by Sky Winters
“It felt like I’d lost a part of myself. Like I’d never be whole again. My father told me it was the gang that had done it, and all the adults were getting together, making plans to avenge the women who were being murdered in cold blood. My dad led an attack on them the next week. But he lost. He died too.”
Hunter lifted his chin, empathetically, and the barrel of the gun wavered until it pointed closer to the ground.
“Everything I’d ever loved was gone. Lost in the blink of an eye. All because those bloodthirsty assholes like to pick on people they look down on. Women. Effeminate men. Strangers who don’t know the area.” He left one word unspoken. Humans. “We formed a group of men who wanted to take care of the threat once and for all. These guys want to hurt people, and they constantly target them in this area, especially in this town, so we made a pact to protect them. It’s how we can avenge the people we lost and take matters into our own hands.”
“Why not just call the police?” Hunter whispered. “If you know who they are, then just arrest them to keep the bastards from hurting other people. You could have saved Tyler’s life if—”
“These men are stronger than any police force. There’s something about them that makes them very difficult to fight. They’re strong and have access to things beyond most people’s understanding. It’s a deep web, Hunter, and the best way to fight it is in person, without getting other innocent people involved who don’t understand the group so well.”
“Then let me fight! I need to do something…” Hunter took a deep breath. “I came here for a reason. I still don’t know exactly what that reason is. But I do know I need to do something to stop this. To avenge Tyler.”
“Guns aren’t going to do too much to hurt people like them,” Bronson said, plucking the gun gingerly from Hunter’s hand. “Or to me.”
“What? Why?”
But Bronson didn’t answer. Instead, he held his arms out and allowed himself to feel the heartbreak as he embraced Hunter, who finally let out the sobs he had been holding back. So the boy had lost the man he loved to the mountain lion shifters. All the more reason to put them in their place once and for all.
Chapter 13
Hunter walked back to his car numb and in a daze. He could feel Bronson’s dark eyes following him. He wanted nothing more than to return to the man, to be surrounded by the strength and warmth of his embrace. He felt completely safe with Bronson. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Not even with Tyler.
Hunter sighed heavily, putting the gun back in the glove compartment of his car. He furrowed his eyebrows, reluctant to leave Bronson alone in the woods. For some reason it didn’t seem safe, even though he seemed so strong and capable. But he couldn’t let himself succumb to the same powerful longing that had brought them together in the first place. Besides, he had a lot to think about. Especially if he was going to stay in this town.
He was surprised that he had been able to find Bronson so easily. He’d had no leads to go on. All he’d done was trust his instincts and he’d found Bronson’s trail and followed it. It had been almost like magic. There was no other way to describe it. When he had tried to explain bizarre things like this, tried to explain his intuition to Tyler, he would look at Hunter like he was crazy. He had a feeling Bronson would probably be more open and accepting of his strange talents though.
Why was he still thinking about Bronson as if he was some kind of potential mate or something? There was no way he would want to share anything with that man. Just because he had been sexually frustrated and they’d been together didn’t mean that they were going to date and have a happily ever after. His fiancé was dead. And Bronson probably knew more about it than he was letting on. In fact, if Bronson’s gang was responsible for it, why would he even tell him the truth about anything?
Bronson’s version of the truth sounded like a whole lot of bullshit to Hunter. If there was a group of men out there trying to fuck with outsiders and actually killing people for being different, why would it be a bad idea to get the police involved? Still, he wanted to believe Bronson. And if he was going to be honest with himself, deep down, he did. If only for the simple fact that he liked to trust his instincts and his instincts told him Bronson was trustworthy. But there was just far too much going on out here for him to feel comfortable with and—
“Shit!”
A huge animal jumped in front of his car. Hunter slammed on his brakes, terrified of injuring the animal and damaging his car. Fortunately, he was able to stop in time, but when he saw the creature’s face, he wished that he hadn’t been so quick to stop. It was huge, with wild eyes and a vicious smile. Even in his panic, he was able to identify it as a mountain lion. There was something familiar about its eyes, and they gave him goosebumps.
Almost immediately, he saw another mountain lion beside the driver’s seat door, and another on the passenger’s side. A fourth joined the mountain lion in front of him. He was slowly becoming surrounded by the vicious creatures, and they all seemed to have only one thing on their minds. Hunter could sense it, even though he couldn’t explain it. They wanted him.
An ear-splitting howl made all of the creatures jump to full attention, and they took their eerie yellow eyes off of Hunter to look for the source. Coming from the mountains, in the direction where Bronson had been, was a jet black wolf, bounding with full force toward the stalled vehicle. The mountain lions snarled, charging toward the wolf.
Hunter craned his neck to see what was happening. He didn’t want anything to happen to the wolf. With trembling hands, he removed the gun from his glove compartment and rolled his window down just enough that he was able to aim the barrel outside at the mountain lions. One of them yelped in pain when he shot it, and veered away from the black wolf. It headed into the forest and disappeared, leaving three other mountain lions behind to finish the job.
His hands were shaking terribly, but he cocked the gun and aimed again. Two of the mountain lions were jumping onto the wolf at once, and the third was ready to pounce. Hunter cursed. He couldn’t get a good aim on the third, but he knew if it attacked the wolf would probably be done for.
Against all logic, he stepped out of his car and took a shot at the third mountain lion. It howled in rage and turned to look at Hunter. He held his gun out confidently, despite the fear mounting in his chest. If the mountain lion charged at him, he would probably be a goner. But he couldn’t stand the thought of the wolf being killed. It seemed like it was trying to protect him, although that didn’t make any sense. And there was something about it that made him feel safe.
The mountain lion took a step towards him, growling, and he fired another shot at the beast’s face. It cried out in agony and followed its friend into the forest. Now all that was left were the two mountain lions fighting the wolf. Hunter’s hands were shaking too hard for him to trust his aim that well. He didn’t want to shoot the wolf on accident and make it harder for it to fight off the mountain lions.
Somehow, the wolf seemed to be getting the better of the creatures. He was twice as big as they were, which Hunter realized was way too big for a normal wolf. The wolf gripped one of them by the neck. He shook it violently before tossing it away, and then did the same to the second. It looked like the first mountain lion was close to death, but it still got up and ran toward Hunter.
Hunter ducked into his car just in time, slamming the door closed as the injured beast tried to paw its way inside. He shoved his gun through the slit in the window and fired.
It missed completely, but the sound was enough to startle the wounded creature and cause it to bound off, hot on the trail of the other injured mountain lions.
Now, all that was left was the wolf and the last mountain lion. They were fighting viciously, and Hunter gasped when the wolf yelped in pain as the beast latched down on his neck. The harder he tried to escape, the more pain the wolf seemed to feel.
Hunter was about to get back out of his car and try to rescue the wolf somehow, risking his own lif
e, when another wolf—this one brown—appeared out of the bushes and grabbed the mountain lion by the scruff, pulling it off the black wolf and flinging it violently away. Hunter watched in shock as the second wolf took on the mountain lion with heightened energy, clearly protecting the black one from any further attacks. It was smaller than the huge black wolf, and soon found that it had met its match with the mountain lion.
Soon the new wolf found himself in the locked jaws of the mountain lion, but his rescue had given the black wolf all the time he needed to recover. Hunter watched with his jaw slackened as the indominable black wolf gripped the mountain lion’s throat and clamped down powerfully. A strangled yelp escaped the beast’s lips before it sunk limply to the ground.
The brown wolf stayed on the road panting for a moment as the majestic black wolf walked slowly to the driver’s side of Hunter’s car. His golden eyes locked on Hunter’s for a moment, as if checking to see if he was all right. There was something loving and kind in the wolf’s look, something that brought to mind the way Bronson’s strong arms felt when they were wrapped securely around Hunter’s body. He felt a warmth spread from his heart and outward, filling his body.
The wolf gave an odd, almost human nod, and turned away. He walked to his friend, who was struggling to his feet on the roadside. Together, they walked away from the scene, leaving the mountain lion’s corpse on the road behind them. For a minute, Hunter thought the mountain lion’s corpse looked like a naked human body. He blinked and drove off before he could give much thought to whether it was stress and fear or the sun playing tricks on his eyes.
Chapter 14
Bronson hissed in pain as the elder’s lackeys bathed his wounds in fresh water. The healers were all confined to the area with the elder, but fortunately for Bronson, one of the men who guarded him was out on patrol and had heard the commotion. He had saved Bronson’s life.
When his wounds were all dressed and treated with the special herbal remedies that Agun had shared with the pack from his deep, primordial knowledge of their ancient history, Bronson shifted back to his human form and walked slowly to Agun’s quarters.
“Well I asked you here for dinner,” the old man said. He seemed amused. “But I didn’t expect that you’d be quite so punctual.”
“You know me,” Bronson said, wincing with pain as he attempted to stretch out his shoulder. Fights with the mountain lion shifters always ended in bloodshed. They had honed their fighting skills over the years so that they had a slight advantage when facing a wolf shifter one on one. They had to be smart to outmaneuver the strong wolf shifters, who were usually bigger than they were by at least a size and a half. Bronson was lucky that he was an Alpha. If he only had an Omega’s strength, he would have been a goner. It was just lucky that he had gotten there in time to protect Hunter.
“Indeed. And I’ve known many others like you,” the elder said.
“Aw, don’t tell me that. I’d like to think I’m special.”
“Oh, yes,” Agun said, a wry smile playing across his thin, age-worn lips. “But history has a way of repeating itself.”
The elder’s words sent a chill down Bronson’s spine. Although he knew the past tended to catch up to people from time to time, hearing the words coming from a man who had lived through hell and come back again and again was something new entirely.
“At some point you will be willing to share with me what it is you are thinking and feeling, my child. You know I love you as much as anyone alive ever could. I won’t watch you walk on a wrongful path if there is anything that I can do to help you.”
“Yes, thank you, Agun. I don’t have anything to say about anything right now. I just wonder how I will find a mate. Time is running out and the mountain lion shifters are getting sneakier.” Not to mention he could only seem to think of Hunter… “If we don’t find a way to repopulate the pack, there’s a chance they’ll pick us off one by one until our kind are extinct. The men are losing the will to fight.”
“Yes, this is a problem,” Agun sighed. “There is very low morale. Most are convinced that the fight is already over. But you will show them otherwise. You have the power to bring the pack back from the dead. The Dire wolves will rise again.”
Bronson couldn’t help but smile at Agun. Even if it wasn’t true, it was always comforting to hear the endless optimism of the elder. He had seen many disasters in his time, but it was what the pack chose to do with the misfortune that counted. He couldn’t be taken off course. Not when it was so crucial that he be there for his pack and save his people from extinction.
Chapter 15
Hunter paced around in his motel room, glancing at his watch. He had two choices. He could either continue on his ill-fated job hunt, hoping to make himself a functional citizen of the town of Dire, or he could find Bronson and apologize for brandishing a gun in his face and almost killing him over his delirious drive to avenge Tyler.
Bronson had been on Hunter’s mind nonstop since the incident in the woods. He wanted to make sure that he was all right, that the mountain lions hadn’t hurt him. He had a feeling all was well, but he didn’t want to make assumptions. If there was anything he could do to make it up to Bronson, he would do it.
But he had an ulterior motive, too. Every night since the wolf fight, he’d woken up with a hard-on from hell. His dreams were consumed by memories and fantasies involving Bronson and his capable, gorgeous body. He hated himself for feeling any sexual feelings toward anybody but Tyler, but god help him, he couldn’t stop his dreams. They left him walking around all day in a daze, slipping into the bathroom to relieve himself when the desire became too much. He wanted to see Bronson again. He needed to see him again. To apologize. And, maybe, for a chance to feel something other than this grief, guilt, and anger.
Hunter picked up his car keys and twirled them around his finger. Apparently, he had made up his mind about what he was going to do.
On the way out of the motel, Ed stopped him.
“Girl dropped by here. A Bella Rose. Said you should give her a call about a job opportunity. Don’t know why she didn’t ring your room directly…”
Hunter paused, surprised.
“I didn’t actually give her my number. Or where I was staying, for that matter.”
“Must have been a lucky guess,” Ed said. “I don’t much like luck.”
Hunter smiled at Ed and shrugged. The man’s dark demeanor had become somewhat comical to Hunter. It was nice to know that compared to somebody else, he was actually optimistic.
“How many motels can there be around here, Ed? You’re the only one, right?”
Ed grunted, and Hunter turned to walk away.
“Don’t worry about it. People are probably talking about me. Strangers in small towns get small minds racing, don’t they?”
Ed chortled, a rare but pleasant sound. “Truth in those words, yeah,” he acknowledged. “Still, don’t make it a habit of having me take calls for you. I ain’t no secretary.”
“Sure, Ed,” Hunter said, grinning. Why was he in such a good mood? It had been a long time since he’d felt like this. Not since…
But now wasn’t the time to think about that. Hunter ducked into his car, his mind buzzing with possibilities. A new job. And a chance to see the person he’d been obsessing over for the past week. It just felt good that he was going to get in touch with Bronson and do the right thing. It was time for him to apologize.
Chapter 16
Bronson leaned his back against a tree trunk and wiped the sweat from his brow. He’d been patrolling the area day and night, and he was tired. He’d been taking his role as Alpha more seriously than he ever had before. Now that it was just him and the healers in town, it was more important than ever to continually reinforce the borders and make sure that the mountain lion shifters didn’t realize just how vulnerable the town’s population was. If they did, they might try to reclaim what they considered as their land.
He would have to stay diligent. But if he kept ge
tting into fights like the one he’d had protecting Hunter, he wasn’t sure how long he was going to last on his own. He wished the others would come back soon, whether they brought the Omega female hybrid or not.
Bronson lifted his canteen to his lips and chugged the refreshing cool water, his dark eyes scanning the horizon. There hadn’t been any attacks in days, which meant there was bound to be something bad just around the corner. The mountain lion shifters were steady and methodical. They liked to take at least one casualty per month, and so far, everyone in the town had been safe. It was getting to be a little bit too calm for Bronson to feel comfortable with. But the double shifts were leaving him tired and off his game.
“Hey.”
Bronson whirled around with his fists clenched and struck at the air, narrowly missing Hunter’s face. The boy’s silver-blue eyes widened in surprise and he ducked away.
“I guess I deserved that after the last time we saw each other,” Hunter said, laughing sheepishly.
Bronson quickly pulled his clenched fists back and hid them behind his back. He felt ashamed that he was too jumpy—or too exhausted—to be able to smell Hunter before striking. The man’s scent had a way of making him feel hot and alive. He was the kind of man Bronson wanted to both protect and dominate. It was distracting.
“Nice evasion,” he said. For some reason, he was lost for words. He had no idea what to say to Hunter; who wouldn’t even know it had been Bronson who had saved him from the mountain lion attack. Besides that, he was tired and surly. All he wanted was to forget that the mountain lions existed at all.
“Um…so what have you been up to?”
Hunter was looking intently at Bronson, and he couldn’t help but feel an uncomfortable pressure to perform. People expected Alphas to act a certain way all the time. They weren’t allowed to have bad days where they just wanted to sleep in and be weak and lazy for once. But sleep was all that Bronson could think about right now.
“Nothing much,” Bronson mumbled. How was he supposed to explain what he was doing? That he was protecting everybody in the town and trying to keep his pack alive? There was no way in hell that Hunter would be able to understand that.
