Page 37 of Heartless Wolf (Wolf Moon Rejected #1)
CHAPTER 37 - LIV
One Month Later
Dash and his pack were finally free of the curse. Pack Malice was uncannily quiet on its end, and Father received no word from TJ about the voiding of our contract. Not even a threat.
Prayers to the Lunar goddess to wipe him off the face of the earth and salvage his tormented pack went unanswered. We still had unfinished business with that bastard.
According to reports from Alaric, who regularly took to the skies to survey Malice activity, they were lying low, recovering from the witch draining their members and land of the force that granted it life. Unfortunately, TJ survived being shot by Dash and hunted by Raze and the Jackals. Barely, though. Iron pulsed through his blood, infecting his system, leaving him gravely ill. His men called in a healer to draw the poison from him, but all refused to work for that scumbag, and they had to kidnap one to force them to save their Umbra.
Resistance to TJ’s cruel and brutal leadership came with an attack on his life, and his closest soldiers escaped with him to an unknown location. Someday he would be back, but not for now. He had a war on his plate to retake his pack from usurpers. No, better leaders than that bastard.
Father had a meeting with them scheduled for next week, where they would formally sign a treaty to nullify the arranged marriage alliance and declare peace. He and Ash Lumbry expected opposition to that, coming in the form of a resurgence of TJ and his traitorous men… or what was left of them. Anticipation for his surrender and slaughter built in my body.
I took comfort where I could get it. Our packs remained safe for now. Heather would no longer be forced to marry TJ. Once the contract was voided, Dash and I were free to wed. My prayers were answered in a different way than I expected. The Lunar goddess never acted linearly or with human or shifter rationale. She acted on the best interests for all. That meant I had to trust she worked her magick behind the scenes, and all would be revealed when the timing was right.
Dash tugged me tighter to his chest from our position reclined on the outdoor sofa. Every night we watched the sunset after preparing and eating dinner. February shifted into March, and we welcomed the dip in temperature autumn brought with it.
Soft music hummed from inside—Heather relaxing with a book and a wine on the recliner after a long day at work dealing with a patient who fell back into addiction and was thrown out of the rehabilitation program.
She gave us privacy and space even though I know her heart hurt, since she and Steele hadn’t braved their inevitable conversation despite him stalking about her window on his nights guarding our cabin. Whenever I asked about it, she fobbed me off and changed the topic, so I left it alone.
Steele and Beau camped out by their bikes like they had been for the past thirty days, snacking on chocolate chip cookies gifted from Heather—and she only baked them on the nights her mate guarded us. Every second night, he stayed home with his daughter, Abby, who misbehaved without her mother’s soothing influence.
I loved what a fair leader Dash was in granting his men time with their families and alternating their nights on duty.
Raze went out on patrol duty with four of our sentinels, and I was glad that I took a risk on bringing him into my shelter and world. I wanted him close by if Pack Malice attacked.
Dash lifted another cookie to my lips, his wolf never tiring of feeding me. “Eat, Liv. The witch stole some of your gorgeous curves and I want them back.”
Me, too. I flinched at my smooth contours. I hadn’t felt like eating after that day. Not with the devastation, starvation, and mistreatment at Pack Malice.
Father and I delivered care packages to the new leaders to tide them over for a month, and they were grateful. It set us back in our winter stock, but we hoped the gesture went a long way to win allegiance should TJ and his traitors return to attempt to take back power. Pack Malice would be well-fed and stronger to put up a front against them if they did.
“No more, Dash.” I pushed the food away, my belly full.
My bruises might have healed, but my scars hadn’t. TJ was still out there. Still a threat. At any moment, he might hurt those I loved, and I couldn’t rest in my heart until I knew he was dead.
Dash tucked my head under his chin, and stroked my goosebumped arms, attempting to lull me to sleep. Where nightmares and demonic faces haunted me. Where I begged for peace that wouldn’t come until the prince of demons was gone.
Quickly approaching murmurs from the north urged me into a seated position, tuning my hearing, listening for more. Reasonable discussions on how to deal with the Malice threat.
Father strode toward my cabin with Ash Lumbry by his side. He never mentioned a visit from his contemporary when he always kept me appraised of all pack business. Pack sources told me those two had spent an awful lot of time together going over secretive plans the last two weeks.
I didn’t care anymore when I was due to resign as Pack Hester heir, and become Pack Lumbry female Alpha. That, and I was busy with upgrades to the sanctuary bankrolled from the sale of the dagger, as well as hanging out with Dash in my spare time, making up for lost time. Kiss goodbye to the workaholic boss bitch who buried her pain in her work.
I glanced over my shoulder at Dash’s narrowed, stormy eyes. “Do you know anything about this?”
“Nope.” He brushed hair from my shoulder to knead away the tension hitched suddenly in my neck and shoulders.
“Dash. Liv.” Father greeted us with a nod.
Ash Lumbry just raked his gaze over us, silent and not giving a thing away.
“Father.” Dash’s low voice held an edge of worry to it.
“Let’s put this matter to bed,” Ash started, revealing his reason for visiting. “Liv is matched to Dash, and while I consider this an alliance pairing, they failed to adhere to the plan to slaughter the Malices, which leaves us in a precarious predicament.”
Asshole thought we spent the last month disregarding plans and doing our own selfish thing. He remained oblivious to Dash’s deal with the witch or that five of his club brothers and the Jackals took care of it for obvious reasons. Information like that in the hands of Umbra Lumbry would be used as a weapon against his son when our focus should be on the future war with TJ and the Malices. Dash’s authority within the pack didn’t need undermining.
Umbra Lumbry’s eyes burned like coals as they swept over Dash and I like a bushfire reducing us to ash. “They’ve proven they can’t be trusted to keep their word, let alone ratify an alliance.”
“Agreed.” Father told me a month ago he didn’t object to my and Dash’s relationship, although it left the politics open to interpretation, and something must be done about it. Whatever came next was their resolution. “Our alliance can only be sealed with another pairing.”
Umbra Lumbry’s furious eyes shot to the window, to Heather, and my belly turned upside down. “I propose Heather is married to Steele and our alliance is sealed with a mating and birth of a Hester-Lumbry child.”
My dread died immediately.
Father’s eyes narrowed. “You want my daughter paired with a dog?”
Umbra Lumbry widened his stance. “What my boy did was unforgivable, but he is her mate, and he will protect her, even if he cannot give his heart to her. Your daughter will be happy and safe, and that is all we can ask for our children.”
I didn’t dare breathe. Maybe Heather and Steele might get their happily ever after sooner than expected. She would go to live with him, as I would go to live with Dash once we completed our mating. My chest glowed that I would have my best friend and sister by my side to settle into my new pack.
Father stroked his chin at the proposal. “I will consent to this deal, but he will never have a seat at my table. And as part of the arrangement, he will treat her like the princess she is, or I’ll tear his heart from his chest.”
Way to go, Father.
Negotiating like the best of them. Where I learned it from.
Although, his rule of banning Steele from his table was harsh and unnecessary. Maybe once Father saw them together, how good Steele treated his daughter, he might soften his stance and reconsider.
Umbra Lumbry outstretched a hand to finalize the deal. “They will marry before the week is out.”
A week? That wasn’t enough time to get a dress, to arrange a cake, or get flowers when we canceled our bookings for my wedding to TJ. Getting everything put together in that amount of time wouldn’t be the fairy tale event Heather dreamed of, but we’d make it the best possible.
After Father went to deliver the news to Heather, and Umbra Lumbry to Steele, Dash’s best friend got on his bike and rode away. Shock, I presumed. I hoped it wasn’t a refusal.
Worried for my sister, I excused myself from Dash’s embrace and went in to check on her, finding her slumped on a stool at the kitchen counter. She didn’t take the news well, like her mate.
I went to her and set my hand on her shoulder, soothing the ache burning on our bond. “I take it you don’t want to marry him?”
“Not like this.” She scrubbed her tear-stained face. “I want to be asked. For him to get on one knee. Profess his love and ask for my hand. I don’t want to be forced.”
The classic Hester stubborn pride got in her way. “You want your white knight?”
She nudged me with her elbow, her voice breaking. “Don’t mock me for wanting my happily ever after.” My sister’s romantic heart always got the best of her.
“I’m sorry, Nimble.” I squeezed her arm to show her my support. “Your dream is sweet.”
“Not sweet enough to warm that cold heart. He barely says a word to me when I bake him food besides grunting thanks.” Heather’s hands covered her face. “I’m pathetic.”
Damn Steele. Big oaf. Silent, broody mountain man. He had to find his voice if he wanted to be the mate my sister deserved.
“Don’t give up.” I collected ice cream from the freezer and two spoons from the cupboard, dropping into the stool beside her.
She deserved to be pampered when she spent hours baking for Steele. I kept myself, Dash, and his men out of the equation, because we weren’t the intended recipient of my sister’s affection.
I passed her a spoon. “I’ve seen the longing way Steele looks at you. How he stalks by your room every night he’s here. The grief in his eyes that holds him back.”
Heather huffed and scooped a generous spoon of cookies and cream.
I helped myself to some. “He wanted you to go for a ride with him last month and you turned him down.”
Heather rolled her shoulders. “I can’t.” She ran her nails along her thighs.
“Yes, you can. You’re just scared.” I swallowed some ice cream.
I had hope that he shared her feelings, that they had a future, that he would renounce his rejection and accept her as his Lunar mate. Bond with her. Claim her. Make my beautiful sister the happiest girl in the world. Have beautiful little mountain men babies.
Heather’s mouth quivered. “I don’t think I can do this.”
I brought her in for a hug. “Give it a chance.”
“Thanks, Squeaky.” Heather gave me a tight squeeze and drew back, sniffing. “If you don’t mind, I just want to be alone. Go to your mate.”
My heart felt broken and raw for her, and for once, I didn’t know how to help her. Steele wasn’t here for me to punch in the face and defend her.
“No, Nimble, you need me now.”
“I’ll be fine.” Heather scooped the ice cream tub into her arms, carried it to her bedroom and shut her door.
Dammit. Tomorrow I would go to Father and see if there was time to back out of this. Though we didn’t have any more females of mating age to marry to a Lumbry male.
Feeling a little lost for my sister, I stumbled outside to the porch, into Dash’s waiting arms, needing his comfort. “How is she?”
“She’s upset.” I pressed my head to his chest, his steady heartbeat calming me. “She didn’t want it this way.”
He played with my hair, easing the clench in my stomach. “Neither does Steele.”
“Kinda got that from him storming off on his bike.”
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow when he’s calmed down.”
I leaned back to look at my sexy mate. “Do you think they’ll work?”
“I hope so.” Dash’s distant eyes did nothing to convince me, and the clamp on my gut tightened. “Tomorrow, I’m moving you into my place.”
I dragged my nails down his chest. “You’re what?”
“You heard me.” He smiled, all wild and raw. “I’ve waited too long to make you truly mine.”