Read Online Treeland Pack Tales 3: A Trace of Ivy by Evanne Lorraine - Free Book Online
Authors: Evanne Lorraine
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fucked-up mating
system must have been painted across his mug.
Ivy flinched. Glints of pain blurred her eyes.
Knowing he’d hurt her devastated him like an elk stomp to
the gut. He usually had a smooth line of patter for the females. Now when he
needed a golden tongue more than he ever had, his throat knotted up and not a
single word emerged.
Scarlet broke the silence with a quelling glance at Chet.
“Come home with us, Ivy. We’ve got plenty of room. Even Chet will admit you’ll
be perfectly safe with us. We’d love for you to stay at our place. Please say
yes.”
“When you’re up to it, I’d like to talk to you about the
rogue pack.” Daniel added.
“What do you want to know about them?” Ivy asked, skirting
the need for a response to Scarlet’s offer and giving Chet a twig of hope.
“Everything.” The boss was short and to the point.
“We were never allowed to go outside, so we lost track of
time. Best guess, I was with them for over a month. They drugged us whenever
they moved. There were eight males the night before I left. The day before
there’d been nine. One was executed for taking the human girl. They sleep
during the day, leaving one on duty.” She paused to catch her breath, then
asked, “Is this the kind of thing you want?”
She was so slight a good breeze would flatten her. Chet
wanted to wrap her in his arms and keep her safe and warm. But she held herself
so stiffly he didn’t think she’d let him.
“Yeah, keep going.” Daniel encouraged her with a grim nod.
Chet poured a glass of wine and offered it to Ivy.
She accepted the goblet without looking at him. “Thank you.”
“Can I get you anything, Scarlet?”
“Thanks, but not now.” She tugged on Daniel’s arm. “Ivy
needs to eat and rest.”
With me , Chet
wanted to howl.
“I’m fine.” Ivy’s eyes were huge in a much-too-pale face.
“Come home with us, have something to eat, and then you can
talk to Daniel in the morning.” Scarlet tried again.
Ivy shook her head. “The rogues still have my friends. If
there’s anything I can do to help find the monsters, then I don’t want to
wait.”
“Fair enough.” Daniel agreed mildly. “Tell me about the
other captives. Are they latents too?”
“Probably. Tess’s father was werewolf. Her mother left him
before Tess was born, so he never knew his daughter. Her mother was terrified
she’d give birth to a beast, but Tess looked as human as…” She paused and then
ended, “any other baby. Kat’s father stayed with them, until her mother died
from cancer. After the funeral he left her with her grandparents.”
“How old are the other survivors?”
Ivy shrugged. “I’m not sure, late twenties, maybe early
thirties.”
“Full adults then, but they’d never shifted?”
“No, neither of them ever had.”
“The packs are already dangerously low on females. Rogues
sniff out dormants better than we do. That needs to change.” Daniel gave Chet a
speaking look.
“Damn straight.” Chet agreed with his leader. They needed to
do a hell of a lot better job protecting the weaker members of their endangered
species.
“Who’s in charge of the rogue pack?” Daniel asked Ivy.
“Vic. Bro is a close second.”
“There are six others?”
Ivy opened her mouth, but the Omega nudged her mate’s side.
So Ivy just nodded.
“You’ve given me plenty for tonight. Scarlet’s right, you
need food and sleep.” Daniel’s brow furrowed as he cupped Ivy’s shoulder. “You
did well.”
“Thank you.” Ivy’s hadn’t flinched from his Alpha’s touch,
but Chet knew holding still had cost her precious energy. Her hand trembled as
she took another sip of wine.
Chet couldn’t fix all her problems tonight, but he could
damn well feed her. Cooking had the added benefit of relaxing him. The
distraction might not work, but it sure as hell couldn’t hurt. He took a tray
of tart shells out of the freezer and set them in the warming oven while he
minced parsley,
system must have been painted across his mug.
Ivy flinched. Glints of pain blurred her eyes.
Knowing he’d hurt her devastated him like an elk stomp to
the gut. He usually had a smooth line of patter for the females. Now when he
needed a golden tongue more than he ever had, his throat knotted up and not a
single word emerged.
Scarlet broke the silence with a quelling glance at Chet.
“Come home with us, Ivy. We’ve got plenty of room. Even Chet will admit you’ll
be perfectly safe with us. We’d love for you to stay at our place. Please say
yes.”
“When you’re up to it, I’d like to talk to you about the
rogue pack.” Daniel added.
“What do you want to know about them?” Ivy asked, skirting
the need for a response to Scarlet’s offer and giving Chet a twig of hope.
“Everything.” The boss was short and to the point.
“We were never allowed to go outside, so we lost track of
time. Best guess, I was with them for over a month. They drugged us whenever
they moved. There were eight males the night before I left. The day before
there’d been nine. One was executed for taking the human girl. They sleep
during the day, leaving one on duty.” She paused to catch her breath, then
asked, “Is this the kind of thing you want?”
She was so slight a good breeze would flatten her. Chet
wanted to wrap her in his arms and keep her safe and warm. But she held herself
so stiffly he didn’t think she’d let him.
“Yeah, keep going.” Daniel encouraged her with a grim nod.
Chet poured a glass of wine and offered it to Ivy.
She accepted the goblet without looking at him. “Thank you.”
“Can I get you anything, Scarlet?”
“Thanks, but not now.” She tugged on Daniel’s arm. “Ivy
needs to eat and rest.”
With me , Chet
wanted to howl.
“I’m fine.” Ivy’s eyes were huge in a much-too-pale face.
“Come home with us, have something to eat, and then you can
talk to Daniel in the morning.” Scarlet tried again.
Ivy shook her head. “The rogues still have my friends. If
there’s anything I can do to help find the monsters, then I don’t want to
wait.”
“Fair enough.” Daniel agreed mildly. “Tell me about the
other captives. Are they latents too?”
“Probably. Tess’s father was werewolf. Her mother left him
before Tess was born, so he never knew his daughter. Her mother was terrified
she’d give birth to a beast, but Tess looked as human as…” She paused and then
ended, “any other baby. Kat’s father stayed with them, until her mother died
from cancer. After the funeral he left her with her grandparents.”
“How old are the other survivors?”
Ivy shrugged. “I’m not sure, late twenties, maybe early
thirties.”
“Full adults then, but they’d never shifted?”
“No, neither of them ever had.”
“The packs are already dangerously low on females. Rogues
sniff out dormants better than we do. That needs to change.” Daniel gave Chet a
speaking look.
“Damn straight.” Chet agreed with his leader. They needed to
do a hell of a lot better job protecting the weaker members of their endangered
species.
“Who’s in charge of the rogue pack?” Daniel asked Ivy.
“Vic. Bro is a close second.”
“There are six others?”
Ivy opened her mouth, but the Omega nudged her mate’s side.
So Ivy just nodded.
“You’ve given me plenty for tonight. Scarlet’s right, you
need food and sleep.” Daniel’s brow furrowed as he cupped Ivy’s shoulder. “You
did well.”
“Thank you.” Ivy’s hadn’t flinched from his Alpha’s touch,
but Chet knew holding still had cost her precious energy. Her hand trembled as
she took another sip of wine.
Chet couldn’t fix all her problems tonight, but he could
damn well feed her. Cooking had the added benefit of relaxing him. The
distraction might not work, but it sure as hell couldn’t hurt. He took a tray
of tart shells out of the freezer and set them in the warming oven while he
minced parsley,
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