A Mate's Sacrifice: (Hot Paranormal Romance) (Ozark Mountain Shifters Book 2) Read online

  Vesh’s stomach dropped, but he managed to form a question. “On what grounds?” He was aware that the room had become silent.

  “On the grounds that you’re a traitor.”

  “Bullshit,” Vesh spat.

  “Or at least that’s what I’m telling people. They’re convinced it’s true since Farrow managed to find a target that you couldn’t. And it doesn’t matter if it’s true anyway. I’ve always known your allegiance was to your sister and not me. See, I moved you like a pawn, using you where needed. Now, I need a bounty on your head in order to control my mate.” Alpha sighed long and heavy. “She just doesn’t respond to outward stimuli anymore. My fist only bruises her face. It doesn’t compel her to obey.”

  “You son-of-a-bitch.”

  “Oh, indeed. But watch your back, wolf. I’ve promised my sweet Besh I won’t let anyone harm you as long as she cooperates. If she doesn’t… well, you’ll know it.”

  “This isn’t over. I swear I’ll kill you if you hurt her.”

  “Oh, and Vesh, one more thing. I have it on good authority that you’ve found your mate.” The blood rushed from Vesh’s face. “That she is blonde and possibly a relative of our enemies?” Vesh rushed to the window, closing the blinds. The bastard had spies on the apartment. Of course, he did.

  “What is it?” Braeh whispered.

  “Might I make a suggestion?” Alpha’s tone was laced with threat.

  Vesh stared at his mate. He gripped the phone so tight he heard the plastic cover crack.

  “Do make sure she stays safe, would you? She might come in handy later.”

  The line went dead as the call was disconnected. He pulled the phone away, staring at the screen, breathing hard. Shit. The cruel son-of-a-bitch not only had his sister, but also threatened his mate.

  He was a dead man.

  Vesh looked at Trager. “You heard all that, right?”

  He nodded.

  “I didn’t,” Braeh cut it. “Someone tell me what’s happening?”

  “I didn’t know the first mate was your sister,” Trager said, ignoring her.

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Vesh sneered.

  There was a beat of silence. “What are you going to do?”

  Vesh ground his molars together. “I’m going to get her out of there. Somehow. I’m going to take Alph—Jax—down.” He would. One day, his sister would be free to make her own decisions. Free to live. “But first, he has eyes on this place. We need to leave. Need to find a place to stay where he can’t get to us.”

  Trager narrowed his eyes, clearly contemplating something. Then he sighed, seeming to come to a decision. “I think I have a solution to both of those problems.”

  Chapter Seven

  Braeh held her breath as Trager finally hung up his phone and came back into the living room. Kerrigan stood against the wall nervously tapping her fingers against her elbows. Vesh covered the front window with his big frame. As if he thought someone was going to launch a grenade through the glass or something.

  Trager sighed. “The Ravendale alpha says he’ll meet us, but that’s as far as he’d go. He won’t guarantee sanctuary.”

  Vesh nodded. “I’ll convince him.”

  “It won’t help to piss him off.”

  “I didn’t say I would piss him off,” Vesh growled through clenched teeth. “I said I’d convince him.”

  Trager raised both hands. “Fine. Do your best. We need his help. Just remember that.”

  “Yeah, I get it. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

  Trager nodded and turned to Kerri. “Go pack a bag. Bring anything you can’t live without. I’m not sure how this is going to play out.”

  Kerrigan nodded. “Braeh?”

  “My stuff’s basically packed.” She sighed. “Maybe I should just catch the next flight home.”

  “No, Brae. You just got here.”

  “I know, but this is a bad time with all of… this. And I can always come back some other time.”

  “Yeah, right. It took you six years to visit. I want to spend some time with you. I’m sorry this is happening right now. Stay. We’ll get this straightened out. You’ll see.”

  Braeh glanced at Vesh. Arms crossed over his chest, he stared at the floor, but his jaw was rigid with tension. He looked like he was strung so tight, one pluck of his strings and he’d break apart. She was torn between feeling bad for him and wanting to pluck at him to see what would happen. Made her wonder what a guy like Vesh did for stress relief. She had a pretty good idea.

  She shook her head to derail the thoughts. “Yeah, okay. I was due for some excitement anyway. Why not add a little danger to the mix?”

  “Come on. Help me pack.”

  Following Kerrigan into the bedroom, she couldn’t help the nervous excitement that fluttered in her belly. The shifter world she’d learned about since arriving still felt surreal to her. All the proof kept hitting her in the face, but even now, it felt like a strange dream. A fictional world outside of the one she’d lived in her whole life.

  She gathered her open suitcase from the corner and brought it to the bed while Kerrigan pulled hers from the top of the closet and started throwing stuff in it.

  “You okay?” she asked on her second trip from the closet.

  Braeh nodded. “Confused, but yeah, I’m okay.”

  Kerrigan paused, shaking her head, brow furrowed. “I should’ve known. When you said he healed. But I still don’t know everything about how shifters work. I should’ve picked up on it. God… you’re his mate, Braeh.”

  She didn’t understand her sister’s distress over the term. It didn’t mean anything. Whatever they all thought, it was really nothing because Vesh wasn’t even into her. A big flirt, yes. But she knew how guys acted when they were interested, and it wasn’t how he acted.

  Braeh shrugged. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Worry about it? No, you don’t understand. He’s going to get all possessive and claim-y. Wolves need their mates to be stronger. Once they find them, they don’t let go. He’ll do anything to win you over. I don’t want to see you with him.”

  “Why?” Secretly, what Kerri described sounded kind of wonderful. A man so dedicated to her that he’d fight anything to keep her? It sounded like a romance novel come to life. No guy had ever wanted her that badly. The idea made her insides tingle.

  Kerrigan looked at her, horrified. “Vesh? He’s… I don’t know. There’s something wrong with him. I have a feeling his flaws run deep.”

  Braeh nodded. “We’re all a little screwed up though, aren’t we? In some way?”

  Kerrigan nodded, jamming more clothes into her suitcase. “I just always pictured you settling down with someone… nicer.”

  Laughter burst from Braeh’s mouth, but she stifled it when Kerrigan shot her a glare. “I’m not settling down, so stop worrying.”

  A knock on the door halted their conversation. Trager poked his head in. “You ready?”

  Kerrigan nodded, zipping her suitcase and then reaching over to zip Braeh’s too. “Ready.”

  Trager carried both bags into the living room, and Braeh tucked Kerrigan’s handgun into her purse before following.

  Vesh stood by the front door like a sentinel. “I’m on my bike. I’ll follow you,” he said to Trager.

  “You drive a motorcycle?” Braeh asked. That explained one reason for Kerrigan’s dislike. But Braeh thought she was over that now, since Trager had one too.

  Vesh nodded.

  This could be fun. Braeh smiled. “I’m with you then.”

  Kerrigan’s frown took up her entire face. “No, Brae, you can ride with us in the 4-Runner.”

  “Ha. No. I’ve seen that thing. One ride in it will ruin whatever street cred I have. I’ll take the back of his bike over the backseat of that hunk-a-junk any day, thank you very much.”

  Kerrigan rolled her eyes, but Braeh could see the worry behind the action. Her sister had been through so much in
the last year and a half. She was definitely catching up to Braeh in the badass department.

  “Fine. Let’s go,” Vesh said.

  As the four of them made their way to the parking lot Braeh noticed how Trager and Vesh scanned the area. How their noses rose slightly to scent the air. Alert. They sensed danger, as any animal could. Through instinct. The knowledge made her shiver.

  When she was settled on the back of Vesh’s bike, his helmet on her head, Kerrigan stuck her head out the window of the 4-Runner and glared at him. “I swear to all that’s holy, if my sister doesn’t make it there safely, I’ll neuter you.”

  His eyebrows shot into his hairline, and Braeh held in a snicker.

  “Really, kitten, all I’m hearing is you offering to touch my balls. Not sure your mate’s down for that.” With that, the bike roared to life.

  Braeh held onto the side of the bike, but as they pulled out behind Trager, it became obvious she’d need to hold something else if she wanted to stay on. Grinning to herself, she carefully wrapped her arms around Vesh’s waist. He froze for a split second, but then relaxed.

  The drive to the meeting place was entirely too short. Braeh thought she could go for hours on the back of this bike, feeling the air rush around her and the power of the engine underneath.

  Vesh pulled into the parking lot of a raggedy road-side bar. The dilapidated sign out front read “Bullseye”. Nice. There were plenty of places like this one back home. This was her comfort zone.

  The engine cut out but she still heard the ringing in her ears. Trager and Kerrigan stepped out of the SUV.

  “He’s not here yet,” Vesh announced, dismounting his bike and holding his hand out for Braeh. It was clearly a thoughtless gesture, but she took it anyway.

  “How do you know?” she asked.

  He stared down at her with his intense eyes. “I can’t sense his dominance,” he explained. “I don’t smell him either. There are plenty of wolves around, but not an alpha.”

  “Oh.”

  He didn’t take his eyes off her.

  “Let’s wait inside,” Trager suggested.

  Vesh nodded.

  The building was crowded with people, but it wasn’t necessarily what Braeh had expected. Besides leather clad bikers, there were college students, men in business suits, rednecks, and more than a few yummy cowboys decked out in wranglers. Not to mention women of every shape, size, and state of undress. Braeh glanced at Kerrigan’s flannel shirt with khakis get-up. In the eclectic crowd, her sister didn’t stick out as much as she’d expected.

  The tables and booths were full so they ended up at the bar. The guys ordered drinks, while Braeh scanned the place, trying to determine who was supernatural and who was human like her.

  She elbowed Kerri. “How can I tell who is of the howling variety?”

  Kerrigan shrugged a shoulder. “Hell if I know. I didn’t suspect Trager until he turned.”

  “Huh.”

  Vesh passed her an icy bottle. She wasn’t much for beer, but she took a long drag anyway, thinking she might need to get ahead on her buzz. She’d never met an alpha before and didn’t quite know what to expect.

  The music switched from country to rock, and someone howled—a frat boy. She guessed he was as human as she was.

  Bullseye didn’t have a dance floor but couples danced scandalously anyway. Braeh fidgeted on her stool. She liked dancing. It was one of her favorite things to do when she needed to just cut loose, but she figured now wasn’t the time. She could feel the tension leeching off of the other three.

  Vesh’s hand landed on the small of her back, and she glanced at him. But he wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were fixed on the door. Seconds later, Braeh felt a shift in the air, causing a chill to run up her spine. It wasn’t something that could be described. Like when you wake because someone’s staring at you or that feeling of being followed when you’re walking home from work at night. An unexplained uneasiness.

  The mystery was explained when the door burst open and the baddest looking dude she’d seen since—well, since she met Vesh—walked through, followed by two other equally bad looking dudes. The leader who she could only assume was the Ravendale alpha, had long blond hair, shaved on the sides and back, a long beard, and a scowl that could chase away a devil. He was flanked by a tatted up muscle bound buzz cut, who looked like a real life GI Joe, and a ferocious looking black guy who seemed like he found breaking bones a fun pastime.

  Braeh gulped.

  The three of them moved through the crowd like Moses and the Israelites through the Red Sea. The people just parted, giving them a wide berth. Except for a few daring ladies. Braeh watched as those who dared approach, were easily rejected.

  As the alpha and his crew approached, Vesh’s arm grew tighter around Braeh’s waist. She glanced at Kerrigan. Her sister was chewing her bottom lip, but her body was plastered to Trager’s side. He looked the least bothered of all of them.

  Braeh schooled her face. Be like Trager. Who would’ve guessed that thought would ever run through her mind.

  The alpha stopped in front of them, looking only at Trager. “You have information for me?”

  “I do. We have mutual concerns, and clearly if you meant me and my mate any harm you would’ve already acted.”

  A cruel smirk lifted one corner of the alpha’s mouth. “Not still pissed about my wolves scoping out your land?”

  A muscle ticked in Trager’s jaw. “Hard to be angry when you gave me the name of the asshole who torched my house.”

  “How do you know I wasn’t lying?”

  “Why would you?”

  “To cause conflict. A distraction. To test your faithfulness to Ozarka.”

  Vesh tensed.

  Trager shook his head. “I know it wasn’t Ravendale. But not because I took your word for it, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  Braeh knew he’d overheard it when Vesh was on the phone.

  The alpha turned his gaze on Vesh before his eyes settled on Braeh. He stared hard. And she met him stare for stare. It should have made her uncomfortable, but something about him set her at ease even with all the raw power she could feel wafting from him. He seemed to be searching her face for something. What though, she had no clue. For a split second, he seemed like a lost boy. But a blink later, he was fierce again.

  “You’ve betrayed your alpha?” he asked Vesh, his eyes never leaving Breah.

  “No,” he growled. “I’m no traitor.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “For my sister.”

  Those words snapped the alpha from his staring and he moved his glare to Vesh.

  “Jax has gone crazy,” Trager said. “He set Vesh up to look like he betrayed the pack, all so he could expel him and use him to control Besh.”

  The alpha’s jaw clenched so hard, Braeh thought he might crack a tooth. “Don’t speak her name,” he hissed.

  Whoa. What was this? Braeh got the impression the conflict between these two packs ran very deep. Heart deep, in fact.

  “She’s in even more danger without me there to protect her,” Vesh ground out. “He’ll do whatever he wants to her now.”

  The Ravendale alpha sneered. “Are your Elders so weak they can’t stop him?”

  “You know it doesn’t work like that. No one can stop the alpha unless they kill him.”

  The Ravendale alpha stared out at the gyrating crowd. “So, what do you want from me?”

  Trager spoke up. “Sanctuary, in exchange for our help in taking down Jax. My den has been compromised, and Vesh’s mate—my mate’s sister—has been threatened. We need a safe place to go until all this passes over. Until he’s dead.”

  The alpha shook his head. “Why should I open my camp to you? Do you plan on swearing allegiance to Ravendale?”

  Trager clamped his jaw shut.

  “Didn’t think so. How about you?” He turned to Vesh. “Does the second in command to my enemy plan to jump ships and bow at my feet? Or how about
you?” His gaze snapped to Braeh. “Human, are you to join my pack?”

  A growl rose from Vesh’s throat and his arm tightened even further.

  The alpha laughed, but it wasn’t friendly. “No. And yet you want me to allow you into our camp, to bring danger to my people. None of you are a good enough reason to put my people in harm’s way.”

  He shook his head, turning to leave. But Braeh had a hunch. This wolf’s eyes were too expressive. When they’d mentioned Vesh’s sister, she thought she’d seen a hint of panic behind his outburst.

  The three wolves were already two steps away when she blurted, “Besh is.”

  He froze. Seconds ticked by before he turned back. “What did you say?” his words were harsh, like barbed wire against metal.

  Vesh angled himself in front of Braeh, but the alpha’s eyes stayed glued to her.

  They needed this man’s help. Vesh’s sister had a douchebag abusive mate, and even though she’d only just met him, Braeh wanted to help him save her. No woman deserved to be bullied by someone who was supposed to love her. Besides that, Trager and Kerri needed to be safe too. And she’d bet her last dollar that the alpha before her and his two bulky buddies ran a secure camp.

  “I said…” She scooted Vesh aside so the alpha could see her clearly. She wanted him to know she wasn’t intimidated by him. “Besh is important enough. She is, isn’t she? To you? She’s worth the risk.”

  The black wolf shifted nervously and GI Joe was stock still. Their actions told her she’d hit a nerve. With a sledge hammer.

  “Listen, she needs away from that bastard. You help us, we’ll help you. And together, we’ll help her.”

  Still, he glared at Braeh, as if she’d just gone on a kitten murder spree.

  “You have a common enemy. And now, what better gift could you ask for than your enemy’s former right-hand man? It’s the ultimate leg up.”

  More silent seconds passed.

  Finally, the alpha broke his furious gaze. “Follow me,” he barked.