Savage Love

by J. L. Madore

  Emergency vehicles crunched through the snow outside. Harsh male voices started shouting off commands. Savage’s body sagged to the ground, and the color in his eyes morphed to the same brilliant emerald green as Jade’s.

  “Hey there,” she said, swiping at her eyes. “Gaw, I’m such a mess.” He lifted his hand to her cheek and slid to the back of her neck. His lips were cold, and she had to wipe the tears and snot off him when she pulled back. She rubbed his stubbled cheeks with her palms, her heart racing. “Are you okay, now? Is it over?”

  A lot is bombarding me, but I’ll live. Hannah helped him sit up and steadied him when he lilted. Can I get a recap? My brain is fried. Oh, and my guns.

  Hannah stepped away, watching his gentle sway while she grabbed his weapons. “Jonas took Jade, Bree, and Riley. He said he’d exchange them for Jessop’s ring. You said it was an Alpha thing, to take over the pack? I don’t know where they took them, but I do know how to track them down.”

  She muscled Savage to his feet. Not much was left of her yard beyond the fire trucks, sheriff cars, and the ambulance parked harum-scarum in every direction. The vehicles blocked the path from her truck, parked in the drive shed, to the lane.

  No emergency call necessary. Black smoke billowed up from what once was her family home. The plume darkened the gray, wintery sky with the destruction of the only life she’d ever known or wanted. She searched the crowds, hoping to catch sight of Chief checking out the action. Had he gotten out of the house before the explosion?

  She couldn’t think about that. “Blink us to town.”

  Savage shook his head. Too scrambled.

  “We need to get out of—Tandy!” She waved her part-time farm-hand through the chaos of emergency workers and met him with a one-armed hug. “Where’s your truck, cowboy?”

  “I couldn’t get any closer than the willow that overhangs the lane.”

  “Perfect. Give me your keys.” She held out her hand and, bless his heart, he never even asked why. “Check the livestock and get everyone settled and bedded down. I need to run to town. If I’m not back by the time you’re ready to leave, take my truck from the shed, and we’ll switch back later.”

  “Hannah,” Billy Upton said, jogging over from a conversation with the fire chief. “You can’t go anywhere. I need to take your statement. Where’s your sister? Did this man have anything to do with the fire?”

  Hannah turned as Billy’s partner, Luke, and two of the local police department flanked Savage. The four of them looked like they were corralling a wild bull and she didn’t miss their hands perched on their sidearms.

  Savage, however, looked like he might collapse on the lawn at any moment. Covered in blood, his jacket ripped, his legs barely holding him upright, he wasn’t the picture of violent intent he usually projected.

  “He had nothing to do with this. He saved my life.”

  “Then let’s have you both checked out. You can start from the beginning and tell us what happened.”

  She stared at her house smoldering in the snow and fought not to cry. “I honestly don’t know what happened, Billy. The two of us were in the barn. We heard the explosion and came running.”

  “He was with you?”

  “Yes, Billy. He worked for me a few years back as a hand and was checking in. That’s all I know right now, but I gotta get to town.”

  “Hannah, anything you need from town can wait till tomorrow, I’m sure. What’s your name, buddy,” he said directly to Savage. “You sure don’t look like you’re from around here.”

  She shook her head, both to answer Billy, and as a warning to Savage who, although he didn’t look like it at that moment, could single-handedly take out the Woodsboro Creek fire, police, and sheriff’s departments all at once. “Sorry, Billy, it really can’t wait. I gotta go get Riley.”

  Billy tilted his head, his face screwed up with either the heat of the fire or the glare off the snow. “You seem squirrelly. Everything all right, Hannah?”

  “No, Billy,” she snapped. “Everything is not all right. My house blew up. Things are as far from all right as they get.” She turned and stormed off, thankful Savage’s heavy foot-falls seemed to strengthen with each step.

  “All right, Miss Hannah,” Luke said, chasing them down, obviously setting in to be the voice of reason. “How ’bout you introduce us to your friend, so we can add his name to our report. Then, we’ll check things out while you’re gone.”

  Hannah rolled her eyes and wondered if anyone’s head actually did explode? Lord save me from well-meaning men. “You mean check him out, not things, don’t you Luke?”

  Luke looked from her to Savage, and back. “I know you said he was a friend and all, but—I mean, Billy counted five or six dead wolves, which makes no sense. We’re trying to get to the bottom of what happened. There’s a lot of blood in the snow and footprints and evidence of one hell of a commotion, and he’s a stranger covered in blood. By the way he’s dressed, and those tattoos—”

  “You’re not going to say something offensively stupid now, are you, Luke? This is still America, right? Freedom to express oneself. Innocent until proven guilty. Any of that sounding familiar?”

  Luke frowned. “Well, I know you’re upset, Hannah, but there’s no need to be hostile. We don’t get many houses blowin’ up, and this guy—”

  “Had nothing to do with it. Take my word for it, Luke, don’t judge this book by its cover. You’ll be wrong.”

  The fire chief whistled from around the side of the house and Hannah gave him a wave of acknowledgment. “Looks like they need you. Please figure out what happened. Once I get Riley, we’ll stop by the station and go over everything we know with you then.”

  The distraction seemed to break whatever spell of small-minded stupidity Luke suffered from. He relaxed and took a step back. “Yeah, okay. You’re vouching for him, though, and if we need to find him, we’re coming to you.”

  Hannah nodded. “Good enough.”

  Glad to be out from under the microscope, she sorted the keys as they jogged to Tandy’s truck and hopped in the driver’s side. “Sorry about that. Honestly, I can’t believe you didn’t break someone’s neck.”

  If it didn’t slow us down more than those dumbass questions, I would have.

  CHAPTER NINE

  I collapsed against the seat and Hannah made quick work of turning Tandy’s truck around and getting us the hell gone. The snow was stupid deep on the lane, but soon enough, we fishtailed onto the newly plowed country road. The engine of the beat-up old Ford four-by-four choked and growled as the road conditions improved, and Hannah revved things up.

  “No phones, so I guess we’re on our own?”

  For the moment. The bastards who took the girls would fucking rue the day. This was my fault. I involved Jade, and she brought in Bree. If anything happened to either of them, it was on my head, and Cowboy would never forgive me. If anything happened to Riley, Hannah would never forgive me.

  Which was fair, because I wouldn’t forgive myself.

  As the landscape flew by, I tried to focus. Unlocking my powers scrambled my brain at a time when I needed to think. Head reeling and body aching, my ears still buzzed under the onslaught of Fae energy. It bombarded. It invaded. It spread through my muscles and cells, changing me.

  I didn’t want this. Hannah wanted normal. I wanted to be what she needed. What would being a demi-god do to us?

  I love you, I signed, even though her eyes were locked on the road ahead. I’d buried how much until I saw her on the ground with that first Were holding a gun to her head. Bile roared up my throat just thinking of it. Never again.

  I’d make sure of it.

  She blew through the flashing caution light at the intersection of two country roads and another wave of nausea struck. I tucked my hands under my armpits and tried to still the shaking of my hands. I had to make this work.

  Hannah forgave me.

  During those dark moments in the drive shed, while my head threat
ened to explode and my cells were overheating, the tether that kept me anchored in place was her hold on my hand, and her voice in my ear.

  I forgive you. Three little words that gave me the strength to endure. Soon, I’d coax her into saying those other three little words I want to hear.

  Not as an admission, but as a declaration.

  My throat tightened, trying to swallow past something that wasn’t there. What kind of bastard was I that I was grateful Hannah sat safely beside me and when the others were in the clutches of angry wolves?

  Was that fucked up, or what? This whole thing was.

  Staring out the side window, I studied the land as it stretched off for miles and miles. Fields bordered the thickly forested land shared by Cowboy’s family and the families of his pack. The Werewolves lived, worked, and thrived among their unaware human neighbors. They were the family next door. The bartender at the local pub. The lady who played the organ at church.

  They were Hannah’s friends, and they’d turned on her.

  “Why are you growling?”

  This pack didn’t know a damned thing about loyalty. Cowboy is one of the greatest men I know. He should’ve lived happily among his pack, grown up with his parents, and dated girls from high school. Instead, he was tossed like garbage. It pisses me off.

  Hell, Cowboy might have ended up with Hannah if he’d been allowed to stick around. He was her crush, afterall. Energy built up inside me and burst out in a wave. A telephone pole transformer burst into flames as we passed, throwing sparks into the dull, January sky.

  Yeah, time to focus on the now.

  How could I find them? Surely these powers must offer some advantage over sleuthing it on the ground for the next hours. I needed to move quickly. I needed to track Were movement. If Zo was still the Fate for Lives in Progress, she could pull the tapestries of that Jonas guy. She wasn’t.

  She gave up her station when our sisters fucked her over, and she started her new life at Haven. Now she only watched over—bingo.

  “Welcome to the Whippoorwill,” Hannah said to nobody, pulling the truck into the only empty parking spot in sight. She had no idea where Savage had poofed off to. Then again, it wasn’t the first time he left her wondering where he went. His absence didn’t change much. She still needed to find out where Riley was. She still needed to find out who was behind it all. And she still needed to convince the wolves she had no idea about any Were ring.

  Woodsboro Creek’s Were watering hole was the place to do all three. If anyone knew about the attack on Jessop and where Riley and the others were, they’d be inside.

  She considered waiting on Savage, but Riley needed her. Besides, it wasn’t like anyone would kill her in the middle of a local diner, with a dozen human neighbors enjoying their pie.

  The Whippoorwill Café sat on the wheat field outskirts of her sleepy Oklahoma town. On the easternmost end of a strip plaza, it was neighbor to the barbershop/tool sharpening business, Clips & Clippers, and the pool hall, which also doubled as a non-denominational church on Sundays.

  Main Street was bustling despite the dumping of snow over the past two days. Lots of movement along the streets and sidewalks. Plenty of witnesses to keep her safe.

  Before she caught the handle of the truck door, she drew a deep breath. She could do this. Popping the glovebox, she dug around, searching for a weapon of some sort. A Swiss Army knife was all she found. It would have to do.

  Rounding the hood, she wished she had her Colt. Not that she wanted to shoot any of her friends, still, prepared would be better. Despite herself, she wished Savage was there to help her handle this.

  But he wasn’t. Big surprise. She forgave him, but down deep, where it mattered—she didn’t. Her brain understood. Her heart still ached.

  As she approached the Whippoorwill, she glanced through the plate-glass windows to see who was inside. The place was perma-packed with brawny males, muscled females, and the human women who flocked there in droves to ogle them.

  Yeah, except when they were trying to kill you, that brawny, muscled physique wasn’t quite so sexy.

  It was terrifying.

  Despite her fear for Riley, she had to keep levelheaded. As the bell over the door sounded, she waved to the blonde working behind the long breakfast counter and headed straight into the wolf den.

  Striding across the restaurant, she kept her step strong and took note of anyone who looked surprised and, in a couple of cases, alarmed to see her. When she reached the Formica counter, she leaned across and hugged her friend.

  “Jayne, hey, I’m sorry about Jessop. I know you were close. How are you?”

  She and Jayne had been friends since ninth grade. The two of them had spent endless Friday nights watching Waylon and the others playing football down at the stadium.

  With a sigh, Jayne grabbed three plates off the heated rail and paused, staring at the scrape on Hannah’s cheek. “Better than you, I expect.”

  “I assume you know what’s going on?”

  “It’s a small community, hon. I expect I know about as much as everyone else. I’m not sure if you coming here is incredibly brave or unbelievably stupid.”

  “Stupid? Carter attacked me. Jonas kidnapped Riley. What am I supposed to do, sit at home and wait to be killed? No, wait. I don’t have a home. Your friends blew it up.”

  Jayne cast her a cool glare, and Hannah met the scrutiny matching every ounce of regret and determination. For the first time in their lives, they were on opposite sides of a critical line.

  It hurt to know where she stood when the chips fell. But at least she knew. They remained in their ocular standoff until a fat trucker by the door broke the spell.

  “Hey, JayJay?” he yelled from his four-top. “Any chance you’ll bring lunch before my break’s over? I gotta get back on the road.”

  “Keep your pants on, Gerry. You’re not going to wither away if you miss a meal.” That earned Jayne a few laughs from the other patrons. With the plates balanced up her arms, she hooked a condiments carrier and took Gerry his lunch.

  Hannah’s head pounded behind her eyes. Who was behind this? Who could she talk to? Normally, she’d go to Jessop and Myra, but they were dead.

  “Hey, babe. Been a tough couple of days?” Matt offered her his usual winning smile as he pulled her to his chest. A buff, good-looking, all-American athlete type, he knew darn well the effect of his smile on women. Despite how it annoyed her, she wasn’t immune. She’d gone a few rounds with Matt off and on over the years. “I’m glad you’re here. Let’s go somewhere private and talk.”

  Her heart revved, adrenaline coursing from her chest out to the trembling tips of her fingers. Hannah pressed her palms flat on his flannel button-down and took a step back. “Private time with you is over, Matt. Public conversations suit me better now, thanks. My question is, who should I talk to?”

  Matt cast a dismissive glance and shrugged. “That depends. Did you bring the ring? It was stupid of you and Myra to think you could go up against us and win.”

  What was with this town? Hannah offered Matt a tight smile. “I didn’t go up against anyone. I have no idea what sparked the trouble, or how I suddenly became targeted, but blowing up my house and kidnapping Riley and women from my home crossed a line.”

  Matt’s jaw clenched as he leaned close. “Do you honestly not get what’s happening here?”

  Hannah gave him a well-duh stare. “I honestly don’t. I found Myra in the creek, freezing and unconscious, and took her home to warm her by the fire. Then, suddenly, I’m being thrown from my horse and have a gun to my head. Then Jonas comes today in another wave of crazy, and says he wants a ring—which I neither have nor know anything about. Whatever this is, it’s been badly handled, and I’m sick of being in the middle of it.”

  The heads of people sitting at the nearby tables turned as her voice grew momentum, and she could see by Matt’s reaction, he didn’t like being told off in public. Too bad.

  “Who’s acting as Alpha?�
� she said, loud enough that a whole lot of men bristled. Several of them stood.

  Matt frowned. “You think you know about us? What did Myra tell you?”

  “Myra didn’t tell me anything. You guys drugged her and blew her up. What the hell is wrong with you people?”

  Matt grabbed her by the lapels of her coat and lifted her off her feet. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Let her go.” Blake emerged from the kitchen. She wasn’t fooled by his round belly or his Kiss the Cook apron. Blake was as dangerous as the rest of them. “Hannah, there are a lot of innocent friends in here. This is not the place.”

  “Was my house the place, Blake?” Hannah snapped. “Did you think I was in it? Or Riley? Were we supposed to blow up with Myra and end your pathetic little takeover? If I didn’t have friends over, would you be toasting our deaths?”

  He waved his hands at Jayne and the other server. They hustled over with takeout boxes and got several couples to clear out. The mass exodus left Hannah alone in the company of an angry pack of Weres. “Now, if you can be civil, maybe we can work this out.”

  “Please, you animals don’t know what civility is. Your answer to everything is dumb brute force.”

  Blake growled, his eyes flipping gold. “You should watch your mouth, farm girl. I’m the only thing between you walking out of here or getting ripped to shreds.”

  Hannah laughed, her head edging toward total detonation. “You never expected me to live this long. You’re certainly not letting me walk out of here. You want the ring. I want Riley and my friends. It’s a simple trade.”

  “You said you didn’t have the ring,” Matt said.

  Weres could smell lies, so she had to be very careful. “No. I said that I had no idea how I became a target, that I knew nothing about the ring or why you’d want to kill Jessop and Myra.”

  “But now you do know about the ring?”

  “Yes, I do.” And she did. Savage had told her that the Pack Alpha wore an insignia ring which granted the wearer power over the pack and the right to rule the members. She’d seen that ring on Jessop’s right ring-finger her whole life.