by Dia Cole
“I-I’m Tina. I’m a ski instructor at the Sunridge ski resort.”
“Are you here alone?”
She shook her head. “N-no. I have kids with me.”
Kids?
“Let me up,” Havana shouted at Liam. When he didn’t move, she shoved the several hundred pound giant over.
The reminder of her newfound strength brought my adrenaline down a few notches. Our Alpha was stronger than we gave her credit for. Case in point, she’d led us—two of the deadliest Enforcers in the Southwest—on a merry chase this morning. Still, it was our job to keep her protected. Havana was not only our ruler, but she was also our mate. I didn’t like that this puny human female could catch us off guard. We need to be more vigilant.
“Yes, we do,” Liam said, reading my mind. “I don’t want this human anywhere near Havana.”
That made two of us.
Unfortunately, Havana didn’t feel the same. “Let her go.”
“But—”
“Now, Gabriel.” Havana’s voice rang with power. There was no resisting the order.
With one last scowl, I released Tina’s throat and rolled off her. Giving the human a warning growl, I took a protective position at Havana’s side. The second Tina made another threatening move, I’d tear her throat out.
“Here, let me help you up.” Havana offered Tina her hand.
Tina blinked at her and then at Liam, who stood on Havana’s other side.
Havana rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind them. They can be a bit overprotective of me.”
The human ran her gaze over our bodies and flushed. “I didn’t mean to interrupt…” She cleared her throat and looked away.
Havana blinked, seeming to realize we were all naked. “Oh. Uh. This is awkward. Liam, can you get me my dress? It’s over there at the foot of the bed.”
Liam handed me the shotgun and then retrieved the black dress Havana had been wearing when we first picked her up.
As she pulled the garment over her head she said, “Guys, cover up.”
Liam dutifully grabbed a throw pillow from the bed and held it over his crotch.
I didn’t move. Tina could be a spy for Tasha. I’d never known the Alpha of Winterhaven to use humans for anything other than target practice, but there was a first for everything.
“Gabriel,” Havana said in a warning voice. “Humans are uncomfortable with public nudity.”
What the fuck do I care? “We aren’t in public. This human barged in on us. I don’t trust her.”
“Please. For me,” Havana pleaded.
Shit. When Havana looked at me like that, I could deny her nothing. “Fine.”
“Here.” Liam threw me Havana’s jacket.
I caught it and belted the gray wool coat around my waist. “Better?” I said out loud.
Havana gave me a smile that under any other circumstances would’ve had me hauling her back to the bed, spreading her thighs and—
“You said you have kids with you?” Havana asked, jarring me from my fantasy.
The blonde nodded and got to her feet. “Yes, I made them wait across the road. We heard screaming, and I thought someone was being attacked. I-I’m sorry to bust in,” she stammered, her blush deepening.
“They must be freezing out there. Have them come in,” Havana said as Liam helped zip up the back of her dress.
I snorted. It was nearly as cold in here as it was outside. “This isn’t a good idea.”
“They’re children,” she said giving me a reproving look.
“I’ll get the stove going,” Liam offered.
Havana beamed at him. “Great idea.”
I flipped him off. “Way to make me look like the bad guy. We need to be protecting her.”
“I don’t think she needs as much protecting as you think,” Liam retorted, walking over to the woodstove.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” It wasn’t just the walking dead and strange humans we needed to watch for. “Don’t forget that at any moment Tasha could send a contingent of Enforcers to Sanctuary.” Or even worse, she could decide to pay a personal visit.
Liam’s smirk faded at the mention of our former ruler and a sliver of fear flashed in his gaze. “Tasha’s hands will be full for a while.”
True. Once she’d become aware of the Z-virus outbreak, she’d recalled every member of our faction back to Winterhaven. But the chaos there would subside eventually, and her attention would shift. “Eventually she’ll come.” Tasha always came after her enemies. And that’s what Liam, Mason, and I had become the moment we’d pledged ourselves to a new Alpha female. My gut tightened. Tasha was the strongest and deadliest female Lykos in existence. There will be no escaping her wrath.
Liam paled. “Then we should go. Let’s take Havana as far from Tasha’s territory as we can.”
“We don’t know what we’d face out there.” Based on what we’d seen as we rushed Havana out of Saguaro Valley, we’d likely find nothing but carnage and devastation. The reanimated would’ve claimed most of the human population by now and though Liam and I were strong fighters, even we couldn’t keep Havana safe from legions of zombies.
Then there was the fact that the lodge at Sanctuary was equipped with everything we’d need to survive the apocalypse: large walls to keep out the reanimated, solar power, well water, and enough food and medicine to last for years. I groaned at the impossible decision we faced. Death if we run. Death if we stay. Honestly, I almost hoped that Nathan would get here despite the inevitable shitstorm of rage he’d direct at us for mating his female. The Alpha male said he had a plan to get Mira and Havana to safety. I need to know what that plan was.
Havana spoke softly to the human, “We have water and snacks here.” She motioned at the water cooler and a crate over by the table.
Tina gazed up at me.
I bared my teeth and growled.
Tina backed away. “That’s okay. We should keep going. We’re heading to a place up the road.”
“There’s nothing up there but Sanctuary,” I said, studying her through narrowed eyes.
“Oh, is that the name of the gated estate?” Tina said, looking flustered.
“Yes, we’re staying there,” Havana interjected. “But you’re welcome to join us.”
“No, she’s not,” I said, quickly. Over my dead body were a bunch of strange humans coming to the lodge.
Havana gave me a sharp look. “Show some compassion, Gabriel.”
“Compassion gets people killed.”
The human looked over at me and paled. “I-I hoped if I got the kids inside the walls there, they’d be safe from the zombies.”
Interesting. The human has had run-ins with the reanimated. She could give us valuable intel. “How bad are things in town?” Sunridge, the town, was barely half a mile south of the ski resort.
“I don’t know. I’m guessing bad.” She swallowed hard.
Liam looked up from throwing a log in the stove. He looked ridiculous trying to start a fire with one hand while trying to keep the pillow strategically placed with the other. “What about the ski resort?”
Good question. During my last conversation with Nathan, he’d said he and Mira were staying the night there.
“I’m pretty sure everyone there is dead. Well, the dead that stumbles around trying to eat you.” The blonde’s eyes watered.
Did that mean Nathan and his daughter were dead? The idea filled me with a mixture of emotions. Remorse that yet another young Alpha female had perished. Relief that the one male who could seriously threaten my relationship with Havana was no more. Frustration that I’d never know the plan he had to get Havana to safety.
“How did you survive?” Havana asked in a gentle voice.
Tina wiped her eyes with the back of her gloves. “I had my class up on the lifts when another instructor radioed that all hell was breaking loose at the base lodge. He said we needed to stay away. I brought the kids to the Midway Café to wait for further instructions. Several skiers at t
he café went crazy and started attacking people. I tried to protect the kids, but…” She gulped in a deep breath, clearly still in shock.
“Tina, are you okay?” a young male voice asked from the doorway.
The human whipped her head around. “Isaac, I told you and Lily to wait for me.”
“But we were worried,” a younger female voice said.
Havana started for the door, but I beat her to it.
Gripping the shotgun tightly, I stared down at two small human faces.
The dark-skinned boy, no more than ten, wore a red wool hat over his curly brown hair and clutched a thick tree branch in his gloved hand.
The girl wore a pink snowsuit and looked around the age of seven. Her long hair was as inky black as Havana’s. The contrast between her bone-white skin and bright blue eyes reminded me of the porcelain dolls my mother had collected before Tasha forced me to kill her.
Fear wafted off the children as they stared up at me.
Havana pushed me out of the doorway with strength only an Alpha female could possess. “Come inside.” She beckoned them to enter and then peered around them. “Are there more out there?”
The boy shook his head. “The others are dead.”
Havana looked at Tina.
She rushed over to the kids and put her arms around them. “I had five in my class. The others…the others…” She started tearing up again.
The boy and girl stiffened. For the first time, I noticed the blood spatter across their jackets.
Obviously these kids had gone through some deep shit. Despite my better judgment, I could feel my resistance to helping them crumble.
Tina coughed and wiped her eyes. “We were able to hole up in the back kitchen of the café for over a week. But the zombies started breaking through the door. We managed to escape this morning. Instead of going down the mountain, I brought Isaac and Lily up here.”
“And how lucky you did. We can protect you now.” Havana gave Tina a warm smile.
Tina blinked, still looking wary. “Weren’t you guys freezing in here without any heat?”
“We were keeping ourselves warm,” Havana answered with an embarrassed smile.
“Right.” Tina blushed again. “How did you get here? I mean… I didn’t see a vehicle outside?”
“W-we, uh, walked,” Havana stammered.
Fuck. The last thing we needed were some humans asking too many questions. I glared into the eyes of Tina and the kids. “You will not question anything strange, understand?”
Their three heads bobbed up and down obediently.
Havana gave me an annoyed look. “Stop using compulsion on them.”
“Then make them leave.”
She ignored me.
“How about some cocoa, kids?” Without waiting for a response, she padded over to the crate began rummaging through it. “Aha!” She held up a package of hot chocolate. “Do we have any mugs, Liam?”
The red-haired male nodded. “There should be some in the crate.” He closed the door to the woodstove that was starting to give off heat. “Here's the kettle.” Keeping one hand gripped on his pillow, he raised up a silver teakettle.
“Gabriel, can you help?” Havana asked, as she took Tina and the kids over to the wooden table and bench.
“Ah hell.” I snatched the kettle from Liam’s hands and trudged outside to empty it. The clouds were darkening as if in warning. We needed to get back behind the walls of Sanctuary without delay and we needed to leave these damn humans behind. Given how stubborn Havana was, I knew that wouldn’t happen. With a sigh of resignation, I marched inside and filled the kettle with water from the water cooler. Then I handed it off to Liam. “This is a shitty idea.”
Liam set the kettle on the stove and looked at Havana who was busy preparing snacks for the humans. “Tasha would’ve killed all three humans on sight.”
“No. She would’ve hunted the females for sport and then kept the boy for…fun,” I corrected.
“You’re right.” His eyes darkened with blood-filled memories. “I much prefer Havana’s way.”
“Even if it gets us all killed?”
“I don’t fear death, do you?” Liam turned his gaze to mine.
“No,” I answered honestly. I deserved death for the things I’d done as an Enforcer. But Havana didn’t. “I fear for Havana.”
We both turned to look at the beautiful female that had claimed our bodies and souls.
The instinctive, overpowering need to protect her rushed through me. “We can’t let anything harm her.”
Liam’s expression tightened. “We won’t.”
As we watched Havana feed the humans, my chest tightened. We can try to protect her from outside threats, but can we save her from herself?
4
Havana
After sending Liam back to Sanctuary to get his SUV, I had him transport Tina and the kids to the lodge.
Gabriel and I shifted into our wolf forms and followed the vehicle.
The entire way Gabriel lectured me. “You’re making a mistake. We know nothing about these humans.”
“I know enough.” Tina and the kids were traumatized, and they needed help—help that we were able to give. My heart ached for what they’d gone through and for the children who hadn’t survived.
Gabriel let out a heavy sigh that sounded more like a wolf wheeze. “Then confine them to the lower level and have Mason check them out to ensure they aren’t infected.”
Crap. I didn’t even think about them being infected. Even though we were immune to the Z-virus, the idea we could have zombie children running around the lodge was enough to turn my stomach. “We’ll do that. But, assuming they check out, you need to be nicer to them.”
The brown wolf flashed me his long sharp canines. “When am I not nice?”
I snorted. I was quickly learning Gabriel had more bark than bite, at least with me.
As the SUV in front of us stopped at the front gate, Gabriel and I veered to the left. When we were a safe distance away, we bounded over the wall and headed up the long driveway to an enormous two-story lodge.
The luxurious ten-bedroom home still made my jaw drop. It had everything including fireplaces in every room, a huge kitchen, full-size library, three living rooms, a movie theater, and even a ballroom right out of Cinderella.
Liam actually apologized for the fact that the lap pool wasn’t finished, but he assured me the Jacuzzi and sauna were in working order. Ha! As if that weren’t enough, there was also an underground level almost as large as the main lodge. Although I wasn’t a fan of traveling down to the bunker, I had to admit I was impressed with its row of lavish bedrooms, a kitchen, dining hall, infirmary, fully equipped game room, workout room, and storage rooms filled floor-to-ceiling with food, water, and other supplies. If not for the threat of the bloodthirsty owner showing up, Sanctuary would be freaking perfect.
“Mason?” I called out telepathically. I was still getting a feel for the psychic bond I shared with my mates. We couldn’t communicate from long distances, but the more we “spoke” the easier it became to establish mental connections.
“I’m here, love,” came Mason’s sexy voice. I loved his British accent almost as much as I loved the naughty things he did with his talented mouth.
Before I could speak, Gabriel barged into our discussion. “Did Liam brief you on the humans?”
“Yes. I’ve prepped the infirmary and taken the liberty of bringing some lunch down to the lower level for them.”
“Thank you,” I said, my tone filled with affection. Although I tried to hide it, my sweet, sexy doctor had cornered a large piece of real estate in my heart.
“Did I hear someone mention lunch?” Liam asked, pulling the SUV through the front gates.
Inwardly laughing at the big guy’s fixation on food, I bounded to the top of the stone steps where Mason stood waiting for us.
The gorgeous blond doctor looked good enough to eat in khakis and a sea-blue polo that matched the stun
ning color of his eyes. He greeted me by holding out a buttery soft lavender wraparound dress. As always, he anticipated my needs better than I did.
In a flash, I took human form and belted the ankle-length gown around me. Standing on tiptoe, I brushed my lips against his. “Thank you, hon.”
“What no clothes for me?” Gabriel asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Mason ignored the brown wolf, his gaze focused only on me. “I missed you.” He wrapped his tanned arms around me and dragged me into his broad chest. Although the doctor lacked the hulking size of Liam and Gabriel, he was plenty tall and muscular for a human. Much like me, he’d grown up ignorant of his Lykos nature. As a result, he and I bonded over our human way of thinking, something that irritated the heck out of Liam and Gabriel.
Mason’s soothing rain scent washed over me as I melted into him. “We were only gone a few hours,” I teased.
“That was a few hours too long.” He inhaled deeply and drew back. “You had sex.” He leveled an accusatory look at Gabriel.
“Lay off, Mason. She’s not pregnant,” Gabriel said, taking his human form faster than I could blink.
Mason frowned. “How could you know that? It’s barely been a week—”
I interrupted the doctor. “I can’t get pregnant, hon.”
His blond brows rose. “What do you mean?”
“I have an IUD. There’s no possibility of a baby.”
“Oh.” He frowned. “So all this time we’ve stayed away—”
“For no good reason,” I finished for him. “We should make up for lost time.” I leaned over and nibbled his earlobe.
He flashed me a wicked grin. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all week.”
Liam pulled the SUV in front of the steps and jumped out. He’d thrown on boots, jeans, and a flannel shirt that clung to his thick biceps for dear life.
I hummed my approval as I waved Gabriel into the house. “You get some clothes on.”
The dark-haired man looked like he would argue with me, but the sound of the kids squealing had him grimacing and stalking into the lodge.
Although I loved how he and Liam walked around naked most of the time, we would have to enforce a dress policy if we had guests staying with us. Human guests. For the first time a sliver of apprehension ran through me. How are we going to keep our werewolf natures from them?
