Rafe skirted the camp, not wishing to parade through it while holding his mate. His Wolf was jumpy and it definitely didn’t want anyone near her.
No, that’s untrue. It didn’t want any males near her.
He trudged up the back porch, hoping his mom was home. “Mother! I need your help.”
Hearing her voice chatting before she replied. “I’m in here. What’s got you so upset? If anyone should be upset it’s me! You’ve been gone for . . .”
Her mouth fell open as Rafe strode through, Alinka’s eyes dropping to the floor before popping back up to stare at the woman in his arms. “Mom, she’s hurt and exhausted.”
“Follow me.” Ellie raced toward the stairs, ushering him up as she went up side-stepping so she could keep her eyes on him. “Who is she? What happened? And, Rafe, is that blood all over you?”
Rafe ignored her. His entire being focused on the woman in his arms. He’d realized earlier that she was younger than he’d first thought, probably early twenties, if that. It didn’t make any difference to him, she was still his mate and Rafe would fight to the death to protect her.
He also realized he didn’t want to put her down. His mom held the cover back on the bed and urged him to place her on it. Rafe couldn’t help the growl that crept up his throat as he laid her gently down. The loss of her touch was a physical pain running through him.
“Rafe,” Ellie said his name quietly, her hand on his arm. “Are you all right? Your scent has changed and, well, that usually means one thing.”
Rafe’s eyes locked with hers, nodding once he confirmed what she suspected. “She’s mine and she’s hurt. Plus, there’s a problem with rogues. She said that her entire Pack was killed, Mom. Everyone. I think she’s the only survivor.”
“Oh no,” Ellie gasped, a hand flying to her heart, eyes wide and her face losing all color. “Where did this happen? We have to do something.”
“I’m not sure,” Rafe admitted. “She passed out before she could tell us anything else.”
“Fuck!” Ali’s curse had him spinning around.
“Ali, I need you to get as many sentries out as you can. We have to protect the Pack until I can gather more information.”
Sure,” she said, nodding quickly before disappearing.
“Jacy is on his way back with a prisoner,” he said with loathing. “One of the rogues who’d cornered her. He’s the only survivor. Jacy and I killed the others.”
“That’s something at least.” Ellie went to work, inspecting the girl lying lifeless on the bed. “I hope you can get him to answer your questions.”
“He’ll have no choice,” he said firmly. “I’ll make sure he talks, no matter what it takes.”
Ellie stood back from the bed, tugging the thick quilt over his mate. “Her ankle is broken and she’s dehydrated and exhausted. Once she’s up to it, if she transforms then her ankle will heal.”
“I thought as much,” Rafe agreed, having used his enhanced senses to feel out his mate’s injuries on the walk home.
“I’ll go and get a bowl and some warm water to give her a wash.” Ellie waggled a finger at him. “You go shower and dress, then we’ll talk some more about your mate.”
Rafe growled, not wanting to leave his mate alone for even a second. He nodded to the attached bathroom. “I’ll shower here, can you bring me some clothes, please?”
“Son, she’ll be fine,” his mother tried to coax him to leave.
“I said I’ll shower here,” Rafe replied firmly, his tone full of his Alpha power.
Ellie lowered her head as his power washed over her. “I’ll be back soon.”
Rafe felt a twinge of regret at using his power but then he shrugged, his attention back on the body lying in the bed. “What’s your name?”
She didn’t respond so he forced himself to go and clean up.
It was the quickest shower he’d ever had, washing himself quickly to get rid of the muck and blood. When he walked back into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, his mom was back.
She nodded to a chair. “There’s some clothes for you.”
Rafe snatched them up, dressing quickly and taking a moment to apologize. “I’m sorry about earlier, Mom. I’m not quite myself right now.”
Ellie turned, her knowing eyes gazing up at her son’s. “I know that, honey, it’s all right.”
“How is she?” Rafe asked, coming to sit on the side of the bed, his hand reaching out to move strands of hair off his mate’s face.
“She’s resting,” his mom told him as she started to wash his mate’s face and hands. “She’s gone through a lot, Rafe. She’ll need our support to get through this.”
“I know,” Rafe whispered. “I just hope we can help her.”
“You will,” Ellie told him with a confidence he didn’t feel. “Having her mate at her side will do far more for her than anything else.”
“She’s gorgeous, Mom,” Rafe’s voice hitched, full of emotion as he looked over at his mother. “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on and I don’t even know her name.”
“Tasha,” a weak voice had them turning quickly to the bed. “My name is Tasha Montgomery.”
“Well, hello, Tasha, my name is Ellie,” his mom said quickly.
“You rescued me.” Tasha’s shaky voice tore at Rafe’s heart.
“Yes,” he said, smiling. “I’m Rafe Blackstone, Alpha of the Darkmoon Pack. You’re here in my home and I promise to keep you safe, Tasha.”
“You, you, shoot . . .” She stopped as recognition flamed in her eyes.
“I’m your mate, Tasha,” Rafe confirmed.
“Oh.” Tasha’s eyes lowered, her face flushing red.
Rafe wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms, brush his lips over hers, but he stayed in place. “It’s a lot to take in. I know. I was shocked too but there’s no mistake, Tasha.”
“I know.” She looked up through her long, dark lashes, her pale grey eyes searching for his. “I’m just a little . . . well . . . I’m not sure, stunned I think.”
“We’ll take things slowly,” Rafe said the words he knew he’d find difficult to follow through on. Not when his body craved hers beneath him as she cried out in pleasure.
“Rafe.” Tasha tried to sit up, her yelp of pain halting her. “Dang, my ankle, I fell and it hurts like hell.”
“It’s broken, dear,” Ellie said, patting Tasha’s arm. “Once you feel strong enough, you should transform and let it heal.”
“I have to talk to you first,” she said as her eyes found Rafe’s again. “There’s so much and I’m not sure where to start.”
“I’d much rather you healed yourself before we do anything else,” Rafe replied, his insides churning at the pain he could clearly feel she was in.
“No,” she said firmly. “I have to tell you what happened to my Pack. It’s gone, everyone is dead, and I have a feeling that we won’t be the only ones.”
Ellie brought a glass of fresh OJ over. “Here, drink this first.”
Tasha snatched it, gulping the juice down quickly. “Thanks.”
“I’ll go and get some food while you two talk.”
Rafe shuffled closer, taking one of Tasha’s hands in his. The need to have a connection growing inside him with each passing second. “All right, tell me what happened.”
Tasha gave him a sad smile, her fingers entwining with his. “An illness swept through the camp and nobody knew what it was, or how to get rid of it. Right at the beginning people tried to transform to heal themselves, but it didn’t work, and then they had trouble changing back. It was horrendous watching it.”
Tasha shivered at the memory, Rafe reaching out to run a finger down the side of her face. “I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”
“After the first few had such trouble, nobody else tried. It was obviously something our beasts couldn’t heal.” Tasha gulped, her eyes filling with tears. “My mom and dad got sick, in fact only a few of us didn’
t, but we’re not sure why. I wasn’t in camp when the first people fell ill, so I think that had something to do with me not getting whatever it was.”
“I’m grateful for that.” Rafe squeezed her hand.
“I was too, at first,” Tasha admitted sadly. “But watching everyone you care about become so ill was . . . unbearably horrific. I was powerless to help them and they just grew weaker and weaker. My dad was unconscious when the rogues arrived.”
Rafe felt grief rolling off her, his instinct to protect her gnawing in his belly. “I lost my dad a few years ago. I remember how bad it felt.”
Tasha looked up at him, her eyes full of sadness. “I guess it was a blessing, in a way. The rogues swept through the camp, killing everyone. I grabbed my dad’s shotgun but my mom insisted I give it to her and leave. I argued. How the hell could I leave her?”
Tasha’s voice broke, sobs tearing from her throat. Rafe moved quickly to sit next to her on the bed, pulling her into his arms. “Aww, baby, I’m so sorry, but your mom was right. If you didn’t escape then how would anyone know what happened? Or get revenge for the atrocity?”
“I get that,” Tasha mumbled into his chest. “But it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I shoved some things in my backpack and gave her the gun, then I ran. I’d barely gone a few hundred yards before I heard it go off. I got away by the skin of my teeth.”
“Aww, baby, that must’ve been awful, especially hearing the gun.” Rafe presumed he knew what the sound must’ve meant for Tasha.
“It was.” Tasha sniffled against him. “Mom wouldn’t have fired until she was sure of hitting her target so I guess she managed to take at least one of them out. She was fiercely protective of us and with my dad unconscious next to her, she would’ve done anything she could to . . .”
Tasha obviously couldn’t carry on, soft sobs escaping as he held her tight. “Shh, it’s okay, you’re safe now. I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Her head jerked back, her teary grey eyes staring into his. “You can’t promise that, Rafe. Even our Alpha was sick, really ill, and nobody had the strength to take on the rogues. Most were in bed when they came, too weak to even get up.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Rafe said with conviction. “I need to know where your Pack was so I can go and check things out. I have a few mixed-Wolves in the Pack, several that are part Witch, so I’m hoping they can help uncover what happened. In fact, our Healer is magical so she should be in a good position to figure out what this mystery illness is. I’ll also contact the Council, they can organize a clean-up of your camp and bury the dead.”
“I need to be there for that,” Tasha’s voice hitched. “I have to say goodbye to my parents and everyone else.”
“I’ll make sure that it’s safe first. I can’t have you in danger, Tasha. You’re too precious.”
“Sorry.” Tasha’s eyes flashed with anger. “That wasn’t a request. I’m going and that’s not something open for discussion.”
Rafe was about to bite back a retort when his mother arrived. Her calming voice interrupting. “I’ve brought you something to eat. Rafe, she needs to rest, so why don’t you go down and speak with Jacy, Levi and the rest of the Wolves that are congregating outside. They are all upset and if you don’t go and relieve Jacy then I think he’s going to rip that man’s head off.”
“They’re here?” Rafe stood, still holding one of Tasha’s hands and loathe to let go.
“Yes, they need their Alpha, Son,” Ellie replied softly. “Go and sort things and I’ll help Tasha.”
Tasha tugged her hand free, urging him to leave, which was the last thing he wanted to do. “Go, see if you can get any information out of the rogue. We need to know what’s going on before we can tackle it.”
Rafe knew he had to go but his Wolf howled loudly at leaving their mate, but he forced himself to stand. “I’ll leave some sentries around the cabin, just in case.”
“Thank you,” Tasha replied. “Oh wait, do you know if my backpack was found? It’s got stuff in it I don’t want to lose: pictures of my parents and my mom’s locket.”
“I think it’s downstairs,” Ellie said as she passed over a plate piled high with food. “I’ll get it in a minute.”
Tasha merely nodded as her eyes stayed locked with Rafe’s as he backed out of the room. His heart already hurting as he left.
This was a time when newly found mates should be spending every waking moment together, binding themselves to each other. Instead he left her and went to deal with his Pack. An Alpha’s duties came before anything else, including this. There’d be time for him and his mate to get to know one another, to bond, to find ecstasy in each other’s touch. Now was not that time.
Right now he needed to be the most bad-ass Alpha he’d ever been and deal with their prisoner. He’d show that damn rogue the power he held within and not blink an eye for any pain he inflicted.
Jacy circled the rogue wearing jeans and nothing else. His dark skin glistening , his muscles rippling as he prodded the man. “Tell us what we want to know.”
The bloodied and battered man merely snarled, a look of loathing on his face as he spat on the ground.
Levi was there with several of his men and a large group of the Pack stood watching. Their eyes wide and worried as their prisoner shouted. “You’ll be dead soon enough. The whole fucking lot of you.”
“I doubt that,” Rafe drawled as he strode toward his Beta. “You get anything useful?”
“No,” Jacy growled. “This fucker hasn’t given us anything.”
“And I won’t,” the man sneered.
“Yet,” Rafe said coldly before turning away. “Levi, I want guards on my cabin at all times. My mate is inside and she’s the only one of her Pack to escape this scumbag and his friends. She is our top priority. Understand?”
Levi bowed his head. “Of course.”
Rafe waited as Levi shouted out orders and half a dozen men broke away to circle the cabin. “Keep your wits about you.”
“They will,” Levi told him firmly.
“Now,” Rafe said coldly, turning back to his Beta. “We’ll deal with him in a minute.”
“Sure,” Jacy snarled at their prisoner. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Rafe turned to the nervous crowd. “I’m sure you’re all concerned about what’s happened. The loss of a Pack is unheard of but I need you to stay calm. I’ll be contacting the Council and I’m sure they’ll get to the bottom of what’s going on. In the meantime I want you to be careful and stay close to the camp. Ali’s got sentries out and working to keep you all safe and I’ll be going to see what I can find out as soon as I’ve finished with this scumbag.”
He looked around, catching the Pack Healer’s eye. “Myrtle, I’d like you to accompany me when I go.”
Myrtle stepped forward. “I’ll go and get my things ready.”
“Tomorrow morning is soon enough,” Rafe told her. “We’ll leave at dawn.”
“Okay,” Myrtle replied, nodding. “Is there anything I can do for your mate? Is she hurt?”
“She has a broken ankle but that’ll be fixed when she changes and her Wolf heals her.” Rafe smiled at the small woman, her unruly blonde curls like a halo around her head. “Thanks for asking though.”
“If you need me just let me know,” Myrtle said before turning to leave then stopping and asking, “I assume you want my magical side tomorrow?”
“Indeed I do,” Rafe confirmed. “I’ll talk with you more in depth in the morning. For now, just prepare yourself to tap into that side.”
“Will do.” Myrtle’s eyes hardened as she glanced at the rogue. “If you require my assistance with that piece of crap, just holler.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Rafe snarled toward the rogue. “I’m going to take great pleasure in dealing with him myself.”
Myrtle smirked, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she left. Her tiny feet flitting across the ground as if she we
re dancing.
“Now, everyone else, just go about your daily business and let me deal with this situation.”
Rafe watched as the crowd started to slowly dissipate, one after the other they left, leaving him and his Beta with the rogue.
He looked around, tapping his chin as he pondered on where to do the interrogation. Not an interview, not “questioning the suspect.” Nope, this was going to be a full-on Alpha grilling and one he hoped would cause their prisoner a fair amount of pain.
His cabin was set back from the rest, but he wanted a more secluded spot to deal with this asshole. Rafe nodded to himself, settling on what he would do. His jaw set and his eyes hardened as he turned to Jacy. “Bring him.”
Rafe strode away into the forest. They had a small cabin set in the woods to use when hunting for the Pack. It was quite some distance from the camp but that suited his requirements just fine. He planned on having the rogue roaring in pain and the farther they were from camp the better.
His booted feet stomped through the lush greenery, his mood darkening with each step. Rogues had murdered Tasha’s parents, together with the entire Pack, but the grief he’d felt inside his mate caused his anger to rise to levels he didn’t know he was capable of feeling. Rafe was normally cool, calm and collected. Not today, not at this moment. Right now he wanted to rip something apart and his anger would be targeted toward one person.
Rafe wondered if he’d manage to contain his fury, or would it unleash and cause him to kill their only lead.
“No,” he told himself as he carried on, his footfalls heavy and loud in the silence of the forest.
Jacy pushed and prodded the rogue, forcing him to follow Rafe. His Beta’s own anger was boiling inside him, Rafe could feel it, and he knew, without a doubt, he’d never felt that in Jacy before.
“Guess destroying an entire Pack does that to a guy,” Rafe thought as he plowed through bushes and anything else that stood in his way.
Any other day he’d take in the beauty all around him. He loved being in the forest, whether in human or Wolf form, but today he barely glanced at the magnificence of the area. His sole focus on garnering whatever information he could from their prisoner so he could pass it on to the Council.
A Ravenous Pack: Wolf's Hunger 5 Books Page 4
