Page 31 of Wulf’s Pack

Samuel’s eyes flash with recognition. He doesn’t know who she’s talking about, but he knows someone has been causing him trouble. He snarls. His eyes blaze, and his fangs descend. He grabs Skylar by the shoulders and shakes her. “Tell me who!”

Skylar’s face pales, but she meets his eyes. “Your word,” she breathes. “My freedom.”

They stare at one another for several heart-stopping moments. I feel utterly useless. My mate is standing up to a master vampire, and I’m stuck here unable to so much as stand beside her. She said she needed to do this herself. That standing up to him was the only way, but it’s hard to watch.

Something changes in Samuel. His anger dissipates, and he looks at Skylar with awe.

He moves his hands from her shoulders up to her cheeks and cradles her face.

“So brave,” he says. “So stunning. Very well. You have your freedom.” He leans forward and kisses her forehead.

“I will not come for you. You have my word. And you have my vow that the man who hurt you will suffer. I will wipe his pack from this earth. Just give me a name.”

“Victor Santos,” Skylar says. “Vail pack.”

Samuel’s face goes stone cold. I take it Victor is someone he knows well. Only betrayal can make someone so angry. “Tell me everything you know.”

Samuel orders his vampires to release Bree and me.

I stumble forward and wrap Skylar up in a fierce hug.

Skylar pulls back her power. Coming out of my lethargic state takes a minute.

Skylar gives me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry.

I know shifters hate being incapacitated like that, but if either of you’d lost control, we’d all be dead. ”

I didn’t like it, but I’m not mad. She did the right thing.

I was seconds away from shifting. Against five extremely powerful vampires and one master, I’ve have been dead before I could blink.

I run the backs of my fingers over her cheek.

“It had to be done. Don’t much care for it, though.

” I glance at Bree. She’s got a hand resting on the back of the couch and is holding her head with her other hand. “You okay?”

She gives me a nod. “It’s wearing off.”

“I imagine that’s what it feels like to be stoned. Dulls the senses.”

“My cat was unresponsive.”

“So was my wolf.”

Skylar winces. “Yeah. Now you know why Victor always collared me.”

I growl. “I hope Samuel comes through on his promise to make him suffer.”

“Samuel always keeps his promises.”

And she got him to promise to leave her alone. My beautiful, brave, brilliant mate. I smile at her. “You were amazing.”

I pull her mouth to mine. She melts against me for a moment before I end the kiss quickly. If I don’t, I won’t be able to stop, audience be damned.

When we pull apart, we find Samuel watching us. Skylar’s cheeks heat. He sees the beautiful blush and sighs wistfully. “If you were a vampire, I’d make you my queen.”

Now that the deal has been struck, the tension is completely gone. Still, the small smile she gives him is surprising. “Will you settle for allies?”

I startle, and he cocks an eyebrow at her.

She blushes again. “For better or worse, you did practically raise me. It wasn’t the best life, but it was better than it would have been had I been left to my parents’ supervision, and you never treated me the way Victor did.

You’re not a monster. I don’t feel I owe you, but I have no hard feelings. ”

Samuel cocks his head to the side, studying Skylar like she’s an unsolvable puzzle.

Really, she’s brilliant. Where we could have gained enemies, she’s creating a powerful relationship with a strong, well-connected clan.

As a small, untested pack that has an omega to protect, being known allies with Samuel Osborne can only help us.

He’s not exactly an upstanding citizen, but then, my ex-clan brother is an assassin.

I don’t mind a few shades of gray here and there.

Samuel’s mouth tugs up into a crooked smile. “I always did have a weakness for you,” he tells Skylar ruefully. “Very well. Allies.”

He holds out his hand to her as if to shake on it. Skylar looks to me before making it official. I shrug and hold my hand out to Samuel. “We’re a small pack, but well-connected. So long as you never ask anything of us that would break the law or hurt innocents, we’ll help you however we can.”

He considers my offer, then takes my hand and shakes it firmly once.

After that, he takes Skylar’s and brings it to his lips for a kiss.

The action isn’t 100 percent innocent, but I let it slide.

He then keeps hold of her hand and leads her to the kitchen island where Felix, who must be his second, waits with a laptop.

Introductions are made with the four other vampires, who he explains are his most trusted advisors and all vampires he sired personally.

Then Skylar gives him all the known information she has on Victor’s pack.

The location of his home and several safe houses.

Security codes and protocols. Numbers and names of his pack.

Locations of his weapons cache and drug stashes.

Businesses he owns. Other known associates and allies.

She gives him Victor’s entire empire, and judging from the look on Samuel’s face, there will be nothing left of the Vail, Colorado, pack soon enough.

By the time she’s done, it’s getting late. I’m exhausted and starving, and Skylar must be dead on her feet. I don’t know much about omegas, but I assume it takes a lot out of her to use her power as much as she did this evening. “That’s everything,” she says with a yawn.

Samuel and Felix eye her with approval. “That was very thorough,” Felix says.

She still shies away from him, but her fear isn’t as potent as it was.

I want to know their history, but I’d never ask.

“I was nothing but a tool to Victor,” she says.

“No need to hide things from a possession. He involved me in just about everything he did and never once considered I would pay attention and use what I learned against him. He’s arrogant. ”

“He’s a dead man walking,” Samuel says.

Skylar bites her lip. “I’m okay with that.”

So am I. More than okay. I regret I won’t be able to strangle the man myself, but I trust Samuel to make him hurt.

Skylar yawns again, and I wrap my arm around her. “Let’s get going. It’s late.”

“Stay the night,” Samuel says. “We have guest housing in the building.”

Skylar shudders, and Bree stiffens. I share their apprehension. We may be allies now, but the thought of staying in the home of a vampire clan is a bit much. “Thanks for the offer, but we’ll get a place close to the airport. We need to catch an early flight.”

Samuel nods, accepting this as if he expected it. “I’ll see you out.”