Pride Unleashed Page 12

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  I hate to turn my back on Gem and leave but under the circumstance I have no choice. Especially if I want to move about the vents undetected and get back before Sandy awakens.

  After assuring Gem that I’ll be back as soon as I can, I work to get my emotions under control so they don’t end up getting the better of me. I have to think with clarity as I strategize the next stage of our escape. Moving about silently, I climb back into the shaft, knowing I can’t make any mistakes as I secure the grate behind me and begin to retrace my steps back to my cell.

  I take that time to consider what Gem told me and while I’d like to go straight to the master’s office and have that key in my possession before we begin a new day, I know I’ve lost far too much time as it is.

  I need to get back to my bunk before Sandy discovers I’m gone. My pulse races thinking about what she’d do with that knowledge, or how she’d use it against me and try to destroy everything we’re working toward. My heart hurts for her, a bone deep ache that I’m sure I’ll forever carry. I can only hope that someday she’ll stop disliking me and see the master for what he really is.

  As much as I hate to stay locked in my cage for another night—I’d really like to break out of this prison before I’m forced to face whatever it is the master has planned for the courtyard tomorrow—I have no choice but to sit tight and tame my wolf. While I’d like to let her off her leash, I know better than to hurry things along. Rushing only leads to mistakes and every move I make in this deadly game of life and death must be played with intelligence and strategy.

  Once I’m back in my own room, I drop onto the top of my cage, bracing my feet on the metal bars as I regain my balance. Then I move with agility, without sound as I make my way to the edge of my cell. I roll onto my stomach and slide down the bar. After my feet hit the floor, I reach for the key, open my door and slip inside. I take a quick peek at Sandy to ensure she’s still asleep before I lift the corner of my cot and place the key beneath for safe keeping.

  By the time I settle myself into my bed, my heart is racing a million miles an hour and there is nothing I can do to settle my shuffling thoughts. The fact that freedom for all is so close that I can almost taste it, not to mention the huge spike in my adrenaline, makes it difficult for me to unwind. But I force my eyes shut and will my body and brain to relax.

  When I open my eyes again, I know a new day is upon me. I turn to find Sandy staring at me, shards of silver puncture the brown in her eyes as her wolf growls at me.

  “Sandy,” I say to her in a soft tone, needing most desperately for her to understand I’m on her side, but taking care not to give away my plan to early. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  When she doesn’t respond, my eyes go to her stomach. For a brief moment I wonder about her pups, and wonder if Stone will be a good father. It saddens me to think that he had no father of his own, no positive role model in his life. My thoughts stray to Logan’s father and what he taught the young alpha before he died: hunting, fishing, nurturing—things Stone never had the chance to learn from a father figure. But thinking about fathers has me thinking of my own.

  I roll onto my back and stare at the ventilation system. While it was only two days ago that I picked up on my papa’s scent, it feels like a lifetime has passed, and has me questioning what’s real and what isn’t. Maybe he’s not really here in the mansion, at all. Maybe he hadn’t come to me in person, or in a dream. Then again, maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

  It’s not that I don’t hope he’s alive. I do. But if he is alive and he’s here asking me to forgive him, then it means he’s done something he needs forgiveness for.

  And since I know nothing about forgiveness…

  When I hear the lock upstairs my stomach sours. I remember the master’s cruel smile and that he has something special planned for me today.

  Mario descends the stairs slowly and my senses go on high alert. I listen to his blood flow through his veins, slow and steady, but underneath that superficial shell I can smell his anxiety. From Sandy’s agitated state, it’s clear her wolf has picked up on it too.

  I track his movements and I instantly realize he’s having a hard time meeting my gaze, which speaks volumes.

  He knows my fate.

  My pulse leaps and I jump from my cot. I want to ask him what he knows but the words catch in my throat because I don’t dare question him in front of Sandy.

  Moving quickly and efficiently like he does every other morning, he goes through the monotonous routine of unlocking us from our cages and fitting us with those heavy, uncomfortable collars. Then he hooks a chain to the restraining bands around our necks and herds us through the kitchen until we’re both outside.

  I pull in the scents around me, wondering if the panthers are still in the vicinity. Have they captured Logan’s family or worse…

  Once we’re in the courtyard numerous wolves move around me, sizing me up and pulling in my scent. I swallow and wish there was a way for me to reach out to them. I wish I could make them understand that if we all worked together we could outman the master. But the despair I see in their eyes lets me know they’re broken and loyal.

  Mario proceeds to unhook Sandy. As she sheds her nightgown and shifts I use that time to search for Logan and Stone. I try not to show a reaction when I spot them in the distance, both keeping a wary eye on each other and the other eye on me.

  Looking for a distraction, I angle my head in time to see Sandy run her paws through the dewy grass and turn her muzzle to the sky to drink in the warm morning rays. As I watch her, and remember that she has babies growing inside of her, it renews my vow to get out of here, but in the meantime I know I need to win my race today. Winning means I can give her extra food.

  Determination courses through me when I turn back to Mario. His gaze meets mine as he removes my collar, and I see real worry in his eyes. But his voice is calm when he says, “The master pitted you against Logan today.”

  Logan? I consider that for a moment and wonder why the master would pit me against a powerful alpha; one who no other wolf in the courtyard—except maybe Stone—could possible beat.

  Is he simply setting me up for failure?

  “So this is what he had planned?” I ask, thinking it can’t be this easy. Nothing is ever this easy.

  What am I missing?

  As I stress about that, I realize there is no way I can win today’s obstacle course, not if I’m pitted against Logan, which means I won’t be able to share any of my victor’s winnings with Sandy. But that isn’t going to stop me from finding another way to get her the nourishment she needs. Perhaps my guardian angel will deliver bread and bacon once again, and I can offer it to her.

  “You’re both up first.” I can tell by the look on his face he’s trying to warn me about something. I look past his shoulders to take in the course. Is there some fatal flaw he fears I’m going to miss?

  When I don’t see anything unusual I turn back to Mario. “What is he hoping to accomplish by this?” I ask in whispered words.

  Mario’s eyes go dark and his voice hardens when he says, “You tell me.”

  I take a moment to puzzle it out, then I make a noise, a half grunt, half growl as understanding hits like a fatal blow. “He knows,” I whisper through grit teeth. “He’s testing us.”

  “He thinks he knows.”

  I glance around frantically, searching for my mate. I need to talk to him, to warn him. He can’t let me win. But how can I convince an alpha to go against nature and let his mate go hungry while he gorges himself on fresh food?

  Stepping away from Mario, I move toward the wall, pull off my nightgown and neatly fold it. I allow my body to shift, then sit back on my haunches and proceed to groom myself as I search for Logan, wanting to make a private connection. That’s when I see him taking his position at the obstacle course.

  Mario steps back up to me and leads me toward Logan. I browse around and take in all the eyes staring at us. From
my peripheral I spot the master coming from his private entrance. Of course he wouldn’t miss this.

  “Logan,” I hurry out when I move in beside him. “This is a test and you can’t let me win.”

  He looks at me and his muscles bunch as his shrewd eyes rake over my light fur. Now that I’m back inside the compound and half starved, my coat is thinning, lacking in luster. When I glimpse the quiet reflective side of him, a side that reminds me he’s just a boy and I’m just a girl, I instinctively go back on my haunches and try to groom myself. I preen myself casually not wanting Logan to notice how matted and mussed I look.

  He turns his head from me and sets his jaw like the discussion is over. “You need to eat.”

  “I did eat. Someone left food for me last night.”

  “Who—” he begins like he doesn’t believe me.

  I steel myself. “I don’t know.”

  “Pride—”

  The worry I hear in his voice tugs at my heart. Hot emotions erupt inside me and all I want to do is wrap my arms around him and hold him tight, sharing bonds and intimacies like we used to do when we were in the woods. I draw a sharp breath in and fight the natural inclination to comfort my mate, to accept his comfort in return.

  I know Logan is a giver not a taker, a boy who would go against his own best interests for his mate. And while I know he would die for me, he would never allow me to die for him.

  “I have a new plan. Logan,” I rush out before I do something stupid, like act on my feelings and brush my muzzle over his. “And if we want it to work, then you have to win this race and show no empathy toward me.”

  He gives a savage shake of his head, his pewter eyes enraged as he digs his talons into the ground. His voice is deep, gravelly. “You know I can’t do that.”

  I feel a moment of panic when I see the guard move toward us with the starter gun. Logan is a protective alpha, and letting his mate suffer goes against everything he believes in, everything he’s been taught. So when I say the next words it’s for his own good. For the greater good.

  Steadying myself, I jerk my head toward Stone and keep my voice deadpan when I say, “Maybe you should take a lesson from him. He’d never mess this up.”

  My words are cold, cruel, delivering such a brutal punch Logan’s head comes up with a start, and even though I don’t want to hurt him, from the intense look in his pewter eyes, I know my words have cut deep.

  I take a deep breath to center myself and search for a glimmer of understanding as I angle my head. “He’s watching and waiting for one of us to give. If we do, it gives him bargaining power and we can’t allow that to happen.”

  “What’s your plan,” he says without looking at me.

  “I found Gem, Logan. I found her,” I hurry out and I can feel a sense of relief move through him as the guard takes his position. “She told me where I can find the master key. I’m going to get it tonight, then we’re all getting out of here.”

  He turns to me, his eyes are troubled yet trusting, but before I can tell him anymore, the starter gun sounds. Tuning out those around me, I hit the ground running and when I notice he’s keeping pace, my insides twist with worry.

  But he’s my mate I remind myself, one of the smartest and strongest wolves I know, which means he’ll do what I ask of him, even though it goes against everything he believes in and he’ll undoubtedly hate himself for it. Warmth moves through me as I think about everything he’s done for me so far. Logan is an amazing boy, a remarkable mate, a wolf who has so much respect for life and nature and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

  His gaze flickers to mine and when his warm familiar scent seeps under my fur and wraps around me like a protective blanket, I spot something beneath the gray storm brewing in the depth of his eyes. Something warm and understanding and I know in an instant he’s read my thoughts.

  Feeling almost embarrassed, I turn back to the obstacle course and using every ounce of strength I possess I scale the wall, clamp down hard on the thick rope and swing across the soupy mud pit taunting me from below. Just because he’s the alpha, it doesn’t mean I’m going to make this easy for him. I’m certainly not a girl to go down without a fight and I plan to challenge him until the end.

  We run as equals, but soon Logan takes the lead, his hard streamlined body and long powerful legs pushing past mine as I slow on the hurdles. When the cannon sounds in the distance I think about the master, my failed plan. Even though he’s a human, he’s fully aware of canine behavior and he knows full well that an alpha would never let his mate go on scraps. But I wonder if this win is enough to convince him that we don’t have a bond.

  That we didn’t mate in Olympic Park.

  In no time at all Logan finishes the course, but I come in close behind him. We pace uneasily and take that time to regulate our breathing. When I see Mario coming with our clothes, I take that time to shift back to human.

  Mario steps up to Logan first and slaps a collar around his neck. Then without so much as sparing me a look, he leads him toward the kitchen so he can dine of the finest food.

  Before Logan enters the house, he slants his head and turns piercing blue eyes on me. The distress I see on his face showcases his every emotion and turns me inside out. I twist away from him and meet Stone’s glance. There I see eyes that have witnessed so much carnage, so much bloodshed.

  Eyes that have seen me give myself to another boy.

  My heart clenches as my gaze flips back and forth between the two and it dawns on me that while they’re both alphas, they’re a complete contradiction to each other.

  Logan and Stone might be strong, powerful and fearless in the face of danger but they have completely different ways of exerting their dominance. One respects my strength and independence, the other wants to be that strength and independence. Perhaps it’s because one was raised in captivity and one wasn’t.

  Either way, I’m not saying one way is right and the other is wrong. I’m just saying…

  Actually, I don’t know what I’m saying.

  But I do know that Stone and I counted on each other for survival on the inside, Logan and I on the outside. What will happen between the three of us if we escape?

  What will happen if we don’t?

  I turn my head and give it a mental shake, refusing to go down that path. I can only deal with one roadblock at a time and when I see the master closing the distance between us I know I need to pull myself together and focus my thoughts. Because right now the only thing I can think about is survival. But as he gets closer, my nape tingles because I sense a change in him. His face is hard. His eyes are dark. But there is a sense of satisfaction rolling through him that is impossible to miss.

  What is happening?

  Does he know about the missing key?

  I usually only see him like this when he’s sending us out on a hunt, or when he’s about to pump a wolf with silver.

  I know he’s not about to send me out, which means…

  When a sudden breeze comes out of nowhere and howls around me, a bad feeling moves into my stomach. I sense that I might very well be at the end of my journey.

  I stand my ground and lift my chin up as he and Lawrence approach at the same time. The master’s dark cruel eyes move over me, a slow careful assessment that makes my skin crawl, as Lawrence slaps a collar and chain around my neck.

  “Hello, Pride.”

  I don’t say anything. I can’t. His large body dwarfs mine and I just glare up at him, trying not to choke on his foul cologne as it pollutes the air and stings my nose.

  Dressed in his casual attire, my focus flickers to his jeans, and I feel a little jolt of hope when I don’t see his master key. But will I ever get the chance to steal it, or will the master take this moment to make an example out of me. He folds his arms across his chest and rocks on his heels.

  “There’s been a change of plans.”

  My heart stalls as I wait for him to elaborate, everything in my gut warning me something very bad is about
to go down.

  He slowly angles his head to see me and I wonder what he’s about to throw at me next. He’s smiling but there is no humor in his eyes or softness in his words when he says, “You were right when you said I can’t have two alphas in the courtyard, so I think I need to do something about it.”

  My stomach tightens and I feel bile pushing into my throat. I growl and in response Lawrence gives a hard yank on my chain to warn me.

  “I need to restore the balance.” The master turns away to look at Logan before he disappears inside. Then he scrubs his hand over his jaw before he turns back to me. “What I think I’ll do is pit the two alphas against each other. A fight to the death.”

  As the full weight of his words him me, I want to scream. I want to protest.

  I want to kill.

  My heart seizes as I draw a savage breath. “No,” I cry out, and acting purely on animal instincts I hurl myself at him, but the chain around my neck tightens and Lawrence jerks me back, his lips twisting in a hard smile. I wail as I land on the ground with a pounding thud.

  “Oh don’t worry, Pride. It won’t be so bad.”

  I flip over and brace myself on my hands and knees, barely able to comprehend what he’s saying. My nostrils flare, my lips curl back to expose sharp canines, and if I didn’t have my collar on, I’d shift and make a clean kill right here and now. And not even the six guns pointed at me from above would be able to stop me before I ripped his throat out.

  He looks at me like he’s throwing me a bone when he says, “After all, it is female instinct to breed with the strongest male isn’t it, Pride?”

  Blind panic fills me as I work to digest his words. “What are you getting at?” I spit out and don’t care what kind of abuse he’s about to dole out for my behavior.

  His back straightens and he levels me with a glare. “Whoever wins gets to claim you as his mate, of course.”

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