Chapter Five
Say My Name
IMOGEN GALLAGHER
No one says a single word to me during the ride home. Once inside, my brother disappears to his respective wing of the house where he’s got his girlfriend stashed and my father goes to his study and closes the door, leaving me standing alone in the center of the foyer with a take-out box containing the biggest piece of chocolate cake I’ve ever seen.
Fuck.
I can’t think straight.
There are so many thoughts crowding my brain. All I want to do is curl up in my bed and cry. But that’s not an option. There’s nothing I can do about this damn ring on my finger. No amount of pleading or begging will change my fate.
I met my fated mate today. Liam. The way he spoke to me. The softness in his tone. The kindness of his eyes.
I can’t have him. I can’t think about him. I have to bury my feelings. Burn my desires to ash. No one can ever know, especially not my father.
More fucking tears pour down my cheeks. I want him so much. His absence is like falling into a void...a chasm I’ll never escape.
It’s not fair.
It’s not fair.
It’s not fair.
But life isn’t fair. Life has never been fair. My father makes sure of it. I take a slow breath, trying to alleviate some of the pain from where my father’s fist cracked at least one of my ribs. In an hour or two the pain will fade, but I’ll never forget the way he looked at me right before. The way he expected me to take whatever he gave without complaint.
And I know how he’ll look at me if he finds out about Liam. I know he’ll take pleasure in making me watch him die, the way he took pleasure in making Aiden watch him hurt me.
Only it will be a hundred times worse.
I stumble forward a few steps, lifting one foot and then the other, pulling off my high heels with one hand and clutching the box of cake in the other. I throw the heels at the couch in front of me and then head for the back stairwell that leads to another wing of this monstrous house.
The only decent person in this house is Meredith Banfield. And I don’t even know why she’s here, or why my father has guards posted outside her bedroom. All I know is that Finn is dating her daughter. And shortly after that started, Meredith appeared in our home.
But I don’t care and I don’t question a good thing when I have one. Meredith is the only good person I have in my life. And I want to talk to her and share my cake.
I march up the east stairs and into a large casual living space. There are usually at least two enforcers on guard duty here. Typically they sit at the little table near the fireplace. Tonight the table shows signs of their presence—cards, drinks—but no men.
My wolf bristles beneath my skin. Something is wrong.
I pause and sniff the air. I smell my father’s men, but I don’t see them. And I smell two male wolves I don’t recognize.
Bad. This is bad.
I run the rest of the way, bursting into Meredith’s room. Her giant four-poster bed is empty. The room is dark except for the bedside lamp being on. There’s a book laid open on the comforter.
Air whooshes from my lungs and my heart slams into my aching ribs. She’s not here. I can’t hear her. I use my wolf’s abilities. There’s nothing. No heartbeat.
Did someone hurt her? I don’t smell blood, but I check the bathroom.
Nothing.
I toss the cake box onto the bed and then follow the foreign scent trail out of the bedroom, across the living space, and down a side hallway.
I stop at the window at the end. The scent ends here, but this picture window doesn’t open. I put my hand against the glass. It shifts and I jump back.
Someone pulled the entire window frame loose to get inside.
I touch the glass again and push a little harder. The window rotates like a revolving door and I slip through into the darkness, shedding my clothes and my human form in the next breath.
I’m less noticeable as a wolf. Quieter. Stealthier.
Usually guards are posted along the fence surrounding the house, but I don’t see them. Whoever incapacitated the men upstairs also got the sentries.
My father is going to lose his shit. Terror grows roots in my stomach.
I follow the scent trail through the moonlit forest. My paws make no sound in the soft undergrowth. My heightened animal senses take note of every movement, every tiny animal rustling, every wing flap of an owl flying overhead, and the muffled sounds of angry, whispered growls straight ahead.
Moments later I emerge into a clearing where four men stand, not just the two I’ve been following by scent. Two other men hold Meredith’s kidnappers at gunpoint, and one of them is Liam.
Fucking hell. What’s Liam doing here? On my father’s property? He’s going to get killed. I can handle a lot, but my father finding him and killing him isn’t on that list.
The two men who broke into the house and took Meredith have their backs to me and one of them has her thrown over his shoulder like a bag of flour.
“Tell your backup to fuck off,” Liam growls at the man holding Meredith.
“Backup?”
“Jace, there’s a wolf behind us,” the second kidnapper answers, his voice low and calm.
Meredith wriggles on his shoulder and yells something through the rag stuffed into her mouth.
I knew she would recognize me. Months after she moved into our home I confided in her. I’d told her I was Moonbound. I’d shown her my wolf. She’s one of the only people in the world I trust not to hurt me. And I would protect her with my life.
Will protect her.
“Dude, she’s not with us. Just me and my brother are here for the witch.”
Witch? Why would he call Meredith a witch ? Are witches real? I mean, werewolves are real, so maybe it’s not that far of a stretch to have witches too. I dismiss my questions quickly. I’ll have plenty of time to think on it later. Right now, I need them to let my friend go.
I step closer, bare my teeth, and snarl at the man holding my friend hostage. Nobody is taking Meredith, witch or not. That’s all I can focus on right now. Saving Meredith. I need to save Meredith.
“Put her down,” Liam says. “Either I shoot you or she’ll tear you apart.” Even angry, his voice makes me shiver in a deliciously hungry way.
I step to the side so I can see him more clearly. Bits of moonlight snake through the treetops highlighting his face. The air shimmers around him, framing him in magick. Why is he here?
The wind shifts, pushing my scent down the mountain toward the group.
Liam’s gaze shifts from the man holding Meredith to me. There’s a tiny tilt of his head. A slight catch in his breath. And his heart beats a little faster.
He knows.
He recognizes my scent even in my wolf form.
For a half a second, I see the kindness again. I feel the gentle soul behind his gaze. My muscles tighten with the urge to run to him.
But then his eyes harden against me and he takes a step closer to the man holding Meredith. He breaks the connection and looks away.
I want to howl in protest. Instead, I hold myself together because that’s what I always do. Never fall apart. Never show weakness. Be the badass bitch everyone believes me to be.
It’s the only way to survive.
Liam motions to the ground with his rifle. “Put her down. Right. Now.”
Jace bends slowly and slides Meredith off his shoulder. She thumps to the ground with a softly exhaled oomph muffled by the gag in her mouth.
I rush to her side, ignoring the tense testosterone-fest happening around me. I need to get my friend free. Once she’s safe I can think about other problems again. I nuzzle her face, my wolf needing to know she’s okay. Then I carefully take the gag in my teeth and pull it loose from her mouth.
“Don’t shoot the wolf. For the love of Fate, don’t shoot the wolf. She’s not with them. She came for me,” Meredith says, her tone frantic.
All the men remain planted in place, obeying her without question.
I shift back into human form, projecting self-confidence I don’t feel and doing my best to ignore the fact that I’m naked in front of four men. Pulling carefully at the ropes around her wrists, I start to get them loose. “We have to get you back to the house. I have to clean the house. Except the guards, I can’t—How am I going to explain everything away?”
“Shh, honey, I’ll fix it. I promise.” Meredith touches my arm.
“Get back from her,” one of Meredith’s kidnappers growls at me.
I look over my shoulder and up at him, flashing him a well-practiced I’ll-kick-you-in-the-nuts glare.
His eyes flash golden, his wolf right at the surface. “I don’t know who you are, but she’s coming with us.” He takes an aggressive step toward me and I notice Liam in my peripheral vision inching closer, his rifle aimed right at the other male’s head.
“I swear by Fate if you touch either of those women, it will be the last breath you take.”
I can’t think.
Every word from his mouth distracts me.
I’m staring at him, wishing for things that can never be.
“Gen,” Meredith whispers, calling me back from my fantasy.
I meet her determined gaze and I remember all the problems waiting for me back at the house. “What am I going to do?” I ask again.
She shakes her head. “I can fix it. I promise. Just get me untied.”
I’m not sure I believe her. How powerful is she? And if witches really are a thing, then what else has been hidden from me? And what is she really capable of doing?
I force myself not to look at Liam. I can’t, not like this.
Naked. Anxious. Needy.
I’ll cave. If I don’t walk away, then I’ll be the death of him. And that fate would be worse than living my life without him.
I finish untying Meredith’s hands and then crawl over to her feet, starting on the next knot.
I glance up at the man who’d been holding her. “My father will kill you. He will hunt you down. Chop you up into little pieces and then he’ll hunt down your friends and your family and do the same. You don’t understand what you’ve done.”
He frowns and shakes his head like he doesn’t believe me. “We need her to heal a little girl back home. She’s the only witch strong enough to fix her.”
He’s an imbecile. They both are, but apparently I’m not going to convince either of them of their misstep.
“Back off.” Liam snarls at the guy again and moves closer, giving off super-strong possessive vibes that make me feel all tingly on the inside.
The stranger takes a couple of quick steps back. So does his accomplice. They both raise their hands. And the first one speaks. “We can’t go back empty-handed.”
“Then you won’t go back at all.” Liam’s voice is dark, smooth, and full of violence.
The other men are silent at the not-so-veiled threat.
I try not to stare at Liam. I sense the exact moment when his focus settles back on me. It’s like being bathed in sunshine on a cloudy day. The worries and fears surrounding my father and my unhappy forced fate fade away temporarily in the warmth.
Meredith touches my arm and I look back at her, studying her closely. The way her green eyes sparkle with bits of gold like ours do when our wolves show. I can feel it—the magick—below the surface of her skin. Now that I’m thinking about it. Looking for it.
“Are you really a witch?” I ask, picking at the tight knots binding her ankles.
Meredith nods an affirmative and then glances over my shoulder in the direction of Liam. “You have a problem, don’t you, Gen?”
I look away from her knowing stare. If I don’t admit it out loud, it’s not real, right? I certainly can’t admit out loud that I found my fated mate after getting engaged to another person. The more people who know, the more danger Liam is in from my father.
Meredith gives a small sigh and then waves her hand at Liam and the other man holding a rifle. “Put the guns away, boys.” Then she turns to the one who’d been carrying her. “Look, I will write the spell to fix the little girl. Just tell me what happened, but I’m not at liberty to disappear from Oliver’s premises. You’ll not be taking me anywhere.”
I’d assumed my father was holding something over Meredith to keep her hostage in the house. She’d never been willing to explain. And I also assumed it had something to do with her daughter, Emma, being attached at the hip to my brother Finn.
And I still don’t know exactly what is going on, but her response certainly confirms my suspicions that she is living in our home against her will.
“Why are you even here? Aiden’s going to lose his shit when he finds out,” Liam asks, keeping his voice soft. “What does Oliver have on you? Tell us how to help.”
I twist my neck and look back at Liam. They know Meredith. They know she’s a witch. And Meredith knows them.
There’s so much going on here below the surface. I didn’t even know witches existed until this very moment. And if Meredith’s a witch, is Emma? In wolves, you’re only born a wolf if your father is a wolf.
Liam’s gaze burns into me like a brand. Every naked inch of my skin tingles and my wolf preens. She likes his attention. I can’t say I don’t like it, but the rational part of my brain knows it’s dangerous.
“My daughter is mate-bonded to his son Finn.” Meredith’s tone of voice exposes her frustration with the situation clearly.
Finn is mate-bonded? Like a soul mate? Like Emma is supposed to be his.
Jealousy grows in me like field bindweed, spreading and twisting its arrow-shaped leaves around my heart. I’ll never be able to get rid of it.
My brother gets a fated mate.
He gets to be happy and fulfilled with the person Fate gave him.
“Katherine and Siobhan were adamant that we needed you specifically.” Jace and the other man haven’t given up, but Meredith doesn’t seem worried about being carried off like loot in a Viking raid now.
Finn hasn’t publicly mentioned anything about Emma. And even though Meredith says they’re mated, I haven’t seen any mate-bond tattoos.
Maybe I missed them.
Maybe he’s hiding them?
Maybe it’s different if Emma is a witch?
Finn would be smart to hide the marks if he has them—and the bond. My father uses everything to his advantage, and if he thinks Finn’s loyalty is divided because he found his fated mate, he won’t hesitate to put pressure on Finn by threatening Emma.
It’s the same reason I’m terrified of my father finding out about Liam.
The rope finally comes loose beneath my fingers and falls from Meredith’s feet. She scrambles to stand, pulls her blue bathrobe tighter, and shifts from foot to foot on the ground. Shale bits mixed with underbrush isn’t great for bare feet. “You need me to write it, but it’s unnecessary for me to cast it. What happened to the girl? Exactly.”
I curl my bare toes into the ground and rise to stand next to Meredith.
A low rumble vibrates from Liam’s chest.
I know he’s not pleased that I’m naked, but there’s nothing I can do about that right now. I’m not leaving Meredith alone with any of them. And I’m not shifting back into my wolf right this second.
Jace reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small piece of folded white paper and hands it over to Meredith, careful to keep his gaze averted from me.
It doesn’t help, though. Liam’s growling continues to get louder.
She squints in the dark to read it.
“Liam, do shut up your wolf, please. The growling is grating my already frayed nerves.” She gives him the order like it’s nothing, like she’s used to bossing around full-grown werewolf males on a regular basis. I’ve never seen her act like that around my father.
Then again, no one would survive acting like that around my father.
Now that I know she’s worried about her daughter, her presence makes more sense. I wonder what my father knows about Meredith and her daughter and Finn and anything that’s going on surrounding them. Does he know about their connections to the O’Connor pack?
I stare at Liam.
I shouldn’t be looking at him, but I can’t pull my gaze away. The man next to him is quiet but observant. His gaze keeps flicking from me to Liam, to Meredith, and then back around again like an invisible game of duck duck goose.
Liam gives one final snarl, hands his rifle to the man next to him, and then pulls his flannel shirt off over his head. He takes a step forward and tosses me the shirt. “Please.”
I catch it, and can’t help but stare at the now bare, hard planes of his chest. The mere sight of him sends a hungry pulse through my veins. My body responds to him, aching for his touch, his embrace.
His figure is rugged and hewn to tempt me into doing something foolish. Broad shoulders lead to powerful arms that could easily lift all my worries away. The veins etched into his biceps not so subtly hint at the raw power contained within.
My eyes trail down, admiring the sculpted ridges of his chest and then abdomen. Desire stirs within me. An unfamiliar but pleasant magnetism tries to draw me closer. Everything about him promises strength and protection, but Fate doesn’t care about the risk.
I do.
I lick my lips and yank the shirt over my head, hoping nobody noticed my lustful glances at my forbidden mate. The shirt is warm and carries his woodsy scent. I love it and it breaks my heart at the same time.
We’ll never share clothes. I’ll never sleep in his bed, wearing nothing but his shirt. I’ll never get to wake up and feel his body against me.
Meredith speaks again, pulling me out of my fantasy. “This will take me at least a day to craft and write. But Katherine and Siobhan will be perfectly capable of casting it.” She hands the paper back to Jace. “Gen will bring it to you tomorrow.”
I will?
I don’t argue, but why does she think I’ll be able to run errands for her to meet these outsiders?
Liam’s ember-hot gaze still sears my skin like I’m standing in front of an open oven. I’m not naked. His shirt hangs low enough to cover the really important bits. He’s not growling, but the way he looks at me—my insides quiver with need. If he asked me to come with him right this second, I’m not sure I could deny him.
The would-be kidnapper called Jace speaks. “Fine. Beau and I will be at the Signal Pass Inn outside of town. That good?”
It takes me a second to realize he’s addressing me. “Yes. That’s fine. I know where it is,” I answer him, not pulling my gaze from Liam for a second. I can’t look away. I continue to drink in his presence like I’m dying of dehydration and he’s the only water around for miles.
The strangers amble away into the darkness.
“You’re not worried about them coming back?” The man next to Liam speaks this time.
“If they do, I’m ready for them this time,” Meredith says, and looks anxiously behind her up the mountain toward the house. “Sebastian, will you walk me back? I need to find the guards they incapacitated so I can make sure they don’t remember any of this. The last thing I need is Oliver getting any deeper into my business. And these two need a moment to talk.”
“Yes, ma’am, of course.”
Meredith flashes him a pleased, motherly smile and they walk off, leaving me and Liam staring at each other in silence.
Achingly painful torturous silence.
She did that on purpose. Left us together. She knew. Somehow she knew, but how? Only mates can see the magick shimmer. Are witches different?
I keep asking myself questions to distract myself from the beautiful man standing only a few feet away. The man I want to touch with every fiber of my soul. The man I should belong to for the rest of my life. The man I have to walk away from. Again.
I take a step to turn away from him. I should go. I should shift and run, but I don’t want to leave him.
He rushes forward, grabbing both my arms. “No.”
Tears burn at the backs of my eyes, threatening to overflow and break the very flimsy grip I have on my emotions. “I can’t, Liam. We can’t—”
“Say my name again.” He puts a finger beneath my chin and lifts my face until our gazes meet again.
“Liam.” I can’t deny him. I should. I should be running up the mountain away from him at full speed. Instead I stand there, inches from his body, completely at his mercy, willing to give him what he’s asking for because I want to say his name. Speaking his name is like answering a siren’s song. Like stepping into an ocean that will drown me.
He closes his eyes, like he’s bathing in the sound of my voice. “When you came out of the restaurant with Aiden, I think a part of my soul died.”
A tear burns its way down my cheek. Then another. And another.
He releases my arms and wipes them away with his thumbs, cradling my face in his calloused hands.
“You’re from Aiden’s pack, aren’t you?” I force the words from my lips. “Does he know that we—are—” I can’t say it. If I say it, it’s more real. It can’t be more real. Just standing here, with barely an inch between our bodies, is hard enough.
“Yes. We’re cousins. And no, he doesn’t know. I can’t tell him. The man is good to a fault, and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he knew we were mates.” His voice grates, roughened by emotion, every word carrying a painful weight I recognize. A muscle in his jaw twitches, clenching and unclenching.
The same war rages inside me.
How am I supposed to live in the same town, the same pack with my fated mate so close? He’ll be everywhere. Every family gathering. Every pack meeting. “He’ll know. Meredith knows. She saw it. And the man with you—”
“Sebastian is my brother. He won’t say a word.”
“But Aiden will see it. How can we exist so close to each other?”
“We won’t.”
I should’ve been ready for him to say that. My brain knows that’s the only answer to the problem, but my heart screams at the solution and a piece of my soul dies too. Right then and there, like a summer leaf on a tree turning brown, shriveling up, and falling to the ground.
He leans down and kisses me. A chaste kiss where our mouths barely touch. A kiss that feels like he thinks I’ll shatter.
And I might.
But I need more. If this is the only kiss I’m ever going to get from him, I want it to be more.
The warmth of his lips sets my skin on fire. My heart races, every beat echoing loudly in my ears, drowning out everything else. A heady mix of desire and desperation surges within me, urging me to etch every sensation, every flutter of his breath, every nuance of this moment into my memory.
I need to remember this kiss the rest of my life.
I throw my arms around his neck and lean into his body, pressing closer until we’re touching everywhere. Until there’s no space between us. Chest. Stomach. Legs. I melt into him.
He growls. Full-on snarls into my mouth and the kiss turns from sweet to hungry. From wistful to claiming.
He feels it too, the longing. The way the magick pulls at our souls, urging us to seal the waiting bond.
For these few stolen moments, we can pretend there’s nothing standing in our way. For these few moments I can revel in the way his tongue explores my mouth, tasting every bit of me.
One of his hands moves and cups the back of my head, angling it to give him more access. And his other hand drops to my back and then to my ass, pulling my hips harder against his aroused body.
He swallows my selfish moan of pleasure and his wolf rumbles in his chest again. Not an angry growl this time. More of a pleased you-belong-to-me growl.
Which is dangerous.
Because I don’t.
Because I never can.
I fight the war inside my heart and tear myself from his grasp, my breaths coming in hard pants. My wolf is so close to the surface. So angry at me for fighting this.
“Gen.” He says my name and it rips another piece of my soul from my chest. The pain is more than I ever thought I could bear. But I will find a way to manage, knowing he’s safe. I have to, because the nightmare of my father finding out and killing him in front of me is so much worse.
“I can’t. We can’t. You know we can’t.” I pull his shirt over my head and let my wolf out. And then I run.
And run.
And run.