Nowhere to Hide (Tundra Wolves Book 4) Read online

  CHAPTER 1

  “Hey, Ridge,” Jag said as he walked into Ridge’s office.

  “Hey, man, what’s up? I thought you were in training with Caleb and Bo?” Ridge said as he sat back in his seat.

  Jag moved closer and stopped before Ridge’s desk, his expression getting serious. “I was, but we’re done. Caleb and Bo headed to the pool to do some laps and I’ll be joining them in a few. Blu stopped me on the way in and asked me to give you a message.”

  Ridge’s brows dipped low as he gave Jag a smirk. “Blu didn’t want to give me a message? I don’t get it. Blu’s my assistant and gives me all my messages. The only reason he would ask you, or Caleb for that matter, is if he was afraid of telling me something. So, what’s the issue?”

  “It’s Fane. He’s here,” Jag announced, and Ridge’s face turned cold.

  “I see. No wonder Blu didn’t want to tell me himself. So where is the asshole?” Ridge asked as he pushed back from his chair and stood.

  “He’s still out at the gate. Blu told him he would have to wait for you to okay him in. And, Ridge, he’s not alone.”

  Ridge moved around his desk and headed for the door. “What do you mean he’s not alone?”

  As Ridge walked out into the hallway Jag followed and the two headed for the front door. “What do you mean, what do I mean? He’s not alone, meaning he brought someone with him,” Jag replied sarcastically.

  Ridge turned his head and gave Jag a sneer. “Asshole. Yeah, I figured that’s what you meant, but do we have any idea who he has with him?”

  Jag shook his head. “Nope. Blu just said the guy was big. Almost as large as Fane, but he didn’t go out to greet them, Blu just talked to Fane on the intercom.”

  “Okay. Where’s TJ and Mason? I think showing up with a group will be intimidating and what Fane deserves,” Ridge asked as he turned into the foyer, then stopped when he saw everyone standing there waiting for him, including his mate Caleb and Jag’s mate Bo.

  “I guess that answers my question,” Ridge said, and went right to Caleb and placed a kiss on his lips. Jag crossed the room also and went right to his mate. “I thought you and Bo were going for a swim?”

  Caleb smiled up at Ridge and slid an arm around his waist. “Yeah, well, the swim can wait. From what you’ve told me about your cousin, I figured you may want to make a show of force. Then, when Blu told us Fane wasn’t alone, Bo and I decided to get our asses here to wait for you.”

  “And Mason and I followed,” TJ added.

  “Thank you all. I don’t think he’ll cause a problem but to show him that this is serious and he needs to watch himself while he’s here is a good thing. Okay, let’s go greet our guests,” Ridge said, then opened the front door. The cold, crisp night air engulfed them and everyone moved quickly and loaded up into the CATs that sat out front, then headed out to the main gate.

  As they approached the gates the headlights showed two men sitting upon motorcycles. Ridge watched as Fane climbed off his motorcycle then looked to his companion and nodded. The other large man got off his bike as well and the two of them walked to the gate.

  Ridge put his CAT in park and opened the door. At the same time, Caleb opened his door and climbed out. Ridge didn’t look back to see if the others were following, he knew they would and together in formation they would make an intimidating show.

  Ridge took up the lead with Caleb and Jag on either side a few feet back. Behind them TJ and Mason would take up the flanks and Bo would be between them. He heard a tap on the ground and smiled to himself, realizing Bo had brought a Kata with him and the tap on the frozen ground was to let Ridge know. Bo and his Caleb were exceptionally skilled with weapons of all kinds, and Ridge knew if Fane or his friend started anything, Bo could drop them both in seconds using the stick.

  As they approached the gate, Ridge kept his gaze locked with Fane’s. His cousin looked exactly as he had the day he ran from the Heart pack all those years ago, only a bit older maybe, but also a bit harder, like his life since he ran wasn’t all sunshine and roses as it once was when he was growing up.

  Fane was raised by his two fathers in New York City and his uncles had spoiled the hell out of Fane. He grew up to be one of those Socialite elite playboys that thought they were better than everyone else because they had money. He also thought he could do whatever he wanted and his daddies would always be there to bail him out of trouble and pay off people to keep his shenanigans hush-hush. But Fane’s fathers had become tired of always riding in to save Fane and of his attitude, so they sent him up here to spend some time with the Heart pack where they were sure Fane would learn to work hard and how to be modest and grateful, but that had not happened.

  Fane couldn’t handle their training schedule, or working with his hands and putting in a hard-day’s work to better the pack. His cousin also couldn’t handle the rules Ridge’s father set, so the coward slipped away in the middle of the night, only leaving a note that said, ‘Thanks, Bye,’ and that was it.

  Ridge remained silent as he stared at the man who shared some of his features. Anyone who saw them together would be able to see the family resemblance. They each had the same straight black hair, but Ridge’s was a bit lighter now and a lot shorter, and he was sporting a short, scruffy beard. They each had the same rugged features in their faces as well as the green eyes, but Ridge’s coloring was deeper and he had a good two inches on Fane’s six feet four and outweighed his cousin by about twenty pounds. Although Fane did look much thicker with muscles these days, so maybe he was closer to Ridge’s two hundred and sixty pounds.

  “Cousin,” Fane finally said as they stared at one another.

  Ridge gave a slight nod as he replied through clenched teeth, “Fane.”

  Fane chuckled and shook his head, then looked back over his shoulder at his companion, and back to Ridge. “So, this is how you greet family?”

  “Some family deserve to be greeted in this way and some not at all,” Ridge replied.

  Fane sighed heavily as he ran a hand over the top of his head, then took a few steps closer to the fence. He raised his hands to clasp the chain link but stopped when Caleb warned in a cold, lethal voice, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Unless of course you enjoy having your balls shoved up your ass and out your nose.”

  Fane pulled his hands back and gave Caleb a look of horror. “What the hell, Ridge? Why do you have gates like this, and who the hell is this guy?” He asked as he motioned toward Caleb.

  Ridge narrowed his eyes at Fane as he ground his teeth, anger beginning to build. “You will show the alpha mate, my mate, respect at all times or suffer death,” Ridge sneered.

  Fane’s eyes widened briefly before they closed and he released a defeated sigh. He shook his head, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes again, his gaze meeting Ridge’s. “I’m sorry, cousin. I meant no disrespect to you or your mate. I was just surprised to see the electrified fence and to have one of your betas address me like that,” Fane explained, then looked to Caleb, and said, “Alpha mate, I apologize for my tone. I’m not trying to make any excuses, but I’ve…” He looked back over his shoulder to his friend, then back to Ridge, “We've been under a lot of stress lately.”

  Ridge looked to Caleb and saw the slight nod, then turned back to Fane. “Apology accepted. So, who is this you’ve brought with you? You never mentioned bringing another along.”

  Fane motioned for the large guy behind him to come forward as he introduced, “This is Oberon, and we’re both in the same shit hole with nowhere to turn. If we can come in, I’ll tell you everything, cousin.”

  The quiver in Fane’s voice sounded as if Fane were pleading with him, and that in itself made Ridge pause. Fane was an elitist little shit, and would never in a million years beg or plead for anything. Ridge narrowed his gaze at his cousin again, studying him, when suddenly he saw it. There was something new about Fane, something... humbling. Now Ridge’s interest was piqued.

  He looked to Jag and nodde
d. Immediately the gate alarm sounded along with a click. As the outer gate began to slide open, the lock on the inner iron gate disengaged. They all stood staring at one another until both gates were fully open.

  Fane and Oberon returned to their motorcycles and climbed on as everyone else got back into their vehicles, except for Ridge and Caleb. They remained where they were until Fane and Oberon rode through, then the gates closed. Once all the locks engaged and all the other vehicles were moving up the drive toward the house, they got into their CAT and followed.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  “So, tell me what happened, but be warned, Fane, one damn lie and I will scent it, which means, I will throw you out on your ass,” Ridge threatened as he took a seat behind his desk.

  Caleb followed and stood behind Ridge, then crossed his arms over his chest and stared at him with a scowl on his face. Besides being Ridge’s mate, Fane had no idea who this guy was or where he came from, but just looking at Caleb, Fane knew not to fuck with him. The guy was nowhere near as large as his cousin, but Fane got the feeling Caleb was deadly. Which meant once again his cousin had been blessed by the gods, because if Caleb was as strong as Fane believed him to be, and the scent coming from the guy was right, then Ridge had found the perfect combination for an alpha to find in a mate, a beta/gamma.

  Fane studied Caleb as they walked to Ridge’s office and had seen the strength throughout his muscular form, as well as the way the man carried himself. There was great confidence and pride within the wolf. Fane also noticed how fucking hot and sexy the man was. Now sitting in Ridge’s office facing his cousin and his mate, Fane could see exactly how sexy the alpha mate truly was with his short light-brown hair, olive skin, and dreamy cobalt blue eyes. Fane could tell the man was a warrior and wondered where he had come from and how long Caleb and Ridge had been mated.

  “Fane,” Ridge said, getting his attention and bringing him back to the moment.

  He turned his attention to Ridge and met his cousin’s gaze. Was there a hint of amusement he saw in that intense look or was that Ridge knowing how blessed he was and what Fane was thinking and his cousin was silently throwing it in his face that Ridge had his life together and Fane was still a fuckup?

  Just as he wanted to bristle at the thought, he noticed the pride in Ridge’s gaze and realized his cousin was indeed aware of why he was staring at Caleb and Ridge was proud to have Caleb as a mate, and that was all the look meant.

  Fane signed, then replied, “I understand, Ridge and I promise you I haven’t come here to cause you trouble. I will tell you everything... honestly. I’m sure your first question is what I’m doing here and why? As well as why in the hell would I reach out to you of all people? But that question alone should tell you how desperate I am.”

  Ridge nodded as he rubbed a hand across his chin. “True. So then, tell me what happened and how you think I can help you.”

  “As I explained to you on the phone, I learned of something called The Reckoning and the Purge. I remember some things that were said, but not much. Unfortunately, I really wasn’t paying attention when that dipshit Silvan was running his mouth,” Fane began, and ran a hand over his head. “Seeing as you agreed for me to come here without hesitation when I told you, that means you know what he was talking about and that Oberon and I are in even deeper shit than we originally thought.”

  Ridge relaxed back in his seat and clasped his hands over his abs. “That would be an understatement. But before I tell you anything, I want you to tell me everything. Who exactly this person is that you’ve brought with you? Why you thought bringing a vampire into my territory, or my home, with my mate present, was a good idea? Where have you been all these years? What have you been up to? And then I want to know every damn detail you can remember, even something small that you may think is insignificant, since that night this Silvan shot off his mouth.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Fuck. He knew all these questions were coming and he also knew he would have to be honest with Ridge when they did, but he was still not prepared to tell his cousin everything that had happened to him since the last time they saw one another over thirty years ago.

  He took a deep breath and released it slowly as he sent up a silent prayer to the gods to help him from having to tell Ridge everything. Maybe if he started with Oberon and how his friend was no threat to Ridge’s mate or anyone else in the pack, and they got into why he was here, it would distract Ridge from asking about his past.

  Fane looked to Oberon who was sitting in the chair beside him, and his friend gave him a strained smile and nodded. Fane turned back and met Ridge’s gaze, then began, “Oberon is my best friend. We’ve been through war and back again together and we will always have each other’s backs. You being my family means that he will never be a threat to you or yours unless I say otherwise, or if he is threatened.”

  “And he can’t speak for himself?” Jag asked, from where he stood by the door.

  Oberon turned in his seat to look at Jag, and smiled. “Nope, I can talk. I just thought it would be better for Fane here to ease the way. But if you’d like I can give you my resume.”

  Jag smirked at Oberon, and replied, “Good. I accept. So, who the fuck are you, vampire?”

  Fane closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Things were not going very well. He hadn’t really expected them to go great, but he never realized his cousin and pack were against vampires.

  “Jag,” Ridge growled, and Fane could hear the mischief in his voice.

  “Oberon and I met a little over thirty years ago. About six months after I left here,” Fane began.

  “You mean when you slithered out in the middle of the night without even saying a word to my father,” Ridge sneered through clenched teeth.

  Fane sat forward. He knew this moment would come, but he didn’t want to admit what happened and why he ran. Well, not to Ridge, but he knew he had to. “I know what I did was a shit move. I was a coward, so you don’t need to remind me of that fact. I live with what I did every damn day. Not one day has gone by that I haven’t thought about how deplorable I was, or what I did. But, from what you just said, I’m guessing Uncle Hiram never told you. Which only makes me feel even more like a complete shit. That man always saw something good in me even though it wasn't there, and I will never forget him for that, or for believing in me.”

  Ridge sat forward and narrowed his eyes at Fane. “What did you do?”

  Fane closed his eyes again to quiet the voices that always screamed in his head when he thought of that day. He had been an egotistical little shit who thought he was better than everyone and knew everything, and because of that, he had ended up hurting a sweet, wonderful, young man and he could never forgive himself for that.

  He opened his eyes and met Ridge’s gaze head on. “Do you remember why I was sent here?”

  “Of course. Your fathers were worried about you and your attitude. You thought you were the Prince of New York and didn’t have to answer for the things you did. You thought you were above punishment, or the law,” Ridge replied through clenched teeth.

  “Yeah,” Fane huffed with a humorless chuckle. “I was a piece of crap. When I came here, Uncle Hiram told me he would teach me the right way to treat people and how to be a real man, but I fought him every step of the way, which I’m sure you recall. Anyway, as you also probably remember, Uncle had been teaching us how to wield a whip properly, so to bring our playmate or submissive the best possible pleasure, but to not hurt or injure.”

  “Yes, and as I remember, you were fighting that as well, thinking you knew best. You ended up whipping that sandbag so bad, you sliced it open on more than one occasion,” Ridge said with no emotion, but Fane could see his cousin was trying hard to control his anger.

  Fane nodded absently as the memories came back to him. “Yes. I was so damn full of myself and thought nobody could tell me anything. I always knew better. But then I was given a slap in the face with reality that I actually didn’t know shit. I had never
been so ashamed in my life, which was a new emotion for me, and I didn’t know what to do. Uncle found me and he gave me hell. That night he told me that sadly, the only way I was going to learn what he had been trying to teach me in all things was for me to experience things for myself. And he was right. But it still didn’t take away the shame. It didn’t take away the way I then thought of myself, but it did finally show me what Uncle was trying to teach me, and for that I will forever be grateful to him.”

  “I can see this is all bringing you great pain, cousin and I must admit, just an hour ago that would have brought me great joy, but seeing the shadows in your eyes and hearing the sincere horror in your voice, changes things for me. I don’t take any joy from hearing of your suffering. What happened, Fane?”

  Fane swallowed hard as his eyes filled with tears and said in a strained whisper, “I fucked up beyond repair. I talked one of the deltas into playing with me. We had fucked many times before while I was here and had even played a little, but nothing too heavy. That night I had convinced him that under Uncle’s tutelage I was a master with the whip as well as all the items in the dungeon. He was excited to play with me, and I could see it in his eyes that he had given me his full trust. I felt like a fucking god.

  “After he stripped, I tied him to the St. Andrews Cross and I paddled his ass good and hard until he screamed for me to stop, but I didn't listen. Of course, I didn’t, because I was a fucking piece of garbage who thought I knew everything and I didn’t care about others’ feelings. I yelled at him and told him to stop being a pussy. He was a Tundra Wolf for god's sake and what I was doing was who we were and he needed to suck it up and learn for the day he met his permanent dominant. He stood there dangling from the restraints around his wrists. I didn't even look to see that he was having a hard time standing. I grabbed the whip, even though Uncle told me I wasn’t ready to wield it on a living being. Again, I was so damn selfish and pompous, I thought I knew better. At first I started whipping him with light strokes, but the more he moaned and yelled and the more I saw the stripes across his flesh without the show of blood, the more confident I became that I was truly a god and I knew what I was doing.” Fane stopped as the emotion rolling through him sat in his throat, choking him.