Chapter 17 - Zane
“Are you going to tell me why else you’re here, or were you just planning on lecturing me?”
The words don’t disguise just how irritated I am by all of this, glancing between the small group gathered around me. After hearing how they spoke to Naia like a criminal, I’m on edge.
“That was the bulk of it, but there’s more,” Hunter says, arms crossed now with a serious expression.
“We’ve been tracking movement around the island since you’ve been gone, and we’ve seen more wolves drawing closer. Rather than sticking to the deep woods or skirting borders, they’re closer now.”
“Closer, how?” I ask.
“Close enough that it’s not random,” Caleb answers. “They’re taking bigger risks and pushing in.”
Hunter exhales sharply. “And we still don’t know if it’s Hayes or the rogues.”
“It might not be one or the other, either,” Luke adds, looking vaguely concerned. “That’s the problem. We just don’t know.”
I drag a hand through my hair to ease the frustration in me. “They’re connected, or could be overlapping, at least. The rogue group is organized, and Hayes isn’t going to ignore something like that on his territory if they aren’t his.”
“No, he won’t,” Luke agrees quietly.
After a beat of silence, Zeke glances toward the house. “And now we’ve got her here.”
I don’t respond immediately because we all know what he means.
Naia.
She’s at the center of it, whether she wants to be or not.
“That group targeted her, and I know that’s not a coincidence,” I say finally.
“Exactly,” Hunter says. “Which means they’re going to keep targeting her.”
“If those wolves took her without Hayes’ knowledge, and he didn’t get anything out of it, there’s going to be hell to pay,” Caleb comments. “And when he finds her, this won’t stay contained. It will spill across all the packs.”
I look at them sharply, feeling as if my inner wolf bristles all over again. “So what’s your solution, then? Sending her back just to be humiliated again?”
“That’s not what we’re saying,” Luke says.
“Sounds like it.”
“We’re saying you need to handle it,” Caleb corrects, using his usual authoritative tone. “Before it escalates.”
I let out a quiet, irritated breath. “Handle it how?”
They don’t answer right away, since there isn’t a clean answer, especially not without pissing me off.
“There isn’t one,” Hunter mutters.
“Exactly, so don’t stand here acting like I’ve got some easy fix. This is bigger than it was.”
“We’re not,” Luke says evenly. “We’re just saying you don’t get to ignore it.”
“I’m not ignoring it.”
“You brought it here,” Hunter counters. “That means it’s yours to deal with.”
“I am dealing with it,” I snap with a step closer, anger flaring. “You think I don’t know how bad this could get?”
“We know you do,” Luke says.
“And we get it,” Caleb adds. “The bond complicates things.”
“Complicates is one word for it,” Dominic mutters.
“But it doesn’t change the situation,” Hunter says. “If anything, it makes it more volatile.”
I can’t argue with that, yet, from my perspective, this conversation isn’t helping me in the slightest. The sooner it’s over, the better.
“It also means you’re not thinking clearly,” Caleb says. “You’re letting this get personal.”
“It is personal.”
“And that’s exactly the problem.”
I stare at them for a long moment, then shake my head to force away whatever doubt they’re trying to instill in me. “I’ll take care of it.”
Caleb’s gaze narrows at me, like he doesn’t want to make the concession but has no choice. “Fine, but don’t let it blow back on the rest of us.”
“It won’t.”
It’s a promise I’m not entirely sure I can keep without causing more damage, but I say it anyway. I need them to trust that I can figure this out, like I always do.
***
When the others decide there’s no use in beating this topic to death, they finally break off, heading out to do their thing, and I’m far too irritated to keep working, so I head back to the house.
I barely step inside before I register that something’s wrong. The air feels off, like something is missing, leaving it empty, and it makes everything in me tense up.
Scanning the main room, I don’t catch any movement or sound, and the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“Naia?”
I wait to hear her voice in return, but it never comes.
My stomach ties itself into knots as I move through the house fast, checking every room. From the bedrooms to the bathroom, along with the sunroom, there’s nothing. She’s gone.
“Shit,” I mutter lowly to myself as I turn back toward the door.
Outside, I inhale deeply, searching for the usual scents. I pick up on my followers, along with the guys, while they’re still in my territory; then, faint but unmistakable, I catch her scent.
It’s still somewhat fresh, and it paired with that second pulse in my chest tells me exactly where I need to go. She’s heading deeper into the woods.
With no time to think, I don’t hesitate. I bring the shift forward, succumbing to it completely.
My body contorts and reforms in a blur of muscle and instinct as the world narrows down to my sharpened senses. Not wanting for another sign, I take off into the woods.
The bond acts as both fuel and a guide, and those primal instincts take hold with the kind of urgency that makes my heart speed up.
She left. She actually left, and I was too caught up with the others to notice.
My paws hit the forest floor again and again as I track her, using every sense to find her before it’s too late. After covering some ground, her scent is clear, almost like she’s not even trying to hide it. That means she’s moving fast with stupid determination.
The word echoes in my head as I push harder and faster, ignoring the branches as they whip past while I close the distance. The pull in my chest tightens with every step, and my wolf is moments away from going berserk.
Finally, movement ahead grabs my attention, and I lock onto the flash of her.
Naia’s quick, but not fast enough to outrun me…especially not in my current state.
Instead of slowing down, I launch forward, tackling her before she can react.
We hit the ground hard, rolling through dirt and leaves, and a snarl slips from my chest before I can stop it.
Naia fights back immediately with claws, teeth, and a desperate force that comes as no surprise. She pushes against me like I’m her enemy, wriggling to try and slip away before I can stop her from jumping headfirst into something she still doesn’t fully understand.
The defiance irritates me, but for all her fighting, I’m stronger and heavier.
With the right amount of force, I pin her down as my teeth clench inches from her throat, not to hurt, just to stop her. To make her listen for once.
Naia snarls up at me, defiant even now. It takes everything in me not to lose control right there, especially with such a blatant sign of insubordination. Even so, I catch the instinctive gleam in her eyes that feels the pressure. The urge to submit, even if it’s hidden behind her anger for me.
Instead of making things worse, I force the shift back, and without question, she responds the same way.
We give in as our forms drop and skin pulls together again, and a beat later, we’re human again. Breathing hard and dusted with dirt, we’re tangled together in a mess of tension and anger as I stare down at her, expression tense with anger.
“What the hell were you thinking?” I snap, not pulling up yet as I press her wrists against the ground.
She glares up at me, just as furious. “Let me go, Zane.”
“Not a chance.”
“You don’t get to—”
“You ran,” I cut in, my voice edged with rage and a note of betrayal that surprises even me. “You actually thought you could just disappear and I wouldn’t come after you?”
“I wasn’t disappearing,” she snaps. “I was going back.”
“To Wraith Peak,” I say flatly. “Alone.”
“Yes.”
“That’s insane, Naia,” I bite back, unable to stop the possessiveness from coming out despite how hard I try. “Stupid…and reckless.”
Her gaze on me sharpens. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“Then don’t act like it.”
She shoves against me, attempting to break free, but I don’t budge. My grip on her stays the same, firm but not punishing.
“I was trying to help,” she mutters, chest still rising and falling hard.
“By walking straight into a situation you can’t even begin to handle?”
“I’m not useless.”
“No, you aren’t, but you aren’t an entire pack, either.”
“It doesn’t matter. They’re still out there,” she fires back. “So long as they’re able to, they’ll keep taking more people. They took me, and I can’t just do nothing.”
“I was there, Naia. I know.”
“Then you should understand why I need to go back.”
“I understand why you think that, but that doesn’t make it right.”
Her dark eyes can’t hide the tangle of anger and desperation in her, needing so badly to prove that she can do it. “I’m not just going to sit around while everything falls apart. I can find them, and I will stop them.”
“And your brother?” I ask, feeling another twist in my gut at the thought of him. “You think you’re just going to walk in and force Hayes to do something?”
Her jaw tightens. “I have to try.”
“No,” I say firmly. “You don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t,” I repeat, leaning closer, my voice dropping. “And I’m not letting you do this shit alone.”
She grits her teeth in an attempt to seem stronger. “You don’t get to decide that for me.”
“I do, now that it isn’t just you.”
The words slip out before I can stop them, and the second they do, the bond sparks into something hotter and impossible to ignore. It nearly winds me before it eases through my system, urging me to cut the space. To mark her completely and make sure there’s no questioning who she belongs to.
Her breath catches slightly, and so does mine. We both feel that connection, and the way our wolves are pulled together, dragging us along.
“Damn it, Naia,” I mutter under my breath, exhaling as I move dangerously close, lips so near her neck now.
I feel the jump in her pulse, and it only spurs me on.
Her scent is so distracting up close, more like it’s intoxicating me.
My words brush against her skin. “I’m not letting you go back alone. ”
She’s tense beneath me as she tries to fight it, but the soft sound that escapes her mouth betrays her. “I don’t need your permission.”
“You’re not getting it anyway.”
It would be so easy to sink my teeth in, right here, right now, and to give her neck the endless attention it deserves.
I could have her right in these woods, completely shameless and encouraged by instinct.
But I won’t…not until I know I can trust her, and until she admits she wants it all the same.
Still, it doesn’t make holding back any easier.
I swallow hard as her scent fills my senses, forcing me to exercise as much restraint as I physically can. My mouth skims her neck as I urge myself to pull back enough to breathe properly, looking down at her now to find her eyes a touch wider with something caught between need and defiance.
We both take a moment to calm down, still not breaking that intimate space even if we should.
Finally, Naia mumbles as she averts her gaze while a subtle flush fills her cheeks. “I hate this.”
“Yeah,” I reply. “Me too.”
In some ways, I do. I hate the boundaries between us and the difference in our priorities. I hate how her family used her and put a target on her back. I hate how I can’t just have her regardless of how badly my wolf wants her, how I want her.
I also want this to work, even if I shouldn’t.
Another beat, Naia exhales as the tension bleeds out just a fraction, and she slumps back in subtle defeat. “Fine. For now.”
“That’s all I’m asking,” I murmur, taking in her features while I have the chance. There’s no telling when she’ll allow me this close again.
Eventually, I push myself off her, then haul her up to her feet before she can argue again. “Come on.”
Even if I was savoring that contact, she jerks her arm free the second she can. “I can walk.”
“Good,” I mumble, bristling all the same as I keep my attention split between her and the woods around us.
We head back in tense silence with the bond humming between us as company, like a constant reminder of everything we’re not saying. Everything we’re not dealing with.
All the while, I try to convince myself that I’m not still focusing on how addictive her scent is, or how close I was to tasting her all over again.