Edensaw stepped forward. “Let the woman go, Tanner. You’ve made your point that you’re going to be more evil than Andre. Don’t you think you’ve made the woman suffer enough?”
“Edensaw,” Tanner said with a condescending smile. “I figured this would draw you sentinels out. As for ending Lora’s suffering, I was just waiting for you to arrive to do just that.” He looked at Greg. “Hold her still.”
Tad let out a bellow as he fought loose of Brice’s hold. Tanner shifted to his wolf form, stood on his hind legs and bit Lora where her neck and shoulder met, drawing blood. She stiffened as a pained scream tore out of her. Tanner swung around and met Tad, who had once again shifted to his wolf form. Lora’s screams filled the air as the two wolves came together head-on.
Capac rushed up the hill along with the rest of the others. Before they could reach Tanner and Tad, six more dark wolves came barreling out of the trees and went on the attack.
The fight that ensued was vicious and bloody. It soon became apparent that the only ones who could hold their own against the dark wolves were Capac and his wolf brothers. They were able to beat them back enough to have their battle move farther up the hill were Tanner fought with Tad.
It wasn’t hard to see the dark wolf leader was playing with Tad. Tanner took vicious swipes at the other werewolf, raking his claws down his sides, leaving bloody furrow marks behind in Tad’s light-colored fur.
Capac temporarily took out an opponent by taking hold of him by the back of his neck and snapping it. From past experience, he knew the dark wolf would only be out of the fight for a few seconds, but it was enough to give Capac the edge to climb the rest of the way up the hill. He’d just reached the top when Tanner subdued Tad and bit him in the neck as he’d done Lora. Tad shifted to human form and bellowed in pain.
Tanner stepped back and shifted as well. He smiled at Capac. “And that makes two more dark wolves added to my pack. They’re mine now.”
Capac launched himself at Tanner and hit him square in the chest, sending him backward, not giving the dark wolf leader time to shift. He bit and scratched, using his great strength to pull Tanner down to his back. He almost had him by the throat, but Tanner punched Capac in the side of the head, making him see stars.
The dark wolf leader rose to his feet, wiping blood from the scratches Capac had made on his cheek. “Nice try, sentinel, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to take me down. I also couldn’t help noticing you have a woman’s scent on you. Could it be you at last found your mate? Since it’s not ingrained with yours, I’m going to say you haven’t claimed her yet. Maybe I should search her out and make her a dark wolf.”
A surge of rage shot through Capac over the thought of Tanner coming anywhere near Riya. With a loud growl, he jumped at Tanner, going for his throat once more. This time Tanner caught Capac by his neck and held on. The dark wolf leader murmured some words Capac didn’t understand. He whimpered as a sharp pain tore through his head. After a few seconds, he was tossed away. Tanner followed through with a sharp kick to Capac’s ribs, which knocked the breath out of him.
As Capac fought to drag air into his lungs, Tanner said, “Thanks for all that info. Tell Edensaw congrats on his baby. I now see you have a new shaman. He’s the one who caused Andre so much trouble. I’ll have to do something about that. And do you want me to tell your Riya you said hello when I pay her a little visit? I’ll have to remember her address.”
Capac rose to his paws with a snarl. Tanner swung out with his foot, catching Capac on the side of his head. He fell to the ground. The last thing he saw before his world went black was Tanner’s foot rushing toward him once again.
* * * * *
“Capac, wake up.”
The sound of his alpha’s voice brought Capac to sudden wakefulness. He blinked open his eyes to find himself surrounded by his wolf brothers. He shifted to his human form.
He sat up and looked around. “Tanner? Where did he go?”
“He managed to escape, taking Tad and Lora with him. He used some kind of spell that made him and his pack seem to disappear into the darkness.”
Capac stood. “How long was I out?”
“Only for a few seconds. Brice and his pack members have gone to see if they can pick up Tanner’s trail.”
“We have to go to the cars and check on Ryder and the girls. Tanner used another spell on me, one where he basically pulled whatever information he wanted right out of my head. He knows about Ryder now and the new baby. He also has Riya’s address. I have to go to her.”
Edensaw spun on his heel and took off at a run toward where they’d left the cars. Capac and the others followed behind him. Much to Capac’s relief they found no dark wolves trying to get at the mates and their shaman.
Once Edensaw had Cassidy out of the car and in his arms, he explained to the others what Capac had told him. He then looked at Capac. “Go to your mate. You’ll have to bring her back to our place for her protection.”
“She has a roommate. What about her?”
“You’ll have to bring her along as well. We can’t leave an innocent alone for Tanner to find.”
“Hopefully neither one of them will be difficult about it. I know Riya was supposed to go to work in a few hours.”
“Just bring them home and we’ll help explain everything to them.”
Capac nodded. “All right. I’m going to need a ride there.”
“I’ll drive you,” Ryder said. “Without Tad, everyone will fit in the other vehicles.”
“Go,” Edensaw said. “We’ll stick around to help Brice try to pick up Tanner’s trail, though I doubt we’ll find one.”
He nodded at his alpha, then got into Ryder’s black four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicle. He gave the shaman the address to their destination. The sense of urgency he felt to get to Riya increased once they drove away. Capac had no idea what he was going to say to convince his mate and her roommate to leave their apartment in the early hours of the morning with not much of an explanation.
“It’ll be okay,” Ryder said. “I don’t think you have to worry about Tanner going to Riya’s apartment before we get there. Now that he knows about me, he’s going to try to undo the protection spells I put up to keep the dark wolves from finding out information about the sentinels. I’m a bigger threat at the moment.”
“Then until you come into your full powers we’ll have to keep you under watch.”
“That will only be for a short time.”
Once they reached the apartment building, Capac looked at Ryder. “Will you come up with me? I might need help with the roommate.”
“Sure, why not? It will get us home faster. I’m about done in.”
Capac got out of the car and walked with Ryder to the building. He walked into the vestibule and scanned the board by the intercom system until he found Riya’s name. He then typed in the numbers that would call up to her place.
It rang and rang until finally Riya answered in a sleepy voice. “Hello?”
“Riya, it’s Capac. Can you please let me come up?”
“Capac? Do you have any idea what time it is? I have to be up in a couple of hours to get ready for work. Can’t you come back later?”
“No, I can’t. If this wasn’t urgent I wouldn’t be here. Please, will you let me in?”
“You’re sure this can’t wait?”
“I’m positive.”
“Fine, you can come up. I’ll buzz you in.”
The secured door buzzed a second later. Capac pulled it open and stepped through with Ryder behind him. They took the elevator up to the sixth floor, then walked down the long hallway to Riya’s apartment.
The door opened before Capac had a chance to knock. Riya stood in the doorway and motioned him and Ryder in. She closed it once they were inside.
“Okay, what is so urgent that you had to come here at the ass crack of dawn?”
Capac grew still when he pulled a particular scent out of the air. Could it be Riya alrea
dy knew his kind existed?
Ryder answered Riya’s question. “If we didn’t fear for your safety we wouldn’t have deemed it necessary to wake you up so early. You’ll also have to awaken your roommate as well. The two of you will need to come with us to our place.”
Capac turned to Ryder. “Her roommate is something more than we realized.”
“What do you mean?”
A tall, brown-haired woman stepped out of one of the bedrooms and walked toward them. She was supermodel gorgeous as all born werewolves were. Her gaze landed on Ryder and didn’t look away.
“What your friend is saying is that I’m a werewolf.”
“Does Riya know?” Capac asked.
“No, I haven’t told her.”
Riya looked from her roommate, then to Capac. “Can someone tell me what is going on? And, Wren, what is this about you being a werewolf? That’s ridiculous.”
Capac sighed. “We don’t have time to explain everything right now. Pack some clothes and then we’ll go to my house, Wren included. The both of you are not safe here alone.”
“Capac, are you in some kind of trouble?” Riya asked.
“Just come with us and we’ll answer all your questions.”
Wren stepped over to Riya’s side and put her arm around her shoulders. “I think we should do as they say. Go pack some clothes and I’ll do the same.”
Riya looked at her roommate. “Please tell me you really don’t think you’re a werewolf.”
“As Capac said, all your questions will be answered later.”
“Fine, be that way.” Riya didn’t stop Wren from leading her away, but after a couple of steps she stopped walking. “What about my job? I have to go in this morning.”
Capac shook his head. “No, you aren’t. You’ll have to call in sick.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
Riya stared at him for a few seconds before she slowly nodded. “All right, I’ll call in sick. I’m only doing this because I have a feeling you’re not going to take no for an answer.”
Both Wren and Riya went to their bedrooms while Capac and Ryder stayed by the apartment door.
Capac looked at his shaman. “My mate was already living with a werewolf and didn’t even know it.”
“At least Riya will realize she has nothing to fear from you since she has been under the same roof with Wren and hasn’t come to any harm.”
“There is that.”
Once the women were packed and ready to go, Capac ushered everyone down to the parking lot. The sky was just starting to lighten as Ryder pulled out onto the road. Capac looked at Riya, who sat next to him in the backseat. Wren was up front with Ryder. Riya stifled a yawn with her hand.
“After we get to my place we can lie down for a bit before we get to discussing anything,” he told her.
“Normally I would tell you I’m fine, but I didn’t sleep all that well last night. Mostly because of you.”
Capac grinned. “You were dreaming of me, were you?”
Riya rolled her eyes. “Not exactly. Why did you just text message me to cancel our date? It would have been nicer to call me instead.”
“That was the wrong thing to do?”
“You could say that. It’s impersonal and made me think you were going to give me the brush-off, no matter what you said about wanting to be my boyfriend.”
Capac made a mental note to never send Riya a text message if it was something important. He did not need to have his mate pissed off with him over something as trivial as that.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come across like that,” he said as he took hold of Riya’s hand and laced their fingers together. “It was easier for me to text. I was kind of in a hurry.”
“Does what you were doing earlier have anything to do with you dragging me to your house at dawn?”
“Yes.”
“And I suppose you’re not ready to talk about that either until later.”
“Correct, but I will tell you that if it hadn’t been really important I wouldn’t have had a reason to cancel on you. I would never just walk away from you.”
Wren turned in her seat to look back at them. “See, Riya, I told you Capac wouldn’t do that to you. You mean more to him than that. Right, Capac?”
He met Wren’s gaze. Being a werewolf, she must have figured out Riya was his mate. “Absolutely. Thanks for trying to alleviate Riya’s fears about that.”
“No problem. I know you’ve waited for her for a very long time.”
Capac furrowed his brow. “You do?”
She gave him a smile. “Yes. My mother was a psychic and I inherited her gift.” Wren turned to stare at Ryder. “I know a lot of things that will happen in the not-too-distant future.”
Ryder gave the female werewolf a confused look, then turned his gaze back onto the road. Capac shook his head over what Wren had said. When he looked at Riya she appeared unsure of what to make of her roommate. Obviously, this was all news to her.
At the house, Ryder parked in the driveway, then everyone got out. Capac carried Wren’s and Riya’s bags while Ryder went ahead to unlock the front door. Inside it was quiet. And after a quick sniff Capac realized they were the only ones home. His wolf brothers and their mates had yet to return. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.
Capac stopped at the bottom of the stairs that led to the upper floor. “Riya is going to sleep in my bed. As for you, Wren, I guess you can sleep on the couch, if you like?”
“Or I can sleep in Ryder’s bedroom,” she answered as she shifted closer to the shaman.
Ryder shook his head. “Ah, no. I think it best if you stay on the couch.”
“Don’t fight it, Ryder. We’ll be good together.”
Wren would have put her hand on the shaman’s chest, but Ryder caught it and gently pushed it back toward her. “I haven’t had any sleep for almost twenty-four hours, I think it best if I let that subject go for now. I’ll see you all after I get some rest.”
Ryder hurried up the stairs as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels. Capac couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
Wren sighed. “I’m going to have to work on him. I guess I’ll crash on the couch then. You two go on up, I’ll be fine down here.” She took her bag from Capac and headed into the living room.
Capac walked up the stairs with Riya to his bedroom. Inside, he closed and locked the door behind them. His bed looked awfully good right about now. It had been almost twenty-four hours since he’d slept as well. He put Riya’s bag down near the dresser, then pulled his shirt off over his head.
He looked up to find Riya watching him. He shrugged. “I don’t sleep in pajamas. And it’s not as if you haven’t seen me naked already.”
“I’m not complaining. I’m just going to warn you that you’re very tempting without any clothes on. I know you want to sleep, but I won’t be responsible if I wake you up by stroking your manly bits.”
Capac laughed. “My manly bits, huh? You can touch them to your heart’s content. Just let me get a couple of hours of sleep first.”
“Deal. Then after that you’re going to explain what’s going on.”
“I promise.”
He finished undressing and climbed under the covers. Riya slipped in naked next to him and cuddled close. With his mate beside him, Capac drifted off to sleep in a matter of seconds.
Chapter Six
Riya only slept for about an hour before she came awake and couldn’t go back. Capac was still asleep, quietly snoring. The poor guy had to be exhausted. She was going to be the nice girlfriend and not disturb him, no matter how much she wanted to kiss him and have his hands all over her.
She rolled over onto her side and traced Capac’s handsome face with her gaze. Riya was more than happy to learn her fears about him wanting to dump her had been unfounded. She wanted to hold on to him for a good long while. Just as Wren probably wanted to do with Ryder.
Riya laughed to herself when she th
ought of how Ryder had appeared to get a deer-in-the-headlights look after Wren had said she could sleep in his bedroom. It seemed her roommate had set her sights on him.
Thinking about Wren also got Riya thinking about what Wren had called herself. A werewolf. And Capac had acted as if he knew there was something different about her right after he’d stepped into the apartment. Wren could not be a werewolf. It was ridiculous to give any credence to it.
Then there was the reason why Capac and Ryder had come to the apartment so early in the morning, insisting both she and Wren leave with them. Capac obviously feared for their safety, but why, she couldn’t even begin to guess. It wasn’t as if she lived some kind of wild lifestyle and had crazies coming after her. Maybe he was the one who had the nutcases after him and being his girlfriend would put her in jeopardy. If that were the case, Riya had to wonder what Capac did for a living. He’d never told her and she hadn’t thought to ask.
There was no point in her dwelling on all that now since Capac was still asleep and probably wouldn’t wake up for at least another hour. Or so Riya thought until she looked to find he had his eyes open.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” she asked. “I can’t sleep anymore.”
Capac rolled and pulled her under him. “Actually, my cock woke me up.” He thrust his hips and the hard length of his erection nudged against Riya’s inner thigh.
“I can feel that,” she said, suddenly a bit breathless.
“I’m hoping you’ll be able to help me with that. Maybe you’d be interested in fooling around like we did the other night?”
Riya’s pussy clenched at the thought of having Capac’s mouth and hands all over her, pleasuring her until she came. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. “And that’s it? Just oral sex?”
“For now. After the discussion we have with the others, then I’ll make love to you for hours.”
She squirmed under him. “I’d say that would be well worth calling in sick for.”
“Then I take it you’re more than willing to help me with my cock.”
Burning Ice: 6 (Werewolf Sentinels) Page 5
