Nodding, Shaya did as Roni asked. “The body was bait, wasn’t it? The whole thing was a trap.”
“It’s going to be fine, Shaya, we’re—” A noise coming from upstairs made the hair on Roni’s nape stand up. She placed a finger to her mouth, and both Shaya and Kathy immediately froze. Another noise: a slight scuffle. “Someone’s inside,” she whispered, suspecting they had entered through the balcony. Which meant the body hadn’t been bait at all. It had been a diversion, a way of separating the pack to make them weaker—possibly even a way to get to Shaya.
“It could just be my dad,” Shaya said quietly.
“Your dad wouldn’t creep around.” More noise: the padding of paws on the wooden floor above them. “We have to move.”
“Move where?” asked Shaya as Roni took her arm and urged her to stand.
“We can’t go outside.” Kathy got to her feet, her eyes narrowed as she glanced around. “There could be more out there.”
“The basement,” said Roni after a brief pause. “It has a security steel door, and the emergency exit isn’t easily visible from outside. It’s the only exit they won’t have covered.” For once, she was thankful for Nick’s overprotectiveness.
“Wait, what about my dad?”
“He’s probably out there hunting them,” replied Roni. “He knows I’d hide you at the first sign of trouble.”
Silently, they hurried through the kitchen and dining area with Roni in the lead and Kathy covering the rear. As they reached the archway that led into the living area, Roni held her hand up for them to stop. Popping her head around the arch, Roni searched for any sign of an intruder. Satisfied no one was in sight, she continued onward, not stopping until they reached the doorway. They all pressed up against the wall as Roni poked her head out to glance up and down the hall, satisfied to find it empty.
“Almost there,” she reminded a panting Shaya.
The three of them kept one shoulder near the wall as they quietly scurried down the hallway, stopping at the T-junction. Roni quickly peered around the corner, confirming the small hallway that led to the basement was clear. “Go, go, go.” She ushered Shaya and Kathy to precede her around the corner, along the hallway, and down the small flight of stairs at the end.
Roni went inside first. On their left was a bar and seating area while an indoor pool was on their right. Once she was satisfied that the basement was empty, she urged Shaya and Kathy inside. “Keep this locked.”
Eyes wide, Shaya gripped her arm tight. “Wait, Roni, you can’t leave us.”
“I have to fight them off.”
The Alpha female shook her head madly. “No, there could be lots of them. You’re tough, but you’re not invincible. I know it grates on your pride to stay. But you’re not hiding, you’re protecting me. Please, Roni. Please.”
How could she resist that watery plea? She couldn’t. Sighing, Roni nodded and secured the door. “Call Taryn again. Warn her that jackals are inside the lodge.”
While Shaya quickly updated her friend on what was happening, Kathy spoke to Roni. “Even a safety door won’t stand up to shifter strength.”
“No, but it will hold them back for a while and give the Phoenix wolves time to get here.”
“Well, that’s good, because the only things we can barricade the door with are those sun loungers.”
“Moving things around will do nothing other than make enough noise to give away our location.”
“Taryn says they’re almost here,” said Shaya, tucking the phone in her jeans’ pocket. “A few of them plan to search the lodge while the others join the fight. We just have to hang on.” She ran her hands through her hair. “Nick’s in so much pain. He’s tiring, but he won’t take any energy from me through our bond.”
Mates were able to boost each other’s strength using their mating link, but only if it was fully developed. Since Roni and Marcus’s bond hadn’t yet fully formed, she didn’t have the ability to add her strength to his—and it was pissing her off, because he was tiring too. “How do you complete a mating bond?”
Shaya blinked. “Mates have to be one hundred percent open to each other. You have to face whatever holds you back from him.”
“Nothing holds me back.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.” She’d admitted she loved Marcus, both to him and to herself. She’d confided in him, had come to trust him, and even to lean on him in some ways. She had accepted that it didn’t undermine her level of independence or strength to do so. Had realized that it was possible to be too self-reliant. In fact, it could even be viewed as selfish, because it was a form of rejection. Helping others could make a person feel good, and this “give and take” could help toward developing their connection. To deprive Marcus of that, to deprive their mating of that, wasn’t fair.
“Maybe the problem’s him, not me.” Marcus had held back from people his entire life. It wouldn’t be easy to snap out of something like that, no matter how much a person wanted to. It was possible that he didn’t even realize he was still doing it.
Shaya shrugged helplessly. “If that’s the case, this is out of your hands. He needs to come to that realization on his own.” Her eyes shot to the door, wide and wary, as an animalistic yap sounded in the near distance. Another yap, this one closer. “They’re coming.”
Moments later, paws padded along the hallway toward the basement and then down the steps. There was sniffing and panting at the door, and then claws were raking the floor as if trying to dig a hole. Shit. A loud and urgent yelp split the air, and it earned several yelps of response as what sounded like a small stampede headed toward them.
“They’ve found us,” whispered Kathy.