Rayne remained silent for a few moments, then shrugged and got up. "I'll give you two hours to think about it, then I'll come back and ask again. And if you still don't want to cooperate, you'll meet Carl, I guess. He has a way with people, they just start to talk around him."
Harry blanched. From what he'd heard about Carl, people definitely started talking when he got involved and even that wouldn't stop him from torturing them until he was satisfied. He had gotten two hours of prolonged life before shit really hit the fan.
Rayne turned around and started walking. "I see you get my drift. Think about it, it would be a shame to lose a sweet little face like yours because of a traitor," he advised, then left the cellar.
As his steps retreated, Harry fought against a confused blush. Had that guy just called him sweet?
Jared
Jared peeled his eyes open. A warm, pliant body lay cuddled against his chest, snoring softly and smelling like heaven. Jared was sticky where his cum had dried and formed a crispy layer and the room stank of sex and musk, but he wouldn't have changed anything for the world.
Darwin's fever had dropped significantly, but he was deep asleep and didn't wake up when Jared extricated himself from his arms. The air inside the cabin was cold and stale, so Jared first fired up the small stove, then opened the windows to let in fresh air.
The sun was just rising, sending the first golden-red tendons of light across the fields and small patches of forest, promising a few more days of warmth before winter came. It was a beautiful morning, Jared didn't care how tacky and romantic that was. Not today of all days. The day after Darwin’s surrender. The day he got mated. His grin almost split his face in two.
Just when he started to turn around, something roused his attention.
Had Jared not been standing there and staring downhill, he wouldn't have noticed the movement in the underbrush about two hundred yards away. For a moment he thought he saw a deer or a fox. Still, his heart was suddenly pounding enough to make him dizzy, warning him about something.
He didn't wait for confirmation. If he was wrong he'd laugh about it later, but if he was right, they'd be dead if he didn't move fast.
Grabbing his hoodie, he ran for the cot, shook Darwin awake and put a hand on his mouth to keep him from protesting. "We have to go. Now. Quickly," he whispered, watching Darwin until his eyes cleared and widened and Jared was sure his mate understood.
His mate. The shiver of pleasure mixed with a wave of adrenaline and took his breath away.
Jared threw Darwin's clothes onto the bed before rushing back to the window and watching intently. Something was out there, but nobody was running across the fields yet, so they probably hadn't seen Jared. The sun rose behind the cabin, blinding their assailants, so Jared decided to leave the cabin through the back window.
Darwin appeared next to him to look out of the window too, but he didn't ask anything when he noticed the shadows between the trees. He watched Jared patiently, leaving the decision-making to him. That wasn't like him at all. Jared would have to talk to Darwin about this unusual behavior later. If there'd be a later, if they survived this... With a growl, Jared shook himself, grabbed Darwin's arm and headed for the back of the cabin.
"When you get outside, don't just run straight ahead. They're coming from the east, so we'll go northwest, then west, then south and straight back to the road," he said and shoved Darwin through the small window above the cot. He followed just as the first three werewolves broke into a run uphill. Then they ran too.
Capture
Jared
Bushes and branches slapped against his body, leaving bloody scratches on his unprotected skin. Leaves rustled whenever they took a turn or crossed one of the small clearings where the surrounding trees grew so high that nothing would thrive underneath their shadow. Jared heard Darwin's labored breath right behind him, trying to keep up with the unforgiving pace he set. Thick droplets of sweat rolled down the ridge of his spine, coating his shirt and the rims of his trousers in wetness that would soon turn cold and clammy. The ground was muddy and slippery from the morning dew, but there was no room for caution. Their pursuers followed only a few hundred feet behind, gaining fast on their prey.
They would have to shift into their wolf forms, like the pack of werewolves following them, if they were to have any chance at all. The first time he suggested it to Darwin though, Darwin freaked out, adamant about his refusal to even think of letting out his wolf.
"No way, I won't shift out here. I told you about my wolf! He's crazy, not even my Alpha could control him!"
"Who says I'd have to control you, we're running away, even a crazy wolf would understand that!" Jared rebutted breathlessly. Behind them, twigs snapped and leaves rustled, signs of how much the five wolves had gained on them.
"Stop asking me, I won't take the risk! I'd rather die!" Darwin exclaimed, his eyes wide with terror, but there was no time for Jared to remind his mate that he would actually die if they kept going like this.
Then they were running again, trying to gain distance but already out of breath and slowing down.
Darwin still hurt but he didn't complain. Jared saw it in the way the man huffed and hissed with every step, he couldn't do a thing about it in this forest.
They reached the foot of Mt. Kennicky and the terrain got more impracticable, leading them uphill and downhill in steeping succession. Though Darwin worked as a tour guide in the national park nearby, it took the last out of him and finally slowed him down to a limping, breathless trot.
"Jared," he wheezed as he tried to keep up with the blond werewolf, "I can't go any further. I can't!"
Jared stopped and looked back. Darwin was pasty white, soaked in sweat and stumbling when he came to a halt. Jared quickly scanned their surroundings, but couldn't see the wolves yet. Their yips and growls were coming closer and closer, sounds of triumph at catching up to their prey, and he knew he had to act quick and decisive.
When he noticed a small planked rope bridge on the foot of the hill they were currently slipping down, he made a hard turn and headed straight for it.
"Take the bridge, quickly!" he roared, stopping long enough to let Darwin hobble past him and onto the rickety thing. A cold, clammy wind blew downhill, pulling at Darwin's raven black hair and filling the air with his scent and his pain as he clambered over the planks, clutching his side with one hand.
Darwin had nearly reached the other side when a growl and the clicking of claws on wood drew nearer. The wolves had arrived at the bridge and followed them onto the planks, but Jared hadn't reached the other side yet.
He glanced forward and saw Darwin's wide eyes, his scared face, and he knew time had finally run out. He heard the snapping of teeth right behind him, so he stopped and turned abruptly, forcing the wolf at his heels to run right into him.
The black and gray wolf showed his teeth and pulled back, ready to attack Jared, its claws barely finding a footing on the wet wooden planks.
Jared bared his teeth, then his hands shifted with a sickening pop and a small spray of pinkish goo. "You keep running! This better not be for nothing, you hear me?" he screamed over his shoulder, shooting one last dark glance at Darwin.
His claws cut the ropes, making the bridge snap and violently twist to one side, then rip apart and fall into the small canyon beneath, taking three wolves and Jared with it.
The only thing left for Darwin was to stand there and watch as they tumbled out of sight.
Darwin
Jared and three of the wolves fell into the canyon, disappearing with a splash. Time stopped and everything ground to a halt. Darwin didn't notice the two wolves on the other side starting to run again, trying to find a way around the precipice, and he didn't hear their whining barks quickly disappear to the north.
A small part of Darwin's mind knew they were still on the hunt for him and probably would soon catch up if he didn't start running like Jared had told him to, but the major part of him didn't care... yet.
<
br /> He realized his hands were shaking when he looked down at them, perplexed by the sheer whiteness of his skin, how fragile and thin his arms looked, how his own blood pulsed through the veins right beneath the fine black hairs on his knuckles. Pathetic. Worthless. Helpless.
He felt a pain he had never felt before and it ripped him apart just to put him back together, again and again. His chest didn't feel tight, which did confuse him because he had heard it was supposed to do that when a werewolf lost his mate. It did feel glowing hot, like he was melting from the inside, and his stomach cramped with panic and shock, but he could breathe just fine and his heart obviously wasn't broken.
He apparently wouldn't drop dead any time soon, but that didn't stop the pain either. His instincts told him to move already, run and save his skin, that everything was alright, but he couldn't move, couldn't tear his eyes away from the spot where Jared had disappeared into the depths of the canyon, or away from his shaking, pale hands.
His wolf urged him to stop this nonsense, getting more and more agitated with every second Darwin didn't comply. Everything was so out of place—
He took a deep breath and finally managed to close his eyes. That small movement was better than nothing, but now that he didn't focus on anything he finally realized how close he had been to losing control the whole time.
His wolf didn't hesitate. He just took over.
Darwin felt the skin at his back and his thighs rip open, but the wet sound was distant and hollow. Black fur flowed out of the tears in his skin and over his body like a hot, prickling wave. It would be dry and perfect when the shift was done, he had seen it before, and he also knew what would follow next.
His shoulders dislocated and re-set with wet pops, changing the angle of his shoulders. His fingers knit together and got shorter, sliding out of the casts that enveloped his once-broken hands, his arms changed their proportions, and the fur reached his face. Clothes fell to the ground ripped and stained with clear gel and blood, closely followed by Darwin himself.
He fell down to the ground with a groan as his spine elongated and a furred tail popped out of his tailbone. The groan changed to a high-pitched yip and then a growl as his face changed its shape.
The last thing Darwin felt was the puddle of blood and gunk beneath him, then the wolf took over his mind and everything went black for the human.
The wolf staggered to his feet and shook himself vigorously. It had been nearly a month since he last had the chance to flee his invisible cage, only to find himself in another, more real one, down in a basement. Out here, everything was better. Wind brushed through his fur, whispers of tree branches brushing against each other taunted him and the song of birds filled his chest with a simple, pure joy. A myriad of different scents bombarded his deprived brain with seductions he had so long missed.
The black wolf definitely loved the woods. The only thing that would have made this moment more glorious was his absent mate.
He saw no reason to fear for his mate's life, not like Darwin, his skittish human brother, feared for him. The fall had not been an accident, Jared had instigated it, and Jared was dominant. He knew what he was doing. Until the wolf saw Jared's dead, cold body lying at the river bank, he wouldn't believe his mate had died.
With a shake of his furred head, the giant wolf took off, moving through the maze of trees and ferns.
He instinctively chose a path away from his pursuers and into the direction that would most likely lead him to the foot of the canyon further down the way. The two wolves behind him would easily be able to overpower or kill him— after all, he had no experience fighting—, but since he couldn't yet see or smell them, he didn't see any reason to panic.
The wolf also knew that he somehow was different from the others. He didn't act like them, didn't think like them— like humans with wolf instincts— but instead like a wolf with a fearful, sleeping human consciousness inside him. The others had never understood his seemingly crazy behavior, but he relished it as a kind of freedom, not some sort of defect.
The wolf made his way along the canyon side by following the sound of water, trotting along merrily, tongue flopping around from the unusual exertion. The surroundings did tantalize him to take off into the wilderness, but going without his mate was not only dangerous, but also wrong. The human side, Darwin, may be a loner, but the wolf wholeheartedly disagreed. He would have to find Jared first, one way or the other.
He finally found a small, bumpy path down to the canyon ground and gingerly worked his way down, claws spread, tail whipping from left to right for balance. The river broadened a few dozen feet further upstream from his position, becoming a lazier, blubbering stream with sand embankments, bushes and bundles of grass on both sides. On the other side and slightly downstream, the wolf noticed movement. The thick, lush, brushes had not yet lost their leaves, but amidst the greenery and against the rocky cliff in the back, the wolf saw flashes of red cloth and naked skin.
The rumbling echo of water made it hard to hear anything from the other side, but he didn't need to worry. As soon as his paw touched the ice cold water, three persons broke through the underbrush and tumbled to the edge of the canyon river. Two of them were naked and the third person's clothes hung in tatters: Jared.
The wolf may have been calm about the situation as long as he had been oblivious, but watching his mate wrestle for the upper hand just a stone throw's distance away enraged him to no end. He must have growled or barked before jumping into the river, because even as he was fighting off his attackers, Jared still looked behind him and screamed.
The wolf didn't understand any of the things Jared yelled, but it at least grasped the urgency in his voice and stopped halfway through of the river, treading the ice cold water as the current slowly carried him downstream.
Him drifting away also seemed to meet Jared's expectations, because his attention snapped back to his attackers— a second too late.
When the log hit Jared's head, he didn't make a sound, he simply went slack.
At about the same moment the two wolves that had taken the scenic route to find Darwin reached the river bed and effectively blocked Darwin's way out.
Going back to where Jared was being hoisted onto the back of one of the naked men was out of the question, simply because Jared had ordered him to stay away, and his way back wouldn't work anymore. The two parties seemed to communicate about what to do now, but the wolf didn't understand them either.
When he saw one of the wolves still in animal form attempting to go after him by wading into the cold water, he finally gave up and swam with the current. He would have to follow them in a safe distance and wait for a good moment to free Jared.
Jared
Jared reached land not a second to soon. One of his attackers luckily hadn't survived the fall and the ensuing underwater wrestling match, but the other two somehow managed to not only swim to the sand embankment he had reached, but to also shift shape much quicker than they were supposed to. One of them was dark-skinned, with a bulky build and long, tantalizing limbs matching the cocky expression on his beautifully chiseled face, the other looked like one of those hillbilly types with too much meat on his ribs, too much hair on his arms and belly and a dire need to visit a hair salon and get the backside of his head fixed. Both of them appeared unsure what to do for a moment, regrouping by circling him against the cliff wall next to the river bank.
Jared had a plan that involved being overpowered and captured, but as his eyes darted behind his attackers and he noticed Darwin's furry form wade into the water in an attempt to save him, he was hard-pressed to kill them all in a surge of primal rage and the plan be damned. It wouldn't be that hard, he had an ace up his sleeve: He was an Alpha, able to overpower any werewolf with the sheer force of his will, as long as no other Alpha interfered. Unfortunately, it would have ruined his plan to end this hunt once and for all and he couldn't risk that, not yet.
It took quite a bit of yelling at the black wolf and a good portion
of self restraint, but somehow he kept himself from strangling the werewolves and stopped Darwin from joining the fun, and not a moment too soon. Just when Jared turned his attention to the two problems in front of him, two more reached the riverside embankment Darwin had used as an entrance and now seemed torn about whom they should give their attention to.
To make his point, Jared grabbed the hillbilly-type guy by his neck, pulled him back and threw him against the rough stone wall behind him, putting as much force and muscle as possible into the throw. If he made enough of a fuss to keep his attackers busy, they would leave Darwin's swimming wolf alone.
The naked, bulky man crashed against the rocks with a pained cry, alarming his friends on the other side of the river. One of them was in mid-change, the other one still in his wolf form, and the third, dark skinned one on Jared's side of the river instantly went for him, swinging a wooden branch.
Now that Jared had his attackers' undivided attention, he felt better, calmer. Not that he was sure about his genius plan of getting caught. One wrong move with those remaining three and they would not hesitate to try and kill him for intruding on their territory. Instinct demanded it, heritage from their wolf ancestry, although it didn't mean they would win a fight against Jared.
Letting that one lone guy hit him with the branch definitely was a risk, but it was a risk worth taking.
The wooden club met the back of his head with a loud cracking sound and though he hadn't planned to go down that hard, he actually blacked out for a few seconds. Fainting, if only for a moment, did save Jared from trying his luck at acting, but it also made him way more vulnerable than he originally had planned.
Jared came to upside down and dangling from a shoulder just as the wolf who had swum after Darwin reached Jared's side of the riverbank. Even face down and stunned, he scented the wolf's adrenaline and testosterone hanging chokingly thick in the air. The brown haired guy Jared had thrown against the rocks stumbled to his feet, stinking of the hunt's excitement just as much as the other, obviously ready to take his revenge.
Unwilling: a shifter romance Page 11
