River snuggled up against Wyatt and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. They’d had a nice escape, but they weren’t out of trouble yet. And Bel was in this for the long haul. He was never letting go of his wolves. He just had to figure out how to keep them safe.
16
Wyatt paused outside the closed door of Bel’s office, fighting the urge to try to listen to his phone call. He’d woken the next night completely healed and cuddled in bed with River, but Bel had been missing. The vampire seemed to have spent most of the previous night and a good portion of the day shut up in his office.
Since coming to stay with Bel, he’d used his office very little and he never closed his door. He welcomed them into whatever he was doing. But the shut door seemed foreboding. He was closing them out.
Not that Wyatt could blame him. The encounter with Albert the previous night had been a harsh wake-up call for all of them. Wyatt had been anticipating a direct attack on them, something he could defend against, but killing one of his own pack members? It was horrible and evil. How could he do that? As the alpha, it was his job to protect his pack members from harm.
And the wolf trying to attack Bel?
Wyatt shook his head as he turned away from the door to Bel’s office. He was only grateful that he reacted as quickly as he had. Not once had he imagined bringing these kinds of dangers and threats to Bel’s doorstep. Brett MacPherson had never dealt with any of this nonsense during the time they were tethered to his side. If Albert had threatened Brett over the outcasts, Brett had never mentioned it to them. As far as he could tell, the local wolves ignored him and River because they were with a vampire.
But since Bel had taken them into his home, Albert’s pack had threatened him, and they’d made the Variks an even bigger target for the Ministry. Shame and horror dogged his every breath. Bel was as precious to him as River. He never wanted anything to happen to the vampire.
With his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans, Wyatt wandered through the silent house until he found River standing in the music room. This area was slowly transforming, thanks to River’s interest in music. New floor lamps had been moved into the room, softening the light. The cover had been pulled off the piano and the wood had been polished, bringing back the bright shine. A comfortable chair had been ordered for River along with his new guitar.
However, River wasn’t playing with the guitar he was borrowing from Winter. One of the cello cases was open and he was standing in front of the beautiful instrument, running the tips of his fingers over the knobs at the top.
“I’ve never heard him play,” River murmured as Wyatt crossed the room to his side. “He talks about growing up with music all around him. How he learned to play with his brothers. He talks about music being magical, but he never plays.”
“You could ask him,” Wyatt suggested, but River was already shaking his head.
“I’m afraid that something happened. When he talks about his family, everything is love and happiness, but I get the feeling he’s holding something back, something horrible. It’s keeping him from playing. I don’t want him to hurt.”
Stepping up behind River, Wyatt wrapped his arms around River’s waist and pressed his lips to the back of his head. “I know, baby.”
River dropped his hand from the cello and reached out with the other to close the case again. “He’s going to die protecting us.”
Wyatt tried to tighten his arms around River, but he was already pulling away, walking to the other side of the room where the piano stood. Wyatt didn’t follow, giving River the space he needed. “You don’t know that.” But it was the same thought that had been repeating in his head since he’d woken that evening. He shoved his hands back into his pockets and stared at the thick carpet under his bare feet. The despair that was pulled over him was suffocating and complete.
“I know I said that I didn’t want us to pull the martyr bullshit and that Bel deserved the right to make a choice, but I’m…I’m starting to think I was wrong.”
Wyatt’s head popped up, and he stared at River’s slumped shoulders as he stood beside the piano. “What do you mean?”
River sucked in a deep breath and released it again in a rush. “I mean that coming to Bel, asking his help, it’s all been one giant shit storm. We’ve put him in danger, and we’ve put his entire family, his clan, in danger. And that’s just wrong. It’s nothing like the crap Brett and the MacPherson clan faced when we were with them.”
“I know.”
River turned to face him, waving one arm toward the rest of the house like he was motioning toward the vampire. “And Bel, he’s fucking amazing. So wonderful. He’s never going to turn us away—not even to save his own family. He’s going to die, and I-I-I can’t live with that.”
Wyatt closed the distance between them and pulled River into his arms. River’s sunshine smell was replaced with the scent of sweat, worry, and bitter heartache. Hot tears seeped into his T-shirt as River pressed his face against his chest. “I know,” Wyatt replied in a choked whispered. He ran his hand over the back of River’s head, threading his fingers through his soft hair.
“I don’t want to leave. The idea of leaving him makes me feel like I’m dying inside. But the idea of Bel being killed…because of us…the idea of him not working in his lab…I can’t breathe. The pain—”
“We won’t let anything happen to our Bel,” Wyatt said firmly. “We…we can go west.”
“Do you think it will be enough?”
Wyatt pressed another kiss to River’s head. “I think so. Albert just wants us gone from the area. If we leave, I think he’ll leave Bel alone. There’s nothing to be gained by engaging vampires. It only puts the pack in more danger. Plus, if we’re gone, Bel can concentrate on keeping his family safe rather than worrying about us.”
“I don’t get the impression Albert is all that worried about endangering his pack. They killed that wolf. Not us. Not a vampire. Wolves slaughtered him, and I’m willing to bet that Albert ordered his death.”
Wyatt didn’t say anything, because it was the same damn thought running through his head. Albert wasn’t acting like a normal alpha. At least, not what he’d come to expect from an alpha. But he had to believe that if they left, Albert would leave Bel alone. There was truly nothing to be gained by starting a war with vampires.
“We’ll go west,” he repeated. “Find a secluded spot in the desert. There are fewer packs in the desert areas, and we won’t be noticed. We’ll be able to live quietly, and Bel will be safe. The Variks will be safe from any trouble caused by the werewolves.”
It went without saying that there were fewer packs in the desert areas, thanks to it being harsh and inhospitable. Their kind tended to prefer the lush, green forests with lots of dark shadows and abundant wildlife for hunting. Life would be very hard where they finally settled, but Bel would be safe.
River pulled away from Wyatt and looked around the room as if he were trying to memorize it before he left.
“Two months, Wyatt. For two months, we had a taste of heaven…and now…” His voice drifted off and he shook his head. “I’m starting to think that maybe this is punishment. Maybe I was a horrible person in a past life and this—”