Gunnar Read online

  “Shit,” I said. “It’s really that bad?”

  Liam nodded. “He’s been calm for the last few days since. But…”

  “But he might try something even more dangerous the next time,” I said. “Shit. I can’t pretend I’m not grateful for what he tried to do for me...and for Finn and the others, but…”

  “But, yeah,” Mac said. “Now you’re where we are.”

  “Listen,” I said. “He’s come this far. When I left, he was barely eating and bashing his head against the wall if we didn’t chain him. Now, at least he can fight for something. I’ve seen men survive things you can’t imagine. Let’s not lose hope.”

  “Oh, nobody’s losing hope,” Molly’s bright voice reached us as she stepped out of the shadows. She stood with her hands on her hips. “Not on my watch. Speaking of that, Jett’s waking up.”

  I tried to brush past Molly. She put a flat palm on my chest to stop me. “You’re going to let me tend to that bite before you take another step, mister. That’s an order.”

  “Yeah?” I teased. “Who’s going to hold me down so you can?”

  No sooner had I said it before Liam and Mac grabbed me forcefully by the arms, their inner wolves growling a threat.

  “Fine,” I laughed. “I suppose I can’t fight off all three of you.”

  “Damn straight you can’t,” Molly said. “Let’s get you cleaned up and presentable. I’ve only just met her, but I have a hunch your Jett is worth all the fuss.”

  My heart soaring, I went with them down to the infirmary.

  Thirty

  Jett

  “Hold still!” I commanded. “And quit scratching. You’re going to rip those stitches out!”

  Gunnar and I were a pair. I had my arm in a sling, my own stitches itching like the devil. Molly had bandaged his waist. It had been three days and she told me he could take them out today. We’d both threatened to throw him back in dragonsteel if he tried to rip them out before that.

  “You’re just as bad as she is,” he growled.

  “That’s right,” I said. “Which means you know you’re gonna lose this fight, wolfman. Now let me see.”

  He let out a defeated sigh and I started to unwrap the bandages. Molly wanted to be here, but she’d been called away.

  “You want me to sit on him?” A wry voice echoed down the passageway. Gunnar and I had claimed what I now called our suite. We stayed in a group of caverns branching east from the main rotunda. Eve and Mac stayed just across the way. Further down the hall, Eve had shown me the crown jewel of the hidden Mammoth Cave system. Steaming hot springs bubbled up just below the main rooms. After today, Gunnar had the all clear to submerge himself. My heart came alive with possibilities. Gunnar, of course, knew my mind well enough now to feel my need instantly.

  “You’ll crush my ribs, woman,” Gunnar teased. Eve came to the archway, standing with her hands at the small of her back. Her stomach bulged as the life within it swelled and rolled.

  Eve was a marvel to me. Mac’s mate, she was the reason Birch Haven fell. On my second night here in the caves, she’d come to talk to me. Her warm smile put me at ease. I couldn’t stop staring at her stomach. She took me into her confidence that night, placing my hand where her belly curved. She held it firm and after a moment, I felt the mysterious magic of the small baby inside of her. He turned, kicking out one limb and I knew him instantly for what he was.

  “They say he’ll be an Alpha, just like his daddy,” Eve whispered. Her tone held joy and fear all at once. I suppose every new mother feels that way. I couldn’t help but bring my hand to my own empty womb. Would Gunnar and I be brave enough to fill it someday? I secretly hoped so.

  Gunnar knew Eve and I had been putting off a conversation for a few days. “Go,” he said. “This can wait. I’ll meet you both in the main rotunda. If I haven’t found Molly before that, you can have the honor of taking these damn stitches out yourself.”

  I wagged a finger at him. “That better be a promise not to touch them, mister.” He rolled his eyes but gave me a half-hearted salute.

  Then, Eve and I walked down the dark cave passageways together. She held a lantern in front of her and we cast ghostly shadows on the walls. She took me to Lena, Mac’s sister. The three of us were the survivors of Birch Haven. Over the last few days, I’d told them what I could about the twelve and what we faced when we escaped. They bore witness to the names of the women who died fighting for their freedom. Cassie. Ellen. Marie. Lara. Majorie. Dana. Shay. My tears fell as I recounted each of their stories, saving Jade for last.

  “She’s alive,” Lena whispered. I knew the words cost her. I knew I’d been lucky. Lena Morris had suffered even worse than Melanie had. I could only imagine the demons she fought just to go on living. “We got Jasmine out.”

  Then, Eve and Lena told me their secrets. About the network of help the Mammoth Forest wolves had engaged to get those liberated from Birch Haven to safety. Some of them stayed behind, including Lena and Eve. They stayed for Mac. And they stayed because Lena was too fragile to fight anymore.

  “Jasmine wanted out of Kentucky,” Eve said. “We can get word to her though. If there’s something you’d like to tell her about her sister. She knows Jade died. I don’t know how. Maybe it’s a sister thing, but she always knew.”

  “Thank you,” I said, my heart ached with both sorrow and hope. “I’d like that. I just wish…”

  Eve put a hand over mine. “Vera and Melanie,” she answered for me. I’d told them their stories too. “You have to have faith. We’ve put the word out. If any of our people hear anything about either of them, we’ll know it. The fact that we haven’t is good news. I think your friends made it to wherever they were going.”

  “I think so too,” I said. And I did believe it. We weren’t sisters and maybe it was naive, but I believed in my heart that I’d feel it, if anything happened to Vera. “And...they know how to fight.”

  “There’s something else,” Eve said, her tone growing solemn. “I didn’t want to say anything until I was absolutely sure. But, we got confirmation about an hour ago. It’s about your friend, Caroline.”

  I fell apart. My heart seized and I couldn’t breathe. “Oh God. Please.” Tears burst from my eyes.

  “No!” Eve shouted. She came to me, putting a light hand on my shoulder. “No. Jett, listen to me. She got out. Do you hear me? She’s safe. I told you, our network is growing. We have a friend in Clarksville. They arranged for transport. Caroline was life-flighted out of the Clarksville Hospital yesterday. She’s at the Cleveland Clinic. Do you hear what I’m saying? She’s out. She’s going to be okay. She’s got a long road ahead of her, but she’s going to make it. I promise you.”

  A sob caught in my throat. I squeezed Eve’s hand so hard I was afraid I might hurt her. Lena’s expression grew grave. For a moment, she seemed to go someplace else in her head. Gone. Caroline was gone. She got out. The lure of it had to pull on Lena as well.

  My joy overflowed and I erupted into a round of hiccupping sobs. “Thank you,” I finally managed. “It’s everything. It’s just...everything.” With that, any last shred of doubt I had about Gunnar’s family melted away.

  I drew in a breath for courage. There was one last secret I had yet to share. In the days since Gunnar brought me here, no one had pressed me. We had all been testing each other, learning to trust. I was Gunnar’s, but an outsider. For my part, I’d relied on just myself or Vera for so long, it was hard to let my guard down. So, we waited. We were patient with each other. And yet, with each passing day, I watched Eve’s unborn son grow within her. His birth would be cause for celebration, but I knew how much she worried about what was to come.

  “I’m ready now,” I said, smiling. “Call the others.”

  Lena slowly rose. I hadn’t expected her to leave her rooms. “The rotunda?” she asked.

  I shook my head no. “Gunnar said something about a map room. Take me there.”

  I never would have found it myse
lf. Gunnar’s people had it tucked away at the end of a dizzying labyrinth of passageways. It was so small, the shifters couldn’t stand fully upright. But, there was a natural ledge in the center of the room. On it, they’d spread a ten-foot topographical map of Kentucky. My heart thundered in my chest. Gunnar came to me. His hand on the small of my back stilled me. He knew how much my next words would cost me, how long I had protected this one last truth.

  I let out a breath. Lena stayed behind in her rooms. But, Eve, Molly, Mac, Gunnar, Liam, and now Jagger surrounded the map and waited for me to speak. For Jagger’s part, he hung back a little. Like Lena, he was recovering from wounds we couldn’t see.

  I spread my hands over the map. “I don’t know it all,” I started, it seemed as good a place as any. “But there is a tunnel system running from here to here.” I traced my finger along the Rockcastle River. Gunnar handed me a pencil. I drew in the lines all the way to Camp Hell and beyond.

  “We don’t know who made them,” I said.

  Liam cleared his throat. “We have an idea. There was a group of resistance fighters in the early seventies. As far as we know, they’re all gone now. You don’t think the Pack knows about the tunnels.”

  “No. They could have caught us easily if they did. The thing is, there are still pockets of resistance besides your group. You’re just the ones making the most racket right now. And uh...the most organized and powerful. I owe you all my life. This is hard for me. Hard to trust. But, if I don’t say these things, I’m afraid you’re going to die.” I looked at Eve, Molly and Lena. Liam and Mac growled and moved closer to them.

  “I’m not saying it to scare you,” I continued. “Well, I am. But, the thing is. I’ve watched you a little bit. Mac, Liam, you’re strong. Of course you are. But, you can’t be everywhere all the time. The Pack will find ways to separate you. And your women don’t know how to fight.”

  “I beg your pardon,” Eve said. “My current girth notwithstanding, I’ve done all right.”

  “No,” I said. “You haven’t. If it weren’t for your Alphas, you’d be dead already. I’m telling you. You have to do better. You have to know how to defend yourselves against the Pack. If they ever come at you all at once, well, of course there won’t be anything you can do. But, that’s not usually what they do. Able sends them off one by one. We’re human. We’re not a big threat, so he doesn’t see the need to send a large patrol after any one of us. Plus, I think he has to be more focused when he’s directing a group of wolves at once. I don’t know, with just a single wolf, he can phone it in a little. If that makes sense. So, he doesn’t waste all his energy at one time. One on one, you can defend yourself. I can show you how.”

  Mac scoffed. “Jett, you’re strong. You’ve survived under incredible odds. But, you’re human. You’ll never be able to defend yourself against a shifter. Never.”

  “I’ve seen her do it,” Gunnar said. “Three times. So you might want to shut up and listen.”

  Jagger pounded his fist against the rock. His eyes blazed gold and even I could feel the pain behind him. He hadn’t uttered a word since I met him, but his message was clear. Maybe if his Keara had known what I did, she’d still be alive.

  “I don’t know if it’s always been like this, but the Alpha...Able is old. It’s possible it’s because he’s starting to lose his grip, but we can’t be sure of that. One thing I do know is betas are different. I’ve studied them. I’ve faced up against them many times. I can train you. But, the betas who Able controls aren’t infallible. They have a tell.”

  “A tell,” Molly asked. I didn’t know her well yet, but I was already starting to recognize when she wore her clinical hat. A trained veterinarian, Gunnar told me she’d been working the physiological angle for a while.

  “They don’t think for themselves,” I went on. “It’s not in their nature to act blindly like Able makes them. That part you know. But, you can see it if you know what to look for. I do. It’s in their eyes. They fight against it, but Able is too strong. With Alphas like you, it’s different. He can’t seem to get the same grip on them. But with the betas, you’ll see their wolf eyes dim, turning almost amber. It’s only a second, two at the most, but if you’re ready for it, it’s all the time you need. Just before their eyes turn blood-red, they’re paralyzed waiting for Able’s command. That’s when you strike.”

  I held my hand out imagining a gun in it. A hollow pit formed in my stomach. Again, I thought about the nine I’d had to leave behind. “Of course, it was a surer bet when I had the right ammunition. The bullets we got a hold of were laced with a neurotoxin that could incapacitate a shifter.”

  “Where’d you get it?” Molly asked, breathless.

  “The shifters who helped us when we escaped from Birch Haven gave it to us. Vera and Melanie have two rifles with the last of our ammo. Even without it though, if you shoot a regular bullet into one of the betas at the right time, I think it’ll at least give you the chance to make a run for it. You’ll do some damage if you hit the head or the heart. But, it’s going to take practice.”

  Mac, Liam and Gunnar were standing near each other. Mac leaned in and whispered something to Liam. Liam turned and looked at Gunnar.

  “What?” I asked. Gunnar’s face fell. Whatever secret he had, his expression told me I wasn’t going to like it.

  “We know a guy,” Liam answered.

  I reared back in shock. “You know a guy?”

  A murmur ran through the group. Eve and Molly weren’t happy either. Connected to Liam and Mac, they could already tell what their men were plotting. I went to Gunnar and laced my fingers with his.

  “A few years ago,” he said. “We helped a Michigan shifter get over the border. The patrols were lighter then.”

  “I remember,” I said. “That’s when your group started making noise. It got harder for a lot of us.”

  Liam at least had the decency to look chagrined. He shrugged it off. “It’s a long shot. And it’ll be dangerous as fuck, but…”

  “No.” Molly, Eve and I said it at the same time. We knew what our men were thinking.

  “You can’t,” I said. “You can’t! You’ll never get over the border. You don’t even know if this guy is still out there.”

  “We have friends in Michigan,” Mac said. “Or at least, we might. One of them owes us. He’d be dead if we didn't help. Anyway, I think he knows about the ammo you had. Because...well...we saw them shoot some shifters. They went down faster than they should have. I’d always kind of wondered about it, but now with what you’re saying, I think it’s worth exploring. We need to know at least.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. They were talking about a suicide mission. A strangled cry escaped from Eve as Mac said, “We have to try.”

  “No.” A deep voice reverberated behind me. Another Alpha, huge as the others, walked into the map room. Shirtless, his powerful muscles were laced with scars just like Jagger. He had a fierce expression, and green eyes that flashed emerald as his inner wolf raged.

  “Payne,” Molly gasped. She went to him, smoothing her hands over his chest looking for wounds.

  Liam, Mac and Gunnar closed ranks around him. He’d been listening to everything. Hard determination lit behind his eyes.

  “I’ll go,” he said. “It has to be me.”

  Payne walked over to me. He held his hand out for me to shake it. The gesture seemed almost out of place for so feral a man. Alarm raced through me. I pushed it back and took his hand. It was rough and calloused and his eyes stayed hard.

  “Payne,” Gunnar said, standing behind me. “This is Jett. She’s...mine.”

  The hint of a smile played at the corner of Payne’s mouth. He chewed on a small twig. It was almost as if he needed it to stay connected to the woods above us.

  Payne leaned down and kissed my cheek, his rough stubble scraping my jaw. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Mostly that you saved our boy’s ass.”

  “I uh…”
r />   “Come on,” Gunnar said. “You’ve given them a lot to talk about. Let me know what you decide,” he said over my head to Liam and Mac. Jagger had disappeared again without any of us seeing it.

  I worried for him, like Molly did. But, something else washed over me that day. It would be hard. It might be impossible. But, these Mammoth Forest wolves had a will to fight and smart women who loved them working by their sides. It was dangerous to hope, but maybe they might just win.

  Epilogue

  Jett

  Two Weeks Later…

  It had been nearly impossible. In the two weeks since our meeting in the map room, Gunnar and I had scarcely a minute alone. Now that I’d said my piece, the women were eager to learn. Mac found some space topside close to the cave entrance where we could train. In Eve’s condition, she could mostly just watch, but I sensed she’d learn quickly once the baby came.

  Molly and some of the other women helping Mammoth Forest wolves came ready to train. I worked them hard and their skills at self-defense were slowly improving. Still, we had a long road to go.

  Payne kept his word and readied himself to leave. Gunnar wouldn’t tell me exactly where he was going. Though he didn’t say it, I knew he figured it was for my own protection. Molly said it was better if our Alphas kept some things compartmentalized. I couldn’t argue the point.

  “Come here,” Gunnar said. We’d stolen away to the river that ran alongside the caves. I still marveled that close by, hundreds of tourists walked through the same woods and caves, never knowing what lay just a few hundred yards beneath their feet. My heart pulsed with need as he drew me close. I was hot, sticky and sweaty from a two-hour training session with Molly. Lena had yet to join us. Mac and Molly were worried about her. She’d become more withdrawn each day, not leaving her suite of caves. She’d only let Eve and Mac in to see her.

  Gunnar shed his clothes. I watched him in profile, his muscles rippling as he sluiced water over his body. I could watch him like this for hours. Naked. Magnificent. Mine.