Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
GARRETT
The tension rolling off Angel puts me and my wolf on guard… in our own pack. Fuck, this isn’t right.
I’m tempted to walk ahead of her, not to lead the way but to get her scent out of my lungs long enough to clear my head, and yet I can’t. Maybe it’s having her at my side for three days and nights, where I could watch for signs of distress, that’s keeping me close to her.
Or maybe it’s my wolf, who has not been this blessedly calm for well over a year.
A low, deep growl stops me more effectively than a fist to the face. My hand leaves Angel’s in case I have to fight.
Complete silence surrounds us as I zero in on the direction of the growl. Dead ahead. A border guard, likely, though he shouldn’t be growling at me, even if I have an unknown shifter with me.
Unknown. Fuck, that’s not the right way to think of Angel. I know her, even if they don’t. I need the wind to shift, carry the scent to me so I can identify who’s there.
“Show yourself,” I order instead. “And be prepared to explain why the fuck you’re threatening us.”
A lone figure steps out from behind a tree. Tall, dark hair and eyes, very muscular, baring his teeth… seconds from shifting to wolf form. And he’s not alone. My wolf senses others nearby, even without the wind cooperating.
“Problem, Tiberius?” I call out to the one shifter I pissed off with my little jaunt over the highway the day before I left the pack in search of Angel.
I glance over my shoulder. Her body language is all wrong, tight and pulled in, as if she wants to lean in to me for safety but doesn’t dare. Because of Tiberius or me?
I slide my hand over hers and with a tug urge her closer. She takes two tiny steps, which I sense is a lot for her in this moment. And fucking Tiberius is scrutinizing my every move.
“It’s just me.” I keep walking as if I have every right to be here. I do, and no guard trying to prove his mettle is going to stop me.
“You can pass. She stays.”
Bitterness coats my tongue. This asshole isn’t worth my time, and he’s scaring the shit out of my innocent angel.
“You get one chance to explain why. If it’s not good, I’ll rip you a new one. Try to keep her out, and I’ll get really nasty. Touch her… there’ll be nothing left of you.”
The male lifts his chin, and fucking dares to run his eyes over her, lingering on her long legs exposed beneath the shirt she’s wearing. That’s not acceptable.
I lunge at him, shifting mid-air. My wolf’s jaws clamp around his throat before he can blink, let alone shift.
“Enough!” a voice shouts. Mason, one of the senior guards. “Release him, Garrett.” When I don’t, he growls. Low and commanding.
I don’t look behind me as I take in the scents and sounds. Angel hasn’t moved, but there are three guards including Mason with her. She must be terrified. She’s the priority, not this pissant shifter.
My wolf snarls as he releases Tiberius, and I shift. “Is this how you’re running things, Mason? Allowing your guards to keep pack from entering, threatening welcomed guests, and encouraging them to ogle females?”
“He did what?” Blue eyes snap to Tiberius, who has climbed to his feet.
“I wasn’t ogling. I was just looking for weapons.”
My fist flies, hitting hard flesh. The cracking of bone brings a satisfaction I want to repeat, but Mason places me in a chokehold.
“It’s my place to discipline my guards. Not yours. Clear?”
I nod. When he releases me, I throw another punch. Doesn’t matter that Tiberius blocks with his right arm. I made my point, to him and any other bastard who thinks they can disrespect Angel.
“Garrett…” Mason doesn’t say more. Doesn’t need to.
“Just testing his reflexes.”
“Also, not your place.”
I march back to Angel, and take her hand in mine. She’s so fucking cold. “I need to get her warmed up. I was the one who asked her to shift before entering camp, so if you have a problem with that, we can discuss it later.”
“You know that’s not a problem. But we had to make sure that you weren’t being followed.” Mason hesitates. “And that she wasn’t holding you at gunpoint.” He quickly holds up both hands, warning me to stay calm. “Frank’s orders, given how you left here.”
“We done?”
He nods toward the trail leading into camp. “Go ahead. They know you’re coming. Both of you.”
I finally look into Angel’s eyes, hoping to reassure her that while this wasn’t the welcome I’d expected, she’s still safe.
She doesn’t say a word, doesn’t look at me, just stares at the guards around us. She’d flee right now, if she could, but her wolf isn’t strong enough.
“Come on, Angel. Let’s get you warmed up.” With a slight tug of her hand, she walks with me.
“I left my pack without telling anyone,” I explain as we make our way along the winding trail. “They guessed where I was going since I’d made my intention clear since the day we left you behind.”
“You d-didn’t leave me. I t-told you to go.”
“Both can be true. My alpha has teams that conduct rescue ops. And he said he’d send shifters for you.”
She slows. “I can tell when you’re lying, Garrett. Your body tenses.”
“I’d never lie to you. He did agree that you needed to be rescued.”
“But he wasn’t sure if I was a WSSO agent or sympathizer,” she concludes. She’s observant, my… fuck, I almost thought of her as my female. That can’t happen again.
“Damien’s cautious, which I appreciate, but there are times waiting and being cautious are the wrong strategy.”
“I wasn’t in any danger. Not more than usual.”
My wolf howls as I picture her guard trying to force himself on her. How many times did she endure that type of threat, or worse?
“You were caged, Angel. Naked, in a freezing cold cargo truck. You could have died from exposure. And do I need to remind you of that fucking spiked collar that kept you from shifting?”
Her sharp inhale makes me growl, but my wolf shuts me down. He knows how fragile she is right now, and I’m making things worse.
“Sorry.” I draw her hand to my lips and kiss the tip of two fingers. “I’m mad at myself, not you.”
“Don’t be mad, Garrett. You’ve done so much for me already. Coming here was a nice idea, but...” She rubs at her neck, where tiny pricks from the spikes have yet to heal. Her wolf is too fucking weak to do any healing. We’re lucky she can still shift.
“Give them a chance, Angel. My pack appears to be on high alert.”
“That or that one shifter’s an asshole,” she says with a nervous laugh.
“That’s a given. But Mason, the lead guard, plays by the book. He’ll take care of Tiberius.”
“I think you already did that.”
“It was a simple punch.”
Her mouth lifts in a grin that sends my spirit soaring. “It was much more. And I appreciate it. Usually, I can take care of myself. I just need some time to adjust to…”
“Shifters?”
“Life.”
“You’ll get there. You’re already shifting faster than that first night.”
“I’m slow as a turtle, and you know it. It gives me a new appreciation for weak shifters and the pain they go through when shifting. Believe me, Garrett, I’d endure a thousand painful shifts if that’s the price of freedom. Just don’t…”
“You need to stop that.”
“What?”
“Stopping yourself mid-sentence. You’re watching every word you say around me, censoring yourself when it’s not necessary. There’s absolutely nothing you could say that would make me think any less.”
She pushes a lock of hair behind her ear. “I trust you.”
I’m not sure she does. Not fully.
“It’s okay if you don’t. Really. A guy’s got to earn your trust. I get that. Just try not to shut down, okay?”
Her smile widens, then quickly disappears. I follow her gaze. We’re at the outer perimeter of the camp and my packmates are staring at us… at her.
Their stares set me and my wolf on edge. I can’t imagine how their lack of welcome is affecting her. It’s as if they’ve already condemned her. They don’t even know her, let alone what she’s been through.
Damien’s nowhere in sight, but Hayden’s standing front and center in the middle of the camp, dozens of shifters going about their daily routines.
With his back to the Christmas tree, and his arms folded over his chest, Hayden doesn’t move a muscle as he tracks our every movement.
He’s not surprised to see us, either of us. Pissed, but not surprised.
“I figured you’d go after her. I told Damien as much, but he said you wouldn’t defy his orders.”
“As if you’ve never defied an alpha,” I snap, well aware that Angel has slid behind me. Thankfully, my wolf doesn’t bite me for talking to our second this way. That gives me something to think about… later. “I had to go.”
“To prove something to us?”
“To rescue a shifter no one seemed to care about.”
“We care. You just don’t want to see it. You’d rather ignore your alpha and put your pack at risk rather than accept the truth.”
“What truth?” Angel whispers behind me.
Hayden’s gaze moves to Angel. “That he’s responsible for the death of the last female he was with. You’re her replacement, only he doesn’t see it.”
I take a swing at Hayden, and find myself face down in the dirt, a knee in my back and one arm twisted high behind me.
“Let him up,” Damien orders.
The second Hayden releases me, I flip over and search for Angel. She’s right where I left her—eyes wide, and her hands squeezing the sides of the shirt so hard her knuckles have turned white. She’s frozen up again, like at the border.
My wolf’s hackles rise as I scan my packmates. The air reeks of their suspicion and mistrust. She tried to warn me they wouldn’t accept her.
I should have listened.
When I start to get up, Hayden plants his foot in my chest. Asshole.
My eyes stay locked on Angel, though. “All is good, Angel. This is Hayden. You probably remember him from that day we met. He’s our second.
A Novak by birth. I’m sure you’ve heard of the White Wolves south of us.
” Her eyes widen further. “They have quite the reputation. But he’s one of us now.
Trusted, smart, strategic, even though he’s an asshole more often than not. ”