Rhyannon Byrd - Dark Wolf Returning

Instead of tensing up and getting riled by his demanding tone, her posture had relaxed, one lightly muscled arm hooked over the back of her chair. “That isn’t something that should concern you.”

“Did they touch you?” he asked again, his voice now little more than a snarl.

Cocking her head a bit to the side, she studied him through her lashes. After a heavy silence, she finally said, “I would have been raped if I hadn’t managed to get free. As it was, I just got knocked around a bit.”

He wanted to roar at how casual she sounded about that, when it made him want to go for the blood of every Lycan who’d hit her, gleefully ripping them apart, one painful piece at a time. “How did you get away?”

“I knew that when the Runners realized we were missing, Wyatt would—” She paused suddenly, giving him a strange look. “Uh, when Eric left you messages, did he happen to mention that Elise and Wyatt Pallaton are bonded now?”

“I didn’t know it’d happened, but Eric thought it was headed that way.”

He could tell she was trying to figure out how he felt about his sister permanently attaching herself to the male who was Carla’s Bloodrunning partner, but he didn’t know. Until he saw the two of them together, he wasn’t forming an opinion. If Pallaton treated his sister right and made her happy, he’d have no issue with him. If he didn’t, Eli was going to kick his ass. It was as simple as that.

Reaching for her glass again, she said, “Anyway, I knew Wyatt and the others were coming, but there was no way they would get to her if I didn’t create a distraction. So that’s what I did.”

“And afterward?” he pressed, sensing that she was leaving out a hell of a lot. He had a strong suspicion her distraction had required her to put her own life at even greater risk to save his sister’s, and it made him both grateful and viciously angry.

She downed the last of her drink, and set the glass back on the table. “While I was making my escape, I heard some things that compelled me to steal some money and a car and come after you.”

“To drag me back home. For the pack.”

She gave him a look that would have wilted a lesser man. “It sure as hell isn’t because I want you there.”

“What did you hear?” he demanded, noticing the discoloration on her cheekbone as she turned her head and the light caught it. It was a healing bruise, and based on how many days since she’d gotten it, he knew it must have initially been brutal. Lycans had accelerated healing abilities, and though she was only half wolf, her body healed much faster than a human’s. Given the look of her face now, Eli imagined she’d been more than knocked around a little, and he was looking forward to paying back the ones who were responsible. In blood and pain and death.

“Before I left Hawkley,” she finally replied, bringing that dark gaze back to his, “I overheard some of the Whiteclaw soldiers talking about their plans for the Silvercrest. They haven’t managed to secure the number of soldiers they were hoping for from other packs, so they’ve come up with a new plan. One even deadlier than we’d feared. Since you said Eric didn’t go into a lot of detail in his messages, it sounds like there’s a lot you need to be brought up to speed on. But you can believe me when I say we need a miracle, Eli. Unfortunately, the only thing we’ve got on our side, other than my guys, is you.”

He knew who she meant by her “guys.” There were five men who made up the Silvercrest’s Bloodrunning team: Mason Dillinger, Jeremy Burns, Brody Carter, Wyatt Pallaton, and Cian Hennessey. Actually, he needed to make that six men, since his brother Eric was now working as a Runner, though the last Eli had heard, his brother wasn’t partnered up yet the way the others were.

At his silence, she added, “You were always rumored to be the most ruthless wolf the pack had ever seen. Jeremy told us you tore the male who attacked Elise into pieces. That’s the kind of man we need.”

For a moment, he was surprised that Jeremy knew what had happened, since his father had purposefully kept the Runners ignorant of Elise’s attack. The only reason Carla had known was because Eli had told her. She wouldn’t have been able to share that confidence with any of her fellow Bloodrunners without giving away their secret relationship, but that didn’t mean that the truth hadn’t eventually been leaked by someone else. For all he knew, Elise herself had been the one to finally share the horrific story. Or perhaps Eric, since he was now one of them.

Not that it mattered. Regardless of how Jeremy had learned what he’d done, what she’d said was true. Eli had ripped that bastard to pieces, and he didn’t regret it. But it bothered him that Carla might think of him as some kind of monster, and he couldn’t stop himself from asking her if that’s what she’d meant.

“Are you calling me a monster?”

“No.” She slowly arched her brows. “I’d only use that term if I was talking about your personality.”

He let that slide, knowing she was willing to say anything to make the canyon between them even deeper.

“So how did you find me?”

She shifted a little uncomfortably in the chair, but she didn’t refuse to explain. “It was like the thing with the Whiteclaw jolted me out of a fog, and I suddenly knew that it would work. That if I wanted to, I’d be able to pinpoint your location. So instead of making my way back home with the others, I stole a car. Grabbed a map from the glove box. Called Wyatt and told him I was coming after you.”

Staring at her beautiful face, Eli felt a confusing wave of emotion sweep through him, piercing and sharp. He’d heard that in times of danger, a bonded mate could use the connection that created the bond to locate their other half. And if the distance was too great, they could use a map to help feel the “pull” that would take them in the right direction. From the sound of it, it’d taken Carla several weeks to find him, which seemed longer than he would have expected. But, then, their bond wasn’t complete, which meant it probably didn’t pull as strongly as others.

He refused to acknowledge how much that little fact irritated him. He hadn’t had any right forming a bond with her in the first place, much less to be angry that it wasn’t as powerful as it should have been.

“You need to come back,” she said, the quiet words breaking into his thoughts. “Your pack needs you, and Elise and Eric need you.”

“And what about you? Do you need me?”

She didn’t try to shy away from the question. Looking him right in the eye, she said, “Like I need a hole in the head.”

There were so many things that he wanted to say to that. The anger that had initially risen up in the face of her own rage was fading, replaced by a raw, intense knot of regret that was making him break out in a sweat. “We have a lot we need to talk about, Rey.”

“Like hell we do. All I need is your ass on that mountaintop, ready to do battle, and not a damn thing more.”

Eli gave a frustrated shake of his head. “You really think we can fight together and not talk about the elephant here in the room with us?”

“That’s exactly what I think, because I have a few conditions before I agree to let you come home.”

“You came here for me,” he pointed out, scowling as he picked up on one of his guys snickering under their breath. It sounded like Sam, and he knew the jackass was enjoying hearing him get his ass handed to him by a woman. “What do you want, Reyes?”

Voice little more than a whisper, she kept her gaze locked on his, and said, “I want the bond broken.”

His muscles pulled so tight he was surprised he didn’t shatter, a feeling of dread coiling through his insides that felt remarkably similar to fear. “It can’t be done.”