Prowl (Winter Pass Wolves Book 3)

by Vivian Wood

  "Of course." Avery wasn't about to put up a fight. She saw that smug satisfaction on the men's faces, and part of her wanted to laugh. The fools, they had no idea that they were here in front of her right now because of her own machinations. "Where are we going?"

  Avery's mouth was a little dry as she said it. This was the tricky part, the part where she assumed that her uncle would summon her into the command center and test her loyalty, rather than just sending her straight to the black site. He was more and more unpredictable these days, so it's hard for Avery not to hold her breath while she waited the answer.

  "The War Room. Get moving, and don't try anything. I've been itching to put one of my new silver bullets into one of your kind, bitch."

  Avery's brows arched at his language, but she merely rose without a word and followed the men to the main command building. Her fingers itched with the need to slip her hand in her pocket and touch the USB drive she’d tucked away there, which was the last thing that she should do right now. Her uncle was paranoid, in this case rightly so. That USB drive held a ghosted copy of her uncle’s most important computer files, the theft of which had taken Avery over a month. The information contained there was going to start the revolution, the end of his reign with the Hunters and the entire movement as well.

  Avery wrinkled her nose at the wash of air-conditioning on her skin as she stepped into her uncle's quarters. Every other building at the Compound was bare-bones, metal furniture bolted into cement. Not the command building though, the place where the men in charge spent all their time. Here it was all dark wood and air-conditioning and Persian rugs, food serves by a private chef, aides and maids and bustling secretaries running around.

  One such secretary was waiting just outside the massive oak double doors of the War Room, all done up in a pencil skirt and pearls, the anathema of the female Hunter soldiers. Avery tugged at the hem of her ratty black T-shirt, wondering what it would feel like to wear those kind of clothes again, to put on lipstick in the morning, to dress any damn way she pleased. Must be nice.

  Then again, judging by the bitchy smirk on the secretary’s face, this woman probably got her position by sleeping with Avery’s uncle and who knows how many other of his commanders. Yeah, forget it. Avery would rather wear a potato sack the rest of her life think kowtow to the Hunters.

  "You can go straight in,” the secretary said, stepping back to give Avery a wide berth. "Dr. Burke is waiting for you."

  As the secretary yanked the War Room door open, Avery suppressed a roll of her eyes. Dr. Burke now, was it? She doubted that very much. The thought was swept away when she stepped into the war room and found her uncle at one end of the long steel conference table, flanked by four of his cronies on each side.

  Looking like nothing so much as an oversized salt-and-pepper-haired weasel stuffed in a black pseudo-military dictator’s uniform, her uncle waited, fingers steepled and expression unreadable.

  To her surprise, her uncle muttered leave us, and the War Room quickly emptied. He regarded her with a chilling glance, taking several long moments before he spoke.

  "You're very lucky, Avery. You know that, don't you?" he asked.

  Avery dropped her head a few inches but didn't otherwise respond.

  "You've been chosen for a new project," her uncle said, his eyes glinting darkly. "A project that is going to give us the status and power that we truly deserve. Needless to say, it's very important."

  "I'm happy serving as I am, helping with the bookkeeping," Avery said, keeping her gaze lowered.

  Her uncle gave a sharp bark of laughter, and his amusement was more chilling than anything he could've said.

  "Frankly, Avery, the only reason you're even alive is because the wolf who turned you is a very, very special prototype. He was irreplaceable… attitude problems aside. Lucky for us, you turned successfully."

  Avery's heart began to throb in her chest.

  "I don't understand," she said. "The attack… It was an accident."

  Her uncle rose from his seat with a smirk that spoke volumes. So… not an accident, then. Apparently Avery wasn't the only one with devious intentions, playing the long game.

  "Come."

  Her uncle led her out of the War Room, startling henchmen and secretaries alike who were hovering by the door, no doubt listening in to every word. Her uncle's face dropped into a scowl and everyone else melted away as if by magic. Avery followed him numbly, out of the command center and across the Compound yard. Her uncle drew to a stop in front of one of the smaller, unused concrete bunkers that would theoretically someday house a specialized unit of Hunter forces.

  Her uncle pressed a fingertip to the biometric reader and leaned forward to allow the security computer to scan his retinas as well. With a mechanical whir, the thick steel door swung open a few inches, beckoning.

  Even from outside, there is no way to miss the furious snarls coming from inside the building.

  Her uncle opened the door, ushering Avery inside. The motion-activated lights flicked on one by one, harsh gray halogen beaming down onto a gleaming wire cage that covered perhaps an eight foot by eight foot area. Inside the cage was the biggest wolf Avery had ever seen up close. He was black as midnight and nearly frothing with fury as he paced back and forth, bright yellow eyes trained on them.

  She'd seen werewolves in person a time or two of course, being a Hunter and all, but this one… There is something very different about this wolf. He was… not right. Unnatural, even in the context of werewolves.

  Avery could only stare as her uncle continued their conversation from the war room.

  "This lovely creature is for you, Avery. Well, more for your child than for your personal edification."

  "My— my child?" Avery asked.

  "It won't be easy, of course. We've already made all the adjustments we can to wolf boy here, but the scientists assure me that a few prenatal surgeries will achieve the results we want." Her uncle pause, raking his gaze over Avery's form. Looking for weakness. "As I said, this project is very important. Not only will he give us the first of many enhanced shifters that we plan to create, it will also prove your loyalty to the Hunters once more. It might even save your life."

  He let that hang in the air for a long time, let his words soak into Avery’s skin. She held in her shudder, unable to respond. It took a moment to get her thoughts together.

  "When?" was all Avery asked. Saying anything more would certainly give her away.

  Surprise flitted across her uncle's expression before the corners of his lips lifted. He sensed victory, Avery could tell.

  "There are three days until the next full moon. We’ll have your implant taken out today, make sure you're ready. Not that you'll be allowed to shift," her uncle said hastily, noting the moment of unabashed excitement that Avery couldn't hide. "Shifting is a death sentence here, Avery. All the guards know that they are to shoot to kill on sight. We just need to take the implant out to make sure that you’re fertile. We'd like to accomplish this in as few takes as possible, as I imagine you will as well."

  Avery trembled, and her uncle gave her a genuine grin.

  "I'll leave you to two introduce yourselves…" her uncle said with a shrug, turning and heading outside. Leaving Avery with the huge, angry werewolf.

  To her surprise, the second her uncle was gone the wolf calmed. He walked right up to where Avery stood, careful not to touch the razor-sharp wire of the cage. He sat, the gesture almost polite, cocking his head as he looked up at Avery.

  "Hey," Avery said, crouching before him. From this close up, she could tell that the wolf easily had hundred pounds on her. He was awesome in the truest sense of the word.

  The wolf shocked her a second time by shifting, the popping and cracking of his bones reshaping making Avery flinch. He quickly pulled his knees up to cover his own nudity, his cheeks heating with what Avery assume was the indignity of his situation. He was stunningly handsome, beautiful with all his ebony skin and curly dark hair.
>
  "I can't let you out right now," Avery blurted out, feeling ashamed of herself.

  "I wouldn't ask it," he said, giving his head a slow shake. "Not for myself. But my mate… They caught her too. She's here somewhere, and it's killing me not to know…"

  Avery leaned as close as she could get to the cage.

  "They are listening," she warned him. "But I am a friend, I promise. There is a plan in place to end the Hunters once and for all. I can't tell you more, but I assure you that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that your mate is safe when the Compound walls come crumbling down."

  Gratitude flared in the wolf's eyes, but he could only shake his head.

  "Thank you," he said after a moment. "I never could have imagined… We've only been mated for three months. I couldn't even keep her safe…"

  "Shhh… It's going to be okay," Avery promised.

  "Do you have a mate?" He asked, the look in his eyes breaking Avery's heart.

  "I —" Avery blew out a breath. "I'll be back for you. You will see your mate soon, that's a promise."

  There was every likelihood that Avery was lying, but if she was, he was a dead man anyway. What harm could that tiny bit of hope do?

  She left him there, though it nearly killed her, the question he’d asked echoing in her head.

  Do you have a mate?

  Avery wished like hell that she could answer back.

  Chapter Four

  Chase walked out of Winter Pass’s only grocery store, tucking several paper bags of groceries into the passenger side of the car before sliding in the driver’s seat. His mood was so dark that he was feeling self-conscious about it, like a cartoon character with a dark thundercloud following overhead. Every time he thought about Avery, about the fact that it’d been almost 26 hours since she'd walked out of Roxy's Diner, his scowl deepened.

  He jammed the keys in the ignition and started the car, leaving Winter Pass’s rinky-dink main strip behind in a matter of minutes and pulling out onto the winding rural highway that would lead to the Lodge.

  A few minutes into his drive he lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror and saw Avery’s bright violet eyes reflected back at him. It was everything Chase could do not to yank the steering wheel so hard that the SUV careened off the road.

  "What the fuck?” Chase bellowed. "How did you get in my car? Better yet, how did I not know you were in the car with me while I was driving?"

  He risked a glance backward and saw that Avery had sunk back down in her seat, her eyes trained on the window as if expecting… Well, who knew what Avery was expecting at this point. If Chase was in Avery's shoes, God knows he would be paranoid too.

  “Keep driving."

  Chase didn’t argue, distracted by Avery's presence and the clear signs of worry and fatigue on her face as he watched her in his rearview mirror. She remained silent all the way to winter pass, and he didn’t try to fight it.

  He pulled his SUV up close to the front porch, then turned to regard Avery. She’d closed her eyes for a few minutes, further evidence of her exhaustion, but now they fluttered open.

  “I need to get these groceries inside. How about we meet on the porch and talk?” Chase suggested. “Then maybe you need to get some rest.”

  A smile quirked Avery’s lips.

  “I’ve felt better,” she admitted. “If you’ve got something strong to drink, I wouldn’t turn it down.”

  Chase let her take her time, striding inside and across the main lodge into the area that housed the professional level stainless steel kitchen and the roomful of long wooden tables with benches for communal dining. After he stuck his grocery bags in the fridge, he moved toward the cabinet where liquor was usually stored. When Avery said she wanted something strong, he got the feeling she meant bourbon.

  Steam rising in gentle curls over the coffeemaker caught his eye, the delicious scent rising in the air. He decided that coffee would be more productive than booze at this moment, and poured two cups of rich black liquid to take back outside.

  Avery was sitting on the far corner of the porch, her legs swinging as she stared off into the distance, expression unreadable. When Chase joined her and offered her a cup of coffee, she perked up a little.

  “Ahhh,” she said appreciatively after her first sip.

  “It seemed like a good idea,” Chase said. “Besides, I’m still a little shaken up from you popping up in the back seat like that.”

  Avery gave him a tight smile, but he could see the anxiety in her eyes.

  “Sorry about that. I can’t let anyone see us together, or Winter Pass will be under siege before you can whistle Dixie.” She sipped her coffee and shivered, pursing her lips at the sudden chill in the early evening air.

  “Here,” Chase said, slipping his hooded jacket off and putting around Avery’s shoulders. Avery went tense for a moment, as though she’d refuse the kindness, but then she just went back to her coffee. Chase was content with that, and he waited for her to speak again.

  “I have two and a half days,” she said after a minute. “To get my affairs in order, supposedly. After that I am to turn myself in for a forced breeding program, or a bounty goes out on me and every Hunter is going to be crawling all over the town of Winter Pass, looking to put my head on a stake.”

  Chase gave a growl, reaching out and gently pulling Avery to his side.

  “That’s not going to happen,” he promised.

  Avery arched a brow and sighed.

  “It might. The whole timeframe has been accelerated here, meaning that we have two days to take down the entire Compound or…” She paused, biting her lip. “Even if I ran, Chase, the Hunters would come here first thing. You’re the only other wolves in Winter Pass, and you’ll be their first target.”

  “I know,” Chase said.

  “What about your friends?” Avery asked, glancing up at him. “And their mates? I don’t think it’s fair to ask all of you to risk your lives for this. Maybe you all should go out of town until… you know, this gets resolved.”

  Chase was completely caught off guard by her suggestion.

  “And exactly how do you think this is going to get resolved without anyone helping you? Not to mention that those bastards have my sister, and they’ve threatened you too. They’re not getting away with any of that, and you’re not taking them down alone.”

  Avery didn’t try to argue, which was the only thing that kept Chase on an even keel. Of course, he couldn’t just let it lie, either.

  “You said something about… breeding?” he asked. “Can you be more specific?”

  Avery glanced down, but Chase saw her lower lip tremble. She’d sounded so cavalier about it before, but now he could see that she was truly upset. She blew out a breath, her words rushed and emotional.

  “He’s found some poor shifter and separated him from his mate. Did experiments on him to make him super strong and fast, I think. My uncle told me flat-out that my choices are either let this guy… make me pregnant…” She stopped, her throat working for a moment. “Or die. The stakes just keep rising. Now all I can think is that if I bring you into this and he catches us, you’ll be his next experiment and I’ll be dead.”

  There was a rushing sound in Chase’s ears, a moment of barely-conscious rage at the defeat in her tone, at the realization that she didn’t believe they would triumph.

  The next thing he knew, Chase had dragged her onto his lap, her coffee cup rolling off to the side as he dragged Avery’s lips to his own. Their mouths came together in a heated crush, a small sound of surprise escaping Avery’s throat before she melted into him, her nails raking the back of his scalp as Chase held her close, consuming her. She sat sideways on his lap, his arm tight around her waist, his free hand buried in her hair.

  Quick as a flash, their fire burned high. They lost control, nipping and kissing and cupping and moaning. The press of Avery’s ass on his lap was enough to make him hard, make him ache for more of this, the feel of her in his arms when he took
her to bed. When he held her afterward too, face buried against her nape as he listened to her catch her breath.

  Damn, what this woman did to him.

  Only when Chase felt the damp heat of Avery’s tears on his own face did he pull back, looking down at her. Eyes closed, cheeks flushed, lips reddened from the kiss, Avery was irresistible… but the fresh tears coursing down her face turned Chase’s mood dark.

  Even as he cupped Avery’s jaw with a tender grip, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears, even as he kissed her forehead, Chase’s thoughts were vengeful. Gorgeous, kind, intelligent Avery Burke didn’t deserve a single bit of what was happening to her, and Chase was going to end it.

  Sooner rather than later. He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to be calm, not wanting to distress Avery any further.

  “Look at me,” he said.

  Avery lifted her thick dark lashes, staring right up at him with a terrifying vulnerability. It made his heart give a tight squeeze, the trust in her gaze.

  “None of that is going to happen, A,” he swore. “No one will ever touch you. If I have to, I will raze the whole Compound to the ground with the Hunters still inside, but you and Brooke are going to walk away from this scot-free. Do you understand?”

  Avery bit her lip for a moment, then nodded. She brushed her lips over his, giving him a soft kiss that drove him crazy with want. She tucked her hand into his, pressing a piece of metal into his palm, then looked away.

  “What is this?” Chase asked, holding the USB drive between his thumb and forefinger.

  “Everything we need to take down the Hunters, I hope,” Avery replied. Something had shifted for her, the heat of the moment slipping away, the same worry weighing her down.

  “Alright,” Chase said, scooting her off his lap. He stood first and then helped Avery up. “Let’s go inside.”

  “Oh…” Avery said, her brow knitting. She glanced at the car, clearly thinking she was going to return to the Compound.

  “Yeah, you’re not going back there until we take it down,” Chase told her point-blank. He knew he was being more aggressive about it than he needed to be, but he couldn’t help it. Avery was his, damn it, and he took care of his own.