Her Wanted Wolf

by Renee Michaels

  “Is that all?” Drew asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

  “You got the funds. Don’t be a tightwad, spread it around a little.” The taunt came with a sly smirk and wiggle of Royal’s full brows.

  “Done. But I’m charging you interest, compounded.” Drew watched with satisfaction as Royal’s grin slipped.

  Royal frowned. “What the hell are you, a loan shark?”

  “It’s a new line of business I’ve seem to have fallen into. And I must say it’s kinda satisfying, even to hear you whine like a girl. Are we done, or is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “Not sure I can afford to accept any more help from you.” The grumble didn’t have any heat in it. “What’s the plan? The sooner we wrap this up, the faster I can get back to work. I got bills to pay, even more so now than before.”

  “Are the men I asked Rick to transport in position?”

  With cool self-assurance and a cocky tilt of his head, Royal imparted, “Yeah, they joined my men to lock down the city. No Redmaven gets in or out as you requested. Are you going to tell me why I’m babysitting our mutual enemy? If you ask me, he needs killing. Why don’t we just flush him out and take care of it. It wouldn’t take much effort.” Royal’s confidence in their abilities was about to get a big dent put into it.

  Feeling weighed down by what he was about to lay on his friend, he drew in a breath. “Yes he does, but we don’t want the wrong person doing the deed. It’s gotten a little complicated.”

  “Isn’t it always?”

  “We have new set of problems.” Drew revealed the Redmavens’ cloning of the Silverwolves’ abilities and their experimentation with a way to inhibit a were’s ability to heal instantaneously.

  Drew watched Royal’s eyes grow stone cold as he absorbed the new threats.

  “When you bring a problem to the table, you bring a doozy, don’t you?” Royal huffed out a long harried breath and took a long swig from his beer.

  “Never let it be said I do things in a small way. Sabine and her pack sisters can’t locate those wolves who are using this artificial masking agent, but they get a feeling that things are hinky. I’m hoping it’s enough to lead us to the chemist.” He wasn’t about to send the Sinclairs or his pack mates into a blind fight.

  Drew still had a hard time wrapping his head around Micah’s transformation. His size, brutal inexorable force, and the speed with which Micah moved when in wolf form was astonishing. It would take more than one were to put him down.

  “We have to round those fuckers up.” Royal slammed the bottle on the table and pushed his half-eaten plate of food to the side. He started to rise to his feet.

  Drew held up his hand to stay his departure. “There are two more things you need to be aware of before we go in.”

  “There can’t be more?”

  “Yeah, there’s more. Speaking of a doozy, Micah told me that sick bastard, Maxim, fed a select few, larger doses of steroids. He was one, a were named Rifkin is another. And from what I understand, he’s positioning himself to take over the leadership of the Redmaven pack. That’s not happening.”

  “Crap. It’s not going to be pretty is it?”

  “No, and if we don’t move fast, it’s going to get uglier. I don’t want Bardo taken out by Rifkin before we get to him. That’s why you have him penned. Rifkin doesn’t have the manpower to take on two packs. His MO is to use stealth. I’m still worried he might get desperate and make a preemptive strike. That’s why I want to move on this tonight.”

  A feral vengeful glint flashed through Royal’s eyes. “Sign me up and forget the exchange of favors. It’s not right for them to mess with what we are.”

  “How do you feel about being a kingmaker?”

  Confusion brought a frown to Royal’s brow. “What are you up to?”

  “We’re going to take the fight to Bardo and let Micah have a few words with him to explain the new order of things.”

  “Shouldn’t you be having a little chat with him first?”

  Drew shrugged. “Yeah, I should, but I’ll secure Aimee’s future if Micah goes up to bat first. Bardo will have to accept the challenge from a beta in his pack. We’ll have to go before the council to petition for reinstatement for the Redmavens. Will you stand with us as one of the four supplicants? Justice is laying the foundation for that.”

  Realization dawned in Royal’s eyes. “You’ve become quite the politician, haven’t you?” He shook his head. “You’re not going all sensitive on me now, are you?”

  “No, but I’ve come to a realization.” Drew leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

  Looking skeptical, Royal encouraged, “Oh, do tell me about this epiphany.”

  “I’ve seen how an alpha’s inflexibility can destroy a pack. Sabine’s father removed his clan from society because of his beliefs, and almost brought them to the point of extinction. Look at what Maxim Redmaven’s doctrine has done to his pack. If I let go of my right and need for reprisal, I’ll help Micah become the Redmavens’ alpha. Then those poor saps will have a leader who’ll look out for them. I’ll make my sister happy, even though that S.O.B. is not someone I’d have chosen for her. And if my pal will help me facilitate this, hell, I’ll buy him a damned plane.”

  “The upkeep would murder my budget. The loan will be fine, and I will pay you back, but no freaking interest. Now what do you need from me.”

  “How fast can you arrange to move two hundred weres to your mini plantation?”

  “If you’re footing the bill I can arrange anything. Where do you want the transpo sent?”

  “To the wharf here.”

  “Don’t tell me you have them stashed in one of the motels on the waterfront?”

  “No, my newly acquired, unwanted brother-in-law hid his family on a trawler. They’ll come ashore when you give the word.”

  Royal’s jaw dropped, and for a moment, he looked like a guppy. “A boat! They’re on a freaking boat. No wonder Bardo is chasing his tail all over Savannah. He can’t locate them. I can get a couple of buses here within an hour. I’ll have Nara arrange it. But if they still have a were in the area, they can follow the refugees’ scent trail right back to the safe house I’m providing. Where do you want me positioned in this clusterfuck you’re planning?”

  Drew leaned in and laid out his plan. “I need this mop operation to go as smoothly as possible. At the end of the night, I want Bardo de-fanged, and those mutts who are masking themselves taken care of at the same time. Sabine and her sisters will locate the latter bunch with your pack and watch their backs.”

  “Afraid if I get her alone, she might come to her senses and run off to Tahiti with me?”

  “You’re too cheap to pay for a vacation to Tahiti.”

  “I consider myself frugal, not cheap. Besides, I now have access to a private plane. Thanks to you.”

  “My men will go with the Silverwolves, since they trained with them, and they will have instructions to keep Sabine on a tight leash. Though I wouldn’t mention that little fact to her. She has a tendency to take off on her own.”

  “Not under my watch, she won’t,” Royal said with the confidence of an ignorant man.

  “Watch her closely. The Lunedares will help Micah and his men deal with the Redmaven alpha. It’s our right. There is sure to be a fight, and it will appease the blood lust that’s been riding us and salve pack pride. Are you still coming along for the ride after all I’ve told you?”

  With the eager anticipation that preceded a good scrap, Royal nodded. “Hell yes, I want to see what these badass weres are made of. If there are more out there, we need to learn their weakness to counter any attack. It would be better to lure Bardo out of the city.”

  Drew shook his head. “He won’t come out in the open, since he’s not sure who to trust. I think he’s staying put, hoping we won’t start much of a ruckus in the midst of a city full of humans.”

  Royal snorted. “He doesn’t know you much, does he?” />
  Drew responded with a sneer. “We’re taking the fight to him. I figure I could ask Rick to hack into the power company and shut down the electricity grid in that area for a couple of hours.”

  “I do my best work in the dark.”

  Drew felt it necessary to warn Royal, “It’s likely you’ll get your ass kicked. I got pretty banged up.”

  A wild gleam that Drew recognized flashed in Royal’s eyes. “Hasn’t happened in a long time. I’d say I’m overdue. Besides, I fight dirty.”

  In full agreement, Drew drawled, “Is there any other way?”

  A waitress skipped over to their table, snatched up Royal’s discarded plate and added it to an overloaded tray, balanced precariously on the palm of her other hand.

  “Done with that, hon? May I offer you dessert? We got pie, peach, apple, and pecan. Our specialty of the day is our nine layer better-than-sex chocolate cake.” She winked at them and stuck out her impressive chest. Her nametag, with Shelly etched into it, perched like an off-center cherry on the twin mounds, offering them a sweet treat that wasn’t on the menu.

  The interested gleam in Royal’s eyes heated Shelly’s cheeks.

  Drew kicked Royal under the table and put an end to the eye-sex he was having with the enthralled girl.

  Sabine had been annoyed he left her behind on the boat. What better way to get back in her good graces than to bring her baked goods. “Ahh, Shelly, box me one of each and bring me the bill please.” He reached for his wallet and slapped his card down on the table.

  The server’s pencil-thin brows shot up to disappear under her shaggy bangs. “A slice of each?”

  “No, one pie each, and an entire cake and we’re in a hurry. If you set us up we’d be grateful.”

  With a last regretful glance at Royal Shelly headed for the kitchen.

  “Did you forget we have work to do?”

  Royal gave him a what-the-hell shrug. “What? We have an hour or two to kill. If I’m going into battle I need to be loose and limber, and nothing relaxes me like sex.”

  More than a little annoyed, Drew reproved, “Jesus, man, keep your eye on the ball. We have more pressing matters to attend to.”

  Unrepentant, Royal watched the sway of Shelly’s peach-shaped butt. “This can’t be the same man who rolled out of bed after satisfying three she-wolves the night before last encounter we had with the Redmavens. Shit, if this is what taking a mate does to you, I’m never putting my mark on a she-wolf.”

  A self-satisfied smirk spread across Drew’s face. Poor sap had no clue what he was missing. “Then you will never know what is like to make love to your mate as both were and man. To have all your senses filled until there is no space for anything or anyone else. Until you are so sated, you have no need for more. Before I put my mark on Sabine there was always room for more, we were always hunting for the next experience.” Having said it out loud, it hit him that he’d found completeness with Sabine. “That is what I wish for you, my friend.”

  “Don’t go all Mr. Miyagi on me with that cryptic crap. Like Jell-O, there is always room for more. Heard it, don’t believe it. My sex life is just dandy, thanks.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  The air over Savannah was redolent with were spoor. It acted as a harbinger of a reckoning. It changed the rhythm of the night and alerted any being that lived by their instincts of the approaching danger. Mammals which had adapted to the urban setting sought refuge, scuttling into crevices and sewers. Birds took to the skies or crouched protectively over their eggs or hatchlings in their nests under the eaves. Insects ceased their nocturnal chitter. Domesticated dogs, sensing a threat to their humans, barked and howled, but fell silent to whimper and cower in fear, overwhelmed by the intrusion of the primal presence invading their havens.

  The homeless inhabiting the wharves, having developed a presentiment of danger, knew something bad was coming. They abandoned their makeshift homes, leaving behind their meager but precious belongings. Moments after they fled, a twenty-block square surrounding the docks went inexplicably dark. And, with the light-swallowing darkness, came a fraught silence which hung over the sleeping city.

  Heavy, oppressive, and deadly.

  In a slowly diminishing circle, the wolves charged with monitoring Bardo Redmaven’s movements, converged on the industrial block where he’d set up his temporary den. The Lunedares and Sinclairs secreted themselves in the alleyways, stoops, and boarded-up buildings to wait and watch for the signal to attack.

  Sabine traveled through the deserted streets by Drew’s side in the back of Royal’s burly SUV. A prickling of her perceptions brought on a frightful uneasiness. She threaded her fingers through Drew’s and shifted closer to him. The scent of her agitation filled the vehicle.

  Drew wrapped his arm around her quivering shoulders. “What is it?” he demanded, his eyes glowing preternaturally in the dark.

  “They’re here, the wolves hiding in what we are.” Her skin crawled and the need to shift bore down on her.

  “Can you pinpoint their location?”

  Bombarded from every angle, she couldn’t tell where it came from; the needle on the internal compass she used to locate by scent spun wildly, out of control.

  She shook her head. “Not at this rate of speed, it lessens the effects. I need to be in were form to interpret what I feel.” A shiver ran through her.

  There was something out there.

  Death. Its cloyingly sweet aroma slithered through the air with a gleeful malevolence, adding to her apprehension. A shiver racked Sabine’s body. It was a fresh kill. The coppery tartness of recently spilled blood coated her tongue. As it would every werekin’s.

  Was it warning or a blatant challenge?

  “I need to get out of here, Drew.” Feeling caged, she slid across the bench seat and pulled ineffectually at the lever that would open the door. She had to find the source of the unseen threat.

  “Sabine wait, we’re still moving.” He rapped on the ceiling, and the van pulled to a jerky stop. She scrambled out and breathed deeply, filling her lungs with the air tainted with oil, salt, death, and the familiar reassuring scent of her race.

  Behind her, the vehicles her pack sisters rode in pulled up. They scrambled out, their bodies quivering with the same frenetic need to find the source of their distress, to put a stop to the persistent clamoring of their senses.

  She felt Drew coming up behind rather than smelling his essence. Disoriented, she twisted and turned seeking a trail, her senses off kilter.

  He took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “Settle down, babe. Don’t let them mess with your head.”

  He was right as always. She laughed, apologetic. “Sorry, gave in to my anxiety for a moment there.”

  Sabine dragged in a calming breath and centered herself. Gritting her teeth, she stopped shying away from the sting-sear pounding at her senses. Pushing down her revulsion, she opened up and immersed herself in her impressions to search for the font of her disquiet. It was easier than before, now that she’d gotten over her shock. Using what she knew, Sabine worked around what she didn’t comprehend, yet. And found what she sought.

  Yes, there they were, hidden in the shadows, crouched, silently waiting for an opening to take advantage of any weakness. Their presence now was a mere irritant rather than a menace. There was no reason why it should come at her from all points, unless…it came from above.

  Sabine tensed; they were being watched. A hunter by nature, being eyed as potential prey was an unsettling feeling.

  Drew’s hands tightened, she lifted her gaze to see worried questions in his eyes. She smiled at her mate with a growing confidence, now that she had an inkling where to start her hunt. The were in her uncoiled and the gift inherited through her Silverwolf bloodline stretched and adapted to overcome the influencing effect attempting to deceive her sense of smell. More than any other pack, they lived by their olfactory acuteness, had mastery over the layers of scent that drifted on the currents. />
  Touching the spot where she’d been bitten, a shudder shook her, but the excitement of a hunt urged her to shift, track, and disable her enemies.

  She murmured, “They were watching us from above. We have to go now, they are on the move.”

  “I know you have to go.” Drew pressed his lips to her brow. “Be careful, the emanations of wounded and dead weres are heavy in the air.”

  “You will know where I am every second I am away from your side, as I will know where you are. Be safe.” Sabine pushed back from him If she lingered any longer, she might lose her nerve.

  Doubt flickered through Drew’s eyes. “Your job is to locate the weres we seek, nothing more.”

  Oh, she didn’t intend to tangle with those wolves, but she’d make sure they didn’t get away. “I will do better. I will tag them with a lure. There is nowhere they can hide from you, you’ll be able to find them with my marker.”

  “I’m not sure I want those assholes smelling like you.”

  She wrinkled her nose.

  “Not like me, of me. A Silverwolf will be able to find him. It’s like a pheromone-borne homing device.”

  “After you’re done, find a defensible position until I find you. I have to face Bardo before I relinquish my right of retribution to Micah.”

  “I won’t do anything to jeopardize the making of our future cub.” The softening of her body in preparation to conceive had begun. She grinned at him with a relief she couldn’t share.

  Her breasts, heavy and achy, chafed against the shirt she wore, accompanied by a fullness in her pelvis and loins. Sabine kept a tight rein on what she exuded. If Drew got a whiff of her readiness, his were would not tolerate a separation, no matter how short. He didn’t need the distraction.

  “Royal and his men will be at your back. Dex will be at your side. Most my personal guard will be with you. Rafe has to be by my side as my primo, though I’d have preferred he was with you.”

  She didn’t know whether to be touched or annoyed. “We all have our roles to play. His is by your side at this time.” She glanced over at Rafe, Micah and the other weres of his pack jumping down from the bus they were crowded in. Royal’s people joined the throng. Those that traveled down with them slid from the cars and vans, others that were there ahead of them separated from the shadows, standing in wait for his next command.