“Your parents accepted the Seer’s tale, just like that?”
“I think they didn’t want to believe it, but then Wayne said I’d confessed the crime to him. The girl had either convinced herself it was me or she was coached by the cops, because she said in court that she remembered my voice telling her to ‘shut up and take it.’” Derren had almost fucking lost it that day. Being accused of something so distasteful had made him feel sick and enraged.
“So, not only were you wrongly prosecuted, but the girl didn’t really get justice at all, did she?” Ally inhaled a calming breath, knowing Derren didn’t need her anger right now. “And Wayne got to walk free and rape more people.”
“I heard he killed himself a couple of months after I was sent to juvie.” It hadn’t particularly surprised Derren. Wayne had never been mentally strong.
“And that didn’t make people wonder if just maybe you were telling the truth?”
“If it did, nobody came to see me in juvie to say any such thing.”
“Assholes,” Ally bit out. Because she’d come to know Derren in ways she hadn’t anticipated, she knew something else. “You killed the Seer, didn’t you?” For a moment, he didn’t say anything. Then he nodded, his eyes searching hers for condemnation. She sighed. “Good.”
Derren stared at her curiously. “You don’t have any doubts about my innocence at all, do you?”
Realization hit her. “You didn’t tell me before now because you worried I might suspect you raped her.”
Sensing she was offended, Derren said, “Let me ask you something: if someone were to ask you what happened with Rachelle, would you quite easily tell them?”
No, she’d think they would disbelieve her just like almost everyone else had. “Point taken.” Ally idly petted his chest. “I know this is going to sound shitty, but I’m surprised you’re even considering going to the funeral after what they did.”
“Part of me thinks ‘fuck them.’ But another part of me wants to pay my respects to the parents they were before the pack Seer fucked everything up.”
He was a better person than she was. “Does Nick think you should go?”
“He doesn’t know about it yet. I haven’t told anyone but you.”
That touched her. He’d needed something to fight the numbness, and he’d gone to her. Not his Alpha and best, most trusted friend, but her.
“He might insist I don’t leave our territory. It’s a dangerous time for our pack right now.”
“He knows you well enough to know you’ll do whatever it is you want to do. And if you’re going, I’m coming with you. I told you, I don’t want you being alone.”
Derren swallowed, more affected by her support than he would have expected. “Nick will probably send some of the enforcers with me.”
“That’s not the same as having support. It’s possible to be surrounded by people and still feel alone.”
She was right. And the truth was that Derren wanted her with him. She had a way of calming him, of restoring his balance. Like then. She’d melted that icy numbness, helped him face the situation and think it through. Moreover, she’d believed in him. She hadn’t doubted his innocence for even a second. She hadn’t pulled away or looked at him any differently. “I need you again.” He was coming to suspect he always would.
It was dark. Too dark.
Worse, she was cold and trapped. “We have to get out.” She shoved the wall of rocks as hard as she could, but they just wouldn’t move. Fear and panic whirled through her, making her shiver and claw at the rocks.
“It’s okay, Ally, we’re going to be okay.”
Not if she didn’t tell everyone what she’d seen. She clawed harder at the rocks, and Cain’s hand suddenly yanked her away.
“Ally, stop, you’re going to hurt yourself.”
“We have to get out! We have to warn them or they’ll die!”
“What do you mean, they’ll die?”
“Ally,” another voice interrupted. “Ally, wake up, baby.”
She shrugged free of his hand and again went at the rocks. Her claws snapped and her fingers bled as she tried to find a way out. The scent of blood filled the air.
“No, Ally, we can’t get out that way.”
“We have to!” Because the intruders were coming. They would kill them all.
“Ally, it’s just a nightmare, baby. Open your eyes.”
She froze as several loud, challenging howls split the air. “They’re here.”
“Ally, wake the fuck up!” That demanding, authoritative voice was too powerful to ignore.
Ally burst out of the dream, and found herself looking into familiar pools of dark velvet. Another damn nightmare, on schedule. It was like they waited for her.
Derren cupped her neck. “It’s okay, baby.” Her mouth crashed on his just as her arms locked around his neck, as if he could anchor her where she was. Like a cat, she rubbed her body against his, bringing his cock to life.
He didn’t usually sense when she was having a nightmare, but he’d been wide-awake—his mind latched on the news he’d received from his sister. Ally had done no more than squirm and scowl, but he’d instantly understood she was trapped in the dark again.
He grunted as her hand curled around his cock and began to pump. Her mouth was desperate, hot, and seeking—he knew what she was looking for from him: to forget. If that was what she wanted, he’d give it to her.
Derren rolled her onto her back. “Shush. You’re not there anymore. The dark doesn’t have you now.” He slipped a hand under her ass and tilted her hips. “I do.” He thrust hard and deep, groaning as her pussy clamped around him. So fucking good. Her legs wrapped around his hips and her claws dug into his back as he plunged in and out of her. Her hard nipples stabbed into his chest, making him remember just how sweet they tasted.
“Harder,” she rasped, her eyes glazed with lust.
“I’ll give you what you need. I’ll always give you what you need.” His pace furious, he fucked her into the mattress. The headboard slammed against the wall but he didn’t give a shit. If this was what she needed, she’d have it. Her pussy began to flutter around his cock. “Ready to come for me?” He slipped a hand between their bodies and strummed his fingers over her clit.
She bit him. Reared up and bit him right on the shoulder as her pussy clenched and milked his cock.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled, slamming home one last time as he emptied himself inside her. Panting and shaking, he stared down at her—shocked and gratified that she’d marked him. A dreamy smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and then she fell asleep. Derren wondered if she’d even been truly awake to begin with. He snickered. “Little minx.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Grief was such a complicated package of emotions. Anger, hopelessness, disbelief, regret, fear, guilt, loneliness—it all flowed from the people around Ally and battered at her, giving her a sharp, pounding headache.
Watching as the coffins were lowered into the ground, she stood beside Derren while Nick and Roni flanked them. Despite the dangers that came with leaving pack territory, Nick and Roni had both been adamant that they would be present at the funeral with Derren. Apparently, they were the only two people in the pack other than Ally who knew everything that had happened to him. Bracken and Marcus had also come along, but remained outside the border of the territory. In case Nick’s SUV was targeted, he’d ordered the enforcers to follow in a separate vehicle. It was a good thing, since Marcus had refused to let Roni leave pack territory without him anyway.
Shocked, nervous, and fearful, Derren’s old Alphas had tried turning him away when he appeared on their territory. But when Nick had pointed out that he could—and absolutely would—make life difficult for them if they didn’t grant Derren the simple right to be present at his own parents’ funeral, the Alphas had folded. Nobody with a brain wanted Nick Axton as an enemy.
Since they had arrived, Derren had avoided touching Ally, as if worried that his emotions
would bleed into her and increase the pain she was already feeling. While she was grateful, she also wanted to touch him and soothe him—especially since his old pack was behaving atrociously.
The adults kept their pups shielded, hiding Derren from their view . . . like he was a sick predator, and the mere sight of him would traumatize the kids. Their suspiciousness, disgust, and fear felt like acid on her tongue. It was pathetic, unfair, and maddening.
There was only one adult who had made proper eye contact with Derren: a petite female with eyes and hair as dark as his. Ally guessed it was his sister. Whenever her mate caught her casting glances at Derren, the guy would nudge her with his elbow; she would then instantly lower her gaze. No, Ally didn’t like him at all.
She didn’t like any of them, and she didn’t like them being near Derren. He’d been through enough. Had been unjustly punished for something he hadn’t done, had spent most of his youth in juvie, and had suffered greatly in that fucked-up place. And these people—who had let down a fourteen-year-old boy so badly, who could have prevented all of it if they had just been willing to listen to his account—thought it was okay to treat him this way? Nu-uh.
Her heart had ached for him the night before when she’d seen just how shocked he was that she believed he was innocent. The extent of the damage and pain his old pack’s betrayal had caused him had become extremely clear to her. Even if she didn’t know him well enough to know he wasn’t capable of harming a female that way, she only had to consider that Derren wasn’t a guy who made excuses for himself. Like Ally, he believed in owning his shit, in taking responsibility for his actions.
If he said he didn’t do it, she believed him.
As the service ended, the crowd began to disperse. The grievers all gave Derren plenty of space as they passed—their eyes wide with fright and their mouths flat with distaste. A growl seeped out of Ally before she could stop it, making a few of them jump. Ha.
“It’s okay,” Derren told her, his voice low.
Ally looked at him. “No, actually, it’s not.”
Okay, no, it wasn’t. Derren loathed that he’d been branded a rapist—a creature that should be fucking killed on sight. Roni had almost been raped as a teenager, and the shifters here had lumped Derren in the same category as the fuckers who had attacked her. But he refused to get worked up about it right now; he had enough shit going on in his head. “Had you expected anything different?” He hadn’t.
“I’d hoped that maybe they’d developed a bit of sense at some point in the last decade and a half.”
Derren forced himself to resist the urge to touch her, not wanting to worsen her pain. “To admit that they were wrong, even to admit it to themselves, would mean accepting they’re exactly what you called them on the way here this morning—‘ignorant, easily led, thoughtless bastards.’ No one would want that title.” She just humphed, which pulled a weak smile from him. “Snippier than usual this morning, aren’t you?”
Yeah, as it happened, she was. In truth, Ally was feeling a little off-balance today. As usual, she had woken up wrapped in strong arms. What wasn’t at all usual, however, was that she’d woken up in her bed. Yep, she’d spent the whole night in bed. That hadn’t happened since . . . well, since before her childhood pack was slain. She didn’t know what that meant. Did it even mean anything? Was she overthinking it? Probably.
Nick, looking as pissed with these wolves as Ally was, turned to Derren. “Ready to go?”
Derren nodded. He’d paid his respects to the parents he’d once had as a kid. There was no longer any reason to—
“Shit, what the fuck does this asshole want?”
Roni’s words had Derren tracking her gaze to find a stout, elderly male shifter pausing a short distance away. Derren realized it was an old friend of his father’s.
“You shouldn’t have come,” the man stated firmly.
Ally waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, keep walking.” The aging shifter blinked at her, clearly surprised. “You get to feel how you feel. You don’t get to offload those feelings on other people.” She ushered him away with her hands. “Shoo.” The male actually did.
Unable to help it, Derren pressed a kiss to her temple. “Thanks, baby.”
“Here we go again,” grumbled Roni.
Another shifter stopped close to them. It was a female this time, and Derren easily recognized her. He nodded stiffly. “Roxanne.”
“Derren.” She cleared her throat, and a brief smile flickered on her face. “A lot taller than when I last saw you.” Seeing that her mate was fast approaching, she quickly continued. “Mom and Dad . . . they had a will and—”
“I don’t want anything from them, Roxanne.” Derren didn’t speak with bitterness or anger. He was simply stating a fact. “I just came here to pay my respects.”
Her mate placed a hand on her shoulder. “Honey, it’s time we left.”
Roxanne bowed her head. “Yes, Warren.”
Warren eyed Derren suspiciously. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Derren would bet he had.
“I don’t know how you heard about your parents’ death or the funeral”—so Roxanne had gone against the crowd for once in her life—“but you had no right to come here.”
Derren tilted his head, his tone steady and calm. “What makes you think your opinion has any relevance whatsoever to me?”
“It is kind of odd that he expects you to care,” agreed Roni.
“They were my parents,” Derren said to Warren. “I have every right to attend their funeral. The fact that you’re shitting all over this day by causing a fuss at their graveside . . . Not sure they would thank you for that.”
Roxanne tugged on her mate’s arm. “We should leave.”
Warren sneered at Derren. “Do these wolves here with you know what you did?”
Ally spoke up. “Know that he was prosecuted for a crime he didn’t commit? Yes, we do.” She gave him a bright smile. “So you can run right along.”
Warren narrowed his eyes at her. “Blind faith can be a dangerous thing.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ally shot Roxanne a meaningful look, and she actually flushed. Apparently the female did in fact wonder if she’d done wrong by her brother. “Wondering” wasn’t enough, in Ally’s book. Roxanne should have acted on that sliver of doubt. He was her baby brother, for God’s sake.
“Let’s just leave,” Roxanne told her mate.
“Yes, let’s.” Warren straightened his shoulders. “I have no wish to be in the presence of these people.”
Ally smiled at him again. “How awesome for you. Bye now.”
Warren looked to the two bulky, blank-faced wolves that the Alphas had assigned to “escort” Derren. Translation: they were there to watch him closely. “Escort them off our territory.” The wolves didn’t appear impressed to be receiving an order from a male who was barely dominant and, as such, had no authority over them. They dismissed him with a look.
Derren was more than happy to leave. “Let’s get out of here.” He took Ally’s hand in his as they all made their way to the SUV that was waiting outside the pack’s territory. He paid close attention to their “escorts.” One walked in front of them while the other walked behind them.
There were also other wolves—who apparently thought he wouldn’t sense them—padding through the forest to their right and keeping pace with them. Noting that Nick, Roni, and Ally occasionally flicked their gaze in the direction of the forest, Derren knew his pack mates had also sensed them.
When he finally crossed the border, Derren’s wolf stopped prowling in apprehension—though he remained watchful and on guard.
“What a pack of utter assholes,” remarked Roni. “You know, Derren, if your sister hadn’t been so disloyal to you, I’d feel sorry for her for having that pompous bastard as her—”
The breath left Ally’s lungs as Derren’s body crashed into her, and she hit the ground hard behind the SUV as he yelled, “Down!”
There was swearing,
grunting, loud snaps cracking the air, and the sound of tires screeching away. It took her a few seconds to process what had happened. Someone had fucking shot at them.
“Ally, are you all right?” Derren asked, frantic as he searched her body for injuries.
“Yes, but you’re not.” Dread filled the pit of Ally’s stomach as a red stain began to bloom over the shoulder of his shirt.
“We need to get in the SUV now.” He pulled her to her feet as he looked at Nick and a hobbling Roni. Yes, Derren’s first concern should have been for his Alpha. But when he’d caught a glint of silver hanging out of the passenger window of a black van, his primal instincts had urged him to protect Ally.
Nick carefully placed a cursing Roni into the rear of the SUV. “She took a bullet to the thigh.”
“It went straight through, I’ll be fine.” But there was pain in Roni’s voice.
Derren held the rear door open for Ally. “Get in, baby.”
She didn’t; her eyes were on the red stain that had spread way too far for her peace of mind. “Derren, let me see.”
“Help Roni first.” Derren practically shoved her inside before hopping into the passenger seat. Immediately, Nick sped off.
Roni jerked in her seat and then cradled her leg. “Motherfucker! Jaime’s right. Getting shot isn’t fun.”
That did sound like something Jaime would say. Ally laid her hands near the wound. “It’s okay. Just be still.”
“You didn’t foresee this?” Nick’s voice was like a whip.
Without moving her gaze from Roni’s injury, Ally told him, “Seers don’t see everything. That’s not how it works.”
“Nick, lay off,” Derren ground out before swerving to face her. “Baby, it’s not your fault.” He knew she’d feel guilty.
“We’ve grown complacent because of Ally’s visions,” said Roni as the wound finally closed over. She gave Ally a nod of thanks. “You’re handy to have around.” At that moment, Roni’s cell phone rang. Marcus’s frantic voice made her wince. “I’m fine. Really. Ally healed me, I’m fine. Just get the fuckers for me.” With that, she hung up.