Hungry Like the Wolf

by Paige Tyler

  “I don’t mind,” she said. “I get the feeling you’ve needed to tell somebody that story for a long time. I’m just glad it was me.”

  “I guess you’re right.” He sighed. “I try not to think too much about that part of my past. I didn’t even realize it was weighing on me until I told you about it.”

  She tilted her face up to kiss him. It was amazing how close she felt to him after that little peek into his past. It made her want to learn everything about him. “You can tell me anything.”

  He gazed at her so deeply and thoughtfully she almost teared up again. “I might just take you up on that offer sometime.”

  She rested her head on his chest again, smiling as she realized his heart was now beating in the strong, slow rhythm she was used to. “Anytime you’re ready.”

  Chapter 10

  Gage couldn’t help returning Mackenzie’s smile as he held open the door to the restaurant. “After you.”

  He would have been quite happy hanging around her apartment again tonight, watching TV, talking, and making love like a couple of minks, which was what they’d been doing for the past two days, but she’d wanted to go out to dinner. And whatever Mackenzie wanted, Gage was ready to give her. She’d picked this place way out toward Bonham. He’d never heard of it, but she promised him it’d be worth the hour-plus drive to get out here. He didn’t care where she wanted to eat. As long as it was with him, he was game.

  Across from him, Mackenzie scrunched up her nose as she studied the menu. He smiled. She looked so cute when she did that. He still couldn’t believe how well things had worked out. Last night—sometime between dinner at her place and making love on the couch in the living room—Mackenzie had told him she was dropping the whole SWAT-team-on-PEDs story. They both knew there’d never been a PED story, but that had been her way of saying she was done snooping around. His pack was safe.

  But while he’d started out hoping to keep a nosy journalist from finding out his pack’s secret, somehow, he’d wound up falling for Mackenzie and finding the one woman in this crazy world he clicked with. It was way too soon to say he was in love, but he was more serious about her than he’d ever been about any woman. And he liked to think she felt the same way about him.

  “So, what do you feel like eating?” Mackenzie asked, still studying the menu.

  When he didn’t answer, she gave him a quizzical look. She must have read his mind because she grinned. “On the menu, Gage. On the menu.”

  He chuckled. “I’m feeling like a big cheeseburger with a huge pile of fries.”

  “Sounds good to me. Make it two.” Mackenzie closed her menu and placed it on the table. “So, what were you asking me as we pulled in the parking lot?”

  She was looking at him expectantly, her blue eyes dancing. Apparently, this was a test, and if he didn’t remember what they’d been talking about, she was going to seriously start thinking he was some kind of deviant who constantly thought about sex when he looked at her. Which was actually true, but he forced his mind back to their previous conversation. They’d been talking about his work schedule, then her schedule, then what she’d be working on next week. Yeah, that was it.

  “I asked you what story you were going to work on next. Since the SWAT piece didn’t pan out.”

  That sounded so smooth he almost patted himself on the back, but then he noticed she was grinning at him like she knew exactly how hard it’d been for him to remember. She didn’t call him on it, though.

  “I wouldn’t say it was a complete waste of time.” She gave him a sultry look that made him wish they’d stayed at her place. “I’m not really sure what I’m going to work on. I haven’t given it a lot of thought.”

  Gage let the waiter set down their drinks and take their order before asking her something he’d wondered about more than once.

  “How do you decide what story to go after? I know you mentioned your boss gives you a lot of leeway, but how do you even start? I mean, do you look at the news and wait until something grabs your attention?”

  She stirred artificial sweetener into her iced tea. “Most of the time, yeah. I see something that’s just wrong—a person getting away with something everyone knows they did, someone lying about something important with a perfectly straight face, a group of bad people using the system to get away with hurting people over and over. I see things like that and I just have to do something about it.”

  “You want to right wrongs then.”

  She sipped her drink. “Unfortunately, I rarely get to right the things that are wrong. The most I can usually do is make sure the truth comes out.”

  In his experience, truth could be one hell of a four-letter word. It was frequently held up as this amazing tonic that cured all ills, but it didn’t always work out that way.

  The funny thing was, he’d been wondering all weekend—in between romps in the bedroom and intimate conversations on the sofa—if he should tell her that he was a werewolf. Not right away, but soon. There was just something about her that made him want to be completely, one hundred percent honest with her.

  But this wasn’t just his secret, and that was what held him back every time he thought about opening his mouth.

  “What about those situations where the truth coming out will only lead to more problems?” he asked.

  She regarded him thoughtfully, as if she was wondering if he was just making conversation or whether this was one of those other secrets he had.

  “It might cause some pain and suffering at first, but I tend to believe the world is a better place when all the secrets are out in the open,” she said.

  Damn, sometimes it was hard not looking at her and assuming she could see right through him. But with that question, he’d just exposed the biggest difference between them. She’d seen the real world, but she was still an idealist. She lived in a place where honesty and truth always led to the best outcome. He’d seen the same real world, but lived in a place where lies and cover-ups kept people safe.

  “What about secrets the world isn’t ready to handle yet?” he asked.

  “Give the world more credit than that. People can handle more than you think.” She gave him a pointed look. “Besides, no one has the right to decide what secrets another person can and can’t handle.”

  Yeah, Mackenzie had definitely figured out this wasn’t a theoretical discussion. Not surprising. She was a journalist after all.

  But when the burgers showed up, she changed the subject and started talking about the last time she had a burger this big and how much she loved them.

  Great. Now Gage felt like shit. She probably thought he was trying to work the courage up to tell her about something else that had happened when he was in the Army, and that he’d tell her when he was ready. She’d freak if he told her his biggest secret—that he hadn’t gotten out of the Army because he couldn’t deal with the death of his friends, but because he couldn’t deal with becoming a werewolf. No matter how well Mackenzie thought she could handle things, she wasn’t ready for that kind of secret. He wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready for that.

  He shoved those thoughts aside and focused on his burger. At least that wouldn’t make him feel depressed.

  He’d just drowned his fries in ketchup and taken the first bite of his burger when his phone rang.

  Mackenzie looked at him, a French fry poised halfway to her mouth. “Guess you have to answer that, don’t you?”

  He reached in his pocket and pulled out his damn phone. One weekend, that was all he’d been looking for. “Yeah, they wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.”

  Of course, it might not be work… Gage glanced at the call display. It was Mike’s cell, not the main line at the compound. He thumbed the accept button.

  “Yeah, Mike, what’s up?”

  “Damn, I’m glad you picked up. I was worried you’d let it go to voice mail.”

  The tone in Mike’s voice immediately made his inner werewolf go on alert, and all kinds of bad shit start runni
ng through his head. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just got a call from a guy I know over in Customs and Border Protection at Dallas/Fort Worth International,” Mike said. “We’ve got trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “Red flags have been coming in on nearly every flight inbound from Mexico and South America since 0900 this morning. We’re talking more than a dozen guys. All cartel connected and all well-known killers.”

  That sinking feeling in his stomach just got worse. “Why are we only hearing about it now?”

  “Federal district attorneys have a couple major drug cases going on right now and thought the guys were in town for a hit on one of their witnesses,” Mike said. “My guy called me from the freaking bathroom because he knew they weren’t coming in for any witness. Not when they figured out who brought these guys in.”

  Gage swore. “Hardy.”

  “Yeah, and he’s not even trying to cover his tracks. The son of a bitch had limos waiting for every one of these guys. According to cops and informants I know back from my days undercover, the word on the street is that these guys are here to take you and your girlfriend out. Soon.”

  “Shit.”

  On the other side of the table, Mackenzie had put down her burger and was looking at him with concern.

  “Gage, the deputy chief is going to want to put the two of you in protective custody, you know that, right?” Mike asked.

  “That sure as hell isn’t going to happen,” Gage growled.

  “No shit,” Mike agreed. “Hardy has men on the inside. He’d know where you were going before you got there. What do you want to do?”

  Gage hesitated. His first instinct was to protect Mackenzie. His second was to protect his pack. But the Pack could take care of themselves—and Mackenzie—if they were warned. And if they were together.

  “Call everyone in and get loaded up and ready. Mackenzie and I will be there within the hour. We’ll go from there.”

  Mike didn’t argue. He didn’t comment about the fact that Gage’s visit to Hardy’s residence hadn’t had the desired effect, either. Damn it, he should have killed Hardy when he had the chance, badge be damned.

  “What’s wrong?” Mackenzie asked when Gage hung up.

  Gage didn’t have a clue what dinner cost, but he pulled fifty dollars out of his wallet and tossed it on the table. Then he stood and held out his hand to Mackenzie. “I’ll tell you on the way to the compound.”

  Mackenzie didn’t demand answers, but just took his hand and let him lead her out of the restaurant. Even though she was the poster girl for calm, he could hear her heart pounding.

  “Gage, you’re scaring me,” she said when he made her wait while he scanned the parking lot. “What’s going on?”

  He hurried her across the lot, his nose taking in a hundred different scents, his eyes shifting just enough to sharpen his night vision without giving off that telltale glow. The sun was just going down, so it wasn’t completely dark out, but he still focused as he peered into the deepening shadows.

  The parking lot was clear and he hustled Mackenzie in the car before he’d even thought about how to answer her question.

  He seriously considered making something up. But he wouldn’t make her any safer by lying to her. In fact, he’d probably do the opposite. If she didn’t know the danger she was in, she might take a careless risk without even realizing it. So, as he spun out of the parking lot, he told her the truth.

  “Hardy’s brought in a bunch of heavy cartel muscle from outside the country. They started arriving earlier today. And everyone who knows anyone has it on good authority that they’re here to kill me.” He slanted her a glance. “And my girlfriend.”

  He sped down the road, checking every mirror in quick rotation as he waited for her to say something.

  “Girlfriend, huh?”

  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Mackenzie had always struck him as a pretty cool character, but of all the things he’d expected her to say, that wasn’t one of them. “That’s the word on the street, according to Mike.”

  “I wonder how Hardy found out about us so quickly.”

  Gage shook his head. “You did hear the part about them planning to kill us, right?”

  “Yeah, but I could have told you that. In fact, I’m pretty sure I did,” she said. “He must have had someone watching you for the past few days and they saw us together. I wonder why he’s making such an aggressive move now, though. I thought someone like Hardy would have taken a more calculated approach.”

  Gage took the opportunity to check his mirrors again. He knew exactly why Hardy had hired those hit men—because Gage had miscalculated and poked the man with a stick.

  “I know there was a bomb in that meth lab the other day.” When Gage did a double take at that, she added, “I overheard Cooper tell Mike at the hospital.”

  He swore under his breath.

  “Hardy was behind it, wasn’t he?”

  Gage nodded, his gaze going to the mirrors.

  Mackenzie looked over her shoulder, out the back window. “You think those hit men are going to come at us while we’re driving, don’t you?”

  He forced himself to stop looking in the mirror every five seconds. “Not really. I doubt anyone could have followed us all the way out here along these back roads without me noticing them. And no one could have guessed this is where we’d go. I don’t think many people in Dallas even know that place is out here.”

  She sat back in the seat, looking surprisingly relaxed. Well, as relaxed as a person could look knowing that a rich, powerful man wanted you dead.

  “So, what’s the plan?” she asked. “Are they going to put us in protective custody?”

  Gage couldn’t believe how well she was taking this. Most women—hell most people—would have been freaking out by now.

  “I’m sure Mason is talking to the chief of police right now about putting together a protective detail, but I trust my own people a whole lot more,” Gage told her. “We’re heading straight to the compound.”

  “Okay. But then what?”

  Gage was trying to figure out how to answer that question when the glare of headlights reflecting sharply off the rearview mirror caught his attention. He had just enough time to punch the accelerator to the floor and tighten his grip on the wheel when the car coming up behind them smashed into his bumper.

  If the Charger had been any lighter—or if he hadn’t lucked out and seen the asshole coming—the collision would have knocked his car completely out of control. As it was, he and Mackenzie nearly slid sideways into a ditch. Tires squealed as the sports car threatened to roll on him. He fought for control of the wheel as he tried to figure out where the psycho behind them had gone.

  “Watch out!” Mackenzie screamed.

  Gage snapped his head around just in time to see two cars pull across the road in a classic roadblock position. There was no way he could bull his way through, and he sure as hell didn’t want to stop. He slammed on the brake, trying to steer toward the side of the road. He had to get around them.

  His werewolf reflexes were good enough to pull it off, but whoever was in the cars blocking the road started peppering the Charger with rounds from what sounded like an automatic weapon. Bullets smashed into the front of the car and Mackenzie screamed as the windshield shattered. Gage threw as much of his body in front of hers as he could, considering he was wearing his seat belt and needed to keep one hand on the wheel.

  He was still moving fast when he clipped the rear of one of the blocking cars, smashing it to pieces and sending him and Mackenzie hurtling off the road and into the ditch. He gripped the wheel tightly as they bottomed out in the ravine, then bounced up the far side. Mackenzie screamed again as they ran into a line of small trees at the top of the embankment.

  There were so many bullets hitting the car that Gage couldn’t believe neither of them had been hit yet. That wouldn’t last long.

  He needed to get them out of here,
and fast. With all the trees, he had no choice but to put the Charger into a sideways slide and bring the car to a halt the hard way—by smashing it broadside into a thick hardwood.

  He grabbed Mackenzie and tried to protect her from the impact as best he could, but she still slammed against the inside of the door pretty hard. He reached over to unbuckle her seat belt. They had to get out of the car now.

  He dragged her off her seat and across the center console, slipping one hand down to his ankle holster to pull out his gun. Mackenzie was so woozy she could barely stand on her own, and he held on to her with one hand while he scanned the area. He could hear the sound of feet pounding on the dirt, could smell the sweat coming off the men as they ran.

  Gage put a bullet through the head of the first man to crest the embankment, sending him tumbling backward. That would sure as hell slow them down some. Nobody was going to feel like poking their head up for a few seconds at least.

  Not waiting to see if he was right, he turned and scooped Mackenzie off her feet, then ran into the forest as fast as he could—and he could run pretty damn fast.

  They’d gotten maybe two hundred feet into the woods before bullets started tearing up the sparse forest around them. Apparently the bad guys hadn’t waited as long as he’d hoped.

  Shit.

  There were at least six of them crashing through the woods after him, spread out in a ragged line in an effort to make sure he didn’t slip past them in the gathering dark. If he’d been by himself, he would have shifted into his half-werewolf form so he could go on the offensive. The assholes would have never even seen him coming.

  But he had Mackenzie to worry about. There was no way to keep her safe and go after the men at the same time.

  So he kept running. Bullets buzzed past them like angry bees, and Gage was forced to zig and zag erratically. That only allowed the men behind them to gain on them.

  “They’re catching up,” Mackenzie said.

  Gage glanced down at her. “You okay?”

  He ran faster. He needed a better plan. He wasn’t going to be able to stay ahead of these guys forever while carrying Mackenzie. All it would take was one lucky shot.