by Anya Nowlan
That was something she would have to live with. But for now, she would have to put that aside and focus on making things right.
“Hey, no arguments here,” Wes agreed, taking her hand in his. “My wolf’s been itching for a fight anyway,” he added with a grin Dakota couldn’t help but mirror.
Elias won’t know what hit him.
Thirty-Four
Wes
Wes sat in Dakota’s car, staring out at the darkened landscape in front of him. The sun had set a couple of hours ago, and they had been staking out the factory where they hoped to find Elias since it had still been light outside.
Hidden behind the tree line a ways off from the large, crumbling building with unused smokestacks and huge, boarded-up doors and windows, he and Dakota had their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.
They had a good view of the sides of the building, and the small wooded area where someone would have to approach from to get to the only door they didn’t have eyes on. It was a spot they had carefully chosen. Neither of them wanted to take any chances.
If Elias showed, they needed to be ready.
“What if he’s inside already?” she asked, a pair of binoculars in her lap.
“There’s no car,” Wes shrugged. “And he does have a day job.”
He could appreciate Dakota’s restlessness. It wasn’t like he himself was the most patient person in the world. But this wasn’t the time to jump into something headfirst. With Dakota’s father’s books on his side, Elias was a formidable opponent, not to mention the man didn’t seem to go anywhere without his security guards.
The last thing he wanted was for Dakota to get hurt because they were too eager to get to Elias.
The picture of Timothy Rivers was still fresh in his mind. Wes already knew Elias was despicable, with using dark magic to become even more powerful than he already was, and sending demons after him and Dakota. Still, the thought of him murdering some poor guy who was just trying to do his job…
Probably thought someone like Timothy wouldn’t be missed, Wes scoffed to himself. He wasn’t a rich douchebag CEO or some snobby trust-fund kid, so who cares, right?
Taking a breath, Wes reminded himself something else could have happened to Timothy, and it was entirely possible Elias wasn’t involved at all. But that logic didn’t really work on his wolf. The animal had been growling inside him ever since he left the hotel and got in the car, and wouldn’t calm down for anything.
It seemed the wolf was even more excited to finally get a piece of Elias than Wes was. Which was understandable, since Wes hadn’t let his animal side out in a while, and Elias had tried to kill their mate, after all. But he had to force himself not to think about that. If he did, he wasn’t sure he could control himself when Elias did finally show up.
“I just can’t wait to see the look on Elias’ face when we confront him,” Dakota said, taking another look through her binoculars and setting them aside when she didn’t catch any movement near the factory.
Wes didn’t need binoculars. His vision went way beyond twenty-twenty, and all his primal instincts were on full alert. There was no way Elias would be able to sneak inside without them knowing.
And since the man probably wasn’t waiting for an ambush anyway, Wes doubted Elias would even go for the stealthy approach. Everything about that guy was flashy.
“I’m betting he’ll be real disappointed he failed to have us killed,” Wes said, his eyes still trained on the building.
“That’s the trouble with only being able to summon one demon at a time when you’ve made two enemies,” Dakota replied.
“Ah, that age-old problem,” he nodded, drawing a laugh from her. “By the way, I called Tate and told him my spy mission is officially done and that you are my mate,” he quickly tacked on, watching her reaction from the corner of his eye.
There was a second of stunned silence, before Dakota angled herself toward him, eyes a little wider than usual.
“Oh,” she finally said. “Well, what did he say to that?” she asked, seeming to regain her composure.
“Not much,” Wes shrugged. “All in all, I think he took it pretty well.”
Dakota blinked at him.
“That’s it? That’s all you’re giving me?” she asked.
“What?” Wes shrugged. “I told him, he wished me well, that was that.”
“Men,” Dakota shook her head. “You never cease to amaze me.”
“I also told him I’m not going back to Pinedale,” Wes admitted, now that he was on a roll.
“You’re telling me all this now?” Dakota waved a hand in the air. “After we’ve been sitting here, just chatting away about nothing for more than four hours?”
“I like talking about nothing with you,” he grinned in response.
Dakota let out an exasperated sigh, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered to herself.
She glanced back at the factory, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel in front of her before speaking up again.
“So you’re really not going back?” she asked.
There was something vulnerable about her tone, and it made Wes turn toward her, taking her hands in his.
“I told you I’ll always be here,” he said. “Look at us now, preparing to take down Elias together. We’ve come a long way from you slashing my tires, haven’t we?” he chuckled, making her smile. “We’re just better together,” he shrugged.
Wes knew for a fact he would tell Dakota that every single day if that was what she needed to finally believe he meant it. There was no life he could imagine where they weren’t together, backing each other up. Like different sides of the same coin, there was no separating them now.
They had found each other for a reason. And in that moment, it was clearer than ever to Wes that he was falling for her hard. Rationally, he could try and tell himself he didn’t know Dakota enough to love her, but what he was feeling didn’t have anything to do with rationality.
The knowledge of what kind of woman she was ingrained in his every fiber, the pull he felt toward her was undeniable, and the primal connection both he and his wolf had with her was indescribable.
All that put together left no doubt in his mind that Dakota was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
She was quiet for a moment, her eyes slightly shiny as she looked back at him. Then, with almost no warning, she propelled herself forward, throwing her arms around him and pressing her lips to his.
Wes pulled her as close as he could over the gaps between the seats, drawing in her scent as they both got lost in the kiss. They took their time pulling apart, with her nibbling on his lower lip before she settled back into her seat and quickly looked toward the factory again.
“Oops,” she smiled, her cheeks flushed. “We were supposed to be paying attention.”
“My ears were still open,” Wes shrugged, with a small grin.
“I should have gotten myself I wolf a long time ago,” Dakota teased. “So useful.”
“Oh, so I’m your wolf now,” Wes wagged his brows at her.
“Afraid I’m going to put a leash on you?” she laughed.
“Hmm,” he tapped a finger on his chin. “The other way around, perhaps?” he asked, making Dakota roll her eyes at him.
“And here I thought stake-outs were supposed to be boring,” she shook her head.
“And I thought they involved a lot more donuts,” Wes remarked, eyeing the empty box sitting on the dashboard. “But someone seems to have eaten them all before I could get any.”
“Hey, you snooze, you lose,” Dakota shrugged. “And here’s a tip – never get between a woman and her sugary pastries.”
“I’ll keep that in…” Wes started to say, but stopped short when the sound of an engine approaching from the distance caught his attention.
Ears perking up, he listened as a car seemed to be getting closer and closer to the factory, bump
ing down the same road they had taken to get there.
“What is it?” Dakota asked, whispering for some reason.
“A car,” he replied, eyes trained on the dark green row of trees behind the looming factory.
“Here, at this time of night?” Dakota scoffed. “It has to be Elias.”
“You have that crossbow ready, right?” Wes asked, and she looked over at the backseat.
“Locked and loaded,” she replied. “But I only have two bolts left after the whole thing with Red.”
“That’s not a lot,” Wes remarked.
“I’ll make them count,” Dakota said, her lips in a determined line. “Wait, now I can hear it, too,” she added after a moment, whispering again.
They both fell silent as the shape of an SUV moved through the trees, approaching the factory building. As it got closer and closer, Wes could recognize the driver through the windshield. It wasn’t Elias, but it was a man he remembered well.
It was the security guard that had shoved Dakota in front of The Crawford. Just the sight of his square face and beady eyes made Wes tense up. The man pulled the car up to the gate, and got out and unlocked it before getting back in the SUV and driving up to one of the entrances.
It was the only one that wasn’t nailed shut.
Two other men in suits filed out, their heads on a swivel. Wes knew Dakota’s car was well-hidden, both by trees and by the darkness, but he was still on edge as the two guards scanned the trees they were parked behind.
Finally, Elias stepped outside, making a face when his shoes hit the muddy, trampled grass all around the building.
“Jenkins,” he called out, making the man who had been driving his vehicle turn around.
Elias tossed him a set of keys, and Jenkins walked over to a large metal door. It looked a lot newer than the rest of the building, and opened soundlessly after Jenkins unlocked it.
Elias said something to the guards that even Wes couldn’t hear, before stepping inside the building alone. The three men remained standing near the door, arms crossed in front of them.
“We’re going to have to get past them first,” Wes said, keeping his voice low.
“That’s not going to be easy, or quiet,” Dakota sighed in response. “If Elias hears the commotion, that gives him time to react. And if he has those books in there, which we think he does, that could be bad.”
“So what’s the plan? You want to split up?” Wes asked, feeling his wolf bristle at the idea.
“If you distract the guards, I can get in and handle Elias before he does something stupid,” she replied.
“And what if he’s armed? Or what if he’s already busy summoning a demon in there?” Wes arched a brow at her. “That’s too dangerous,” he shook his head.
“Wes,” she said gently. “I’m not some damsel in distress. Do I need to remind you I saved your ass once?” she countered. “We’re still a team,” she said, looking into his eyes. “A damn good team. But sometimes, a good partnership means knowing when it’s time to split up, for the good of the plan.”
Wes sighed, his head falling against the headrest. He knew Dakota had a point, but that didn’t make him feel any better about letting her go after Elias by herself.
“I’ve got the crossbow,” she said. “I’ll be fine. You’re the one that’s going to have to get the attention of those three meatheads,” she tilted her chin toward Elias’ guards. “When it comes down to it, Elias is just a spoiled brat. He’s nothing without the books.”
With all the reasons why Elias needed to be stopped swimming through his head, Wes took a deep breath. He could stay in the car, arguing about splitting up until the end of time, but that wasn’t exactly productive. They finally had their chance to end this, to get Dakota’s books back, to stop Elias from hurting anyone by using those spells.
And Wes couldn’t let his own selfish instincts to protect Dakota at all costs get in the way of that. And Dakota would never forgive him if his stubbornness meant letting Elias slip through their fingers.
At any moment, Elias could come strolling back out and get in his SUV, and they would have missed their shot.
“All right,” Wes said, even as a weight settled into his chest. “We go with your plan.”
“Okay, so now we have to think of a way to distract the guards,” Dakota replied.
“Oh, I know of a way,” Wes grinned to himself, feeling his animal float closer to the surface.
Time to let loose.
Thirty-Five
Dakota
Crouching down behind her car, her crossbow in hand and the two remaining bolts in a pouch around her neck, Dakota watched in fascination as Wes’ body began to ripple and shake right in front of her eyes.
His whole frame twisted and folded up on itself, the sound of bones cracking filling the air. When Wes fell to all fours, his spine bending at a gruesome angle, she wanted to go to him, to comfort him somehow, but she knew better.
It might have looked painful, torturous even, but for shifters, it was all par for the course. Their bodies were built for the change, so while the process might have looked unnatural to her, it was nothing more than routine for Wes.
It didn’t take long before instead of Wes, a huge, gray wolf stood in front of her, its large paws sinking into the dirt. Ears pointing straight up, he stared at her with yellow eyes full of intelligence. It was odd, but the animal felt just as familiar to her as the man.
She couldn’t help but reach out and run her hands through his thick, soft fur, smiling to herself when the wolf let out a pleased sound, tilting his head at her like a puppy that liked to be petted.
“You’re beautiful,” she said, running her fingers over his ears.
Wes wagged his tongue, bumping her hand with his nose.
“All right, all right, let’s get down to business,” Dakota nodded.
Elias’ guards didn’t even know Wes’ name from their first meeting outside of the hotel in Denver, and they certainly wouldn’t know he was a shifter. So a huge wolf showing up out of nowhere was bound to give them pause.
Now all that was left to hope was that Wes was able to somehow get them away from the door they were guarding long enough for her to sneak inside.
Wes nodded at her, the fur on his back bristling as he loped away, keeping in the cover of the trees as he closed in on the factory. Jenkins and another guard, a bald, stocky guy with a mean look on his face were standing on either side of the door. The third man, a lanky guy with tousled, reddish-brown hair was hanging back by the car, smoking a cigarette.
Getting out her binoculars, Dakota watched as Wes crept to the open gate, keeping his body low to the ground. Since the guards were looking out for people, they didn’t even notice the huge wolf until he came to a stop near their SUV.
The man who had been smoking dropped his cigarette as he leapt back, almost falling on his ass. Jenkins and the bald guy just stared at the animal for a moment, before looking at each other in bewilderment.
Now that the men were all focused on the wolf, Dakota shot out from behind her car and ran toward the building, dropping down behind a row of bushes no more than twenty feet from the gate.
From there, she peered out as a vicious growl filled the air.
“Don’t make any sudden movements,” she heard Jenkins say.
“Easy for you to say,” the smoker replied, walking backwards toward the factory, his eyes glued to the wolf slowly padding toward the trio with a snarl on its face.
The large metal door that Jenkins was now flattening himself against was closed, and when the man reached out behind his back to reach the handle, Wes growled, taking another step forward.
“We’ll never make it inside without getting mauled,” the bald man complained.
“Shut up, Grover,” the smoker hissed at him. “Just get your gun. This mutt can’t outrun a bullet.”
Dakota’s heart was now racing, and she was seriously considering leaping out and aiming her crossbow at one of the
goons, when Wes suddenly leapt forward. His powerful hind legs propelled him toward the smoker at an incredible speed, and before Dakota could even blink, the man was knocked down on the ground.
As the guy scrambled to get back on his feet, Wes was already on to Grover, easily covering the ten-foot distance between them and sinking his teeth into the man’s forearm. Howling in pain, Grover staggered back, his eyes wide and all of the color drained from his face.
Dakota looked over to Jenkins, praying the man had been too stunned to reach for his own gun. But as big of a tough guy as Jenkins portrayed himself as, the man took one look at his friends, and the blood spattered on the dirt… and ran.
Dakota could hardly believe it. The guy just bolted, running to the back of the building as if he had completely forgotten there was a chain link fence around the whole place.
Maybe there’s another secret entrance back there, Dakota mused.
Standing between the two men he had just attacked, Wes looked from one to the other, growling deep in his chest. She could clearly see the panic on the men’s faces as they exchanged a loaded glance.
And then, they followed their fearless leader and booked it. Now Dakota was reasonably sure there had to be another door on the other side of the building. Or maybe they just planned to circle back, or perhaps they were cowering behind the nearest corner, waiting for Wes to appear so they could shoot him?
Dakota shot up from her hiding place, her mouth opening to call out to Wes that he should be careful, but he was already running after the men, his long tail trailing behind him as he went.
The door was now clear, and as much as Dakota wanted to run after Wes and make sure he was okay, she knew this was her shot. She had to take it. So she ran to the gate as fast as she could, her grip tight around the crossbow in her right hand.
