Chapter 4 #3
So, what did that mean for her here and now? With a reflective sigh, she crossed her legs and adjusted her weight on the wooden seat. Could she reignite the spark inside Patrick? Would it better her situation if she did, or would allowing herself to care for him only open her up to more pain?
There were no easy answers to her questions, so she focused on facts.
First, she could not escape this mountaintop prison.
Next, her captors were going to continue to make sexual demands on her.
Resisting them, defying them would always result in painful punishments.
And submission would defuse their anger.
But could she control her temper and ignore Patrick’s provocations?
If she became the perfect willing submissive, would Patrick lose interest? The possibility was surprisingly upsetting. She wanted to resolve the conflict raging between them, but she didn’t want him to walk away.
All she knew for certain was that defying him accomplished nothing good. When they returned, she would do what she was told without argument or hesitation. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep up the obedient act, but she was determined to try.
“This is a waste of time,” Patrick grumbled. He stood beside Gabriel in another featureless cavern, the fourth they’d encountered so far. The guards who had accompanied them stood across the room quietly speaking to each other. “There’s nothing here but endless tunnels.”
Gabriel paused to look around before he responded. “It makes no sense. The environment can’t be real. There’s no reason to tunnel through half the planet without extracting anything.”
That caught Patrick’s attention. He examined the cavern more closely, running his hands over the roughhewn stone. “It feels real to me.”
“So did the rock formation blocking the entrance to the tunnels near the feline village,” Gabriel reminded. “Yet it was deactivated and disappeared.”
Before Patrick could reply, Raphael and Victor entered the chamber. Both appeared tense and frustrated.
“Did you find anything?” Gabriel asked as the other two approached.
Raphael shrugged. “Same as you. Long winding tunnels and nothing else. However, Victor has an idea, and I think he’s onto something.”
“The tunnels are disguised?” Gabriel predicted. “We were thinking the same thing.”
“They’re likely using the same tech the cats discovered,” Victor said. “A combination of holographic projection and matter generators.”
Gabriel nodded, then released a sigh. “Which means we need one of the wolves to cooperate with us, or we have to locate the power source.”
“And we both know which is more likely.”
Gabriel’s lips thinned as he heard the disapproval in his brother’s tone. “They might be more willing to cooperate than you think.”
“And why is that?” Raphael muttered.
Gabriel glared and took a step toward Raphael. “I sent a message to Alex assuring him that we have no intention of retaliating. I told him that I felt like he was entitled to one third of the females and that I intended to bring my concerns to the cats.”
Raphael’s jaw dropped, his shock obvious. “You did what? We are allied with the cats, and the cats are at war with the wolves.”
Patrick tensed. The argument was quickly escalating, and he wasn’t sure how to calm them down. Should he even try?
“Elias started the war and Elias is dead,” Gabriel insisted. “Alex needs the opportunity to choose a different path. I intend to make sure he gets it.”
“I don’t believe this,” Raphael snarled, throwing both his hands up as he shook his head. “Have you lost your fucking mind? Alex is just as vicious as Elias. Wolves were bred to be killers. It is literally in their DNA.”
“We are all apex predators.” Gabriel raised his chin and squared his shoulders. “You never should have interfered. You created this mess, not me.”
Raphael threw the first punch. It snapped Gabriel’s head to the side and he immediately retaliated. He punched and kicked, his movements a storm of anger-fueled violence.
But Raphael was skilled and had a lifetime of fighting with his brother. He threw Gabriel over his shoulder, slamming him down on the floor of the cave. Gabriel swept Raphael’s feet out from under him. Raphael landed hard on his ass then dove on top of Gabriel.
Patrick, Victor, and the guards watched the fight for a moment longer, unsure if they should get involved.
Then Patrick shook his head and shouted, “Enough!”
One of the guards helped him drag Gabriel away from Raphael, while Victor and the other guard dragged Raphael across the room.
Raphael wiped his bloody lip on the back of his hand as he panted out, “This is the most asinine thing you’ve ever done and that’s saying a lot.”
“Fuck you.” Gabriel twisted out of the restraining hands and stomped off along one of the tunnels.
Motioning for the guards to stay behind, Patrick quickly followed. “Do we need to reschedule with the wolves?” Patrick asked as they emerged from the tunnel. He blinked several times waiting for his eyes to adjust to the midday sunlight. “You can’t negotiate if your emotions are tied in knots.”
“My emotions have been tied in knots ever since we arrived on this fucking planet. The meeting will do me good.”
Patrick wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t argue. “Then let’s talk about what I walked in on up at the cottage.”
Guilt shadowed Gabriel’s eyes as he looked at Patrick. “I wasn’t going to fuck her,” he assured. “The rest just happened.”
That wasn’t a viable excuse, but again Patrick let the comment slide. “We can’t let her play us against each other.”
“I know,” Gabriel insisted. “I won’t touch her unless you’re there.”
“That’s probably wise, at least for now.”
Gabriel nodded, but his expression remained tense. “The harsher you are with her, the more she’ll turn to me. I can’t prevent that reaction.”
“You can,” Patrick argued. “You don’t want to. You like being the hero to my villain.”
They walked in silence for a few moments, each lost in thought.
Alex had agreed to meet at his mountain stronghold rather than making Gabriel fly all the way to the lupine village.
Rather than making themselves vulnerable with a partial shift, Patrick and Gabriel climbed onto one of the skimmers and headed to the meet.
“Are you going to confront Alex about the tunnels?” Patrick finally broke the silence as they flew just above the trees.
“I’m not sure. I’d love to know how the illusion is created, but we have more important things to discuss.”
“At the very least, we need to seal the entrance so the wolves can’t enter our village,” Patrick pointed out.
Gabriel shot him an impatient look as he said, “I ordered the guards to take care of it before they returned to their posts. I’m not the one who endangered our village.”
Patrick started to comment, then thought better of it.
Both sides had compelling arguments, but Patrick’s need for Heather was drawing him toward Raphael’s side of the conflict.
Disagreements between Gabriel and Raphael were few and far between.
They not only shared blood; they shared a lifetime of brutal injustice.
They would work it out in their own way.
When the wolves chose to build a mountain stronghold in the forest bordering Eagle Village, Raphael and many others wanted to drive them off.
Gabriel insisted on a ‘wait and see’ approach.
Reluctantly, Raphael agreed. For nearly two years the wolves came and went without bothering the raptor shifters or endangering the village in any way.
Gabriel frequently used the fact as an example of the need for political neutrality.
Then Raphael chose to play hero and unraveled Gabriel’s carefully laid plans.
Patrick and Gabriel reached the stronghold a few minutes later and set the skimmer down in the clearing beside the main building. The house was L-shaped with three levels and a steep roof. There were two small outbuildings that were likely used for storage.
“This place is bigger than I expected,” Patrick said as they walked around to the front door. He scanned the area for dangers. Alex had agreed to meet with Gabriel alone or with one member of his pack, but Patrick wasn’t ready to relax his caution.
“According to Raphael’s spy, Riverside pack was planning to move up here permanently to escape Elias’ tyranny.”
Patrick sensed no one in the surrounding trees and only two people inside the house. Motioning toward the mostly empty building, Patrick said, “Obviously, that’s not what happened.”
“They decided to overthrow the bastard instead,” Gabriel confirmed as they climbed the stairs leading to the wide, railed porch.
A tall, burly wolf shifter pushed open the front door before Gabriel could knock. The wolf’s assessing gaze swept over the raptor shifters, then he motioned them inside.
Patrick followed Gabriel into the house. He was here as Gabriel’s bodyguard, not his advisor. Gabriel would conduct the negotiation while Patrick watched, listened, and scanned the emotions emanating from the others.
The wolf led them past a spacious kitchen and into a living room situated at the back of the house.
Another wolf shifter stood near the fireplace.
He was taller than the first, leanly muscled with wavy blond hair that flowed past his shoulders.
A thick beard obscured the lower portion of his face, but his amber gaze was sharp and filled with intelligence.
Unaffected by the wolf’s dangerous appearance, Gabriel walked up to him and extended his hand. “I’m Gabriel of Eagle Village.”
The wolf hesitated for a moment, then shook Gabriel’s hand. “Alex. I’m the lupine village alpha.” He nodded toward his companion. “That’s Nate, my beta.”
Gabriel greeted the beta with a nod then said, “My second’s name is Patrick.”
Alex lifted his chin, acknowledging the introduction, then swept his hand toward the chairs arranged in a semicircle facing the fireplace. “Have a seat. Would either of you like a drink?”