Deceptive promises, p.10
Deceptive Promises, page 10
“Indeed,” Vega said. “What do we need to make this happen?”
“Keys to the high-ranked males’ homes and a good map of the area. I’ll head back to town this morning. One of the pack members is a locksmith and has keys to everyone’s house. I’ll break in and take his extras and scout the locations, then I’ll email an updated map to you.”
Rip straightened with a wheeze and rubbed his stomach. He gave Ivar a death glare and stalked from the cabin.
“He’s just jealous,” Vega said. “Because you did what you were tasked with and he won’t be the one allowing us to succeed in our takeover.”
Ivar rose to his feet. “I’m going to head back to Cider Falls. You have my new number. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have the information you need.”
“Thank you.”
Ivar walked out of the cabin, keeping his face blank for the males standing around outside. Rip stood to the side looking furious, which gave Ivar no small amount of pleasure. When he reached Cymbre’s car, he sat behind the wheel and smiled. He’d pulled it off. He’d spoken to Vega, set him up for failure, and was now heading back to Cider Falls to speak to Rehlik and help him formulate a plan. Then he would tell Cymbre everything and beg for her forgiveness.
He was a changed male. She would have to believe him.
* * *
Cymbre was tucked behind a large tree within hearing distance of a dilapidated cabin. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Ivar was helping a pack get ready to take over Cider Falls and kill the high-ranked males!
Her eyes were filling with tears, but she refused to cry. Not only because it would give away her location, but also because that bastard didn’t deserve her tears.
She’d been duped! And so expertly. At least they hadn’t mated officially, otherwise she’d have a mating mark tying her to a terrible male forever.
She peered around the tree and watched Ivar stride from the cabin and leave the area after a short but tense stare-down with another male in the yard.
Pulling her phone from her pocket, she opened the map app to share her location with Rehlik and then text him what was going on. She had to stop Ivar from hurting anyone and destroying the pack she loved.
A hand gripped her throat so tightly that she couldn’t even get out a squeak of alarm. Her phone dropped. She tried to pull the hand away from her neck, but the fingers felt like they were made of steel.
As her vision blurred, she saw the male Ivar had met up with outside the cabin. He sneered at her, his eyes amber.
“Well, well, well. You smell like Ivar. I think that makes you very valuable.”
He squeezed tighter and her vision hazed at the edges. Her lungs burned. No matter how she kicked, twisted, or hit, she couldn’t ease the grip on her throat, and eventually she succumbed to the darkness.
Chapter Seventeen
Ivar returned to Cider Falls ten minutes before his meeting was scheduled with Rehlik and the high-ranked, waving at Jewel and Rare, who were in the security booth. He’d left town under the guise of picking up supplies for a special dinner for Cymbre, so he’d stopped at a grocery on the way back and gotten steaks to grill. He wasn’t sure he’d get a chance to make her a special dinner, frankly, because the moment she knew he’d been sent to town to take out the leadership, she’d be pissed. But on the off chance she did let him talk to her, at least he could make her some food.
He stopped at the house and put the groceries away, then took off on foot for the bar.
“Hey, I have something for you,” Jewel called out from the booth as he passed by.
“Sure, what’s up?” he asked as he changed direction.
A motorcycle approached from out of town at a quick pace. He frowned as he watched the bike veer to the side, heading for him.
The bike swerved, cutting away from him and spraying him with dust and rocks. He covered his face with his arm and felt something hit his legs.
He looked down to see a rolled-up piece of fabric.
The motorcycle sped off out of town.
Ivar bent and picked up the fabric, immediately recognizing the brown-and-white striped sweater Cymbre had worn when she’d walked out of the house.
His heart sank as he realized he recognized the motorcycle—it belonged to Zander, from Vega’s pack.
Vega had Cymbre!
“What the hell was that about?” Jewel asked.
He squeezed the fabric until his knuckles cracked, his beasts raging. “Cymbre’s been kidnapped. I need Rehlik. Now!”
* * *
Cymbre woke with a start. She gasped, and the inhalation made her throat ache. She tried to bring her hand up to rub her throat, but she couldn’t. Her wrists were tied together and anchored to the leg of an old pot-bellied stove. It looked like it weighed about a thousand pounds, so there was no way she could get herself free.
She was seated on a raised brick platform, and her head had been leaning against the stove, which was, thankfully, not burning.
And her sweater was gone. She was wearing only the tank top, and the chill in the cabin made her skin prickle.
Someone walked to her. She saw faded leather shoes first, then dark cargo pants, followed by a black long-sleeved shirt. The male staring down at her looked to be in his late thirties, with sandy-blond hair and green eyes. His cheeks were covered with a few days’ worth of stubble, and those green eyes held a hint of crazy.
“Wh-who are you?” she asked, her voice cracking and then aching.
“I’m Vega Sonight, future alpha of Cider Falls.”
She’d never seen him before in her life. She glanced around, finding herself in a dilapidated cabin. There were other males milling around, but a few were near this Vega character and staring at her like she was their enemy.
Which, she supposed, if he was planning to take over Cider Falls, meant that she was.
Her brain spun for a moment as her gaze stopped on a male who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had dark hair pulled back in a tail and a long beard.
He was the one that attacked her!
“Ah, there she goes,” the bearded male said with a chuckle. “I think she just remembered where she knows me from.”
Vega’s mouth quirked up at the side. “Yes, well, you’re lucky that I’m letting you live. For now.”
She didn’t feel very lucky. What she did feel was rage that Ivar had betrayed her. After all she’d heard when she’d been spying on Ivar, she now knew that Vega was the one causing all the trouble in Cider Falls. The traps, the bomb, the destruction—it was all so Vega could take over. But not simply take over the pack and town, but kill Rehlik. And since Ivar was working for such a bad guy, that meant he was a bad guy too.
She laid her head back and closed her eyes so she didn’t reveal the tears that filled them. How had she been so wrong? She felt like a fool. A fool who was going to get killed at some point, unless she got herself free or someone came to her aid. But no one knew where she was, and Ivar certainly wouldn’t come for her.
Vega cleared his throat, and she opened her eyes. She was utterly destroyed inside with sadness. Vega glanced at the males and then looked at her in a smug sort of way.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Well, mainly because the FSA’s rules are archaic and asinine, but also because Cider Falls is perfect for me, except for the fact that Rehlik is there. I take him out, assume his identity, and take over.”
She stared up at the eyes of her kidnapper. In order to assume Rehlik’s identity, he’d have to kill him, and he’d have to kill Weylyn too, because there was no way she’d go along with things. How many people would die in Cider Falls trying to protect the town and go against Vega? And just how many people did he have on his side, besides the bastard whose name she’d never say again?
“Why me?”
Vega hummed. “It wasn’t my choice. Ivar targeted you.”
One of the males snorted. “He probably saw you for the pathetic unmated female you are.”
She was not pathetic!
“Fuck. You.”
The male took a menacing step toward her, but Vega put his hand up. “Not right now. We’re waiting for Ivar to report back to us, remember?”
The male let out an annoyed grunt and cracked his neck. “I’ll be waiting.”
Turning their attention away from her, Vega and the males moved into the other room, leaving one male to stand at the doorway and watch her. She tested the rope tying her hands together.
“Don’t bother,” he said. “It’s far too thick for you to break, not to mention that it’s threaded with wire to make it more durable. Save your strength. You’ll need it for later.”
That sounded ominous.
She was in trouble, and she wasn’t sure she was going to make it out alive.
* * *
Rehlik snarled in fury and punched Ivar square in the face.
The male stumbled back, blood immediately dripping from his nose. He pressed his nose with his fingers and repeated himself. “I know you’re pissed, but I’m telling you the truth.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Rehlik demanded as Ivar—who’d turned out to be a damn spy—gripped a sweater.
“Tell me you’re lying, damn it,” Trace said.
“I’m not lying. Cymbre must have followed me this morning and then gotten captured by Vega. I need help to get her back. I can’t go against the pack alone. Please! If they find out I turned against them, they’ll kill her.”
Rehlik couldn’t remember being so pissed. He wanted to throttle the male.
Trace shook his head. “First you tell us that everything we know about you is a lie, and now you want us to trust you and go waltzing into a trap?”
Rehlik glared at Ivar as the male wiped the blood from under his nose. “Everything about my past is true. I am a shadow and not on the FSA radar, and I have been searching for my sister since my family was killed and she was taken. What I didn’t tell you was that I was working for Vega. I joined up with him after my family was killed because he promised to help me find Yva. I wasn’t loyal to anyone but my sister and Vega. Until I met Cymbre. I fought that knowledge because of my other loyalties, but once I admitted what she was to me, I decided to take care of Vega myself, to stop him from hurting anyone else.”
Rehlik’s wolf made a suspicious sound, which spilled out of his throat. “If you went to take him out, then why isn’t he dead?”
“Because all his males were around. I thought I could ambush him, but he was surrounded. I can’t take on the whole pack alone.” He looked at Rehlik and Trace with pleading eyes. “I came back here to tell you the truth and help you get rid of Vega. He’s a virus that will take out everything here to make a place for himself.”
“Take him in the bar and fucking watch him. I need a minute to think,” Rehlik said, gesturing to Breaker and Novak. The two hustled the male out of the office.
Rehlik collapsed onto the couch where he and Weylyn had just been fooling around before Ivar had rushed in and told the most devastating news Rehlik had heard. Not only had they allowed a spy to be in their midst for two weeks, but Cymbre was potentially gone. The problem was that he didn’t know if Cymbre was actually kidnapped or not.
“I just got off the phone with Arely,” Weylyn said. She spun in the desk chair and stood, coming to sit next to Rehlik. “We both tried to call Cymbre, but her phone is off. Arely attempted to find her phone with an app, but it’s showing that location services are turned off. I think Ivar’s telling the truth.”
Rehlik kissed the top of her head and inhaled her sweet scent. “What makes you say that?”
“He was scared.”
“He should be,” Trace said, cracking his knuckles.
“No, I mean he was genuinely scared for Cymbre, not for himself,” Weylyn said. She sat up and faced Rehlik. “When the bomb went off? You were panicked about my safety. Ivar looks like you did, like he couldn’t breathe right because he doesn’t know if his mate is okay. He may be an asshole and a spy, but he cares for Cymbre and I believe that means his loyalties have changed.”
Rehlik sighed and rubbed his temple where a headache was blooming.
“I think Weylyn’s right,” Weston said. “I do think he was telling the truth about planning to take out Vega, and when that failed, he wanted to come to you for help. It would’ve been far better if he’d told us before he left so we could help him in the first place.”
Rehlik snorted. “Yeah. Now everything’s screwed up.”
“I hope Cymbre is okay,” Weylyn said.
Rehlik nodded and rose to his feet after kissing Weylyn. “I want all hands on deck. We need every single male and female who’ve done security or have any fight training at all to meet at the gazebo in ten minutes. We’ll split the group so we don’t leave our people defenseless.”
“We could bring everyone who stays behind here in the bar,” Weylyn suggested, “so they’re in a secure place. And keep the kids at the school, of course.”
“Good idea. Let’s make some calls. I’ll reach out to Isak to lock down the school until this is settled. No telling what Vega will do now that he realizes Ivar has turned on him.” Rehlik motioned to the door and then called Isak, the dean of the school. After quickly explaining what was going on, Isak instituted an immediate lockdown to keep the kids and adults safe. While Weylyn sent out a blast text to every family in town asking them to come to the bar immediately, Rehlik stared at Ivar as he walked into the office.
He looked like a broken male, stricken with worry for his mate.
“I don’t like you right now,” Rehlik said. “In fact, my wolf wants to tear you apart for what you attempted to do. You took advantage of our kindness to try to take me out so your asshole alpha could take over my identity.”
Ivar lifted his head and looked at Rehlik but didn’t say anything.
Rehlik continued. “That being said, I do believe your loyalties have changed and that you want to save Cymbre. I want to put Vega down once and for all. We will go as a group with you. Your priority is to save Cymbre. Mine is to take out the pack’s enemy.” He took a step closer to the male and let out his wolf enough so his eyes would change to bright amber. “If you’re lying and this is a trap, I will kill you. Slowly.”
“I’m not lying and I’m not setting you up. I want my mate back, and I’ll take out whoever I need to in order to get her to safety.”
Rehlik nodded. “We’re meeting at the gazebo. Let’s go.”
He gave Weylyn one more kiss goodbye, during which she tearfully made him promise to come home to her in one piece. He rested his hand on the swell of her baby bump and growled softly. “I will always come back for you.”
He gave her a hug and whispered goodbye to their baby, and then he walked out before he was tempted by her sniffles to stay and comfort her.
Today was the very last day that Vega was going to cause the Cider Falls Pack—and Rehlik—any more trouble.
Chapter Eighteen
Ivar sat in the second row of an SUV driven by Breaker, with Trace in the passenger seat. He wasn’t restrained, but he’d been thoroughly threatened to not move a muscle. He wasn’t sure they’d trust him enough to help him save Cymbre, but at least he had that going for him. As long as Cymbre was safe, he didn’t care what happened to him.
Ahead and behind their vehicle were others, filled with the best fighters in the pack.
Breaker glanced in the rearview. “You really snowed me, man.”
“Sorry.”
Trace snorted.
Ivar sighed. “I know you don’t trust anything I say right now.”
“Damn straight,” Trace interjected.
“But,” Ivar continued, “thank you for helping me save Cymbre.”
Trace growled softly and turned in his seat. “I’m pissed as hell. My power is generally good at sensing bad intentions, so you really did pull one over on us.”
“It’s because I came in so injured.”
“You really had your pack beat you all to hell?” Breaker asked.
“I told them to make it look realistic, but a few of the males don’t like me and they nearly killed me because I’d given them a free pass.” And he fully intended to get his vengeance on those males, after Cymbre was safe.
“They must’ve really hated you,” Breaker said.
“Well, I was Vega’s go-to male for recruitment and meting out punishment. I wasn’t really in the pack ranking, but I was a threat to them.” Because no one ever knew when Vega was going to lose his shit and send Ivar to hurt someone. “But they’re not my pack.”
“You’re not part of Cider Falls, not yet,” Trace pointed out.
“I was actually thinking that Cymbre is my pack now. Although gryphons call their pack a pride. My family is gone. Cymbre’s the first person who ever made me feel like I could have a family again, and Cider Falls is the first place to ever make me want to join a pack.”
He’d never felt anything for Vega’s pack but a sense of loyalty to the alpha himself. That loyalty was entirely gone now.
“Do you think Cymbre will forgive you?” Breaker asked.
“Assuming she knows you were working as a spy,” Trace said.
Vega had sent her sweater to Ivar as proof that he knew that Ivar had turned on him. There was no way the male wouldn’t crow to Cymbre about him spying.
“I’m sure she knows,” Ivar said. “She followed me, so she was suspicious.”
He just hoped like hell that she was safe.
I’m coming for you, sweetheart.
* * *
Cymbre seethed in her bonds as she listened to Vega and his males plot to take out Rehlik and the high-ranked males using Ivar’s intel. He’d been very helpful, apparently, in giving them the security team’s schedule and helping to make a plan.
