Shuddering, Raven pushed the other man’s inert body away, managing to get out from under him.
“Is he…?”
For both their sakes, she hoped not.
Carefully, Simon approached, his adrenaline still pumping. “He’s not moving. I don’t think I hit him hard enough to kill him.”
Kneeling, he felt for a pulse. When he located one, he flashed Raven a relieved grin. “Not dead, thank the hounds. Killing another Protector is not only an automatic death sentence for me—”
“Like mine, you mean?”
“I’m trying to rectify that.” He continued with his previous sentence, as though she hadn’t spoken. “And worse, once I’m branded an outcast, no one will listen to anything I have to say about you.”
She crossed her arms, looking mad enough to spit glass. “Aren’t you already an outcast?”
Staring at her, he was appalled that she would even think such a thing. “Of course not. This is all just one big miscommunication. I can fix everything, once I get them to listen to reason.”
“Assuming they’ll listen to you.”
“They will.” He made his voice confident. Fumbling in the other man’s backpack, he located the transmitter, noting that Heath had snagged one of the newer digital models.
Taking a moment to study the black plastic box, he sighed. Then, using the same log he’d wielded to take Heath down, he smashed it to pieces. “That felt good.”
Raven nodded, apparently unappeased.
He kept digging through the full backpack. Finally, he found one of the Society’s special cell phones. “Exactly what I wanted. Perfect,” he said, holding it up so she could see.
“What are you doing?” Raven crossed her arms. “Those things won’t work up here.”
“This one will. I’m calling in.” Punching in the numbers from memory, he listened as the phone at the other end rang.
A moment later, Ross answered. “Did you find them yet, Whearly?”
“This isn’t Whearly.” Simon grinned, imagining his boss’s reaction. “Though he was kind enough to loan me his phone.”
“Caldwell. That explains why the signal went dead. You disabled the transmitter.” Ross sounded furious and tired. “The screen just came up with an untraceable signal.”
“I had to.” Simon took a deep breath. “I want you to reconsider. Let me finish this assignment.”
“Finish?” Ross made a strangled sound. Simon could picture the veins bulging in his forehead. “You’ve been taken off this case, Caldwell. The Society is calling a meeting later this week to decide whether you should be permanently removed from our roster.”
Simon couldn’t conceal his shock. “Removed from the roster? I haven’t killed anyone. Isn’t that a little extreme?”
“You’ve disobeyed a direct order. On top of that, you’ve been placed on involuntary leave.” His boss took a deep breath. “What have you done to Whearly?”
Simon glanced at the other man. “He’s unconscious. He came up on the losing end of our fight.”
“Adding assault to your other charges?”
“Other charges? What the hell is wrong with you? I’ve done nothing wrong. Come on, Ross. Call him off. I’m fine. I’m a damn good Protector and you know it.” Simon gripped the phone so hard his knuckles showed white.
Ross changed his tone from furious to concerned. The switch was so contrived and obvious, Simon nearly laughed. “If you’re fine,” Ross pleaded, “then come in. Let the Society be the judge of your mental state. You’re our star Protector. We don’t want to lose you. We’re all worried about you, Caldwell.”
The words were calculated as a balm to his wounded ego. Simon set his jaw. “I can’t come in. You know that. I have a job to finish.”
“No. You. Don’t,” Ross enunciated slowly. “Come in now.”
“Absolutely not.”
“See? You’ve now received another direct order, which you chose to disobey. You’re off the case. End of subject.”
Glancing at the still-unconscious Whearly, Simon took a deep breath. His boss was usually much more reasonable, which meant someone else, someone higher up, was putting pressure on him. But why? “Come on, man. You have the power to reinstate me. Put me back on the case. Let me finish what I started.”
“Are you going to exterminate the Feral?”
“Hell, no.” Simon answered without hesitation, watching Raven nibble on one fingernail. Every time he looked at her, her fresh-faced beauty and athletic grace continued to amaze him. “If you met her, you’d understand.”
“Hellhounds,” Ross swore. “So that’s the reason you’re doing this. I never pegged you for someone who’d violate the Code of Ethics.”
“I haven’t.” Simon knew he sounded defensive. “And I won’t. That has nothing to do with it. You know me, Ross. Cut me a break here.”
“Fine. But Caldwell, I don’t care if she looks like a Sports Illustrated model. She’s Feral. She attacked you. She’s got to go.”
“No.”
“Then tell me why.” The frustration in Ross’s voice wasn’t fake. Since the transmitter had already given their location, he didn’t have to bother tracing the phone call, so there was no reason for him to keep Simon on the line.
“She’s done nothing wrong. I swear. I wouldn’t lie about something like this. I believe in our organization. What we do is necessary and right. But I also thought we were fair and just. Every damn thing that’s occurred since I phoned in to make my first report has been contrary to that.”
He took a deep breath. “Ross, I’m good at what I do. You know that. In my years as a Protector, I’ve never asked for anything. Not once. I’m asking now. Let me finish this case. I honestly believe Raven can be rehabilitated.”
Raven’s head snapped up at the mention of her name. Scowling at him, she shook her head.
“Raven?” Ross asked. “Is that what the Feral calls herself?”
For the first time in his life, Simon, too, was beginning to hate the word Feral. He was sure as hell tired of hearing it applied to Raven.
“Yes,” Simon answered, keeping his voice even and professional. “She’s sane. And smart, too. She’s suffered some abuse at the hands of that professor in Boulder.”
“The one who was just murdered?”
“Yes.” Briefly, Simon filled his boss in on Raven’s story. When he finished, he reiterated his plea. “You’ve got to let me finish this case.”
“No. I don’t have to do anything, other than make sure you’re rounded up. We’re very worried about you.”
“You’re being completely unreasonable.”
“We are not unreasonable.” Ross sounded highly offended and exasperated. “You have always been one of our most highly regarded Protectors.”
“Then give me another chance. Give her another chance.”
Ross chuckled. “I think I now understand why you’re defending this Feral. That’s another crime against you, you know. One more and we can order your extermination.”
Simon’s mouth dropped. He was glad Ross couldn’t see him. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.” His voice was icy calm. Deadly. “Are you making your own rules now, Ross?”
“We know where you are,” Ross warned. “Traveling with that pack of wild wolves makes you easy to track. Plus, we have the transmitter’s last recorded location. We’ll send reinforcements. More than one, this time.”
“More than one.” Simon gave a bitter laugh. “I suppose I should be honored.”
While Ross was still sputtering, Simon disconnected the call. What Ross had threatened went beyond his realm of experience. In all his time with the Society, he’d never heard of a Protector being exterminated. That couldn’t be legal. Not to mention moral or ethical, or any of the high standards the Society espoused.
He had no choice but to suspect corruption. Starting with Ross.
Heart heavy, he dropped the cell phone in his pocket. One more check on Whearly revealed the other Protecto
r was still out.
“We need to get out of here before he wakes up,” Raven said, her voice flat.
“I agree.” He gave a quick nod, glancing at the window. “How soon can you be ready?”
“My wolves are still hunting. You’ll need to give me time to gather my pack. Is that okay, Terminator?”
Hellhounds. “Raven, wait.” He touched her arm, knowing they didn’t have a lot of time, but wanting to explain anyway. “The ones I killed, I only did what was necessary.”
“Sure you did.” Giving him a look of pure disgust, she brushed off his hand. “Keep telling yourself that, why don’t you? I’m sure Whearly here would do the same, once he succeeded exterminating me.”
“We don’t have time for this. Call your wolves in and get ready to go.”
Jerking her head in an angry nod, she turned to do just that.
“Raven, you need to think about letting them go.”
“Who?” From the doorway, she looked back at him blankly, not comprehending.
“Your pack. They’ll be safer away from us. We’ll be safer, too. Traveling with so many wolves makes it more difficult to find places to hide. Not to mention making us more visible. Ross even mentioned it.”
She stiffened. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Think about it for a minute. Too much depends on us staying ahead of the Society. Ross said he’s sending a team. Keeping away from one determined Protector is difficult enough,” he said, indicating Whearly. “But since Ross is sending more, with your pack in tow it’ll be damn near impossible to evade an entire search team.”
She gave him one final mutinous glare and opened the door. Lifting her human face up, she howled, sounding eerily like a wild wolf. “That should bring them back. And no, I’m not getting rid of them.”
“We don’t have a choice, Raven. Not if we want to live through this. We’ve got to get rid of your pack. Temporarily,” he added for good measure. “You can always collect them later, once this is over.” If they survived, that is. He kept that to himself.
Blinking, she shook her head. This was an instinctive reaction, done without thinking. He gave her an additional minute to process his words, knowing he was right.
“I’m their Alpha.” Her protest was weak, and he suspected she knew it. “They won’t be able to function without me.”
“Designate a new Alpha. You know how it goes. The one that attacked me would be a good choice. Chase him or her off, then the others. They’ll follow the other one then.”
“But they won’t understand.”
“You’re humanizing them. They’re wild animals. They won’t understand anyway.”
Seconds passed while she stared at him. Finally, she dipped her chin. “You’re right. I’ve got to let them go. But it doesn’t mean I have to like this.”
“We’ll do it on the run.” He indicated Whearly. “I don’t know how long he’ll be out.”
When he saw her beautiful eyes fill with tears, he had to clench his fists to keep from going to her.
“We have no time,” he urged, to make her turn away.
Predictably, she did. “We can’t just abandon them. They’ll try to find us.”
“And you’ll chase them away.”
“What if they come to the cabin? What about him?” She pointed at the other man. “What if he hurts them?”
“He’ll have no reason to, unless they threaten him.”
Back stiff, she shook her head. “I can’t take the chance. Look what happened with you. I won’t endanger my pack.”
“Then gather them up. We’ve got to get moving. We’ve got to put as much distance between this place and us as possible. But your wolves are going to have to go if you want to have a decent chance of surviving this. You can chase them away on the run.”
“You made things worse. Get rid of the cell phone. Don’t call those people again.”
He hid a smile at the way she still tried to give him orders. “I’m going to hang on to it. You never know when we’ll need it. There are a few other people I want to call. For now, we’ve got to put as much distance as we can between this place and us.”
Finally, she nodded. “Change, then.” Her voice was harsh. Dropping to the ground, she shape-shifted back to wolf. Panting, her glossy black sides heaving, she crossed to the door, waiting for him to pull it open.
“Just a minute,” he said. “I want to rig a way to carry this phone with me when I’m wolf.” Grabbing one of the trash bags, he placed the phone inside, then tied a knot. With a few twists and another knot, he made a sort of trash-bag collar, placing it on the ground in front of him.
She watched silently, no doubt thinking him a fool.
“When I’m wolf, I should be able to slip my snout through this and wear it.”
With a shake of her furry head, Raven trotted over to the plastic bag ring. She nudged it once, then made a low, chuffing sound. Extending her head, she pawed at the bag.
“You want me to put it on you?” Simon couldn’t keep the shock from his voice.
She woofed again, indicating agreement. Simon picked up the collar and slipped it over her head. It fit loosely enough that she should be able to slip her head out of it before she changed to human next time, but well enough that it wouldn’t fall.
Again, Raven padded to the door, waiting for him to open it. He did, and then, not wanting to leave Whearly tied, he went to the still unconscious man and loosened the bonds. Once he’d finished, he dropped to the ground and changed to wolf, too.
Though her howl had summoned two or three wolves, most of her pack was still out hunting. Padding away from the cabin, Raven let out a long howl, then another. The sound was totally different from that she’d made while human.
Even as wolf, especially as wolf, listening, he felt a chill go through him.
She howled a third time and they began to appear. First one, then another, traveling in small groups, rarely alone, her wild pack assembled.
He didn’t know how Raven knew when they were all there, but when she turned to him, apparently satisfied, and gave a quiet woof, he realized she was ready to move on. He let her lead the way, following close on her heels.
The rest of the pack fell in behind them, content to follow.
Chapter 8
S logging through so much snow wasn’t easy, even as wolf. At least the slow pace gave Raven time to think. The plastic, trash-bag collar felt unfamiliar and slightly uncomfortable, but carrying the cell phone made her feel as though she was doing her part, at least.
Too bad about Simon. Until now, she’d thought him honest, intelligent and kind. She’d believed his good looks weren’t all he had going for him.
She’d actually begun to like the man until she’d learned of his horrible nickname. The Terminator. On top of that, he then informed her she needed to get rid of her pack.
Simon had no idea what he asked of her. Her wild wolf pack had become her family and she loved them, each and every one.
Part of her understood his logic. A large group was always more difficult to hide than a small one.
But her wolves—oh, her wolves.
The first snowflakes began to fall when they’d been traveling a couple of hours. Beside her, Simon touched his snout to hers. She knew what he wanted. She just didn’t know if she could.
Gradually, the snowfall increased, approaching near-whiteout conditions. They were lucky there was no wind. If this much snow had been blowing, they would have been completely unable to see. As it was, the snow fell heavy and silently, decreasing visibility to a few feet.
The temperature began dropping, as well. Though she had no way of gauging it, Raven guessed they were in the lower teens, inching backward toward zero.
This time, Simon bumped her with his shoulder, hard. Baring her teeth, she told him to back off even though she knew he was right.
They needed to find shelter soon.
The wolves sensed this, as well. Instead of ranging out from Raven and Simon as they
normally did, they drew together, in herdlike formation. One, a young male she’d called Theo, crowded her too close and nearly knocked her down.
She would begin with him. Heart heavy, she turned and bared her teeth at him, snarling and snapping, chasing him from the pack.
Bewildered, uncertain, he ran to the edge of a nearby group of trees, clearly intending to shadow them while remaining on the pack’s fringes.
The snow kept falling, a curtain of white ice.
Without warning, Raven spun in the snow and attacked another. Teeth bared, she chased three, then four, of her wolves away, watching as they ran toward Theo, where they formed their own small pack.
Without her.
Not allowing herself to think, she went after the others. None of them fought back. She’d so sturdily established herself as Alpha, they were used to doing as she dictated.
Soon, all the wolves save she and Simon waited with Theo at the edge of the trees.
Giving them one final look, Raven leaped forward, attempting to bound across the snow. Simon kept pace with her, though she suspected he found movement more difficult due to his weight. He sank much deeper into the crusted powder than she did.
Of course, her pack attempted to follow, though they kept distance between them.
Raven ran back, struggling in the snow, and chased them off. She did this three more times before they stopped following.
Night had begun to fall when she saw the last of her wild wolves, watching from a distance. As she and Simon made it up another hill, they began to howl, saying goodbye and mourning their loss.
The wretched sound pierced Raven’s heart. If wolves could have cried tears, she would have wept. All she could do was continue on, with only Simon at her side until they could find someplace to take shelter. She knew her former pack would do the same.
Abruptly, Simon changed direction. Instead of heading up the mountain, he began traveling downward, keeping close to a half-frozen stream. Raven had no choice but to follow, though she wasn’t sure she agreed with his choice. She wasn’t familiar with this area and had no idea where they were going. As darkness fell and the snow continued falling, she could only hope they found shelter soon. Otherwise, she’d find a big tree and dig her own shelter through the snow, in the ground until she’d made a den. She’d done this before and made it work, so she had no doubt she could do it again.
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