Bonded

  “Apparently you’ve been hacking into private files at Lycan Link and passing the information on to the Purists.”

  “Me? Hacking into files?” The possibility of that happening was so far from reality that she actually laughed.

  “Yep, and Reno’s been helping you.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I can barely change my password without help and Reno hates Purists.”

  “Your file at Lycan Link shows you took a computer course at the Academy and passed with flying colours.”

  Brandi felt her mouth drop open. “No way! That was my room-mate, Tabi, not me. She was a whizz at the things but I never took a single computer course; the damn machines hate me! Someone’s altered my records.”

  “Hmmm… ” Damien studied her for a moment then gave a quick nod and began to untie her wrists.

  “You believe me?”

  “Yep. This is all too neat and tidy for my liking. If you really were hacking, you’d have changed your records to remove the computer course, not leave it there for anyone to find. Besides, Reno likes you and that’s good enough for me. The man has great instincts.”

  “Oh.” She really didn’t know what else to say. Once her wrists were free, she rubbed the tender skin while checking that no one was watching. So far, so good. The captain was still busy conversing with Klaus and had moved even farther away. Several of the Enforcers were talking to Peter and Darcy while Aran and some of the others were walking towards Victor’s bunker. “Now what?”

  Damien surveyed the scene with a smug smile. “The captain seems to have everything under control. I say we go find Reno.”

  “Yes!” She barely kept herself from shouting the word and eased herself off the bumper to follow Damien as he dodged from the shelter of one vehicle to the next. “Do you think we can get out of here unnoticed?”

  “No problem. Your friends have everyone occupied.” Damien took her by the hand and urged her onward.

  “My friends?” She glanced back.

  “Yeah, I met this old guy named Klaus up in the hills with a group of humans. They were planning some hare-brained scheme to come waltzing in here and save you. We found out we had a common cause.”

  Brandi blinked and slowly smiled: Klaus, Peter and the others had actually been providing a diversion so Damien could free her! “You’ll have to tell me about that meeting one day.”

  “It was… interesting.” Damien gave a huff of laughter, and then caught her arm as she slipped on the muddy ground. “Careful.”

  “I’m all right. Just in a hurry to find Reno.”

  They were sheltered by the trees now, the leaves filtering the rain but the wind was still cool. Goose bumps rose on Brandi’s damp skin, the wet fabric of her shirt clinging to her. She clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering and brushed the tangle of wet curls from her face. There’d been no hiding from the elements when she’d been tied to the van, but no one had seemed concerned about that fact.

  Damien was equally wet yet appeared indifferent to the discomfort. His nostrils flared as he scented the air but after a moment he frowned. “Which way? This rain is messing up the scent trails.”

  “They were headed in that direction.” Brandi pointed to where she’d last seen Reno heading and Damien nodded.

  “Then that’s where we’ll go.” Before her eyes, he shifted into a large black wolf and then looked at her expectantly.

  Brandi tried to shift, to focus on harnessing her energy and directing it towards the molecular restructuring of her form. There was a faint tingling on the surface of her skin yet nothing happened. She tried again, embarrassed at this show of weakness and determined to do what should come so naturally, but it was useless. “I’m sorry, Damien. I can’t. I’m just too tired to do it.”

  He huffed and shifted back. “Hey, it happens. And it looks like you’ve had a pretty rough go of it these past few days.”

  She gave a half-hearted smile. “That’s a polite way of saying I look like shit, right?”

  Damien laughed and set off without another word. At times, he would pause and scan the area around them. Brandi strained her senses as well, wondering what he was noting with his superior senses. There were definite disadvantages to being a rogue, but having one’s wolf so close to the surface did give a certain edge.

  On several occasions, he’d tell her to wait and then he’d disappear among the trees only to return and shake his head having found nothing.

  “The hills are full of Purists,” he explained. “But they seem more intent on escaping than anything else. There’s enough ACS here to round them up. We won’t waste our time on them unless they attack.”

  That was fine with Brandi; she was more interested in finding Reno.

  For a while they travelled without speaking, only the thudding of the rain on the leafy canopy and the sound of the wind breaking the silence. Brandi constantly looked for signs of Reno, worry eating away at her. She knew he was tired, injured, and weak from loss of blood. Her own exhaustion was eroding her mental self-control and with increasing frequency she was getting glimpses into his mind. What she was finding there wasn’t comforting. He needed to rest, to let the ACS take over the hunt for Victor, but his damned sense of duty wouldn’t allow him.

  She rubbed her forehead and forced the mental wall back into place. Knowing his thoughts wasn’t helping her, or him, and she still feared her mental intrusion might distract him at a crucial moment. God, how did fully blood bonded mates ever stand this?

  Unexpectedly, Damien grabbed her arm. “Duck down here.” Unceremoniously, he shoved her under a shrub and melted into the shadows.

  Snapping her mouth shut on her instinctive protest, Brandi stayed in her hiding place, trying to ignore the small twigs poking her neck and the large spider that was suspended nearby. Ugh! She hated the creatures.

  Easing as far away as possible, she pondered what Damien might have seen or heard. Something had caught his attention but what? An ACS Enforcer? A Purist? Her question didn’t go unanswered for long. A cacophony of snarls and growls filled the air, followed by a high pitched yelp and then nothing.

  Brandi clenched her hands into fists, not caring that her nails were digging into her palms. She didn’t know Damien well enough to be able to determine if the yelp had been his, or someone else’s. Hopefully it was the latter, but if not she was in trouble.

  The soft sounds of approaching paws had her peering out from her leafy hideaway wondering who was coming. Slowly, she got to her feet while remaining crouched ready to spring into action if necessary. The presence of the spider no longer bothered her. She had bigger foes to fight now.

  Taking a deep breath, she tensed her muscles only to let it out in big whoosh as Damien came into sight. His fur was covered in mud and streaks of saliva but he seemed unharmed.

  Brandi crawled out of her hiding spot. “What was—”

  Before she could finish her question, he gave his fur a shake and drops of mud splattered everywhere. Cursing loudly, Brandi wiped the filth away and then glared at Damien’s now laughing face. He’d transformed and except for a faint bruise on his cheek and a rapidly healing scratch on his hand, he appeared fine.

  “A Purist was following us,” he explained. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a cell-phone and contacted the command post. “Masterson here. Reporting a Purist at this location … Status? Dead … He tried to ambush me. It didn’t work.”

  The detached way Damien spoke made her see him in a new light. While she knew he was a trained Enforcer, he never seemed as serious as some; there was an edge about him but most of the time he was pulling pranks, making rude comments, or chasing women… Sure, his file might indicate otherwise, but she’d never seen evidence of it before. It made her feel rather uneasy to think he could be two such different persons. She swallowed hard and listened in on the rest of the conversation.

  Damien was rolling his eyes. “No, I’m not staying here with the body … Use GPS to get a fix on this signal and send som
eone down here to pick him up … What’s that? The Johansson girl escaped? Now how the hell did you let that happen?” Damien looked at her and winked, suddenly returning to what she thought of as his usual self. “Yeah, I’ll keep an eye out for her, but you guys better learn to keep better track of your prisoners.”

  He snapped the phone shut and laughed. “The poor bastard who was supposed to be watching you is going to have his ass in a sling.”

  Brandi snorted; she had no sympathy for the idiots who’d tied her up.

  Damien jerked his head and set off again. Brandi followed, pondering the man beside her and shooting occasional glances his way. He was a curious mix. Enforcer, prankster, near rogue, and now… mated?

  She cleared her throat. “So, your mate—Beth—I think I saw her at Clancy’s the night of my going away party.”

  “Yeah. She was there.” Damien quirked an eyebrow at her.

  “Um… what’s she like? I didn’t really get to meet her.”

  “Well… she seems quiet at first, until you get to know her but underneath she’s pretty… intense and passionate.” He gave a crooked smile. “And I don’t mean in the sexy way—though that’s there, too. She cares—really cares—about so many things: poverty and injustice, saving the environment. This whole Purist thing really has her riled. She’s a half and grew up in the human world, so the whole Purist mentality is new to her. We had an argument just earlier today about it. She wanted to come along and help but I told her it was too dangerous.”

  Brandi nodded. She wanted to meet Beth but this was definitely not the time or the place.

  “She’s waiting for me in a place called Renwick. We have a room there. Once this mess is cleared up, we’re taking off on our honeymoon.”

  “Really? I’d have thought the captain would need everyone back at Headquarters to help process the Purists.”

  Damien shrugged. “The captain doesn’t know yet. And if he doesn’t like it… well, I’ll deal with him later.”

  “Oh.” Brandi digested that point and then another came to mind. “How long do you think Klaus and the others can keep the captain occupied?”

  “Not long enough. I want to find Reno before the rest of the squad does. I only had a chance to talk to a few of the men before Klaus arrived to distract the captain. Loyalties within the team are split. Some still believe Reno’s innocent, but others feel betrayed. And the captain… ” Damien shook his head. “I don’t know which way he’s leaning. This whole ‘leak’ thing seems off to me, and I’m wondering if the captain could be in on it. If that’s the case, he might have told the ACS to use lethal force if Reno resists. It would be an easy way to ensure Reno isn’t able to protest his innocence. Dead men can’t defend themselves against charges.”

  “And me?” Brandi stared at Damien, feeling the colour drain from her face. The captain had always been so friendly to her. That he might turn on Reno—and her—seemed unthinkable. “Does he have similar plans for me?”

  “Perhaps. But it’s just speculation on my part. Like I said, something is wrong with this, I just can’t figure out what and until I do, everyone’s under suspicion.” Damien’s brows were lowered, his face set in a scowl. The gloomy light of the forest cast his features in dark shadows giving him a menacing look that matched the reputation she’d read about.

  Brandi decided she wouldn’t want to encounter him if they were on opposite sides. Just in case, she decided to confirm something. “Except me. You believed me, even though I’m the one that’s supposed to be guilty.”

  The dark look left his face and Damien reached out, playfully tugging on one of her curls. “Anyone with hair like this can’t be guilty.”

  “Great logic.” She jumped over a log and grimaced as her foot landed in a puddle. Not that it mattered—she was already soaked—but the additional water made her shoes squish even more uncomfortably than before.

  “Actually, it’s my gut telling me.” Damien neatly side stepped over the same puddle she’d fallen victim to, and flashed her a laughing grin before continuing. “Reno and I are both firm believers in gut instinct. It’s saved our asses more than once and helped us apprehend more than a few perps.”

  Brandi nodded in understanding. She used her gut instinct in her own job; letting it tell her when to push, when to cajole, and when to back off, thus allowing people to digest her ideas before trying to sway them to her way of thinking once again.

  Damien paused beside her and pointed to some blood on a leaf. Her heart gave a heavy thump as she wondered if it was Reno’s but when Damien gave it a sniff, he shook his head. “Not Reno’s, but he’s been this way and recently, too. The tree cover here is keeping the rain from diluting the scents quite as much.”

  “Perhaps it’s Victor’s blood. He and Reno were fighting, though I would have thought he’d have healed by now.”

  “Reno’s still injured.” Damien pointed to tracks on the ground. “These are his footprints, but look at the stride, it’s off. He’s favouring one leg.”

  “Victor attacked before Reno had a chance to shift. And just before the ACS arrived, Reno was down. I… I thought Victor might kill him.” She swallowed hard, reliving that brief terrifying moment.

  “But he didn’t.” Damien gave her a reassuring look before moving on. “And don’t worry, Reno will be fine. He’s a tough old bastard.”

  Tough old bastard or not, Reno was injured, chasing down a Purist Alpha and had a squad of Enforcers out to get him. Brandi shook her head. Yeah, there was nothing at all to worry about. She flicked a glance at Damien and watched the muscle working in the man’s jaw. Yep, he was just as concerned as she was. It made sense though. The two men had been partners for three years, likely saving each other’s butts on more than one occasion.

  ”He’ll be fine.” She echoed the platitude while not believing a word of it.

  The rain seemed to have let up for a moment and Brandi wondered if the storm was passing them by or merely circling around before striking again. Either way, the respite was a blessing since they no longer had a thick canopy of leaves overhead. As they approached the strip of land designated for the coal conveyor, the forest thinned out. Years ago, the area had been clear-cut for the construction of the machine but after its abandonment, saplings had begun to take root again. The growth was still sparse enough though that it allowed for a clear view of the aging structure. It stood like a giant skeleton, occasional flashes of lightning from the circling storm illuminating it against the dark cloud-filled sky.

  Brandi eyed the rusting monstrosity, noting how it rose on metal columns out of the ground allowing it to loom above the steep mountain slope. At its mouth, it connected directly to the mountain not far from the mine entrance while its body snaked downward, ending near the outskirts of town. Years ago, loads of coal would have been taken from the mine and dumped into the conveyor, then trundled down the long expanse to trucks waiting at its base. In its day it had been considered a labour-saving marvel, sturdily built to withstand heavy loads. But now, much of the corrugated metal siding was missing while other pieces hung drunkenly from rusting bolts. Erosion had washed away soil near the conveyor mouth and the abutment while in some areas the base of the supporting pillars appeared to be disintegrating.

  As the wind buffeted the structure, the metal siding banged against rusted beams. Creaks and groans of protest echoed through the air as if the conveyor were complaining against the abuse and threatening to crumble to the ground at any moment.

  Brandi shivered. She had never liked the contraption; it always seemed ominous and forbidding as if it was peering down at the insignificant creatures that had made it. Now, with a storm circling the mountain, that impression was amplified. Of course, it was all ridiculous fancy, her overactive imagination playing tricks on her, but still she wished she were any place but here.

  Damien had paused beside her, also examining the structure. “Cool. What is it?” His face held none of the distaste that she was sure hers did, so she school
ed her features and explained. He nodded in understanding. “Amazing bit of engineering, considering the day and age in which it was made.”

  “Yeah, I suppose.” Brandi gave a noncommittal answer before tilting her head forward. “We better keep going. Reno’s around here somewhere.” She sniffed the air, trying to find his scent while searching the area with her eyes.

  “This way.” Damien set off obviously having picked up the trail with practised ease. He didn’t even bother to check if she was following, and Brandi huffed her annoyance before hurrying after him.

  Wet shrubs and grasses slapped against her pant legs, wrapping around her ankles and slowing her progress. Bits of rock also littered the ground and more than once she stubbed her foot or stumbled on a half buried stone. Out of necessity, she kept her head down, constantly scanning the ground ahead of her for hazards, only occasionally able to glance up and search for signs of Reno. Damien didn’t seem to have the same difficulty however and strode confidently over the rough terrain. As a result, he was the one who saw Reno first.

  “There!”

  Brandi looked up and followed the line of his gaze, gasping when she located her mate. He was on the conveyor and Victor was there too. Even as she opened her mouth to call out his name, Victor seemed to lunge towards him, swinging something. Reno leapt back and stumbled. He waved his arms as if trying to regain his balance but seemed to be teetering on the edge of the conveyor in danger of falling over the edge at any second.

  Brandi grabbed Damien’s arm for support, sure that at any moment she would be witnessing her mate plunging to his death.

  Chapter 31