A Guardians Passion (28 page)

“Yes. He’s tired, babe,” Freya confirmed. “We both are. We all are.”

Fenris came down upon his belly and lay beside her. Freya stretched out as well, covering Rayne’s body with hers and then gesturing for Fenris to cover her. He lifted a paw and draped it over her shoulder but kept his head facing the doorway.

It was warm and comforting to have her mates so close. How had she ever believed them to be irritants? No, to be able to breathe in their scents, stroke their fur, and be sandwiched between them was divine. She wondered if she should be doing something more to hasten Fenris’s transformation. Without Rayne’s powers, however, Freya had no idea where or how to begin.

She was content to wait as long as it took. Then it dawned on her that the others might not be so patient. She had to twist a bit, beneath the weight of Fenris’s arm and Rayne’s body, but eventually she could see the group. Geraldine was still in the front with Gaea. Ezra, the sweet chocolate omega, was standing on the other side of her mother, who seemed to be in command.

“I want you to run back to the caravan and get as much food and water as you can carry,” Geraldine said to Ezra. “Cole, go with him. Everyone else, you’re just gonna have to be patient.”

Freya saw her silver wolf, her beta once upon a time, step up and agree before he and Ezra edged their way through the crowd and disappeared.

Vaegar stepped into the space Ezra had formerly occupied. “We are wasting time,” he insisted to Geraldine, and when she showed no concern, he turned his ire to Gaea. “You’re his mother. Don’t you have some kind of control over him?”

“As he was once my precious boy—one whom I would have slaughtered legions for—that is how strong his love is for his female now. His love for me is not one of possession.” Gaea was somber in her response. With her arms crossed, she gave no indication of impatience, only resolve.

The dark male huffed and fidgeted so that Freya suspected it was Helena’s scent that had him so riled. Surely he had to have caught it. He paced forward and back, a vision of masculine power even in his human form.

In a sudden fit, he threw up his hands and started forward. “Fuck this. He has her. She’s safe. He’s not going to leave her side. I just want to know—” He made it ten feet into the room. It wasn’t far, but it was enough for him to catch a glimpse of a bloody foot.

“Helena? Helena?” He bolted forward, far enough to see the horror.

Fenris roared, rising at the perceived intrusion. Vaegar was too close.

“Get back. Shit,” Freya pleaded, but her words were useless to a grieving relative. The were stood frozen and fearless. He didn’t seem to have heard a word she said.

“Someone come get him!”

Vaegar’s mouth hung open, and his eyes were wide with what looked like shock. Freya expected anger to come swiftly, but instead Vaegar began to tremble. He was crying.

She could see the tears just as surely as she could smell them. Vaegar bared fangs grown long. His face flushed red, he turned to Freya. “Who did this? How did this happen?”

Freya felt Fenris withdrawing his paw and read the danger immediately. While she heard Vaegar’s questions, she had no time to address them. “Get him back,” she warned, seeking her mother’s aid.

“Freya! Tell me! Where have they gone?”

Geraldine waved several of Vaegar’s men into the room. Although many of them looked as if they’d rather walk through fire than enter the room, they moved at Geraldine’s command, filing in to get hold of their leader.

“I can’t leave her. My sister. I want her body. Let me go!”

His sister, Freya thought with surprise. Her heart went out to the memory of the proud wolf, the warrior that Helena had been, and to the suffering Vaegar was surely experiencing.

Vaegar threw one of his men to the ground and even managed to punch one in the face before the five men set to the task actually succeeded in subduing him. Even with Vaegar’s thrashing, they managed to drag him toward the room’s entrance.

“Don’t be stupid. We must wait,” Gaea insisted. “She will calm him.”

Freya had no idea where Gaea got her confidence, but with Ezra running up carrying two duffel bags in hand, there was at least some hope.

Ezra’s gaze moved between Freya and the spectacle of Vaegar before Geraldine approached him. “Go on,” she said. “He won’t hurt you. Take her and the boys something to eat.”

It took more than a few deep breaths for Ezra to take the first step, but eventually he moved. With the duffel bags at his sides, he approached. Despite Fenris still being in threat and fury mode, her alpha’s pulse slowed the farther Vaegar was pulled back. Ezra coming close, a trembling thing reeking of fear, got only a snort from him. By the time that Ezra had gotten within three feet, Fenris had settled back down on the ground.

Freya had wondered if Fenris would attack, had thought he might, but as it was, even in Luna form, he was helpless against the powers of an omega.

Ezra came closer, his head bowed, and set his bags right beside Rayne’s shoulder. Brave in that way that only omegas could be, he did not raise his eyes above the sight of Rayne’s supine body as he knelt. “H-how is he?” Ezra asked.

Freya stroked Rayne’s brow, where a light sweat had broken out. Other than his elevated temperature and his unconsciousness, he seemed to be okay, but then she wasn’t a doctor.

Fenris leaned over her, looking at Rayne as if still confused by his beta’s state. He drew his tongue over Rayne’s chest and then chin. Fenris seemed to have forgotten about the others. His attention was instead on his best friend, lover, and beta. He tried to nudge Rayne with his snout, all the while keeping his paw heavy upon Freya’s waist.

With Fenris’s weight bearing down over her shoulder, Freya replied, “He’ll be fine. My beta just needs a bit of rest and something to eat once he wakes up. He must have used a helluva lot of power to subdue the asprega.”

Ezra nodded. “He needed food on the plane. He was weary then too, dealing with…” He didn’t need to tell her; a simple flick of his eyes toward Fenris was answer enough. “He was adamant about finding you. They both were.”

Freya didn’t doubt it, nor did she wonder at the strength it would have taken to restrain the behemoth curled over her back.

Ezra opened one of the duffel bags and removed several liter-size bottles of water, wrapped cheese, lunch meat, and a large box of grilled chicken. “I brought steaks too, and hamburger,” he added, starting in on the other satchel.

Fenris sniffed in the direction of the bag that Ezra had just opened, expressing his interest.

Tentatively, Ezra pulled out a package created out of aluminum foil. He plucked at the folded crease to reveal a stack of four porterhouse steaks, medium rare by the smell of them.

Fenris nudged Freya, who supposed that her alpha was interested in the food, but when she pulled the topmost steak from the pile and offered to him, he turned his head.

“If you don’t eat it, I will,” she chided.

He nodded intently before moving his paw onto Rayne’s belly.

“He means it for you
and
Rayne,” Ezra stated.

Freya eyed her love, feral as the day was long but still showing his consideration for her. Bringing the meat to her lips, she sank her teeth into the first succulent piece of nourishment she’d had in hours. Even at room temperature, the beef was divine, nice and tender. Before she knew it, she was licking all that remained of the steak from her fingers.

Ezra held out another steak, only to have Fenris insist that Freya eat it too. At the offering of the third one, Fenris snapped up the meat, so swiftly that Ezra immediately checked to see if his hand still remained.

After Ezra assured her that there were two more packs of beef, Freya asked for the remainder of the opened package, which she shared with her alpha. She wanted to make sure there would be plenty left for Rayne.

“C-can…could you change him back?”

Holding out the last steak for Fenris’s open maw, Freya couldn’t give a definite answer. She scratched her beast beneath the chin, sure only that he would not revert to his humanoid shape as long as he believed she was in danger. She looked to Rayne, wondering if she had the luxury of waiting until he awoke.

She didn’t, and if she had to be honest, it would have been cowardly of her to rely so heavily upon her beta. Fenris was just as much her love as he was Rayne’s. It was time she stepped up—past time, actually. “I’m sure as shit gonna try,” Freya vowed.

* * * *

Ezra proved to be a great help. With the others unable to enter the room, the omega was able to traverse the distance freely enough to bring Helena’s lifeless body to her brother and to gather the fire-damaged CPUs and hand them over to Cole, who was eager to see what he could salvage. Ezra was even able to ferry information between Freya and her mother, who seemed to be the calmest. Gaea had been reserved, but as minutes passed with Fenris refusing to leave his mate’s side, she had begun chewing her bottom lip.

Freya had two choices. Either she allowed Fenris to clutch her like a child with a stuffed toy, or she could take the initiative and take hold of him instead. She had tried the first way for nearly an hour, and it had had little effect.

Rayne was still unconscious, but several blankets were draped over him. He had moved, had even sighed when Freya kissed his lips, but his eyelids had yet to part.

Vaegar had taken his sister’s remains out of the room while his men were charged with searching the rest of the mansion. Freya was left with the scrutinizing gazes of her mother and mother-in-law, but their presence gave her all the encouragement she needed to switch her tactics.

Through Ezra, she had managed to convey the night’s events and what she knew about the auction, but it wasn’t enough. They needed to be on the scent and hunting, not waiting for Fen to get out of guard mode.

Freya shoved at the heavy paw that kept her tucked beneath her alpha’s girth. She had no hope of getting free until Fenris realized what she was truly up to. Frowning, he tentatively lifted his limb.

She wasted no time sitting up, moving before he could reestablish his protection. Disregarding his snorts of disapproval, Freya got up on her knees and gripped Fenris’s jaws. Meeting his fearsome gaze, she had to believe she could get through to him. “Look, Fen. I’m okay, and Bun is fine too. Rayne will be fine. But I’m gonna need you to relax, to come back to me. I will need you at my side. Sane. You’ve saved me, but there are others we need to get to. We have work to do. Revenge work. We’ve got to find that fucker Birathan and make him pay.”

Fenris cocked his massive head, eyes narrowing. She could see that he understood at least part of what she was saying, and she easily got the impression that he wanted to agree.

Good, she thought. Seeing how the patient approach had failed, she decided to attempt the confrontational one instead. There was a thread of lucidity within him, and it was that which she made her target. “Cole, my mother and yours, Vaegar, and the others can take on the vamps, babe. They can hunt down the mothers and the cubs. Get them back. But me and you, we have to take on the asprega. Tear their fucking heads off and take all of their hearts. Do you understand?”

The great beast that was her alpha snarled. He removed his paw from her and came to his feet, easily looming over Freya. He shook his massive head at her with fangs bared. He looked from her to Rayne and back again.

While Fenris couldn’t speak, Freya got the message immediately, and she didn’t like it one bit. He didn’t want her to do anything but stay at Rayne’s side.

She stood to face him. Although he was on all fours, Fenris still had her by more than a few inches, but Freya wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. “Excuse me? I didn’t hear you. Were you trying to tell me what I can and cannot do?” she wondered, not giving a damn about how absurd she might have seemed. “Because that is not going to stop me, and you know it!”

Fenris sat back on his haunches as if offended. He then came forward and used a massive paw to pull Freya against the furred wall of his chest.

“Get the hell off me,” she swore, struggling against a grip she had no hope of breaking. She punched him in the shoulder several times, but he hardly flinched. “You can’t keep me here. I
will
have my hunt, and you can’t keep me prisoner for-fucking-ever, Fen!”

Intent on trying to prove her wrong, Fenris tightened his hold around her. He whimpered softly but did not relent.

Freya detected the struggle within her mate, knew that Fenris was at least considering her words. “Look, I get it. You want to protect me, but I am not a weakling, and you know it. It’s why you chose me. So you, my fucking lover, have a choice. You can keep up this berserker thing and delay the inevitable a little while, or we can deal with this straight off, together. Let down your guard and talk to me, for fuck’s sake.”

He didn’t change physically, but one look into his eyes, and Freya was elated. He was warring with his own thoughts, but he was thinking. He lowered his head, sulking.

“That’s right. Think it over,” she whispered, placing her hand upon his chest. Slowly she let her fingers drift down over his belly, over his navel, and on to the copious fur above his cock. When she took hold of his sex and saw the shock in his gaze, Freya felt victory.

Fenris loosened his grip enough for her to be able to move freely. She didn’t move, however, feeling the first twinges of his transformation beginning. Freya buried her head in her alpha’s chest and trusted in the heartbeat slowing to its more normal pace rather than fur receding or volume diminishing. She felt the enormous shaft in her hold losing girth but certainly gaining in hardness. With her other hand, she stroked his back, praying all the while.

After what seemed like hours but was probably no longer than five minutes, Freya heard Fenris’s voice.

“A-are…are you mad, female?” he managed, his voice rough with strained muscles.

Freya dared to look up and saw her beloved, back to his normal human shape. His blue eyes were filled with worry, but he was calm, and Freya was ecstatic. She rose on her toes and clapped her hands upon his cheeks. She kissed him hard on the lips. “It’s what you love about me, though, right?”