Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Zayn
The thought of leaving my sister behind again made me want to scream. I could have thrown her over my damn shoulder and taken her back with us surprise adoption style, but the look in her eyes told me I was going to have to let her go.
"I should shift back so you can put the chain back on." Zola gave me a sad smile, and I really was considering forcing her to leave.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Wren moved back toward us, her scent calming me down from making any rash decisions. "You can come stay with me."
"You're going to stay?" My heart soared when Wren nodded, and if my sister wasn't watching, I'd have laid the biggest kiss ever on her pink lips.
"I thought I could handle the real world... that I'd find my brother and start a new life. I'm safer here. They might lock me up for a while, but I didn't have to fear for my life or for..." Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head. "I'm not going back there."
Rage boiled inside me, and I clenched my fists. Those fuckers were going to pay with their lives. "If you do decide to leave again... I'm in Crescent Heights."
She lay down without a word and shifted, her wolf staring up at me with eyes that said she was sorry. I couldn't fault her for wanting to stay after what she'd been through. Hell, if I'd been through even half of that, I'd have been right back here too.
"I love you, Zozo." I locked her back leg back up and ran my hand over her head before standing and following Wren outside.
She held out her hand, and I placed the keys in her palm, not moving as she went back to where the keys had been. Looking around, I couldn't believe that nothing had changed in the five years I'd been gone. There were a few more buildings, but it was still as sparse as always.
I looked back at my sister, whose eyes were shut and her breaths even. She was comfortable with this life, way more than I had ever been.
"Hey." Wren was standing in front of me and put her hand on my cheek. "Are you sure you want to leave her? I can carry her."
I put my hand over hers and leaned my face into her touch. I never thought I'd feel her warmth again, yet there she was. My anger and disappointment toward her had all but vanished, but there was still a fear she would leave as soon as we were safe.
"She wants to be here." Grabbing her hand and threading our fingers together, I started walking. "And what do you mean you can carry her? I mean, I know you're strong, but I think I can carry my own sister."
"Nothing." She sighed and looked back over her shoulder. "We should shift and find Sullivan."
"Sullivan's with you?" I practically growled. "He didn't even want to come after you."
She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but then shut it. I raised an eyebrow, but before I could ask her what the hell she was going to say, she let my hand go and shifted.
Sneaky little vixen.
With a final look back, I shifted and ran after her, surprised at how fast she was running. There were a lot of things we didn't know about her, and as soon as we were home, I intended to find out everything she was hiding from us.
If that meant tying her up to my bed and driving her crazy, then that was how it was going to have to be.
I picked up on Sullivan's scent and wondered where the hell Kingston was. Was he still out looking for Wren?
Wren let out a shrill-sounding bark, and Sullivan stepped out from behind a tree, naked as fuck. Normally I didn't even notice if someone was naked having grown up the way I did, but I noticed Sullivan, and I didn't like it.
Not that I had anything against males being attracted to males, but this was Sullivan. He didn't give a rat's ass about Wren or any of us.
He shifted as I passed and fell into stride with me, nearly bumping into my shoulder. I snapped at him, and he growled, increasing his pace to get closer to Wren. I was exhausted after all the running but pushed myself, trying to keep up.
Damn him and his athletic abilities. I had to hand it to him, he was built for running and fighting, where I was built for a more relaxed wolf life, lying in the dirt and napping.
As we turned to run down the very narrow valley back toward civilization, I stopped and looked back. Life was so much simpler living in the wild. Now that I'd experienced the world as an adult, I could see why my parents chose to live the life.
But in a lot of ways, it was more restrictive. Maybe if we'd lived as off-grid humans with tiny houses part of the time, I wouldn't have left. But we hadn't. We'd lived as wild animals without lives outside of our small pack.
Wren came and sat next to me and put her head against my flank. She was a tiny thing, and I wanted nothing more than to protect her. I'd killed for her, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I wanted to stay with her pressed against me longer, but the longer we stayed close by, the more at risk we were of being caught. There was no way the three of us could fight off a pack of wolves.
With a quick lick of her snout, I turned and headed back toward my freedom.
We'd been running for about an hour when we finally arrived back at the cabin. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I was exhausted and collapsed near the small porch as I shifted back to protest running any farther.
Wren came and looked down at me, her whiskers twitching and her eyes scanning down my body as if assessing me for injuries.
"I need a break." I felt like the weakest pup in the world, lying spread-eagle in front of my girl, admitting that I didn't have any more stamina. Sullivan, on the other hand, looked like he could go on for hours.
She shifted and lay down next to me, taking my hand. "Let's take a break then. Do you think we're safe here?"
I snorted. "They won't come this far to get me. I'm not even sure why they locked me up. They didn't even speak."
It made me sad that my mom and dad had looked at me as if I were a stranger. I guess I was now that I'd been away for so long.
"I'm sorry." She squeezed my hand and scooted even closer to me. Sullivan stood on the other side of Wren, his dick hanging there for all to see.
"Can you cover up or something? I don't want my woman to get her eye poked out." I looked back at the night sky.
"Jealous?" He chuckled. "She's already watched me stroke it for her."
I bolted upright and growled. "Excuse me?"
Sullivan stepped back, putting his hands up. "Uh, just joking." He looked a little frightened, and then what I'd done smacked me in the face.
I'd killed two men. No wonder he was scared of me.
Burying my face in my hands, I processed the day. It was all a blur, as if someone else had possessed me. They'd deserved to die, but that didn't change the fact that I was now a murderer.
Wren put her head on my shoulder and gently stroked my back. Did she know what I'd done? If she did, she wouldn't have been sitting next to me.
Jumping up, I moved away from her and Sullivan, my hands tugging at my hair. Jesus, I'd actually used my bare hands to rip them apart.
"Zayn, what's wrong? Do you want to go back? I'll understand..." Wren was right behind me, her hand touching my back again.
"No!" I wrenched away from her and turned to face her. "I killed two men today!"
I should have gone back to living in the wild. I didn't deserve to live among humans. Not when I went around ripping out throats and piercing hearts. What if I flipped out and hurt Wren?
Wren's eyes softened. "I know, and they deserved to die."
"What?" My voice sounded like a teenager going through puberty. "I didn't even hear what they had to say. I-"
"You did what you had to do." Sullivan stood next to Wren with his arms crossed. "Your wolf took over."
I glared at him. "I am my wolf! Why are you even here?"
Sullivan lunged forward and took me by the throat, pushing me against a tree. Pinning people to trees seemed to be his favorite thing to do. "I'm here because for some fucking reason I can't stop thinking about you or her!"
He let me go and stomped off into the trees. I rubbed my neck and cleared my throat. "Well, there's no need to choke me."
Wren stared after him as he got farther and farther away, eventually disappearing into the darkness. "He's hurting."
"He's hurting? Did you see what he did to me? I'm going to bruise!" I moved my hand as Wren stepped closer to examine it. "It's already black and blue. I can feel it."
She tried to fight a smile and lifted a hand to run her fingers over my injury. "I can't really tell with your tattoos, but it looks fine. He barely even held you by the neck, Zayn."
I grabbed her hand and held it against my chest. "I missed you, Wrenny. I should have never turned my back on you. If I wouldn't have run off like a scolded puppy, I would have been there, and this would never have happened to you."
Tears filled her eyes, and she looked down. I hated seeing her hurting and pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her.
"I'm glad this happened. We found your sister and learned Marcos is an even bigger threat." She put her forehead against my chest. I wondered if she could feel what she was doing to my heart. "I don't deserve yours or Kingston's forgiveness."
I stroked her back, leaning back against the tree. If my legs weren't so tired, I'd have wanted to stay with her wrapped in my arms forever. "You deserve everything, Wren."
"So do you." She sniffled. "And Kingston... and Sully."
"He doesn't like to be called that." With a sigh, I moved her far enough away from me so I could see her face. "You like him?"
Her lips twisted to the side, and I knew without her even telling me. Damn it.
"I don't know what I'm feeling, all right? I like all of you in different ways." She shook her head like she couldn't believe it. "I should make sure he's okay. He headed for the stream. Might be nice to rinse off and get a drink."
"Well, I'm not letting you go alone when he's going around choking innocent people." I kept ahold of her hand and let her lead me through the trees. Was she planning on dating all of us? How would that work when she got sick of one or two of us? Did this mean she was staying?
We came to the stream and my heart leapt into my throat. Sullivan was lying in the stream, his head all the way under. What the hell had happened?
Letting Wren's hand go, I sprinted the rest of the way, sloshing through the water and grabbing him by the arm. The water wasn't deep—it came to about mid-shin—but even wolves had a time limit on staying underwater.
"What the hell are you thinking?" I practically threw him into the dirt.
"I was rinsing off! What the fuck!" He did some kind of ninja move where he jumped to his feet in one fluid motion and then charged at me like a bull.
The wind was knocked out of me as he hit me around the waist and took me down right into the stream. The cool water shocked my system into awareness, and I squirmed underneath him, trying to get free.
Both of us were naked, so it was no surprise when his dick rubbed right against mine. If I hadn’t been nervous he was going to hold me under to drown my ass, I might have found the whole tryst a turn-on.
I managed to get free and surfaced, preparing for him to attack again. He was sitting on his ass in the middle of the stream, and I started to get to my feet, but one of my legs gave out, sending me to my knees.
"What the hell, Sullivan!" Wren rushed to me and helped me to my feet. "He was trying to help you! Who the fuck lies in the middle of a stream like that?"
Sullivan ran his hand over his face. "I'm sorry."
"Are you okay?" Wren was shaking slightly as she looked me over. "I don't see any injuries or smell any blood."
"I'm fine, Wrenny." I looked past her to Sullivan, who was standing now, hanging his head in shame. Good. He should feel bad. He was a pit bull attacking a harmless puppy. "Why don't you rinse off and then we'll sleep."
I put myself between her and Sullivan and crossed my arms as he moved to dry land. Why did he have to be such an asshole? What did Wren mean about he was hurting?
The moonlight hit his back at just the right angle to make the scars on his back practically glow as he walked back to the cabin.
We followed shortly after when Wren was done, and he had found a few blankets and was lying with his hands behind his head. "The stars are beautiful tonight. It will be a nice way to fall asleep."
Wren went and lay next to him, her head practically laying on his chest and her entire side flush against his. Calmness washed over me at the sight. It was the oddest thing because, if anything, I should have wanted to rip out Sullivan's throat for touching my girl.
With a sigh, I lay on my side next to Wren, throwing a leg over hers and wrapping an arm around her waist. My face was precariously close to her tit, but I needed to be on my best behavior.
"Let's sleep for a few hours and then get moving. Kingston is probably worried." Wren yawned and started running her fingers through my hair. "I'm surprised he didn't come back this way."
"He had to take care of two bodies, plus a hostage. He's probably still dealing with it." Sullivan rolled onto his side and looked across at me before his eyes went off course and slid down Wren's body and back up. "It's a beautiful night to sleep outside."
"Are you okay?" Her voice was so soft it surprised me.
"I don't like being taken by surprise." Sullivan looked over at me, his brown eyes growing even darker. "There's been a lot of surprises lately."
"Isn't fighting all about surprising your opponent?" I snuggled in closer to Wren.
"Fighting is more controlled than that. There are rules, and I know what to expect from each of my opponents." He propped himself up on his elbow, his fist on his cheek. "I'm sorry for attacking you."
I grunted and ran one of my fingers back and forth across Wren's tummy. She made an agreeable sound and shut her eyes, her nipples hardening.
"I'm a little cold." Her voice had dropped, and the tone went straight to my loins.
Sullivan watched my finger trailing down to her belly button and all the way up between her breasts. "Do you want us to keep you warm?"
Us?
Her skin erupted in goosebumps, and I wanted to run my tongue over them. "Do you want to keep me warm? Or do you want to watch Zayn keep me warm?"
"Woah, woah, woah." I sat up, looking between the two of them. "Explain. Now."
"I watched Kingston fuck her earlier." Sullivan's finger took over moving over her skin. "I don't want to watch this time, little fox."
What an interesting turn of events. I wasn't sure how I felt about it until his finger began circling her nipple, and my cock twitched. Sullivan looked at it, his tongue darting out and wetting his lips.
For someone that didn't like being taken by surprise, he was surprising me. I always had liked surprises.