Leader of the Pack (43 page)

Aislinn seemed to fly across the room and through the bedroom door. Cullen only barely caught the change, it happened so quickly. He was more than a little impressed, considering how much trouble she was having with it.
I guess given the right situation you’ve got enough control over that beast of yours
, he threw at her as he charged toward the door, only barely stopping himself from barreling through it after her.

I didn’t do it on purpose. It just slipped out,
she thought back.

Cullen could feel the concern tinting her thought. At the same time, it was overridden by the desire to continue their game. When he opened the door, she was nowhere to be seen. He smiled and raised his nose to the air.
There aren’t that many places to hide in here, piseagan. And I could find your scent anywhere.
By the time he finished the thought, he had already honed in on her. She had gone out onto the balcony. He pushed the curtains aside and headed slowly through the doors onto the balcony.

Perched on the ledge just above the door, Aislinn waited with a mischievous grin on her lips. When he walked out toward the railing, she jumped lithely down from her perch. Cullen turned barely in time to see her dash inside and slide the glass door closed. She turned the latch and grinned at him through the glass.

Cullen’s wolf was raging with lustful intent as he watched her through the glass. It took all of his control to not break through the door.
Enough piseagan, let me in
.

Aislinn eyed him. His cock stood out from him in a tempting display, and she almost gave in, except for the fact that there was too much fun to still be had.
Mmm, you fell into my trap. The piseagan has caught the big bad wolf.
Aislinn’s eyes gleamed, and she began stroking her breast absentmindedly with one stray finger as she watched him pace back and forth on the balcony.

I don’t like being caged.
When I get my claws on you…

I can’t wait,
she thought back.
For now, I’m thoroughly enjoying my moment of triumph.
Aislinn pinched her nipple and watched his eyes follow her fingers as they danced over her body.

Cullen’s cock bobbed in response to Aislinn’s hand on her breast. She bit her lip and stepped in close to the window, so he could watch as one of her hands pinched and teased her nipple while the other hand traveled the length of her stomach and her fingers dipped into her wet slit. She moaned softly in that purring cat-like way that drove him mad.

Cullen didn’t know how long he could handle watching her through the glass. He looked around for a way in, knowing that there was only the one door to the balcony. He growled in frustration, and Aislinn could feel the amusement in his mind waning as she tortured him.

She pulled her fingers from her wet cunt. She was getting to the point where she needed him more than she wanted to play games with him anyway. She put her wet fingers in her mouth to lick her juices off of her fingers and walked toward the door to let him in.

Cullen couldn’t wait any longer. He stepped up to the door and grabbed the handle. With a sharp tug he heard a crack and a spider web traveled through the glass from near the handle. Aislinn stopped, her eyes wide, and she realized she had pushed him too far. Another sharp tug and the door flew open. The glass shattered as it rammed into the wall at the far end of the track.

There was nowhere to run this time. Cullen managed to tackle Aislinn and drag her to the bed. The rest of that night was sweating, moaning, and wrestling. By the time they got to sleep it was already near dawn.

Chapter 18

Cha do bhrist fear riamh a bhogha nach d’fheum fear eile ‘n t-sreang.
No man ever broke his bow but another man found a use for the string.

-Gaelic Proverb

Cullen woke up early in the morning. The sun was just beginning to peek over the balcony. A nosy pigeon had noticed that the sliding door was no longer blocking his entrance and was poking around the glass. Cullen threw a pillow across the room at it and scared it out the window. Stretching, he moved away from Aislinn before he got anymore ideas, although she had pretty well exhausted most of those last night. He smiled at the memory.

“Stop thinking like that or you’ll not be allowed out of this bed,” Aislinn said, without moving or opening her eyes.

Cullen chuckled and leaned down, placed a kiss on her check and then jumped out of bed. “By the way,” he said, as he headed for the bathroom, “I’m leaving it to you to call maintenance and explain to them why they need to come up here and replace the door.”

“I didn’t break it!” she called after him.

Cullen laughed some more and closed the bathroom door. It didn’t take him long to clean up, and as he headed out of the bathroom, Aislinn pulled herself out of bed and limped toward it. “Are you okay,” he asked with concern, watching her walk.

She looked over her shoulder at him with a broad smile. “I’m fine. Just a little sore.” She stretched deliciously in front of him. “And I’ll probably harass you into doing it again sometime soon. Maybe not tonight,” she added. “But soon,” she said, as she limped into the bathroom for her turn in the shower.

That comment almost had Cullen delaying his morning plans. Gods, sometimes she amazed him. He growled to himself and rubbed his face with both hands, getting control of his wolf again. By the time Aislinn was out of the bathroom, Cullen was dressed and headed for the elevator. He knew too well that if he stuck around he’d get to see her dry off and then it’d be all over.

He stopped her in the main room and pulled her close to plant a kiss on her lips. After a long moment that left her breathless, he pulled away. “Good morning beautiful,” he said with a smile. “I’m going downstairs to deal with the others before my good mood fails. Then I’ve got some phone calls to make. I’m probably going to have breakfast in my office. I suggest you take some time to mingle with the masses, find Sarah and see if she needs anything done. Maybe get yourself something to eat. I plan on herding us all back to the reservation this evening. Good?”

Aislinn nodded. She felt like she had just been bowled over by the lengthy instructions. He smiled at her again and released her as he stepped toward the elevator. Cullen hit the button for the basement. The elevator seemed to take forever to finish the descent. He had finally decided what to do with everyone. He was still bothered by the fact that they had turned, but he did understand why. As much as it galled him to admit it, Aislinn had made a very good point. He had built this pack on family and caring as well as loyalty. He wasn’t about to destroy all that because a handful, well more than a handful, of his men had betrayed him to protect their mates.

Cullen walked out of the elevator. The basement was actually several floors deep. There were underground living quarters, just in case they were needed for security purposes. Cullen hoped that they’d never have to be used. There was an extensive gym, with a pool, track, basketball court, and training facilities. That room was always in use. There were the security suites and the holding area. It had never been used to hold his own men before. He growled at that. Then there were the tunnels that gave access to the local subway system. Most of the pack was unaware that the den had an escape route in the basement. Again, Cullen hoped it would never have to be used. In any case, he didn’t become alpha without having a mind for the future and all contingencies. Though he had to admit he never saw this coming.

The elevator only went as far as the first level. That was the floor the gym was on. Cullen walked down the hall toward the stairwell that led to the security suites and the holding area in sub-basement level 2. The cameras caught his approach, and Liam met him at the door when he came into the main entry way. The two men clasped hands, and Liam nodded his head in greeting.

“Glad to see you early. The men are getting antsy. They all think they’re as good as dead,” Liam said soberly, looking for Cullen’s response. He obviously wanted to know what was going to happen.

Cullen nodded. “I’m not killing anyone. Though I did consider it,” he added.

Liam’s relief was evident. The two men headed through the security door and back to the holding pens. Liam had allowed the doors beyond the main one to be left open. The rooms were mostly small cells down a long hallway. He had allowed the men to move amongst each other, especially after the women had insisted on joining them in the cells.

Cullen looked around at all the distraught faces. “Does anyone have anything to say,” he asked in a hard tone.

Ranaild stepped forward. He was the only beta in the group, though there were quite a few thetas present. The rest all had lower ranks, so Ranaild was the spokesman. “We’ve all agreed that we deserve the worst of what you could do.” That comment had half the women sniffling and the other half bowing their heads in shame. “But we ask that you spare Pete. He’s lost enough, and he tried to tell you what was going on. We stopped him to save our own. I would say that if we had it to do over again, if it meant getting our women back safely, I am sorry Cullen, we would.” There was more crying.

Cullen looked around. His brow was furrowed. “I would be lying if I said that I didn’t spend a great deal of time thinking about how nice it would feel to rip your throats our personally.” The men in the room flinched. If he asked, they would line up and offer their necks to him one by one, watching as each of their fellows went before them. “But, to your incredible benefit, Aislinn has managed to convince me that there was more to consider than the fact that you betrayed me.” Every man and woman looked up at him, the women with hope in their eyes and the men with shame. “Rafe has caused my pack, my family, a great deal of pain. I don’t intend to perpetuate it. As Aislinn put it, I intended for our family to mean as much to us as our loyalty to the pack. If I punish all of you for your behavior, then I have to consider my own actions when I was trying to save her. The woman is far too logical for my tastes sometimes.” The last comment had a number of the women smiling. “Not that I intend to let you all off. I still believe that the better course of action would have been for you to tell me what happened. In as much, I intend to demote the lot of you.” There was a murmur of uncertainty that ran through the room. Demotion was only a step above death. “For the next year, every man who betrayed this pack will be given the rank of omega with no opportunity to earn his rank back until the completion of the year. At that point, you may attempt to regain your position. And expect to be watched as well. You all know what’s expected of omegas. If you don’t embrace your new duties, I’ll find another sentence for you.”

The relief was accompanied by understood upset. It would be hardest on Ranaild. A beta forced to live as an omega would be miserable. Cullen thought it fitting. More was expected of a beta, so his punishment should rightly be more severe.

Cullen looked around. “Peter,” he said. A pale looking young man stood from where he was sitting against the wall. He didn’t care what happened. Peter would have preferred death as a sentence, and that was evident in his eyes as he approached Cullen. “I am sorry for your loss, my friend. I have no reward for your loyalty that could possibly compensate for that. You are not being counted with the others.” The room murmured agreement. “Return to your life as best you can. When you are ready for further duties, come see me.”

Peter nodded. He looked to Cullen with an empty blank stare. “There are old stories that druids can talk to the dead,” he said hopefully.

Cullen could see where that was going. He shook his head sadly. “That I know of, Aislinn has no such talent. She sees dreams. That’s all. She was never trained as a druid.” In his mind, Cullen was thinking that this was an excellent opportunity to get rid of some of the bad rumors about her and seem open to talking in front of others. “You’re welcome to ask her about it. I would caution you to give her some time. Her grandmother died in the fight at the reservation, and she isn’t dealing with it well.”

Peter nodded. “Maybe after the funeral then,” he said flatly.

“That would probably be best,” Cullen answered. He looked around the room. They had all been listening intently, as had Liam.
Good, that’s a start,
he thought. “As for the rest of you, after the funeral make arrangements to speak to Sarah about your new assignments.” Cullen looked over at Liam. “Is there any further business here?”

“No, not that I know of. Thank you, General. I’m sure that your understanding and lenience has been appreciated.” There were a number of women who made to approach Cullen out of gratitude, but the look on Cullen’s face had them backing down.

Leaving the room, Cullen could hear the relief being expressed. He felt good about his decision. It was a tough punishment, but it would be viewed well across the board. He didn’t let any of them off easy, at the same time he didn’t shed any more blood.

* * * *

There was no way that Aislinn was going to stay in their room all day. Except that she was nervous about dealing with all the people who were so intimidated by her now.
Staying in your room and hiding will do nothing to help resolve that situation
, she told herself. So she got dressed and went down to the great room.

When the elevator doors opened she headed into the main TV room to look for Rissa. Usually if the Taigh-O
è
sda was closed Rissa could be found in the great room. Since the restaurant wouldn’t be open for some time yet, Aislinn figured that there was a good chance that Rissa might be around. There was also the possibility of finding Sarah and getting that assignment Cullen talked about.