Page 17

16

They had another night completely to themselves, which was more nerve-wracking than it was reassuring. Bella wasn’t able to fall asleep for long after the lights went out. Thoughts kept whirling around her head about the document with the Moon-government’s seal on it that had been on the Wolf’s desk, about what it meant, about how to convince Alex this was important. Then, again, maybe it was better he continued to focus on escaping because that was something she’d never put much stock in… now that she had her own wrinkle to focus on. Maybe it was better if they both concentrated on something different; if each of their focuses were divided, it might just be distracting.

Still, she felt the seal was more important than Alex apparently did.

Even if they managed to escape the compound, what would be their next move? Maybe escape would put them in more danger than ever. Not only did the Wolf have allies on the Moon who might return her and Alex to him, but, as far as she knew, no one had ever escaped the Wolf. If they were recaptured, what would he do to them? Alex was still ignoring the problem of the trackers in their shoulders. He focused on one step at a time, looking for a way out of the compound before he tackled the next problem.

Maybe that was why he was so focused while she had trouble: he took on one thing at a time, where she looked at the whole big picture and froze instead of acting. The idea of escape, as a whole, seemed insurmountable. Cooperating, getting through their days and eventually being released like everyone else, was easier.

And maybe that was part of the Wolf’s power, too.

If Bella was scared for her life or worried he meant to keep them forever, maybe she’d have more of Alex’s fighting spirit. But the truth was, for the most part, she felt fairly secure within the mythology that had sprung up around the Wolf. There were moments when she wondered if they were in more danger than they realized, but she hugged to the knowledge that his captives were always released and returned to their families.

She could live through this. Bend. Accommodate. Survive. That had been her plan from the start. But if the Wolf had his claws in the Moon’s government, even if it was just through trickery or theft, then their problems would be so much bigger than escaping.

* * *

The soldiers came at their usual time, unlike the day before. Food and bathroom first, but then Alex and Bella were escorted to the Wolf’s hall rather than outside to exercise. That the Wolf had a “guest” coming was not at all reassuring.

Alex wrapped his arm around Bella and glanced down at her face. Her body was tense, but from the way she wrinkled her forehead and nibbled on her lower lip, he didn’t think the tension was entirely from fear or anxiety. She was thinking about something. Of course, he couldn’t ask what, but he knew she’d become obsessed with the Moon seal she’d seen. If the Wolf’s guest really was from the Moon, Alex didn’t know what he would do.

He eyed the gun in its holster on the soldier closest to him. It was strapped in, and he didn’t know enough to know whether it was fully charged. He’d shot similar weapons for fun on the Moon, but they had always been kept at half or low charges, meant to stun, not kill. Stunning someone wouldn’t do much for him or Bella. If he could even get the gun unstrapped from its holster before being shot, himself.

They were led into the room where the Wolf stood on the dais. His desk had been removed, and there was a small table with two chairs on either side, facing it. A thick, red carpet had been laid down on the dais, and draperies erected behind it to give an overall impression of wealth and decadence. He and Bella were placed on either side of the Wolf; Bella kneeling gracefully, Alex much less so. He stirred at the Wolf’s side and glanced up to see the man raise an eyebrow and give Alex’s collar a meaningful look… followed by a sidelong glance at Bella.

Alex got the message.

Behave or I’ll use the collar, and if that’s not enough to deter you, Bella will serve as your whipping boy.

Bella focused on the door at the end of the room; at least she hadn’t seen the exchange. She wasn’t interested in the Wolf right now; Bella was interested in the visitor, because she was afraid she might recognize the person who came through the door.

When the doors opened and an unfamiliar woman walked through, followed by an entourage of soldiers, a wave of relief washed over Alex, and that same sense of relief came from Bella. It was too awful to think that someone on the Moon had betrayed their own; that someone up there might know what was happening to them and still sat by and did nothing. Confirmation of that… well, it wouldn’t have broken him, but Alex would be lying to himself to say that he’d have been unaffected.

The woman walking toward them had a hard edge to her no one from the Moon families would have. Her dark, red hair was cut short, where Moon females always wore theirs long, and it framed a face that was both strong and feminine. There was something about the way she walked that marked her as a fighter, and not just because of the guns and knives strapped to her body. Her eyes constantly flitted around the room as she walked toward the Wolf, and though she strutted with supreme confidence, Alex got the impression she also took the measure of the Wolf’s men, as well as all the exits in the room.

It was like seeing something out of an action movie. He’d never seen people who behaved like this in real life. It was disturbing to realize scenes like this actually happened.

The people ranged behind the woman wore similar clothing to the Wolf’s men, but there was something slightly different about them. It took Alex a few moments of watching to notice that, while they mostly wore the same colors, the woman’s soldiers all had black bands around all their hems—neckline, armholes, etc. It wasn’t especially distinctive, but it was a unifying factor that made them look like an opposing army.

When she came to a halt, about twenty feet away from the dais, the rest of her soldiers stopped as well, all of them still looking around the room. A few of them greeted their friends among the Wolf’s men with grins and waves, but they were still watchful. The woman had visited the compound before, done business with the Wolf before, but their relations weren’t entirely without tension. Was that usual on Earth or was she someone who could turn out to be an ally?

Her eyes swept coldly over both his and Bella’s naked bodies, blatantly assessing in the same detached way the Wolf often had about him, and Alex dismissed the notion that she might be helpful. Better the devil they knew than the devil they didn’t, and he wouldn’t fool himself into thinking she was anything but another demon.

Next to her was a mountain of a man with dark, brown skin that practically gleamed on his bald head. Such a starkly different skin tone was unusual: while history books had told them the skin colors of Earth’s population had at one point varied greatly, most skin tones now were in a range between light tan and dark tan. Very light or dark skin was uncommon. The man dismissed Alex almost immediately, and his eyes settled on Bella, who looked back at him with undisguised anxiousness.

“Cora,” the Wolf said, nodding his head slightly by way of greeting. “Welcome back. I trust you didn’t have any trouble getting here?”

“Scott. Nothing a few hundred credits couldn’t take care of,” the woman said with a grin. As if that were some kind of signal, the tension in the room relaxed, and the various parties began to greet each other, the soldiers seamlessly integrating into a mingled mass of greetings and chatter. Cora ignored them all and stepped forward with the large dark-skinned man to close the distance between her and the Wolf, who already moved back to sit down.

The revelation that the Wolf had a first name, and such an innocuous-sounding one, was strangely stunning. Alex felt like he’d taken a blow to the chest. But why? It took him a few minutes, as the Wolf and Cora settled into their seats, to figure out what was so shocking about it.

The media and the Moon government had always cloaked the Wolf in mystery. No name. No sure idea where he’d come from or how he’d achieved his power. He was the most well-known figure from the Earth, and yet few facts about him were ever revealed.

But the casual way he and Cora had exchanged their greetings marked them as equals. The Wolf hadn’t cared that she’d called him ‘Scott,’ yet every one of his men, including Jordan, always referred to him as ‘the Wolf.’

Who was she, and why hadn’t Bella and Alex ever heard of her? More than that, there were plenty of people on Earth who knew the Wolf’s name: no one else in the room had so much as twitched. Yet the Moon remained in ignorance.

There has been a wealth of information in that one exchange, and Alex was certain he hadn’t realized all the implications yet. But he did know one thing: he wouldn’t think of the Wolf as ‘Scott.’ It was too normal, too humanizing. The man was ‘the Wolf’ and he was the enemy.

* * *

He had a real name. Bella gave the Wolf a sidelong glance. Not that she could easily think of him as someone as innocuous as ‘Scott,’ but it was still strange to think he had a real name. A mother and father somewhere, too. She’d pictured him as having sprung, fully formed, as a powerhouse on Earth.

But he was Scott, and this woman was Cora.

Bella looked over at the other woman, only to find she was being studied, in turn. A blush rose in her cheeks as Cora looked her over. She was everything Bella wasn’t: hard, strong, powerful. Intelligence shone in her eyes, and the ready violence of a soldier was written in every line of her body. For a moment, Bella felt nothing but envy.

This was a woman who was sure of herself, who was respected. Cora’s significant other would never cheat on her. He would never dare. And she’d never allow herself to be used as a sex toy. Or, if she did, she would be more like Alex. Not like Bella.

But that wasn’t who she was. Bella was Bella and she couldn’t change that with a snap of her fingers. And right now, Bella could only think over everything they’d just witnessed.

If the Wolf had allies—or even just one ally—on the Moon then maybe that’s why they’d never heard his name before. Maybe that’s why they knew so little about him. Maybe that’s why the media focused so much on him. Everyone knew there were other crime lords on Earth, of course, and that the planet was basically ruled by them, but the Wolf was the only one who ever seemed to make the news.

“Have you seen John lately?” the Wolf asked Cora as soldiers came up to offer them refreshments. “There’s a shipment scheduled to go up soon that might interest him.”

The big, black man standing behind Cora’s chair shook his head in refusal before his gaze settled back on Bella. She looked away and peeked at Cora instead, who was no longer looking at her. Truthfully, either of them looking at Bella made her feel unsettled; they looked like they were measuring her and trying to decide if she was a treat that might be offered up along with the food and drink.

“So I’ve heard.” Cora grinned as she took a sip from the glass she’d chosen. “He’s visiting me next week. I’ll direct him on to you afterward.”

“Please do.”

Well, that was one question answered. It would be hard for the Moon to intercept messages between the various Earth factions if all real information was done face to face. No electronic traces, no opportunity to hack into a line—they’d have to have a spy in place.

Maybe she could be that spy.

Unfortunately, it quickly became obvious the Wolf and Cora wouldn’t be doing any real business right now. This was a kind of opening ceremony; a chance to reacquaint themselves.

Bella learned the huge black man was named Trace and he was Cora’s right-hand man. Whatever was going down between the Wolf and Cora, it had to do with weapons. And Cora was the one with access to them—another fact that fascinated. What did the Wolf have that Cora wanted? Something was being traded, but they never specified exactly what. All Bella could gather was that it was cartons of something mysterious.

Then the conversation took a much more disturbing turn.

“So what happened to Slave?” Cora asked—although from the lack of true query in her voice, it was obvious she knew the answer. The question was just a segue into a conversation about Bella and Alex. Bella peeked up to find Cora was looking over Alex, while Trace’s focus was still on Bella.

A shiver went down her spine as the Wolf’s hand landed on top of her head to stroke her hair. Her fists clenched.

“It was time for her to go home,” he said conversationally. “This is Pet and Toy.” His hand gripped Bella’s hair to force her to look up as he said his nickname for her. She couldn’t see what Alex’s reaction was, but he must have done something. “Toy’s still learning how to be good.”

Cora’s hazel eyes seemed to glow as she looked Alex’s kneeling form up and down. “So I see. Do you think you might be willing to share?”

Bella’s muscles tensed. The expectation on Cora’s and her man’s faces said they already knew the answer. The hot, hungry look in the huge man’s eyes as they traveled over Bella’s body made her want to cower against the Wolf and beg him to say no. Not that it would make any difference, but there was something even more frightening about Trace and Cora than there was about the Wolf. Maybe because Bella had at least heard of the Wolf before, and now she had a small idea of what to expect from him, whereas these two were complete unknowns.

“What’s your pleasure?” the Wolf asked easily.

Cora’s eyes were still on Alex. “I think I’d like to play with your Toy.”

Not unexpectedly, there was movement on the other side of the Wolf, though Bella couldn’t see what. Cora just smiled, the way a viper might before it struck.

Behind Cora, Trace frowned and leaned down to whisper in her ear. The woman’s eyes flitted over to Bella. Cora looked back to Trace and shook her head. “Next time, perhaps, darling.” She stood and smiled at Alex, her face alight with anticipation.

“Just remember Cora, if you break your toys, you don’t get new ones to play with,” the Wolf said.

Her small, pink tongue flicked out against her lower lip in anticipation as her eyes returned to Alex. “Understood.”

Fear for Alex, jealousy, and possessiveness all washed through Bella in a tumble of conflicting emotions, even as her anxiety for herself leapt higher when the Wolf stood, his fingers tangling in her hair. Soldiers already pulled Alex away toward the center of the room as those standing and sitting there cleared a place.

An all-too-familiar grinding noise made Bella whimper. The platform rose in the center of the room, and the soldiers pulled Alex toward it. Bella turned her head, and her scalp pulled where the Wolf’s fingers were, but she had to watch. He wasn’t exactly fighting, but Alex was definitely resisting being pulled down there.

Beside her, the Wolf’s chair shifted, and he sat down again, this time facing the platform that had risen in the middle of the floor. She didn’t fight as he pulled her onto his lap and cupped one of her breasts while his other hand stroked her thigh. They both watched as Cora directed the soldiers who held the resisting Alex.

* * *