Page 59 of Hayden's Haven
Hayden hated leaving Liam’s pack vulnerable to the soldiers and their guns, but there was nothing he and Frank could do. They ran the entire way, pushing their wolves beyond their usual capacity. Time was critical. As they raced through the forest, Hayden thought through every possible scenario he could envision, and none of it ended well for his pack or wolf shifters in general. Invading Drake’s territory and starting a war without Liam’s shifters would be suicide or at best a draw, with dozens dead at the end of the day. And still, they wouldn’t capture Drake. His brother was too smart for that.
Frank howled as they crossed the border, letting their patrols know who was entering. Frank and he were of like-mind, determined to make it to camp without any delay. As he and Frank finally entered the center of the compound, hot, thirsty, winded, and beyond tired, Hayden scented wolves that didn’t belong here.
“I smell them. At least five. No blood,” Frank confirmed what Hayden had scented.
“It appears we have visitors.”
“That’s never good.”
After the ‘visitors’ they’d encountered at Liam’s compound, Hayden had to agree. “Do a perimeter search, see what you can find out.”
“Where are you going?” Frank asked.
“Into the lion’s den.” Hayden pointed toward Damien’s house. The place was lit up, upstairs and downstairs, and he could hear voices inside, whispers really.
Frank shifted and headed off. Hayden quickly dressed and tossed the bag off toward a tree. Until he knew what was going on, he wanted to appear calm, collected, but most of all full of strength and not like he had been running for five hours straight. He took his time walking up the few steps that led to Damien and Tess’s house. The voices had ceased. No doubt they’d heard him approach.
Hayden walked right in. This was not one of those time to knock and look subservient. Inside, were two male shifters he didn’t know, and Callen was standing at the base of the steps. His enforcer had his hands at his side, loose, as if he were relaxed, except Hayden knew better. Callen’s relaxed stance tended to be a foot bent behind him, flat against a wall, with his arms crossed over his chest. This here. . . this was Callen seconds from shifting. Yellow eyes shone brightly and never moved from the two shifters standing near the kitchen table.
“Drake?” the middle-aged shifter with gray streaks in his hair said, staring at Hayden. The younger one, a blond shifter in his late twenties whose muscles rivaled Callen’s, seemed preoccupied with the balcony above them. Hayden strained to make out the whispers up there. Sounded like Damien and Tess arguing, given the fast exchange back and forth.
“Drake’s pack is due south of here,” Hayden said.
“Ah, I see it now. You’re slightly taller, not as broad. But there’s a remarkable resemblance.”
“And who are you?” Hayden took a few steps in.
“Truman. My pack is up in Montana. I’m here by Damien’s invitation.”
A quick glance to Callen said otherwise. Oh, the shifter was probably who he said he was, but Damien hadn’t invited him, or if he had, whatever was going on here wasn’t amicable.
The alpha walked toward the steps, as if testing Callen. Callen didn’t budge, and he wouldn’t. “Damien,” the alpha called up the steps. “You have company. One of Drake’s people.”
Callen chuckled at that, his mouth quirking up, quickly grounding Hayden. This was Hayden’s pack, his brother standing guard at the base of the stairs and his alpha upstairs. Let this Montana alpha think what he wanted. Hayden didn’t need to prove himself to him.
Damien barreled to the balcony and leaned over, quickly scanning the place. His eyes met Hayden’s and then quickly glanced back from where he had come. That’s when Hayden sensed something more than marital fighting was going on. He raced past Callen who leaned to the side far enough to let him pass.
The moment Hayden reached the second floor landing, he smelled Mila. Damien caught him by the arm before he went any farther. “She’s fine.”
“You won’t keep me from her.”
“No, but you need to know what’s going on before you go in there.” Damien dragged him into his bedroom to talk. “That’s her alpha down there. He has another twenty shifters waiting beyond our borders. He’s saying you and Callen kidnapped her and you killed three of his shifters in the process. He’s demanding I hand her over to him.”
Hayden lost control of his wolf and plowed into Damien. The two crashed into a dresser, nearly toppling it. Damien had his hand wrapped around Hayden’s throat and pinned him to the wall. “What the fuck, Hayden! Get your shit together! I’m not your enemy.”
“You can’t send her back there, Damien. Banish me if you want, but let her stay. They’ll kill her!”
Damien released him. “I still don’t know what’s going on, but keep this up, Hayden, and I promise you you’ll wish all I did is banish you.”
Hayden lowered his eyes. Eight years he had been with Damien, six of those as his second. They’d been as close as brothers, closer considering Drake had never been a brother to him, not since Logan had taken him away.
Damien had saved Hayden’s life, welcomed him into the pack, and yet lately Hayden had lost faith in him, questioning so much of what the alpha did, especially when he excluded Hayden from top-level meetings. He had been questioning for some time if Damien had lost confidence in him or simply never trusted him when it came to any business involving Drake.
Perhaps Damien was right to question Hayden’s loyalty. Hayden had been questioning it himself. He couldn’t give up on Drake, even when his brother risked every shifter that Hayden had come to love and respect here, even after what Drake had done to him before he’d escaped. The truth was becoming clearer with each passing day. Hayden wasn’t worthy of being Damien’s second. All these years of faithful service meant nothing if Damien couldn’t count on him when the stakes were the highest they could possibly be.
“Is she okay?” Hayden asked. He’d step down as Damien’s second later, after they settled whatever was going on with Mila’s alpha. Hayden had to ensure her safety.
Damien released Hayden. “She’s fine, for the most part. Tess is with her. I was trying to find out what’s going on. Truman and his second arrived an hour ago. When they levied their accusations against you and Callen, and said you’d kidnapped her, I had Tess bring Mila here to prove she was well. I messed up, Hayden. I had thought it was a big misunderstanding and that Mila would clear it up. The moment she entered and spotted them, it was clear something was wrong. She wouldn’t talk. Not to me, to Tess, her alpha, no one. That’s when Tess and I brought her upstairs, to speak with her in private, but she won’t talk to us.”
