Across The Line. Amy Lee Burgess

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СКАЧАТЬ a fucking word. Why?” Colm shook me again.

      Far ahead of us, Fee and Deirdre were nearly to the top of the staircase to the massive castle doors. The courtyard was deserted. Just me and angry Colm.

      The wind whipped my hair around my face, but I couldn’t brush it away because Colm held my arms. His fingers bit into my flesh even through the padding of my sweater and jacket.

      “Let go of me.” I tried to jerk out of his grasp, but his fingers were like iron. “You have no fucking clue what I do or don’t do. You want the respect of your goddamn pack, do something besides cater to Fee. Take control, you pussy-whipped bastard.”

      I waited for him to hit me, but instead, he threw back his head and shouted with laughter.

      The sound was incongruous in this cold, bleak setting. Paddy had been mortally wounded on this very spot and now Colm was laughing. The funny thing was, Paddy would’ve been laughing too. Maybe he was. Fee had seen his spirit lingering in this world and I’d asked him to go away, but what if he hadn’t? He could be here right this second. I swore I could almost smell his cologne.

      “You’re right,” Colm said as he wrapped a beefy arm around my shoulders and all but dragged me down the gravel path. “So this is what I’m doing. Forging the pack bond like I ought to have three months ago. You with me?”

      “All the way,” I vowed and he laughed again. I sneaked a look at his face in profile. His red hair stood up like a rooster’s comb. A tingling shivered down my spine. My Alpha. He was my Alpha. For the first time, I felt it more than I understood it.

      * * * *

      The fireplaces at either end of the massive room roared. Choked with logs, they gave off stultifying heat when close to the flames. The middle of the room was chilly. The pack members nearest the blaze had shed their jackets and some even their sweaters. Those in the center huddled together for warmth, jackets on. Most of them had bottles of water. The mattresses on the floor were piled with brightly colored sheets and pillows. Three or four couples had already claimed theirs, but no one was making love yet, although I did see several couples kissing.

      Colm left me near the fireplace on the north wall and I held my frozen fingers out to the flickering flames. God, the warmth felt good. When my fingers thawed, I removed my pack ring, bond pendant and earrings and put them in my purse for safe keeping until after I’d shifted back. Purses were piled in a heap in a corner of the room, and I threw mine on top of the stack. I searched for Murphy and spied him near the French doors that opened onto the garden overlooking the lake. A woman with bright red corkscrew curls halfway down her back had her arms wound around his neck while she stood on tiptoe whispering something into his ear.

      He had a half-hearted smile, one hand on her shoulder as he listened to whatever proposal she made, but when he saw me, gently set her aside. The redhead turned around with a pout and I wasn’t surprised at all to see it was Alannah Doyle, the conniving witch. A big, evil smirk lit her pretty face. Any hopes I’d harbored that Siobhan had kept the story of my father’s pack bond between herself and the Alphas crumbled into ash like the logs in the fire. Shit.

      Conversation ceased as the people around me stared.

      “God, your mother has a big mouth,” I said when Murphy got close enough so I didn’t have to shout. Although I should have.

      A pained smile twisted Murphy’s lips. “She was really pissed. She actually boxed my ears.”

      A horrified laugh burst from my mouth, and I covered it with my hand.

      “She hasn’t boxed my ears since I was sixteen and caught me making out behind the bushes with Caitlin Bell. We’re cousins, you know. And to this day, Caitlin won’t even give me a hug if my mother’s anywhere near. And she’s always near.” Murphy shook his head.

      I stared at him, struck speechless as he’d no doubt intended. I’d met Caitlin at the pub and she was pretty enough to turn any boy’s head, even her cousin’s.

      “How old was she?” I couldn’t help but ask.

      “Fourteen or thereabouts,” he said with a wince. “I know I took shocking advantage, but it was all her idea, although she’ll deny it. She’s a liar, Stanzie. ‘Wonder what it feels like to kiss somebody on the lips,’ she said. ‘Do you think it would be gross, Liam? Maybe it would be nice. Want to try it maybe?’ What was I supposed to do with her puckered up and adorable and me frigging sixteen and never been kissed?”

      “Stop.” I gave his shoulder a gentle shove and the people closest to us burst into laughter. The tips of Murphy’s ears were red, but he’d embarrassed himself on purpose to divert attention from my humiliation. One more reason to love him.

      Murphy grinned and I rolled my eyes.

      “Colm and Deirdre talk to you? Everything okay?” he asked.

      “I told Colm he was pussy-whipped.” I’d get Murphy back for the Caitlin Bell story if it killed me.

      He choked on strangled laughter. “Did he cry?”

      I dissolved into laughter. Jerk.

      “I would have cried,” he added and I smacked his shoulder again.

      “You wouldn’t have and neither did he. He laughed at me.”

      “I’ll bet he did.” Murphy looked proud of me. He lifted my chin with gentle fingers so he could look me in the eye. “You are all right, aren’t you? You going to go through with this today? Did Colm give you a choice?”

      “Deirdre did, but I chose to do it today,” I said.

      The skin around Murphy’s eyes crinkled when he smiled. “That’s my brave girl.”

      I wrapped my fingers around his wrist so he couldn’t move away and his smile faltered.

      “You’ll stay with my wolf, won’t you?” I asked. I didn’t know what she’d do when she felt the pack bond. Everyone’s wolves would want to run with Murphy’s, and she’d get crowded out. The way I did in human form whenever more than three people were in the room with him.

      Even now, several people were making steady progress in his direction. Those around us hung on our every word, no doubt waiting for their chance to swoop into our conversation and take it over.

      “Every minute,” he promised. He gave my chin a squeeze and kissed my forehead. His expression was stricken and sad.

      * * * *

      When my father released Mayflower from the pack bond, he’d mixed his blood with herbs and the vile concoction had been served up in glass test tubes.

      Today, we were lined up and given bottles of obviously doctored water, judging by the bits of leaves and petals suspended in the liquid. The water was cloudy, but not with blood. Where was the blood? My gorge rose at the thought of drinking the contents of the bottle, but everyone around me chugged theirs as if it tasted great.

      Murphy and I were in middle of the line. I hadn’t wanted to go first, but I also hadn’t wanted to be at the very end. The suspense would’ve killed me. I figured with just as many people in back of me as in front, I wouldn’t have time to chicken out, but wouldn’t panic because I didn’t know what the hell СКАЧАТЬ