Dawn (The Dire Wolves Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  “We’re not.” I twisted in my seat to look at her again. “And you are going to be meeting another Dire.”

  “Oh yeah? Is he cute?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Seriously? At a time like this you’re asking that question?”

  “Seems normal to me.”

  I shook my head. Maybe she wasn’t as shaken up as I thought. She was still Genevieve. “He’s kind of cute.”

  Gage looked over at me.

  “Not cuter than you.”

  “She’s obsessed with you, Gage. I wouldn’t be jealous.”

  “It’s not obsession. Obsession sounds negative. She’s extremely interested.”

  “And what about you, Gage? Are you extremely interested?” Was she really asking him? Despite everything was she still concerned he was using me?

  “More than extremely. Completely.”

  “Ohhh, nice. Have you been practicing that line?”

  “You and I barely know each other.” Gage slowed as we got boxed in behind a large truck.

  “So?” Genevieve asked. “What does that matter?

  “Why are you so argumentative with me? I’m not the enemy.”

  “It’s simple really.” She clasped her hands together in her lap. “Because you got my friend in a lot of trouble.”

  “And I got myself in it too. I wish I hadn’t on both counts, except I kind of do because if I hadn’t I wouldn’t be with her now.” He took my hand in his.

  “Aww isn’t that sweet? Beauty and the beast.”

  “Says the girl who was asking about whether the other Dire was cute.” Gage moved our joined hands to his leg.

  “That was out of curiosity. I like to know what I’m in for.”

  “Because an ugly shifter is better or worse than a cute one?” He glanced at her in the rearview mirror again.

  “I want to know whether to expect to be repulsed or attracted.”

  “You won’t be repulsed.” Denny wasn’t my type, but he was attractive in his own way.

  “Is that so?”

  “He’s out there though.” They were all different, but he was something else. Probably the nicest of the bunch though.

  “Out there how? Like he thinks he’s something more than human?”

  I shot her an annoyed look. “Very funny.”

  “I’m just asking.”

  “He drinks out of a flask and lives alone in the woods.” I gave out a few details. “That help?”

  “Where do the other Dires live? In penthouses?”

  “You are quite the riot.” Gage finally got around the truck. He gave the driver in the left lane who’d boxed us in the finger. I cringed. Road rage wasn’t the best idea in our situation. “The Dires are in hiding.”

  “And some are in prison. Yes, I listened to you.”

  “Can we agree to get along right now?” We were all stressed and arguing wasn’t going to help any of us.

  “Who’s not getting along?” Genevieve leaned forward. “All I’m doing is asking questions. I can’t help it that I have a lot of questions. This situation is a little bit weird. You have to admit that.”

  “It’s weird.” Gage adjusted his hand on the wheel. “It is weirder than anything I ever expected to experience.”

  “But it’s also cool. Kind of.” She gazed out the window.

  “Oh?” I looked at her. “How do you figure?”

  “Are you really asking me that? I mean you are sleeping with a guy who can shift into a wolf.”

  “Oh, so dating a shifter is one of your fantasies?”

  “Not exactly, I’m just saying I could see it being uh, satisfying.”

  I shook my head. “You are always full of interesting ideas.”

  “I am, aren’t I?” She laughed.

  “Especially when they come to sex, I see.” Gage opened a bottle of water and took a large gulp. “Evidently I was hanging out with the wrong crowd.”

  “You were.” I accepted the water he offered to me. “The smart girls are where it’s at.”

  He put his hand on my leg. “I don’t plan on letting this smart girl go.”

  Not planning to? There was something about that added phrase that worried me. I was overthinking things again.

  “Want some?” I offered a fresh bottle of water to Genevieve.

  “No thanks.” She shook her head. “What if your wolf friend doesn’t like me?”

  “Dire.”

  “Whatever. From your side of the conversation it didn’t sound like he was expecting you to bring more company.” She was right, he wasn’t, but none of us were expecting anything.

  “All he cares about is saving his pack. If you can help us do that, he’ll be happy.”

  “But what if I can’t? What happens then? Am I thrown overboard? And no literal response about us being on land.”

  “Then we’ll get you home.” I wasn’t going to let her get hurt. She was helping us, and I’d make sure she was safe and that I could pay her back one day.

  “Oh, that easy? Even though I know your secrets?” She reached for the water I’d left in the cup holder.

  “Our secrets?” I handed her the bottle without mentioning how quickly she’d changed her mind. “You think we’re crazy. Is that a secret?”

  “Your Dire secrets, the fact that you are still alive when everyone thinks you are dead.”

  “We’re not going to hurt you. It’s me.” Could she really believe I’d hurt her? Had she lost all trust in me already?

  “You are kind of still you.”

  “Oh yes, because I can’t be me now that I’m having sex with Gage.”

  “You’re different. You may not be the one claiming to have been changed into a wolf, but something is different. You’re not the same girl I said goodbye to before you left.”

  “What about you?” I really looked at her for the first time. There were bags under her eyes. “Have you been sleeping?”

  “I thought you were dead.” She leaned back in her seat. “I thought my only friend in college was dead, and I was the last one to see you alive. I should have convinced you not to go.”

  “And then I’d be dead.” Gage moved his hand back to the wheel. “The only reason they didn’t directly turn me over to the witches and let them kill me was because the Alpha wanted Mary Anne. So in that way I owe you my life too.”

  “Hmm, when you put it that way.”

  I smiled. “I’m sorry you went through so much.”

  “Which is why you are going to have to tell your parents.”

  “I will, eventually, but not until I know I can go home.” I truly hoped that would be soon, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy no matter when it was. I had more than a little explaining to do.

  “By the way, Roy tried to convince everyone you guys were together.”

  “I saw.” I remembered listening to the girls at the mall. My hesitation to date him had been right. He was an attention hungry opportunist.

  “How did you see? Were you in Boston?” There was something accusatory in her voice, like she was suddenly doubting our story.

  “No. On TV. We were at a mall, that’s why I ended up dying my hair.” I held out my black locks. “I needed to change my appearance.”

  “In all the craziness I didn’t really notice. I’m not sure what that says about me.” She ran a hand through her own brown hair.

  “It says you aren’t superficial.” It was one of the things I loved most about her. Aside from my attraction to Gage, I was generally the same way. At least I tried to be.

  “Nice positive spin.”

  “It’s true. You were relieved to see me alive, and that was more important than my hair. Maybe that’s the difference you are seeing though, you just didn’t mentally process it.”

  “Nope. It goes deeper than hair.”

  “Did you know Mary Anne is a seductress?” Gage stretched one arm above his head. He’d been driving for hours, and he was due for a break, but I knew he’d refuse.

  I pushed hi
s arm. “I am not.”

  “Oh, she seduced you?”

  “Well yes, but also this other wolf. We needed her to so we could escape. And well…”

  “Wait, escape?” Genevieve set aside the water. “From the prison?”

  “No this was from the Dires’ cabin before we got caught by the witches.”

  She put her hands on either side of her head. “Ok, this is getting way too complicated.”

  “None of it matters right now.”

  “You will explain it in exact detail later.”

  “Most of it.” I wasn’t going into details about having to sleep in Hunter’s bed or anything.

  “All of it. All of it.” She was asking about a very specific set of details. Ones having to do with sex.

  “You perv.”

  “I’m not a perv. I had to put up with you moaning about him for months, I at least deserve some of the details.”

  Gage laughed. “You girls are something else.”

  “Like guys don’t talk that way.”

  “Of course we do. But we’re guys.” Gage sped up to pass another car. We’d been on the road for far too long.

  “And we’re girls.” Genevieve gave the exact response I was planning to give.

  “You two like arguing.” I didn’t mind it all that much because it helped pass the time as long as it didn’t involve talking about my sex life.

  “No, we don’t,” they said in unison.

  “No more sex talk.”

  “Why? Is it distracting?” Genevieve waggled an eyebrow.

  “Considering everything else that’s going on, yes.”

  “But distractions can be good.” Gage turned off at our exit. Finally.

  “Sometimes.” But nothing could distract me from the road ahead of us. We had Genevieve, but that didn’t mean I knew what to do next. Hopefully Denny could give us some clues on where to start. Until we knew where to find the prison and where to find the queen, there was nothing we could do.

  11

  Michelle

  I hated the tunnels, and it was with relief that I led Marni up the basement stairs and into the house that would be our home until Levi decided he was done with them. Sometimes the most dangerous places are the most appealing, and that’s exactly what this house was. The Society had spared no expense on the fancy décor and furnishings, but the greater expense was the magically reinforced walls, and impenetrable glass doorways. Even if the Dires could shift, they weren’t getting out. Walking Marni up into the house brought the old Eagles’ song Hotel California into my head. It was the kind of place you could never leave—at least not until the power that be let you.

  Marni wasn’t fooled by the pretense. I could tell from the way she eyed the walls and took every step carefully. She was waiting for a trap to spring, but she was already in the trap. Levi had them exactly where he wanted them.

  Semi and Chet were standing in the large open living room that none of the Dires would see again anytime soon. Neither man looked happy, and it had a lot to do with the fact that they were being restrained by Pterons. I barely had a hand on Marni, she understood that running would be a mistake. I respected that understanding, and gave her leeway accordingly. Besides, the chains around her ankles would slow her down. My guess was the two males weren’t being as reasonable. Either that or their guards weren’t in the mood to be reasonable.

  Marni’s eyes immediately went to Chet’s when we walked in the door. The two were an item. There was no question by the way they found each other immediately. They were sleeping together, but there was something else there. At least I thought there was. I wasn’t exactly an expert at understanding Dire relationships. I didn’t even understand my own.

  “Why are we here?” Marni’s eyes were still fixed on Chet, but I knew she wasn’t asking him the question.

  I answered before either of my male counterparts could say something stupid. “We’re here because it’s more comfortable then the underground prison.”

  “But it’s still a prison.” She wasn’t asking a question.

  “Of course it is. You knew you weren’t being released.”

  “I preferred the last place,” Semi grumbled. His features were severe, and I wondered if the man ever smiled.

  “It doesn’t matter what you prefer.” Josh gritted his teeth. Normally he’d have used more choice words. I assumed Levi had already scolded him about treating these prisoners better. He wanted them to feel respected, even though they weren’t.

  “I don’t like games and tricks. This is both.”

  “Didn’t you hear me?” Josh tightened his hold on Semi. “It doesn’t matter what you think.”

  Semi growled.

  Josh laughed. “What are you going to do? You know you can’t shift.”

  Semi started to struggle against him.

  The basement door opened again, and Hunter walked in with Levi behind him.

  The other guards and I looked immediately at Levi while the Dires did the same for their Alpha. I couldn’t imagine being in a pack arrangement. It was nothing like how the Pterons did business.

  “Wonderful, we’re all together again.” Levi cocked his signature half smirk/half smile.

  “Wonderful isn’t the word I’d use.” Marni moved beside me. I was holding on to her arm more for a symbolic purpose than anything else.

  “I understand you’d rather be elsewhere, but unfortunately you can’t leave yet.”

  “When can we leave?” Chet asked. “We still don’t understand why we’re here at all.”

  “Here as in custody or as in inside this house?”

  “Custody. It’s already been explained to us that we’re here because it’s more comfortable accommodations.” Chet’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Because I want to get to the bottom of things. The hunt has gone on for long enough.”

  “And you care about that because?” Semi’s face fell into an even more serious expression.

  “Because it’s time that Hunter and I stop fighting our fathers’ battle.”

  “It started long before our fathers.” Hunter’s deep voice filled the room.

  “Yes it did.” Levi looked right at me. “But we are always focused on the ones who came just before. Aren’t we?”

  He was talking to me, but I didn’t know why. Did he know how messed up my relationship was with my parents? He probably did. He was king, so he probably knew everything that was happening in The Society.

  I nodded to let him know I was listening.

  He nodded in response. “In a show of good faith, I’ve decided to let one of you go.”

  Hunter’s expression didn’t change. He wasn’t surprised. That was interesting. It meant Levi had talked to him about the plan. That had to have been for a reason. The question was what reason.

  “Let one of us go?” Marni asked. “If you want to show good faith let us all leave.”

  Levi smiled. “Good try.”

  “If anyone leaves, it’s Marni. Let her out.” Semi was the one to make that suggestion. I’d have expected it be Chet, but he didn’t say a word. There had to be strategy in that. Either that or he wanted to keep her close.

  “I’ve already decided who it is.” Levi looked right at Semi. “Ready for the outside?”

  “I already told you who you should pick.”

  “I appreciate you making a suggestion, but I have my own.”

  “What’s the catch?” Semi, looked at Levi suspiciously. “Why would you let me go? There’s no such thing as good faith.”

  “Sure there is. Maybe your kind doesn’t know of it, but we do.”

  All four Dires growled.

  Levi must have noticed his mistake. “I mean no disrespect.”

  Marni snorted. “No disrespect?”

  “Fine. What I said was disrespectful, but I believe in showing good faith.”

  “Why me?” Semi moved his legs, setting off a clanging of his chains. The Dires were strong.

  “You seemed lik
e the best choice.” Levi pulled out his phone to check something, then quickly pocketed it.

  “He knew I wouldn’t leave her.” Chet’s eyes set on Levi. “Didn’t you?”

  “I made the best choice given the circumstances.” He didn’t respond to Chet’s insinuation, but it was true. He was trying to avoid an unnecessary scene. The only one he really needed was Hunter, but having others gave him leverage. Especially Marni. Having a girl captured might give extra pull. Levi liked to think of himself as a gentleman, at least he seemed to, but that didn’t apply this time. He needed as much leverage as he could muster.

  “What if I don’t want to leave without the others?” Semi looked at Hunter. He wasn’t actually asking Levi.

  “You have no choice.” Levi ignored that Semi wasn’t addressing him.

  “He’s giving you freedom. Take it. Find the others. Tell them we are going to be fine.” Hunter locked eyes with Semi.

  “Are you kidding me?” Semi gritted his teeth. But then his face relaxed for the first time since we’d arrived at the house.

  Something passed between Hunter and Semi, because Semi nodded. “As you wish.”

  “Josh, take him back through to the eastern exit and get him ready for release. I’ll join you shortly.”

  Josh nodded.

  “See you all soon.” There was a warning in Semi’s words.

  Levi merely smiled and turned his back. The door opened again, and Joseph walked in. I groaned to myself. Really? They had to send him back?

  “I will be taking my leave as well.” Levi stepped toward the basement door. “You each know your orders. You will find the rooms ready for our guests. I already have the perimeter protected.”

  “Your guests.” Marni rolled her eyes. “Right. And why is the perimeter being protected? What happened to good faith?” Marni narrowed her eyes.

  “There’s only so far good faith can go.” Levi nodded at us and followed out the way Josh and Semi had just left.

  “And then there were three.” Chet let out a loud sigh. “These games are getting old.”

  “They are only going to get worse.” Joseph glared at him before turning his attention to me. “All right, you heard the king. Let’s move them.”