The Road to Redemption (42 page)

With a snarl,
she lunged forward.

~~~

Elise stared
at her hand, noting how her fingers were laced with Kane’s, how his
thumb was idly stroking her skin. Her hands were always cold—cold
hands, warm heart he’d often say—but right now she could feel his
warmth seeping into her. This was how it should be; male and female
connected and supporting each other.

It had been a
long time since they’d actually sat down and talked. Sure, they’d
often commented on the weather or what present to buy Jacob for his
birthday. But throw away phrases weren’t enough. Today they’d
really been trying to communicate and she felt it was finally
working.

“So we’re
agreed?” Kane drew her attention away from their hands. They were
sitting on the picnic table in the backyard, just the two of them.
Kane had turned his phone off and Helen was watching the
children.

“Yes. Agreed.
The renovations at the Grey Goose can happen without me being there
every day.”

“And I’m
overworked and the solution isn’t taking on more responsibility. I
need to trust John as my Beta and delegate more.”

And the fact
that our pack is getting too big…?”

“I’ll have
to…I mean
we’ll
have to get creative.”

Elise smiled
at how he’d caught himself. It wouldn’t be easy for Kane. Alpha
males instinctively took charge, but he told her to kick him in the
pants whenever he started to slip into the ‘Super Alpha’ zone again
and she planned to hold him to it.

“I’ll place
that call to OPATA now…if it’s okay to turn my phone on again, that
is.”

She gave him a
mock scowl before agreeing and then listened as he talked to the
officials. It had been hard for Kane to agree to back down, she’d
seen the conflict in his eyes, but in the end she’d helped him
realize their happiness couldn’t be built on someone else’s
loss.

“I hope it
isn’t too late,” she said as he ended the call.

Kane nodded.
“If Damien’s already won he’ll be shocked as hell to realize he’s
now an Alpha.”

“It might be
good for him to have a pack depending on him. I sometimes wonder if
his ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude is just a façade. Is he really
become that much of a loner or does he just not want to get hurt
again?”

“Maybe a bit
of both. He has rogue tendencies—you can’t change a wolf’s basic
nature—but it doesn’t have to totally define them. In the right
circumstances, with the right person, he might do just fine in a
pack.”

“Perhaps this
Samantha Harper he’s been dealing with is the one he needed.” Elise
leaned against Kane’s shoulder. “Sometimes you find the right
person when you least expect it.”

“That might be
stretching things. I doubt that after this challenge she’ll even
want to speak to him.”

“Stand down!”

The command
rang out too late for her to stop. Damien turned his body, taking
the brunt of her hit on his shoulder. Her teeth slashed his flesh,
the metallic taste of blood stinging her tongue, his yelp of pain
echoing in her ears. He staggered and went down. Somehow she knew
it was due to his leg.

She scrambled
to her feet, shifting form as she moved, torn between concern for
Damien and wondering why the observer had called a halt.

Damien stood
awkwardly, blood dripping down his arm, his face paler than normal.
Concern for him had her taking a step towards him, but the observer
was there first.

“You okay?”
Smith asked, his voice laced with concern.

“Yeah. Twisted
my leg. I’ve handled worse.” He pressed a hand to his injured arm.
Blood continued to seep between his fingers.

Sam looked
away, her jaw clenched. Blood didn’t bother her but her stomach was
churning at the sight of Damien’s. She blew out a long breath and
tried to concentrate on what was important.

“Why did you
tell us to stand down?” She looked at Smith. Had she committed some
sort of foul? Was he going to rule against her?

He held up the
cell phone he had in his hand. “Kane Sinclair called.”

“And?” Her
mind raced wondering what kind of a trick the bastard was pulling
now.

“He’s calling
off his takeover bid.”

“He’s what?”
She felt her eyes widen, stunned at the news.

“Why?” Damien
took a hobbling step closer.

“I’ve no idea.
OPATA didn’t give details.”

“So it’s over?
It’s not some kind of a trick?”

Smith shook
his head. “According to the Book of the Law, a Lycan can only issue
a challenge once for a particular pack. He’s had his chance. If he
contacts you about this again, his butt will be in a sling.”

Exultation
mixed with relief and she turned towards Damien, even beginning to
reach out to him before remembering they were on opposing sides.
Letting her arms drop to her sides, she took a deep breath and
looked at Smith, forcing herself to speak calmly. “Thank you for
helping out with this. I know challenges are rare, so this probably
wasn’t part of your usual job description.”

“No problem.”
Smith moved his gaze between her and Damien, a slight frown marring
his brow. “Being an Enforcer has a pretty broad job
description.”

“An Enforcer?
I thought…?” She let her voice trail off making no effort to hide
her confusion.

“The storm
delayed the official observer. I was asked to take over in his
place.”

She nodded in
understanding then shifted her feet, feeling at a loss. After the
intensity of the past few hours it was hard to suddenly return to
‘normal’.

Smith seemed
to understand. He jerked his chin towards her pack. “There are some
Lycans over there who are likely wondering what the hell is going
on. You should probably go tell them.”

“What? Oh,
yeah.” Glancing towards her pack, she saw that they were all on
their feet, worried expressions on everyone’s faces. She started to
walk towards them, stopped and turned towards Damien. It felt wrong
to walk away from him. Her gaze took in his bleeding arm, the way
he held his leg putting minimal weight on it. His face was
expressionless. No hint of anger. No teasing. No…anything. “Damien,
I…”

He raised one
brow but she didn’t continue. What did you say to someone who you’d
thought had been a friend, a lover even, only to find they’d been
deceiving you all along?

“Was it all a
lie, Damien?” She surprised herself by voicing her thoughts.

A muscle
twitched in his cheek and for a moment it looked as if he’d speak.
Instead, he turned his head away.

So she had her
answer. She gave a nod and walked towards her pack. It hurt. It
hurt more than she’d ever thought possible, but an Alpha didn’t
cry, at least not in front of her pack. Calling on all her inner
strength, she pinned a smile on her face. “Hey guys, guess
what?”

Damien
listened to the fading sound of her footsteps, willing himself not
to watch her walk away.

Reno cleared
his throat. “Want to tell me what that was about?”

“No.”

“Fair enough.
So…” Reno shoved his hands in his pockets. “What are you going to
do now? I take it you’ve been spending some time with Sinclair. Are
you going back there?”

He shook his
head, sneaking a peek out the corner of his eye to where Sam was
being hugged by her family. His throat felt tight and he had the
oddest desire to join in the celebrations. They wouldn’t want him
there, though. Rogues were seldom welcome. Even if he hadn’t
betrayed their trust, the job had been temporary, only until the
threat of the takeover had passed.

“Brandi would
love it if you came to stay with us for a while.”

He shifted his
attention back to Reno. “Maybe later. I need some time to myself.
I’ve been living with that pack for too long. We rogues need our
space, you know.” He forced his lips to curve in a mocking
smile.

“At least
that’s what we’ve always thought.”

“Come
again?”

“I thought I
needed my space, too. But now I find I kind of like being settled,
being part of a pack.” Reno slid a look his way. “You might want to
try it someday.”

The fake smile
left Damien’s face. “I’ve tried settling down. It didn’t work.”

“It worked.
The problem was that it was taken from you.” Reno actually looked
him in the eye this time. “That doesn’t mean it couldn’t work
again.” He glanced over at Sam. “I’ve no idea what’s going on here,
but I’d hazard a guess that there’s some unfinished business
between the two of you.”

Damien looked
at Sam as well, but shook his head. “No. Beth is my mate. Her last
words to me were to never forget.”

“Are you
sure?”

“Don’t try and
mess with me, Reno.” He scowled. “I was there. I felt her pain. I
heard her dying words to me.” Anger started to rise in him. He
didn’t like talking about that day. It hurt too much to remember.
He started to walk away only Reno grabbed his arm and pulled him
back.

“I was there,
too, Damien.” His voice was low. Intense. “And I was there in the
hospital when you were in and out of consciousness, so doped up on
pain killers you didn’t know what was going on. I heard you calling
out for Beth, I heard you replaying your final conversation with
her. You even told me over and over. She said ‘never forget
to
love’. That one word makes a hell of a lot of
difference.”

Damien felt
the blood drain from his face. “No. I don’t believe you.”

“Why would I
make it up?” Reno folded his arms.

“I…” He ran
his hand through his hair, not sure what to think. “I was doped up.
You said it yourself. I was probably babbling.”

“Maybe you
were. Maybe you weren’t. But you said it more than once.”

Damien jutted
his jaw not wanting to believe that what he’d held on to, what had
kept him going these past three years, had all been a figment of
his imagination.

“That doc you
met when you were in Canada last year, Rafe McRae, he said
sometimes our minds twist things around. That we remember what we
want rather than what actually happened.”

Damien
remembered McRae all too well. They’d ended up working together out
of necessity but… He shook his head. “No. It’s so clear. I can
still hear her voice.”

Reno seemed
about to speak then shrugged. “The ball’s in your court.” He
cleared his throat. “Listen, my flight doesn’t leave for a few more
hours. You and Brandi and I could have dinner.”

It sounded
appealing yet at the same time he felt the need to get out of
Chicago, to hit the open road with only the wind and the roar of
the engine to keep him company. “Maybe another time.” He checked
his arm. The bleeding had almost stopped. “It was good to see you
again, Reno.”

Reno nodded.
“Same here.” He extended his hand and they shook. At the last
minute he pulled closer for a quick one-armed hug. “I’ve missed
you, bro.”

Damien
blinked, choked up by the unexpected show of emotion from his
normally stoic friend. “I’ve missed you, too.”

A muscle
worked in Reno’s jaw. “Whenever you’re ready, you always have a
place with me and Brandi.”

“Thanks. I’ll
be in touch. I promise.”

Reno’s phone
rang and while he answered it, Damien used the opportunity to get
away. His leg throbbed as he walked to his bike but he kept his
stride even. Never show that you’re hurting, inside or out.

Damien got on
his bike and started it up. He took one last look across the
clearing. Sam was watching him, her face expressionless. There was
a connection between them, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in ages.
Almost…almost, he was tempted to go to her, to try to explain. But
there was too much between them, too many betrayals.

He gave her a
nod, revved the engine and drove away. The road to redemption had
been a dead end.

Sam’s throat
felt tight and she tried to deny the ache in her chest as she
watched Damien. She loved him, even if she was only willing to
admit it after the fact. He’d lied, betrayed her trust, spurned
her, but she still loved him.

Spurned? Hell,
how fucked up was she? She didn’t talk like that. It must be those
stupid romances Tina kept giving her to read. The damned things
were nothing but a pack of lies.

She sniffed
and wiped away the stray tear that was slowly dripping down her
cheek. Well, Tina’s prophecy had been right. A battle had been
fought. Her heart felt like it was dying. She’d won but she’d lost,
and the masks…well, Damien had certainly been wearing one. Her
grandfather, too, for that matter.

Purists. They
fucked up everyone’s lives.

Her mouth
twisted as she thought of Dante and his blackmail scheme. Hmm…
Smith was an Enforcer. He probably knew something about dealing
with dickwads like Dante.

“Hey, Smith?
You got a minute? I think I have a job for you.”

Damien pulled
into a truck stop a few miles from the nature preserve and turned
off the engine After the roar of the machine, the relative silence
seemed to echo in his ears, the quiet allowing thoughts and
feelings he’d been suppressing to push to the foreground. He’d seen
Reno again, fought Sam, lost to Sam and then walked away from her.
He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. It had been quite a day; the
kind of day that made you want to give up. After all, what was the
point of continuing? Once again he’d lost everything.

He sighed and
opened his eyes, bleakly surveying the rows of transports and cars
that filled the lot. They all had destinations, places they had to
be, people expecting them to arrive. He had none. If he disappeared
right now, no one would notice or even care.

A car horn
sounded somewhere behind him, the noise reminding him that he
should move. Ever so slowly he dismounted, clenching his jaw
against the pain in his leg as it protested the movement. He’d
messed it up bad, not that he’d let on to Sam or Reno but truth was
he felt like being sick.