Mated in Mist (Talon Pack #3)(47)

He turned off the screen and rolled his shoulders before locking up his secret office and heading toward the medical rooms. He wanted to check on his specimens in the cages. As usual, they screamed, the toxic sludge in their veins probably killing them at this point. They would die for science, for power, and they would have to cling to a world of no hope…except for the hope for him, of course.

McMaster, like his accomplice General Montag, wanted the wolves locked in their dens like the animals they were. While Montag wanted the shifter’s powers for his own purposes, McMaster wanted the beasts put to death.

He’d use them for his own power, then he’d have them die by their own fate. He had a bill coming that he would pay dearly for. But that bill would force the wolves to be outed completely in society, and therefore, be caged like the animals they were within their dens. It would make them easier to study, and eventually end.

Easier for slaughter.

Easier for planning.

Easier for him.





Chapter Twelve


Ryder cupped Leah’s shoulder as she dried her hair with a towel. The soft fabric slid along his wrist, and she shook her head, pulling the towel away from her hair. Her long, honey-brown hair spilled down her back and over his arm. After leaving the icy lake and putting on their dry clothes over cold and wet bodies, they’d made it back to his place. Throughout that and their shower, they’d kept their hands on each other as if they couldn’t keep a distance beyond the one he’d made already. They’d also remained silent.

When they’d passed other Packmates on the way to the house, they’d nodded at them, but that was it.

They’d said enough in the lake to know if they were to break their silence too soon, they might break everything else.

He’d hurt her. Hurt her enough that she thought it was her fault. And that was something that could not be allowed. No matter what he did, no matter how he messed up, it wasn’t Leah’s fault. He was the one with the shattered gift and a wolf who tore him up when he shifted. While he hadn’t wanted to force his pain on her, he’d hurt her just the same.

“You’re thinking so hard I can almost hear your thoughts,” Leah said softly. She turned in his arms and rested her forehead on his chest. “I’m not weak, Ryder. You can lean on me too, you know. You don’t have to do everything on your own.”

He cupped her face, forcing her gaze to his. “I’ve never once thought you were weak. From the moment you woke up and fought to protect yourself from the unknown, I knew you were stronger than anyone I had ever met.”

She blew out a breath. “You say that, yet you don’t treat me as if you believe it.”

His thumb ran along her cheekbone, and she ever so slightly leaned in to his hold. “You can take care of yourself, and yet, sometimes, I don’t want you to have to. That’s not only my wolf in action, but the man.”

Leah pulled away from his hold but took his hand. “Let’s go to the living room and sit down. Then you can tell me what you need to.”

Ryder was the Heir of the Talon Pack. He had fought for his Pack and protected his own. He’d withheld his secrets so enemies could not use them, as well as to keep his shame from those who loved him.

And now he would have to face the consequences of his decisions. Because he’d been blessed by the goddess with a potential mate, and yet he’d pushed her away while still keeping a small hold on her. He didn’t deserve her, yet he didn’t want to let her go.

They made their way to the living room and sat next to one another on the couch. Leah sank into the cushions but didn’t look as relaxed as she was trying to portray. He’d been the one to do that. She may have lost her father that morning, but the pain on her face wasn’t born of that.

“I wasn’t born the Heir,” he said after a few moments of silence. Leah didn’t respond except to grip his hand. “My uncles and father were the ones who held the mantles of power from the goddess. You know some of my history, my family’s history. But in order for you to understand why…just why…I’ll tell you more.”

She squeezed his hand. “Just say what you need to, how you need to. I told you about my family and the Coven. So I understand. Sometimes, you have to go the long way.”

He kissed her knuckles then rubbed his thumb along them. “My father was a sadist. While that, in itself, wouldn’t normally be a horrific thing, he held the power of the Pack and not only liked to deliver pain, he liked to deliver humiliation, torture, and death. He beat Gideon until my brother, my Alpha, couldn’t walk. He…he hurt Brynn to the point I didn’t think she’d be whole again.”

He let out a shaky breath. “Each uncle verbally and physically abused us. Mitchell and Max’s father saved his pain only for his sons, and I don’t know the details. It’s not my place to know them unless they are ready to reveal. We grew up in pain and fire. So much distrust and agony came from the men before us, the goddess began to disown us.”

Leah met his gaze, and he took a deep breath.

“Until Gina from the Redwood Pack and Quinn mated, there hadn’t been a mating in the Talon Pack for fifteen years.” He closed his eyes. “Those fifteen years were a time of rebuilding. Gideon killed our father because of his crimes, and most of the other uncles lost their battles during the Redwood and Central war.”