Gideon shook his head. “Forget it.” He wasn’t cut out to play nursemaid to a pack of werewolves. Nor would he shame Kay by stealing her thunder. He had too much respect for her, both as his wife and the pack’s Alpha. But if the upcoming fight turned against her, he’d take Rinaldi out, and to hell with the consequences.
The meeting broke up shortly after Gideon’s refusal to take over as Alpha.
Later, when he was alone with Kay, he wasn’t quite sure what to say. Was she hurt by Brett’s suggestion that Gideon take over leadership of the pack? Insulted? Knowing how she felt about facing Rinaldi, he had to admire her courage.
Thinking she might like to be alone with her thoughts, he said, “I need to go out for a while. I won’t be long.”
“All right.”
He kissed her lightly, then left the house. Dark clouds obscured the moon and stars. The rising wind stirred the leaves with a low, keening cry. On foot, he made a slow circuit of the fence line, nodding at the guards he passed. As far as he could tell, Jared, Tyler, Brett, and a middle-aged werewolf named Landon were the only men within several miles.
A thought took Gideon to Bondurant. At this time of night, most of the businesses were closed. Strolling down the street, he heard music emanating from a small nightclub on one of the side streets.
Inside, he went to the bar and ordered a glass of red wine. Standing there, he studied the patrons. Pickings were slim—an old drunk tapping his foot to the beat of the music, a middle-aged man and woman slow dancing on the club’s tiny dance floor, or a single man with a bad hairpiece.
With a shake of his head, he drained his glass and decided to look elsewhere.
He’d gone about two blocks when a faint cry reached his ears. Curious, he followed the sound to the edge of town. There, shielded from view by a broken-down wooden fence, he found a woman struggling in the grasp of two men.
From their scent, Gideon knew they were Green Mountain werewolves.
One of them struck the woman when she opened her mouth to scream.
The men were so engrossed in trying to rape the woman, they didn’t realize they were in danger until it was too late.
Gideon broke the neck of the first man, tore out the heart of the second.
The woman fainted.
He had just enough time to catch her before she hit the ground. He held her in his arms a moment, then, while she was still unconscious, he lowered his head to her neck and drank. Since he had just saved her life, he didn’t think she would mind.
Kay stared at Gideon. “You killed them? What did you do with the bodies?”
“You don’t need to know. No one does.”
“Rudolfo is sure to come here, asking questions. And even if he doesn’t, he’ll blame us for their disappearance.”
“If he comes here, just tell him the truth. You never saw them. You don’t know where they are.”
“Like he’ll believe me!”
Gideon shrugged. “Only time will tell.”
“What do we do until then?”
“You’re going into training.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” He ran his hands along her arms. “We need to put some muscle on you.”
“How do you intend to do that?”
“Proper diet and good, old-fashioned exercise.”
Gideon was as good as his word. He wrote out a schedule for Kay and enlisted Greta and Brett to make sure she followed it. And the next thing Kay knew, she was spending three hours a day working out—lifting weights, hitting the heavy bag, swimming.
Greta put her on a high-protein diet.
At night, Kay went jogging with Gideon. And each night, she drank a little of his blood. It was like a narcotic—the more he gave her, the more she wanted.
“Lovemaking is the best exercise,” she remarked one night after they’d gone to bed.
“Is that right?”
“I read it in a book somewhere. Burns up a lot of calories.”
He grunted softly. “Maybe I’ve been remiss in that area.” He rolled her onto her back, then covered her body with his. “After all, we’ve only been making love once or twice a night.”
“Maybe we’d better try for three.”
“Whatever you think best.”
“Definitely three.” Kay waggled her eyebrows at him. “I never realized exercising could be so much fun.”
Rinaldi never came snooping around to see if Kay knew the whereabouts of his missing men, which led her to the conclusion that Rudolfo was convinced the Shadow Pack was to blame.
The night before the full moon, he sent her another missive. It was short and to the point. Meet me in the valley tomorrow night when the moon is high so we can end this once and for all.
“Well, that’s blunt,” Gideon said, reading over her shoulder. “Are you ready?”
“It doesn’t really matter, does it?” Kay asked, her voice tight. “I’m out of time.”
“You won’t be alone. We’ll all be there with you.”
“I’d rather be alone.” She didn’t want anyone watching her when she met Rudolfo.
“It’s in your power to order the pack to stay away if that’s what you want,” Gideon remarked quietly. “But I’m not letting you go without me.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that.”
“Are you serious, about not wanting the pack there to back you up?”
She nodded. “I think so. I’m not sure I have the courage to meet Rinaldi.” Admitting it out loud made her cheeks burn with shame. “If I chicken out, I’d rather the pack wasn’t there to see it. And if I find the courage to fight him and I lose …” She made a vague gesture with her hand. “Well, I’d just as soon no one saw that, either.”
“Kiya, listen to me. You don’t have a cowardly bone in your body. You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever known. You’ve survived every challenge you’ve ever faced, and you’ll survive this one, too.”
Seeing the love in his eyes, hearing the confidence in his voice, gave her just the boost she needed. But later, when they were lying alone together in the dark, her doubts returned.
Wordlessly, Gideon drew her into his arms. Murmuring tender words in her ear, he made love to her until the rising sun chased the darkness from the sky. She waited for him to leave, as he always did, but, to her surprise, he stayed by her side, his arm around her shoulders, his presence comforting her even after he had succumbed to the darkness.