She really did need to get in shape. She allowed herself a minute to recover, and then she pushed at the rock. It didn’t budge. She tried again, harder this time. The damn thing stood solid. The escape route had been made for vampires with vampire muscles, not a woman who’d gotten shortchanged in the conversion.
“Damn, damn, damn!” She couldn’t go forward, couldn’t go back. She felt along the floor, images of spiders creeping toward her as she sought something to use as a lever. Hell, at this point, she’d even settle for a bone from the skeleton that would be sitting by the cave entrance if this were a horror movie. It wasn’t a horror movie, however. It was real life, and real life was turning out to be damn difficult. She sat back in the dirt, empty-handed and out of options.
A snuffling and then a low growl on the other side of the rock froze her in place. A bear? Instinct had her heart in her throat before intellect had a chance to speak up. She pictured a bear with its massive arms. A bear could move the rock. A bear could also eat her alive. She dismissed the latter. If she could mentally influence a bear to move a rock, she could also influence it to believe that she was nothing more than a hearty case of indigestion. She sent forth a mental image, feeling along the creature’s energy to carve a path. A barrier she hadn’t been expecting blocked her.
Damn.
She sent the mental image again, hoping. The snuffling increased, stopped. Rock scraped against rock. She scrambled back as clods of dirt fell. Silvery moonlight flooded the cave as the barrier between her and the animal collapsed. Sharp human intelligence met her mental probe.
Oh shit. Not a bear. Allie lunged back to avoid the hand that snaked in almost too fast even for her vampire eyes to follow, hit her head on the ceiling, and sat down hard. Fingers like steel manacled themselves to her wrist. With a strength she envied, the same hands that moved the rock yanked her out.
Oh, this wasn’t good. She and the man holding her were surrounded by wolves. Big, nasty, we-want-to-feast-on-your-bones wolves. Ah hell, her day only needed this. She looked up at the naked giant who’d attached his hand to her wrist. She’d seen those golden eyes before. Images of the black-masked wolf who’d herded her car through the woods flashed into her mind. Those eyes had the same glow, the same intelligence. The same mocking amusement. “The D’Nally clan, I presume?”
His right eyebrow went up in a dark flag of surprise. “The Johnson bitch, I presume?”
The man was extremely handsome with dark hair, dark skin, and an animal magnetism that surrounded him like the seductive scent of a fine cologne. Not to mention those incredible, dark gold eyes. He was also very well put together from his very broad shoulders to his well-shaped feet, a fact she couldn’t miss in his current, naked state. Her gaze skated his groin. Impressive all over.
“At your service.”
His other brow went up. “An interesting way of putting it.”
She really had to watch her sarcasm. The wolves milled. She eyed them warily. “Trust me, I’m not that interesting.”
“I think you underestimate your appeal.” His gaze dropped to her stomach. “We find some aspects of your existence extremely interesting.”
That look in his eyes wasn’t anger. She tugged at her wrist. “Pervert.”
Behind her, one of the wolves lunged. A sharp pain in her buttock had her reacting before she thought. She kicked out, catching the wolf under the chin. She turned as far as she could, keeping the tan-coated SOB in her sight, holding his gaze as he backed up. “Keep your damn teeth to yourself.”
“I believe his intent was to teach you manners,” the naked man explained, amusement and something she couldn’t define in his voice. The way the other wolf’s tail dipped a fraction under her glare satisfied a bit of her rage.
“Then he’d better learn some first.”
The leader’s smile was a surprise. “Apparently.” He inclined his head. “I’m Ian D’Nally.”
“Allie Sanders.” Another wolf approached, bigger than the first. Older, if the gray on its black muzzle was any indication. She turned, facing it, shoulders back, meeting the wolf glare for glare. “If it’s expecting me to conveniently faint, it’s wasting its time.”
“No one expects an alpha bitch to faint.”
“That’s the second time you’ve called me a bitch.” She wasn’t sitting still for a third.
“It wasn’t meant as an insult.” Ian stared at the wolves. The black wolf blinked. With a twitch of its tail it dropped back. The others followed suit, forming a loose circle, creating the illusion of privacy.
“Weres are telepathic?”
“Some of us.”
She was having a hard time keeping her gaze above Ian’s waist. Not that she wanted to see that part of him, but there was no missing it while she kept her eyes on the wolves behind him. “Are you morally opposed to wearing clothes or is this,” she waved her hand at his naked state, “some sort of statement?”
“Neither. It’s merely a convenience.”
“Great.” She took a breath and said, “I’m sure you’ve got places to go, people to see, so if you could just step aside, I’ll be on my way.”
He didn’t move, but his eyes narrowed and his manner grew intense. “The eldest Johnson must be desperate to send you out alone.”
She didn’t pretend not to understand. “He’s a worrier.”
“Does he live still?”
“Yes.” She ignored the image of how she’d last seen him.
“The wolves that run with him asked for our help.”
“The fact that you’re hiding out here instead of fighting must mean you didn’t give it.”
“It’s not our battle.”
“It will be.”
“So McClaren said.”
“And you didn’t believe him?”
“There was not universal acceptance.”
She looked around the ring of wolves. “Brains must not run too deep in your clan.”
Growls rumbled out of the shadows. She bit her tongue on a “Fuck you.” Desperation was fast eating at her control. Caleb needed help. She needed help, and all that was available was this backward band of wolves. She had to hold it together long enough to get them to see reason.
“She wolves do not talk to their mates that way.”
It was a warning. She waved it aside. “Seeing as I’m neither wolf nor mated to one, that rule doesn’t apply to me.”
The next words were for her ears only. “While in Rome . . .”
Do as the Romans do. The thought finished in her head. Was the naked were an ally? Dear God, let him be an ally.
She bowed her head. “My apologies.”
“McClaren said you’d met these vamps.”
“Yes.”
“And how would you describe them?”
“Arrogant, brutal, and convinced anything that doesn’t fit their plan for the future must be annihilated.”
She glanced at Ian and then the other wolves. “If you think being wolves will protect you, you are so wrong. I linked with their leader.”
“The one you killed.”
“I didn’t kill him.” But she’d come too close for comfort. That horrible moment flashed in her mind. Her stomach rolled and she blinked slowly to dispense the memory. The hand on her arm surprised her. It was almost gentle. She kept her gaze locked on the leader’s chest as she fought back the lingering nausea.
“But you tried.”
“Yes. They’re a really sick bunch. Any vampires who don’t agree with their we-are-gods philosophy, they plan to exterminate.”
Her words made no visible impression on the wolves, they just stared at her. Ian looked at her expectantly. What did he want from her? What did they need to hear? She racked her brain, sifting through fragments of conversation until she came upon something Derek had said. Something she might use. “They don’t have any use for you. ‘Furred vermin’ I believe was the term Vincent used when he was convincing me to join up.”
The snarl that curved Ia
n’s lip rippled through the pack. She pounced on the moment.
“I would be worried, if I were you. They only want a few of your females. The rest they intend to exterminate.”
Ian straightened. All warrior. All deadly intent. It wouldn’t do him any good. “They cannot defeat the pack.”
She waved off the boast. “Flash all that testosterone you want. The reality is, they’re united and organized and everyone else is scattered and segmented. They’re not going to have any more trouble with you than they’re having with the McClarens and Johnsons. They’ll just come in with their greater technology and greater numbers and obliterate every one of you, only keeping the women who can bear children. And . . .”
She closed her eyes, the reality of what was happening back at the compound pushing past her denial. They were being killed, one by one. Caleb, Jared, Slade, Jace, Derek, and all the others. People who’d fought to protect her. People she’d thought of as friends. The sob welled from despair, lodging in her voice, choking off her words.
Ian’s hand on her arm was meant to be sympathetic, but the squeeze he gave just reminded her how powerless she was to stop any of it. She swallowed. “Next time, though, it won’t be me running in the woods, hoping they won’t find me, hoping I can stay alive long enough to give my baby a chance. It’ll be your wives, your children they’ll be hunting.”
She reached for Caleb with her mind, finding nothing, just a void that doubled her over. “And they’ll find them, too, and use them, because that’s all they want. The power that will come from the children they’ll force on your people.” The anger burned hot. “Your women.”
Women just like her, who only wanted a peaceful life with the men they loved.
A big gray wolf stepped closer, hackles raised. She sprang at him, releasing the pent-up anger that expanded inside. Another wolf hit her mid-leap, taking her down in a surprisingly gentle maneuver. She glared up into his dark brown eyes. All her frustration and anger fired the words from her throat, each syllable burning with the reality. “But you won’t be around to hear their screams. You won’t be around to do anything. The D’Nally clan will be dead. Annihilated by scum whose only advantage is they understand the rules of war and can band together to apply them.”
The wolf’s tongue touched her cheek. She scrubbed the spot. “I don’t need your damn sympathy. I need your help.”
There was another silence. She had a feeling they talked among themselves. The wolf pinning her stepped back. Ian bent down and extended his hand. She took it. In a smooth, oddly gallant move he drew her to her feet. His thumb stroked over the back of her hand. One of the wolves stepped toward the tunnel. She leapt in front of him, landing precisely where she wanted for once, blocking his way as if she did such athletic feats every day. “No.”
His lips pulled back from some impressive fangs in what could have been a grin. He took another step forward. She stretched her talons to the limit and bared her fangs right back. Caleb had enough on his plate. She wasn’t allowing a sneak attack.
“Be easy.”
She didn’t take her eyes off the wolves gathering. “I’ll be easy when you get the hell out of here.”
“You asked for our help.”
“I’ve decided I don’t need it.”
“Your mate also asked for our help.”
Surprise jerked her gaze off the gray wolf. “I didn’t know that.”
“It was a hard decision to make, to aid an enemy.”
“Especially for a hotheaded bunch like you.” No sooner had the retort left her mouth than she realized what he’d said. “What swayed the decision?”
“Pack members were attacked today. The men were killed, the mother and daughter stolen.”
Exactly like she’d predicted. Too much alike. Were they really going to help, or were the D’Nallys just looking to attack while the attacking was good and get rid of the Johnsons once and for all?
The gray wolf in the back was definitely glaring at her, and if she wasn’t mistaken, he looked a lot like the one she’d shot off her car.
“This is a rather sudden change of heart toward the Johnsons, isn’t it?”
“We have reasons for our anger.”
“And I have a reason for mine.” She glared at the gray male.
“Enough reason to see your mate die?”
Well, hell. She met his gaze. “You touch him and I’ll kill you. I might not look like much, but I’m capable of some very creepy stuff.”
“It does not surprise me that the leader of the Johnson pack has an equally strong mate.”
“We’re not married.”
“You are unattached?”
Remembering what Derek had said about fertile females, she quickly amended the statement. “No, just not married.”
“A private issue between the two of you?”
“You might say that.”
“Enough so that you no longer wish the elder Johnson’s claim?”
“No.”
His hands on her shoulders lifted her as if she weighed nothing. “Then step aside, woman. The D’Nallys have come to fight.”
24
HE wasn’t kidding. With the exception of Caleb himself, she’d never seen men, beings, creatures move with such methodical precision. After Ian transformed into a wolf, a startling enough process in itself, they’d bolted down the corridor in a flowing mass of fur, moving almost as one, creating the illusion of continuity. She’d run in their wake, only able to keep up because she knew the way and didn’t have to slow to find the twists and turns of the tunnel.
When they reached the heavy door, they waited. Violence and anticipation radiated off the pack in seething waves. A path separated for her. She ran through it, breath sawing in and out of her lungs, panic an equal companion to hope. Were they in time?
Fighting still continued on the other side of the door as evidenced by the muffled sounds coming through, but try as she might, she couldn’t feel any of Caleb’s energy. Considering her last sight of him was a brief glimpse as he’d turned, bloody and injured, to meet whatever had come crashing through the opposite door, it was hard to hold on to hope. But she would because the alternative was unthinkable.
She dialed the combination with fingers that shook so badly she couldn’t be sure which number she’d stopped on. She turned the handle. Nothing happened. Damn! She tried again. Same results. Nothing.
Damn! Damn! Damn! She forced herself to slow down, took a deep breath, released it, vividly aware that while she fumbled on this side of the door, people she loved were dying on the other.
“Third time’s the charm,” she muttered. This time she dialed slower. The lock gave with a barely audible click. She turned it in an agony of dread, felt the slight thunk, and shuddered with relief. She carefully slid the bolt and tugged at the heavy door. Hands fastened on her shoulders. Her scream died in her throat as another hand slapped over her mouth.
“Your mate sent you to safety,” Ian whispered sotto voce in her ear. “And safe you will stay.”
She shook her head. Caleb might need her.
Ian pressed her back against the wall, against the sturdy hinges. “Lock the door behind us.”
The pack spilled into the void between her and the door. With a warning glance, Ian shifted again, man blurring and animal emerging until all she recognized were the golden eyes staring at her from his black-masked face. He touched his muzzle to the shoulder of the equally big wolf beside him. A subtle tension rippled through the pack. Hackles raised, a silent snarl on his lip, Ian eased the door open with his nose. The sounds of fighting increased, grunts and shouts, the grate of metal striking something hard, a shot, something softer hitting the floor . . .
The gap widened farther as another wolf pressed forward and then another. On a howl that sent chills up her spine, the lethal mass sprang into the room. There was a scream that ended in that familiar horrible gurgle and then the D’Nallys added their deadly snarls to the cacophony. Allie took a step toward the
door, even had her palms flat on the wooden surface to push it closed, when she felt it. A whisper of sensation in her mind.
Caleb?
The whisper came again. Weak. Like she’d felt before. Fingers clutching the edge of the door, she opened her mind farther.
Help me.
Suspicion leapt before she could act on her first instinct to reach for him. That wasn’t Caleb. Caleb would die before he invited her to walk into danger. She threw her mental shield up, probing along the edge of the energy pouring to her, practicing everything she’d learned from Jared and Caleb, but more importantly, from that sneaky bastard Vincent. At first touch, the voice sounded like Caleb, felt like Caleb, but as she explored there was something majorly missing. Whoever was faking being Caleb obviously didn’t have a grasp of the man’s personality. She closed the door and turned the bolt, jumping when something heavy hit the other side, feeling the vibrations up her arms. The force of the collision only served to prove one thing. As much as she wanted to help, she simply was not equipped to fight the supernatural on this level.
The whisper came again, this time loaded with pain and desperation. Oh, the guy was good. Very, very good. So good, even knowing it really wasn’t Caleb calling to her, anxiety swelled. She let just a little of that anxiety out. A diversion to amuse the peeping Tom while she did a bit of peeping on her own. She turned her back against the door and slid down it, focusing on that stream of emotion, reaching back along its route to its source, going deeper than before but still keeping her touch light. She might not have the muscle to fight a full-out invasion, but she was equipped to fight this. Curling her hands into fists, she braced them on her thighs, breathed in five slow, steady breaths as she turned her energy more and more inward, tuning out the here and now and stretching herself into the mental void to find the enemy she didn’t know.
Caleb Page 35
