Denied Revenge, page 1
Denied Revenge (Helheim Wolf Pack Series #3)
Copyright © 2023 by Lauren Dawes
www.authorlaurendawes.com
The right of Lauren Dawes to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
E-book: 978-1-922353-78-8
Print: 978-1-922353-79-5
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity, in any form (electronic, digital, optical or mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the author.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Disclaimer: The material in this book contains graphic language and sexual content and is intended for mature audiences, ages 18 and older.
Cover design by Deranged Doctor Designs
Interior design by Sly Fox Cover Designs
To my wonderful husband Phil: For all your support, love and encouragement. I don’t think I could have done it without you.
AUTHOR NOTE
Readers, please be advised that there may be some triggering scenes contained within this book. I hope that I have given this subject matter the care and sensitivity it deserves.
ONE
Ivy paced the length of her living room again—agitation, worry and anger beating furiously around her body, setting the blood in her veins on fire with every step. She checked her phone again only to find that nothing had changed. Her brother, Colton, had not called her back or returned her messages. With a growl, she threw the device on the couch in frustration.
“Why the hell aren’t you answering my calls, Colt?” she shouted. Her twin would always answer when she rang even if he was in the middle of doing his new alpha’s bidding. When he’d left her the previous winter, she’d felt his absence like her heart had been torn out, leaving a ragged hole in her chest. The only way she got through each day was by talking to him on the phone, but she hadn’t heard from him in three days and she felt her world beginning to unravel.
Breathe. Just breathe, she told herself. Her mind calmed for a minute only to come back to thoughts—dark thoughts she didn’t want to contemplate. What if he was hurt, or had been captured? What if…? Ivy shook her head furiously. No. She would know if he’d been killed. She would have felt it. But she couldn’t escape the memory of the pain that sliced through her body a few days ago.
She’d brushed it off at the time, putting it down to a simple muscle spasm, but desperation and doubt clawed at her skin now. What if that had been the sign she was looking for. Stopping abruptly, she cracked her knuckles and thought. She couldn’t stay here.
She had to go and see him.
She had to know, one way or another.
Ivy threw some clothes into a duffel bag and shoved it into the trunk of her car. Her boss at the law firm had already given her some time off, but she still couldn’t leave straight away; she had to get permission from her alpha first. Hitting “2” on her speed dial, she held the phone to her ear while speeding down her street. She took the corner too quickly, her tires squealing as she tried to get the car back under control.
“Ivy,” Matthias said into her ear.
“Alpha,” she replied hesitantly. It’s now or never. Do it for Colt. “I…I need to come and speak with you.”
“I’m busy with work at the moment. Can you come around tonight?” The power of his authority sent tingles down her neck.
“No. It has to be now,” Ivy blurted out. She sucked in a breath, realizing her mistake. “Please,” she added.
Soul-shredding silence answered her until finally he said, “Fine.”
Hanging up the phone, Ivy shifted gears and turned up the radio. Tears blurred the familiar streets and lights into smudges as she made her way to her alpha’s house.
Matthias’s house was typical of the area they lived in—double-story, redbrick, sash windows—but if you looked a little closer you would see the extra security measures put in place, like the surveillance cameras and the security shutters that rolled down over the windows should any threat breach the electrified fences. On one of the pillars near the gate was a sign advertising Matthias’s legitimate human business of stock management.
Parking her car in front of the garage, she hopped out and hoofed it up to the front door. She didn’t even have to knock. Her beta would have been monitoring the place and known when she’d driven onto the street. She stood in front of the door, breath sawing in and out of her partially opened mouth, heart pounding unsteadily. Damn it. Where was her courage when she needed it?
The door opened, the familiar frame of a childhood friend filling up the space. “Ulf,” she said. This was the first time she had seen him in about a month.
His lips lifted into an unsteady smile. “It’s good to see you.”
“I’m here to see Matthias,” she replied, the not you hovering uncomfortably between them. She didn’t need to be this way with him, but she just didn’t know how to act around him now.
His expression was pinched, but he nodded. “Come in. You’ll have to wait. He’s on a conference call with a business associate at the moment.”
Ivy nodded and stepped over the threshold. The hallway was dimly lit, but warm. She turned around, slamming into Ulf’s wide body. Shaking, she took a step back from him. Like all betas, he had an unmistakeable power about him. But unlike most of the wolves in her pack, Ulf was short and stocky—built like a wrestler.
“I’ve missed you, Vee,” he said, reclaiming the step she’d taken. Her cheeks flamed remembering the last time she’d seen him. About the time Colton had left, he and Ivy had started spending more and more time together. It was innocent at first, but it didn’t stay that way for very long. He was in love with her, but she was not in love with him. And then a month ago, he’d asked her to be his mate. Unwilling to ruin their friendship, she’d told him she’d think about it, but she already knew the answer. She just wasn’t ready to settle down with anyone yet.
Ulf was staring at her—waiting for her to return the sentiment. His wolf’s rust-red eyes were peering through the pale blue. “Have you thought about my offer?” he asked, rubbing the back of his military-style haircut; his blond hair rasped against his calloused hands—hands that had touched her in a way no other male had touched her before.
No. “Yes.”
“And?” He took a step forwards. She could smell only him now—the familiar heady scent drugging her and dragging her under his spell. Why did he have to want more? Weren’t they okay the way they were?
She opened her eyes, unaware they had slid shut in the first place. “I need some more time.”
He frowned at her. “If this is about getting approval, your brother gave it to me months ago.”
Colton had? And he hadn’t told her? She shook her head, brushing the thought away. “It’s not about that.”
He took another half step towards her. Being the same height meant she was looking directly into his cornflower eyes. She could feel the heat of his body, bathing her with a strange combination of warmth and his own unique scent. She did love him—they’d been best friends since they were kids, after all—but she wasn’t in love with him.
“What’s it about then, Ivy?” His fingertips grazed her cheekbone and her eyes slid shut again. Her heart was pounding too hard in her chest. Ulf would have been able to hear it, to taste her reaction to him. He had so much power. Female wolves were practically powerless against it.
“Ivy?” Matthias’s voice punched through the suffocating intoxication that was Ulf. She didn’t realize how close they’d gotten. Their thighs, hips and chests were touching intimately.
“I have to go,” she said, her voice coming out as a barely audible whisper. Sliding along the wall, she edged away from Ulf and slipped into her alpha’s office.
“This better be important,” Matthias growled, planting himself behind his desk. He had dual screens set up on one side of the all glass surface and another laptop on the other side.
“It is.” She stood by the door, waiting.
“Sit down,” Matthias told her, watching her carefully as she did. “What were you and Ulf discussing outside?”
She glanced up, but didn’t hold his gaze. “Nothing.”
He chuckled. “I could smell his lust. Trouble in paradise?”
Ivy could feel the blush crawl up her cheeks. She didn’t think anyone knew about them. But of course her alpha would know. “He wants me to be his mate,” she admitted, rubbing her palms on the top of her thighs.
“That’s quite an honor. Ulf doesn’t like many people, you know that.”
“I know, but I’m not ready yet.”
Matthias’s chair creaked as he leaned forward. “You’re of breeding age, Ivy. You will have to take a mate soon.”
“I know,” she repeated. “But the reason I came today isn’t because of Ulf. It’s about Colton.”
“Your brother? Why? What has he done now?” he chuckled. Colt was always getting in trouble growing up. He liked to get into fights with other males knowing that Ulf would jump in and rescue him.
“Nothing, Alpha. It’s just…” She cracked her knuckles. “I haven’t heard from him in three days.”
“Perhaps he’s on assignment for Antain,” he suggested.
Ivy risked a glance in his direction. “He
The chair creaked again. “What do you want me to do about it?”
This is it. “I need to go and see him to make sure he’s okay.”
Matthias was silent for a long time. Ivy began to wonder whether she was going to be punished for making the request. “I cannot let you leave pack land right now.”
Anger bubbled in her blood, but she tamped it down quickly. Matthias did not respond to anger very well. “Please. He’s my brother.”
“I understand what you’re feeling. I really do, but you cannot leave.”
“But—” She met his eyes, hoping he would see just how desperately she wanted to go.
“But nothing!” Her alpha’s eyes swam with the color of his wolf. “We’re not going to discuss this any further. You may go home now.” Matthias’s attention went back to his computer screens. Ivy sat there just staring at him, anger tearing ragged holes into her. She stood up, the movement drawing her alpha’s eyes away from the figures on the screen.
“Thank you, Matthias.” Ivy tried not to sound pissy and left the room, closing the door silently behind her. When she turned around, Ulf was there.
“Ivy,” he said softly. “Is everything okay? You look upset.”
“I’m fine,” she replied, squeezing her hands into tight fists. His eyes flickered down to her hands before finding her face again.
“You’re not okay. You can tell me what’s wrong.”
She sighed. “It’s nothing you can help me with. Don’t worry about it.” The only person who could help her now was herself. “I’ll talk to you later.”
He grabbed her wrist as she reached for the door. “Can I at least get a kiss goodbye?” he asked; his voice was rough—needy. Did he somehow know what she was planning? Not wanting to raise his suspicions, she leaned forward and kissed him chastely on the cheek. She turned to leave again, but he pulled her back, throwing her off balance and making her stumble into his broad chest. “Not good enough,” he said in a husky voice.
Ulf’s mouth meshed with hers. His tongue breached her lips and teeth, finding her tongue like a heat-seeking missile. She melted into him, his arm cradling her against his huge body. Angling his head, he deepened the kiss, his tongue searching, his teeth biting. Ivy groaned as his erection pushed up hard against her stomach. He held her closer, his arms constricting enough to cut off her ability to breathe.
After what seemed like an eternity, he relinquished his prize and held her steadily in front of him. Her head was swimming, her eyes unfocused, her knees weak.
“Call me soon,” he said before walking her out to her car with his hand possessively placed on the small of her back. Once he was back inside the house, Ivy leaned over the passenger seat and opened the glove box. She was sure she had… There. She pulled out a map for the east coast, tracing her finger along the interstates until she found the quickest route to Buxton. It would take her at least half a day of driving if she sped, but she would do it if it meant she could see Colton again.
Sabel’s eyes opened slowly. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the crack in the heavy black curtains hiding him from reality. With a growl, he rolled off his bed and taped them shut again. Blissful darkness swallowed his world until his eyes adjusted. Around his room were plates of uneaten food, glasses of undrunk water. He smelled like an unwashed vagrant, but none of that mattered because his best friend was dead. Stumbling back to the bed, he landed heavily on the mattress.
For three days he’d been in this funk where he hadn’t left his room. What was the point? His alpha was safe—his beta, Vaile, had offered to take over his duties until he was ready to work again.
And Colton was still dead.
With a groan, he rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He could feel his wolf raking at his sides, whining to get out, to run, to stretch its legs, to rend flesh from bone. Maybe Sabel could just lose himself for a little while—let his wolf take over completely.
He found himself outside before he realized he’d made the conscious decision to move. His hold on his wolf was slipping. Scrubbing his face with his hands, he looked over the frozen landscape, his eyes unintentionally arriving at the spot where Colton was buried. The image of his defiled body was seared into his memory now, and there was nothing he could do to get rid of it. Blood-soaked clothes, gaping wound in his abdomen where his stomach and intestines had been wrenched free from his body—Colton’s dark unseeing eyes.
Sabel shuddered, stripping off his shirt and dumping it onto the chair swing by the back door before taking off the loose-fitting sweatpants he’d been wearing for three days straight. When the hair at the back of his neck prickled, he turned. Eaton was staring at him through the large kitchen window, pain and compassion plain on her face. She felt for all of them when they hurt. He turned back around, taking off at an easy lope into the trees. His fingertips brushed over Colton’s grave as he passed, silently apologizing to his pack mate.
Sabel shifted quickly, but not painlessly. He welcomed it though. He’d been numb for so long that it was nice to be able to feel something again. When it was over, he lay in the snow panting for a long moment—his body twitching with the last vestiges of the Change. Shaking out his dark brown coat, he flexed his claws into the snowy ground and dropped his nose to pick up the scents of the winter forest.
His pads sunk through the snow, slipping a cold sock over his toes. His stomach rumbled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since they’d buried Colton. His wolf’s instincts kicked in. With his nose on the ground, Sabel sampled the scents. A herd of deer had moved through in the last few hours. There was a rabbit about a mile away burrowing for grass beneath the snow.
His ears swiveled, putting audio to the smells. Deer or rabbit? he wondered. Rabbits were easy to catch, but not filling. Deer, on the other hand, were harder to catch, but more satisfying. His wolf made the final decision for him. With his nose to the ground once more, he picked up the scent of the deer. A herd of at least a dozen, give or take a few. He loped off in the direction their trail led.
He had been tracking them for about ten minutes when he came across another scent criss-crossing his quarry’s. It was the scent of another wolf. He sniffed again. Female—a female that wasn’t theirs. She had passed by this point only a few minutes before. Could he have just walked straight past her? He snarled at himself, at his wolf’s single-mindedness. He’d let his hunger rule his head and he never, ever lost control like that.
Sabel’s nostrils flared, taking in another lungful of the scent. The different elements tickled his brain. As he tried to sift through them, trying to place them to a specific pack, his mind got snagged, fixing his body to the spot and sending ice through his veins.
It couldn’t be.
Another deep inhalation and he had no doubt about who it was, but it was impossible. Spinning around, he followed her trail, weaving in and out of trees, crawling under fallen logs when they were too big and sailing over them when they weren’t. Sabel’s head was spinning with the impossibility of it.
A twig snapped to his right. His head jerked around, eyes narrowing, ears swiveling. Another loud snap, further ahead of him this time. He took off in the direction of the sound. It was too close to the farmhouse. Nose to the ground. Eyes searching. Ears listening. There.
Up ahead, a flash of blonde fur darted between the trees. The smell of the female danced on the breeze. He sneezed, shaking her scent from his nose. With a low growl in his throat, he gave chase. Paws hitting snow was the only sound, and the only paws that were hitting snow were his. Jerking to a stop, snow sprayed up in front of him and hit a nearby tree. He looked around the snow-blanketed forest, nostrils flaring.
The female streaked across his path about a hundred feet ahead of him. He took off after her, weaving between the trees, gaining ground quickly. Only twenty feet separated them now. Her intoxicating scent filled his nose once more and he kicked up his speed. She glanced over her shoulder at him, silver eyes staring curiously.
