“No.” She thrashed harder. “I don’t like.”
“Then we’re even. I—”
Something huge slammed into his side.
Torn from Nayla’s side, he flew through the air and hit the ground hard.
27
The gentle rocking lulled Grif. The shift of solid brawn beneath his belly steady and sure. The slow scroll of a massive paw and blurred cracked dirt soothing. Even if the claws at the end of the paw were kind of big and sharp and looked lethal glittering in the moons’ light.
He rocketed awake, and blew a feather out of his mouth. What in the hells? He lifted his head for a better look. His wrists were tied at his back, his ankles, too—with what felt like his own rope, no less—and he was slung over a familiar-looking feathered beast, catching an unrequested ride.
Last thing he remembered… “Nayla!”
“You awake. Good.” She twisted from her bareback perch at Sharluff’s front, reigns clutched in her hand, her relieved face peering down at him, those tiny lines at the bridge of her nose smoothing out.
Grif stared up at her, his voice a dangerous rumble. “Why am I tied up?”
Her expression shifted, sliding from worried to defiant—and pleased. “You my prisoner now.” She tapped her thigh, where one of his smaller daggers was now sheathed, before facing forward once more. “I in charge.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. She’d confiscated his weapon and, if he wasn’t mistaken—though it was a little hard to see from his limited vantage point—the clattering of metal against metal suggested that his pack, the rest of his weapons, and the harness that held them, were strapped to the beast’s side too, everything clanging together with each of the musty animal’s rolling steps. If his crew were around, he’d never hear the end of it.
On the other hand, she’d also taken his shirt—one he’d found while rummaging through an old Council drop capsule, and wrapped it around her, the too-big sleeves rolled up fifty times while the ends rested on her thighs, shifting with every sway of the beast’s tread.
He definitely liked her helping herself to his stuff. A lot.
Sharluff headed up a rocky red cliffside and the angle sent him sliding back a few inches. He wrestled with the binds at his back. Tried to roll himself off. Whatever she’d done, she’d secured him tight.
“I good with knots, too,” she observed.
Payback was a bitch.
“What happened?” His head pounded with every step.
“Sharluff come.” She patted the feathered beast’s thick neck sending the stink of animal winding through his lungs. “Afraid for me. Knock you out.”
No wonder it felt like he’d been crushed by a mountain. He had.
The creature brayed as if pleased with himself. Turning forward once more, Nayla muttered soft, cooing sounds to the beast.
They reminded Grif a little too much of the sweet, sexy moans she’d once made for him.
“I need you to let me go.” He used his most calm and commanding tone. He couldn’t have been out too long. The moons were still high in the sky.
Back high and proud, she pretended not to hear.
“My team is not far behind. I don’t want them to get the wrong idea and attack you.”
This time, the look she threw over his shoulder was pure outrage. “Worry for you. I just fine.”
“This is not going to help our argument that you could be an ally, not an enemy.”
She shrugged.
He buried his growl deep in his throat. Channeled harmless. “I need to take a look at that ankle. It looked bad.”
She gave a small sniff—she could say a lot with a single dismissive sound—and rode on.
“What’s the plan here? Taking me will only make my crew more prone to attack, and they’re already distrustful enough. They don’t like that you sent a spy to observe the settlement. It’s making them itch to go to war, and can you blame them?”
“A pack spy? In your territory?” She didn’t bother turning around. “No.”
He scowled at her anyway. “What do you mean no? The evidence of an observer is unquestionable.” He might not like Malin, but he didn’t doubt the male’s skills.
“May be an observer, but not pack.”
His silence said it all.
“It true.” She whipped around, her expression confident. “Talg rule: pack forbidden from entering Other territory.”
“You did.”
“I not real pack.”
If he wasn’t tied up, he probably would have felt like an ass for reminding her of her pain. But he wasn’t in the mood to play nice. “That Ramm guy was in Other territory,” he pointed out. “There may be other exceptions, too.”
“Ramm looking for me. Against Talg order. He only one brave enough risk such thing.”
“He didn’t look so brave.”
“Hmmm.” She sent him a knowing stare.
He stared right back. Yes, he was an ass for feeling jealous at the way she said the hunter’s name Sure, he’d been happy someone else was looking out for Nayla, but hells, did it have to be a fucker who looked like he could kick Grif’s ass?
“No other exceptions to pack ban from Other territory.” Nayla had already returned to the initial topic. “Talg plan is use females to draw you to pack land. Fight where pack have advantage. After what happen with his mate, he never come to Other land, or allow his real pack there. I certain. There may be spy at settlement, but not pack.”
Hells. That was important intel. He doubted the commander would accept the explanation so easily, but he did.
He knew Nayla. He knew when she skirted the truth. He knew when she told it. She was telling him what she believed. Of course, that didn’t make it so, but she made a compelling case, which left him wondering just who the hells else might be out there spying on the settlement, and why?
He’d need to get word to Ryker and the commander.
Of course, first he had to get himself the fuck free.
“Nayla, enough is enough. Stop this beast, untie me, and let me help you.”
Her spine snapped straighter. “You not in charge now. I do fine on my own.”
“And when my crew catches up with us? They’re already paranoid you’re planning to warn your pack and make it harder to rescue the females.”
A quick yank on the beast’s harness and the animal jerked to a halt. “I do this to save pack and females.” Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “You think I weak. I not. I don’t need your handling or approval. You think because I don’t speak your language so well, I’m not smart. You are wrong. I have plan. Rescue females. Return them to you. You take them back. Leave pack alone. No need for blood shedding.” Her ears twitched. “A lot kinder than what you people do.”
He hid a flinch and conceded, “It’s a good plan.”
He’d known his crew’s suspicions were off base. And maybe he was a little guilty of some of the accusations she was leveling his way, but there was still a problem with her plan.
“It’s just too risky,” he concluded.
“Of course, you say that.”
“You’ll have to evade my men. Sneak by your own pack. Somehow get the females out of where they’re being kept and back to my people without Talg discovering what you’re up to… And what will you do if any of the females are sick? Or hurt? It’s too much for one person. There’s more chance of success if you let me help.”