Chapter 15 Not a Trap
Wynn
Sunlight streams through the cabin window, highlighting every mote of dust in the air. My wolf stirs restlessly inside me as I watch the forest outside. Now that Marlow has revealed why he's here, we can actually do something besides hiding. But how are we going to get into the city?
"Even if we get past the wolves and the wall, there's a clear stretch of road from here to Concordia. That makes it easy to spot someone crossing."
"We'd have cover at night," Marlow offers from the couch.
"My pack will have triple the patrols after the security breach, maybe more at night."
We’ve been tossing ideas around since we woke up but still don’t have a real plan.
If a killer is hiding in the heart of the Iron territory, we need a way to search without being detected.
That requires magic. To get magic, we need to get into Concordia.
But first we need to slip past the pack standing between us and the city.
When I turn away from the window, Marlow’s already watching me. His eyes widen in surprise and he clears his throat so forcefully that he chokes on his tongue and a coughing fit ensues, looking anywhere but at me all the while.
His hair’s still mussed from sleep, sticking up in unruly tufts that definitely don’t make my fingers itch to smooth them down.
Behind him lies the rumpled pillow and blanket he borrowed from the bedroom.
He spent the night on the couch without complaint.
Whether I missed him in bed or not isn't important.
Realizing that I’m staring, I clear my throat awkwardly and turn back toward the window, pretending the forest is incredibly interesting.
We haven’t mentioned the kiss we shared last night. We need to focus on our next move. There's no time to obsess over who kissed whom or whether the idiot who made out with a tricky demon wants to do it again.
Kissing and touching the man who might be my mate—the same man who made it crystal clear this won't end with us riding off into the sunset together—is a recipe for heartbreak, no matter how tempted I am.
A strange sound catches my attention, pulling me away from my brooding thoughts.
"Do you hear that?" I turn and ask the man across from me.
"No. I can tell you're thinking extremely hard about something, so much so that I can almost hear you thinking, but it's not quite loud enough. Maybe if you worry some more—hey, where are you going?"
Paying no attention to the smartass demon and focusing on the sound instead, I follow the noise through the cabin and to the bedroom.
A faint buzzing, and then... wait. That's definitely my ringtone. Which makes absolutely no sense.
The first thing I did before breaking Marlow out of custody was power down my phone and bury it deep in my duffel bag. No way to track a dead phone. That's, like, fugitive 101.
Yet here it is, singing away like a digital canary.
I dart to where my bag sits in the corner, yanking it open and digging through the mess of hastily packed clothes. Pulling out my phone, I stare at the screen in disbelief. It's fully charged and showing full bars despite our remote location. A new message notification blinks insistently.
The message is from Josh Fielding. My cousin Bane’s mate.
Josh: We should meet up.
Wynn: Did you turn my phone back on?
Josh: Yes.
Wynn: How?
Josh: Magic.
Obviously. Ask a stupid question. Josh is a resourceful witch. He found a way to contact me.
Wynn: Meeting up isn't a good idea.
Josh: The time for good ideas ended when you broke someone out of the dungeons.
Wow. Josh knows what I did. Seeing the words makes my heart leap into my throat. How the hell does he know? Is he trying to give me a heart attack?
Another message comes through.
Josh: Bane and I aren’t angry. Let us help.
Dragging my best friend and his mate into this mess? No way. They don’t deserve to get caught in the chaos I’ve stumbled into.
Josh: We’re meeting up. I’ll bring food. What other supplies do you need?
Ugh, well played. Hard to argue with supplies. He isn't giving me much choice, and we could use all the help we can get.
~
Wynn
Through the towering pine trees, I scan the forest below our perch. The rocky outcrop gives us the perfect vantage point to spot anyone approaching, friend or foe. Marlow crouches beside me, tension radiating from him.
I made an argument for meeting Josh alone, but he wasn't interested in debating. He only said “fuck that” and wouldn't let me out of his sight for a second, so here we are.
Movement down below. A lean wolf with sandy-colored fur weaves between the trees. His slight build and coloring are unmistakable.
"That's Josh," I whisper, though there's no real need for stealth. "He came alone like he promised."
"He doesn’t have supplies," Marlow whispers.
"Maybe they're in a backpack."
"He doesn’t have a backpack."
“Just wait.”
The wolf pauses in the small clearing below, and his fur melts away as his form straightens and elongates until my friend stands there, already dressed in jeans and a worn T-shirt. Magic comes in handy for shifting without losing anything.
"You can come down now," Josh calls out. "I made sure no one followed me."
That's good enough for me. Bane’s my cousin and best friend. He and Josh are family; they wouldn't betray me. Marlow isn't so convinced. He stops me before I can jump down to meet my friend.
"He still doesn't have a backpack."
True. I was expecting the supplies to appear when he shifted. But that doesn't mean anything suspicious is going on.
"Then I'll go find out what's up."
"No, you shouldn't—Wynn, wait!"
I drop from the rocky outcrop, landing softly on the forest floor.
It's not a trap. And if it is a trap, is that really the worst thing in the world? Sure Marlow might spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit and I might do some jail time myself for helping him. But we won't have to talk about the kiss if we’re arrested first.
Okay. Prison is worse. Prison is definitely worse, even if one extra uncomfortable conversation somehow seems worse, just a little bit.
In a few strides, I reach Josh and pull him into a tight hug.
Josh returns the embrace. "You're an idiot," he mutters, but there's no real anger in his voice.
When we pull apart, Marlow lurks behind us, eyeing our new ally suspiciously. "Where are the supplies?"
"Back at my car.”
"Oh hell no," the demon objects. "Absolutely not. We're not going to your car."
"Do you really have supplies?" I wonder, noticing the way he avoids eye contact as he answers.
"Yes!" Josh promises. Met with two sets of skeptical eyes, he looks away and fidgets. "Totally. Let's just go check… And if they're not there, no big deal. I forgot them at home."
Marlow points an accusing finger at Josh. "See? I knew it. This is a trap."
"No, it's not," both Josh and I say.
"Well, not the kind of trap you're thinking," I tell the demon.
Josh won’t hand us over to the authorities. Josh and his mate are making sure I accept their help.
Sure enough, Josh says, "Come back home with me. You'll have everything you need, and you can hide out in the apartment for as long as it takes."
“Don’t want you involved.” I can’t let them pay for my actions.
"In case it's not clear, Bane and I want to be involved,” Josh insists. “Let us help. You need it. Are you telling me you don’t need magic or a way into the city?"
Okay, he has me there. But that's not the point. “You and Bane shouldn’t take this risk, not because of me.”
“Sitting around wondering how much trouble you're in isn't doing us any good. Bane’s been going nuts ever since you left," Josh counters.
Yikes. I can only imagine how much he must be losing his mind. I never wanted him to worry about me. "How did he even know what was happening?"
Josh glances between me and Marlow. “He read between the lines and just had a feeling after you texted him.”
Something tells me that's the short version and I'm grateful he doesn't elaborate. Bane could tell Marlow got under my skin and I'd rather the demon not hear all about that.
"Let's do this the easy way," Josh says next. "Before Bane charges in and drags you back to our apartment himself."
Nobody wants that. Well played, Josh.
I sigh and look to Marlow. "Still think it's a trap?"
He gives Josh a hard stare for another few seconds before shaking his head. "Nah. If you trust him, that's good enough for me." My chest does something complicated and inconvenient at those words. Before I can dwell, he continues. "But how are you going to get us into the city?"
"With magic," I answer. "Right?"
Josh shakes his head and gives us a sly smile. "No, there's an easier option."
Turns out, he's right.
Hiding us in the trunk of his car with some scent blockers is much easier, even if it's uncomfortable.
Bane grew up in the Iron Pack just like me.
I never measured up, but he was the golden child.
Tough, ferocious, yet still capable of turning on the charm, Bane’s loved by the majority of Iron wolves.
So when his mate drives in and out through the front gates in Bane's signature, eye-catching red sports car, nobody bothers questioning him or stopping the car.
Sure, being wedged into the entirely too small trunk with another grown man is an extremely tight fit that tests my sanity, especially when I'm desperately trying not to notice how Marlow's solid chest presses against my back, or how his breath tickles my neck every time we hit a pothole.
But compared to our other options, I'll take cramped over captured any day.
At least something is finally going right for us.
And it will be nice to see my cousin Bane, even if I'm a little worried about what he thinks of the mess I've gotten myself into this time.