Rivals (Shifter Island #2) Read online

  Should he be punished, now, for wanting to love Katrin? For wanting her to love him in return?

  Was there anyone here in the pack willing to love him in return?

  “I’m glad I’m not an elder,” Aaron groaned. “These things are far too complicated to decide.”

  “They may remove him. Colorado. Alaska. Maybe farther than that.”

  “Do you think that’s what they should do?”

  Luca sat down on the edge of his own bed. “No,” he said after a moment. “I think that’s the worst thing they could do—dump him in some strange place where he doesn’t know the land, or the other wolves. He’d suffer there. This is his home. He was born here. We’re his pack, for better or worse.”

  He didn’t seem entirely convinced by what he was saying, but maybe he was thinking about what the rest of the pack would say. What their parents would say, after the pain they’d gone through.

  “Brother…” Aaron murmured.

  Luca raised a brow in question.

  “You surprise me,” Aaron said.

  “I’m surprising myself.” Luca closed his eyes briefly, and Aaron could see that he wasn’t completely healed yet, that he might have lingering pain or weakness for a long time. Then Luca shrugged that off and nodded in acknowledgment. “I would not have said this if I hadn’t come so close to slipping into the beyond. I could see it, Aaron—just beyond my reach. I don’t know what’s there, but I know what’s here. I know what we have is precious. That the pack does come first—that we should protect each life among us with all the strength we have.”

  He was so earnest that Aaron thought for a second that some other wolf had taken over his brother’s body, that this was someone he didn’t know at all. Clearly, there were things going on in Luca’s head that he’d never let out into the open before.

  “No punishment, then?” Aaron asked.

  “I didn’t say that. But not banishment. Not death. We’ll find another way. A way that will benefit all of us.”

  He looked at Aaron then, silently asking for his support.

  “You’re right,” Aaron decided—and realized to his amusement that Luca had managed to turn this into his decision, as if Aaron hadn’t even mentioned sparing Micah. That was truly his brother, the oldest son, the one who was always taller, stronger, smarter. “We’re all brothers. And sisters,” he said. “We don’t abandon each other. We don’t slaughter or banish each other. We’re better than that, Luca. Better than the old ways.”

  “And you’ll broach that to Father?”

  Aaron laughed softly, without humor. “He’s always thought of me as someone who won’t obey his rules. Then I brought a human into our midst, and I let Micah live when I should have sent him off to the beyond. He’s not going to be anxious to listen to anything I have to say.”

  Luca was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Your human helped me survive. I… owe her my gratitude.”

  “Will you stand with me, then? Help me convince Father and the others that she belongs here?”

  “I—yes. I will.”

  “Thank you, brother.”

  Luca nodded. Aaron thought he might say something, but he didn’t—and there was a sudden shadow deep in his eyes.

  “You should rest,” Aaron told him. “We’ll talk more later. But I have something else to do first.”

  Because Micah’s wounds were being tended to at Granny Sara’s house, Abby had been sent away from there. Now she was with Katrin, who seemed to have adopted Abby as a friend, a sister. To Aaron, who had always regarded Kat as his own sister, that made good sense—particularly if Abby was going to remain here as his mate. It would be good for Abby to have a friend, especially if that friend happened to be a wolf.

  He saw something else when Kat greeted him at the door of her family’s house, something he’d always known was there: how much she loved his brother.

  “Go to him,” he suggested.

  “He won’t want me there,” she said. “He’s–”

  “Talk to him. You’ve always been part of our lives, Kat. Be his friend now. The bonding doesn’t happen in just one way.”

  She shied away from him, arms wrapped around herself, as sorrowful as a child who’d been denied a treat. She tried to turn away, but he grasped her upper arms in his hands and kept her in place. He wanted to embrace her, but his wounds were still too tender—and beyond that, he smelled terrible.

  “Go to him,” he said firmly.

  Her departure left him alone in the house with Abby, who was sorting through the contents of her huge yellow bag. She had spread some of it across Kat’s bed, and to Aaron it looked like a ridiculous collection of things: potions and creams, two pairs of shoes even more fragile than the ones she usually wore, dainty underwear.

  Though, as he examined those bits of lace and shiny fabric, he thought he might like to see her wearing all of it. She normally pulled her underthings off quickly during their lovemaking, but if she took a bit more time…

  Hmm. He might be injured, but certain parts of him were feeling just fine.

  “We’re in someone else’s house,” Abby stammered.

  They certainly were—and Katrin’s parents and siblings might return at any time. In a way, that was exciting. In another way, it was completely mortifying, so Aaron tore his gaze away from Abby’s delicate underthings and focused on the wall behind her.

  “I was… concerned,” he said.

  She ran her teeth over her lower lip, gnawing on it for a moment before she let it go. “I’m sorry. This whole thing scared me. I don’t—I mean, things like this happen. Where I’m from, you know? There are gangs who shoot each other for no good reason. At least it doesn’t seem like a good reason. And people—God, it happens all the time.” She paused. “She loves your brother. Micah loves her. Is that a reason to kill somebody? With everybody else standing around watching?”

  “No,” Aaron said. “It’s not.”

  “But you were going to do it.”

  Would he have? Aaron wondered. Would he actually have ended Micah’s life, no matter what Micah had done to Luca? Had he ever, for a single minute, contemplated doing that?

  Of course the answer was “yes.” At least, the wolf had wanted to do it. The wolf knew only instinct and habit.

  But the wolf was only a part of him.

  “I don’t know, Abby. I didn’t want to. It depended on what he was going to do. How ready he was to kill me.”

  She turned away from him and picked up a couple of things from the bed. One of them he guessed was a phone.

  “Do you want to leave?” he asked.

  “What would you do if I said yes?”

  “Grieve,” he said. “It would tear the heart out of me, more efficiently than Micah could ever do. But if that was what you really wanted, if you really felt like you have no place here, then I’d let you go.”

  She was silent for a long time. Then she said, barely above a whisper, “I thought you were going to fight for me.”

  When she turned back to him, there was something hopeful and pleading in her eyes. Something that begged him to convince her that they could conquer any obstacle that the pack, and the island, and the rest of the world could throw into their path.

  That he hadn’t for a single minute thought she didn’t belong here.

  “Of course I will,” he told her. “I’ll never stop.”

  Seventeen

  Making a promise to each other was one thing. Facing the elders and winning their support was another, particularly after what had happened with Micah. The old men were always firm in their convictions, even when it was clear to everyone else that they were wrong, or that considering some new possibility was the best choice for the pack. Getting them to change their minds would be like changing the direction of a mighty river.

  Which wasn’t to say that it couldn’t be done. The elders had all been young once, Aaron told himself. They’d all had dreams, hopes, expectations. And all of them had known the pull of the b
ond.

  He held Abby’s hand as they stood in front of the three elders—Caleb, Mason, and Jameson, all of whom were seated at Caleb’s big, battered table. He could feel a slight tremble that told him she was nervous, though it didn’t show outwardly. On the outside, she looked calm, at peace, in control of her thoughts and feelings.

  His Abby, in control? The thought made him smile.

  She’d bring new life to the pack. New ideas. Enthusiasm. She’d already made friends with Katrin, and now they could count on the support of Luca. His mother and father seemed to be warming to her, bit by bit, because she’d helped bring Luca back to consciousness—and because Aaron had chosen her. The rest of the pack would eventually follow suit, with few exceptions. They’d help her become used to living without the conveniences she’d known back on the mainland.

  “This woman was drawn here,” he told the elders, keeping his voice level and calm. “She didn’t come here by accident. She was drawn here because we were meant to be together. The gods who created us, who gave us the gift of the wolf, sent her to me because of all the females in the world, she was the best choice for me. Can you argue that?”

  “Where do her loyalties truly lie?” asked Mason.

  “Here. With me.”

  The old man snorted softly. Of course he’d have the most strenuous objections of the three of them; he’d spent almost no time with humans. It was common knowledge that he’d gone to the mainland a couple of times under great duress and had come back each time feeling more and more disgusted with humans and their “foul habits.” He was one end of the spectrum, Jameson—the youngest of the three elders—the other.

  “Maybe you think I have ties back there,” Abby said. “That I’ll start feeling homesick, or that I’m some kind of social media junkie who can’t live without my computer and my smartphone. But that’s never been me. I use those things, sure, but I’d rather not. I’d rather…” She paused, gripping Aaron’s hand more tightly. “I’d rather sit in the sunlight and watch someone I love clean fish for dinner. I’d rather lie on a blanket and look up at the stars.”

  “You tried to run,” Caleb pointed out.

  “Because I was scared. I’d never seen a fight like that before. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

  “Your place was at his side.”

  “His side was bleeding.”

  “Which made it all the more important that you stay. The bond might have been the only thing that could pull him back from the spirit path. From death.”

  “And that’s exactly what she did for Luca,” Aaron put in. “None of us—not my parents, and not me—none of us could pull Luca back, no matter how hard we tried. He was lingering in the in-between. It was Abby’s strength that brought him back, and now he’s healing. He’s getting well. She saved his life, and she saved mine, because if you had sent me away, I would have died as surely as if Micah had ripped out my throat.”

  The three old men looked at each other. Mason was sour and unconvinced. Jameson, who had always been intrigued by gadgets, was fiddling with the phone Abby had agreed to let him tinker with.

  Only Caleb seemed to be willing to listen.

  “We would make arrangements,” the alpha said to Abby. “Our representatives on the mainland would dispose of your goods. Give your employers a resignation letter. Send communications to your friends and kin.”

  He was telling Abby that she wouldn’t be allowed to return to the mainland, or to contact any of her friends there. She would have to sever all ties cleanly, and allow others to say her goodbyes.

  As Aaron had expected, she flinched at that. Really, that was the best thing she could have done; if she had said it was fine, no one would have believed her. Instead, she thought for a while, rubbing Aaron’s palm with the pad of her thumb as she did so.

  “It’ll be hard,” she said finally. “I’ll wonder what my friends are doing. What’s happening on The Bachelor. If my neighbor across the street had her baby. It’s hard to just… shut the door on your whole life.”

  She turned to Aaron and smiled. “But I love this man. I do. Maybe it’s partly some mystical, supernatural, freaky-deaky thing that nobody can explain and nobody knows where it came from, but this is the man I’m supposed to be with. I feel that right down to my toes.”

  Slowly, Caleb nodded. “Go. Leave us now.”

  He wouldn’t say anything more, and Aaron and Abby were forced to do as he said.

  Aaron could only hope that the elders’ decision would be in their favor.

  Eighteen

  “This really is a beautiful place,” Abby said, leaning back so that the afternoon sunlight spilled down the length of her body.

  It was starting to feel more and more natural to her to be naked, to feel the breeze brushing against her skin, the tickle of water, the warmth of the sun. And of course Aaron didn’t mind her walking around without clothes.

  And Aaron himself…

  She looked over to where he was lounging on a long, flat rock, eyes closed, his shoulders and abs and those long, strong legs all on display for her enjoyment.

  At her request, they’d come over to the stream for a picnic on a day that couldn’t possibly get any nicer, and had just spent some time splashing in the deep pool, teasing and playing with each other, chasing a school of tiny fish, finding spots where the water was cool and where it was luxuriously warm.

  This was their second day at the cabin where they’d first met, and while they weren’t entirely alone—various members of the pack had wandered by, claiming to be hunting or looking for mushrooms—there was enough peace and quiet for Abby to believe she’d truly found paradise.

  True, she was giving up a lot of things she’d grown very accustomed to during her life back on the mainland, but she was finding very quickly that she didn’t need them. Computers, phones, packaged food, indoor plumbing…

  She certainly didn’t miss her father, or her noisy neighbors.

  Aaron shifted up to a cross-legged sit, his still-wet dark hair glistening in the light, and Abby hoped he didn’t want her to join him there on the rock. It felt too good to sit in the water with the current flowing gently along her legs. And the view couldn’t be beat: Aaron’s gorgeous body framed by the trees and the sky.

  At first, he seemed too relaxed and at peace to say or do anything. Then his expression began to change.

  “Yes,” he said, just loudly enough for her to hear him. “It’s the most beautiful place in the world.”

  He was back in the water in a flash, then came closer and closer, as if he was stalking prey, one calculated move at a time. What he had in mind was obvious: his cock had stirred to life and was pointing at her so directly she had to stifle a giggle.

  When he finally reached her, he sat down and maneuvered her onto his lap, that easily-roused pointer pressed between them, hot against her belly.

  “You’re relentless,” she said, leaning in for a kiss.

  “Am I?”

  She turned the giggle loose as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Yes. And I love it.”

  She was ready for the kiss to go on and on, but he tilted back a little and studied her face, brushing her cheek with the back of one hand. “I have much to be thankful for,” he said quietly. “The gods who made us have been kind to me.”

  “Me too.”

  Then he did go on kissing her, sweetly and deeply, his tongue exploring her as if he wanted to memorize every bit of the experience. She could feel his chest rising and falling with each breath, something she found very soothing and reassuring.

  She’d spent much of last night curled against him with a hand pressed to his chest, the regular rhythm of his breathing like a clock ticking in the darkness. It told her he was there, strong and alive, that she had nothing to worry about, nothing to fear.

  After a little while he lifted her up, hips cradled in his strong hands, and eased her down onto his cock. The cool water slipped between them as they matched the rhythm of his br
eathing: slow and steady at first, then faster and more urgent, Abby gripping him inside her as he gripped her shoulders and hips and butt in his hands.

  When they finally slipped apart, sated and happy, she sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder, and he curled his arm around her.

  “You think we could stay here all day?” she asked.

  “As long as we like.”

  “I suppose we’ll get a little wrinkly after a while.”

  He turned her head toward him so she could see him smile. “Not the worst thing in the world.”

  “We’ll have to eat, eventually.”

  “I suppose so.”

  Off in the distance, Abby could see two figures walking through the woods. As they got closer, she could see it was Luca and Katrin. They weren’t touching; they seemed to be talking quietly.

  “Will they–” she said to Aaron.

  He was watching them too. He seemed pensive at first, then satisfied. “I hope so. Even when we were children, there was something between them. They’d be a very good match for each other. She calms him. Makes him content. What do you call it?” He stopped to think, his forehead creasing into a frown that didn’t last long. “She smoothes off the rough edges. He needs that.”

  She thought about Micah, who was being confined in the building where Aaron had been locked up. He was still being cared for by his grandmother, and by the healer and two young wolves who had chosen healing as their path in life, but all of them were under the watchful eye of Daniel and his deputies.

  She didn’t think Micah would ever be comfortable seeing Katrin and Luca together, that it might very well push him toward violence again, but maybe the extra attention he was getting from the others would help him.

  According to Aaron’s father, the elders had agreed to explore options other than death and banishment, and the healer had suggested that they ease Micah bit by bit back into the society of the pack as time went on, encouraging him not to be alone, to enjoy the company of others with something in mind other than mating.