Pride's Pursuit (a Wolf's Pride novel, book three) (4 page)

He puts his coat over my shoulders and looks at me long and hard before saying,“It’s
okay.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded.“You’re going to forgive me? Just like that?”
Logan sinks to the ground and pulls me down with him.“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because sometimes love is about forgiveness, Pride.”
I swallow, the air between us charging as his warm eyes move to my mouth, yet he still
doesn’t kiss me. Instead he pulls me toward him until my head is settled on his chest. He holds
me tight, and I think about how his hands are full of strength and power, yet capable of such
gentleness when he touches me. I snuggle in closer, his body so achingly familiar to mine that I
can’t help but take comfort in his warm strength.
We stay like that for a long time, and listen to the night sounds around us. Trees creak in the
downpour, animals scurry about and I can almost feel the brush of wind when off in the distance
a bird of prey takes flight.
My mind shifts to what my father said to me, and how he hopes that one day I can forgive
him. Finally I break the quiet and say, “Logan.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t really know anything about forgiveness.”
“You will. Soon enough.”
There is an edge to his voice, one that has unease scraping along every vertebra in my
spine.“What makes you say that?” I lean back until our eyes meet.
“Call it gut instinct,” he says but I get the sense that he might know something I don’t. With
that he pulls me back until I’m once again snuggled against him. As he rakes his hands through
my hair, I drag his scent into my lungs. The clean, earthy fragrance of his skin combined with
the possessive way he holds me makes me feel so warm and safe. It also makes me think of the
way he cared for Nova.
“Logan,” I begin again.
“Yeah?”
“Did Nova’s behavior seem a little strange to you?”
“How so?”
“I don’t know.” I pinch my lips together in thought and curl the hem of his t-shirt around
my index finger.“I got this odd vibe from her. Like there was more going on than she was
saying.”
“She’s just been through a lot.”
“I know but…” I pause, and struggle to choose the right words so I don’t come off
sounding like a jealous mate.
While I work to formulate my thoughts, he says, “She’s not strong like you, Pride.”
I tilt my head to see him and don’t miss the unfettered pride in his eyes when they meet
mine. My heart misses a beat and it takes effort to speak.
“Are you sure that’s all it is?”
He gives a slow, confident nod.“I’m sure,” he answers.“I’ve known her my whole life and
I think she’s suffering from shock and trauma.”
I think about it for a moment longer and come to the conclusion that Logan must be right.
Maybe, under these horrific circumstances, Nova’s behavior is completely normal. After all, I
really don’t know what normal is in this outside world. And maybe there is nothing more going
on than my wolf reacting to another fertile female.
I blink, straining to keep my eyes open, but my lids are so heavy, weighted from the strain
of the day, that I can’t fight the pull of nature any longer. I close them and drift in and out of
consciousness for hours, floating on some level between sleep and awake, until a flock of
chirping birds pull me from my slumber. My lids flutter open as the brightness of a new day
greets me.
The morning air is crisp, but I don’t feel the bite in the wind as Logan’s heat continues to
wrap around me, protecting me from the harsh, mountain elements. I rub the sleep from my eyes
and emotions pool in my heart as Logan stirs awake, his lips turning up at the corners when his
glance lands on mine.
“Good morning,” he says. “Sleep okay?”
I nod and while I listen to the steady flow of his blood, my thoughts turn to his missing
family, and Ican’t help but worry about their safety. I also think about our safety, the future of
our kind, and what I must do if I want us all to live normal lives.
My eyes meet his but from the way he looks at me I get the sense he already knows what
I’m about to say.“You know I have to go back, don’t you?”
“I know.”
“You’re not going to try to stop me are you?”
“No.”
Deep inside my wolf bristles, because she knows this could very well be the most important
fight of her life.While she’s courageous in the face of danger, she also knows how badly it
could all end.
“I’m going to leave after the full moon tonight.”
I take a moment to strategize, to put together a plan of action. As I think about how to bait
the monsters, the cruel predators who need to be stopped from killing innocent wolves, Logan’s
voice pulses around me and pulls me back.
“Just so you know, I’m coming with you.”
“So am I.”
I turn to see Nova standing by the open cabin door, but when my glance clashes with hers,
and I see black bleakness glittering beneath her pale blue eyes, darkness churns inside me and I
swallow uneasily.
If we’re all backtracking in a bold attempt to bait the hunters, why then, do I get the feeling
that I’m the one walking into a trap?

Fortunately, the night of the full moon passes us by without incident. Thanks to Logan and
all he taught me about survival, I am now better able to control my wolfwhen she’s at her most
vulnerable.

Late last evening and well into early morning, the seven of us all kept a careful watch over
each other while we chased game through the mountains, sating our primal hunger and
satisfying our wolves until the next lunar pull.

As the sun slowly creeps over the mountain peaks to light the new day, I silently rise up
from my sleeping position on the hard wood floor, and scurry backward until my shoulders are
pressed against the cold cabin wall. A familiar chill that I can’t seem to shake moves through me
as the spruce boards chafing my back suck the heat from my bones.

I wrap my arms around myself and pull the stale cabin air into my constricted lungs. I scan
the room and try not to feel so confined after a blissful night of running in the wide open
mountain space.

I blink against the thin veil of light slicing the dark cabin, and peruse my contented pack. In
a mass of arms and legs, their bodies are snuggled together as they sleep in the small den,
collapsed in a heap of exhaustion after a long, hard night. Deep inside my wolf howls in delight
as she appraises her new family, elated to finally befree from the master’s prison. When I think
of my master and his control over the old compound, however, a shiver runs through me,
because I never, ever want to feel powerless like that again.

But then a darker thought hits, one that reminds me Logan
’s missing family might not be so
lucky. I swallow, and my heart pounds a little faster in my chest when I think about going back,
to fight this long overdue battle with the PTF.

I’m not
naïve enough to believeit’s going to be an easy fight, or that I’ll walk away
unscathed. In fact, I understand that I might not walk away at all. But I can’t let that debilitate
me.Others are counting on me, and I’ve come too far to back down now.

The sound of Stone’s voice inside my head
, greeting me with such warmth and emotion,
draws my attention. Looking rumpled and sleepy, his dark hair is a tangled mess as he sits up
and shimmies backward until he’s pressed against the wall beside me. With my senses tuned, I
take in the tousled state of the powerful alpha inching closer.

There is something about his familiar scent and disheveled appearance that reminds me of
when he was a pup, and all the times we used to play together in the nursery. Then my brain fast
forwards to the present, and the kiss we recently shared in his cell.

He stretches his long, muscular legs out, and my skin tingles in awareness as this boy
—my
true mate—shifts even closer until our thighs are scraping. The gentle familiarity of his touch
doesn’t feel wrong, but it doesn’t feel right either. At least not after the intimacies I shared with
Logan.

“
Hey
,” I finally say back as I think about the secret he kept from me for so long. But I now
know he kept me in the dark about our bond, about our true destiny, because he was simply
trying to protect me.

I angle my head and his eyes are warm when they meet mine, and for a minute I feel like I
can’t breathe. So much has happened between us, so many truths have been revealed, ones that
have me wondering what could have been—what very well might have been—under different
circumstances. But I know now is not the time to be thinking about connections and mates, not
when we’re about to face the biggest fight of our lives.

“
Stone
.”
“
Yeah
?”
My mind rewinds to what Nova told us the first night we arrived.“
Did the name Lewis

Lake sound familiar to you
?”
His brow furrows and he rubs his chin. After a long thoughtful moment, he slides me a look
and gives a slow shake of his head.“
No. Why
?”
“
I don’t know.”
I shrug one shoulder and feel his warm knuckles brush against my hand. I
swallow as he reaches out to me both physically and emotionally, and I have to force myself to
keep my mind on the current crisis.“
I have this strange feeling that I’ve heard it before. I just
can’t quite figure out why
.”
He looks down, like he’s searching his memory. Then I feel him move deeper into my
thoughts before I can stop him. When he exhales a long slow breath, I know he’s tapped into my
private worries.
“
I don’t trust her either, Pride,
” he says. We both shoot a glance toward Nova, who looks
completely content snuggled up next to her pack’s alpha.
“
You don’t
?” I hurry out, a chill scurrying up my spine. When his glance darts back to
mine, the distrust I see in his eyes mirrors my own, giving credence to my concerns about
Nova’s motives.“
I thought it was only me who felt that way
.”
I take a moment to consider Logan, and can’t discount the fact that he knows Nova better
than Stone and I do. But can he be so caught up in his own grief, his own worry for his pack’s
safety, that he’s failing to see beneath her surface? Or am I really making an issue out of nothing
at all? My wolf merely threatened by another female?
“
Logan doesn’t think I have anything to worry about.”
At the mention ofLogan’s name, Stone’s eyes darken to a deadly shade of black and his
nostrils flare. He rakes his hair from his face, only for it to fall forward again.
His jaw tightensand I brace myself because I know what’s coming next.“
You don’t have to
go back you know,
” he says.
I look away from him, anger erupting inside me.“Yes, I do.” I say the words out loud as I
cut the mental connection between us.
“Pride—”
“Haven’t we lost enough, already?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from rising to the point
of hysteria as the others begin to stir around us.“Ourchildhood, our parents, our freedom?”
I glance back at him in time to see silver shards bleed into his black pupils.“We could end
up losing more,” he warns.
My stomach rebels when I see the raw, tortured look on his face, his worry hitting like a fist
to my gut. I suck in a hurried breath and it’s all I can do to inflate my lungs.
“And we could end up winning,” I counter, sounding more breathless than I would have
liked.“Either way, you know we have to try.I’m not about to walk away from Logan’s family.
They’re missing because of me, Stone.” I wave my finger back and forth between the thin
column of space between our bodies.“Because of us.”
The air between us charges, a volatile eruption of emotion that neither of us can keep in
check.I’m sure anyone within a fifty mile radius can feel it, and if we don’t get it under control
it will surely trigger a reaction from the wolves around us. Stone fists his hands, his predatory
glance going from me, to Logan, back to me again.
“Logan never should have let you go back to the compound. You were finally safe. He
should have ensured you stayed that way. It only proves that he can’t take care of you the way I
can, Pride.”
When I sense his mounting fury, I work to keep my own anger in check and try to reason
withhim, but as I do it simply reminds me that he’s been imprisoned his whole life and is
reacting the only way he knows how.
“First,” I say in a calm voice that belies my emotions, “it wasn’t Logan’s choice to go back,
it was mine.And I wasn’t safe, Stone, inside the compound or out. What happened here proves
that.” I wave my hands around.“I could have been a part of all this. None of us will ever be safe
until we stop the PTF.” I lower my voice, and add, “
Besides, did you really think I’d leave you
there, to suffer at the hands of the master while I ran around free?” I give a slow shake of my
head.“Maybe you don’t know me so well, after all.”
“You’re wrong, Pride. I know you better than anyone knows you, maybe even better than
you know yourself.” He goes quiet for a long time, then his voice is dark, grief-stricken, and
completely possessive when he finally says, “I let you walk away from me once. But you came
back and now that we’re together again, Iwon’t be able to let you do it a second time.” He
exhales slowly and adds, “I can’t.”
When I hear the need in his voice, a storm rolls through me and my gut clenches.“Stone,
please.Don’t.”
“I can’t, Pride.” He gives a slow shake of his head. His hair falls forward to mask his eyes,
but it does nothing to hide his emotions when he says, “I won’t be able to make it through it.
Not again.”
His grief penetrates my heart as he pulls his legs up to rest his elbows on his knees. Without
conscious thought I reach over and brush the hair away from his eyes. But when I do, a deeper
emotion that he can no longer hide from me moves over his face.
His hand closes over mine to still it, and his palm is warm against mine as he holds me
tight.“I don’t want you to go back, Pride.I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
I blow a wayward lock off my face, and with more bravado than I feel I announce,
“Nothing will happen to me.”
There is desperation in his voice, a level of anxietyI’ve never heard from him before when
he counters with, “You can’t say that.”
“I’m going back,” I say firmly, then sit quietly, my lips pinched tight as I give him time to
let that settle in his brain.
He grits his teeth and the laugh lines playing along his mouth deepen—not that his life has
given him much to laugh about.
I can feel his blood run cold when he says, “Then I’m coming with you.”
We sit there for a long time, lost in thoughts while we stare at each other. Heat radiates
from his handto mine, but I still can’t shake the coldness inside me. Then, a distant voice breaks
the moment and has my thoughts jolting back to the present.
“Pride?”
My head jerks up to see Logan staring at me. He rises to his full height, and drives his
hands into his pockets, pulling his pants low on his hips. Watching his hands has me thinking of
my own and I instantly pull away fromStone’s protective hold and hurry to my feet.
“Everything okay?” he asks, his voice full of dark suspicion as he zeroes in on Stone.
Dry gobs of cotton clog my throat and it forces me to push the words past my lips.
“Everything is fine,” I manage to get out as I move toward the sink for a drink. I draw a shaky
breath and continue with, “Stone was just telling me he is coming with us.”
I walk past Logan, and my primal side bristles as his warm earthy scent, one that reminds
me of clean morning air and fragrant pine needles, wraps around me. I know it’s an instinctive
reaction, my female wolf responding to the boy she once mated with because the waning moon
is still affecting her.
Logan and Stone glare at one anotherfor longer than what’s comfortable, then Logan looks
at me as the wolves around him begin to stir. The concern brimming in his blue eyes touches a
soft spot deep inside me and forces me to look for a distraction. I swallow my water in big gulps
and it helps me get myself under control.
Logan steps toward me and his voice is low when he says, “We’re all coming with you,
Pride. I thought you understood that.”
“No,” I blurt out, not wanting anyone else to get hurt because of me.“It’s not a good idea.”
I spin back around and when I see the respect and strength in his eyes as they lock on mine
it reminds me that these wolves—ones who live so differently from what I’m used to—are pack
animals, ones who live and die together.Unlike most of the wolves I’ve been imprisoned with
my entire life, this family takes care of each other, and will do what it takes to keep
all
members
of the group safe.
I give a hard shake of my head.“Sandy’s in no shape and Gem has been through enough.”
Sandy and Gem both look at me in confusion and I try not to flinch under their probing
gazes. Gem speaks first.“Pride, we’re family now and where I come from, family sticks
together. You didn’t leave me back at the compound and I’m not about to leave you now.”
Sandy blinks from her perch on the bed.“If it wasn’t for you…” she begins then swallows
before saying, “I don’t know what would have become of me. This is as much my fight as it is
yours, Pride.”
The fact that I now have a family, and they’re determined to fight this battle with me, has
my heart doing a little flip in my chest. It also reminds me that these shifters believe in me and
it’s their faith that has me renewing my vow to find Malcolm and the others and end this fight
with the PTF once and for all.
“Then we’d better get a move on it,” I say around the lump forming in my throat, knowing
now is not the time for a public display of emotions.It’s time to concentrate on the mission
ahead, and strategize our best move.“We’re wasting precious daylight hours.”
With that everyone climbs to their feet and we all begin the final preparations for the long
trek back. We travel down the mountain, and less than an hour later, fake identification in hand,
my father returns with a vehicle, a massive SUV that can carry more than all seven of us.
While Stone shares a seat with Gem and Sandy, Logan rides shotgun. Nova takes the
second last row and I climb into the far back, needing time with my thoughts as my father
negotiates the car down the highway, toward the ferry that will take us back into the United
States.
Retreating into myself, I stare blankly out the window, my mind working through the
various scenarios that we might come up against. I look at the maps my father bought while he
was in town renting our vehicle, and think more about Lewis Lake. I pinpoint the area on the
chart, and while I’m sure I’ve never physically been to this specific location, I still can’t shake
the haunting feeling that I’ve heard of it before. I search my mind again, the answer continuing
to dance out of reach.
But soon enough Nova is pouncing into the back with me, her silky hair pulled off her face,
a long braid dangling down her back in a fashion that has me thinking of Ms. Kara.
I listen to the rapid beat of her heart and the elevated thud of her pulse. Her blood is running
faster through her veins now, a hurried rush that she can’t hide from me. Without saying a word
she moves in beside me, and as I turn from her and glare out the window, I can feel her pale
eyes drilling into the back of my head.
“Pride,” she finally says when she realizes I’m waiting for her to make the first move.
Leaving the scenic imagery behind, I look at her pretty face and while I want to believe
Logan, believe that she is suffering from trauma, my hackles bristle, and a dark shiver pulses in
my blood. Warning bells clang in my head, because beneath her perfectly fabricated façade I
catch a hint of something so foul it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. As my stomach sours in
response, every nerve ending in my body, every instinct I possess stands on high alert.
“Yes?” I ask as she turns those shrewd pale eyes on me.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yes,” I lie. Even if I did, I’m not about to let her in on it.
Her hand squeezes my arm, and I flinch at the contact.“It’s very brave of you.”
“What’s brave of me?” I glare at her and wonder where she’s going with this.
“To go after the PTF.” She stops to give a mock shiver, her hand closing over the wound
they left on her hip. After a good show of fear, she says, “I was lucky to get out alive.” She
pauses, then adds, “But from what I’ve heard about you…”
Her voice falls off and even though I feel like I’m walking into a trap, I ask, “What have
you heard?”
“That you’re a fearless warrior, Pride,” she answers with bright eyed enthusiasm, her white
teeth flashing in a smile.“A courageous leader.”
Instincts sharp, my wolf gives a low menacing growl, her distrust evident in the way she
reacts to the girl beside me. I continue to wonder what Nova is up to, anddon’t miss the fact that
she’s trying to bolster my ego. What I don’t know is why.
“What makes you say that?” I ask instead of telling her the truth—that I’m just a girl trying
to right a wrong and find her place in this strange new world.
“I guess if anyone can change the minds of the PTF it’s you.” She waves her hand, then
tucks a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. When a small frown forms on her forehead, I
study her expression and try to figure out what’s really going on inside that head of hers. “It
makes me wonderwhy we’re all tagging along.”
“I never asked you to come along.”
Her smile fades and I feel her mood turn sober, dark.“Then again,” she continues on as if I
hadn’t even spoken, “it’s not like we could stay back in the village. Not after you led…” She
stops midsentence, and gives me a sheepish look.“Well,you know.”
I stare at her long and hard, my heart pounding in my ears as her words hit with the sting of
a cruel master’s whip.She goes quiet, like she’s giving me time to absorb and digest what she’s
saying. But no one knows better than I do that it was me who led the PTF back there, and I’m
responsible for the death of her family, the destruction of her entire village. I exhale a ragged
breath and the tortured sound serrates the quiet of the SUV.
Nova leans into me, and my wolf stirs uneasily. Long lashes shade her eyes and in a low
voice meant for my ears only she says, “I guess that’s why you want to fix this mess.I’d feel
pretty guilty,too.”
My chest tightens, and as anxiety gnaws at my stomach, I steel myself, hating that she’s
right about my feelings, and hating more that she can so easily read them. I work to slow my
pulse and keep my blood flowing steadily, my instincts warning that the less she knows about
me the better.
Nova squares her shoulders and levels me with a stare before gesturing with a nod toward
the front of the vehicle.“We might be travelling with two powerful alphas, but if I were in your
shoes, I’d be sure to take the lead on this mission. You know, so no one else ends up getting
hurt.”
As her words settle like a cold, chaotic lump in my stomach, I pull her scent deep into my
lungs and despite my best efforts to keep my pulse steady, it kicks up a notch.
I move past the floral aroma on her tanned skin, the heady perfume of her natural wolf, and