Rapid Pulse: A Limited Edition Spicy Romance Collection

by Gina Kincade

  Carrick followed his lead, having donned a pair of cutoffs that had seen better days. Once he shifted they’d be destroyed. If his father had his way, after tonight, their responsibilities would grow in leaps and bounds and he’d need every spare dollar to rebuild a house and its people that had fallen into ruin. Not with any help from the council.

  His father and the elders of the pack had been at odds for years. How they stood by and watched while Justin ran everything into the ground didn’t make any kind of sense. Unless he thought about the last council meeting his father informed him about. Key members of the council and Justin’s main supporters wanted to sell off chunks of pack land to human developers but some of the old guard held out. Like Carrick’s father. Their mates and daughters taken to prove a point.

  Follow or be crushed.

  His father would have none of it.

  The revolt against the tyranny and outright crazy from their Alpha had resulted in the wolves being outed to the human media when one of Justin’s wolves attacked and killed a woman in town in full view of any and all bystanders. Some of them had captured the event on their cell phones, turning the debacle into a full on media campaign against shifters. The council said nothing against it, feeding the fuel for unrest.

  Threatened by public scrutiny and their homicidal leader, any room for compromise for the pack was long since over. When Justin took his sister, the line had been drawn.

  Wolves would die. All they could hope for was minimal casualties while they rebuilt the pack and established some kind of normal, nonthreatening status with the humans. If they won.

  His side burned as the wound from the altercation outside made itself known. Two of the wolves got away and right now his closest in rank under his father, Reid, chased them down with one order. No clemency. From the look on his face when Carrick told him about Jess, he recognized mercy wouldn’t be an option.

  But he’d been gone a long time and waiting for reinforcements remained out of the question. Everyone else either helped survivors or tracked down the degenerate fuckers who’d instigated the rapes and abductions in the first place. All in the name of greed.

  Fuck. This night could not get any worse.

  His flesh crawled with anticipation and he brought his hand up to test the spot and winced, drawing away fingers covered in blood.

  “You all right?” Mogul eyed him, his gaze moving to the blood shining black in the darkness.

  “I’m fine. We have to find Jess.” Carrick followed behind, eager to dispatch the evil bastard who’d been the impetus of their pack’s deterioration. His sister was here somewhere and he meant to find her or die trying. He lifted his nose to the air in an effort to locate her scent.

  Nothing.

  Shit.

  When he caught the motherfucker, he would pay.

  The slight sound of a door closing echoed down the hall and Carrick cocked his head to listen. “It’s that way.” He hurried down the carpeted hall and found himself in front of a doorway. Mogul turned the knob and the stench of fetid decay and filth slammed into him.

  “Damnation. It’s the holding cells,” his father whispered. “Have a care boy. I’ve known Justin and his second Michael since they were pups. They don’t fight fair so watch your back.”

  “Got it.” Carrick had seen them in action and understood full well what his father referred to. It remained one of the many reasons he was here tonight. The terror had to stop.

  A concrete stairwell curved downward into the dark. Mogul stepped down, his muscular frame on high alert. In the vast distance of the murky basement, a low moan echoed.

  “Someone’s there.” Carrick narrowed his eyes into the gloom. He made out doorways with small glass windows and another enclosure with metal bars. The sound of chain scraping across the concrete floor toward the back of the cavernous space brought him up short.

  “What the hell is that?”

  Mogul shook his head. “You don’t want to know. The cages are toward the back on the left. Try to find your sister. No matter what happens you get her out of here.”

  “I will.” Carrick scanned the dim room. One dangling bulb gave little illumination but he edged his way toward the cages, senses on high alert.

  “You dare to move against me,” Justin ground out. He emerged from the shadows, half shifted between wolf and man. He wore fine silk pants, the expensive button down shirt in tatters around his waist revealing a muscular chest covered in a layer of hair.

  In truth, he reminded Carrick of the wolf man in the creature features he’d scrutinized as a child. He and Reid watched them whenever they could. Usually that meant until Jess weaseled her way in and told their mother, effectively halting any further viewings. At least for that night. Jess had a fear of monster movies and the bad dreams that always ensued. After seeing Justin up close, he understood her nightmares.

  Cartoonish and grotesque, the evil resonating from him left a cold spot in the pit of Carrick’s stomach. Justin snarled and lunged for Mogul, knocking him off his feet and onto the dank floor. The elder wolf didn’t stay down. With a determined expression, he leapt up and moved, his lips pressed together in a ferocious scowl.

  Justin crouched, angling his body toward Mogul. “The dead should learn to lie down.”

  “I’ll see you in Hell, you sadistic lying bastard.”

  Mogul landed and sprung. The sound of tearing fabric rent the air as he shifted midair, his body sliding effortlessly into the form of a large black wolf. Fangs barred and claws flashing, he met Justin blow for blow as the hybrid wolf man attacked, his talon tipped fingers slicing through the air. The two spiraled into action, claws and fangs slashing and shredding at each other in a fight for dominance.

  Carrick maneuvered past them toward the cells. He had to find Jess. Now. He stalked forward, eyes on the cells in front of him. Glittering eyes met his in the faint light.

  “Carrick?” A wobbly female voice called out, her thin fingers wrapping around the bars.

  “Jess?”

  “Look out!”

  Other female voices whispered in the shadows and he knew without a doubt she wasn’t alone. Horror swirled in his belly. How many women had Justin taken?

  “Behind you.” A girl’s voice that he didn’t recognize called out to him and he whirled just in time to see a large form slam into him, knocking to the floor. His head crashed into the bars and in the seconds it took for him to clear his vision the beast rounded on him, mashing his face into the cold metal. Another hybrid? What exactly had Justin been up to? Rumors of medical experiments ran rampant, but no one got close enough to find out anything specific. Until now. Several wolves died just getting into the mansion but it looked like they’d arrived none too soon.

  Justin was the owner of Petrolis Chemicals, and Mogul had found evidence of council malfeasance. He’d tried to sell off pack lands in order to buy it himself. But for what?

  How many of his inner circle were effected by his bizarre fucking experiments? It was impossible to know.

  And the bastard had his sister.

  But not for long.

  Motherfucker.

  A feline growl sounded from the cage and a claw snaked out and sliced down the side of the beast’s muzzle.

  The brute roared, his fist flying out toward his attacker. Michael. It had to be Justin’s second.

  “Bitch. I’ll kill you.”

  A gasp sounded from the shadows and Jess emerged with another young woman in tow. Her face blurred from a partial shift, a single whisker protruded from her tear streaked face. The scent of cinnamon and blood wafted toward him. She had been wounded. Her anger blazed through her tears and as her eyes connected with his, a stirring rose inside him.

  Protect.

  The feeling rocketed through him like a bolt of lightning.

  Mine.

  Carrick staggered back, struck by the sudden visceral emotion that infused both wolf and man.

  Mate.

  Who was she? Why had he not scen
ted her before at any of the pack functions? It didn’t matter. He put his hand up to grasp the metal bar. Electric shocks slid along his skin as her fingers slid over his for the briefest of seconds.

  “You...” she whispered. “I...”

  “I’ll get you out.” He brushed his thumb over her finger and shivered at the energy between them. She was his. His wolf wholeheartedly agreed, running in circles and yipping. His cock stirred to life and he shook himself. Not now. They had to survive this first. The beast threatened the woman destined to be his mate. His wolf howled inside of him, clawing and scraping to get out. His eyes followed the sharp tang of blood and narrowed down on a bite wound on her shoulder.

  The bastards had tried to force a mating on her. It was just a question of which one had done it.

  “The fucking hell you will.”

  Her gaze shifted to his attacker, the revulsion clear on her face, only to center her attention on him once more, her eyes blazing at the edge of her shift.

  “Not now. Don’t change now.” Jess shook her, her voice rising in panic. “He’ll get us out. Don’t worry.”

  The girl nodded and licked her lips, eyes never leaving his.

  Carrick grunted and climbed to his feet as the snarling creature lurched toward him and clamped down on his throat. He kicked out with his legs and felt the flesh along his collarbone tear, the mutated shifter thrown backwards. In moments Carrick’s shift was complete and he faced the abomination in front of him with a body mass more in line with what his task required.

  The battle continued to rage between his father and Justin. He could at least make out that much from the sounds echoing from the front of the chamber. His attention divided, the creature laughed, a dark viscous line of black blood running from its maw.

  “You will not win, pup. Neither will your father.”

  Carrick growled, low in his throat and showed his teeth.

  He dared not look at the cage but he knew Jess and his future mate watched. His sister wouldn’t shift before, terrified of the monster she was afraid she would become, and now this. Fury filled him and he lunged, giving no warning. Carrick clamped down on the beast’s throat and he scissored his teeth until he tasted the coppery bite of the shifter’s blood. Howls and yips accompanied the frenzy of activity and finally Carrick scented the hybrid’s fear.

  Biting and tearing, Michael clawed at his sides, but Carrick didn’t let go. He snarled, throwing the wolf’s weight to the floor. Carrick shook him, slamming his head into the ground until he stilled. Hot blood poured down his throat but the wolf wanted more. He longed to tear the lightly beating heart from Michael’s chest and howl his victory.

  A sound reached his ears that halted his tightening jaws.

  “No! Daddy!” Jess wailed, tears streaking down her cheeks. She shook her head. “Carrick...Oh no.” His sister sank to the floor, the strange girl coming to her aid, soothing her with comforting words.

  Carrick dropped the shifter’s still form and loped toward his father but it was already too late. He arrived in time to witness his father tumble to the floor, a dark pool of blood forming underneath his body.

  “Your father's blood tasted sweet.” Justin wiped the blood from his face with his arm, his eyes glittering in the dim light. “But your sister’s. Now that will be even sweeter.”

  Carrick snarled, flattening his ears as he let fly at the abomination. He fought like his life and every other life of his pack depended on it. With tooth and claw he struck, knocking the alpha male to the floor.

  He latched on to his neck and didn’t stop until he’d torn the bastard’s throat out. It wasn’t until he raised his head when he heard the familiar voice of his pack mate Reid as he and the others tromped down the stairs that he realized Justin was dead.

  Disgusted, he threw the corpse away from him and turned his gaze to where Michael had lain only moments before only to discover the creature had vanished.

  Chapter One

  Carrick stood with his back to his second in command, his wolf pacing beneath his skin. He wanted to break the double doors open and bound into the woods rather than face the torment waiting for him in the grounds outside. Women. Hundreds of single wolfy females. All vying for the privilege of putting his cock and balls into their handbags like some godforsaken trophy.

  Fuck.

  Ever year he’d dodged the bullet, but this year one of the hungry piranha circling his house would become his mate.

  Double fuck. He’d been through this before. He already had one. He just needed to find her, but the elders wouldn’t listen.

  “You have to make a choice, Alpha.” Reid crossed the room and stood in front of him, blocking his view.

  Carrick growled and spun away. “I’ll find her.”

  Reid’s lips flattened, his dark eyes flashing in his anger. “You know the rules. Thirty-six is the last year an Alpha can rule without a mate by his side. The pack needs an Alpha female to be whole.”

  “The pack is stronger than it’s been, or are you forgetting how I got here?”

  Reid swallowed and backed up a step. “No. Justin was a horrible Alpha. You were right to destroy him. He was wrong for the Westmore Pack. Evil.”

  And the bastard had been. He’d abused his power as Alpha to enslave his pack rather than uplift it. The amount of victims he’d unearthed in the days that followed would disturb him for the rest of his days. He could still see the faces of the women Justin had taken against their will and the shivering form of his sister and the strange girl who stood up to a monster.

  Hers was the face that haunted his dreams. Her need reached out to him and made him into who he needed to be to overcome a near impossible situation. He had been up against a being far superior in strength but what he lacked in brawn, he’d more than made up for in sheer bullheadedness. And the electricity he felt when he touched her. His wolf recognized his mate and so did he. Now all that remained was to find her. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been looking. No one knew her name and, with her face partially shifted, her image was only a fleeting ghost in his mind.

  “You’re damned right.” Carrick leaned back against his desk and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His father would be proud of the work he’d done. He’d turned the Westmore Estate from a near financial ruin to a lucrative operation centered on the newly formed security company owned by him and his second, Reid. Where people had once feared shifters for their propensity for violence because of Justin and his henchmen, he’d turned the tide and people paid for their protection. Handsomely. So much so that when the media had heard about the weekend’s festivities, he’d been dubbed the Ultimate Bachelor.

  It made him fucking nauseous.

  The one person he needed to find and he couldn’t and it made him crazy. Now, in a matter of a few days, he would either have to relinquish his role as Alpha or marry a gold digging piece of arm candy. The closest person he’d found was a barista at the coffee place he frequented but she didn’t look anything like the girl in his dreams. And now whenever she saw him coming, she hightailed it for the hills.

  But she had popped a whisker.

  Just like his goddess.

  Jesus. He was losing his shit. Completely.

  “All the women from the outlying packs are assembling and should be here by tonight.”

  Carrick curled his lip, his stomach rolling at the thought. “This year there will be even worse than last year. God, did you see the crowd out there?”

  “And what’s wrong with hundreds of women throwing themselves at you?”

  “Have you tried it?”

  Reid chuckled. “I can’t say I have.”

  “Then you have no idea.” Bitterness swirled inside of him. All the women out there wanted was his title and the palatial estate the Pack Alpha had held since the pack’s inception back in the 1880’s. Tradition being not entirely lost on him, he understood, but having a choice made for him by an antiquated set of rules remained beyond irritating. And he’d be damned if all of his hard
work at rebuilding the estate from the mess Justin had left in would be lost.

  He had to find her.

  Files and paperwork lined his desk and he stared at it, a bitter taste growing in his mouth. In a few days it would be over and he’d either be married to the biggest gold digging bitch at the gala or someone else would take over as Alpha. Another pile of papers occupied a separate corner of his desk. His short list of candidates for his replacement. So far only one name had remained.

  Reid.

  He was loyal and if he had anything to say about it, he’d be asking his sister to be his mate any day now.

  “Did you talk to the women there that day? Did they come up with anything new?”

  Reid gave him a weary look. “Yes. And the answer is still the same. She wasn’t someone they recognized from pack functions and they didn’t exactly want to relive what they went through.”

  Carrick sighed. “I can understand that. What about the healers?”

  “Jeez, man. You have to get over it. She’s gone, whoever she was. The best you can hope for is she might be summoned for the Gathering. If she isn’t, you know what you have to do.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “It’s not an option like in years past. Every single female has to attend the Gathering. It’s pack law. They are bound the same way you are.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Jess stalked into the room, fire snapping from her eyes. “Big brother, I love you but I think when this is all over, I’m going to pour honey on your ass and leave you staked out on an ant hill.”

  Reid winced and moved away, a sharp laugh quickly masked by a cough.

  “Jess. What’s wrong?”

  “You should have booked them a rooms in town. Now I have three women in my room bitching about where they’re going to sleep and the fact that there aren’t any rooms all by their lonesome. God. I hate pack functions here at the house. We should have booked the ballroom at the Monaco downtown and made them all stay at the hotel.”