by Treva Harte
“Wolf. Human. Both ways. Any way. I claim you, Lin. D’you understand? Always. No matter what.”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t say anything more. She didn’t need to. With a long growl, he lowered his head against her and began to pump again, even harder. Hot liquid spilled into her already heated body, even as he kept thrusting.
Lin released a long, thin howl of joy as she came, fiercely, her body racked with her orgasm. Lowell collapsed on top of her a moment later. He hastily rolled off.
“My God.” Lowell covered his eyes with his hand.
“Yeah.”
“Topping is hard work.”
Lin snorted, too weak to laugh.
They both heard the faint scratching at the door. Lowell sat up, his body shielding hers. “What?”
Slick opened the door hesitantly. Once again Lin wondered if he’d shuffle his feet while he spoke. “Boss -- you had a phone call.”
She’d thought the ringing in her ears had been from her climax.
“And?” Lowell sounded as impatient as she felt.
“You were busy. But -- but --”
Damn. Was the entire pack waiting outside, listening to them, waiting for them to finish? Part of her wanted to shrivel up in embarrassment, but another part exulted. Let them listen and long for what she and Lowell had.
“It’s her father.” Slick glanced over toward Lin and hastily looked back at the floor. He held out the cell phone. “Trouble.”
“What kind?” Lowell reached for the phone.
Oh, dear Lord. Had her parents been listening in by phone as well?
The beta moved his hand back, not letting Lowell take the phone. “I dunno. The kind that makes an alpha call and say he needs help. He said you had to keep it private.”
Lowell growled. Slick swallowed and backed out of the room. Lin didn’t think the other were had to worry, but then she’d never seen Lowell quite so unhappy.
“What is that beta’s name, anyway?” Lin asked. She knew it was a stupid question but, insanely, she thought conversation could postpone what he’d hear next.
“Oscar.” Lowell answered absently.
Odd name for a trouble-making behemoth. She should ask what his partner’s name was. Big Bird? Ernie? She should --
She didn’t want to hear what the trouble was. She was tough, sure, but she didn’t want to hear it. Eventually she would. Maybe she should insist on ignoring her father’s command for privacy right now, but she let Lowell stride out and shut the door. She needed a minute or so to collect herself.
It must be bad. Very bad.
Adrenaline surged and she crouched in a fighting stance, without knowing what she needed to fight.
“God damn it!” Still naked, Lowell began to pace as he held the phone. “What the fuck kind of game is this?”
He almost fell over his pack when he turned. Orders of privacy long since forgotten, the two male betas kept creeping closer, straining to hear the rest of the phone conversation. Lowell might have laughed except for his rising annoyance and puzzlement.
“All right. I understand that you didn’t call. There’s no real emergency. Who gives a damn about Rossi being gone? He’s nothing. Probably just passed out somewhere. Unless --”
Lowell raised his head and the rest shrank back when they saw his eyes.
“Where’s Dru?” Lowell demanded.
Oscar cleared his throat. “She’s been hiding in her room ever since you smacked her down, boss. It’s been kind of nice to have the peace.”
“Make sure she’s still there.” Lowell spaced his words out, his voice almost gentle.
Oscar goggled before he spun around and ran as fast as a huge man could, even faster than last time.
“I’ll kill Rossi. No, I’ll cut off his little head since that’s the only one that ever did any thinking. I know they’re planning something. And if Dru has even the slightest idea about making trouble, I’ll --” Lowell knew he was snarling, babbling, the words turning into one huge snarl as the change began. But the hair was standing on the back of his neck and he could feel the wrongness.
Dek hadn’t called him at all. Hadn’t thought it worth mentioning that Rossi had been gone since their supper together. Certainly hadn’t said anything about it being an emergency. But someone had called to say he had. Someone had demanded Lowell’s attention on the phone.
Wrong. Something was wrong.
“Jesus fuck, Lowell, she’s gone!” Oscar was back and panting from the exertion. “Everything is cleared out. The kid -- Mia -- she’s hiding in a corner, crying. But Dru’s run from the pack.”
They all gasped.
Oscar kept talking through the shocked silence of the others. “You never should have kept her on. She was never any good for this pack. And I know she couldn’t have been that hot a piece of ass since you stopped fucking her years ago. But this is your fault. How did you think she’d react now that you’ve taken someone else for your bit--”
Oscar stopped in mid-word when Lowell dropped the phone and put his hand around the beta’s throat. The silence changed from shocked to deadly.
“What would Lin think if you killed me, boss?” Oscar almost screamed, his voice shrill with fear.
Lin.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Wrong. Very wrong.
Lowell ran back to the closed bedroom door. Lin knew the rules and even though she’d flouted them when they met, she’d obeyed them ever since. She was always with him or a member of his pack in case of danger.
His pack. His pack was supposed to protect their alpha bitch. He was supposed to protect her from everyone.
Lowell tore open the door and stared inside.
The window was open, letting heat into the air conditioned chill. Cold. Despite that window, it was too cold in the damned room.
“She’s gone.” Oscar was at his heels. “You let them take her.”
With those words, in one blink, Lowell did the impossible. He turned were without any time to change at all.
Oscar saw the danger too late. He had only started to transform, already too late to defend himself, before Lowell was on him.
“Shit, I didn’t mean anything! You can’t kill me for telling the truth, you bastard!” Oscar yelled.
The words meant nothing to the red blood lust in his head. He was going to kill.
“Oscar isn’t the enemy, Lowell! Are you listening?” It was a female voice and that reached him when nothing else might. The words were something Lin might say, almost the way she’d say them.
But it wasn’t his mate. Lin. God, Lin, where are you?
Slowly Lowell focused. Mia stood sandwiched between the two angry weres, looking sick with fear. She ignored the beta and spoke directly to her boss. “Don’t be angry with your pack brother.”
Not that she’d seen a lot of pack spirit here. But it gave them all a moment to breathe. To think again.
Jesus, he didn’t want to human think.
I let Rossi go. I let Dru stay. It’s my fault. Weak.
Mia cocked her head as if she could hear him. “Why are you still here? Aren’t you going to find her?”
The sizzling anger whooshed back but with it came control. Ice. That’s what he was. That’s what he needed.
Damn straight he’d find her. He wasn’t that weak.
Mia’s face crumpled as she realized there was no immediate threat to her or the pack. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a wail. “Oh my God. You have to find her. Now what?”
A long howl rang out behind the sobbing girl. The death howl. Lowell heard the cry echoing in his own throat and then the return wail from his betas.
Mia might cry and pretend not to know the answer, but they all knew exactly what would happen next. But it was too early to be were. Like it or not, they needed to think.
Lowell shuddered, gritted his teeth and let the surge of transformation seep into his body.
“You might want to go find your jeans, boss. If yo
u’re back to feeling human again.” Oscar rubbed his non-were throat as if Lowell had actually gone for it. “Sounds like there’s work to do.”
Chapter Five
“It’s all right. Really. Really. I’m here. I’m here.” Lowell laughed down at her, just out of reach, almost the way it had been when she was a child. Annoyed, Lin stretched out to touch him.
Lin woke up with a jerk, tears on her face.
It had been a dream. She could almost hear Lowell, though their matebond wasn’t letting her hear his thoughts, now when she most needed to.
Maybe because her head still hurt from where she’d been knocked out. Taken and captured without a sound because she’d known these wolves.
“Not yet, baby. But soon.” For a moment Lowell’s voice rumbled in her head clearly. And then she went under again.
He and Dek met formally, their packs standing at the alert behind them. Lowell had never seen anything like the meeting -- never heard of anything like it. It was an alliance in a world where packs never formed partnerships. But now they had a mutual enemy and the same goals.
“I’ve started searching Rossi’s haunts around town. Talking to people he’s talked to.” Dek’s fists clenched, ready for battle. He relaxed them with an effort but they balled up again before he was done with the sentence.
Lowell almost pitied the poor non-weres who had to answer the questions. If he’d had any pity to waste.
“Dru hadn’t settled in here yet. But I’ve been checking out the last few places we’ve lived. Calling in a few favors to find out if she went back.” The two packs whined uneasily, close to were, even in human shape. Lowell knew why. He might have shifted back to human form, but everyone could smell the were on him, not far below the surface. It made all of them restless.
Too damn bad. He was on the hunt. It wouldn’t take much to turn it into a blood hunt. It was hard enough to stay focused and thinking when he wanted to rend and tear. Where the hell had they hidden themselves?
“Mia.” Leila snapped out the name.
Lowell’s eyes narrowed. Mia. He’d changed to human so he could think, but he hadn’t been thinking smart at all. Thank God someone was. Lowell beckoned to the group behind him.
“Come here.”
Mia walked reluctantly forward. Everyone had ignored her and her hysterics after she’d delivered the bad news. After all, Mia was no threat. She still wasn’t. If she’d been in were form she’d have crawled forward, belly to the ground, to meet her alpha.
Lowell knew that his temper made it unwise for him to question the miserable little thing before this. But it had been stupid to let temper get in the way for so long. Mia might be reluctant, but she was still a potential source of information. No matter. Leila or Dek would do the interrogation, which was just as well since he was close to losing control.
“Sir?” Mia whispered the word.
“What do you know about what’s happened here?”
Mia shook her head violently.
“I didn’t -- I wouldn’t --” The teenager was incoherent, seeing up close the cold rage in Lowell’s face.
Time for some feminine sympathy. Lowell glanced at Leila, took a deep breath and gathered patience.
“Why didn’t Dru take you along?” Leila grasped Mia’s hand. It was shaking so hard that the woman almost had to use force to hold onto Mia’s wrist. “It’s all right, Mia. We aren’t blaming you, aren’t out to punish you. You’re still one of the pack.”
“Yes. Oh, please, believe me! I wouldn’t go.” Mia began to sob, tears trickling down her chin. “She said we were going to be a new pack, but I said I didn’t need a new one. She smacked me, but I wouldn’t go.”
“Did she say anything about Lin? About where they would go?”
Mia shook her head.
“Moth-- Dru said she had a bargaining chip to keep them safe. To make sure we’d be a pack. She said I was a fool and ungrateful --”
Lowell broke in. “Did she do anything? If she didn’t say anything, did she do anything to let you know what would happen?”
Leila shook her head at him. “Don’t cry so, my dear. You’ll make yourself sick. Wipe your eyes and think for a moment. We’ll wait.”
Lowell didn’t know how Leila could stand it but somehow she was holding onto the shaking Mia, the way she would have Lin, letting her cry it out.
Where are you, Lin? Damn it, speak to me.
The embrace worked. Mia’s sobs calmed at last. She swiped at her eyes and spoke steadily. “I’ve been thinking. I know a lot about my moth -- about Dru. I watch her. You have to, because if she gets angry, she gets ugly. But she wasn’t angry. Not until I said I wouldn’t leave.” Mia’s face was tight with concentration. “Then she said she didn’t have the money to do everything her new pack wanted, but she would soon and then I’d be sorry. I’d see what I’d given up too late.”
“Money? D’you think that’s all she wants?” Dek broke in.
Lowell had money. His security service was world-class and world-famous. They’d been bodyguards to some of the most important people in the world. And Dek had money from his business ventures. Probably even more than Lowell did. Fuck. Money was easy.
“I think that’s too easy.” Lowell rubbed a spot between his eyebrows, hating to say aloud what he knew they were all thinking. “She’s too angry to be satisfied with money.”
“But if that’s even a part of it, then she’s nearby, to get it from us.” Leila couldn’t keep the hope from her voice. “And to watch and gloat.”
“If they’re still here, Rossi has to have found the spot for them to stay. Someplace where they can find out what we’re doing.” Dek began to pace.
Some place that Rossi would find. Lin knew where Rossi liked to go. She knew how Rossi thought -- better than anyone else in his pack or hers did. They’d been companions, even if forced ones, for many years. If she’d been trapped or disoriented, she could still figure him out.
Lin. Think, damn it. Then tell me.
He hadn’t picked up anything since she was kidnapped. What if she couldn’t tell him? What if she was too badly injured or -- He wasn’t going to let himself think what she might be.
He saw Leila sway just a little. Damn, the woman was strong, but the uncertainty was killing them all.
“Leila needs rest. She’s running on adrenaline right now.”
“Decided to take on the care of both packs, boy?” Dek’s words made Lowell stiffen. But the other male alpha in the room didn’t sound angry at him. “Lin is enough work on her own.”
“That she is.”
Jeeters.
The word made no sense, but it sounded like Lin’s voice. Had she called to him or did a random thought finally hit his brain? No matter. Lowell took a deep breath and focused. He searched his memory.
“The night Lin left Rossi behind. He was at Jeeters.”
Grey scowled. “It’s where he always goes. He’s dragged me there a few times. There are people there who’ll do a lot of ugly things for a nice price. I don’t hang with them, but everyone knows who they are.”
“Bingo.” Lowell knew he was smiling wide enough to show all his canines. An ugly smile. “You can tell me about them in detail. Give me names and descriptions. I don’t want to make any mistake about who they are.”
“We don’t want to make any mistakes.” Dek cut in, eyes glittering. “Jail’s not a good place for weres.”
“No one will know. We’ll keep everything within the pack. Two packs. Hell, we’ll keep it even tighter. It’s just between our families.” Leila looked at them, all trace of weakness gone. “Guess we owe you a chance to get your own back as well, Lowell.”
Pack rules were tight, but using kin-family? When invoked, that was closer, more secret, and more sacred than pack law. That was why it was used maybe once in anyone’s lifetime. But Leila was right. This was too messy to get all the pack involved. And the situation was a once in a lifetime emergency.
“Understood.” L
owell nodded, ignoring the yip of protest from the rest of the pack, just like he pushed aside the brief delight at being counted kin. “Just family. The only one who won’t go is Rome. He’s too young yet.”
“We deserve a chance at those two rogues,” Grey snarled.
His own pack snarled behind Lowell.
“Thank you for standing with us.” Lowell swallowed. He hadn’t been sure before this that his pack would. “But this time -- this one time -- it would be better without the pack.”
Lin shook her head. She was groggy. Disoriented.
The water. The food. Lin tried to think if anything had tasted off, but her brain was too fuzzy. No matter. She couldn’t risk tasting any of the things her enemies had prepared for her. She could be a little hungry and thirsty until Lowell came for her.
For a moment, she thought she heard him howling.
Chapter Six
“Keep away from the door.” Leila spoke with quiet deadliness.
Someone would die. Tonight. In front of the rest. Lin absorbed the knowledge as she heard the almost soundless growls of the weres around her. She wasn’t as steady as she could be, since she’d carefully hidden the food and water given to her for the past day, but her brain was clear enough to know trouble when she saw it come in the door.
The family’s entrance had been almost soundless, but terrible nonetheless.
“Fine. You found us. We still win. It’s not what we planned at first, but if you touch us, Lin’s throat is ripped out. You took me once, Lowell. You tricked me into putting aside revenge because I thought I would be your alpha bitch. I don’t believe in putting aside revenge any longer.” Dru’s voice was as cold, as certain, as Leila’s. “You have the girl tight, Rossi?”
“Yes.” He was the only one who looked terrified. Hadn’t Rossi known what would happen? Or had he just wanted to please his bitch mother when she ordered the unthinkable?
Rossi really had never been too bright.
But he clutched Lin just as tightly as a smart man would. His hand was steady on the knife and his head was slightly bent toward Lin’s throat. Weapon or his own teeth -- either could tear away her life.
