Alex shook her head and tried to stand.
“Don’t move.”
Everything in Alex stilled. She heard the voice, the danger beneath it, and it was so different than the one she thought she knew. She recognized it, but something was off. Something dark lurked beneath the surface, the wolf within—and that bitch was pissed. She was also holding a gun.
She could rush Mildred, but Alex knew there was always a chance she would get shot. So, to give the woman a sense of false security, she stood slowly, then raised her hands.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked, adding a little waver to her voice. It would add to the idea that Mildred was the one in control. Of course, she was a crazy person with a gun, so Alex figured that she was okay with that idea.
Mildred offered her a smile that sent a rush of ice slicing through her blood. This woman was not on the edge. She had jumped over it and was in a free fall into insanity. Those kinds of people had nothing to lose. Killing a cop would give Mildred a rush probably.
“Like you don’t know what’s going on. You must think I’m stupid,” she said, her words dripping with hatred. “You know I took the Bufords’ special little girl.”
“What did you do with her?”
“She’s okay, for now. Got her knocked out in my car, but it won’t be for long, though.” Sick anticipation dripped from her words, leaving Alex slightly nauseous. If she didn’t stop Mildred, Sarah would die.
Determination simmered in her blood, kept her mind thinking of ways to take Mildred down. Normally, Alex would be able to use her strength, but Mildred was a wolf. She had no idea what kind of power they had.
Then it hit her that Mildred was still in her human form.. From the short conversation she’d had with Jake’s family, Alex assumed they were stronger in their wolf form. Lord knew that in a physical fight, Mildred would have more of an advantage that way.
“Why aren’t you changed over?” Alex asked.
Mildred frowned. “What?”
“You’re in human form. Why didn’t you change?”
“Into my wolf?” She snorted. “I don’t need it.”
Alex cocked her head to the side, let the moment of silence stretch. “Really?”
“I lost it.”
Alex blinked. That was not the answer she’d expected. “What?”
“I lost it, okay?”
“Lost it? You killed the women and there was canine saliva on them.”
“Then needed to learn their places, or at least their parents needed to.”
Alex’s stomach churned. “You ripped their flesh...you can’t change though.”
“Doesn’t mean the killing instinct isn’t there.”
She pursed her lips and let that bit of information sink in. Getting under her skin was the best way to distract Mildred. “So, you’re a failure as a wife and a wolf.”
“That’s not true,” she said as she stepped closer. Anger vibrated in her voice, along with a fair amount of crazy. She didn’t look so confident now.
“No children, now you can’t change into your true form.”
“Shut up!”
“And you thought you could be an Alpha’s wife?” Alex said, snorting.
“I told you to shut up!” Mildred drew in a deep breath. “Either way, you’re going to die tonight.”
“You’ll never get away with it, Mildred.”
The older woman laughed, the sound of it dancing over the wind and sinking into Alex’s soul. She had faced druggies high on PCP who didn’t scare her as much as this woman. She was completely sober, but her mind was gone. For the first time in a really long time, Alex was scared. As in, afraid-to-move scared. This was a woman…a wolf who never would let it go.
“I don’t care. I killed them all. I ruined their perfect little lives!”
Something shifted in the wind. She detected him then, that unique scent of Jake. He was nearby, and he could screw up the whole thing. Alex didn’t look in the direction of the sound, but Mildred had heard it. Of course she’d heard it. She was a wolf.
“But, you didn’t, did you? There’s one left over. What about Sarah?”
Mildred turned her head back to Alex. “She’s traumatized. She will never be the same.”
“She will. She’ll survive because she’s a strong girl with good parents. She will make it, and she will be better than you ever were.”
“Shut up.”
“You were never good enough to be one of them, one of the pack, because you are weak. You always were. That’s why you’re married to the town drunk.”
“Better than being the Alpha’s whore,” she spat out.
She heard a rumble from behind Mildred, and knew that Jake wasn’t happy with the comment, and he had his wolf on. Hell, she was pretty sure Mildred knew it, too.
“Being Jake’s lover is ten times better than being married to a man who hates me. How does that feel?”
The gun shook. “He doesn’t hate me.”
“Oh, really?” she asked, trying to keep her voice as even as possible. “I mean, I’m sure he drinks because he is so fucking happy being married to a woman like you. A woman who would never attract a good mate. An outcast, a woman who didn’t belong. That’s what he married, and that’s why he drinks himself blind every fucking night. I would too if I were married to you.”
She barely got the words out before Mildred screamed. The strangled sound vibrated in the air as she rushed Alex. Even with time to prepare, Alex couldn’t stop them from falling back over and tumbling to the ground. They rolled around, then the gun went off. There was a sharp pain in her shoulder, then it was gone.
The howl she heard next wasn’t from the woman holding her down, but from behind her. Jake came rushing out of the brush, full wolf, with others following behind him.
Mildred slumped on top of her, her face planting in the dirt beside Alex.
She looked around—and found Wilbur standing there, a .45 in his hand. The scent The smell of gunpowder filled the air. “I had to shoot her. You understand. I had to put her down.”
She blinked a few times and realized there were tears coming out of her eyes. Jake came loping toward her, licking her face. She looked at him in wolf form…and saw it there. The concern, the love. Pressing her hand against his face, Alex looked around.
The entire Sanderson pack stood at the ready, waiting for her to say something.
They were waiting for her, they had come for her. Never in her life had she had a family. Not a real one. The department, the men and women she had served beside, had turned their backs on her. But now, this family, they had shown up to fight, to protect her back, and in that one second, she realized what it meant.
She belonged. Alex might not know exactly where she fit in this new world, but she knew she belonged to them.
“I’m fine. I need help, though.”
And just like that, the air around her sparked, the rain shower of electricity burst beside her, then Jake was there; naked, but he was there. He pushed Mildred off her.
“Thanks,” she said, but it ended up muffled against his shoulder.
“I thought I had lost you, Alex. I can’t have that.”
She pulled back and looked at him, taking his face into his hands. “I love you, Jacob. For who you are, for what you are.”
The world started to spin around her. She blinked a few times.
“What’s the matter?” he said.
“She’s been shot, Jake,” Caleb said.
“I have not. Mildred was shot.”
Looking down at her shoulder, she saw the blood.
“Well, fuck, it’s my other shoulder.”
Then she passed out.
Chapter Twenty
Jake paced the clinic floor outside of Alex’s room. It had been hours since they had arrived, and while she had made it out of surgery just fine, Jake still hadn’t seen her. He had been brought up to her floor just minutes ago and told to wait…again.
It was an unacceptable s
ituation.
“You need to sit down, Jacob,” Dillon said. He had arrived just moments before, after the Bufords had come to take care of Sarah.
Jake said nothing. He couldn’t. He was dressed in fucking scrubs, his heart still lodged in his throat, and his wolf wanted out. It wanted to tear things apart, firstly Mildred…then her husband. He knew that Wilbur had made it easier by killing Mildred, but he had harmed Alex in the process. Not to mention, he had allowed his wife to run around killing pack members. Caleb had told him she was okay, that she lost very little blood since the bullet had gone through cleanly.
“You’re just going to have to be patient,” his younger cousin said, his voice dripping with humor. Jake turned to look at him.
“You’re not too old for me to beat the crap out of.”
“Yeah, but my boss might charge you with something.”
He opened his mouth to tell him to fuck off, but Alex’s door opened. Caleb waved him in but stopped him before he could get to Alex.
“Hey, slow down, cuz. She’s still pretty drugged up, and we have her on an IV because I want to make sure she doesn’t get too dehydrated. All the activity has taken took a toll.”
Jake nodded.
“You picked a good one there, Jake. She’s strong. Take care of her.”
He said nothing as he stepped past Caleb and into the room. The lights were dimmed, to help her rest. A nurse checked the IV bag, nodded in his direction, then left him alone with her.
She looked so fragile lying there in the bed. She had a few scrapes on her face, and her shoulder was bandaged. They had secured her arm against her stomach, probably because they didn’t want her moving her shoulder.
He walked as silently as he could, but apparently, not quite enough.
“I can hear you sneaking up next to me, Sanderson,” she murmured. Her eyes were still closed.
“Sorry.”
“No worries.”
He sat down in the chair next to her bed. “How do you feel?”
“Like someone shot me.”
He chuckled and felt something loosen in his chest.
“That’s a good sound,” she said, her voice fading.
“You need rest. Go to sleep.”
“You’ll stay here?”
“Always.”
Apparently happy with that, she drifted off to sleep as he watched over her.
She was being discharged when Caleb showed up the next day with a petite redhead.
“What are you doing here?” Jake asked as he took Alex’s bag out of her hand.
“I brought Fi by to meet Alex before you took her to your house. I figured after that, we wouldn’t see Alex for a few days.”
Jake said nothing to Caleb. “You should be resting,” he said, looking at her.
She sniffed in his direction then smiled at Fi. “Thank you for your help with Abigail.”
“You are more than welcome. I wanted to let you know what we found. As I told Caleb, you’re probably connected to what we viewed as conduits at one time.”
“Conduits?” she asked.
“Healers for our pack.”
She digested that bit of information.
“So, it makes sense that you became a cop,” Caleb said.
“I’ll have to do more research to find out your precise connection to us and to the Tonkawa tribe. Once you’ve recovered, Caleb is going to draw some blood. I’ll run your DNA and species test.”
She blinked. “Species test?”
“Yes,” Caleb said. “Fi dug up some info on the conduits, and we want to check you against that.”
“Can’t you take my blood right now? Isn’t it easier with me in the hospital?”
Fi shook her head. “Right now, you need to replenish your reserves. Between the healing and the surgery, you need to make sure you’re strong enough. And I want to do some more research.”
“Do you need a place to stay?” Jake asked. “I’m sure my parents can put you up in the guest room.”
Fi glanced at Caleb with an inscrutable look, then shook her head. “No, I have that covered.”
“Get some rest,” Caleb said to Alex.
“Thanks,” she said.
Once they were alone, she glanced at Jake. “Are they a couple?”
He looked at her as if she had grown another head. “They hate each other.”
“Hmm,” was all she said. There was definitely a vibe between Fi and Caleb, and Alex was pretty sure Caleb was the one who was putting Fi up.
Before she could think about it further, the discharge nurse breezed into the room.
“Ready to get sprung?”
She nodded. “You have no idea.”
Three days later Alex was ready to kill someone. Mainly, Jacob Sanderson. The man was driving her insane. Since she had been released from the hospital, he had been a hulking presence overshadowing every movement she made. He wouldn’t even let her go into work and do paperwork.
Right now, she was looking at him from across the table while he chomped on bacon.
“Not hungry?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I said, I want to go to work.”
“I said no.”
“And I ignored it.” She ground her teeth together. “I am going into town.”
“No.”
“I can move my arm, and I’m not taking any drugs.”
She motioned with the appendage to prove her point. He said nothing. He just continued to stare at her as he chewed on his bacon. He was so fucking angry still. He didn’t know where to direct it.
“You cannot tell me what to do.”
He blinked. “I’m your boss, so I can.”
“I quit.”
“Nope.”
He was so calm. He ignored every insult she threw at him and just let it slide off his back.
“You can’t tell me I can’t quit.”
“I just did.”
She studied him as he applied himself to his breakfast. With a grunt, she stood up and stomped to the bedroom. He had been acting like she was some kind of fragile flower who would fall apart if he handled her the wrong way. Worse, when she felt the need to connect with him, he refused sex. Refused!
She tore off her nightshirt and pulled on a pair of jeans, then grabbed a t-shirt.
Before she could pull it over her head, it was torn from her hands.
She turned and looked at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I. Said. No.”
The words came from behind clenched teeth. His eyes were dark with anger and his face flushed. Oh, big bad Mr. Alpha was pissed. Good, because she was too. She’d been waiting to have this fight for days now.
“I said I was going to go in. Give me my shirt.”
He took the t-shirt and ripped it in half.
“I’ll tell you what I’m doing. I have been patient, I put up with your dumbass idea that you could come home from the hospital the morning after you almost died.”
“I did not almost die. I got shot.” She was flinging her hands around when she finally realized that she was shirtless. Apparently, Jake noticed about the same time.
He swallowed and took a step back. It felt as if he had stepped across the Grand Canyon. Jake might be close enough to touch, but the move had made it clear to her. They were miles apart even if only metaphorically. Normally, she would let it go.
“Why do you keep doing that? Why do you keep moving away from me?”
“It’s…” He closed his eyes and bent his head back. “You almost died. I should have protected you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? This is about your ego?”
He opened his eyes. “The ego of an Alpha is a very fragile thing.”
“Really? I thought you were made of steel—ego included.” He said nothing to that. “So, this is all about me getting shot?”
He sighed. “No.”
“Are you going to explain it to me?”
He paced away then back to within a few
inches in front of her. “I bonded with you.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t,” he spat out.
“What do you mean? I told you I loved you the night of the shooting.”
He said nothing, and let the silence stretch. Her heart started a slow slide to her stomach. She ached as if she were sick. She didn’t understand any of it, but she knew there was something definitely wrong. Very, very wrong. She was in a world she didn’t understand anymore.
“You better explain this to me, or I am walking out of here.”
She held her breath and waited. If he told her to walk, she just might break into a million pieces. She definitely wouldn’t let him see it, but Alex knew she wouldn’t walk away from this in one piece.
“For wolves, we bond while lovemaking. I spoke the words. You didn’t.”
She blinked. “You spoke words. When did you speak words?”
“The first night we made love. The second time.”
She thought back to that night, to those mysterious words he had spoken, then it all clicked.
“And being bonded means…?”
“That we are mates.”
“Mates?”
“I knew the moment I brought you to my house that you were my mate. Before that, actually.”
It sounded archaic, but she was just now beginning to understand their ways. “I’m not a wolf.”
“True, but that doesn’t matter. Plus, your connection to us runs deeper than the average human.”
“I—”
“Listen, could you cover yourself up? Normally, I can control myself, but I haven’t been on a run in a few days, and seeing you like that…and being able to scent you.” He drew in a deep breath. “Could you just put on some clothes?”
It took a second for his behavior and everything he had said in the last few minutes to sink in. He had bonded with her, he had taken the step, took her as his mate without asking anything in return. In fact, he’d left himself exposed.
For some reason, a burst of happiness bubbled up. This man, who was so damned proud, had bonded with her because he wanted to. Because…he loved her.
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