Chapter 4
Alone in the cell, Jury stared at the closed door for long minutes after Koe exited.
She was trying to figure out whether he was really a good Alpha or faking it to get her to drop her defenses.
She didn’t ponder it long; the scent of the food demanded her attention.
She tore into the food, barely even registering the taste.
She hadn’t eaten in days, opting not to stop or waste time in her mad dash away from Bragga.
It had paid off. She’d reached the relative safety of Koe’s border and had prayed to God the entire time she’d raced deeper into Allegiance pack territory.
Now, alternating bites of the crispy breaded halibut with tartar sauce and the seasoned rice, her throat burned in a good way when she swigged a large gulp of the cold Coke.
It was probably because she was starving, but it was the best meal she’d ever eaten.
When she finished the salad and polished off the fudge cookies, she struggled to her feet and used the clean bedding to make the bed.
Lifting the thick blue comforter to her nose, she inhaled the scent of powder, fresh fabric softener.
It was luxurious. Back at the Biter compound, she, Narae, and the other women were forced to do all the chores, and while the pack did own a washer and dryer, Bragga didn’t believe in the expense of soap or fabric softener.
They used bleach only, which was good, she supposed, since Bragga didn’t like high water bills either.
Clothes were washed only once a month, and bedding was washed once or twice a year if they were lucky.
Slipping into the fresh bedding on the soft mattress, with a full belly and dry clothes smelling of Koe’s masculine, smoky scent, Jury felt oddly comfortable. Even after telling her wolf to stay on high alert. It was mere minutes before they were both out.
***
Arms crossed, gaze intent, Koe stared out at his Estate from the second-story window of his manor.
The view from the library was one of his favorites.
Even with the sky blacked out by inky rain clouds and the torrential downpour currently flooding the grounds, he still thought his land was breathtaking.
Behind him, Oliver and Cyrus, two of his Enforcers, were giving him updates.
Cyrus’s voice was deep, matching his thick frame. “Honestly, aside from Jury’s tracks, we’ve found no sign of any Biters having trailed her.”
“Maybe she’s telling the truth,” Oliver ventured. The sandy-haired medic looked more like a cover model than a wolf-shifter.
A grin tweaked Koe’s lips. Oliver, the pack medic, was the pack optimist, while Daemon, Koe’s main Enforcer, was the pack pessimist. It was a good balance.
Koe turned to face Oliver and Cyrus. “Don’t get complacent. Assume the worst.”
Cyrus nodded and turned to get back to patrol, but stalled when Oliver cleared his throat. A typical sign that the medic had something he’d like to add.
“Say it,” Koe bit out.
“Well,” Oliver lifted a fist to cover his mouth while he cleared his throat again before dropping his hand. “I’d just like to announce now that I’m opposed to whatever it is Daemon is going to suggest we do to get information from Jury when he returns from his shift.”
That had Koe’s brows hiking.
“You know how he is,” Oliver defended.
Yeah, Koe knew. But he also knew that Daemon hadn’t been blessed with something that the rest of them had. A loving relationship with their mothers. That absence meant Daemon was more protective of females than most in the pack. He was in awe of them and knew they were something to be coveted.
“He won’t hurt her,” Koe explained.
“He won’t want to,” Oliver parried.
And that pissed Koe off. It pissed him off that Daemon kept so much to himself that his own packmates didn’t know his true nature.
It pissed him off that, because Daemon was aggressive, irritable, and mostly kept to himself, the rest of the pack assumed the worst of him.
Yeah, Daemon would want to keep Jury locked up, and yeah, he’d want to question the hell out of her, but he wouldn’t torture her.
Daemon reserved that for their male enemies.
“Get back to patrols,” Koe snarled, unleashing his Alpha authority. “I’ll handle Daemon.”
Both Oliver and Cyrus lowered their heads and their eyes with a nearly synchronized, “Yes, Alpha,” before ducking from the room.
Koe didn’t like using his authority over his men, but in this case, it was a sign to them that they’d displeased him without him having to explain how or why.
Oliver would think about it and conclude that Koe had a different opinion about Daemon, which meant Oliver should too.
Absently, Koe wondered if the fact that he’d promoted Thrall to pack Beta rather than Daemon wasn’t having an adverse effect on the pack’s opinion on Daemon.
The true reason Daemon hadn’t been promoted was that when he grew enraged, it was difficult to talk him down.
Daemon’s wolf, Demon, was a thousand times worse.
Once, it had taken four days for Demon to snap out of a blood rage incited when they’d been sent by the Alpha of the great northwestern pack, Dell Blackbird, to escort the Jackal of a small band of coyotes to the Blackbird pack in Glacier National Park.
When they’d arrived at the coyote pack’s compound, they’d found all female coyotes in the pack slaughtered by their own Jackal for supposed insubordination.
There had been no Jackal or any other members of the pack left to deliver to Dell Blackbird.
Demon had decimated them all, and then stayed in his rage for days.
There’d been no talking Demon back. He couldn’t be reasoned with.
Grabbing a remote from his desk, Koe pointed it at the large flat screen TV on the wall and turned it on.
Punching a few buttons, the screen cycled through the trail cameras set up throughout his territory.
Unlike other packs, Koe embraced technology.
Trail cam s, trip wires, motion sensors, infrared cameras, he embraced it all. It didn’t make sense not to.
After surveying the screens, he hit a few more buttons, and the screen blinked, then showed the view inside Jury’s cell.
Yeah, he’d lied to her about the cameras; he’d had to.
She wouldn’t have changed otherwise. He told himself the lie was okay because not only had he not gone back and watched the video of her changing, but he’d deleted it entirely, so none of his men would find it if they chose to check the pack house surveillance.
Now, he breathed in deep and settled his ass on his desk as he watched Jury sleep. She looked comfortable with the blankets drawn up beneath her chin. The tray of food he’d taken was empty on the floor. She’d eaten everything.
Good girl.
He’d been up the better part of the night watching her.
Not sure exactly what it was he expected her to do.
He told himself it was to make sure she wasn’t up to anything nefarious, but truth be told, it just made him feel better to have eyes on her.
She’d been horrified at the prospect of going back to Bragga, and then her worry about the males in his pack seeking her out had revealed another layer of fear.
Enemy or not, he’d told her she would be safe here, he’d given his word, and now he felt compelled to keep it.
A ping sounded, and Koe quickly changed the channel to the motion-activated camera that had just chimed.
On the screen, an impossibly large black wolf stood staring at the terrain before it turned, stared directly at the camera, and shook its massive head.
Demon was letting him know that he’d found no sign of Biters, which was a relief.
If there were an enemy on or around their territory, Demon would have found it, so the fact that he’d reported that there was nothing was enough to have Koe finally relax his tense shoulders.
He’d keep patrols doubled and tightly spaced, but knowing they hadn’t missed anything was reassuring.
Now, he’d just have to worry about how to proceed with Jury.