Awakened by the Wolf (23 page)

Chapter 34

P
eople spilled from the resort dining room, lingered in the lobby and sauntered in and out of the lounge for drinks. Nearly everyone in Maico had joined the Walkers and their covert wolfy friends for Margaret's memorial reception.

Cassie tried to look inconspicuous, sitting alone at the table Brice had ushered her to when she refused to join him and his parents as they mingled with their guests. It was hard enough to make it through the service, feeling the heat of everyone's stares at the back of her head. She wouldn't fake-smile and chitchat as if she hadn't noticed.

The conglomerate smells from the buffet of Margaret's favorite foods—fried chicken, country-fried steak, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and fresh-baked biscuits— saturated the air. Ordinarily Cassie loved the scent of good old-fashioned country cooking. Right now, her nerves made her so jittery that her stomach rebelled against the heavy odors.

She took a tiny sip of iced tea. Unfortunately, the cold drink did nothing to settle her queasiness.

“Miss Albright?”

Cassie gazed up at the elderly gentleman with a short crop of precisely cut silvery strands. Suitably dressed for mourning, he wore an expensive-looking black suit, crisp black shirt and thin black tie. His rich, dark eyebrows slashed over deep-set eyes.

“Hello, Mr. Krussen.”

“Would you mind if I joined you?” He didn't wait for an answer. He simply pulled the chair next to her away from the table where Brice had deposited her and sat. “Thank you for your recommendation of Mabel's Diner. The food was tasty, and the ambiance adequately reflected Maico's local color.”

“I'm glad the restaurant was to your liking,” she said politely without engaging further conversation. Her nerves were still raw from the gawks, finger pointing and loud whispers she'd endured at the memorial service.

“Brice seems quite fond of you.” A neutral smile he must rely on often slid too easily into place.

Already on edge, her body painfully tensed for The Talk. She'd expected it, sooner or later, from any number of “well-meaning” people; however, coming from a member of the imperious wolfy council, it seemed a little over the top.

She remained quiet, watching a room filled with people Margaret had touched over her lifetime. People who respected and loved her dearly. People who grieved her loss, missing her terribly.

Cassie's heart constricted with an aching pain. She would never garner the acceptance and adoration Margaret had achieved. Brice couldn't see it, but Cassie could, and she didn't need anyone to point out her shortcomings.

“I was quite disturbed to learn of your attack.” Michael's gaze lingered on the delicate scarf around Cassie's neck. “Rest assured, Victoria will be punished for the assault.”

“It was a personal catfight, and no one else needs to nose into our private business. I wasn't seriously hurt, and she learned I don't take kindly to bullies.” Cassie emphasized the latter, taking some measure of pleasure in the flicker of his understanding of her true meaning. “The matter is settled.”

Amusement tinged the corners of his diplomatic smile. “I'll inform the council of your position when we convene for Victoria's hearing.”

“Please do.” Cassie sipped her drink.

“I like your frankness, so I'll be direct.” His hand rested on her arm, the warmth of his palm lost to the cold, impersonal touch. “I've observed your interactions with Brice over the past couple of days. It's evident you care for him, so it's prudent for you to understand that his attachment to you threatens his future. You need to let him go.”

“Brice and I are friends. Close friends.” She could admit to that. “Our paths lie in different directions to attempt anything more.”

“What a relief.” Michael's smile turned genuine. “I feared he would make you his mate so he could, quite literally, watch over you as Margaret had asked.”

Michael's words slammed into her with unexpected tidal-wave force. She struggled to breathe.

Her one perfect night with Brice had been nothing more than a cheap fabrication. The pain in her chest, throbbing and unrelenting, exploded into a shattering numbness.

Her dignity shriveled. Brice only wanted her because his grandmother had turned Cassie into his charity case. All the talk about mate-bonds was nothing but a bunch of hooey.

Good thing she never believed him.

Cassie's hand trembled, and she had to be careful not to spill tea down her face while taking a drink. The cold wetness shocked her dry mouth, driving an icy resolve into the pit of her stomach.

Resigning from her position at Walker's Run Resort and moving to the college campus was absolutely the right choice for her to make.

“Excuse me, Mr. Krussen. It's been a long week, and I'm utterly worn-out.”

“Of course.” He stood, offering a gentlemanly hand to help her stand.

She hurried to the employees' restroom and leaned against the counter. A single, silent sob rocked her body.

Someone knocked and the restroom door squeaked open.

“Cas?” Brice's soft tone washed over her. “Baby, what's wrong?”

“Exhausted,” she said, too drained to pretend otherwise.

He netted her in his strong arms. Cassie rested her cheek against his chest, his heart beating a comforting drum despite the treachery hidden within.

Wishing she'd never learned the truth, Cassie turned her face into the fabric of his blue button-down shirt. It smelled fresh, clean and just like him.

“Let's go.” His long, warm fingers laced through hers.

“No.” The pretense had gone on long enough. She wanted a break from it. From him. “I need some fresh air. I'm going home. Alone.”

The disappointment on his face crunched the pieces of her splintered heart. “I'm not staying without you.”

“Your family needs you. Your people need to see you.”

“They need to see us.”

“There is no
us
.”

“Cas.” Brice reached for her, and she leaned away. He dropped his hand, but his eyes held a plea she forced herself to ignore.

“I don't belong. Not at your table. Not in your home. And not in your life.”

“I thought you accepted the bond between us.”

“Lust,” she said flatly. “That's all it is.”

“What about last night?” Brice's voice dropped to a whisper.

“Sex. Nothing more,” Cassie lied. The first she remembered telling. She hated lies. One followed another until it became hard to tell the truth.

She'd just taken one giant step toward becoming her mother.

Brice flinched. His lips parted. “You don't mean that.”

“I do.” The second lie tumbled from her lips. “I'm grateful you were my first, but it was just sex. It didn't mean anything to me.”

Brice's features darkened, the light in his eyes extinguished. When he spoke, his voice sounded cold and bitter. “Last night might have meant nothing to you, but it meant everything in the world to me.”

She met his gaze, ready to confess that she'd lied. The hardness in his face and the pure disgust in his eyes declared a retraction was too late. The poison had already settled into Brice's heart to destroy his faith in her.

His name evaporated from her traitorous tongue. Because she couldn't give voice to her regret and stop him, Brice stormed out.

Cassie's heart froze in her chest, where even the faintest beat would break her open.

She was doing the right thing, Cassie reminded herself. She wasn't right for him. He needed a strong, respectable lady wolf by his side. Not a scrawny scrap of a human who had a streak of bad luck that ran the length of the Tennessee River.

Cassie's throat burned. No matter how hard she swallowed, she couldn't dislodge the corrosive lump. She stumbled out of the restroom and down the hallway toward the lobby.

Someone called her name, though the person sounded far, far away.

“You need to sit down.” Shane looked as ethereal as his voice. “You're about to faint.” His face contorted in a weird scrunch. He pushed her into the employee break room and forced her to sit.

Awareness crept back into her mind. Cassie shook her head. “I'm fine.”

“You don't look fine.” Shane's mouth pressed into a hard frown. “What the hell happened between you and Brice?”

“Nothing of consequence.” Another lie.

“Would you mind if I asked a favor?” Cassie stared at the floor so it would be easier for him to say no if he didn't want to get involved.

“We're friends, Cassie. You can ask me anything.”

“I need a ride to the college in the morning. I'm moving into the campus apartments.”

Shane spat curses out of the side of his mouth. “Did the prick kick you out?”

“No.” Although given the way Brice stalked off, he might. “Since I have no car, I had to choose between work and graduation.”

“Wait a sec.” Shane squeezed Cassie's arm. “Brice doesn't want you leave?”

“We didn't make it that far into the discussion.” Cassie touched her hair, trying to be casual about the incident.

It seemed to take forever for Shane to respond. “What time should I pick you up?”

“Is seven too early?” The weight on Cassie's shoulders became heavier. The knots in her stomach twisted tighter and multiplied.

“I can make seven.” He tilted his head. A wry smile crept across his lips. “Promise me something.”

“What?”

“Hang out with me at the library or in the rec room or even at your new place from time to time. Deal?”

Cassie nodded, because the pressure in her chest had caved in her throat.

Chapter 35

G
ulping for each breath, Brice tore through the woods. No matter how hard or fast he wolf-ran, Brice couldn't escape the sharp claw of pain shredding his heart.

Cassie couldn't have meant what she said about their coupling. Yet when he'd looked deep into her eyes, he saw the power of her conviction.

It had to be the stress of the last few days. Cassie was weary and overwhelmed, and he'd asked too much of her. She had wanted to return to the cabin after the memorial service, but he insisted that she attend the reception because he needed her soothing presence. He hadn't thought about what she needed.

Fear threaded through his turbulent thoughts.

He'd fucked up.

Again.

His first big mistake cost Mason his life. This one would cost Brice everything.

Every muscle in his body burned as he pushed past his endurance. If he had a fucking heart attack like Granny had, so be it.

Landmarks blurred in his peripheral vision. Brice had no idea where he was headed until his nails slid into soft moss and stopped him from sailing over the cliff.

As the adrenaline surge ebbed, the roar faded from his ears. His vision cleared, his breathing eased, but the pain in his heart remained. Strength gone, Brice the man flopped to the ground in the very spot where he had confessed to Cassie that she was his true mate. Had it been only a few days ago?

It felt more like a lifetime.

The sun shrank behind the trees, retracting its warmth and leaving Brice as cold on the outside as he was on the inside. The calling he'd felt for Walker's Run dwindled to negligible pulse. His eyelids slid lower and lower as darkness encroached, and he prayed to the heavens that this day had simply been a bad dream.

* * *

“Brice?” A warm, gentle hand squeezed his shoulder. A hand too large to belong to Cassie.

Brice forced open one eye.

Crouched low, Gavin Walker peered at Brice's face. “Son, are you hurt?”

Instead of answering the question, Brice simply sat up. “What are you doing here?”

“Rafe raised an alarm. He kept the sentinels at bay until I reached the sentry gate. He insisted I should come the rest of the way alone.”

Brice glanced at the tree line and saw the red wolf shrink into the darkness. “Go home, Dad. I don't need you.” Brice would rather talk to Rafe. He, more than anyone, would understand Brice's pain.

“Maybe not.” Gavin's voice cracked. “But I need you.”

“You never even wanted me.” Brice's usual fury failed to erupt. Now that the physical pain of Cassie's rejection had subsided, nothing but a hollow clang clamored inside him. “You only need me now because Mason is dead.”

Gavin shook his head and walked stiffly to the cliff's edge.

“You were only a week old when I brought you to Walker's Pointe.” Gavin's eyelids slid shut. His head tilted back, and the faintest smile breezed across his lips.

“As soon as I stepped in this very spot, you opened your eyes and reached your hands out to gather the territory into your tiny fingers. Then you threw back your head and howled. A happy little howl that I can still hear.”

“Is that why you decided not to throw me over the cliff?”

When Gavin whipped around, there was no disgust or disapproval in his eyes. Only sorrow and pain.

Brice lowered his gaze.

“If I ever find out who put that lie in that hard head of yours, I'll kill them,” Gavin snarled.

Truthfully, Brice couldn't remember. Maybe as a child, his impressionable imagination had manufactured the detail as an explanation for the missed birthdays, overlooked accomplishments and general indifference.

None of it seemed to matter now.

He couldn't change the past, and since his happily mated future had crashed and burned before his eyes, he had only one option left.

Brice picked up the blanket his father had left on the ground, wrapped it around his shoulders and stood. “I've been offered an apprenticeship with the Woelfesenat. I'm going to accept.”

“Like hell you are.” Anger rolling off him in waves, Gavin stood nose to nose with Brice. “You never thought much of me as your father, but I am, and I will not allow you to separate from Walker's Run.”

He grabbed Brice's jaw. “I know that look. Your eyes would flash that same defiance whenever you spouted that nonsense,
Always the Alpha, never my father
. Well, let me tell you something. As Alpha, I would kick your ass out of the territory for turning your back on us for political notoriety. But as your
father
, the only way you'll join the Woelfesenat is over my dead carcass!”

Gavin forcefully released him. Brice stumbled backward, muffling a grunt of pain as he stepped too hard on his right leg.

Concern flashed in his father's eyes, and Brice knew the shove had been unintentional. He straightened.

“I can't stay in Walker's Run.” Not without Cassie.

“How miserable were you in Atlanta, believing you'd lost your family, your friends? Your entire pack?”

Pretty damn miserable, if that was any measure.

Gavin's scrutiny bore into Brice. “I thought so. Now imagine the agony of that loss magnified across the span of your lifetime.”

Brice's mind raced with blurred memories, his consciousness honing in only on the restlessness, isolation and loneliness. The burden on his spirit became heavier and heavier until he sank to his knees beneath the weight.

“You are the true heir to Walker's Run.” Gavin's hand rested on Brice's head. “Mason's path was the Woelfesenat, not yours. Leaving will destroy your spirit.”

Hadn't Tristan tried to tell him as much?

“Did Mason abdicate the Alphaship when I was born?” Brice looked at his father, ready to listen.

“Yes.” Gavin squatted in front of Brice. “Walker's Run never gripped him the way it does me, or you. Your destiny is, and has always been, to lead this pack. Your brother gave his life to protect you because he loved you and believed in you. Don't waste his gift.”

“This is unbelievable.” Brice massaged the furrows in his forehead. How many times could his world turn upside down?

“Easy, son.” Gavin touched Brice's shoulder. “No one expects you to take over right away. There's time to build your family.” He paused. “Do you still believe Cassie is your true mate?”

“Yes.” Brice wove his fingers through his hair. “I know you don't think she's an acceptable choice, but she is my choice.”

“Only a true mate is acceptable to a Walker, son. I wanted to be sure you hadn't chosen her out of convenience.”

“Cassie is many things. Convenient isn't one of them.” A harsh laugh broke in Brice's chest. “I feel her in my soul. I'm anxious when we're apart and at utter peace when we're together. Except when she doesn't listen to me, and then I'm all out of sorts.”

“Having a bonded mate isn't an easy road, but I wouldn't trade the journey for anything in the world.” Gavin chuckled, but he looked as tired and worn-out as Brice felt. “When you reach my age, I'm sure you'll feel the same.”

“I won't get the chance, Dad. Too many things have gone wrong. Cassie rejected the mate-bond. I'm losing her.” Brice rubbed the throb in his calf. Her fingers did a much better job than his to dispel the pain. His heart squinched at the thought that he would never again feel her touch.

“You haven't lost Cassie until she goes somewhere she can't come back from.” Gavin reached down and helped Brice stand. “Tonight you rest. Tomorrow you win back your mate.”

A shiver rippled through Brice's being. With Cassie, things were never that simple.