Echoes of Fire (The Mercury Pack #4)(81)
Jaw hardening, the male lifted his chin in challenge.
Bracken grinned. “Now you’re just daring me to do my worst.” The hyena flinched as Bracken’s claws sliced out. “Someone gag him. We can’t have the pups hearing him scream.”
Ignoring the male’s struggle, Eli quickly and deftly gagged him with an old rag.
Chest heaving, face reddening, heart pounding, the hyena stared at Bracken with eyes that finally showed a glint of true fear. His inner wolf relished the sight of it.
Bracken took slow steps toward the bastard. “When you’re ready to talk, all you have to do is blink hard three times. Until you do, I’m going to introduce you to the kind of pain you didn’t know existed.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
On warm nights such as this, Madisyn often slept on a blanket in her backyard. She liked watching the sunlight drain from the sky and the shadows thicken, liked being part of the relaxing quiet that often descended. As she lay on a blanket on the grass near Bracken’s lodge, she wasn’t quite so relaxed. The forest was far from quiet at night. Crickets chirped, owls screeched, tree frogs croaked, and a damn fox kept screaming its ass off, sounding like a woman getting slaughtered. And if that bat swooped down again, she was going to throw her shoe at it.
However, she did like looking up at the night sky—or what she could see of it through the breaks in the tall shadowed trees. Relatively cloudless, it was currently more of a deep violet than black. It also had very faint traces of blue and gold around the edges. All in all, it was beautiful to look at.
A light breeze whispered over her skin, lifting her hair, slipping through the grass, fluttering the leaves, and gently rocking the tree branches. It brought with it the scents of rich earth, moss, tree sap, and pine needles. She closed her eyes and—
A twig snapped in the distance. She stilled, reaching out with her enhanced senses. Something was padding through the woods, heading her way. She didn’t need to guess who it was. Only a minute ago, a howl had split the air. She’d known instinctively that it was Bracken’s wolf. Sensed that he was calling to her, telling her he was coming home.
When Bracken had left the lodge earlier, she’d expected him to be back within an hour. More than four hours later, she was still waiting for him to show—and still feeling his cold rage through their bond. It was a good thing she hadn’t held off on having dinner until he returned, or she’d be starving right now.
Politely turning down Harley’s offer to eat with her and Jesse, Madisyn had instead helped herself to some microwavable mac and cheese—all while taking a call from a highly anxious Dawn, assuring her that she was fine, and there was no need for Dawn to come all the way down here to check on her.
Dead leaves crunching.
The sound made Madisyn turn her head. The light spilling out of the lodge’s back window illuminated the large gray wolf that slowly padded her way, seeming . . . not tired, but weary. Her brow creased. She wondered if Bracken’s cold rage was somehow draining or weighing the wolf down.
When she’d called Nick not so long ago to ask if everything was okay, he’d replied, “Bracken got the answers he needed, he’ll be with you soon.” He’d waited a beat before adding, “He’s not himself right now. Try to be patient with him.”
Crossing right to her, the wolf nuzzled her hair and licked at her face.
“Ew.” She covered his muzzle and gently pushed it away with one hand while petting his neck with the other. There was a hint of soap in his scent, making her wonder if Bracken had showered at the main lodge before making his way here in his wolf form. She didn’t have to wonder what he’d been washing away from his skin.
The wolf settled beside her on the blanket and rested his head on her chest. She continued to pet him, running her fingers through all that surprisingly soft fur. They stayed there like that for a while. He usually pulled back after some affection from her, but she soon noticed that his eyelids were beginning to droop.
Madisyn arched a brow. “Not planning to shift back soon, huh?” Either Bracken wasn’t ready to talk yet or the wolf needed touch. Maybe it was both. Fine. Bracken was much easier to talk to when he couldn’t butt in anyway. And if he was still stuck in detached mode, she wasn’t in a rush for him to shift back. Maybe he’d be better for having the time to snap out of it. And while she was interested to hear what the hyena had said, she already suspected he was likely to be a lone shifter hired by Archer.
“I noticed the rockery over there by the porch,” she said, knowing Bracken would hear and understand her. It wasn’t there that morning, which meant he’d built it while she was at the shelter. The realization had melted her frustration at his detached manner. “Thank you. My cat had a lot of fun in it while we waited for you.”
The wolf’s eyes flashed human as he licked at her jaw, which she translated into Bracken acknowledging her gratitude and assuring her that she was welcome. Eyelids once more falling shut, the wolf drifted off. Madisyn decided to do the same. Tomorrow. They could talk tomorrow.
Madisyn woke alone. Her stomach growled at the scent of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and coffee.
Apparently, Bracken was cooking. Thanks to the mating bond, she sensed that the cold rage was gone. But since the only thing she was picking up from him was hunger, she couldn’t quite gauge his emotional state.