Which was what he was.
They stared at each other for several heartbeats before he tore his gaze away to pick up a small item. He fiddled with it at his right ear. “The boys back yet?”
Russell flipped through the screens. “I don’t see them anywhere and it’s starting to piss me off.”
“Hmmm. Might have some difficulty hearing the alarm with the rain.” Zan didn’t appear concerned. “Test me.”
Russell murmured something too low for Jackie to hear. Zan responded with an affirmative and she realized the tiny earpiece was both receiver and transmitter. Evidently no expense was too great for these bad boys. And she was glad. If part of her tax dollars went to make Zan safer, then so be it.
The buzzing noise changed to a rapid beeping. Still just as soft. Still just as annoying.
“West wall’s been breached.” Russell said. “And there’s our boys. Finally.”
Jackie made out two dark shapes slinking through the trees by one of the perimeter walls. On another screen she saw a human-shaped shadow crouched low to the ground. Three more dropped and followed suit in quick secession.
“There’s four of them?” Jackie asked, turning to look where Zan was. Only, he wasn’t there. He was gone. The door was closing even as she rushed over to it. “Zan! You bastard.”
He’d left without a word. Locking her in the safe room with Russell and Marion. The latter who was looking at her with a mix of pity and understanding. It was Russell who said, “Leaving you was probably one of the hardest things he’s ever done, Jackie. Don’t think to harshly of him.”
Jackie let out a snarl. “He could have at least said goodbye.”
Russel shot her an undecipherable look over his shoulder before turning back to his screens. “No. He really couldn’t.”
Seething, Jackie moved into position behind Russell. All the better to see each and every screen.
“There’s another chair, Jackie. Why don’t you sit down?” Marion asked
Though the question wasn’t meant to be uncaring, Jackie just couldn’t sit down and see the next several minutes—hours?—unfold in front of her as if she were watching some damn movie. “I’m good. Thanks though.”
Good? What a lie. Just another to add to the list of lies she’d uttered over the last several days. To others and to herself. God, she was a mess.
Chapter Twenty
The four shadows broke into pairs, one pair doing their best to remain invisible as they headed toward the direction Jackie last saw Scott and Joe. At least Jackie thought that the north section was where the younger shifters were. There were so many camera angles and Russell flipped through them so fast, she was losing all sense of direction. Added to that was the heavy rain and dark clouds that kept obscuring the moon and she no longer had any idea which screen shot belonged to which section of property. All this squinting was giving her a headache.
The other two shadows remained low to the ground and just when Jackie was beginning to wonder what the heck they were doing, they looked up.
“Shit. Is that a fucking zip line?” Russell pushed a button and the picture zoomed in. A heartbeat barely passed before another shape slid effortlessly over the wall and right into the throng of trees.
“Sneaky bastard sent his men in first as a distraction. Coward.”
Jackie looked from the screen to Russell as he relayed that information to Zan and back to the screen again. “There’s no way we can inform Scott and Joe though, is there?”
“No. Which is why they’re working as a team. To cover each other for exactly this type of thing.”
Jackie straightened. “For zip lines?”
Russell snorted. “And anything out of the ordinary. One thing they’ve learned is not to expect anything and how to adjust to unexpected situations. If you can’t be flexible in this line of work, you’re dead.”
What a pleasant thought. “Where’s Zan?”
“East quadrant. Moving toward the three perps.”
Perps. In the past, whenever she read or heard that word, she wanted to laugh. It sounded too much like peeps to her. Those yummy, Easter marshmallow treats.
She didn’t want to laugh now. “Why don’t you have big screens in here like you do downstairs?” She complained as she strained to see Zan on the small screen.
“It’s not like this is a common occurrence.” Russell all but growled at her.
Almost under her breath she hissed, “Could have fooled me.”
Intent on the screens as she was, she saw a small white flash go off in the distance and then that screen went black.
“What just happened?” Marion asked, leaning forward.
“Son of a bitch,” Russell grit between his teeth.
Someone had shot out the camera. “Night vision?” Jackie wondered.
“Not if he has any brains. Lightening flashes would blind him. Has to be infrared. Asshole. That camera was expensive.”
If Shider, who, no doubt was in the tree, could make out the electricity powering the cameras to shoot them out, then Zan stood no chance. He might be super strong, super fast, and have claws, but his super senses wouldn’t be of much use in the pouring rain. “Oh, God. Zan.”
Russell shot her a quick glance. “The suit he has on hides body heat. It’s also bullet resistant.”
Resistant? “Not bullet proof?”
The shifter rolled his chair a fraction to the left. “Depends on the bullet.”
Not comforting. Besides. “His head isn’t protected.”
Nothing for a moment. “Yeah. I know.” Russell spoke into his earpiece and relayed what was happening to Zan.
“We need to have sharpshooters on the roof.”
It was Marion that answered. “Thomas and Cooper were delayed by the storm. Otherwise we would have.”
Jackie tore her eyes from the flat screens to study Marion. “I take it you’ve done this before?”
A brief look of anger. “Once.”
While curious, Jackie wanted to know more, she didn’t know Marion well enough to prod, and now certainly wasn’t the time.
Movement on another screen drew her eye and there was Zan, threading past several trees, using them for cover, stalking the hunters. He disappeared again and two seconds later Jackie saw a dark shadow fall. Before she could gasp, Zan stepped onto the screen again. She almost sighed in relief. He was okay. He’d just taken down one of the intruders. Then his big body jerked sideways and he went down.
A scream of denial lodged in her throat. And then if she wasn’t feeling helpless enough in this sickening situation, there came a soft boom and everything went dark. “Zan,” she gasped.
“Generator’s gone.” Russell bit out several curses. “I need to get out there.”
She heard movement, a brush of clothing, and all she could see was the replay of Zan going down. He’d been shot. Again. How bad, she had no idea. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t even think. Couldn’t freaking breath!
“I need to get the back-up generator going. Ensure the house is protected.” She heard the sound of the metal cabinet opening. “And I need to get to Zan.”
“Baby,” Marion whispered, then stopped. A strangled sound came out of her, “Be careful.”
There were sounds of kissing. Jackie almost wanted to slap them both. Scream that they didn’t have time for that. Not when Zan was hurt, possibly even dead.
She pressed her lips tight, understanding that Russell was heading into that danger, leaving behind his mate, and unborn child. She couldn’t even imagine how hard that was for him. Or for Marion. But at the same time, Jackie’s mate lay injured. And she was a doctor, dammit. Russell couldn’t be in two places at once and she instinctively knew he would head for the generator to insure his mate’s safety. Zan was important to him, she knew that, but a mate’s safety came first. Always.
Just as hers came first. It was one of the reasons why she couldn’t remain with him if he continued to live this lifestyle. If he still lived at all.
“You get the generator up,” Jackie stated firmly, her mind made. “I’ll get to Zan.”
Shocked silence. “You’re not going out there. Zan would slice me open if anything happened to you.”
“And I’m not going to sit back and twiddle my thumbs waiting for you to start the generator and only then go check on Zan.”
“He might not even be hit, Jackie. There’s always the possibility he heard the bullet and ducked. Or it might just be a flesh wound.”
Jackie wasn’t taking that chance, and told Russell so. “I’m not willing to take that chance. If he is hurt, I can take care of him.”
“And whose going to take care of you?”
Jackie bared her teeth in the general direction of Russell’s voice. Another string of curses. “Fine. Dammit. But you’re wearing this.” Her arms were shoved into a vest followed by a backpack. The combined weight was so heavy and unexpected she nearly staggered. “The medical kit.”
He moved away from Jackie, murmured something low, sharing another moment with his wife. Then he grabbed Jackie’s arm and pulled her from the room. While her eyes adjusted to the dim light that filtered into his office, Russell shut a heavy door behind him and then slid a bookcase in front of it.
So that’s why she hadn’t noticed the door before. This particular wall of his office was lined with bookcases, the safe room hidden behind one of the panels. Maybe not the most original, but sneaky all the same.
Then they were on the move, Russell informing Jackie of Zan’s exact location as they headed for the kitchen. He pressed his back to the wall next to the outside door and peered out into the stormy night. The rain had let up some, the cloud cover not as thick. His eyes shot to hers, amber ringing the gray of his irises. Jackie knew his wolf was riding high. If she could shift forms, her beast would be dong the same. As it was, she could feel her animal lunging in her mind, anxious to get to it’s mate.
“I take it you know how to use a gun?”
“Yeah.” She held out her right hand. “Aim and pull the trigger until the bad thing goes away.”
Russell’s lip twitched. “Smart ass.” He handed her a thirty-eight special snub-nosed revolver. Proving she knew what she was doing, she flicked open the cylinder, checked it was loaded, and swung it shut with a flip of her wrist.
“Figured. Keep your eyes open and your head down. If you so much as get a scratch, not only will Zan have my hide, you’re grandfather will kick my ass ten ways to Sunday.”
“And you have a pup that’s going to need his father. Don’t do anything stupid.”
Muscles jerked in his jaw and he gave one last look back to where Marion waited behind a locked room. “I know.”
He scanned the exterior once more. “Time to go.”
Jackie followed Russell out, mimicking his stance, keeping low and moving quick. They parted ways on the patio, he went left, she went right. Warm rain dampened her hair and clothes as she raced for the tree line, arrowing toward Zan with purpose, acutely conscience of the danger awaiting her. She expected a gunshot at any moment as she crossed the too open grassy expanse, but she made it to the cover of the trees without incident. Once there, she pressed her back to one of the oaks and scanned her surroundings. The leaves blocked most of the rain but they also screened out the majority of the moonlight seeping through the clouds. Dancing shadows twisted in the remaining glow. It was dark and creepy. And very quiet.
Her eyesight might be no better than a human’s, but her sense of smell was much stronger. Breathing deep, head tilted up, she analyzed every scent she could. The metallic scent of blood was at the forefront, and even as her heart galloped in her chest, she reasoned with herself. Zan had dispatched one of the hunters just before he’d gone down, so the blood might be from the unknown individual.
Lips pursed, she peeked around the tree trunk, and caught a whiff of spice and energy. Zan.
She knew he was alive because the energy coming from him was pure anger. It made the hair on her arms stand on end and she didn’t know if she’d ever been more relieved in her life. He couldn’t be angry if he was dead.
To her right she spied a still form laying on the ground. Too slight to be Zan, but her professionalism kicked in and she scampered over to crouch by the body. Though she knew immediately this unknown man was dead, his head twisted at an impossible angle, she laid two fingers at the pulse of his neck.
Yep. Dead.
She rose, and was spun around. One large hand snatched the gun from hers, the other clutched her nape in a vise-like grip.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” Zan shoved his face into hers until they were nose to nose.
Her back went ramrod straight and she went from worried to pissed in seconds flat. “We thought you’d been shot.”
Thunderstruck, Zan’s jaw dropped. “And what? You came out to see if I was dead so you wouldn’t have to make any hard choices?”
It was Jackie’s turn to gape at him. She yanked free and tore off the backpack. Then she swung it with all her might and clocked Zan in the chest. “You ass. I came out to save you.”
Zan only shook his head. “As you can see, the bullet only grazed me. Which you would have seen had you stayed in the room.” He growled out between clenched teeth.
Jackie looked at his shoulder, saw the small tear in the fabric. “Would have if the generator hadn’t gone out.”
“Shit.” He rubbed a hand over his head. “Russell went to the back-up and you came to me.” He paused, green and amber eyes almost glowing as he processed that information. “Who are you now, Jackie? Doctor or mate?”
“I’m both, Zan.” She conceded. She watched as pleasure and savage possession filled his gaze. “But that doesn’t mean...” her words ended on a gasp as a shadow moved behind Zan. He twisted at the same instant, his claws ripping out of his fingers and tearing into the man who’d been sneaking up behind them as they argued.
Startled, Jackie took several steps back as Zan fought with the assailant, only to stop when she hit a hard wall. An arm banded around her waist and a knife was thrust to her throat. She went absolutely still.
Zan turned back to her, so slowly that she knew he’d scented the man holding her. Too late. The one he’d killed was the distraction, and maybe if they hadn’t been arguing, Zan would have sensed the ambush. Or she should have. The one holding her stank of human sweat and body odor. She would have gagged if a large, sharp knife wasn’t currently pressing into her vulnerable flesh.
Claws out, Zan widened his stance, moving into attack position. “Here I am, Shider. All alone. Quit hiding behind a female and come and get me like a man.”
“You’re no man, Sutton. You’re an animal. And I kill animals. Especially those that destroy my life.” Shider was so angry that spit flew from his mouth, landing in Jackie’s hair and on her cheek. This time she did gag. And the knife pricked her skin.
The metallic scent of her blood filled the air. Zan zeroed in on the spot, his jaw working furiously, amber almost obliterating the green of his irises. If he turned, if the wolf attacked without the conscious planning of the man, Shider would slice her throat. “Let. Her. Go.”
Shider only gripped her tighter. “I don’t think so. She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she, Sutton? No wonder you took a liking to her. Tell me dear,” he sniffed her hair. Gross. “Do you really understand what he is?” The last was whispered in her ear.
She couldn’t hide a cringe as his breath fanned over her face. Beyond the unwashed stink was the subtle scent of decay. There was something seriously wrong with the man holding her at knife-point. Not just in his head, but in his body.
At her silence he squeezed her tighter. “Do you see his claws? He’s a werewolf.”
From his attitude Jackie was going to hazard a guess. Shider thought she was human. An uniformed one at that. Unless he was playing her. Otherwise, why have a knife to her throat? Had he heard her and Zan’s argument? Did he know she was his mate? Was Shider just screwing with her
mind? Giving her a false sense of security by saying this crap? Or did he really have no clue at who and what Jackie was?
For now she’d go with the dumb female angle. “Impossible.”
“Not impossible. I’ve been tracking this one for years. After he slaughtered my family right in front of my face.”
Was he talking about his father who’d been the leader of an international drug ring and who no doubt had killed more people through violence and overdose than Zan ever would? She’d heard about that raid. Not only from Zan, but from her grandfather this morning at breakfast. He’d wanted her to have as much information as possible, such as that Shider Jr. was considered quite unstable, having dipped into the family business one too many times.
Which might account for the scent of decay wafting from him.
Jackie brought up one hand to lightly touch the wrist holding the knife, watching the muscles shift and tense under Zan’s black suit. He wouldn’t be able to hold the beast back much longer. Between the intense pull of the full moon, the sight of his mate in danger, and the scent of her blood to add to the sadistic mix, his wolf should have overpowered the man by now. That Zan still remained in human form was a testament to his strength of will.
“Dear God,” she responded to Shider’s comment with near female hysteria, silently accepting an Oscar for her fabu performance. Her other hand was on her chest and she flashed Zan in her rusty military sign language what she was about to do. Though far from pleased—unmistakable in his snapping teeth—he told her he understood by growling low and ducking his head slightly, his movements now more animalistic than human.
“See what I mean. An animal. Especially on the full moon. It must be the cloud cover that’s keeping him from turning. But no matter. Dead is dead.” A brush of leaves behind Zan followed by an earthy scent. Wolf. Jackie didn’t know if it was Joe, Scott, or Russell, but one thing she was sure of; Shider thought it was someone else.
“Stupid beasts only understand fucking and feeding. He won’t know what hit him.”
What This Wolf Wants Page 17
