Wild Instinct

by McCarty, Sarah

  “I’m sorry.”

  Sarah Anne reached back. Garrett’s hand swallowed hers and squeezed.

  “She’s dying?”

  Wyatt took a breath. But it was Heather who answered. “No. Absolutely not.” Donovan opened his mouth and with a wave of her hand, Heather shut him up. That amazed Sarah Anne. That a small, helpless human woman could control so many Protectors with nothing more than her will.

  “She’s not dying. But she did lose her baby.”

  “Oh, my God.” That baby had meant the world to Teri. She’d clung to that coming life as if it were the only link to her sanity. And now it was gone. “This is bad.”

  “We gather that,” Wyatt said.

  “What would you think Sarah Anne can do about it?” Garrett asked.

  “Daire thinks a lot.”

  “Who is this Daire?” Sarah Anne wanted to know that more than anything. The man scared her, intrigued her and worried her. In a very short amount of time he’d made himself very important to her friend, yet he was the deadliest thing she’d ever seen. And, if anyone asked her, incapable of giving the love that Teri needed to heal.

  “Right now, he’s the one thing standing between Teri and death,” Wyatt said.

  Sarah Anne was getting very sick of the Alphas using that to hush her up. “Well, he doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job.”

  Donovan looked over his head to Garrett. “Don’t let her talk to Daire like that.”

  She took advantage of a distraction to yank her arm free of Wyatt’s grip. “He doesn’t have any say in how I talk to anybody.”

  Her freedom was only momentary. Garrett caught her hand again. As if she hadn’t made her point clear, he spoke over her head. “She’s still got some adjusting to do.”

  The next scream stole the urge to argue right out from under her. She headed for the stairs, expecting Garrett to hold her back, but he didn’t. The heavy weight of his footsteps on the stairs behind her was comforting rather than threatening. At the top of those stairs was Teri in terrible emotional distress and Daire with his cold gaze and scarred face and very deadly manner. She could be walking into a nightmare and it was good to know that if she was, Garrett was there to back her.

  As if he heard the thought, his hand caught hers. With a tug, he spun her around. His free hand anchored in her hair at the base of her neck, tilting her head back. The flare of excitement that she always experienced whenever he touched her went through her, opening her senses and her nerve endings. He held her as if he expected her to fight, but the reality was that in a world that was full of danger and totally topsy-turvy, he was the one thing she could count on. He pulled her body into his. The tip of his head blocked out the light but it couldn’t block out her awareness. She breathed deep, taking his scent into her lungs, holding it there as his teeth nipped at her bottom lip. She had no intention of fighting. She might be half human. She might’ve turned her back on her heritage, but right now, at this time, in this moment, not knowing what was beyond that door, just knowing whatever was happening was bad, it was very good to have this man at her side. She relaxed into his grip, feeling his start of surprise as her hands slid up his chest and wrapped in the material of his shirt, holding them to her. She did not want to be alone, always fighting battles alone. She wanted someone by her side. Someone up to the fight ahead, not someone she felt she had to protect.

  His hesitation lasted only a moment, but in what she was coming to accept was his normal behavior of taking what he could when he could, he plundered her mouth. And for once in her life, she surrendered with no reservations. This was her mate. Her choice.

  The kiss was over in a matter of seconds. Garrett held her at arm’s length. She couldn’t recover as easily as he. She stared at him while he studied her, eyes narrowed, assessing. Behind her, beyond the door, Teri screamed again. It was followed just as quickly by a man’s harsh curse.

  “If you don’t do what I tell you right now, I’ll tie your ass down.”

  Sarah Anne lunged for the door. Garrett caught her around the waist and set her back. He opened the door, quietly slipping through. She ignored his motion to stay back. That was her friend screaming in there. She came to a halt just inside the door. The room reeked of blood and fear and desperation. There was no sorting from scent who was afraid and who was desperate, but it was easy to see who was bleeding. Teri might be wounded but the white bandages covering her abdomen were pristine. The same couldn’t be said for Daire’s face. Deep gouges raked across his cheeks and his neck. Another furrow went across his chest and down the arms with which he was pinning Teri to the bed.

  “What are you doing?” Sarah Anne gasped.

  “Keeping her from killing herself,” Daire snapped.

  Garrett rolled up his sleeves and stepped into the room. “What do you need?”

  “I need you to hold her feet.” With ruthless efficiency Garrett grabbed Teri’s feet and pinned them to the bed. Daire’s hair slid over his shoulder as he snapped his head around to look at Sarah Anne. The impact of his gaze was like a blow. Sarah took a step back, the power overwhelming her.

  “You, I need you to come here and tell her I didn’t kill her baby.”

  “Oh, my God.” Sarah Anne ducked under Daire’s arm when he lifted it. This close, it was impossible to miss who was afraid and who was desperate. She glanced at Daire, surprised. She never would have thought the so-controlled ancient capable of desperation.

  “Hold her.”

  From the way Teri was thrashing about, Sarah Anne had real questions as to whether she could. “Maybe you’d better continue.”

  “I can’t.”

  The bald truth sat between them.

  “Now, put your hands over mine.”

  She did, feeling the violence of Teri’s fear. “Teri, calm down.”

  Teri’s eyes flew open. Focused. “Sarah!” she gasped.

  “Yes, Sarah Anne.”

  “He killed my baby.”

  Beside her Daire flinched. He pulled his hands carefully from under hers and took a step back.

  “No, he didn’t.”

  Teri glared at Daire over Sarah Anne’s shoulder, her fingers clenching into tight fists, anger vibrating through her body. “Yes, he did. Ask him.”

  Sarah turned her head and added her glare to Teri’s. “Tell me you didn’t say that.”

  His chin came up as his eyes narrowed. “I do not lie.”

  Oh, for heaven’s sake. “You saved her life!”

  He straightened and backed away from the bed. Teri continued to glare at him. Energy crackled between them.

  “I made a choice.”

  Beneath her hands, Teri’s fingers curled to claws that would have gone for Daire’s face if he were close enough.

  “You had no right. It was my decision.”

  She and Garrett might as well not be there. This war was between Teri and Daire. It was personal, and it was hurting both of them.

  Daire squared his shoulders. He looked every bit the powerful ancient as he countered, “My mate comes first.”

  Teri arched and twisted. “I hate you.”

  Daire nodded and accepted the verbal blow with a passivity Sarah never would have expected in an ancient. “I know.”

  He took another step back. He was only a few feet from the door.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Garrett growled.

  “She needs to heal. It can’t be done with me here.”

  “You can’t leave.” The only life in Teri was her anger. Beneath the flush she was ghastly pale and so weak. The one thing standing between Teri and death was Daire and the anger she felt toward him.

  “You can’t leave your mate when she’s sick,” Garrett said.

  Daire’s gaze clung to Teri. For all he was hiding his feelings, Sarah Anne had an impression he was suffering. “Don’t tell me what to do, pup.”

  “She won’t survive without you.”

  “She’ll do better without me.”

&nbs
p; “You didn’t kill her baby,” Sarah Anne added.

  “It doesn’t matter what I believe. All that matters is what she thinks she knows.”

  And what Teri knew was that Daire had taken away her hope of family.

  Sarah shared a glance with Garrett. Dear God, this was such a mess.

  Eighteen

  SARAH Anne was going to think he lied. Garrett stood in Wyatt’s office two hours later and stared at Wyatt uncomprehendingly. “What do you mean you couldn’t find them?”

  He’d promised Sarah Anne that Cur would bring her son to Haven, and Wyatt was telling him Cur had lost him?

  “Cur went to the meeting place. There was no sign of Rachel or Josiah.”

  “Sarah Anne has complete faith in Rachel.”

  Kelon snorted. “Well, maybe she shouldn’t.”

  “Rachel would know how worried Sarah Anne would be about Josiah. She would have left a sign.”

  “They were never there.”

  Garrett raked his fingers through his hair. Goddammit, he would not start his life with Sarah Anne with failure. “There has to be an explanation.”

  “Not a good one,” Donovan said almost gently.

  Kelon pushed his chair away from the wall. “How good a tracker do you think Cur is?”

  Garrett didn’t like the sick feeling in his gut. It blended too well with the bite of suspicion in the other men’s scents. “There’s none better. Why?”

  “According to Cur, he’s found Rachel and lost her . . . twice.”

  “Not possible.” No one ever ducked Cur.

  “Cur is not happy.”

  Garrett just bet. He headed toward the door, determination settling in his gut. “I’m going after them.”

  “Not yet, you’re not,” Wyatt ordered.

  Garrett turned, his hand on the knob. “What’s to stop me?”

  “Well, for one, I forbid it.”

  Wyatt was going to have to do better than that. “And two?”

  Kelon tossed a folded piece of paper on the table.

  “What’s that?” Paper rustled as Garrett opened it.

  “To me it reads like an eviction notice from Pack Carmichael. They say we’re on their turf.”

  Garrett scanned the note. “Cheeky bunch, aren’t they?”

  “The Carmichael pack has always had an inflated sense of their own importance.”

  Wyatt should know. His father had been the head of the pack for as long as anyone could remember. Wyatt had been in line to assume leadership before he’d broken away.

  Garrett handed the note back. “This is a sanctioned pack. They have no standing.”

  Wyatt shrugged. “I have some enemies in the Carmichael pack that would like to see my pack fail. Since my father died, they’ve made it their mission to discredit the sanction.”

  “They’ve taken it to the level of obsession, if you ask me,” Donovan cut in.

  Wyatt shrugged again. “They believe they have the might to make right.”

  “What did you answer?” Garrett asked.

  “I told them to fuck off.” Wyatt smiled. “In the most diplomatic of terms, of course.”

  “And their response?”

  Wyatt gazed out the window. Garrett didn’t need to smell his anger to know what it was. War.

  “They’ve called a blood feud.”

  “Shit.” Worse than war.

  “We knew it was coming,” Donovan cut in again.

  “War, yes,” Wyatt snapped, “but not a blood feud.”

  A blood feud with the Carmichaels. One of the strongest packs around. Garrett looked to Donovan. “How tough are they?”

  “I trained them to be the toughest.”

  Kelon and Donovan had been Carmichael’s Protectors before Wyatt had formed Haven.

  “How tough is Haven?”

  Kelon folded his arms across his chest. “We’re outnumbered, unproven and only roughly trained.”

  “Shit.” Garrett couldn’t leave Sarah Anne, Megan and all the other wolves who’d come to Haven unprotected in the face of a pending attack.

  “How close is Cur to Rachel?”

  “Close enough he claims to be able to offer her protection if the rogues slow her down long enough for him to catch up.”

  Garrett shook his head. He couldn’t imagine a woman evading Cur.

  “Has Sarah Anne mentioned Rachel having any training?” Donovan asked.

  “No.” Actually, she didn’t know herself.

  “There had to be a reason she trusted her with Josiah.”

  “I got the impression it was because there wasn’t another option.”

  Wyatt put his hand on Garrett’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Garrett. I know you promised Sarah Anne to bring Josiah home.”

  “It can’t be helped.”

  “Cur will be calling in again in a couple days.”

  “Good.” And he’d better have good news. Garrett looked out the window to the woods beyond, fanning his senses outward, feeling the odd vibrations at the edges. “The Carmichaels have been watching?”

  Kelon nodded. “And waiting.”

  “For what?”

  Donovan’s mouth set into a straight line. “We don’t know.”

  Shit.

  Nineteen

  GARRETT didn’t have to say a word. Sarah Anne knew from his expression that the news wasn’t good.

  She didn’t move, just stood in the doorway, her knuckles showing white against the dark wood of the jamb.

  “Just tell me.”

  He pulled her to him, ignoring her struggles, buffering the turbulence in her mind as best he could.

  “How well do you know your friend Rachel?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Just answer the question.”

  “I know her well enough to trust her with my son.”

  “Because you had no other option or because . . . ?”

  Sarah Anne didn’t hesitate. “Because she’s that trustworthy. What happened?”

  “We weren’t sure before, but now we are. She’s on the run.”

  “Oh, God.” She cuffed his shoulder. “Is that all? I told you she wouldn’t trust your friend Cur.”

  “It might be more than that.”

  “No.” She shook her head, her denial as strong in her mind as it was in her voice. She had complete faith in Rachel.

  Garrett didn’t have the heart to argue with her. “Does Josiah have any special powers?”

  “Like Megan’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  “What do you know about his father? Did he have any strange abilities for a human?”

  “No, he was perfectly normal.”

  “What about the extended family?”

  “They used to tease about his grandfather. They called him Mr. Know-It-All because he always seemed to know what was happening. Or so the stories go.”

  “He had precognition?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Did your husband ever talk to Josiah about his grandfather?”

  “Why would he? I mean, it was a joke. A story they told at Christmas and Thanksgiving.”

  “Those might have been based on fact.” And that fact might be why the rogues were so relentlessly pursuing Rachel and Josiah. “Maybe his grandfather had some power.”

  A werewolf father would have prepared his son with the knowledge to survive, whether that knowledge meant emphasizing a trait or hiding it. Maybe even from his own mother. He found it hard to believe a human father wouldn’t do the same.

  “I don’t know. You need to go get him. You promised me you would go get him.”

  “And I will, but I promised to keep you all safe.”

  Her lip curled. “But not now. Because Wyatt forbid it. Because the pack needs me more than Josiah does.”

  She spun away. “I knew it. I knew it was pack first.”

  Garrett caught her arm and pulled her back to him. Her hands slammed up against his chest. “There
will never be a time when my Alpha can command me to put my family at risk.”

  Sarah Anne pushed against his chest. “It seems to me he just did.”

  Garrett didn’t flinch away from her glare. “No, he didn’t. But the threat to Josiah is not as great as the threat to you and Megan.”

  “But Josiah—”

  “Will be safe.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Cur is watching over him.”

  Her hands clenched into fists against his chest. Her pain rose in a mental haze around them. “You just said he couldn’t find them.”

  He brushed his mind over hers, muting her distress as best he could. “A better phrase would be to catch up to them.”

  She tossed her hair out of her eyes. “So how can you tell me not to worry?”

  “Because as good as your friend Rachel is, Cur is better.”

  “You sound so confident.”

  “I am.”

  Her eyes searched his. “What are you going to do?”

  He wrapped his hands around her fists and brought them up to his lips, first the right and then the left. “I’m going to take care of the threat here, and then I’m going to get our son.”

  “And what am I supposed to do?”

  “Take care of Teri.”

  “I don’t know how to help her.”

  “Just talk to her.”

  And pray.

  Twenty

  THERE was no talking to Teri. She grieved for her child to the point of obsession. Over the next few days, she fought Daire. She fought Sarah Anne. She fought life, but there was nothing that could stop her body from healing. As soon as Sarah Anne saw the mark on her neck, she understood that. Daire had bonded his life to Teri’s. As long as he lived, so would she. Sarah Anne balanced the breakfast tray and kicked the bedroom door closed. Teri lay on the bed in the dark room, the covers pulled up to cover half her face. She didn’t even turn her head when the door clicked shut. Sarah Anne sighed. Daire had left two days ago, and Sarah Anne was no closer to breaking through the wall of Teri’s anger than she had been the day she stepped into that room, but something had to give. And soon.

  How far are you willing to go? Daire had asked Sarah Anne that the awful night Teri had been injured and she’d given him permission to do what he had to to keep Teri alive. As a result he was bonded to Teri. And Teri, who hated werewolves, was now bound to another for life. No matter how much space Daire gave her, there would never be another man for Teri. No other option for a future. No other path to take but that of mate.