by Nina Croft
“Now what could you possibly have?”
“Why do you think they’re still after me after all these years? Why did they want me dead in the first place?”
“I don’t know, but are you going to get to the point?”
“I have secrets. Information they don’t want to get out. I’ve written it all down.”
Darla sighed. “Do you really think they’ll care?”
“Can you really risk that they won’t?”
“Shit.” Darla pulled a phone from her pocket and walked a little away so they couldn’t hear her words. Turning back, she shoved the phone in her pocket.
“So where are these notes?”
“I hid them on the moor.”
“Why did I guess that was coming?” Darla pursed her lips and cast Keira a black look. “Hey, sis, you know what, I’m beginning to dislike you.”
“The feeling is mutual. But take me back and I’ll get you them. But only once Connor is safe.”
She knew this was stupid. Why would they let him go? Or they’d let him go and then hunt him down and kill him afterward. But she couldn’t think of anything else and at least this might give him a chance. Especially if they didn’t know about the werewolf thing. If they divided the group, then there might be more of a chance that Connor could take his guards.
“Give me a minute alone with him. We need to set up a signal so I’ll know he’s really safe.”
“You are aware they’ll just go after him and kill him once you’re dead,” Darla pointed out in a reasonable tone.
Keira flinched at the callousness of the words, but forced a shrug. “He can take care of himself.”
“Go ahead then.”
She dragged Connor a few feet away and turned so her back was to the group. “They’ll split us up.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Connor, if you get the chance you have to escape. There’s no hope for me—as long as I’m alive the Agency will keep coming.”
“Why? What is it they think you know?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never known.”
“Don’t give up. Somehow we’ll get through this.”
“Of course we will.”
It was hard to believe that only half an hour ago, she’d been thinking how perfect everything was. She should never have forgotten that she didn’t believe in happy endings. Connor cupped her face, leaned down, and kissed her.
“Come on, you two,” Darla snapped. “We’re on a schedule here.”
Keira bit her lip as they cuffed her hands in front of her then watched as they did the same to Connor. She scrambled into the back of the van after him and Darla gave her one last disgusted look.
“Crap,” she muttered. “We’re heading back to the most desolate place God ever made.”
They were going home.
Keira realized she hadn’t told Connor she loved him. She turned, but as she opened her mouth, a needle pricked her arm and the darkness swallowed her.
Chapter Twelve
Connor’s mouth tasted like paint stripper. He pushed himself up on his elbows—awkward in the handcuffs—and retched. Nothing came out, and he realized he hadn’t eaten in twenty-four hours.
First, he’d been too keyed up, then he’d been too busy making love to Keira, and finally, he’d been unconscious.
Shit. How long had he been out for?
And where was Keira?
Panic tore at his insides. Connor forced the emotion down; he needed to keep a clear head. He blinked a couple of times to clear his vision, still blurred from whatever drug they’d given him. His limbs felt heavy but he was coming around fast. Drugs didn’t work the same on werewolves.
He lay on a carpet with fat pink roses. A matching pink sofa sat to his side facing an empty fireplace. Where the hell was he? Rain spattered against the window, the view outside wreathed in mist. He guessed he must be back in Scotland. So hopefully Keira was somewhere near.
A door opened and a pair of boots entered his line of sight. He peered up and recognized one of the guards who’d been with them in the forest. He frowned down at Connor. Probably expected him to be out a lot longer.
“Water?” Connor’s voice was a raspy croak.
The man studied him for a second then reached into his pocket and brought out a key, he unfastened the cuff and looped it through a radiator pipe on the wall beside Connor. Then refastened it around his wrist, gave a tug, and left the room. He came back a minute later with a glass. Connor grasped it awkwardly. The water tasted wonderful. Afterward, he cleared his throat and struggled into a sitting position leaning back against the sofa, his handcuffed hands on his lap. “So what happens now?”
“We wait for a call.”
“And then?”
The man shrugged.
One thing was clear, they were unaware of the werewolf thing or there would have been more than one man guarding him.
He heard a sound from the next room. Two men. Still no problem. But that left at least six people guarding Keira. With so many, he didn’t dare do a full on attack. They’d kill her before he took them all out.
He needed help.
But first, he had to get out of here.
“Any chance of some food?” he asked.
He waited until the guard left the room and then concentrated on his hand. He’d never done this before, but he’d seen Sebastian do it. Magic shivered through the air. His skin rippled, faded, and reformed into a claw. He slipped it through the handcuff and willed it back to normal.
The soft sound of murmured voices drifted in from the next room. Connor rose silently and stepped lightly across the floor in his bare feet. He stood by the side of the door. When it opened, he held his breath, waiting until the man was fully in the room. He clipped him lightly on the jaw, measuring the force, knowing with his extra strength he could easily kill with one punch. Connor grabbed him as he fell and lowered him gently to the floor. He rifled through the pockets, found car keys, which he transferred to his own, and a small silver key for the cuffs. After dragging the man across the room, he fastened him by the cuff and then straightened.
One more to take down.
He pulled the pistol from the underarm holster and crossed the room. At the door, he hesitated, then peered out into a hallway. A second door stood open opposite where Connor stood. He spotted the guard with his back to him, fixing food at the counter. He raised his head, caught sight of Connor’s reflection in the darkened window, and whirled around.
Connor aimed the pistol and the man stopped. He seemed to weigh up his options and then kept coming. He moved fast, but not as fast as Connor. He raised the pistol and smashed it into the guard’s skull. This time he allowed his opponent to crash to the floor on his own. There was no one else to hear.
He went through his pockets and found a cell phone.
Sebastian picked up at the first ring. “Where the hell are you?”
“Scotland.”
“What the fuck are you doing in Scotland?”
“The Agency has Keira. She told them she has information hidden up here.”
“I take it you got free.”
“They separated us. I’ve taken down the two guards left with me, but I’m guessing there are at least six still with Keira. I’m not sure where I am—wait a second.” Connor opened the outer door and glanced outside. The house stood alone, but he recognized the moors to his right. He reckoned he was in one of the farmhouses at the edge of Rannoch Moor. “I’m a few miles from where I think Keira is taking them.”
“You can’t go in alone,” Sebastian said. “You could take them out but probably not before they kill Keira.”
Frustration gnawed at him. “I know.”
“Just a moment.” Connor heard him talking to someone in the background. He spoke again a minute later. “Jack reckons we can be there in less than two hours in the helicopter.”
“It’s still too long. But come anyway. You have the coordinates for Keira’s old home?”
> “Yeah, we’ll head straight there. What about you—don’t do anything stupid, Connor.”
“I won’t. I’ve thought of somewhere I can get help.”
“And that would be?”
“The local pack.”
“I thought you said they were assholes.”
“The alpha is an asshole, the rest I don’t know. But I’m about to find out.”
Sebastian was silent for a second. “If you challenge him, don’t hesitate. It’s a fight to the death, Connor. It can be nothing else.”
“I know.”
Connor found the house exactly where Pete had told him it would be—at the northern end of the moor. In some ways it reminded him of Sebastian’s home, a large sprawling building set in its own grounds with a six foot wall around the perimeter. But where Sebastian’s had always felt welcoming, this had a depressing, dark aspect.
He drew up at the wrought iron gates and waited as the guard came around to speak to him.
“What do you want?”
“I’m here to see Logan,” he answered.
“Name?”
“Dr. Connor McNair.”
He waited, tapping his fingers on the wheel while the guard spoke into his phone. Impatience built inside him. He didn’t even know if Keira had these secrets she’d spoken of. She’d never mentioned them before. Maybe it had been a story to give them more time. Give him a chance to survive, while she sacrificed herself.
But how long would it buy them?
It would take them a while to reach Keira’s keep; they would have to walk the last few miles. He was hoping he’d make better time—if he survived this next meeting.
The guard turned back to him, nodded and the gates glided open. Connor drove through, along the tree-lined drive and pulled up in front of the house. As he turned off the engine, the front door opened and a man stepped through and onto the terrace. Connor recognized him immediately.
He climbed out and walked slowly toward the other man.
“Did you know you have no shoes on?” Pete asked as Connor came to a halt in front of him.
Connor glanced down. To be honest, he’d totally forgotten. He got straight to the point. “I need your help.”
“Mine personally?”
“No. The whole pack.”
Pete shrugged. “Then you’ll have to ask Logan. And I’m warning you, he’s not particularly helpful.”
“I could offer him money.”
“He has plenty.”
It had been worth a try. “Let me talk to him.”
Pete rested his hand on Connor’s arm before they entered. “One thing—if he does accept your challenge, he’ll move fast. He knows you’re strong.”
Connor’s wolf became instantly alert as soon as he stepped into Logan’s presence. The alpha sat on a chair at the far end of the room. The blonde woman from the previous meeting knelt at his feet, a leather collar around her throat, tied to a leash in Logan’s hand.
Asshole.
Connor’s wolf stalked inside the confines of his body. He wanted to be free. He wanted to fight, but Connor wouldn’t go that route if he could avoid it. He’d always sworn he would never accept being one of the monsters, and this would be the last, final step down that road.
As he stopped in front of the other man, he tried for a passive pose, but wolf clawed at his insides making him wince. “I need your help.”
Logan ignored the comment. “I told you what would happen if you were seen in my territory again. Unless you’ve come to pledge your allegiance to me?” He studied Connor out of narrow black eyes. “But I think it’s too late for that. Pete, take him out the back and get rid of him.”
Connor took a deep breath. He could do this. He had to do this.
“I challenge you.”
As the words left him, he knew he was saying goodbye to his old life and finally accepting the new. Relief flowed through him as he finally and fully accepted what he was.
Logan’s eyes widened. “But I don’t accept your challenge. Pete?”
Connor turned to look at the other man. Pete gripped his pistol in his hand. The weapon wasn’t aimed at Connor but at the group of other men in the room. “Don’t interfere,” he said.
“You’ll die for this,” Logan snarled.
“Maybe.”
Connor stood half turned away from the alpha, but he was expecting Logan’s move. The man hurled himself at Connor, shifting as he flew through the air. Connor released his wolf and had already changed as Logan smashed into him. They went down in a flurry of claws and fangs. He rolled, coming up on all fours then hurled himself at the other wolf. Teeth snapped close to his face, but he didn’t slow, getting a grip around the other’s throat, his fangs sinking into flesh and bone.
Logan heaved him off with a scrabble of claws. Connor lost his grip, and he crashed to the floor.
For a minute, they circled, Connor growling as the metallic scent of fresh blood filled his nostrils.
Finish it.
Everything inside him screamed to end this now.
He leapt for Logan. This time, as his teeth sank into the flesh, he knew he had a death grip. Clamping his jaws closed, he held on, shaking the great black wolf, then pressing him down to the ground. He felt the spurt as his teeth severed the artery. Blood sprayed, blinding him for a moment and his mouth filled with the sweet coppery taste. And still he maintained his grip until the life went out of Logan and he lay still.
Connor loosened his hold and backed away, sniffing at the body.
Then the wolf disappeared, and Logan lay on the ground naked, an open wound at his throat that spilled crimson on to the tiled floor. Logan was dead, and Connor threw back his head and howled as a tidal wave of exhilaration swept over him. For the first time he knew what it was to be wolf.
Finally, he looked around the circle of men. They stared from him to Logan.
“There’s not a mark on you,” Pete murmured.
Connor stared into his eyes and growled.
“You need our help?”
Connor inclined his head.
“We’re yours to command now.”
Connor wasn’t sure he wanted anyone to command, long term. But right now, he needed their help. All around him, the air filled with magic. The pack was shifting. More entered the room until there must have been thirty wolves.
Connor led them out into the night and then they were racing across the moor.
***
Darla shoved the phone in her pocket and turned to face Keira.
“There’s no answer. Looks like your boyfriend’s done a runner and left you to it.”
The tension seeped from Keira’s muscles. She’d known the only way Connor would survive this was if he escaped. Once she handed her secrets to Darla, she had no doubt the order would be given to kill him. Keira only hoped he would get far away from here before that happened.
Well, most of her hoped that, but she didn’t really believe it. Connor would come after her and even if he’d got weapons from his guards, it was still one against six. The cuffs bound her hands in front of her and she was less than useless. Perhaps she could try and shift, but she wasn’t sure how fast she would be. Not fast enough to save herself from a bullet, she reckoned.
No, her only hope of saving Connor was to hand the stuff over and get out of there as fast as possible.
Life wasn’t fair. To have found Connor, to have seen a glimpse of another life, only to have them snatched from her. Darla would take her back to the Agency and sooner or later, they would complete what they set out to do so long ago and end her life. She suspected she’d come to hope for “sooner” in the time ahead.
“Come on, get this information, and let’s get the hell out of here,” Darla muttered and shoved her in the side.
The night was cloudy, no moon or stars broke through the solid darkness, and the only light came from the torches the guards carried. It had taken two hours walking and a lot of swearing to get to the place, but now they stood out
side the keep. Keira led them around the side and then pushed away the branches covering the entrance. She ducked to enter, ignoring Darla who followed her inside.
“Now, where?” Darla snapped. Her temper had become shorter as the night progressed.
Keira crossed the room and nodded toward the wall. “Behind the stone.”
She stepped aside as Darla tugged at the loose rock. “If I break a fingernail, I’ll be pissed. And believe me you wouldn’t like me when I’m pissed.”
“I don’t like you now.”
“Ah, got it.” She dropped the stone to the ground and pulled out the notebooks hidden behind it. She flicked through them. “What is this shit?”
Keira shrugged. “Everything I remember. Everything I got from people’s minds back at the Agency. Presumably in there is the information they want me dead for.”
“Interesting,” Darla mused, flicking through the pages.
“I’ll tell them if you read it. Then they’ll kill you too.”
Darla shot her a filthy look, but slammed the notebook closed. “Let’s get out of here.”
She led the way out and Keira followed her, casting a last look at the place that had been her home for so long. She doubted she would see it again. But as soon as she stepped out into the night, the magic enveloped her, wrapping itself around her. Deep inside, her wolf stirred eager to be free. She paused, trying to identify where it came from, but the sensation surrounded her.
Connor?
Darla turned to her, eyes narrowed. “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
Should she shift? Before she could make the decision, Darla grabbed her and shoved the gun to her throat. “Move a millimeter and I shoot.” She turned to the guards. “Go check it out, see if anyone’s out there.”
“Can’t you tell?” Keira asked, wincing as the gun jabbed her. She reached out with her inner eye and found only their little group close by. Darla obviously came to the same conclusion. Her tense figure relaxed and the gun eased off a little.
The guards came back. “There’s no one out there.”
“No, there isn’t, is there?”
Keira felt her probing at her thoughts and slammed down a wall. Darla had tried once or twice to pry into her mind. So far, Keira had kept her out.
