My father continues to glower at Amber, who, amazingly, doesn’t cower. If she showed the slightest sign of distress, I would’ve taken my father on right then and there-prove who’s the alpha now.
“So you went to rescue these wolves all by yourself?”
Amber lifts her chin the way she did the night I met her in the elevator, refusing to show intimidation. “I had to, sir. I was shown it in a vision.”
“You didn’t mention that to me.” It eases some of my guilt and angst over her being at risk.
“You weren’t in a chatty mood.” She glances up at me from under her lashes, making my heart jump and bang against my ribs. Such a small thing, and she has me wrapped around her finger so tightly.
“So you’re shown things?” my father asks. Skepticism scrawls across his features.
Amber nods. “Sometimes, sir. I can’t always control it.” Her face contorts in a grimace of pain.
Fates, it’s the bite wounds. I pull her closer to my side, ready to rush her to the hospital at the drop of a hat.
“Sedona’s been mated,” Amber chokes out.
Her wince was a vision, not the marking.
“But her mate didn’t kidnap her. He’s working to get her free.”
“Her mate?” my father snaps.
Amber’s eyes fly wide, as if her revelation surprises even her. She looks past my father, her focus going soft. “Yes… they were locked together over the full moon. He marked her.”
“You know where she is?” my dad snaps, looking at me.
I nod.
“Then let’s move. We have three vans of wolves waiting on the street. No humans.”
Even though I agree, I hate the way he gives the order without even looking at Amber.
I turn to her and cup her cheek. “I need you to stay here, baby. I won’t need it, but this time don’t even think about rescuing me. No matter what your visions show you. Understand?”
She nods. There’s a trace of sadness to her that I can’t pinpoint, but my dad is already pushing everyone out the door.
“Trey, you stay with Amber. In case her wounds turn bad,” I order.
“No, I’m fine,” she interjects. “Totally fine. You guys go.”
I hesitate, torn between wanting to be fully prepared when we get Sedona and my concern over Amber.
She pushes us out the door. “I’m fine. I’ll lock the door, order room service, and wait for you to come back.”
“Okay,” I relent. I bend to kiss her. “Get some rest, baby. Sleep in tomorrow. I’ll call you on the hotel phone with an update.”
She lifts her lips and kisses me back, and I reluctantly leave her. Her face is shadowed, and the only way I can convince my wolf to leave her is vowing silently to return.
~.~
Amber
Nausea hits me the minute they leave. Between the drugged out feeling from being marked, the pain and general exhaustion, my body rebels at what I know I need to do-
Leave.
If I’d known Garrett would lose his position as alpha by marking me, I never would have let him do it. His pack is everything to him. I’ve seen how tight they are-closer than family. They care for each other, have each other’s backs. His guys would do anything for him. He has a pack tattoo on his arm, for God’s sake.
Loneliness shoots through me, just contemplating leaving him. Before I met Garrett, I managed my loneliness. Used measures of order, control, and a sense of contributing to society to keep my life on the upswing.
But now I see all those things for what they were-a mask to hide the truth that’s always gnawed at me. I’m alone in the world.
Which is fine. Not everyone can be from big packs or families. I’ve learned to manage on my own, and I’ll manage without Garrett, too. I have my job. And my best friend. And foster kids who need my help. Well, yeah, that’s my job.
We were only mated for a few hours. I’ve only considered him my boyfriend for a day.
Letting go won’t be that hard.
Yeah, right.
My eyes burn as I throw my things into the silver rolling suitcase I filled when Garrett ordered me to pack. Every time I waver into self-pity, I remind myself I’m doing this for Garrett. He deserves an alpha wolf for a mate.
Not Crazy Amber.
Definitely not Crazy Amber.
I don’t want Crazy Amber-how could she be what Garrett wants?
No, his worry over Sedona, the full moon, and their proximity made him impetuous. Sooner or later, he’d realize he made a mistake. Maybe next week. Maybe in a month. Maybe not for three months. But it would happen, like the inevitability of the next moonrise. Better to rip the Band-Aid off quickly. Or leave before more damage is done. Or whichever saying best fits.
It’s been a wild weekend, but that’s all it was. Wild. And a weekend.
I leave the hotel room and take the elevator down to the lobby. It’s past midnight, but I find a cab outside and ask to go to the airport.
As I ride away, my head begins to throb. I pull the bottle of ibuprofen Trey brought me out of my purse and pop three, even though I know they won’t do any good. I stare at the dark streets whizzing by and brace myself against the pain. Not in my head but from the giant javelin lanced through my chest.
I’ll get by. I always do.
In the airport, I check the departures and find one going to Phoenix at six a. m. It’s two hours from Tucson but close enough. I pay for a ticket and sit down in a chair to wait for morning.
The visions come the moment I close my eyes. I fight them back, but it feels like my head will explode. I see fast-forward movies playing of Sedona, a beautiful brunette, locked in a sparsely-furnished room with a young Mexican man. It blurs and shifts into a fight between the young man and the wolves who guard the door. Then, the two of them, standing on a beautiful veranda that overlooks a vast jungle. The van Trey stole from the warehouse drives in on the road below.
Garrett.
My body grieves for him, as if he didn’t embed just his scent, but his very essence in me, making me forever addicted to him. I shove the visions back, swallow them down. My legs are shaky when I stand, but I walk to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. It’s almost morning. My plane will leave soon, and I can sleep on it.
Tomorrow, I’ll be home, and I can go about pretending this never happened.
I look in the mirror, but I don’t see myself, I see the white-haired woman from the airport restroom years before. She stares back at me with accusation in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I choke, but the room is spinning. It’s all I can do to hang onto the counter and not fall down.
The last thing I remember is my vision going black right before my head strikes something hard and I blessedly lose consciousness.
~.~
Garrett
I sit in the passenger side of a twenty-passenger van and crack my tattooed knuckles. We have three giant vans-more like mini buses-driving in a caravan into the jungle. My father brought sixty men with him. The Montelobos have over one hundred. Decent odds, considering how ferocious my home pack can be. Still, it’s the first time I’ve gone into a fight with someone waiting for me to return.
Life feels more precious now. My own life, Amber’s. Certainly Sedona’s. Fates, she’s just a kid, still. This shouldn’t have happened to her.
I ride in the van with my pack members, to let them know how much I appreciate their support. How important this battle is to me. I’m not going to go in there and lose. Losing isn’t in my blood, especially not where Sedona’s involved. Since the same blood runs through my father’s veins, I know we’re undefeatable.
The drive takes two and a half hours. Enough time for me to replay every moment I’ve spent with Amber, from the day I met her until the minute I left her at the hotel. In a short amount of time, she’s completely changed my life.
I feel so far removed from the never-willing-to-settle-down party boy I was a week ago. The guy my dad rode hard for not manning up and acting like a true leader. The guy who didn’t take much seriously. Yes, I was a successful businessman, but it hadn’t been hard. I had the Midas touch. I got in the real estate market at the right time. My dad provided me with initial start-up capital, but I was able to pay him back within a year. The rest I did on my own.
It’s so easy to see now that I played the rebel out of fear of becoming my dad. Fear of becoming an uptight asshole who rides his pack and family hard.
Except now that my own instincts to protect those precious to me-Amber and Sedona, and my pack members, too-have kicked into high gear, I understand where he was coming from. I’ve made different choices in my leadership style, but we probably both want the same things. And now that I have a mate, it’s obvious to me I need to grow up.
I need to be the kind of man Amber would be proud to introduce to her colleagues. Her foster kids. That doesn’t mean I’m going to put on a suit and tie, but it’s time to stop living like a frat boy.
The van winds up a narrow dirt road, climbing higher and higher into dense rainforest. Everything looks rural and poor until we stop by a high-tech electric security gate. My dad and I get out. I smash the security camera staring down at us and help him rip the gate from its hinges, bending and tearing the metal.
I’m ready to shift right there and run in on four paws, but my dad orders the vans to drive in farther. I tear my shirt off when I get back in the van, and my guys do the same. We’ll be ready to meet them in human or wolf form, whichever is required.