“How will this work?” She wasn’t sure what part of this she meant; there were so many things she didn’t know would work. So, she figured he could pick and choose which this to answer.
“I can make this my home base, but I have to travel. The bad guys rarely come to me, more’s the pity.”
“So it’s true,” a deep male voice spoke from behind them.
Someone else put in, “The solo Z has been done in by a mate.”
Twisting, Ripley saw two men, exact replicas, standing before her. The same height as Z, their only difference being they were trimmer, where Z had a more muscular body. They also possessed a boyish and mischievous side Z lacked. They had a playfulness equal to her mate’s seriousness
“Ripley, meet my baby brothers, D and Dumb.”
“Not dumb, asshole.” The one on the right put his hand out to greet her. “I’m 7, but everyone other than Zackhole here calls me Sev.”
Zackhole? She found it hard to believe these two were related to Z. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
The brothers circled around her. “Everyone is curious about you.”
“N can’t keep her mouth shut, can she?” Z asked, but he hadn’t directed the comment to anyone in particular.
Besides, Ripley was too busy trying to keep focus with the way they circled her.
Shifting his attention finally, D assessed the common area of the small compound, taking in the communal kitchen, dining hall, and four housing buildings. “Did you imagine she could?”
The twins stopped short and sniffed the air. In a low voice, Sev asked, “What direction is the coyote band?”
Ripley pointed to the southwest corner of the property, and they shifted into black wolves as quickly as Z had, running full-out in the opposite direction of where she had pointed. Though large, their size couldn’t compare to that of Z’s, but they had an agility she hadn’t seen in any wolf before. A minute later, a yelp reached the camp, followed by the black wolves dragging a struggling person behind them.
“They might be obnoxious, but I wouldn’t trust anyone else to protect you,” Z said.
Both wolves shifted back so fast the coyote didn’t have a chance to move before he was within their grasp again.
“We aren’t your guard dogs, Z.” Sev growled.
“You want to return to fulfilling the term of the council’s punishment? What is it…reorganizing all of their records?”
“Just call me Rover,” D grunted, pushing the intruder toward Z’s feet.
“There are three more out there. Want us to get them?” Sev asked, sniffing the air again.
“No, they’ve been watching us since we arrived. But I waited for you two to get here. I want them to see us and bring the news back to their bastard Alpha that there are dominants in this pack again.”
“You knew they were there?” Ripley asked, trying to ignore the belligerent man struggling in vain to get away from the twins. “Z, there are children who play out here.”
“I wouldn’t be much of an Infiltrator if I hadn’t sensed their presence. As for the children, they’re all safely inside one of the housing units. The coyotes have to believe the betas are no longer alone. But, in case they don’t get the message, I’m going to invite myself for a visit.”
“Z, they have over thirty in their band.”
“I only have to destroy one.”
D came over and nudged her. “Z, she doesn’t have much faith in your abilities.”
“She hasn’t known me but twenty-four hours. She hasn’t seen my abilities yet.”
She had seen some of his abilities. Well, maybe not seen so much as experienced, and those proved he could carry them both. She shook her head to throw out those thoughts.
D gave her a reassuring glance. “Really, they don’t stand a chance. They won’t know he’s there until it’s too late.”
“And even then, most won’t know he ever came through at all,” Sev added.
“It was a real pain in the ass when we were younger.” D grimaced and rubbed his arm as if remembering a long gone, yet still painful childhood memory.
“You two interrogate this one and then deal with security issues on the perimeter. Take a beta or two with you to help.” Extending his hand, Z pulled Ripley against him. “Where can we talk privately?”
“When you say private…?” she asked.
“Private, as in so no coyote ears can hear.”
Her cheeks warmed since her brain and libido weren’t thinking about private chat, but more like, private, get naked. “Gotcha. This way. The dining hall should be empty at this time of day.”
“What were you thinking about that has put that delightful blush on your cheeks?” Z teased. She already doubted he allowed his playful side out much, if ever. He added, “To be honest, after a few decades of celibacy, a bedroom with you in it for a month sounds pretty damned awesome.”
They took a seat at the end of the hall. Ripley bit her lip, trying hard not to reach out for him. She had made it this long without a man but struggled with the unfamiliar desire to touch him all the time for reassurance. “You’re going after them, aren’t you?”
“There is no other way.”
“But, I’m mated now. Jeb can’t hurt—”
“He still wants this pack, and there are a ton of unmated women here. He’ll keep coming. They’re too stupid to do otherwise.”
“Then I’m going with you.”
“No.”
Offended, anger rose within her. She expected this from some dominants but not from her mate. And not directed at her. “Why? Because I’m a woman?”
“No, because I work alone. I always work alone.”
She stood. “That’s stupid. I know where they live.”
“I can follow their scent. They can’t hide it. Believe me, one of your pups could find them.”
“I’ll follow you.” Hands on her hips, she showed him the strong beta she’d always been. He may be her dominant, but that didn’t mean she would become submissive overnight and bend to his every will. That wasn’t part of her nature, nor how she’d been raised.
“Of course you will.” He sighed and studied her. “Do you promise to do what I say? Not because you can’t handle yourself, and not because I can’t take orders from you. I took orders on the river just fine today, but this is what I do. And I can’t fight those coming at me while I’m worried about you behind me.”
“I promise.” A compromise she could live with, and she didn’t have to be in the thick of things. In fact, she hated fighting when she could prevent it, but she had to hunt beside him as his partner even if only as a guide, whether it be on the river or leading him to the enemy.
“Sounds like a party,” D said, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin. The damned twins could show the Stealth Bomber a thing or two. “Can we play?”
“No.”
“Come on, Z. You need us.”
“I don’t need you.”
“Yes, you do, bro. Think about it; you can’t say no to her.” Sev chuckled as if enjoying his brother’s discomfort. “We, on the other hand, do not suffer from your affliction. So you need us.”
“To say no to her?”
“Not exactly.” D took over where Sev left off. “If you’re doing your thing, then she’s left unprotected. Our job is to protect her while you can’t, so you can focus.”
In any other situation, Ripley would have been insulted, but her mate seemed so completely out of his comfort zone. “They have a point.”
“Did she just agree with us?” D asked.
“I like her,” Sev put in.
Frustrated, Z ran fingers through his hair and raised an eyebrow in Ripley’s direction. “Please don’t encourage them.”
Leaning in, D whispered in her ear—at least she thought it was D, “No one ever agrees with us.”
Before she could ask why, Z threw his hands in the air in defeat and headed toward the exit. “I’m done.”
“He loves us.
”
“He doesn’t know it yet.”
She stared at the men, still unable to tell them apart, and for the first time in a very long while, she laughed, letting her troubles wash away.
Chapter Five
The ground sank beneath Z’s paws, the rain from earlier in the week having left the land soft. Four wolves coming in undetected would be much harder to achieve and harder to hide. Before leaving the compound, he’d given his directives to the three amigos behind him to ensure they understood the rules. His rules. Ripley’s safety first and foremost. He didn’t want to take any chance of her being hurt. They were to stay far back, and were not to enter the coyote’s lair. And Ripley, under no circumstances whatsoever, would enter the coyote camp. The twins were not to leave her side.
The moon reflected off her silvery-gray fur, another reason he didn’t want her to come. Unlike all those in his pack whose fur camouflaged them in the dark, hers looked like spun silver.
The stench coming off the upcoming valley distracted him and forced him to pause. He wished he had the power of telepathy with his mate. But of his kind, only the twins had that talent. The closer the group got, the more questions he had. With his nostrils on fire from the potent stink, he wondered if perhaps the madness Magnum had suffered from hadn’t also shown in the coyotes. They certainly didn’t give a shit about their lair.
Ripley reached the designated stopping point and turned. Her concern shone in the deep-blue pools of her eyes. What she didn’t know—couldn’t know because they hadn’t been together long enough for her to understand—was sneaking into the lair was cub’s play. There were few as good as Z at what he did. If he thought for a minute this little mission of theirs would leave her alone again, he would have called in more help. The twins didn’t count. The twins were good at protection and security, but recon…not so much.
Z brushed against her, nuzzling his muzzle into her thick, soft fur. Instead of blowing his scent away downwind so that no one would sense his presence as he usually would, he blew it on her, ensuring anyone who came close or made to take his mate would damned well know she belonged to him. Then he disappeared into the darkness. Quietly, stealthy, and undetectable to any of the idiots who thought to attack her family.
He entered their lair of derelict shacks, poor excuses for homes that littered the small area. A few had only tattered, old painter’s tarps draped over the top of rickety, wood frames to keep the weather out. A bonfire lay on the east side of the camp. Five men and two women, unaware he stalked them, drank from one large clear-glass bottle. Over the stench, he couldn’t make out what exactly they were partaking of but figured it was cheap wine or even cheaper moonshine. One of the men stood then fell dangerously close to the burning embers. It didn’t matter—the seven were of no concern to him.
Ripley believed the coyote pack consisted of twenty-two males and a few females. Its lack of females drove them to the wolves, but Z had to find out why they weren’t going for their own kind. In the end, the only thing he truly cared about was making sure the damned dogs stayed well away from her pack.
A drunk female stumbled out of the nicest of the shacks. She giggled before heading to the fire pit to join the others. Z closed his eyes and sent a push of his powers, finding the kinetic energy of one person in the shack. Entering the still-open screen door, he assessed the shabby, ill-kempt, lantern-lit room. It held very little—an old television, complete with a set of rabbit ears, a metal-frame bed with a bare, and very stained mattress. The smell coming off it alone nearly brought Z’s dinner back up.
Through the only other door, the Alpha entered with a thirty-two ounce beer in one hand and scratching his ass with the other. He wore nothing but tighty whities, which in the yellowish shape they were in, looked as bad as the bed smelled. The whole place made Z want to gag. The thought of this man, or any man there, touching Ripley or one of her sisters sent a rage through him and fired his blood, forcing his shift back to human form.
“What the fuck?” the coyote Alpha demanded, stumbling back in inebriated confusion.
Z wasted no time, using the moment of weakness to his advantage. Wrapping a hand around the skinnier man’s neck, he rushed him against the peeling wall.
“You must be Jeb.”
Unable to speak with Z’s fingers around his larynx, the other man nodded, wide-eyed.
“I want you to listen and listen well. Ripley is mine.”
The coyote tried to shift into his animal form, scratching at Z to let him go. Evidently, the cowards who had come to Ripley’s camp that afternoon hadn’t informed their Alpha of the small tidbit that dominants were in Greystone. In fact, Z hadn’t seen the ones from earlier at all, leading him to believe they’d seen the writing on the wall and decided to take off on their own.
“You will cease your harassment of her and her pack.”
“They…are…Alpha-less,” the coyote rasped.
“Not anymore.” Z hadn’t actually gotten Drew to agree to that part yet, but Jeb could be kept in ignorance on that matter. “You’ll take your band and get out. I want you gone before the full moon. I hear Yellowstone is a good place for coyotes right now.”
Disbelief entered the other man’s eyes. They both knew with the reintroduction of wolves to the park, Yellowstone was anything but safe for his kind. Not to mention, the bear shifters ruled sections of the park with iron paws.
Z didn’t care as long as these coyotes put some distance between them. “Do I make myself clear?”
The coyote nodded, and Z released his grip, backing away to leave.
Jeb panted, glaring at him. “You have no right to tell me what to do with my band.”
“Normally, I’d agree, but when you attack my mate’s pack, I reserve the right to do anything to protect them. You’re lucky I don’t tear you limb from limb. But that worthless band out there doesn’t have anyone capable of leading them, and I worry they’ll show themselves to humans. For that reason only do I let you walk away with your life. But make no mistake, if I find you or yours sniffing around mine, I will tear your throat out.”
Jeb started to shift, but unfortunately didn’t know Z’s speed or agility. Before Jeb’s four limbs touched the ground to start his transformation, Z shifted into full wolf form and attacked.
The coyote squalled in agony as Z bit into his arm, dragging the Alpha from the shack and onto the dirt path pretending to be a road. Suddenly, the band surrounded Z. He bared his teeth, his hackles high, daring someone to show him an ounce of gumption. Not one member would give their life for their leader, or had the balls to step forward for the rest of their band.
A moment later, back in human form, he gave one more fierce kick to Jeb’s side before hauling the man to his feet. “If any one of you ever come near the Greystones, or even sniff in the direction of my mate again, I will rip off your fucking heads. Understood?”
The coyotes, appearing conflicted between stepping forward to defend their own or cowering in the corner of the camp, only nodded.
Jeb lowered his head, unable to make eye contacted with the dominant wolf, and announced in a muffled voice, “We are relocating.”
“That is the first smart decision you have probably ever made for your pack.” About to throw the man from him, Z spotted movement from the edge of the greenway. He should have been surprised to see Ripley coming through the forest’s edge with twins as her bookends, yet he wasn’t.
“We agreed you would let me deal with this,” he said.
“She doesn’t listen well,” D mumbled
“It’s quite annoying,” 7 agreed.
Z would point out that the twins shared that same flaw at another time. “Ripley?”
“I wanted to watch the show.” She growled at the coyote who stood in her way. When the animal yelped and ran, Z let the strange feeling of pride cover him. “I had no doubt you would take care of them.”
He nodded. “Jeb here said they are about the leave the area.”
Ripley sm
iled at Z, who still held the Alpha in a death grip, before approaching. “Jeb, you son of a bitch. You haven’t the balls to attack me straight-on, so you attack my omega. You failed to realize our omegas are revered for their talents, not bullied and mistreated for their emotions.”
Curling his upper lip in a snarl, he spat, “They are weak.”
Ripley growled again, bared her teeth, and swung, hitting Jeb with enough force, the man went out like a light.
Z stumbled and dropped the unconscious coyote to the ground, making no effort to break his fall. After wiping his fists on his pants, he stepped over him then wrapped his arm around his mate. He took her hand in his. Looking over the reddened knuckles, he brought them to his lips to gently kiss. “Nice swing.”
“Thanks. My dad taught me.”
“Smart man. Are you ready to get out of here?” The question wasn’t one he expected an answer to, and she must have sensed that since she followed his lead silently. He faced the coyote dominants, if one could call them that, sitting on the outer edge. When he took a step toward them, they lowered their heads.
“This band has one week, and not a day more, to have this land cleaned and be gone from it. Don’t let me see or smell you here again.”
The Alpha, regaining consciousness, stood on unsteady feet. “Where the hell are we supposed to go?”
“As I said before, try Yellowstone.”
The Yellowstone wolf pack would garner no bullshit from these dogs. Its members were strong but fair. The bears were another issue, but not Z’s to worry about.
Walking over, he grabbed Jeb by his collar and lowered his voice so only the other man could hear. “If I ever hear you’re terrorizing another pack, I will hunt you to ground, and not even your worst nightmare can compare to what I will do to you. I am the Infiltrator you were warned about as a child. I can make it so no one ever finds a trace of you, or so your body proves as a warning to others. I have been trained in ways of torture that would make you afraid to close your eyes again.”
The stench of fear hit him only seconds before the acidic, putrid smell of urine. Disgusted, Z shoved Jeb away from him again. He’d made his point. “I think we understand one another.”
Infiltrating Her Pack Page 6
