The Lone Hunt

by L. L. Raand

  Sylvan watched the flames flicker in the depths of Lara’s eyes, sensing her wariness and something she hadn’t expected—protectiveness. Lara had not killed the cat when she’d had every opportunity to do so. Any other wolf would have finished her. “Jody’s on her way. You can wait for her at headquarters.”

  “I claim the cat as my prisoner,” Lara said. “I want to be present when she is questioned.”

  Sylvan growled softly. “I’ve given you more leeway than you deserve, Warlord. You trespassed on my land and now you stand for an enemy?”

  “I claim the right to take part in her sentencing.”

  “My imperator wants to challenge you for your disregard of Pack law.”

  “I’m ready,” Lara snarled and Niki took a step forward, her canines flashing.

  Sylvan rumbled softly and brushed Lara’s cheek with the backs of her fingers. Niki fell back. “I have not forgotten that you were once mine, and I have not released you from your oath to me, no matter that your first allegiance is to the Vampire. You are still my wolf, and as long as that is true, you are welcome on Pack land. But next time, let me know.”

  Lara shuddered as the heat and power of Sylvan’s touch raced through her. She leaned into the Alpha’s hand and rubbed her cheek over her fingers. Some of the darkness in her heart receded. “Yes, Alpha. My word.”

  Sylvan nodded. “Niki, Dasha, Jace—take the prisoner to the holding cells.”

  Lara stiffened. “Raina says she has information—it would be wise to hear her out.”

  “Raina,” Sylvan murmured as the centuri, armed with stun guns and a restraining collar, clamored into the Rover. “She was just coming into power during my mother’s rule. I never met her, but my mother thought Raina might bring order to the cats. And yet, here she is, running for her life.”

  “She’s no coward.” Lara trembled at the waves of fury pouring from the vehicle. Her wolf clawed and bit at her psyche, demanding she answer. She ignored the gut-wrenching urge, denying her wolf the claim she had no right to make.

  Sylvan watched the prisoner being dragged into the infirmary. “We’ll find out soon enough what the cat is made of.”

  Chapter Eight

  Drake watched the centuri unload the prisoner from the Rover. Andrew gripped one arm and Jace, a young blue-eyed blonde and one of the newest of Sylvan’s guard, the other. A restraint collar embedded with silver encircled her neck, tethered to a short, stout baton that Niki used to control the stumbling female as the group moved toward the infirmary. The open wounds beneath the collar oozed blood and fluid. She had to be in pain, but the only sound she made was a low, steady rumble of anger, not distress.

  “Is all that necessary?” Drake said quietly to Sylvan.

  “She’s an enemy, encroaching on our land, for reasons we do not know.” Sylvan clasped the back of Drake’s neck and squeezed gently. “Most of my soldiers and all of my centuri would prefer she be killed with no discussion.”

  “She’s obviously badly injured.”

  Sylvan smiled thinly. “You are one hundred percent Were, Prima, but you have not lived in the shadow of the enemy all your life. Wounds like that would not stop me from seeking my freedom, no matter how many captors I had to fight or how much blood I shed.”

  Wrapping an arm around Sylvan’s waist, Drake rubbed her cheek against Sylvan’s bare shoulder. “She is not you.”

  “We don’t know who she is.”

  “You’re right. You must look to the safety of the Pack first.” Drake kissed the side of Sylvan’s neck. “I’m going to the infirmary to take a look at her.”

  Sylvan stiffened. “No, you’re not.”

  Drake shook her head. “Somehow your vocabulary has become extraordinarily limited in the last week or so. Do you realize that most of your sentences start with the word no?”

  “I don’t find anything humorous about this.” Sylvan glowered, the harsh bones in her face standing out beneath her bronzed skin. She was almost always in half-form these days, her wolf so close to the surface she was operating on instinct more than reason, and she was always a breath away from fighting anything or anyone she perceived as a threat to her mate. She was glorious in her fury, and ordinarily Drake would have soothed her by dragging her away where they could be alone. She’d learned to calm Sylvan with her body and, even more importantly, by offering Sylvan a safe place to voice her fears—the one thing no one else could ever give her. Today, she didn’t have time for privacy or slow assurances. She pressed closer, letting Sylvan feel the heat of her body. “She’s harmless right now. Niki will be there. I’ll be perfectly safe.”

  Sylvan’s canines flared, long and heavy. The shadow of her pelt line extended and thickened. Drake traced her fingers through the soft silver trail bisecting Sylvan’s belly. “Sylvan, you have other business. Jody will be here soon, you have another prisoner, and Lara—Lara needs you.”

  Sylvan gripped Drake’s wrist, pulled her into the shadows of the stockade, and backed her against the rough wooden posts. Pressing the full length of her body to Drake’s, she covered her mouth in a hard kiss. When she eased away, her teeth scraped Drake’s neck, her breath scorched Drake’s skin. “I’ll tell you what I need. I need you to go home with Dasha and stay there. I need you to take care of the young in your belly. The cat and her whelps are not your concern. They’ll probably be dead by morning.”

  Sylvan’s breasts were tight, her nipples hard knots against Drake’s chest. Her thighs were columns of stone pinning Drake to the barricade. Sex pheromones streamed from Sylvan’s skin, coating Drake, forcing her sex to swell and pulse. Drake’s stomach tightened, and she wanted nothing more than Sylvan between her legs. Sylvan was so very good at making her want, and if she let her, Sylvan would rule her with pleasure.

  Drake gripped Sylvan’s hips and dug her claws through her denim pants, burying them in Sylvan’s ass. “I will give you anything you need, but I cannot always give you what you want. Elena and Sophia are medics, and I would trust their assessment of any wolf, but this is a cat, and there are young involved. I’m a doctor. I want to see them. And”—when Sylvan started to protest, she scraped her claws higher, making Sylvan grumble deep in her chest—“I don’t want you to interrogate her until I’ve had a chance to be sure she’s stable.”

  “Why do you care?” Sylvan growled, her voice barely audible through thickened vocal cords. Even in the dim firelight, her eyes glowed brilliant gold. Her wolf ruled her.

  “Because we are not lawless animals, Sylvan.”

  “No?” Snarling, Sylvan jerked Drake’s shirt away from her shoulder and pressed her mouth to the bite on Drake’s shoulder that branded her as Sylvan’s.

  Drake arched, her mate’s bite flooding her system with pheromones. Her orgasm was swift and intense and left her gasping. Still riding the crest of release, she gripped Sylvan’s hair and yanked Sylvan’s head away. Pushing away from the wall, she spun until Sylvan’s back was against the rough-hewn logs and slid her hand between Sylvan’s legs. She bit Sylvan’s lower lip and Sylvan tightened beneath her, muscles rigid. Drake caught the heavy prominence between Sylvan’s thighs in her fist and slowly squeezed. Sylvan’s hips bucked and she threw her head back with a roar. Drake kissed her throat, the soft skin between her breasts, the darkened shadow of the mate bite above her heart. Sylvan shuddered and sighed.

  “You tame me, Prima,” Sylvan grumbled.

  “Hardly,” Drake murmured. “Jody will be here any minute. Go take care of business. I’ll be fine.”

  “Ten minutes. That’s all you have before I come for you.”

  Drake smiled against Sylvan’s chest. Sylvan’s heart slowed and steadied, the waves of aggressive hormones receding. She was settled for the time being. “Yes, Alpha.”

  Sylvan’s arms came around her, and Sylvan buried her face in Drake’s neck. “Be careful. I love you.”

  “I know.” Drake stroked her hair. “I will be.”

  *

  Raina lay still, wai
ting for her chance. The room looked like an infirmary, with glass-fronted cabinets filled with drugs and equipment along one wall, a counter covered with boxes of gloves, bandages, and stacks of IV bags, and bright lights hanging from the ceiling, but it was really a prison cell. She was naked on a cold stainless-steel table, her wrists shackled with metal handcuffs to the table’s sides. The restraining collar, a leather and metal affair, was locked to her neck. Her skin burned under the cuffs and collar. Silver. She held back a snarl—even the slightest sign of aggression and the redhead who stood a few feet from the table with the control baton in her hand tightened the noose on her throat.

  “Take that thing off.” The small black-eyed brunette called Elena stood by the table, her arms folded across her breasts, her expression furious. She pointed a finger at Niki. “I’m telling you, she doesn’t need that and I can’t appropriately examine her while it’s in place. Take it off.”

  Niki scowled. “No.”

  The door opened and another dark-haired female strode in. This one had midnight eyes, and unlike the submissive medic who wanted to touch her, this one was dominant. Very dominant. Even the hard-eyed guard who wanted to shred her heart couldn’t summon that much power. Raina’s cat thrashed, growling in challenge until the silver bit into her neck.

  “Niki, please,” Elena said.

  “She’s dangerous,” Niki snapped. “Look at her. She’d go after the Prima if she could.”

  “I understand what you want to do, Elena,” the dominant one said as she stroked the medic’s hair, “but we can’t let you endanger yourself.”

  “Look at her,” Elena said. “There’s nothing she can do to me. She’s already restrained.”

  Prima. The Alpha’s mate. Raina expected her to tear her throat out, but she stepped up to the table and met Raina’s gaze instead. Even though she radiated command, her eyes lacked the cold, hard enmity of the guard’s.

  “Niki, loosen the neck restraint so she can speak.”

  Raina’s cat coiled within her, a challenge roiling in her throat.

  “Prima—” Niki said.

  “It’s all right. Let her speak.”

  The burning pain in Raina’s throat eased.

  The wolf said, “I am Drake McKennan, Prima of the Timberwolf Pack.”

  “Raina,” the female said. “Alpha of the cat Weres. Where are my cubs?”

  Drake glanced at Elena.

  “Sophia has them in the nursery.”

  “They’re safe,” Drake said.

  “Why should I trust you?”

  Niki growled and Drake sighed. “Because you are not dead yet.”

  Raina tilted her head back as far as the collar allowed and scented the air. The Alpha’s mate had an oaken, almost intoxicating aged-wine scent, but woven through it was a strand of cinnamon and burnt-leaf tang. Complex and compelling. “You’re pregnant.”

  Niki hissed and jerked on the collar. Raina arched and clamped her jaws shut. She would not give the wolves the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

  “Niki,” Drake said softly. “Take off the collar.”

  “Prima—”

  “It’s all right.”

  Niki hesitated and Drake growled. “Now, Niki.”

  Raina’s pelt streamed, the dominant tone a challenge.

  “Yes, Prima.” Rumbling, Niki unlocked the collar and separated the two halves, drawing it off Raina’s neck.

  “Where are you injured?” Drake asked.

  Raina shook her head. “I won’t talk to anyone about anything until I’ve seen my cubs.”

  “As soon as we’ve determined that your injuries are healing, you can see them.” Drake glanced at Elena, who nodded. “What do we know so far?”

  “I’ve drawn blood. She shows signs of infection, probably postpartum—antibiotics should clear that up. Her wounds aren’t healing, but at least they’re not bleeding any longer.”

  Drake studied Raina. “Why don’t you shift?”

  Raina’s jaws bunched but she remained silent.

  Drake looked from Niki to Elena. “Would the two of you step outside for a moment?”

  “Of course,” Elena said and turned away.

  “Absolutely not,” Niki said.

  “Niki, don’t make me repeat myself again.”

  A fine shudder passed through Niki’s frame and she tucked her head. “Yes, Prima.”

  A second later Raina was alone with the wolf Prima.

  “Now,” the Prima said. “Tell me why you haven’t shifted to heal your wounds.”

  “The cubs,” Raina said after a long moment’s hesitation. “They’ve been in pelt for a long time. They need to shift, and if I’m in pelt, they won’t.”

  “How long have you been out there?”

  “A week.”

  “And they’ve been in pelt most of that time?”

  Raina sighed. “Yes.”

  “Let me examine you, and I’ll take you to them.” Drake paused. “I’ll see that they are safe.”

  “Your Alpha may not agree.”

  Drake smiled thinly. “The Timberwolves do not kill children.”

  “That’s not what the stories say.”

  “Perhaps,” Drake said softly, “none of us know as much as we thought.”

  “My ribs are broken. I thought my lung was punctured, but…” Raina might be able to trust this one’s word, but she did not want to mention the strange infusion of power she’d felt when Lara had tended her. “But my breathing is better now.”

  “As soon as Elena finishes her examination,” Drake said, “I’ll take you to your cubs. But…I want your word you won’t attempt anything in the nursery that will endanger our young. If you break your word, I’ll lead the hunt for you myself, and I will not be as merciful as Lara.”

  Raina had never expected to trust a wolf, but for the second time that day, she had to. “You have my word.”

  *

  Lara paced in the huge meeting room on the first floor of the Alpha’s headquarters. A fire burned in the massive fireplace, the hearth as broad as a highway and as tall as a barn. Her skin prickled with urgency, and a searing unease clawed at her insides. She wanted to comb the Compound for Raina, to see that she was safe. She hadn’t been this agitated when she’d been in heat. Not even the Vampiric bloodlust that could drive her to madness created such relentless compulsion. The door opened behind her and she spun around. Sylvan strode in and slammed the door.

  “Where is she?” Lara demanded.

  “Have you forgotten everything?” Sylvan roared. “What were you doing out there?”

  Lara prepared herself for Sylvan’s onslaught, already feeling teeth at her throat, dragging her down, Sylvan’s claws raking her gut. “I had to come.”

  Sylvan snarled and circled, her gold-shot eyes slanted and hard. “You cannot flout our laws—I cannot make exceptions, not even for you.”

  “I know, I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry.” Sylvan shook her head and cradled Lara’s cheek in her palm. “So am I. I miss you. We all do.”

  Lara grimaced. “Niki wants my blood.”

  “Niki wants you to be as you were.” Sylvan sighed. “I’m sorry for the price you paid.”

  Lara closed her eyes. Sylvan’s touch flooded her with fleeting peace. “I would make the same choice again.”

  Sylvan drew her close, slid an arm around her shoulders. “I know. How is it—with the Vampires?”

  Lara rested her cheek against Sylvan’s shoulder. “I don’t know. I am with them, but not of them.” She sighed. “Not yet, but more each day.”

  “Your wolf seems healthy.”

  Lara laughed ruefully. “Happier. I didn’t even think about holding her back. She needed to run, to run here, and…we just did.”

  “You must have started out before sundown.”

  “Yes.”

  “How—” Sylvan whirled toward the heavy double doors. “Your Liege comes.”

  The doors swung inward, and Jody and Becca, flanked by Sylv
an’s soldiers, swept in. Jody’s personal guard followed.

  “Liege Gates,” Sylvan said.

  “Alpha Mir,” Jody said brusquely. “Lara, wait outside.”

  Lara stepped away from Sylvan. She might not know who or what she was, but she knew her duty. She straightened. “Yes, Liege.”

  As she strode toward the door, Zahn joined her at a signal from Jody. They stepped into the wide stone hallway, and the doors closed, leaving them alone.

  “How are you?” Zahn asked.

  Lara’s vision wavered and the hunger struck. She gritted her teeth. She would not let Zahn see her weakness. “Fine.”

  Zahn moved closer, her breasts brushing Lara’s. “It’s a long run here from the town house. You need to feed.”

  Lara’s canines punched down and the feeding hormones erupted. “Yes.”

  Zahn smiled, the pulse in her neck bounding. “Well then, I arrived just in time.”

  Chapter Nine

  As the door closed behind Zahn and Lara, Sylvan signaled to Jody to walk with her away from the others. They stood by the open windows looking out across the Compound toward the dark forest. The scent of prey and pine called to her, and she wished she could leave the threat of war behind and run with her mate in the moonlight. She thought of the wounded cat and her cubs, and her chest ached at the thought of her own young in peril. She sympathized with Raina, but her duty demanded she put her feelings aside. Drake would probably say she would make a better leader if she let her feelings guide her, but Drake’s instincts were not born of millennia of fighting to survive. Even though she had inherited her father’s mission to unite the Praeterns in the struggle for freedom, she couldn’t afford to ignore her instincts with the welfare of her family and her Pack in the balance.

  “Are you well?” Sylvan asked at length. Jody had been badly injured while aiding Sylvan in a raid on a secret facility where her wolves had been kept captive. Another debt Sylvan owed her.

  Jody’s pale, cool face was unreadable as usual, but a faint smile softened her carved features for a second. “Worried about me, Wolf?”