Bonded

  “I never knew that.” Brandi whispered as she eased the door open and checked if anyone was outside.

  “Me either,” Peter chimed in.

  “Old family secret,” Katie whispered back, a glint in her eye showing she was obviously enjoying the ‘adventure’ she was having.

  They slipped out of the building and off the steps. Just as Katie had said, hidden in the bushes was an old cellar door. As they pushed through the overgrown shrubs, the hatch silently eased open revealing Klaus’ tense face. “Katherine Marie, I ought to ground you for a month!”

  Katie maintained a repentant expression for all of about two seconds before a grin broke out on her face. “But you won’t.”

  The older man growled, but gestured for them to hurry inside. Katie entered first, followed by Peter and the others. Finally, Brandi stepped in brushing past her old Alpha and descending into the cool, dark depths. As she reached the bottom, hands grabbed at her. Her own automatically moved up in a defensive gesture and found themselves pressed to a hard muscular chest. She jerked her eyes upward and, just as Klaus closed the hatch and plunged the cellar into darkness, she caught a glimpse of Reno’s expression.

  Anger. Desire. Worry fading into relief. They all passed over his face in rapid succession and underlying it all… Had she seen shades of love? Her breath caught in her throat as hope bloomed in her chest. Then his lips crashed down on hers and all thoughts fled.

  ~~~

  Reno wasn’t thinking and he didn’t care. When Brandi stepped down into the cellar, something had come over him and he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He needed to hold her, taste her, stake his claim.

  His mouth was hard on hers, demanding a response, and she gave it, melting into him, opening for him. He tasted her sweetness, inhaled her scent, and revelled in the way she slid her hands up over his body. A growl rumbled in his chest. Cupping her lushly curved rear, he pressed her closer to his throbbing cock, wishing they were alone. She whimpered and it took all his will-power not to peel her clothes off. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled back from the scorching kiss, damning the darkness that didn’t allow him to see her face.

  Physically, she wanted him and while that pleased him, he wanted more. So many questions swirled through his head. He wanted to delve into her mind and know what she’d been thinking that afternoon; if she really was just a danger junkie looking for the thrill of being with an Enforcer or if he’d actually meant something to her. Did she really want to leave Lycan Link or was she being pressured to go? And most importantly, was she really considering Victor as a potential mate? Just the thought caused a feeling of panic in him and he…

  Damn, someone was poking him in the ribs! Turning to snarl, he heard a young voice speaking beside him.

  “Glad to see each other?” Reno could hear the hint of laughter in Katie’s voice.

  Loosening his grip on Brandi, he felt her pull away and heard her inhale deeply. Then, as smooth as silk, she addressed her old Alpha, barely any indication in her tone that she’d just been in a hot clinch with him. “Klaus, it’s been a while.”

  “Good to see you, too.” There was a definite chuckle underlying Klaus’ words and Reno grinned as he thought of how Brandi would react to that barely suppressed laughter. Once again he wished it wasn’t so dark. He’d love to see the expression on her face.

  Klaus made no direct reference to their embrace though and started to issue orders. “Follow me. We need to be well into the tunnels before they discover you’ve left.”

  The others started to move, but Brandi held back. “That won’t work. They’ll track our scents down here and still find us.”

  Reno remembered the remaining chemical mask in his pocket and pulled it out. “I can help with that. This is a product Lycan Link has been developing. There isn’t much left, but it will cover our trail for a while.” He took a moment to explain how the concoction worked.

  “Won’t they just follow the tunnel along anyway?” Peter asked.

  “No. There’s more than one tunnel, so they won’t know which one to take, will they Gramps?” Katie’s pride in her grandfather was evident in her voice.

  “That’s right. Over the years, my family’s created a veritable underground maze; it's partly a hobby and partly a contingency plan in case circumstances like these ever arose. Unless a person knows which tunnels to take, they could be lost underground for weeks, stumbling around in the dark.”

  Reno barely stifled the distressed sound that rose inside him at the thought of being lost underground.

  “You all right?” He sensed Brandi looking at him, but thankfully Klaus began leading them toward the tunnel.

  “Get moving. I need to start spraying the chemical mask behind us.” His tone was gruffer than he intended and she huffed and moved away. Well, better that she was in a snit than him having to confess his new found phobia.

  Once they were all in the tunnel, Klaus shut the door, which was cleverly concealed behind an old shelf. As it slid into place, Reno felt his breathing accelerate and forced himself to count each breath. In… Out… Evenly paced… It wasn’t working. He throat tightened and he gave a cough trying to relax the muscles.

  “The air isn’t very pleasant, is it?” Brandi commented, obviously thinking that was his problem.

  He grunted in agreement and tried to concentrate on his job; spritzing the chemical around the edges of the door. It wasn’t exactly the recommended application method, but it would have to do.

  A faint light flickered—Klaus was passing out flashlights—and as the illumination grew into a mellow glow Reno muttered under his breath. “Thank the Lord.”

  Brandi peered at him over her shoulder. “What was that?”

  “Nothing.” He gave the squishy ball on the bottle of mask an extra firm squeeze. “Just happy we’re safe in these… er… wonderful tunnels.”

  “Oh.” She frowned, staring at the bottle in his hand. “You know, that looks… ” she paused, sniffed, "and smells sort of like perf—”

  “Don’t you dare say it!” Reno cut her off, scowling. He definitely was going to have words with the developers of the product. His men were not going to go around smelling like flowers!

  Before Brandi could reply, Katie was urging them to keep up.

  “You don’t want to get lost down here, do you?” The girl’s cheery voice echoed strangely and Reno gave a start when he noticed the others were several yards ahead.

  “You heard her, get moving.” His hand pressed against Brandi’s back and she hurried along.

  One tunnel lead into another, each seemingly identical to the last with small chunks of rock litterin the ground and rough stone walls leaching trickles of water. Wooden posts and beams provided bracing every few feet, streaks of rust identifying the presence of nail heads. Reno wondered how long the struts had been there and how close they were to rotting away and allowing the ceiling to cave in. It wasn’t a thought he wanted to dwell on for too long.

  Eventually, the bottle of mask ran out, but based on all the twists and turns they’d taken so far, Reno decided no one would be able to track them anymore.

  Without that job to occupy his mind however, he became increasingly aware that they were deep underground. Tons of soil and rock were over their head just waiting to crash down and seal them in this hell-hole forever. Their footsteps echoed down the long passageways and their shadows loomed on the walls creating menacing shapes. Reno could feel nervous sweat forming on his skin.

  It seemed like ages, but probably wasn’t, before Klaus called back. “We’re almost there.”

  “How can you tell?” Brandi asked. “Everything looks the same to me.”

  “I’m following the marks on the wall,” the Alpha explained. “If you didn’t know where to look, you wouldn’t see them, but I’ve put markers all along the way. Each tunnel junction has a sign that tells which way to go depending on your destination.” He lifted his flashlight to illuminate an arrow mark near the ceiling. “If you’re
ever down here alone, just follow these and you’ll end up in our safe room.”

  “That’s good to know, isn’t it, Reno?” Brandi glanced back at him.

  “Yeah.” He nodded while muttering under his breath that it would be a cold day in Hell before he ever set foot in these tunnels again.

  “The other tunnels all lead somewhere too, don’t they Gramps?” Katie boasted.

  “Yep. Some lead to other exits, like this one.” He pointed to the left. “If you see one ‘x’ then it leads to exit number one, the closest to town. Two x’s are for one higher up, near the old conveyor. Three would be the third and so on.”

  “This one has a triangle,” Peter pointed out, peering up at a mark near the ceiling.

  “Triangles are danger. The tunnels are either unstable or could possibly have pits you could fall into.” Klaus explained.

  “What’s this circle mean?” Reno reached up and traced the shape, listening intently as he studied each symbol.

  “Circles mean the tunnel leads nowhere. If you’re in one you end up where you started, except you won’t realize it.” Katie exclaimed excitedly. “Gramps designed those ones on purpose so people will just wander around and around forever.”

  Reno dropped his hand away quickly and Katie laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.” She grabbed his hand and grinned at him. For a moment Reno stiffened, unsure what to do when someone that young tried to flirt with him. He cleared his throat and extracted his hand from her grip.

  “I’m an Enforcer. I take care of myself.” He spoke gruffly then set off to follow Klaus. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Katie sidle up to Brandi and start walking beside her, then overheard the young girl’s whisper. “I think Reno’s scared of the tunnels.”

  “Really?” Brandi shot a glance in his direction and he looked away quickly. Dammit, how the hell had Katie come to that conclusion? Hadn’t anyone told her that Enforcers were considered fearless and the next thing to invincible? That, with their rogue tendencies, their sense of self-preservation was skewed and they were more likely to fight to the death rather than give up? Everyone knew it made them formidable opponents and basically fearless in the face of danger. Up until today, Reno had firmly believed that last fact, but these fucking tunnels were messing with his mind and he didn’t like it. Not one damned bit!

  “Here we are.” Klaus announced and suddenly the confines of the tunnel seemed to fall away and they were in a relatively large space that loosely could be called a room with several tunnels leading off from it. Reno felt a wave of relief wash over him. While they were still underground, it didn’t seem like it. There were a few pieces of furniture and, as Klaus moved about turning on other lights that were mounted near the walls, the room grew progressively brighter. Even the air seemed fresher too and when he mentioned this, Klaus jerked his chin up towards the ceiling.

  “This is a naturally occurring cave. The stone is quite stable so you don’t have to worry about cave-ins. There’s also a vent that leads to the surface and we installed a fan that recycles the air. Keeps this area breathable.” Klaus explained.

  “The other areas aren’t?” Reno asked sharply, staring back at the tunnels they’d just left.

  “Depends. My tunnels are good because of the venting I’ve installed and we routinely check air quality, but I can’t say much for some of the older ones. There are gases that can kill you before you even know there’s a problem. Black damp—that’s a mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapour—causes asphyxiation, and methane’s a big worry too because of possible explosions.”

  Reno nodded, a muscle working in his jaw.

  “What’s the plan now, Klaus?” Peter and the others sat down on old wooden crates that were scattered about to serve as chairs. “Will Alice be here soon? And my girls?”

  The others nodded in agreement and looked at the Alpha expectantly.

  Klaus checked his watch. “Should be, but it takes time. Everyone can’t suddenly leave town and hightail it into the hills. And extracting the children is trickier. They need to sneak out of their rooms without alerting the bastards they work for.”

  “I’m willing to head into town and create a distraction,” one of the men said, suddenly standing up. “My life, for the freedom of my mate and daughter, would be a small price to pay.”

  “No need, Aran.” Klaus shook his head. “My spies are out there overseeing the process. We’ve been planning this for months.”

  Aran sat down, but didn’t look happy with his inactivity and the others muttered and shifted in their seats, their expressions equally displeased. Reno didn’t blame them. Any male, even a human, wanted to protect his family and being jailed—forced into inactivity—for so long had to be a bitter pill to swallow. His admiration for the men grew.

  Mating a werewolf and joining a pack took guts. While the men before him were fit, the pack members would always be physically stronger. Humans had to use the force of their personalities and strong wills to hold their own in a pack.

  “I know this has been hard on you,” Klaus looked at the assembled humans. “But I’m damned proud of how you’ve held up and followed orders. A pure-blooded were couldn’t have done any better.”

  “Don’t compare me to those bastards. It’s the pure-bloods that caused this damned mess,” a blond haired man stated bitterly.

  “Darcy’s right.” Aran chimed in, his face twisted with emotion. “I’ve listened to Victor’s taunts for weeks; his threats against me and my family, that Purist garbage he’s always quoting. I was always proud to be part of a pack, to be accepted as one of you, but now I hate every one of them.”

  The others grumbled in agreement and a tense silence fell over the whole group.

  “Does that include me?” Klaus asked quietly. “And Brandi and her friend Reno? Or, for that matter, your mates?”

  “Of course not,” Darcy shook his head. “It’s just… I believed in this pack and now—”

  “They’ve let you down and shattered your trust.” Klaus finished the thought and sighed heavily. “If it makes you feel any better, they’ve done the same to me. I’d never have believed they’d be so easily swayed.”

  “Some of them are just afraid.” Katie piped in. “That’s what Mama says.”

  “Afraid or not, they should have stood up for what they knew was right. They were our friends and neighbours. But when we really needed them, they just looked the other way.” Peter stared down at the floor, his hands loosely clasped between his knees. “I shouldn’t have believed that crap about how noble wolves are.”

  Aran stood up and paced the room. “When the other mixed families left, I thought they were weak, that I was more of a wolf than the ones who caved into their fears. In reality they were the smart ones and we were the fools.”

  “I’m at fault, too.” Klaus added. “I allowed the serpent into our pack. I thought he was charismatic; full of energy and new ideas. I took him at face value rather than really analyzing what he was saying.” The Alpha suddenly looked old and tired. “I’m sorry. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”

  “Laying blame and deciding who you hate, won’t solve the problem,” Reno decided to interject. “I’ve seen quite a few packs face this same problem and you’ve got two choices. You can live in the past and dwell on the wrongs done to you. Or you can move on. That doesn’t mean you forgive and forget—some things are too big, too painful for that—but if you let your hatred rule your life, you become no better than they are.”

  The group was silent for a moment and then Peter slowly nodded. “True. I don’t know if I want to stay with this pack—I’ll have to talk it over with Alice—but hating all weres makes no sense. Purists are a small percentage of Lycan society and I won’t let them colour my thinking. I won’t give them that power.”

  Katie’s young voice broke the sombre mood that had fallen over all of them. “Gramps, why don’t I take them closer to the first exit? That’s where everyone will be comin
g in and they can see their families sooner. That will make you all feel better, won’t it?”

  Her youthful enthusiasm made the others smile and Klaus agreed. Katie grinned obviously happy to have an official role.

  “We’ll talk some more, once this mess is sorted out, but for now Katie’s plan sounds good.” Klaus gave a nod. “I need to check in with some of my spies and see what’s happening in town. Victor will have discovered that his prisoners are gone by now and I’m curious to see what he’ll do.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Reno shoved his hands in his back pockets and shifted his weight, unused to being on the sidelines.

  “Stay put. Walt’s friends are looking for you and I don’t have enough manpower to help you if you get caught. Same for you, Brandi.” The Alpha shot a look her way and Reno bit his cheeks to keep from smiling when her mouth snapped shut and she started to glower. It appeared he wasn’t the only one who didn’t appreciate twiddling his thumbs.

  Katie led her small contingent down one of the passageways and Klaus watched her for a moment, a mixture of pride and exasperation on his face. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with that one,” he muttered before shifting his attention back to Reno. He raised a brow and cocked his head. “I couldn’t help but notice you two had a mighty interesting way of greeting each other back in the cellar.”

  Reno opened his mouth to explain even though he had no idea what he’d say, but Klaus kept right on talking.

  “I expect it will be a good hour, maybe longer, before any of us return. Just thought you might like to know that.” He gave Reno a slow wink, picked up his flashlight and disappeared into yet another of the tunnels.

  Brandi gasped. “I can’t believe he basically just said he was leaving us alone so we could… ” She clamped her mouth shut, apparently unwilling to finish the statement.

  “He thinks we’re going to have sex.” Reno stated bluntly, smirking at her affronted expression.