supplies for Marcus, so he shouldn’t suspect
that she’d gone to the Helheim side of Buxton at all. Jumping back into her car
parked behind the café, she left Buxton as fast as she could, crossing back
into the Dragos side twenty minutes later.

Stopping
in at the hardware store, she picked up the necessary ropes and plastic ties
before dropping into the ammunition store. She stocked up on nine millimetre
rounds for her Browning, as well as picking up some more shotgun rounds for the
boys in the cabin; her skin crawling at the thought.

 Back
in her beaten-to-shit Honda Civic, she carefully stroked the steering wheel,
popping the clutch to get her to turn over. Marcus had offered to buy her a new
car—a car not unlike Connall’s WRX—but she’d refused. She didn’t want to have
anymore reminders of what she owed Marcus. Plus, she didn’t want any parallels
to be drawn between her and Connall. He got off on sadism; she did not.

Leaving
a pile of smoke behind her, Leona drove towards home, cranking down the windows
to enjoy the crisp air blowing along her perpetually hot skin. After passing
through the two security points, she parked behind Connall, hauling the stuff
out the back of her car.

‘You
took your time, Lover,’ Connall drawled. Lowering the hood of her boot, she
found him leaning against the driver’s side door wearing a smile which
instantly set her on edge.

‘Buying
ammo isn’t easy for an entire pack,’ she replied harshly. ‘Everyone wants
something different.’

‘I’ve
been
dying
for you to come home,’ he said, pushing himself off the side
of the car and stalking towards her. He took the bags from her hands without
her asking and turned back towards the house. She followed; the hairs on the
back of her neck standing on end.

She
was just about to go to her room when Connall stopped her.

‘Feel
like sparring with me?’ he asked, studying her face with his pale, luminescent
eyes.

Her
head was screaming at her not to go—that something wasn’t right. ‘Sure. Just
let me go get changed,’ she hedged. She always tried to avoid having alone time
with Connall. Leona turned to walk back to her room, but he snagged her roughly
by the elbow.

‘You’re
fine the way you are,’ he said; his face too close to hers.

She
swallowed her hammering pulse. ‘Okay.’

Connall
didn’t let go of her elbow as he led her towards the kitchen. He dumped the
sacks of supplies and reached for the door of the basement.

‘Where
are we going?’

‘Down
to the basement,’ he grinned. Leona’s heart flip-flopped in her chest.

‘Why?
We usually spar out the back.’

An
unpleasant sneer pulled Connall’s top lip away from his elongated canines. ‘I
thought we’d make it a little more interesting.’

Before
Leona could protest, Connall was on her; one hand over her mouth, and the other
around her throat. ‘You know I like it when you fight me, Lover, but let’s not
have prying eyes while we play.’ The malevolence in his tone chilled her
blood. 

He
forced her feet to move once more, dragging her down into the basement while
sliding the thick metal bar across the door to make sure they couldn’t be
disturbed. Shoving her in the back, Leona landed heavily onto the bare concrete
floor of the basement. She stood up straight away, but Connall’s hands were
wrapped around her throat once more, forcing her back against the wall.

‘I
know you’re going to be leaving me soon, Lover. I just thought we could play
for a little while,’ he looked down at her breasts with a hungry look in his
glowing eyes, ‘you know, for old time’s sake?’

Leona
struggled against him, but he was unmoving. He tutted gently into her ear—his
breath blowing over her skin and sending a tsunami-sized wave of fear through
her. He inhaled deeply. ‘Ah, you smell just like you did when Marcus brought
you here the first time. You smell of,’ he drawled slowly, ‘fear.’

He
pushed her backwards, using her neck to direct her straight onto the Saint
Andrew’s Cross against the wall.

‘Please,’
she managed to rasp. Connall loosened his grip, tilting his head towards her.

‘Go
on,’ he murmured, hungrily licking his lips.

‘Don’t
force me. I’ll go willingly. I’ll do whatever you want me to do, just don’t
force me onto this thing.’

Connall’s
eyes sparkled suddenly, and she realised what she’d done. He released her,
stalking over to the plastic tub where Marcus liked to keep his props. He
rummaged through the tub until he found the ball gag still spattered with
Karly’s blood.

Connall
toyed with the gag, moving towards her slowly—deliberately. ‘Marcus said I
could play down here with you a little while.’ He pulled the straps of the gag
tight until the leather snapped ominously. Connall took one final step towards
her, putting them chest to chest. Leona could taste her pulse on the back of
her tongue. Connall eyed her and turned around. ‘This isn’t going to do it,’ he
muttered to himself. ‘No, what I need is—’ He bent down to search through the
box again. This time he came up with a spider gag. ‘This!’ he announced
happily.

Connall
turned back to Leona, stalking towards her and swinging the spider gag ring
around one of his fingers. ‘Now, Lover, you’re going to let me put this on, and
you’re going to enjoy what I have to give to you.’

Forcing
the inch-wide metal circle into her mouth, he positioned the ring behind her
teeth; hinging open her mouth. Drool formed instantly as Leona breathed heavily
through her nose. Connall tightened the straps to the point of pain, smiling
sadistically when she made noises of protest.

‘What
was that, Lover? You want it tighter? Well, if you insist.’ Connall squeezed
the prong into another hole in the leather, making the already building
pressure in Leona’s skull worse.

Connall
wiped a hand across her chin where drool had begun to drip. His mouth was slack
as he closed his eyes; his erection straining behind his sweat pants—begging to
be sprung free.

When
he opened his eyes again, Connall’s wolf was staring out at her. ‘Now to make
sure you can’t get away,’ he growled. Taking her by the arm, he thrust her
against the Saint Andrew’s Cross and quickly tied off her ankles and wrists
before she could fight him off. Connall pulled a knife free from one of the
sheaths on her wrists and cut away her clothes, letting them fall to the
ground.

He
caressed her face gently with the tips of his fingers, smelling her skin and
sighing.

‘I
bet you’re wondering why I’m doing this, aren’t you Lover?’

Leona’s
eyes were wide with fear.

Connall
wiped more saliva from her chin. ‘Drool if that’s a yes.’ He laughed maniacally
at his own joke. ‘Well, since you’re so desperate to know.’

He
cupped one of her bare breasts; his thumb and forefinger rolling her nipple
gently. ‘Marcus is giving you away, Lover. Yes,’ he said, nodding when Leona
made wordless sounds around the gag. ‘Dorian wanted something important from
Marcus in order to allow him to use his land to hold the Helheim bitch.’
Connall’s eyes were unfocused when he spoke, but they ratcheted back to Leona
with a fierce burning in them. ‘He demanded you, and Marcus said yes. My alpha
is giving away my Lover, but before I have to give you up, I want to fuck you.’

Leona
screamed this time until the sound was cut off with a blade pointed at her
throat. Connall tutted her like a silly child again. ‘Now, now, now, I won’t
rape you. I want you to want me. I know you like it rough—Marcus proved that
the day he turned you.’ Connall laughed a little to himself, looking her over.
‘So I just want to recreate that scene to tide me over until you finally give
yourself to me willingly.’ He put his cheek against hers as he whispered in her
ear. ‘And believe me. You will be giving yourself to me willingly very, very
soon.’

Leona’s
heart was pounding too loudly in her chest. There was a dull roar that filled
her head, making her deaf. Connall was over by the tub again, throwing out ball
gags, nipple clamps, whips and wolf collars. He came back empty handed. He
pushed his face into hers, his finger circling her open mouth.