Xander. Of course it would be Xander that was looking for Lou, because that was just Cain's luck. He wanted to snarl and growl, but couldn't display such animalistic traits in front of Bill, the Fort Yukon police chief and self-appointed caretaker. He liked Bill, and he appreciated the heads up of Xander's presence in town, so it wouldn't bode well to let his wolf's anger appear on the outside.
"Yes, I know him. He's my brother," Cain said as evenly as he could.
Bill narrowed his eyes slightly. "Really? I'm surprised he didn't mention that."
"We don't really like to acknowledge it," Cain admitted. "Did he say what he was doing here?"
"Said he was here on business and needed to talk to you. I know you're a man who covets his privacy, so I didn't want to send him up here without warning you he was looking for you."
"I appreciate that Bill, I really do," Cain nodded. "But he'll likely find me anyway. When you get back into town, if he approaches you again, you have my permission to tell him where we are."
"You sure, Cain?" Bill seemed to sense trouble. People that lived in small communities like he did were suspicious of strangers by nature, and an imposing man like Xander would raise a lot of questions. Bill of all people wouldn't trust him to start.
"I'm sure. We're good up here. He's probably just looking to visit." And kidnap an innocent female to use a breeding slave, but Bill hardly needed to know that.
"All right, I trust your judgement," Bill shrugged.
Now, normally people would offer the man who had just snowmobiled up here on what could hardly be considered a road a cup of coffee or something to eat, but Cain didn't want him here any longer than necessary. The Alpha was open-minded when it came to humans, but he still wanted to keep the fact that they were Lycans a secret, and the more time they spent around humans who weren't privy to what they really were, the more likely it was that their secret would slip out. It was only after Will was certain he wanted to spend his life with Kristine did Cain give him permission to tell her what they were. He didn't mind if wolves mated with humans, but he to didn't find it necessary to tell the entire world about them.
"Anything else we can do for you, Bill?" he wondered.
"No, that about covers it," Bill shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure you were all okay up here and and to let you know about the Beauford fellow."
"Again, I appreciate it," Cain told him. "I'll see you next time I'm in town to place an order."
"I'm counting on it. I'll even buy you a beer," Bill said as he placed his helmet back on and started his snowmobile. After he had pulled away, Cain finally allowed himself to snarl. He clenched his fists in fury. The last time he'd seen Xander, his brother's hands had been dripping with Cain's blood. He touched a hand to his side, over the scars that crawled across his ribs, and growled again.
"Fuck me," Will said quietly. "Of all people, Xander's the one that's looking for her?"
Cain just closed his eyes and shook his head. He should've realized this was a possibility, but of the thirteen members of the council, what were the chances that Xander was the one in charge of acquiring the purebred female?
"You need to let me leave," Lou's voice was strong and confident as it crossed the space between them. He looked up at her and met her gaze evenly. She was a strong Alpha female, there was no doubt about that. She should have been scared out of her wits that they were this close to finding her, but Cain could only sense the smallest about of dread coming from her. She was braver than most wolves he knew.
Brave or not, he couldn't bear the thought of sending her away to fend for herself. His wolf whined, utterly attached to the female before them. It had been only minutes since her hands were buried in his fur, but still he craved her touch. Cain himself was curious about what those hands would feel like on his body, and what her body would feel like beneath him. Her soft curves to complement his hard planes... He chastised himself for losing focus. He shouldn't have been lusting after her when her life was in danger, as well as the lives of his pack.
"No. It might take him a while to get here, but it won't be nearly long enough for you to get far enough away," he told her. "He and his trackers will just find you somewhere else."
"You're not suggesting that I stay here?" she asked, incredulous.
"I'm saying we hide you," he explained. "Until they're gone. There's a cave not far from here."
"I am not hiding in a cave! I'm not a coward!" she snapped. At the sound of Lou yelling, the pack members in the garage with the elk stepped out to see what was going on. Realizing that she was arguing with Cain, they all stepped around the take in the show. Cain paid them no mind.
"So you'd rather him take you? Because I won't be able to stop him, brother or not. Probably especially because he's my brother. The last time I saw him, we didn't part of the best of terms, so there's not a doubt in my mind that he won't make this hell for me."
"So why not let me go? To protect your pack, to protect yourself, why not send me away?" she countered. "I'm hardly worth endangering your pack, you don't even know me. I met you yesterday."
From a logical perspective he knew she made complete and total sense. He didn't know her, he owed her nothing. The safety of his pack always came first, and right now her presence put them in the cross-hairs of his sadistic brother and the High Council. But to counteract all that was the gut feeling that sending her away was a bad idea. His gut had never steered him wrong before, and he wasn't about to ignore his instincts.
"I'm not letting you run away to become someone's slave," he barked. His vision flashed red at the thought of anyone touching her.
"What is it to you, huh? What do you gain from keeping me?" she snarled, stepping toward him. His size usually intimidated women, but this one before him, one that was more than a foot shorter than him, was ready to challenge him every chance she got, and she hadn't backed down once. For a moment he was envious of his wolf; she was sweet and gentle with him, but whenever he was with her all he got were barbs and a sharp bite.
Maybe if you weren't such an ass all the time... a voice echoed in the back of his head, but he ignored it. He was being an ass to protect her. She should be grateful that he was willing to harbor her but instead she was fighting him every step of the way.
"Peace of mind," he growled back. "Whatever you may think of me, sending an innocent wolf out to her doom doesn't exactly sit well."
Lou rolled those green eyes of hers and Cain bristled at the disrespectful act. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared right back at him. "So you're holding me hostage because you want to feel good about yourself."
He growled in frustration. "Why can't you just accept my help? I'm an Alpha with a pack who is willing to keep you safe, and you're throwing it back in my face."
Her response was quick. "Because I've never had a male do anything for me and not expect something in return. Why would you be any different?"
That gave him pause. Of course, he should have thought of her past. Wasn't that the reason she'd threaten to feed him his own testicles last night? Had he forgotten so quickly that despite her brave exterior, she was afraid of him and what he might try to do to her? He hadn't even had the chance to ignore her, to show her that he respected her enough to keep his distance. Here he was fucking up again.
"I don't expect anything from you, Lou," he said firmly. "And I don't want anything. I'm simply offering my pack to you as a gesture of good will. Would please consider letting us help you?"
Cain's change of tone obviously caught her off guard. Anger and pushing wasn't the way to get anywhere with Lou, he should have realized that, but he'd always had a temper himself. Blake and Bryce had abandoned their snowman somewhere around the time he and Lou had started yelling at one another, and now Blake touched Lou's arm gently.
"We don't mind you staying here, Lou," he told her honestly. "You make things exciting. We don't get to meet new wolves a lot."
Lou blinked down at him in surprise before looking up at Cain again. She obviously hadn't expected the pack to be okay with her presence, especially the pups.
"I don't understand," she said quietly, not only to him but to the pack members that were standing around them. "If you don't want me for... for my pure-blood, what good am I to you?"
Cain's eyes widened and he glanced at his pack, who all looked as surprised and heart-broken as he felt. His own father had been as far from caring and supportive as one could get, but Cain had never doubted his own worth. He wasn't defined by his pedigree, no one in the Crimson Moon pack was, but Lou had spent her entire life being told that the only thing she would be good for was breeding. She was confident when she thought Cain only wanted her around because of her pure-blood, that he only wanted her to warm his bed. That was what she knew how to respond to, Cain could hardly hold that against her.
"Lou," Kristine said softly, wrapping an arm around her. "Lou, you're you. That's what you're good for. And we don't have to have a reason to want to give you somewhere safe to stay other than that we're a good pack."
Lou hung her head, but let Kristine hold her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply you weren't."
"It's okay," the Beta female said. "It's okay to let someone take care of you. Come inside now, it's getting cold. Will, grab Henry when you come in." Kristine carefully led a quiet Lou inside the house.
The rest of the pack stood there in the snow, staring at each other. Ellen looked the most bothered as she wrapped an arm around her daughter. "I don't think any of us truly realize what the poor girl has gone through."
Cain ran his hands over his face. "No, we don't."
"We have to protect her from them, Cain," Ellen said sharply. "Whether she wants us to or not. She can't fall into their hands again." He looked up at the older woman, someone who had not entirely supported his choice to house her in the first place, but then he realized what had changed. She was imagining Tahlia in a position like Lou's, where a group of people had tried so hard to break her spirit, and they had almost succeeded. Lou was right on the edge, and they had to pull her back.
"I know. We will," Cain promised Ellen. Though his wolf adored her, and Cain was more intrigued by her with every interaction they had, he knew this situation wasn't specific to Lou. He'd do his best to keep anyone from the hands of Xander. He refused to think about the person he had failed to protect from his brother before, he wouldn't let himself bring up that terrible memory. But he wouldn't fail Lou.
"We need to clean the house," he stated as the realization dawned on him. "There can't be any trace of her in there. We need to bleach everything. Everywhere you smell Lou, we need to clean."
"We can't clean with her in there," Riley pointed out. "She'll just get her scent on everything again."
"How long do you think it will take Xander and his men to get here?" Darryl asked.
Cain shrugged. "Tonight or tomorrow at the latest. They won't want to waste any time finding Lou, she's too important."
"They could be on their way here now," Will stated. "They likely didn't wait for the locals to cough up where we lived exactly. They probably got the records from the High Council."
"Good point, Will," Cain admitted. "We should get Lou to the cave now."
"Who's going to bring her there?" Caroline asked. "We can hardly send her by herself, and it certainly can't be you or Will. Our Alpha and Beta need to be here to face Xander."
Caroline and Ellen, though they were human, had been around long enough that they remembered Cain's older brother. They remembered how there had always been something a little off about him, but no one would stand up to him because he was the Alpha's first born. They all feared the Alpha nearly as much as they feared Xander.
As much as Cain wanted to be the one to protect Lou himself, he knew he needed to be here to place a buffer between Xander and his pack. No one looked down on half-bloods and humans as much as Xander Beauford. He was much of the reason Cain had escaped his pack with the half-bloods and humans he could save.
"It should be Paul," he decided. Paul was a half-blood, which meant his presence would set Xander off anyway, but he was also a warrior that could keep Lou safe. "He's a half-blood, so this way he'll be out of Xander's line a fire. Ellen and Caroline, you two and Kristine need to keep the pups upstairs on the third floor, all right? Preferably in Kristine and Will's room, just to put as much distance between you all and Xander as you can. He might be a visitor, but I doubt that'll stop him from lashing out at any of you."
"Cain, we don't want it to seem like we were expecting his arrival," Will stated. "Hiding everyone away will make it incredibly clear that we knew he was coming and prepared for it."
Cain frowned. He didn't particularly care what Xander thought, but his Beta had a point. Xander wasn't stupid, not by a long shot, and if he so much as suspected any of them knew where Lou was he wouldn't leave them alone.
"I still want you all far away from him."
"He'll likely search the house," Riley pointed out. "Hard to hide from him like that."
"Then you'll stay behind me and the warriors. Keep us between you all and Xander at all times. I don't want him to have a straight shot at anyone, understand?"
They all nodded in compliance. He was in charge, like always, but this was a special circumstance.
"Lou isn't going to like that you're sending her away to hide," Caroline told him.
"If it keeps her out of the hands of my brother, I hardly care what she thinks," he snapped, looking up at the house. The words had come out harsher than he intended, but that was because he knew what his brother was like. He wouldn't subject anyone to that.
<><><><><><><><>
As expected, Lou had fought Cain tooth and nail about hiding away from Xander, but when the entire pack supported his decision, Lou's argument was rendered invalid. Cain was impressed with his pack. Lou had been around for a day, and they'd all met her once, but they were already treating her as a member of the pack. Specifically by calling her out when she was begin stupid.
Ryland was especially supportive of the decision to hide her away. He was fond of Lou, and Xander had been one of his many tormentors when they were kids.
"Lou, don't be an idiot," he had growled at her, sick of her arguing. "Let Cain help you. He's not good for much, but protecting people is something he excels at."
Cain had tried not to be offended at the backhanded compliment, but he found it easier to swallow when it had been enough to shut Lou up. After that, it didn't take long to get her ready to go.
They decided it was best if both Darryl and Paul go with her, that way they could use the excuse of patrol to explain the pair's absence. Cain had thought about sending Ryland, but he wanted his strongest warrior by his side, despite Ryland's history with Xander. Ryland had never been shy about his sexuality, and being gay in Lycan culture was about equal to being half-blooded. Cain had never really understood why they would care if Ryland preferred men; wouldn't that mean one less male to compete with for females? But he'd never claimed that Lycans made complete sense.
Darryl and Paul were preparing to shift and the pack stood around them, taking comfort in each other in this stressful time. Cain hung back while Lou zipped up her jacket and pulled her hat over her hair. He wanted to stand by his pack, but leaving Lou to stand alone didn't sit well with him.
"I still don't like that you're making me hide away," she grumbled. "I'm not afraid of Xander."
"You should be," he snapped, although he could sense that she was trying to convince herself as much as him. "There's no shame in being smart about your survival."
"Maybe I just don't want your help," she growled under her breath.
His wolf snarled at her rejection of him. "I might have taken that into consideration before I discovered it was Xander that was coming after you. Have you met him before?"
She hesitated and pulled her jacket tighter around herself. "Yes, I met him. The night of the blizzard." Her cheeks, which had been kissed pink a moment ago from the chill, had gone completely white.
"So you know that hiding from him doesn't make you a coward. It makes you smart." He leaned back against the railing of the porch and looked closely at her. Though she was acting tough, he sensed the unease filling her at the memory of Xander. "What did he do?"
Lou glanced up at him with her bright green eyes. "Nothing different than what every other male has done to me my whole life before I got here."
He cocked his head to the side. There was more. "Did he hurt you?"
She shook her head. "Not physically, but there was something different, something incredibly dangerous about him. Something that told me he would enjoy making me mate against my will." Her voice was quiet, and she wouldn't look directly at him. "You said he was your brother?"
Cain sensed where she was going with this. "I'm nothing like him, Lou. Whatever you think of me, just know that I'm nothing like him."
She nodded slowly, the fight leaving her. "I can sense that you're not. I'm just not used to males treating me as just another wolf."
He shrugged. "But that's what you are."
She surprised him when her small hand landed on his forearm. Sparks shot through him at their contact, and they weren't even skin to skin. His whole body tightened in desire at the intentional contact and he took a deep breath through this nose to reign in not only his wolf, but also himself. God, what was this female doing to him? He wanted her, bad. And he was starting to think it wasn't just his wolf influencing those feelings. But he didn't understand... he'd had three conversations with her and not one of them had gone well. Yet, he was drawn to her and the knowledge didn't sit well with him.
He glanced down to where her hand rested on his sweatshirt-covered arm and then back up to her face. Lou's eyes, for once, weren't filled with anger or fear as she looked up at him. They held something else entirely. Could it possibly be gratitude?
Her next words confirmed that it was. "Thank you, Cain. I'm sorry that I seem so damn ungrateful."
His chest tightened and he knew he should move away from her, but he couldn't physically remove himself from her touch, no matter how platonic or small it was. She was just touching his arm for crying out loud! Hardly a reason for his body to tighten in anticipation, and yet it was. He couldn't stop looking at her, their gazes glued to each other. Her shoulder length brown hair curled around her face beneath her hat, and her cheeks had regained their color, making her look alive and beautiful. She was enchanting, and as he looked at her, his wolf hummed in pleasure. The beast's glee at being able to study the female clouded Cain's usually clear mind.
His next words slipped out before he could stop them. "I didn't think it would be this hard."
Her hand slipped away from his arm, and he found himself longing for her to reinstate their contact, but she just cocked her head to the side. "What?"
Fuck, why did he say that? He hardly knew her, she certainly didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, and here he was about to fuck it up with her again. He ducked his head and scratched nonchalantly at his beard. "I, uh, promised myself that I would stay away from you. That I would respect your desire to have nothing to do with me. I'm finding it difficult."
A small gasp escaped her and she took a step away. He growled to himself, knowing that came out wrong. "I didn't mean for it to sound like I can't control myself."
"Well, that's how it came out," she said slowly. He took it as a good sign that she didn't increase the distance between them.
"I know. I'm sorry, again," he sighed. He hadn't been this flustered around a female since he was a teenager. He didn't like that he consistently seemed to make an ass of himself around her. "I mean it when I say you're safe here. You're safe from the High Council, from Xander. You're safe from me. I won't let anything hurt you, Lou."
Her mouth opened to respond, but he was saved from the mercy of her rejection by Ryland's voice.
"Lou, it's time to go!"
She hesitated a moment, just long enough that Cain thought she might say something, but instead she stepped off the porch, leaving him to wonder what the hell was happening to him.