Chapter 8 - Liv
CHAPTER 8 - LIV
“Let her go alone.” Father’s command locked my muscles. “I know you go everywhere together, but this is her moment with her mate, and she doesn’t need you for this.”
Yes, she does.
The nurturing side of my Alpha female howled after my sister, my heart thumping helpless, uneven beats. She went through enough, from her parents abandoning her, injury and inability to shift, to constant taunts growing up, and I didn’t want her to go through more heartache.
Father clasped my wrist, cutting off my circulation as his gaze zoned in on my Lunar branding. Displeasure set in his jaw. “I told you not to enter the circle.”
Holding my ground, I snatched my wrist back, rubbing at the red welts his clutch burned into me. “I was protecting Heather.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “She’s old enough to fend for herself. You’re not going after and chasing off another mate because you don’t trust—” He bit back the rest of his sentence.
Who needed an intimidating big brother when Heather had me to ward off unworthy men to protect her from humiliation and rejection? Bad habits formed after my relationship with Dash ended and crushed my heart and soul.
Father drew me in for a brief hug, stroking my hair, softening his next delivery. “You can’t save her every time, Liv. Stop coddling her. She’s stronger than you give her credit for.”
I protected my sister like a wounded bird and locked her in a cage so no one hurt her. The time had come for her to test her broken wing and fly.
Father released me, and I scrubbed at my face, calming my warring tendencies to nurture and protect. Father sending Rylie away, my impending arranged marriage, running into Dash, and TJ hitting my sister left me a raw and vulnerable mess.
Heat seared the air, alerting me to the presence of another male by father’s side. Dash’s father. Tall and broad, oozing undisputed power. Militaristic hair style shorn close on the sides of his head and a little longer on top. Dressed formally in a suit, shirt, and tie like my father. Coals burned in his narrowed gaze sweeping across the men in his pack and beaten shifters scattered across the circle. A general surveying the carnage of a battlefield. Ash Lumbry’s chest thundered like a lawnmower at my unconscious fiancé and his groaning men, dabbing their broken bloodied noses and hauling their bastard leader out of the ceremonial circle.
“What the hell happened here?” His Alpha bark slammed into me. “I warned you, son. Keep the pack in line. You led them into a fight.”
Dash rocked with resistance, not submitting. “Taking care of pack business.” The gruffness of his wolf set my body aflame.
Ash Lumbry’s eyes were merciless pools refusing to accept any explanation. “You call earning a target on our backs taking care of pack business? What a damn disaster.”
“Sir, it’s my fault.” The playboy of the group stepped up to take the blame. This action gave me the impression Dash and his childhood companions did this a lot to redirect the fire off their friends.
Ash rubbed at his forehead with a clawed hand. “Silence!” The sharp bark stuttered blood in my veins. “I’ll have to visit Pack Malice tomorrow to kiss his backside and apologize for what you and your men did.”
Dash returned the growl, sharp as the blade of a knife, and my shewolf growled at the disrespect to an Umbra. “TJ and his scumbags insulted Steele’s mate. Threw a fucking beer can at her head and drew blood.” His father twitched at the curse word.
“They did what ?” My father’s chest revved like a motor.
Dash answered him. “Steele asked for an apology and didn’t get it. The Malice mutts threw the first punch, and we defended ourselves, just like you taught us.”
Kicked ass more like it. Affronts the Malices would twist into retaliation on the Lumbrys. My heart slammed harder to push my frozen blood through my body. What would TJ do to mine and Dash’s pack if he found out we were Lunar mated? That Dash’s hand rested on my lower back. Actions I didn’t consider when my shewolf dominated my mind.
Dash’s father stepped up to him, staring deep into his son’s eyes, his gaze as lethal as a laser. “You should have kept your men on a leash.”
What an asshole. Recollections of him didn’t come off this strict and unforgiving. He welcomed me into his home, hugged me, kissed my cheeks, was hospitable, friendly. Much changed since I last hung out with Dash and his family. Did his father blame him for Chase’s accident? He refused a match between Dash and me. Shame buried under my skin. Had Dash taken the fall for me?
Anger sharpened the edges of Dash’s jaw. “Under Lycan custom, Steele has the right to fight for his mate.”
Ash’s wolf rose to the surface, all steel eyes, sharp fangs dripping saliva at his snarl. “It’s clear discipline doesn’t work on you or your men.” He glared tooth holes into his son’s skull. “You’ve left me no choice. Tomorrow, I’m visiting the Jackals and tearing up the contract with them.”
Jackals. The name on Dash and his men’s motorcycle club vests. Shifters like us with a ruthless streak and a reputation not to fuck with them. Father gave them permission to run their biker club in our territory, and they didn’t interfere with our business or pack.
With a look that turned my stomach, Dash inched forward, teeth bared. “No. We. Won’t. Do. That. Losing that contract will break us. The Jackals will kill us.”
The Lumbrys owned plenty of long-standing businesses in town, but from the hint of a plea in Dash’s voice, they suffered financial strain. The fixer in me stirred to solve the problem.
Ash lined their chests perfectly and glared at his son from beneath heavy brows. “You break the contract, or you break from the pack.”
Silence stole the air from my lungs. Pack tensions pushed Ash Lumbry into a difficult decision. Dash glared at his father like he clawed a hole into his skull.
Under Lycan custom, Ash Lumbry had the right to put down any wolf that violated the laws, his son included. He also had the right to banish Dash from the pack for disobedience, and by the sound of it, the Umbra was at his wit’s end at his son’s brand of trouble.
The Alpha inside me wanted to stand up for her mate. Tell this asshole where to go. Leave and form our own pack. Small but supportive. My sensible bitch reminded me that being my Lunar mate didn’t give Dash a pass for being a careless asshole, and after the way he treated me, I didn’t owe him a thing.
Father got between the two men, breaking them apart with his palms, shoving them backward and holding them apart with all his force. “Perhaps we should take this discussion elsewhere? My cabin?”
Shrewd move. We never know who lingered in the forest and what they might overhear. TJ mustn’t know I was Lunar matched to Dash, or he would have us both killed.
Ash Lumbry stared down his pack members, eyes spitting fireballs, rousing growls from his son. “Beau, get Steele.” His wave of dominance punched me in the gut far stronger than anything my father used on me. Stern, inflexible, and designed to bend wills. “The rest of you meet me at the Hester pack. If any of you disobey me, I will destroy you.”
Beau—the enforcer, the name sewn into his motorcycle vest—marched into the forest to retrieve his pack brother. The remaining men left with their Umbra with the exception of Dash, leaving tension thick and soupy in the air.
Mated Lumbrys would make their way back to their pack lands after completion of their coupling rituals and move their mates in with them or relocate packs to live with their mates. I worried for their safety after the fight with the Malices. Ambushes, kidnappings, or worse all possible. Flaunting of rules was TJ’s motto. Come to think of it, Dash’s too. I shook that thought off. More trouble seemed unlikely since TJ’s ass was beaten, bloodied, and out cold, and his men looking worse for wear.
Lycan law afforded Ash Lumbry the right to demand the bastard’s execution for breaking protocol tonight, spilling blood in the sacred circle and assaulting one of the goddess’ blessed, who also belonged to his man, Steele. A decision for the Shifter Council. A girl could dream.
Dash shifted to his side to address me, his eyes discs of silver moonlight. “Ride on my bike with me?”
Need to mate and duty to my sister turned my heart upside down. My shewolf wanted nothing more than to consummate our Lunar matching, ride off into the sunset on the back of Dash’s bike, and null and void my contract with TJ Malice.
Fantasies. Tragedy happened when I broke the rules. Heather’s injury and illness. Archer almost dying from a boar attack when we hunted it. Chase’s crash and permanent injury. My heart caught in the crossfire.
Suspicion edged into my mind, reminding me what kind of man Dash Lumbry was. Riddled with shame for Chase’s accident, Dash ran, or he blamed me for what happened.
Wary of his charms leading me on again, I made the smart choice. Stable and dependable. The one person I counted on when things went to shit. “I’ll wait for Heather and go home with her.”
Dash breathed, resigned yet impatient. “I’ll be waiting.”
The hot poker in my breast scorched the last sliver of hope. Dash’s unreliability made him an unsuitable candidate to solve my arranged marriage problem or a mate I could count on.
He leaned down to brush his lips on mine, a spark shooting up my spine, the kiss rewriting my story, my fate, my broken fairytale into a happy fucking ending. I rubbed the spot where our lips met, watching him depart, trapping his promise to my mouth.
Meanwhile, my heart and mind waged a debate.
Why not indulge in this sin? my heart whispered seductively, trying her hardest to convince my mind.
He’s sin incarnate, her opposition cautioned. A heartbreaker.
Damn this man for calling to my heart and soul after our long separation. For being my damned Lunar mate! For tearing out my heart and burning it like I meant nothing to him.
Dash was handsome, fun, a bad boy at heart, sweet when he wanted to be. A fling I never got over. I wanted to beat my fists on his chest and scream at him for not saying goodbye, giving me closure and letting me move on. Lunar mate or not, he was a weakness I couldn’t afford. Falling for him once left me bitten and stung. Never again. It was time to scrub him from my heart and memory forever.
Motion in the forest called my attention away. Heather burst free of the scrub ahead of Steele, shoulders rounded, head down, flanked by Beau. Silver tears teemed down her cheeks leaving tracks of despair. Growls tore from my throat. Their mating didn’t go as planned, like my instincts warned.
Numb legs carried me to her side. “What happened?”
She flew into my arms like a wounded bird, and I cradled her, glaring at Steele. Avoiding eye contact, he marched from The Grove like a deflated soldier.
Sobs tore at the edges of my soul. “He rejected me.” At her mournful whimper, I folded her into my arms and leaned my chin on the top of her head.
“Why?” Father growled, forming a circle around his daughters, palms on our shoulders.
Heather’s red hands bunched our father’s shirt and she pressed her mascara-stained cheek to his chest. “He said he can’t be the mate I deserve, and it wasn’t fair to me if he took me as his mate.”
Father’s fingers dug painfully into my shoulder as mine did to my sister’s arms. “Utter garbage. You’re too perfect for the fool.” She hiccupped at his words, and I knew she didn’t believe any of them.
The third time the Lumbry men rejected a Hester female. Dash, first. Chase, second. Steele, third. Picky bastards.
“I was too perfect for Chase too.” A line of fire curled around my heart at the fresh tear tracking down her cheek.
Heather faced this rejection all her life and then from her mate. The ultimate betrayal. Disbelief scorched my throat that Steele hurt her in the worst way possible.
Father patted us both, freeing the air trapped in my lungs. “Goddamn Lumbrys think they’re too good for us.” His growl quaked through my chest. “Let’s get back to the packhouse. We’re meeting them there. We’ll get to the bottom of this business.”
Heather swiped at her grisly cheeks stained black from leaking mascara. “No. I don’t want to see Steele ever again.”
Father combed through her messy hair. “You don’t have to, sweetheart. He’s not welcome in my house tonight. He can stand guard like the dog he is.” He was always gentle with her. Never me. As heiress, I had a case of tough love, hardening me for leadership… whether it was for Pack Hester or Malice.
Heather sniffed, hugged Father, and lifted her head high as he nudged us back through the forest, reconciled to tonight’s outcome even though her betrayal pierced the pack bond.
A twenty-minute drive carried us back to our lands, trailed by one lone bike. Dash’s. Blankets of dark clouds hugged the sky, stealing all the moonlight. Lightning flickered in the distance, heralding the storm coming. Anger from the Lunar Goddess to lash us.
Seven Lumbry men waited for us by their vehicles and bikes, Ash in the center, flanked by his men. Steele on the fringe, head bowed, a clear sign of punishment for the son of Ash’s second-in-command.
Dash alighted his bike and set his helmet on top of his seat. Stormy gray eyes met mine as I climbed from the passenger seat of Father’s car clutching my sister’s hand. Dash’s wolf had dropped away on the ride over. The way his gaze hardened and flicked away from mine to focus on something behind me chased the warm comfort of my mate riding behind my car to protect me, and twisted my stomach with apprehension.
My brain began to dissect the response until I halted it to concentrate on my sister’s wellbeing.
Father marched up to Steele, a growl dipping dangerously low and menacing. “Get out of my sight, boy . Remain outside like the filthy guard dog you are. Never speak to my daughter again.”
“Sir—” Steele started, but father slammed him with dominance and a look that said don’t you fucking dare, boy .
Ash Lumbry issued a crackling growl, and Steele retreated out of respect and stood by his bike, rubbing his knuckles, body twitching when Heather swiped another tear from her eye and departed, limping back to our cabin, pulling her coat tightly around her waist. Steele let out a string of curses, his claws biting into his shaking fists, fighting his wolf’s urge to follow and comfort her.
The moment our cabin door closed, and she locked herself inside, I shot him a warning to stay away.
Rain chose that moment to make its presence known, hitting hard and unforgiving like the Lumbry’s fists.
Before making my way up the stairs to my father’s cabin, I cast a final glance in Dash’s direction. Cold wilderness replaced any hint of warmth, protection, and possessiveness he displayed at the Lunar Ceremony. His human side had a change of heart. The same one Steele had. For the second time, Dash Lumbry filled my soul with bleak emptiness.