Due North by Kelsey Gamble
Tasha
“What did you just say?” My voice sounds flat and for good reason. Leah’s words are the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard. It feels too ridiculous for her to be making that kind of outlandish assertion with so much confidence.
Leah is forced to stop moving when I dig my heels in. She looks at me with a deep frown, clearly not understanding the problem. “What? Which part?”
“I’m not anyone’s mate.” I carefully move out of her grasp, putting distance between me and these three complete freaking strangers. How on Earth did I end up here? These people are clearly delusional.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Look at the way he’s looking at you.” She’s flippant as she nods behind me, and I turn to see Paxton staring at me with fire in his eyes. To me, it looks like he’s thinking about strangling me and not much else.
Or you could try actually looking, my wolf snarks.
And then I see it. Something I never expected to see again. Something that terrifies me and sends me reeling backward, farther away from this shifter who has stalked and kidnapped me.
Because he’s looking at me like…
Mate.I wince, shaking my head as if that will somehow erase that one word. My wolf doubles down. Mate. Our mate.
It’s not like I didn’t make the comparison earlier after mind linking, but I didn’t consider it a real possibility. I’ve already had my mate. This has to be some kind of trick or mistake. I’m sure my wolf is simply confused, though she internally snarls to let me know she resents that thought. But there has to be some kind of other explanation. There has to be.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I mumble. Thankfully, none of them follow me as I stagger around to the other side of the car for the only bit of privacy I can get out here in the middle of nowhere.
I paid attention while we drove. There’s nothing else around here for miles and miles. Even the road leading up to the house is nothing more than a long dirt driveway. No one else will be passing by.
I bend in half and wrap my arms around my waist as I dry heave. This can’t be happening. It’s simply a mistake. It has to be.
In the back of my consciousness, I can hear Leah trying to encourage Paxton to comfort me. I’m glad that he doesn’t. Nothing that guy could do right now would offer me any comfort. Except maybe letting me go. Returning me to the Sovereign Pack where I belong now.
We go where our mate goes. My wolf is apparently more than happy to go along with this charade. She’s reveling in this reveal while the rest of me struggles to breathe through the panic.
I’m hit by the worst sense of déjà vu.
Years ago, I tagged along with my brother while he checked out a motorcycle he was looking to buy from another shifter. And the moment I laid eyes on Jimmy Law, my wolf knew we never wanted to go anywhere without him ever again. It was instant.
I let him mark me the day we met. I had never been more sure of anything than I was of my mate. Even when it meant leaving my brother and sister behind for a new pack, I never second-guessed my bond.
But this? This I’m second-guessing.
Something is obviously wrong with my wolf. Excuse me? Because I’ve already loved and lost my mate. There are no second chances. No take backs. No do-overs. Maybe Paxton drugged me when I passed out, and I can chalk this all up to a bad trip.
Paxton’s footsteps finally stomp toward me, and he steps around the Jeep, crowding me. He doesn’t stop until he’s standing in front of me—forcing me to stand again too—so close his bare toes brush mine.
He leans into me, and I press my back against the car. I don’t want to be this close to him.
“You feel it, don’t you?” he demands.
“No,” I lie.
A low growl tears out of his throat. “I’ve tried taking advice and doing things the right way, but you’re so damn difficult.” He really has the nerve to make it sound like I’m the unreasonable one here. I gape at him. “This place is in the middle of nowhere, and it’s going to be home until you’re marked.”
“You’re not marking me.” I slap my hand over the spot at the base of my neck where my mark from Jimmy used to be. After losing a mate, the mark naturally fades away over time. Mine has faded away to almost nothing already.
“Then I hope you like Leah’s house because we’re going to be here a while.” He works his jaw back and forth like he’s barely holding back the rest of his anger.
This whole situation is insane. I turn my head to look away from him—it makes me physically ill to even look him in the eyes. My palms are sweating and my knees feel like they could give out any second. I expect him to walk away, but Paxton Glass clearly has no intention of meeting my expectations.
He wraps his fingers loosely around my neck and gives me a warning squeeze.
“Look at me.”
I drag my eyes back to him, but I barely get the chance to look him in the eyes before he’s too close. His mouth descends on mine, hot and demanding. I try to pull away, but he cups the back of my head and holds me to him. I’m too surprised to react as he claims my mouth as if he owns me.
His tongue teases the seam of my lips, but he doesn’t push me any further. And then as quickly as it started, it’s over.
You could have kissed him back, my traitorous wolf points out. Her interest makes me bristle. I can feel him staring at me as I drop my chin and stare at my feet. He has no right to kiss me. None.
Jimmy is my mate. Not this pushy stranger who can’t take no for an answer.
“I need to talk to Leah alone. Zeke is going to keep an eye on you, so don’t give him any trouble.” Paxton’s sharp tone is a warning, but it sounds like possibility in my head. Maybe I can convince the guy to get me the hell out of here. He seemed nice enough. As if he can read my mind, Paxton continues, “He owed me a favor so he helped me today, but I don’t know how trustworthy he really is. If he tries to put hands on you, yell for me.”
His words send an uneasy feeling through me. I can’t tell if he’s being sincere or if he’s just trying to scare me into not trusting the other guy.
You’re all strangers to me. None of you are trustworthy from where I’m standing.
I peek up at him to see his eyebrows rise. He’s probably surprised I’m talking to him through mind link. There’s something… unsettlingly intimate about it. I have no idea what compelled me to do it.
Well settle in, Kitten. Until you stop fighting our bond, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know me.
Don’t call me Kitten. I wrinkle my nose. It’s insulting.
Not a fan of pet names?The words sound teasing, but he’s studying me carefully as if my answer really matters. I don’t like it. I don’t like him pretending we’re building something here. Clearly, he’s pulling some kind of elaborate trick.
I slip away from him and start toward Zeke. Not from you. Jimmy used to come home and call me sweetheart after a long day apart. Never from you.
* * *
“This is boring.”
It turns out that Zeke has one defining personality flaw. He has the maturity of a pup—and I have no interest in entertaining him like one.
“We should spar.” Zeke perks up. “Clearly your self-defense skills could use some work, and maybe you’ll learn something with some practice.”
“Paxton was very clear that I shouldn’t let you touch me.” I raise an eyebrow at him, but he laughs it off. This shifter laughs everything off, I’m learning.
“Of course he did. Territorial prick.” Zeke shakes his head, his boyish smile not fading in the slightest. “A mock spar, then. I won’t actually put my hands on you. Scout’s honor, as the humans say.”
That’s another thing I’ve picked up on. Zeke is oddly enamored with all things human. Shifters in human form aren’t so different from true humans, but there are some traditions we don’t share. The scouting thing being one of them, which means his scout’s honor promise really means nothing to me.
My silence makes Zeke’s smile falter for a second, but it brightens again almost immediately. “How about if you beat me, I’ll give you the car keys?”
“Really?” I inhale a sharp breath that makes him chuckle. Those car keys could mean my freedom.
“Yeah, really. I don’t really care one way or another if you and Paxton work it out. I owed him a favor, and at this point, I’d say the favor is repaid. And now I’m bored, so if this is what it takes to get you to play with me, then yes. I’m definitely willing to put the keys up for the winner.”
His expression turns a little smug like he doesn’t think I stand a chance. And for most Luna Sovereigns, that would probably be true. The position is notoriously peaceful.
But I’m not really the Luna Sovereign yet. Not until the Sovereign Pack believes I’m ready and sends me up to the house for official duty.
“Okay, tell me what to do.” I won’t lose to him, not with my potential freedom on the line.
“Let’s get further away from the house,” Zeke suggests. He starts to move out into the closest empty field. A prickle of unease works its way up my spine. Paxton was very clear that he expected us to stay within hearing distance. The further away we get from the house, the more likely Paxton won’t be able to hear me.
“Come on,” Zeke urges with a smirk. “I don’t want to risk damaging the house if things get too intense.”
I take a few slow steps in that direction, but I’m still hesitant. Don’t do this. Paxton doesn’t trust Zeke, so we shouldn’t either. Zeke’s been nothing but friendly, but my wolf is on high alert. I might not trust Paxton, but I do trust my own gut. And there’s no reason a sparring match—especially a mock spar—would be in any danger of damaging someone’s house.
“I don’t think so, actually.” I stop moving, planting my feet instead. I do still have a sense of self-preservation, even if my wolf doesn’t think I need it with Paxton.
Something flashes across his expression. Something distinctly not friendly.
“Oh, come on. You’re not scared of me are you?” He holds his palms up. “I’m harmless. Paxton’s the one who kidnapped you, remember?”
“Do I remember you helping him kidnap me? Yes, I absolutely do. And now you’re making me uncomfortable, so I’m going back to the house.” I start to retreat a few steps, walking backward to keep my eyes on him. I can feel that something is wrong here, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Zeke’s eyes narrow.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that. Let’s just get back in the Jeep, and I’ll take you home. No harm no foul, right?” He starts to move toward me, but he pauses when I hold a hand up. His eyebrow twitches like he’s annoyed, and I have a feeling he’s only trying to keep up the ruse that he’s harmless, not actually respecting my boundaries.
“No. I’m definitely not going anywhere with you.” I consider calling for Paxton, but I’m too confused about how quickly everything keeps changing around me. Who can I really trust?
“I’m trying to be nice, Jarreau.” He takes a few more calculated steps in my direction. “I know some people that would pay good money for you or one of your siblings. We all figured the small one would be the easiest to grab, but now you’ve fallen right into my lap, haven’t you?”
There it is. Let a villain talk long enough, and they’ll always give themselves away.
I don’t like Paxton. I don’t like that he dragged me out here or that he’s insistent about us being mates when that’s just not possible. But at least Paxton’s been really clear about his intentions, and for now, that makes him seem a hell of a lot less dangerous than Zeke.
Paxton. I think we have a problem.
His response is instant. What? Are you okay?
I don’t get the chance to answer because Zeke startles me by shifting. I’m not fast enough to shift too before he leaps toward me. Protect yourself, my wolf urges.
And like all the other times, the bright energy that pours off of my entire body comes seemingly from nowhere. One second, I’m staring at Zeke’s approaching form in horror. The next, bright bursts of white light knock him away from me, sending him sprawling to the grass with his limbs at unnatural angles.
He lets out a pain-filled howl, and I can feel myself pale as I reel back, the light receding.
“What happened?” I didn’t hear Paxton coming, but his hands are on me, pulling me hard against his chest. “What the hell happened?”
I try to open my mouth to explain, but I have no words for what just happened. I don’t know what the energy is that keeps bursting out of me when I feel threatened. Whatever it is, it protects me. But I have no control over it, and that means the energy inside of me is dangerous. Unknown.
Paxton wraps one of his bigger hands around both of mine. “You’re shaking. What the fuck did he do?”
By the harshness of his voice, I can tell Paxton is ready to tear Zeke limb from limb. Though considering the wolf is keening and twisted up like a pretzel several feet away from us, he doesn’t seem like much of an impending threat at the moment.
“Tasha?” Paxton turns me in his arms so he can look down into my eyes. The concern I see there is overwhelming. And familiar. His concern looks exactly like Jimmy’s used to.
I don’t know how it happened, but Paxton Glass really does believe I’m his mate. Whatever trick is being played on me, it’s obvious someone is playing it on him too. It can’t be possible, but someone has gone to great lengths to try to convince us all of this ruse.
Mate. I shut my eyes to try to drown out my wolf’s voice, but it’s no use. My wolf is more persistent than she’s ever been now that she’s present again. Mate. Mate. Mate.
Paxton’s grip stays tight around me as I shake my head sharply, trying to clear away my wolf’s insistence on being heard. I’m hearing her, all right. I just know that she’s wrong. There’s no mate for me out there, not anymore.
Jimmy is forever a part of East Terrace Green Pack land now. Callum let me be the one to spread the ashes in the garden of the Beta house. I still ache over the memory.
I take a deep, shuddering breath and force words out. “I don’t know what happened exactly. He got pushy about wanting me to spar with him, and I could tell there was something off about it. Then he started saying something about someone paying for me or my siblings, I guess?” Oh, Goddess. “Do you think my sister is in danger?”
Paxton grimaces. “I don’t know.” He lets go of me with one hand to reach into the pocket of his sweatpants for a phone that he slips into my pocket. “Their number is in there. Go in the house and call. Tell Dominic everything you can and see if he knows anything.”
“Where are you going?” I blurt out, inexplicably alarmed as he untangles himself from me.
“I’m going to deal with Zeke.” The hard tone in his voice makes me think I won’t be seeing Zeke again. I can’t help but feel relieved. Then guilty, as I realize I’ve wrapped my fingers around his arm to stop him from pulling away from me.
“Sorry,” I mutter, jerking my hands away as if his skin burns.
He looks like he wants to say something but then thinks better of it. “Go inside to Leah and make that call. She’s trustworthy.” He nudges me in that direction, and I go.
I hate that it suddenly feels like him vouching for someone means anything, but I feel a hell of a lot safer as I run toward the house because of it. Paxton is big and scary and maybe not altogether sane, but I suddenly feel safer here than I have anywhere else in months.
A shiver runs through me as I step up onto the porch.
“Are you okay?” Leah watches me with wide eyes from the doorway. She doesn’t make any move to link arms with me this time, which I’m thankful for. “Paxton took off so suddenly I thought…” She trails off, her face twisting up unhappily, and I know exactly what she thought.
She should have been right too. I should have been the one hurt, not Zeke. So how do I explain the thing inside of me that’s been protecting me? And am I even sure I want to? Because if I start asking too many questions, I have a hunch I might not like all the answers. Shifters don’t have powers they can’t explain. Not normal ones.
I watched the same spark appear when I was with Tess, and I assumed it was her. It would make more sense to me that way. There’s always been something special about her. Even her scent was unusual after her first adult shift. But twice now, this ball of light has appeared to protect me. I can’t tell if it’s something inside of me or something that’s following me.
Studying to be the Luna Sovereign hasn’t prepared me for this.
“Are you okay, dear?” Leah asks again. Her face is wrinkled with concern.
“Yes.” No, actually, but manners always win out.
“Okay.” I can tell she doesn’t believe me, but she thankfully doesn’t push. “What do you say to a glass of wine? I don’t know about you, but this has been a lot of excitement for me for one day.”
I nod and follow her into the monstrosity of a house. It’s hard to believe this would all be too much excitement for her considering how proudly she admitted to killing her own husband. But if there’s anything I’ve picked up on, it’s that there’s no judging these shifters by first impressions. All of them seem to be surprising me.
I hesitate on the edge of the kitchen as Leah scans the labels on the wine bottles littering one edge of the kitchen counter.
“Is there somewhere I could make a call?” I ask, desperate to reach out to Tess and Dominic like Paxton asked. I need to hear comforting voices to soothe my frayed nerves—and to make sure my sister is safe.
“Of course. Pick any room, there’s nothing to hide here.” She smiles brightly, and I can’t help but feel like what she’s actually saying is there’s nowhere for me to hide here.
I thank her and move toward a long hallway, ducking into the first open door I see. It’s a bedroom decorated in fluorescent yellows. It’s almost too painful to look at, so I walk to the window and stare out at the flat grassy field outside.
Dominic’s number is programmed in the phone just like Paxton said. I press the screen to call, hanging tightly onto the phone as if it could be snatched away at any moment like before. The line only rings twice before the Alpha’s gruff voice answers.
“Is Tess there?” I ask, my voice cracking softly.
“Fuck,” he murmurs, and then I hear him calling my sister’s name. I’m relieved to know he keeps her close. If I can’t be there to help keep her safe, at least I know he is. It’s the only thing that offers me true comfort at the moment while I’m still spending most of my time terrified that bad things will happen to the people I love.
“Tasha?” My sister’s voice is panicked. “Where are you? What happened? I made Dominic send someone to the Sovereign Pack, and they’re saying you ran away.”
I can feel my lip pull up in an uncharacteristic sneer. Of course they are. My wolf isn’t impressed by that and neither am I.
“Who’s saying that?” I ignore her other questions for the moment.
“Alpha Waverly. She said you packed up your things and left. Is Paxton really your mate? Are you with him?” Her questions make my chest ache so badly I wrap an arm around myself as if I can somehow squeeze myself tightly enough to keep all of my feelings in.
“Waverly hates me,” I murmur. I didn’t pack anything, and Paxton clearly doesn’t have my things if he’s dressing me in his own clothes. She has to know I was taken, and I’m sure it thrills her.
She probably thinks this is her shot to be the Luna Sovereign herself. I was never going to be good enough in her eyes.
“Hates you? Why?”
“That’s really not the point right now,” I tell her, remembering Zeke’s words. “Something’s happened, and I need you to put me on speaker. Dominic needs to hear this too.”
“Okay.” She fumbles with the phone for a second before I hear the change in background noise that tells me I’m on speaker. “Go ahead, we’re both listening, Tasha.”
“I just had a rogue say something that leads me to believe there’s a bounty on our heads, Tess. He mentioned the Jarreaus specifically, so I need you to call Tevin and warn him too. I’m not sure what exactly what they want with us, but I noticed the rogue kept mentioning human things so maybe—“
I stop mid-sentence when Dominic angrily lets out a rapid string of curses.
“Tasha, where are you?” Tess asks, with more urgency in her voice now. She seems completely unfazed by her mate’s tirade.
“I’m… I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I’m with Paxton. Why? What do you know?”
Dominic is the one who answers. “After you disappeared weeks ago, we realized we had walked into a trap. Someone paid Warner Overstreet to attack our pack. He brought the whole North Summit Pack down with him, but Tevin wasn’t with them. According to Tess’ friend, Tevin had already been gone for months. We haven’t been able to find him.
“Warner mentioned some rogues approached him with an offer to pay him for taking us out. The details beyond that weren’t clear, and none of the North Summit Pack wolves that survived knew anything about it.”
If I thought my head was spinning before, it’s nothing compared to now.
“I don’t like any of this.” I can hear Tess’ voice waver in a way I haven’t heard since she showed up at my doorstep at eighteen, heartbroken. It makes the pain in my chest multiply tenfold. “Tasha, you need to come stay with us. I don’t care if you ran away from being Luna Sovereign. You’re not safe out there around rogues.”
She isn’t telling me anything new. I haven’t trusted rogues since the moment a group of them killed my mate.
Paxton’s not just any rogue.My wolf isn’t as keen on Tess’ plan as I am. Tess and I are safer apart… for now. My wolf seems to know something I don’t, but whatever it is, she clearly doesn’t intend to share.
My wolf pulls back when I try to press for more. It feels like a betrayal by my own wolf, but one I can’t afford to dwell on at the moment while the situation around me feels incredibly unstable.
A strangled sound of frustration bursts out of me as I really consider my present circumstances. “I don’t think I can come there, Tess. Something isn’t right. A lot of somethings aren’t right. Until we know more, I think I might actually be safer where I am.”
I’m pretty sure with Zeke out of the picture, no one else will know where I am. It doesn’t seem like Paxton is a frequent visitor to Leah’s house. I don’t think anyone is looking for us here, otherwise he would have taken me somewhere else.
“What? Tasha, you’re not making any sense. If this is about Paxton—“
“It’s not.” I don’t think so. Everything is feeling a little fuzzy at the moment. “Call me if you learn anything new, and I’ll do the same.”
She starts to protest more, but I hang up the phone before she can try to change my mind. Tevin and I dedicated so much of our lives to protecting Tess because she was the baby. I’m not going to risk putting her in more danger now.
Whoever is willing to pay for us, I’m not interested in making it easy by putting us all in one place. No. First, I need answers. Starting with where the hell my brother has gone.