‘Idiot’
The word haunted him as he made his way down the stairs toward the kitchen where his sister and her husband, who he had since learned was named Bruce, sat around the kitchen table casually chatting. Nodding a greeting to Bruce, he raked his hand through his hair and joined them at the table.
Without so much a break in her chattering, Andria rose to her feet and went about making him a plate. Not really feeling up to eating, he adamantly tried to decline, and was rewarded for his efforts with a plate piled high with her home cooking. Resuming her seat across from him, Andria glared at him over the table, daring him to refuse her offer. Knowing this was a battle he wouldn’t win, Duncan ignored the amused smirk on Bruce’s face as he surrendered to his sister’s will and slowly began to take a few bites.
Appearing satisfied once more, Andria began to fill him in on the events and changes that had occurred during his twenty year absence. He tried to pay as much attention as possible, knowing this was all information they would need in the hours to come, but his mind kept replaying the look of disappointment on Senka’s face when she turned and walked away from him.
By the stars she must hate me.
The thought pulled him further away from the conversation and even deeper into his pit of self-loathing. Shit, I should have said something… anything. She had looked to him for reassurance and what had he done? Stood there like a fool and allowed her to think he regretted what had come to pass between them, when in fact, the total opposite was true.
Never had Duncan ever felt as certain about anything as he did Senka. She was his missing piece, his light in the darkness, and he couldn’t imagine spending another second of his life without her in it.
Only thing was, he didn’t deserve her. There was still so much about him she didn’t know. And once she found out… she would leave him forever. It was this thought that had plagued him when he awoke. The reason he had sat for over an hour just watching her in her peaceful slumber. And the reason he left her behind without saying so much as a word.
For in a few hours, Senka would know the horrible truth. She would see him as the monster he really was and there was a real good possibility when she learned of all the things he had done, she would try to kill him. He would if he was her.
“Duncan? Did you hear anything we just told you?” Andria’s perturbed voice broke through his moment of self-loathing and pulled his attention back to the present.
“Enough to know things haven’t changed much in twenty years.” He huffed, shoving a piece of bread in his mouth. “The Horde still runs the town and the police are in their pocket. Did I miss anything?”
“Just the part about them taking up a new business venture recently. One which has them very interested in getting their hands on this property again.”
“They wouldn’t dare.” He growled.
“Why wouldn’t they? You have been gone twenty years and are presumed dead. So who exactly is going to stop them?”
“I will…” He paused, hearing what sounded like Senka banging on the floor above them. Looking up Andria frowned.
“Just let me find her sister and I will come back and straighten all this out, I promise.” He continued, trying to distract her from the banging.
“Actually, you may be able to do both.” Heaving a heavy sigh, Andria turned to her husband. “Tell him Bruce.”
Confused, Duncan shifted his attention to the fair-haired man sitting at the end of the table with a toothpick dangling precariously from his mouth.
Switching the thin stick from one side of his mouth to the other, Bruce leaned forward. “About five days before you showed up I caught three men hiding in our barn out back. At first I didn’t think much of it. With us being so close to the border, we occasionally will find a rogue or outcast, using our barn to rest in. But these guys were different.”
“Different how?”
“Well for one thing they weren’t dressed like normal rogues. Instead these guys were dressed in those nice suits you see the Horde wear from time to time.” Switching his tooth pick to the other side of his mouth, Bruce leaned back in his chair, fixing Duncan with his gaze. “And then there was the issue of the women with them.”
Now very interested in this conversation, Duncan leaned over the table. “What women?”
“The women who were very obviously not Shifters.”
Jumping to his feet, it was all Duncan could do not to grab a hold of his sister’s husband and shake the information out of him faster. “Was one of them a really pretty blond girl with blue eyes? Maybe smelled like a Seer?”
“I don’t know about the Seer part, wouldn’t know one if I smelled one. But as for the pretty blond, yeah there was one that looked like that.”
“Chloe.” Exhaling, Duncan fell back into his chair about the same time Senka rounded the corner and came into the kitchen.
With her hair pulled back into her standard ponytail, she looked sexy as hell dressed in a form fitting black tank, along with her usual black combat pants. Just the sight of her in the doorway immediately had Duncan’s heart racing in his chest as his desire for her reawakened.
“Ummm… sorry for interrupting you guys. If you want I can come back in a few minutes…”
He could hear the uncertainty and aggravation in her voice. Figuring she was most likely still angry with him for screwing things up between them, he dropped his gaze to the table. And there it remained as Andria ushered her into the chair across from him and fixed her a plate. They resumed chatting and for the most part she remained quiet, that is until Andria mentioned that they might have an idea of where her sister was.
Nearly knocking over the table, plate and all, she jumped to her feet. “My sister was here? Where is she? Where is my sister now?”
“She’s not here anymore dear. Bruce was just trying to explain to Duncan what happened when you came in. But apparently a girl that meets your sister’s description was found in our barn with members of a local gang.”
“So where are they now?” Senka demanded. Immediately all eyes went back to Bruce.
“Well, as I was saying. Once I realized they weren’t rogues stopping for a rest, I demanded they get the hell out of my barn. But then the three of them pulled weapons on me.” Shaking his head, Bruce dropped his gaze. “They told me they were waiting for someone and that they were under strict instructions to remain inside my barn until whoever it was arrived. They also mentioned that it was in the best interest of me and my family that I forgot seeing those girls.”
Looking sadly from him to Senka, Bruce sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t do more. I wanted to rip the head off those bastards, I really did, especially when I saw the condition those poor girls were in. But I couldn’t risk my family being harmed.”
“It’s ok, your first priority is your family.” Duncan consoled, earning him a glare from Senka. “But tell me, who came to pick up the men and the girls? Who were they waiting for?”
“The jackal himself.” Andria answered. “He pulled up to our house in that fancy black car of his, forced those girls inside, and drove off. Bastard even had the gall to smile and wave. Once he was gone, one of his men tried to give us some money ‘for the inconvenience’ but I told him to shove off. Don’t want those assholes getting the idea they can pull that shit here.”
“Unfortunately, I am certain they will be coming back whether we want them to or not,” Bruce added pointedly. “Overheard a couple of them talking outside saying Vincent intends to increase the amount of girls he’s bringing into Zerdanda. And it sounds as if he’s planning on using our barn as a sort of warehouse to hide them in until they are…” Bruce hesitated. Biting down hard on his toothpick he looked over at Senka as if he was contemplating finishing his sentence.
“Until they what?” Duncan asked lowly.
Shifting his attention back to Duncan, he pulled the tiny, half worn stick from his mouth. “Until they are sold.”
Across the table Senka gasped. With trembling hands she covered her mouth. He knew she had suspicions about what fate could possibly have befallen her sister, but thinking something and knowing for certain put things in an entirely different perspective. Clearly in a state of shock, she stared at some unknown point above Bruce’s head as the weight of his words settled in. More than anything Duncan wanted to climb over the table and wrap his arms around her, to hold her and comfort her in her time of need. But fearing her rejection, he chose to remain seated. Still he cared for her, even if she did not return his feelings, and he did not want her sorrow to go unattended to.
Looking up, his gaze was met by his sister’s questioning stare. She gestured for him to come to Senka’s aid. With a quick shake of his head, he dismissed her request and returned the gesture. Narrowing her eyes, Andria looked as if she wanted to rip his head off. Thankfully though, she moved in behind Senka and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Whispering a few calming words into her ear, she eased her carefully back into her chair.
Feeling somewhat comforted that Senka was receiving the attention she obviously needed, Duncan turned his attention back to Bruce. “How long has all this been going on?”
“The girls being smuggled in? Probably a couple of months now… at least that was about when the rumors started spreading through town.”
“And no one has done a damn thing to stop it?” Furious that this type of activity could take place in his country, Duncan stood and slammed his hand on the thick wooden table. “Seriously, it’s one thing to turn a blind eye to the extortion and smuggling. But selling girls… in Zerdanda! That in itself should have the entire town up in arms.”
“Well, if the rumors are true, then this goes on well up above Vincent.” Bruce said sadly. “It seems he just happens to be the one in charge of getting them through the border.”
“And he doesn’t use traders to bring in the girls across, he uses bounty hunters...” Andria added, as she eyed him.
“Bounty hunters who have no issues with killing women…” Collapsing back into his chair, Duncan shook his head. “That explains why the alpha let me pass through the border after he scented Senka.” Now with the attention of the entire table on him, including a very tearful Senka, Duncan explained. “When I was stopped in the forest by the Patrols, I told the alpha I was a bounty hunter who also hunted women. It was my way of trying to explain why Senka’s scent was on me. The wolf looked like he wanted to rip my head off but instead he let me go, saying he had orders that forbid him from doing so.”
“That’s why the intensity between you two suddenly spiked, yet nothing happened.” Senka said, wiping her tears on the back of her hand.
Turning his attention to Senka, Duncan nodded sadly. “I hated even saying that. Killing a woman or a child is the one thing I would never do.”
“Well it probably didn’t help that you still look like one of Vincent’s men.” Andria looked over to Bruce who seconded her opinion. “I mean you are my brother and I love you Duncan. But when we saw you in the yard, tightly clutching Senka, and her dressed in those tattered clothes… well we automatically assumed you were another one of his thugs coming to deliver a girl.”
Though he should probably have been offended by her words, he wasn’t. He knew how others perceived him, had his whole life. There was just something about him that made everyone uncomfortable, everyone except Senka that is. His size didn’t intimidate her, nor did his Alpha power. She stood before him and saw herself as his equal in every way. Not even the day he had yelled at her in his shop, did she flee because she feared him, she fled because he had wounded her pride.
But Senka was the rare exception. Very few people in his life had ever dared to get close to see past his hardened exterior and see the crumbling man hidden within. Even the majority of his youth was spent fighting off members of Vincent’s gang who felt challenged by his size and strength. And no matter how many came for him, Duncan never backed down, it just wasn’t in his nature. And it was this tenacity and resilience that had earned him a visit with the boss man himself. Impressed by the rumors spreading through his ranks, Vincent offered him a position in his gang. In exchange, Vincent promised him his family and their land would be forever off limits to the threats and harassment they were inflicting on so many others.
Suddenly Duncan was struck with an idea. “Is Vincent’s office still on the top floor of Lobos?”
“What is a Lobos?” Senka asked, staring between them.
“A local night club and bar where all Vincent’s thugs and bounty hunters go to hang out.” Andria replied to Senka’s question, before addressing Duncan again. “And yes, as far as I know.”
“Do you still have some of my old clothes here?”
“Yes.” Andria narrowed her gaze, staring rather suspiciously at him, “Why, what are you planning to do?”
“Nothing much, just figured I’d go out for a drink tonight to celebrate my homecoming.”
“Have you lost your mind?!” Eyes stretched wide, Andria shook her head vehemently. “He’ll kill you the minute he lays eyes on you? Or have you forgotten you never finished the last job he sent you to do?”
No, he definitely hadn’t forgotten that. How could he, when it was that last assignment that changed his life forever. The one that made him decide once and for all that he couldn’t be that man anymore. “I never took payment for that job, so he can’t hold that over me.”
“You really don’t believe that do you?” Andria huffed. “Cause if you do, then you are a bigger fool than I took you for.”
“I know how it sounds.” Duncan argued. “But think about it. Lobos is where Vincent keeps all his most valuable merchandise because no one would dare rob a place packed full of contract killers and thugs. For the same reason, he also uses it as his base for operations for the ‘business negotiations’ that could get a little hairy. So my guess is that’s probably where he is keeping the girls and also where he intends to hold the auction to sell them.”
“Exactly! All the more reason for you not to go!” Andria argued, “You would be walking into a death trap Duncan!”
“Not if they still think I am one of them.” He responded, as three sets of eyes stared back at him as if he had lost his mind. “Listen, I know it’s risky. But Lobos is a fortress, with multiple levels of security and only one way in or out. Which means the only way we are going to get inside that building is if they let us in.”
“Say in the off chance you are right and they let you in. What about Senka? They aren’t going to just let her stroll through the front door, and that’s even if you managed to make it that far without being caught.”
Casting his gaze toward Senka he sighed. He knew what her answer would be before he even asked the question. Still he had to try. “I don’t suppose you would stay here and let me do this on my own?”
Shaking her head, Senka confirmed what he already knew. “I am going with you. There is no way I am letting you risk your life to save my sister while I sit here in your sister’s house all nice and cozy.”
“Senka would you please listen to reason, just this once? You have no idea how dangerous it is inside that place, especially for a woman.”
“Too dangerous for a woman!” she scoffed. “The only thing dangerous in that place is going to be this woman if they so much as hurt one hair on my sister’s head. Now like I said, I am going to go with you and that’s that.”
“Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?”
“Why do you have to be such an asshole?”
Balling his fists, Duncan leapt to his feet, causing all the others at the table to do the same. “I’m the one being an asshole? All I am trying to do is protect you!” he yelled, slamming his fist down on the table.
Barely restraining the urge to leap over the table and tie her hard headed ass to the chair, he watched out of the corner of his eye as Bruce slowly edged his way closer to him. Andria, also fearing for Senka’s safety, placed herself in front of her. But unlike his sister, Senka didn’t fear him, she never had. Gently pushing her way around Andria, she stood before Duncan and faced him and all his wrath.
“You’re not my guardian Duncan, and I don’t need or want your protection.”
Her words, spoken so coldly, caught him completely off guard. Staring into her calm amber eyes he could tell she meant every word she said, and to be honest, it hurt. “Fine, you think you are tough enough to handle a room full of bounty hunters, then far be it for me to stop you.” Leaning forward a little more, he fixed her with his pointed glare. “Be ready to leave in two hours or I’m leaving you behind.”
“I will see you then.”
Shooting him a glare, Senka pushed away from the table and stormed outside. Andria rose and followed her, but not before making her own displeasure very apparent. They were only outside a few minutes before the sound of arrows hitting a target could be heard through the open window in the kitchen.
“That’s quite an impressive young lady. Kind of reminds me of your sister at that age.” Bruce commented, staring out the window. “Care for a piece of advice?”
Cringing as arrow after arrow hit the target in rapid succession, Duncan shrugged. “Sure, it can’t hurt.”
“Choose your battles wisely. Because while a strong willed woman can be a true gift to the man who chooses to respect and support her.” Popping a fresh toothpick into his mouth, Bruce fixed him with a pointed glared. “She can be the worst nightmare to the man who seeks to suppress and control her. And I can promise you Duncan, you don’t won’t to make an enemy of that girl.”
Sighing Duncan peered toward the doorway, “I’m afraid I already have.”