The wolf snarled with contempt and disdain. While it understood the need for vengeance, the lengths males would go to over women were a mystery to it. Women were for sex, for breeding. Too many of them didn’t know their place in the natural order. They had been allowed too much freedom under Michael’s rule. No doubt due to Michael’s infatuation with his human mate. Things were going to change when Derek took over.
His rage rose again over the disruption of his plans. He’d wanted Jason to take the land from Michael. Losing such prime real estate would put the Alpha in a position to be challenged. Throw in the recent spurt of murders of women connected to the clan, and he was practically begging to be challenged. Derek had waited years for this time to come. His claws dug into the mud, a low growl welling up from his throat. Everything would have gone perfectly if Celeste hadn’t found out Jason didn’t know she was alive. Hadn’t seen him kill the blonde woman.
He’d been able to piece together some of what happened. Rumors flew quickly in the clan. Celeste had been called home and hadn’t been told her mate thought she was dead. Derek had stumbled on that knowledge accidentally a year ago and kept it to himself, saved for some time in the future when he might be able to use it. And it had worked, making it possible to maneuver both Jason and Michael into the land deal. No one seemed to know why Celeste was given that information after so long, and he’d kept his speculations to himself. He still couldn’t believe Michael told her. Derek had badly miscalculated, certain the werewolf would stand by and watch the land go before he confessed his deceit to his only daughter.
A new scent came to him on the wind, and he lifted his muzzle to take it in. Celeste, mixed with Jason and the heady, musky smell of sex. He growled. She’d have to pay for that. It hadn’t taken her long to forget him, had it? Derek had never bedded her. He wanted to. Wanted to possess her, own her, but he’d held back waiting for the right time. Forcing Michael to watch his rough treatment of her after he was removed as Alpha and unable to come to his daughter’s aid would only add to the other wolf’s humiliation. Derek had been looking forward to that humiliation, dreaming of it for years. All those plans were now shot to hell. He had to salvage whatever he could.
Jason and Celeste had to die. Here. Tonight. No one would be able to pin the murders on him, and his little side hobby would return to be a more secret, safer pastime. In a few days he’d approach one of Jason’s brothers about buying the land from them. He would at least still be able to challenge Michael, demoralize and ruin him. Then maybe he could finally put his father’s spirit to rest. But for now, he had to figure out how to take out Jason.
He’d seen the wereleopard fight once, and he was formidable. In a fair contest, Derek knew he couldn’t take him. Good thing he didn’t care about fighting fair. He kept a hunting rifle in his truck, the better to fit in with his human yokel neighbors. Maybe he’d use it to kill Jason, quick and easy, then he could take his time with Celeste. He couldn’t let her faithlessness slide with no punishment. He wished he could keep her alive a little while, take her home and use her the way he used other women, but he doubted even the trauma of seeing her mate murdered would keep her in line for long. No, eventually she’d rebel, and he’d have to kill her anyway. Too risky. It would be much easier to dispose of the bodies here.
The rain started up again, and he wiggled his way up from under the shelter of the tree. He stared at the house a minute, allowing his excitement to rise. It would all be over soon. Turning, he let the wolf loose and ran back to the truck. It was time to put his plan into action.
When he was sure she was asleep, Jason rolled out of bed. He stood and watched her a few minutes, grinning like a fool. A woman so well pleasured she passed out was a beautiful thing.
My woman.
Leaning over, he pushed a strand of hair out of her face and brushed a kiss over her lips. Then he walked out to his truck.
The only way to keep her safe was to get information. Celeste was so upset over dealing with her family’s betrayal that he was afraid to push her for the reason for her sudden appearance. But the storm was roaring closer to land, and he needed answers quick. The phone in the house was dead. He hoped to God the satellite phone would still work.
He retrieved it from the glove box of his truck, ran back inside through the pouring rain and turned the phone on. It had a dial tone. He exhaled a gusty sigh of relief he hadn’t been aware he was holding and punched in Michael’s number. Tomas, the brother he remembered as Celeste’s favorite, answered and quickly handed the phone off to his father.
“Is Celeste with you?” he demanded gruffly. Did he actually think Jason was going to let him control the conversation? He snorted. Not in this lifetime.
“Now that was a stupid question,” he drawled. “The smart question is why you sent her to me after all this time and in a fucking hurricane.”
“She didn’t tell you? It’s about the land, of course—getting an extension on the balloon payment. Why else would I send her?” Michael’s tone was all arrogant bravado and all Alpha. It made Jason’s teeth itch. The werewolf needed Jason’s help but still couldn’t bring himself to tone down the attitude. Like most of the old school werekind leaders, Michael was autocratic. Abrasive. Was certain he knew what was best for everyone. Look what he’d done to Celeste.
Fury rolled through Jason at Michael for sending her into danger during a hurricane, and at Celeste for agreeing to it—for coming to him over her precious land. Jason’s thoughts bounced back and forth, and he stood poised on the balls of his feet, ready to pounce at an enemy he couldn’t see before reason started to return. Celeste could not have changed so much. Whatever had sent her running to Florida—to him—it wasn’t the land. Michael’s explanation didn’t fit with the evidence of her attack, her amnesia, but he was certain Michael knew a hell of a lot more than he was saying.
“Why else would you send her? That’s a very good question, isn’t it?” He let the silence drag a moment. “Because she didn’t get to me before someone attacked her, and now she doesn’t remember anything that’s happened over the past twenty-four hours or so.”
He heard a muffled gasp in the background on Michael’s end and knew her mother was listening in. He felt a brief pang of sympathy for her and wondered what the fuck Michael was up to.
“She’s fine by the way,” he said sarcastically when the other man didn’t respond. “I take care of my own. And let’s get that clear right from the start, Michael. She’s mine. You won’t take her from me again.”
Michael huffed, and Jason could imagine his grip on the phone turning white knuckled. He grinned. He could really learn to love one-upping Michael.
“So why don’t you tell me what’s really going on? You sent her here. Why? To protect her or because you need help? And don’t give me some bull about the land.”
Michael’s growl turned into a groan, and Jason muttered, “Shit.”
“We could have easily made that payment.” Michael sighed. “Except things kept going wrong. Broken equipment, late deliveries, personnel problems.”
“Sabotage?”
Michael’s laugh was short and harsh. “We didn’t think so at first, but then Celeste got close to someone who helped her recover. Emotionally started to rebound, I mean, and he—Derek—started offering to help us out of the mess. With a hefty percentage of the business going to him, of course. Even that didn’t make me really suspicious. Not at first.”
Jason gripped the phone so hard the plastic casing cracked in his hand. Derek was the mysterious boyfriend? Like hell that was just a coincidence.
“It was the women,” Michael said.
What the fuck was he going on about now?
“Come again?”
“A suspicious number of women have gone missing recently. There wasn’t any kind of pattern, no connections between them—except they were all humans from this area.”
“Until?”
“The last three have all been connected to my family in some
way.”
Fuck, and Celeste had almost been the fourth. How close had it been? How had she escaped? He remembered the truck that had almost run him off the road at the beach.
“Do you know anyone who drives a white F150?”
He heard movement in the hallway and turned to meet Celeste’s gaze. She was pale and shaking, and he immediately stepped toward her. She and Michael answered his question at the same time, Michael by swearing and Celeste with a shiver.
“Derek,” she whispered. “It’s Derek’s truck. I saw him kill someone.”
Jason set the phone on an end table and pulled her into his arms.
“It’s okay, baby. You’re safe here.”
She pressed her head against his chest and shook it.
“I’m not. He’ll keep coming. He’s relentless in everything else he does, and what choice does he have now?”
Jason’s chest rumbled in response. “Let him come. I protect my own. You have to trust me to take care of you, Celeste.”
She leaned back, tilting her head to smile up at him.
“For some crazy reason I do.”
They heard yelling through the phone receiver, Michael trying to get his attention. Releasing her, he stretched an arm out and picked the phone up. My dad? she mouthed. He smiled in response.
“What else, Michael? I can see him wanting to cover up what he’s doing, but why target women important to your family? Why the business arrangement?”
Wind gusted against the house, banging debris against an outside wall, and Michael’s answer was garbled. The phone lost its signal before Jason could ask him to repeat himself. Frustrated, he turned it off and tossed it to the couch where it fell between the back and a cushion.
“Fuck,” Jason muttered.
Celeste had backed away and huddled in the entry to the hallway, instinctively going for the interior walls when the wind picked up. She bit her lower lip and tried to hurry her mind through the last few minutes’ revelations. First, there was the dream recounting her family’s deceit and Derek killing the blonde woman, and now what little she’d overheard of the phone conversation.
“What women?” she finally asked.
She felt a sense of urgency, knew they needed to work it all out quickly. Celeste felt watched, stalked. Goose bumps broke out across her arms, and the back of her neck tingled. They couldn’t hear much over the wind and rain, but she knew Derek was out there somewhere. Watching. Waiting.
Jason didn’t answer right away. With one hand on his hip, he bent his head forward and massaged the back of his neck with the other hand. He retrieved the phone and put it in the hall closet. When he returned his gaze to her, there was a feral gleam in his eyes.
“You were involved with Derek?”
She almost smiled at his emphasis on the past tense and nodded. His expression hardened, and he approached her slowly with the stealth of a big cat. A predatory, pissed-off cat. Her heart skipped a beat. She glanced down the hall behind her and considered making a run for the bedroom.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.”
“Wouldn’t what?” she whispered.
“Run.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Like hell she wouldn’t. He was within arm’s reach when she took a nervous step back. It was reflex more than desire to get away, but if he realized that he didn’t care.
Jason pounced before she could retreat any farther, taking them both to the floor with a thud. His hand swept under her head, protecting her from the fall as well as pinning her under him. He ground his hips against her belly, and she opened her legs to accommodate him, groaning when he readjusted himself and his erection pressed against her pussy.
He shoved her shirt up above her breasts and took one nipple into his mouth while his hand fisted in her hair and tugged so she arched her back, pushing her chest up to him. Both stung a little more than was good, coming down more on the pain side of her pain/pleasure comfort zone than pleasure. She yelped a protest, Jason released the pressure on her hair, his teeth abandoned her breast to be replaced by soft kisses, gentle licks. When he lifted his head and met her gaze, she trailed her fingers down the side of his face.
“It was always you. Only you.”
“Damn right,” he growled. “And it’ll always be me.”
The door banged open, and Celeste’s alarm spiked. She craned her head, trying to see around Jason’s body, to see what was coming. Storm or monster?
Derek strolled in, a rifle propped on his shoulder and an insane look in his eye that made her shudder in terror.
“Well, isn’t this sweet. Lovers reunited. Too bad for you, it’ll be so short lived.”
Jason jerked the shirt down over her chest and leapt to his feet, dragging her with him and shoving her behind him.
“Derek,” he greeted him coldly. “What brings you to the neighborhood?”
“Just a quick visit.” Derek looked at her and sneered. “I’m so disappointed in your lack of fidelity, sweetheart.” He returned his gaze to Jason. “My girl here is a liability. I was delayed in coming after her. Small matter of disposing of another body, you understand. Come to think of it, you’re a liability too.”
Jason growled low in his throat, and she clutched his wrist, afraid he’d attack and get himself shot.
“She’s not yours. Never was and never will be.”
Derek chuckled. “No, I’ll give you that—she really wasn’t. But she made good bait, didn’t she?”
She tried to peer around Jason, to see Derek, this man she’d thought she knew and was obviously clueless about, but Jason held her immobile behind him, his strength easily overpowering hers.
“Let’s see her, Jason. I want to watch her face when I kill you. Then she and I have some unfinished business to tend to.”
She gritted her teeth against the scream welling inside her, the anger building in her. He was crazy. Insane. Certifiable. She wasn’t ready to die, yet, especially now that she’d found Jason again.
“She’s just fine where she is,” Jason answered.
“No, I don’t think so. Come out, come out, Celeste. Or I’ll just shoot your mate while he tries to guard you. Fair trade don’t you think?”
His voice had a singsong, loony quality to it and, knowing he meant what he said, she wrenched free from Jason’s grip and stepped into the living room where she could at least see what was going on.
“Ah, there you are, love.”
She sensed more than saw Jason bristle at the endearment. Arching an eyebrow she addressed Derek, hanging on to her cool by a thread.
“I never was your love though, was I?”
His laugh was more a cackle, and it grated on her nerves, making them raw and alert. How could they get out of here alive? She was determined to live. Watching Jason in her peripheral vision, she was certain he felt the same way.
An eerie quiet descended outside. She was so used to wind screaming and rain pelting that it threw her for a loop. What the hell? The sudden calm was unnerving. She looked at Jason, and he was looking up.
“We’re in the eye,” he said.
In the eye of the storm? That couldn’t be good, even if it was a small hurricane. The highest winds were on the back side of a hurricane. If it passed directly over them, they’d get the worst of it, regardless of the psychopath in the living room with a gun. And here she’d thought her luck might be changing. Not.
Jason met her gaze, then reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. There was a hard look on his face when he turned back to Derek, and she hoped it meant he had a plan to get them out of this in one piece. Releasing her hand, he shrugged, somehow combining it with a smooth step closer to Derek that the other man didn’t seem to notice.
“If you’re going to kill us, we might as well know why.”
“Why not? Celeste may not even know the story. Michael’s always spent too much energy protecting his human daughter.” Derek’s grin was pure malice and the way he sneered human made her skin
crawl.
“Once upon a time, there was an Alpha who was challenged by his Beta, and the Beta killed him.” He frowned theatrically. “Sound familiar yet, Celeste?”
“My father. Your father.” She shrugged and tried to look nonchalant. She hadn’t had a clue he held a grudge about that. No one had. “That was what? Fifteen years ago? Isn’t that old news?”
“Old news.” He sneered. “For y’all maybe. Michael killed my father and stole my clan. I’ve watched and worked and waited for years to get it back. Destroying his family in the process is just an added bonus.”
“Well, I don’t have a problem with that on general principal you understand,” Jason drawled, and she glared at him. This was helping? “But Celeste is my family, not Michael’s, so she’s hardly a target for your revenge.”
Derek shook his head in mock sorrow. “I might have let her go, but she saw something she shouldn’t have. It’s better if she dies here really. It’ll be quick, Jason. And it’ll destroy Michael. One more woman he’s responsible for that he couldn’t protect.”
“About the women.” Jason stood calmly with his arms crossed over his chest as if it was perfectly normal to stand in his living room in the middle of a hurricane and hold a conversation with a madman, as if it was simply curiosity that made him inquire. “I get going after his business. I was ready to take the land. But how do the women fit into the plan?”
“Ah, you spoke to Michael. He told you about the women.” Derek’s eyes were wild and he gave her a smile she could only describe as creepy. She wished Jason would hurry the hell up and get them out of this. She tried not to watch as he took another step toward Derek, tried not to give the movement away. Derek waved a dismissive hand in the air. “They were only human. Well, except the first one.”
She sucked in a deep breath as realization hit her. She remembered the whispered conversations.
Passions Recalled: Forbidden Passions, Book 2 Page 6
