Rille (Tribes, Book 2)

Chapter 11

By the time they reached the apartment, Brielle had dozed off. Between the stress, the lack of sleep, and the painkillers, Preston didn't blame her. She needed the rest, for so many reasons.

"Shaw." Preston spoke quietly, afraid of waking the woman sleeping beside him. "Send someone to fetch her things from her last apartment. All of them."

"Yes, sir," Shaw agreed. This time, at least, he kept his answer serious and his expression appropriately concerned.

Preston never wasted time after he had given an order. This time was no different. Gingerly, cautious to avoid all of her injuries, Preston scooped Brielle up into his arms. Tiny as she was, she bore a significant amount of weight. But, then, that might have just been his heart feeling for the first time.

Brielle snuggled up to his chest like a newborn kitten, and dang it if that didn't pull at all kinds of emotional strings. Truth be told, Preston had tamped down the things he originally felt for her, that very first time he had been told to fetch her and take her to her best friend on the Crescent Reservation. Even Conner, Crescent's alpha, had noticed Preston's protectiveness.

He would never live it down after this.

Shaw went ahead of Preston and Brielle, punching in passcodes and swiping access cards to get them into the building. After that, Preston could handle it on his own. Shaw knew that, too, which was why he returned to the car for parking purposes. There was no need for him to disturb the newly established couple.

The elevator ran on facial recognition, and easily granted Preston access. An iris scan was all it took to command the elevator to take him to the penthouse floor.

If Brielle knew all this, she might get suspicious of him again. Preston wasn't quite ready to fully reveal all that being his bride entailed. For her sake, not because it bothered him.

Maybe because she was still healing, or perhaps because she cried herself to sleep, Brielle didn't wake up from the time Preston pulled her out of the car all the way to when he laid her cautiously under a billowy blue bedspread. Cuddled in the large bed, she looked even more fragile.

Preston tucked her in, gave a pat to her head, and retreated out of the bedroom. Brielle had been through enough for a lifetime, and it had only been three days. She deserved all the rest that she could get.

That, and Preston had promised her that she wouldn't have to go to Wolf Domestic Affairs' offices. For that purpose, he retrieved his cell phone from his pocket.

The number he dialed was labeled under only one name: Johnston.

"Wolf Affairs Internal and Domestic Headquarters, Mr. Johnston's phone. To whom am I speaking?" A woman's voice floated over the line, soft and lyrical.

Preston had met her only once, but he remembered things easily. Johnston's secretary. Clearly, Johnston had heard a thing or two, so he didn't want to answer the call. "Emily, this is Preston Stryker. Hand the phone to your boss."

Emily didn't even try to argue. Preston would wager that she hadn't wanted to answer her boss's phone, either. He had simply given her the excuse she needed to hand over the conversation.

The man who answered laughed too jovially and spoke too brightly. "Preston Stryker! My, it has been a moment. How is your father recently?"

"Don't try to butter me up, Johnston." Preston padded out to the living area and sank into his favorite chair. "I know you've heard the rumors."

"Rumors? What rumors?" Mr. Johnston cleared his throat, too many times for it not to be a nervous tic. "Did something happen?"

Preston rolled his eyes. There was no way that Johnston hadn't heard. It was his job to know. "The thing is, Johnston... they're mostly true. I did indeed mark a human woman."