“I don’t pretend to understand it,” Kyle said. “The bond chooses us. We don’t choose it. And Dillon wasn’t involved in the campground battle.”
“Don’t lie!” Solomon’s control cracked as he shouted the accusation. “I recognize the little bastard’s scent.”
“I was there that night,” Dillon said, and Aimee’s head whipped around to him. “But I didn’t kill anyone. I’ve never killed anyone. Blaise and his betas did the killin’. I refused to play any part and retreated into the woods until it was over.”
Solomon snorted. “So, you’re a pussy omega, then. You are still one of his, groomed by the bastard who ripped apart three of my wolves that night. And for what? The right to walk within the boundaries of a public campground.” He stalked forward and spat in the dirt. “So you see why there’s no way I can allow you to live.”
Aimee’s heart seized. Jesus, what would happen to Dillon? To her?
Kyle stepped in front of Solomon. “And as alpha, you can see why I cannot allow you to harm one of my own.”
“Your own are the ones standing behind me.”
“You’re no murderer. Don’t let what Blaise did four years ago change you into a creature no better than he was.”
The man pointed a finger at Kyle’s face. “You may fancy yourself the alpha of that no-account little prick over there, but you do not give me orders.”
“You’ve never been opposed to hearin’ counsel from members of your pack.”
“That was before one of my pack lost his fool head and ran off to join the enemy.” He pushed up his sleeves, eyes glowing with golden menace. “So let’s call this what it is and declare the stakes.”
“No,” Dillon said, jumping to his feet. Four wolves immediately planted themselves in a line in front of their alpha, snarling at Dillon. Aimee pressed herself tighter to the wall and silently prayed for the nightmare to end without bloodshed, even knowing she wanted the impossible.
“Dillon,” Kyle growled. “Back off.”
“He doesn’t want to fight you,” Dillon said, taking a step forward. Crumbles of cave dirt fell off his back and taut ass as he moved. “The whole reason he’s challengin’ you at all is because of me. I’m the hated outcast of Blaise Forrester. I’m the one Solomon wants to tear apart. So let me stand in your place.”
“Out of the question,” Kyle said. “You know I can’t let you do that.”
“Yes, you can.” Dillon took another step forward, their eyes locked. “You’ve been throwin’ yourself in front of harm’s way since the moment we met. But you can’t protect me from my own past. Your alpha hates me because my blood was tainted by a vicious murderer who laughed while his crimes were bein’ committed. He won’t rest until he knows he took his best shot at me, and you know it.”
Solomon was staring at Dillon with what seemed a mixture of spite and curious regard. Then he gave a curt nod. “Can’t say it speaks well of a beta’s faith in his alpha if he has to jump up to take his leader’s place in a challenge. But it does speak well of his loyalty.” He glanced at his wolves, then at Kyle, whose nostrils were flared in apparent frustration. “The boy’s right. Maybe you can’t control who the mating bond chooses. And I can find a much sweeter revenge by settling the matter on his hide rather than yours.”
Kyle gritted his teeth. “Sounds like I’ve been outvoted.”
Solomon chuckled. “It’s decided.” His narrow eyes shifted to Aimee. “And the woman?”
Her stomach lurched. Dillon walked straight up to the man, who stood a good head taller than both he and Kyle. “If I agree to fight you in Kyle’s stead, I want your guarantee that she will go free regardless of the outcome.”
“No deal,” Solomon said. “Kyle was about to set his mark on her. She’s as good as ours already.”
“She ain’t part of this.”
Solomon leaned closer. “I say she is. If I win, Kyle will return to the pack without further repercussion—and with his female.”
Aimee’s eyes flew wide. Lose Dillon and have to be part of Solomon’s pack? She couldn’t deny that Kyle had a piece of her heart. But Dillon was fast becoming her soul. And no part of her wanted to even think that she would be marked for another pack. Solomon and his snarling beasts would be her mates too? God, would that mean she’d suddenly be drawn to them if her mate came under the rule of another alpha? Or would they just take what they wanted, the way they assumed Kyle had been doing when they’d arrived to see him banging a chained-up “slave”?
She glanced up to see Kyle watching her. Guilt flashed through her at the revulsion she knew must be showing on her face, but it wasn’t Kyle she was rejecting. Still, she could see otherwise in his expression. No doubt he assumed she was disgusted at the idea of being with him.
He turned back to Solomon. “No,” Kyle said. “Dillon is her primary bond mate. If he dies, the bond will be severed. She has to go free.”
Her jaw dropped. Was this truly going to be a fight to the death? “Dillon,” she murmured, but no one heard.
“You want her, that much is obvious.” Solomon’s beady eyes took in Kyle’s scrutiny of her. “You should be happy with these terms. If I win, you’ll be my prize and she’ll be your consolation. That’s the deal.”
“No!” Aimee felt tears burning her eyes. “Kyle, don’t let him fight Dillon.”
She jerked at the venom in Kyle’s expression when he whirled on her. “I’m sure you’d rather I be the one to die. Believe me, this ain’t the way I want it, either.”
His words punched like a fist into her solar plexus. “That’s not what I meant, Kyle. Not at all.”
He raised a hand to his scar and turned to the other man. “She goes free, if that is her wish. Or have you decided that Blaise’s habit of keepin’ human slaves is within your tastes, after all?”
Somehow, the man’s steel gaze hardened further still. “You best take your tone down three notches to me, boy.” His sharp stare lanced Aimee. “Fine. She walks when this is over.” His tone and eyes lacked sincerity.
“And you walk if Dillon pins you.”
“Just because I have a soft spot for females doesn’t mean I’m going to make this a friendly game of arm wrestling. An alpha challenge only ends two ways. Dead or left for dead.”
Kyle shook his head. “This ain’t an alpha challenge, strictly speakin’.”
Solomon leaned closer. “You’ve pushed me as far as you’re going to. Besides, the one makin’ the challenge is the one who must accept the terms.” He cocked his head at Dillon. “Though I suppose a little cunt who hid in the woods durin’ his alpha’s battles is going to try and talk me out of going rough on him.”
Dillon straightened and squared his shoulders. “I agree to your terms. Dead or left for dead.”
“No!” Aimee shouted again. “You can’t.”
“She’s right about that, you know,” Solomon said. “You can’t win. Even she knows you’re too pussy to survive your big talk.”
Dillon’s eyes flashed. “First you’re murderously pissed on account of you thinkin’ I killed your wolves, and now you’re tauntin’ me because I refused to commit that atrocity.”
That seemed to take Solomon aback, and his wolves growled under their breaths. Still, the alpha recovered quickly. “I’m just saying you aren’t likely up for the stakes, considering your past approach.”
“I didn’t have nothin’ to fight for back then,” Dillon said. “I think you’ll find me a much different opponent now that I have three things.”
Solomon glanced between them. “What’s that, the three of you?”
“Life, love, and honor. What else is there?”
Solomon regarded him for a moment and then tugged his sweater over his head. “Then let’s stop the chitchat and get this done.”
Aimee took in the man’s bulging upper body. He was obviously a good deal older than Dillon, but that made him no less frightening. His chest was thickly sculpted beneath a heavy layer of curly, black hair. His
stomach was rock solid, and his shoulders and arms had muscles on top of muscles. Scars were evident in several spots. This man had been no stranger to battle. How could Dillon win a fight against someone like that?
Solomon kicked off his boots and loosened his gold belt buckle while he addressed the others. “The terms are set. You know the rules. No one interferes, or that side loses by default. We go until one is dead or left for dead.”
He dropped his gray jeans, and Aimee’s eyes flew where they didn’t belong without a thought. He was no less intimidating from the waist down. His wink to her when she raised her eyes forced a hot flood of angry embarrassment into her cheeks. She set her jaw and turned her attention to Dillon and Kyle, who stood there, impassive.
“Back off,” Solomon said to Kyle, who appeared reluctant to move. “Back off now, or this whole thing will be over before it starts.”
Kyle put a hand on Dillon’s bare, muscled shoulder. “You don’t have to do this,” he said.
“Yes, I do. And I will.”
Kyle squeezed his shoulder before letting his hand fall away. With a look of resignation, he turned and walked over to Aimee until his cock was in her eye line. She tried to stand, but the collar chain kept her from straightening all the way. Instead, she sat there while he turned and stood next to her with his arms folded across his chest.
“In flesh or fur?” Solomon asked Dillon.
“As men would be the bigger challenge,” Dillon said. “But this is a wolf matter.”
With a single nod, Solomon’s skin rippled in an odd shiver and disappeared. His body dropped forward into a large, pale gray wolf. Dillon shifted and faced off with the other wolf, and the four others spread into a half circle behind them. Their howls threatened to shatter the very cave walls, and Aimee slapped her hands over her ears as goose bumps stabbed at her. Dillon and Solomon snarled, gnashing their teeth as they circled one another with tails high and ears flattened.
Aimee circled Kyle’s leg with an arm, hugging herself close to him. His muscles had gone rigid, but he stepped closer to her and laid a hand on her head. She pressed it against his warm thigh.
“Please let him be all right,” she said, as much to the universe as to Kyle. “He can’t die.”
“He won’t,” Kyle said through a tight jaw. “Keep strong and positive. It will help him.”
She could no more frame this in a positive light than understand how doing so could help. She’d finally given in to the love she’d been battling, only to lose it in a battle of an entirely different sort.
The animals kept sidestepping and circling, but Dillon flashed out with his jaws and got a brief grip on Solomon’s nose. The other wolf pulled out and bark-snarled angrily, then got hold of the scruff of Dillon’s neck. The other wolves planted their front feet wide apart and lowered their heads to bark what seemed encouragement to their alpha. Fur began to fly, literally, along with puffs of dirt that triggered a coughing fit. Waves of anxiety crested over Aimee, and the tears that filled her eyes weren’t only from the dust.
Solomon yanked his teeth away with a tearing motion that set loose a stream of blood through Dillon’s thick fur. She could practically feel the searing pain as Dillon yelped and staggered back. Solomon was lunging at him again when the scene erupted in an explosion that threatened to split Aimee’s skull and deafened the wolves’ piteous cries to a faint, dull muffle.
All motion stopped as the wolves stood dazed and frozen with confusion. Her hold on Kyle tightened, and she blinked through the dust floating to the ground. When smoke and dirt had cleared, she saw what had caused the explosion and gasped in shock.
David stood just inside the tunnel, a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other.
Chapter Ten
David’s gun was pointed at the ceiling, but slowly lowered. His eyes flicked wildly around the scene at Aimee, the restraint around her neck, Kyle standing naked beside her, and the assortment of wolves blocking his way to her. He still had on the shirt and slacks from the office, but the tie was gone and his collar was unbuttoned. The unzipped, heavy hiking jacket she’d last seen tossed in the backseat of his car made for an odd coupling with his business attire.
“Jesus Christ,” David said. Two of the wolves broke off and advanced toward him, stopping when he raised the gun. “Ha!” he shouted, waving his arms. “Get back!” He glanced at Kyle. “I knew there was something very wrong about you.” The gun changed its angle to level at the naked man. “But kidnapping a woman and chaining her up in a den of wolves? What kind of sick fuck are you?”
Kyle raised his hands in response to the gun pointed at his chest. “There is somethin’ wrong with me, you’re right about that. But kidnappin’ ain’t even close.”
“He didn’t kidnap me,” Aimee said, clutching the edges of her blazer tighter over her breasts. “I came here on my own.”
“I know you drove up here.” His eyes held layers of regret, pain, and accusation. “I followed you.”
“Why did you do that?” she asked, her insides hardening. He was still spying on her?
A muscle worked in his jaw. “I had a feeling that your so-called errands would lead you back to the cowboys. I had to see for myself. I’m just sorry I didn’t track you through the woods fast enough to stop him from doing this to you.”
“If you followed me, what kept you?” She tried to keep the sarcastic bitterness out of her voice.
“Rangers stopped me at the station and made me move my car. They’re getting tired of hikers parking in their lot, apparently. They’re planning to tow your car if we aren’t back within the hour. Though that seems to be the least of your problems at the moment.”
His eyes were still racing back and forth between Kyle and the wolves, obviously trying to make some sort of sense out of the bizarre scene. Then he focused on Kyle while he cocked the trigger with an ominous click. “Now, you are going to release Aimee from those chains and give her back the rest of her clothes. Then you stand in front of her to shield her from these animals while making your way over to me nice and slow.”
The wolves began growling, positioning themselves with feet planted and ears pricked toward David. The gray wolf Solomon advanced on David with a snarling bark that pierced the space, and the gun whirled on him. He stopped, his yellow eyes glaring murderously at the man.
“Don’t fucking move, wolf,” David said, waving his gun slightly. “Yeah, you know what this is, don’t you? You know I can shoot you and your buddies dead.”
Except that a normal gun wouldn’t work, and Aimee wondered why the wolves weren’t taking advantage of that fact. Did they think David knew about werewolves? Maybe they assumed he had silver bullets in his gun, like the red-haired huntress. Otherwise, they could easily have overpowered him by now. Aimee swallowed.
He addressed Kyle while still staring Solomon down. “I don’t see any movement over there. Hurry the fuck up and get her out of that collar.”
Kyle cleared his throat. “I suppose this is a bad time to admit I left the key in my other pants.”
“Fuck you,” David spat out. “Get her out of that sick restraint now.”
“I’m the one who put the collar on,” Aimee said. “So don’t stand there with the wrong idea about Kyle. He tried to get me to leave. I refused and locked myself into this thing.”
David’s lip curled. “Why the hell would you do that?”
The gray wolf barked again, then shivered violently. His body expanded while fur retracted, and Solomon rose naked with every bulging muscle tensed. “Who gives a fuck?”
“Holy shit!” David threw himself backwards at the sight of the wolf morphing into human form. His back hit the cave wall, and his eyes were bugged half out of his skull. “What the hell are you?”
“Thought so,” Solomon said, his ass twitching as he strode closer to David. “He’s packing a normal weapon, boys. It’s all right.”
One by one, the wolves transformed around David until all Aimee could see was muscled bac
ks, tight, pale buttocks, and toned legs. Dillon phased as well, but stayed crouched between the pack and Aimee. Blood streamed down his back from the ragged tooth holes Solomon had torn into him, and she felt an answering pang of sympathy twist in her gut.
David spotted Dillon, and his mouth fell open. He glanced at Aimee through the ranks of naked males. “That cowboy’s one of them?” He eyed her up and down. “And you?”
She shook her head. “I’m human.”
“And a waste of my time,” Solomon said, whipping his head toward her for a moment before turning his still-golden stare back on David. “Both of you. You just interrupted some important pack business, and you made me tip my hand. Afraid that leaves us with a bit of a quandary.”
David stared at him. “What are you?”
“Something you shouldn’t have tangled with, son. The question now is what to do about it.”
“You don’t need to do nothin’,” Dillon said, rising to his feet. “He’s nobody. Just a businessman.” He wandered over and stood by Kyle, with Aimee on the ground between them.
“I’m Aimee’s fiancé,” David retorted. “I only care about seeing her back to safety.”
Solomon laughed. “Fiancé? Well, this really isn’t your day, is it? Might interest you to know just what your little bondage slave was doing with those cowboys when my pack and I came in.”
David’s face reddened, and his eyes narrowed as he glowered at the three of them together along the back wall, but he shook his head. “No, I don’t want to know.” He looked at Aimee’s hand, then back up at her. “All I know is that you’re wearing my ring again. That has to mean something.”
Sorrow flooded her chest. “I came up here to get the ring so that I could give it back to you. I’m just wearing it for safekeeping.” A hiccup of emotion broke over the last word. “I’m sorry, David. I’ve made my decision.”
“No. I don’t believe that.” He started toward her, but Solomon’s pack tightened their formation and glared him down.
“She’s a load and a half of trouble, I see,” Solomon said. “Good thing we interrupted Kyle before he finished his claim on her. We’d have had our hands full of feminine wiles.”
Allister, J. Rose - Disowned Cowboys [Lone Wolves of Shay Falls] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 17
