Chapter 3
By the time they reached Koe’s pack compound, Jury was soaking wet and trembling hard.
Her wolf was spent from getting them away from Biter territory, which meant she had no more strength left to offer Jury any warmth.
It was okay because the heat radiating from Koe had Jury shamefully snuggling against him.
She didn’t care. She couldn’t. Her teeth were chattering so damn hard, she thought they’d shatter.
Nuzzling her face tighter into his throat, she tried to breathe out of her mouth because the smoky scent of him was doing funny things to her belly.
She ignored the growl that rattled his chest when her lips accidentally brushed his neck.
Tough! She was too cold to properly control her own movements, and she didn’t ask to be held here.
She didn’t ask him to carry her. In fact, she’d happily race from his territory if he’d let her. But that wasn’t about to happen.
Glancing up as they approached the compound, Jury felt her heart stutter.
His compound was beautiful. Even in the miserable downpour, it looked inviting.
Resembling the Tudor manor’s she’d seen in magazines, she stared in awe at the all-brick exterior.
Honey-colored wood framed the dozens of windows and the arched, double-door entrance, a sunny accent to the light gray bricks of the facade.
There were multiple chimneys piercing the roof, which was comprised of terracotta tiles in a heather color she’d never seen on a roof before.
It was a beautiful complement to the lilacs that snaked up trellises framing the large bay windows at both ends of the house.
The yard was immaculately manicured; the grass was mowed short in a checkerboard pattern, and there were several large vases filled with intricately trimmed shrubbery lining the wide gravel driveway that led to the manor.
Jury had never seen a beautiful pack compound before.
The manor was so beautiful that it was almost laughable that a pack of rugged wolf-shifters lived there.
The Biter compound was basically a run-down mansion in the middle of the forest. No mowed grass, no lined driveway, certainly no flowers, and no obvious pride either.
Her pack compound was run-down, dilapidated, and embarrassing.
Instead of taking her in through the front doors, Koe skirted the house and carried her through a hedge archway that led into a lush garden.
It was breathtaking, with patio furniture and a pergola that had lights hanging from it.
It was probably beautiful when it was lit up.
The garden narrowed to a set of stone stairs leading to a side entrance.
As soon as they stepped inside, the shelter from the rain and the warmth of the house had Jury pressing her head against Koe’s chest in relief.
She’d been seriously worried about hypothermia.
Her fear of freezing to death twisted into something else when Koe took her to an ominous-looking wooden door with an iron-grille peep window and iron clavos running down the length of it.
It looked like something that led to a medieval torture room.
Koe used the hand beneath her knees to type a code into the electronic keypad beside the door. When it beeped, Jury rushed out, “Where are you taking me?”
His response was a weighty sigh that had Jury’s stomach dropping.
Instead of the scary-looking door opening, the stone wall beside them cracked along the grout lines between the pale bricks and slid open.
A secret passage? Fucking great!
Worried now, Jury tried again. “You could let me go. I swear I won’t…”
“You can’t even walk,” Koe bit out tersely. “You’re shivering so damn hard that I can barely keep hold of you, and your stomach has been growling the entire trek to the house. You’re in no condition to go anywhere.”
“I don’t have to be your problem,” she offered hopefully.
Without hesitation, he snarled, “You should have thought of that before you trespassed.”
Her belly dipped again and only sank further when they stepped into a hallway. There were three closed doors leading down the hallway, and at the end of the hall, a giant metal door stood open with bright white light pouring into the hall.
Koe carried her down the hall and into the room, a cell.
The walls were all raw cinderblock, the floor simple concrete.
A small cot, with a decent-looking mattress sat in one corner, folded blankets and one lone pillow sat atop.
Across from the cot was a stainless steel toilet/sink combo.
And that was it. No window, nothing else, just a bed and a toilet.
Koe set Jury on her feet, gave her a hard look, then, without another word, he turned and exited the cell, the sound of the heavy metal door echoing his departure and piercing her soul.
It was abrupt and cold, and, sadly, Jury understood.
She was an enemy in his territory, here unannounced.
He owed her nothing. Still, that little spark inside her that hoped he’d somehow be her savior was extinguished with painful finality.
Exhausted, freezing, starving, and homesick for Narae, Jury paced to the cot and then turned and slowly sat.
The second her ass settled on the mattress, she lowered her head and finally allowed herself to cry.
Shoulders shaking with the quiet sobs that left her, she shook her head and huffed a watery laugh at how pathetic her life had become.
Because sitting in a cell beneath the Allegiance pack compound, she felt safer than she ever had back with her own pack.
And how did that happen? How had captivity become more desirable than simply existing where she was supposed to belong?
She didn’t cry long because, honestly, she didn’t have the energy to do proper justice to her emotions.
Turning, she eyed the cot and hugged herself.
Her wet clothes clung to her shivering frame, and she wasn’t sure that lying down was a good idea.
What if her wrecked body just gave out? Thinking back on what had been done to her at the Biter compound, she realized her poor body had endured a great deal of trauma.
She had endured a great deal of trauma, and she was worried about falling asleep and never waking up.
She didn’t want that to happen. She hadn’t come this far to only come this far.
She owed it to Narae to make it to the light.
Narae. The thought of her sister brought another wave of grief crashing over her.
It had her doubling over as she fought to keep from thinking of the consequences Narae would face if Bragga ever found out that she’d not only saved Jury but had also helped her escape unseen.
She was deep in her pool of self-pity when the sound of the door opening had her head snapping up.
Koe was back. There were clothes hanging over one arm while the other held a tray of food. Food that Jury could already scent. It had her belly growling loudly as she stared at him hopefully.
“Sorry, it’s cold. We ate over an hour ago, but I didn’t want to waste time reheating since I knew you were down here soaking wet.”
And just like that, the little spark of hope that had earlier been extinguished flickered back to life.
Koe set the tray of food on the mattress beside her. “I hope you like halibut. The guys had a fish fry.”
Glancing at the food, Jury wanted to dig in but stalled because Koe held out some clothes with one hand while the other lifted to scratch at his head.
“Sorry about the clothes, too. We have no women here, and even the smallest of my guys is a behemoth. It’s just a pair of my sweats, a sweater, an undershirt, and some socks that’ll be way too big, but they’re dry.
” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “We’ve got a washer and dryer in the hallway.
I’ll give you a minute to change out of your clothes, and then I’ll come back and wash and dry your clothes.
” Hurriedly, he tacked on, “If you want. You don’t have to change out of your clothes if you don’t want to.
” He pointed to the corners of the room.
“There are no cameras in here. You’ll just have to take my word for that. Again, I’m not forcing you.”
And that last sentence endeared him to her just a little.
Bragga and the Biters were always about forcing.
It was all she knew, so seeing Koe—an Alpha—being so unsure and generous right now felt…
noble. She didn’t know that Alphas even had it in them to give an enemy options. It never would have happened back home.
Nodding quickly, Jury admitted, “I’d like to change.” She struggled to stand, and when she couldn’t quite make it, Koe stepped forward and shoved the dry clothes into her hands.
“Here.” After handing her the clothes, he turned and walked toward the door. “I’ll wait in the hall for five minutes and then come back for your wet clothes.”
Alone, Jury felt her heart squeeze at the prospect of dry clothes and food.
She glanced at the tray and her mouth watered.
On the plate in the middle of the tray was a heaping pile of breaded fish beside a mountain of seasoned rice.
A can of Coke sat on the tray as well next to a package of Grandma’s chocolate brownie cookies and a small bowl of what she could scent was tartar sauce.
Another bowl held a small salad with cherry tomatoes, crackers for croutons, and what looked like ranch dressing.
With her stomach growling, she opted for comfort first. Turning her back to the door, she changed as quickly as she could before rolling her own clothes into a wet ball and setting them beside the door.
It took the strength of seven suns to ignore the tray of food while she waited for Koe to come back, and when it didn’t happen fast enough, she yelled, “I’m done changing. ”
Koe came back in, his gaze gliding quickly up and down her body before shooting to the tray of food.
Bending, he picked up her clothes. “You'd better eat. It’s lights out in ten.” He pointed to the folded blankets sitting on top of the pillow.
“The blankets are warm and should be good enough, but I’ll kick up the heat in here a little.
It’ll be cold tonight.”Moved by his consideration and how generous he was being, Jury nodded, afraid to talk for fear of crying.Clearing his throat, Koe’s voice went stern as his brows speared down. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
***
Koe almost made it out of the cell before Jury cried out, “Wait!”
When he turned to frown at her, she asked, “Should I be worried?” She glanced toward the door, then back to Koe. “About your pack, I mean. You said there are no females here.”
He watched as she swallowed hard, her meaning understood. Just the thought of her even worrying about that had his gut clenching hard.
“Absolutely, fucking not,” he bit out tersely.
“My pack follows my orders, without question. And they’re all good men, to the last. I don’t even have to warn them away from you.
As a courtesy, I will, but know that I don’t need to.
We don’t attack women here, and we sure as shit don’t take without permission.
” Frown slipping a fraction, he heaved a weary sigh.
“You’re safe among my men, Jury, and again, you’ll just have to take my word for that. ”
Hurriedly, she asked, “I do have your word on that?”
Something about her valuing his word had his chest puffing a little as his chin raised, eyes intent on hers. “You have my word.”
“Thank you, Alpha Koe. Not just for that, but for not sending me back to Bragga. Thank you for not sending me to my death or killing me yourself. I have no ill intentions here.” She held out her hands.
She looked so damn tiny and vulnerable in his baggy clothes.
“I have nothing to offer as proof other than my word as well, and I swear to you, I’m not here to do harm. I’m only trying to escape.”
He stared at her for long minutes. There was no scent of deceit on her, but he knew better than to simply trust that.
Bragga was a cunning and deceitful Alpha.
Koe was certain Bragga could have found a way to use Jury without her even realizing she was being used as bait.
It meant that Koe would have to keep his guard up.
He’d double patrols, widen his perimeter, and wait for the other shoe to drop.
It always dropped. Until then, Jury would stay with his pack as insurance.
And if it turned out she was telling the truth, then there was no harm in keeping her with him.
She had nowhere else to go. And if she was lying, well…
He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
Unsure what else to say, he dipped his chin in a quick nod and offered a lame, “Good night.” Good night?
She was a prisoner, locked in a cell. Hurriedly, he exited her cell.
In the hall, he inwardly raged, “What in the fuck am I doing?” He snorted derisively at his earlier, “You don’t have to change out of your clothes if you don’t want to.
I’m not forcing you.” Of course, she had to, and yeah, he would have forced her.
He couldn’t tolerate her down here freezing to death.
So, why was he acting like such a little bitch?
“Because I’m trying to be a benevolent captor”, he defended himself.
Then he threw his hands up and shook his head before muttering low, “Are you even hearing yourself right now?”
They’d had captives beneath the compound dozens of times, but never women. There was no precedent for this. They’d been taught to honor and defend females, so having Jury locked up—especially in her current state—felt wrong in a hundred ways.
Maybe that’s what Bragga’s banking on.
Jaw clenching, Koe stalked down the corridor, stopping at the thermostat on the wall to hike the heat in the cell. He had to force himself to leave the basement rather than go back to check if Jury needed anything else.