CHAPTER TWELVE
I was thinking we could go home tomorrow.”
Riley literally dropped the game controller. Did he have to go ruin the afternoon? They’d had a perfectly good day so far playing on the Xbox she’d borrowed from Max, and it had been pretty fun beating Tao’s ass at Killer Instinct. Now he was blurting out crap. “Look—”
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Tao turned to fully face her. “It’s been four days, Riley. Four. Nothing else has happened. Not a single thing. I think we were wrong about the shooter wanting to finish off from where Wade started. I think they just wanted to hurt you through Ethan and Lucy. You were there when we ran the theory by Sage and Ruby yesterday; they agree.”
“You’re probably right, but I still want to see someone punished.”
Tao pulled her onto his lap so she straddled him. “Do you? Do you really want to stick around here when you could be at home, where you belong?” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I don’t think you do. And I don’t think your raven does either.”
He was right about that. The raven didn’t think of Exodus territory as home anymore. She found a certain level of comfort in it and enjoyed being there, but she missed Phoenix Pack territory, craved it. And yeah, okay, so did Riley.
Smoothing his hand up and down her back, he asked, “Don’t you want to get back home to the kids?”
Riley’s chest tightened. “Of course I do.” She missed them like crazy, and it hurt every time she had to explain to them on the phone that she’d be gone a little longer.
“Aren’t they more important to you than retribution?”
“You know they are.”
“Then let’s just get out of here.” He framed her face with his hands. “I spoke with Trey on the phone last night. Ramón has completely backed off. He hasn’t made a single call since Trey spoke to him on the day you were shot at. It’s safe to go home. It’s time. Sage will keep investigating the shootings—he wants to know who shot Lucy as much as you do.”
She closed her eyes, torn. For a while it had been rage that kept her there. But now that her thirst for blood had somewhat eased, she was more interested in getting back to the kids than in letting the gunman keep her away from Savannah and Dexter. The bastard didn’t deserve any such power.
Sighing, she opened her eyes. “All right, we can go.”
Tao smiled and kissed her. “That’s my girl.” His wolf pretty much sagged in relief.
“But I’d like to see Lucy before we leave. I want to check on her.”
Tao nodded. “I’ll call Sage, tell him that we’re leaving, and ask if he’ll let you in Lucy’s room to say goodbye. How’s that?”
“That would be good.”
Tao pulled out his cell. “What’s his number?”
“I don’t know it by heart. Just use my phone.” She plucked it from the coffee table and handed it to him.
He found Sage’s number in her list of contacts and dialed it, keeping Riley pressed against him so she could hear the conversation. It took a while for the Alpha to answer.
“Hello,” he greeted, his voice unusually gruff.
“Sage, it’s Tao.”
“I take it you heard, then.”
Tao stilled. “Heard what?”
“About Sawyer.”
“What about him?”
“He was shot twenty minutes ago.”
Fuck. Not the least bit surprised that Riley’s eyes were blazing with anger, Tao asked the Alpha, “What exactly happened?”
“He was patrolling the perimeter, just as he does most mornings,” replied Sage. “Hugh heard the shot and, given what had been happening lately, didn’t want to assume it was a human hunter. He was first on the scene and managed to stop the blood flow. The bullet tore through Sawyer’s side, but thankfully it didn’t hit any major organs.” He paused. “I’m surprised you haven’t already heard about it. We had to call Max in—he and Ethan know what happened.” There was the sound of other voices in the background, and then Sage said, “I have to go, Tao. We can speak again later.”
Tao slung her phone onto the table. “You hear all that?”
Riley jumped to her feet. “What the hell is going on, Tao?”
“I don’t know.” Standing, he once again fished out his cell. “I have to call Dante.”
She grabbed her own phone. “I’ll be talking to Ethan. I want to know why he didn’t tell me what happened.” It turned out that Ethan hadn’t told her straightaway because someone was starting to speculate that Riley was somehow involved, and Ethan hadn’t wanted her anywhere near the mob of people whose emotions were running high. When she passed on that information to Tao, his face turned a disturbing shade of red.
“You are shitting me,” rumbled Tao.
“I wish I was.” Hurt, angry, and confused, Riley began to pace. “Ethan avoided the question when I asked him who it was. I don’t know why.”
“How can anyone suspect you?” His wolf bared his teeth, pissed beyond belief. “Everyone knows that you were there when both Ethan and Lucy were shot! How the fuck could it have possibly been you?”
“They think that I have one of the Phoenix Pack hiding in the mountains, doing the shootings.”
Tao swore. “We have to get out of here, Riley.”
She came to a halt. “Tao—”
“No, this isn’t a negotiation.”
Bristling, she was about to snap at him, but then she heard familiar voices outside. Riley stayed in place while Tao opened the door for the Phoenix wolves.
Dante strode in, fairly vibrating with anger. “I cannot fucking believe this shit. What did Sage say, word for word?”
Tao quickly relayed the conversation to his pack mates.
“They’re seriously blaming Riley? I say we just get out of here,” declared Makenna.
Tao nodded. “I agree.”
“You guys go if you want,” said Riley. “I’m staying.”
“I can understand why you’d want to stay, Riley,” Dante told her. “In your position I’d want blood too. But we’ve questioned every person in this flock and we still can’t be positive who’s doing this.”
“If I were Alpha,” began Ryan, “I would have detained every suspect and separated potential targets for their own protection. Sage hasn’t done a single thing. If his own daughter wasn’t shot, I’d suspect he had something to do with not only this but with what happened four years ago.”
Riley blinked. “Sage? Really?”
“You don’t think it’s convenient that both of his daughters weren’t at Alec’s party that night?” asked Ryan. “He was also the one to arrange a celebration for your uncles’ anniversary—he had to know Lucy would invite you. Maybe he wanted you here to tie up loose ends.”
Riley hadn’t really considered that. “But . . . he loves Lucy, and he was at the scene when she was shot right in front of us.”
“Which are yet more reasons why I don’t suspect him,” said Ryan. “But I also don’t trust him. I don’t like his lack of action.”
Tao turned to Riley. “We’ve done what we can to find out who it is, and we can only be sure of three things: One, they can’t shoot worth shit or you, Lucy, and Sawyer would all be dead. Two, if this is about finishing Wade’s job, they have a grudge against the five of you remaining from your age-group. Three, if they are related to the past shootings, they’re cunning and manipulative to have done what they did to Wade and kept the entire flock fooled all these years. Much as I hate to say it, we’re no closer to finding out who they are now than we were when we first got here. It’s time to go home.”
“I can’t leave.” Riley shook her head. “Not now.”
“For fuck’s sake, Riley!” Tao threw up his arms. “What the hell can you possibly do here?”
Nothing. She knew that. But walking away after Ethan, Lucy, and Sawyer had been shot . . . it felt disloyal, as if she were leaving them to deal with the entire mess. Riley knew intellectually that she wasn’t to blame for what was happening, but her arrival had still somehow triggered it. She didn’t know how or why, only that it might never have happened if she hadn’t come. To just run back to Phoenix Pack territory and leave them to their fate felt wrong. Maybe it didn’t make a lot of sense, but that was how she felt.
“This isn’t up for debate,” snapped Tao. “We’re leaving. Pack your shit and let’s go.”
She lifted her chin at his dictatorial tone. Her raven let out a pissed-off croak. “Don’t ever think you can intimidate me into doing what you want,” she clipped. “Throw your dick and dominance around all you want, but I have my own mind and I’ll damn well use it.” She looked at the others. “I appreciate that you came to help. You’ve done more than enough and I really don’t blame you for leaving, but I can’t go.” With that she spun on her heel and stalked up the stairs.
“Riley, we’re not done here!” Tao clenched his fists against the urge to punch the wall. He turned to his pack, eyes flashing wolf. “She can’t be serious about staying.”
“I can understand why she’s torn, Tao,” said Jaime. “She lost her parents. This whole thing will be bringing it all back—the loss, the pain, the fear. Especially since one of the people who was almost killed is one of the people who raised her. I’d want the bastard’s blood too.”
Tao’s mouth tightened. “Her life is more important than revenge.”
“I’ll bet if you ask her,” began Makenna, “you’ll find out that this is about more than just revenge. She grew up with these people, Tao. They were here for her like your pack mates were there for you. A couple of them might be assholes, but others have been good to her and they’ve loved her. For Riley, leaving probably feels like abandoning them all to whatever danger lies ahead.”
He closed his eyes. “Fuck, I hadn’t thought of that.”
Makenna gave him a weak smile. “Talk to her, Tao. All she’s hearing now is you trying to bully her into doing what you want. That’s not going to get past her anger or the chaos in her head—that’s just going to put her on the defensive.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not good at talking.”
“I know, but you’ve got more chance of getting through to her than any of us have,” said Makenna. “She’s—much like you, actually—arbitrarily stubborn. If anyone can talk her into leaving, it’s you. Your worry will mean more to her than ours.”
Dante took Jaime’s hand. “We’ll head back to the cabins and pack. Convince Riley to do the same so we can all get the fuck out of here.”
After the front door closed behind his pack mates, Tao inhaled a deep breath and made his way up the stairs. He needed to be calm, he told himself. Calm. Patient. Nonconfrontational.
Basically, he needed to not be himself.
He found Riley sitting on the chair near the window, her face in a book. It was a dismissive act that raised his hackles. Be calm, he reminded himself.
She didn’t pay him the slightest bit of attention as he crossed the room, not even when he came to a halt in front of her. She just kept her gaze on that damn book he knew full well she wasn’t even reading.
“Riley, we need to talk.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
His wolf growled. “Well, you’re going to.”
“I don’t need to.” Expression haughty, she flicked over to the next page. “I already know what you’re going to say. Don’t waste your breath. I’m staying.”
Like hell she was. “Sawyer was shot, Riley.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Good, so you must also remember that we’re back to not having a fucking clue what’s going on here.” She didn’t respond. Just kept on pretending to read. “Look at me.” But of course she didn’t. He snatched the book and slung it behind him.
Folding her arms, she glared up at him. “Problem, Fenris?”
“Being bitchy won’t push me away, Riley. Annoy me, provoke me, piss me off—it’ll do all of those things. But I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to talk this out. Tell me why it’s so important to you to stay. You won’t be abandoning the flock, if that’s what this is about. And you can bet your sweet ass that if they were on pack territory and shit started happening, they’d be gone in a fucking blink.”
“Not Ethan and Max.”
“No, not them,” he agreed. “They’re also the last people who would ever blame you for going home where you’re safe. Hell, they can come with us if you want.” But he knew they wouldn’t leave. Like Riley, they wanted to see someone pay.
“You’re wasting your time with this, Tao. I won’t change my mind.”
Jaw tight, Tao growled. He reminded himself once again to stay calm. He tried to come up with something sensitive and diplomatic that might make her think and see things his way, but he wasn’t good with words. It didn’t help that he couldn’t stop growling at her. “Don’t forget that someone is claiming you have one of our wolves doing all this shit, that it was you who pulled Wade’s strings and you’re finishing what he started. If others buy into that, you’re going to have a riot on your hands. Do you want your uncles to have to go through that?”
She narrowed her eyes. “This argument will get you nowhere. The motherfucker behind all this is not getting away with it. No way. Like I told the others just now, I appreciate all that you’ve done. If you want to leave, I understand and—”
“Like you told the others?” he echoed. Like he was nothing more than a pack mate to her, just like them? Anger sparked through him like a fever in his blood.
Standing, she put her hands on her hips. “You leave if you want to, but I’m staying right here. And if you weren’t so overprotective of your pack, you’d see that this is the right thing to do.”
Patience gone, he loomed over her, his neck corded. “I’m not interested in right and wrong, I’m interested in you. You’re not safe here.”
“Are we still on that? Boring.”
He went nose to nose with her. “Don’t fucking test me right now, Riley. You’re going.”
“I’m. Not. Leaving. You don’t get to tell me what to do just because we fuck.” Riley froze as something not wholly on the side of the angels flashed in his eyes.
“Fuck?” It was a whisper. “We fuck? That’s it?”
“Of course that’s it.”
“Bullshit,” he spat.
“Excuse me?”
“We have something here, Riley. It’s fragile and easily fucked up, but it’s there. And there’s no point in us pretending any different, so don’t fucking bother.”
Looking at the stubborn set to his jaw, she marveled, “You’re serious.”
“I’m serious. Don’t even think about playing dumb right now. You’re not stupid. I’m not stupid. This thing crept up on us when we weren’t looking and now we have to face it.”
Her hands slid from her hips. “You said you didn’t want a relationship.”
“Because I’m not good at them. Making people happy is not my specialty, and most people annoy the shit out of me anyway. But you . . . I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any damn thing in my life. You got right under my skin and it should piss me off but you feel good there.”
“Tao—”
“We’re not going to ignore what’s between us. No way. It would be pointless and tiring, just as it was pointless and tiring when I fought how much I wanted you. All that brought me was sexual frustration and a pissed-off wolf. I’ve learned my lesson.”
Yeah, Tao knew that bulldozing her wasn’t the smartest move, but he refused to go easy on her. For him there was no budging on this. There was no going back for either of them. He wanted the very thing he’d thought of when he was dying on a battlefield not so long ago while providing backup for the Mercury wolves: he wanted Riley Porter. He’d accept nothing less.
Closing her eyes, she waved her hands. “I can’t have this conversation right now.”
“You can and you will.” He wasn’t going to let her “process” him later. “Look at me.” He cupped her jaw tight and repeated, “Look at me.” Finally those eyelids lifted; there was a whole lot of confusion there. “We have something. Something I have every intention of keeping. It makes me happy. I’m never happy.” He’d been passably content before, but not happy. The fact that she’d cheapened that and what was building between them by implying it was no more than sex pissed him off on too many levels to count. “Lie to me again and tell me all we do is fuck,” he dared, anger pulsing through every word. “Lie to me, baby, go ahead.”
Riley swallowed. On the outside she was composed. Inside she was fumbling. She’d never expected any kind of declaration from Tao. He was just too . . . well, Tao. Distrustful of others. Cynical about relationships. A guy who, even amid his pack, seemed to walk alone. She’d expected him to eventually get bored with her and, as much as it would have hurt, she’d been prepared for that. But this . . . she hadn’t been prepared for this.
Riley wasn’t good at handling being taken off guard. Right then, she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t really have the right words to say to him—not even the words to apologize for hurting him by lying that this was just sex for her. So she did the next best thing and lowered her gaze.
Feeling the anger drain from him, Tao closed his eyes. She’d completely disarmed him and his wolf by submitting. It was no easy thing for a dominant female, and it was the last thing he’d expected her to do. Sliding his hands into her hair, Tao rubbed his cheek against hers, accepting the silent apology.
“Eyes back to mine,” he said. Her gaze returned to his, soft and confused. “I can see your mind is racing and you’re not quite sure if I’m really serious. I’m deadly serious. This is no fling, Riley. I’m not sure if it ever was. The situation is actually very simple. You’re mine now. I’m yours. This is exclusive. Permanent. And it’s what we both want, isn’t it?”
She hesitated. “If I said no?”
“You’d be lying and I’d ignore it, because the answer simply doesn’t work for me. You want this, don’t you?” After a moment she nodded, but it wasn’t enough for him. Tao tightened his hold on her hair. “Say it.”
Riley licked her lips. “Yes, I want it.”
“Good, because you’re mine, Riley. And I protect what belongs to me. We are leaving. Hear me out. Lucy and Sawyer were shot, punished. You weren’t. You dodged the bullet, literally. If you stay here, the person who did it may take another shot at you. They want you punished for whatever crime they feel you’re guilty of committing. And that’s why I think that if you leave, they’ll follow you.”
Her brow furrowed. “Follow me?”
“Follow you to our territory. Much as I hate that idea, I also know you’ll be a lot safer there. Here they know every inch of this place and they have the advantage. On our territory they won’t. We have sensors and cameras and traps everywhere, especially near the border.” A friend of the Mercury Pack Alpha male had installed all kinds of high-tech security stuff all over the place.
“They’re a raven, Tao. They could just fly right over the perimeter fence and the traps.”
“I always know when you’ve shifted and your raven is on the loose. Know why?”
“The full-blooded birds go crazy every time.” Crazy crazy. For some reason full-bloods had a seriously big aversion to avian shifters. Her raven found true delight in spooking them.
He nodded. “If another raven shifter appears on our territory, we’ll know somehow.”
“Okay, well, then, think of this: they don’t need to get past the fence if they have a rifle. They can just shoot from there.”
“Not if we all stay near the mountain, far away from the perimeter. They’d need to get closer.”
“You’re talking about luring them into a trap.”
“You got a better idea, baby? Because I’m all out of them at this point. You want blood, don’t you? Leading them away from here is your best chance of getting it.”
Leading them away also meant her uncles would be safe, she thought. She wouldn’t be abandoning them; she’d be protecting them. But it would also mean bringing that danger to others she cared about. “Don’t ask me to lead this person to the kids, Tao, I can’t.”
He cupped her neck with both hands. “The kids will be well protected at all times, and so will you. They’d rather that you came home with danger on your heels than that you came home with a bullet in your head.”
She flinched. “Ouch.”
“I’m not trying to hurt you, baby. I’m just pointing out the reality of the situation. There is no easy solution here. What we know for sure is that you staying with the flock won’t help anyone, especially if the majority turns against you. You’ll have no real help, support, or protection here. At home you’ll have all those things and you’ll give your uncles peace of mind by being away from here. You have to admit, that sounds like the best and safest option at this point.”
Yeah, she thought with an inward sigh, it did. “Okay. When do we leave?”
Relief rushed through him. “Right now, before anyone gets wind of the news and takes a shot at you while they still can.”
“Then let’s get packing.”