A Bleacke Wind (Bleacke Shifters Book 3)

by Lesli Richardson

  Saul wanted to get the hell out of there, and Victor, the numb fuck, had the car keys.

  He could no longer deny there was something fucked up about this whole thing. He wasn’t going to hang around, Manuel Segura or not, and get killed.

  And he damn sure wasn’t getting left behind.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Ken was torn between wanting to urge Nami along faster, and anger at himself for not being armed with a gun, or at least a snarky, kick-ass attitude.

  If he was a wolf, he knew he could shift and take their pursuers by surprise.

  But he was a geek with a tire iron, something which he wasn’t entirely sure how to use for its manufacturer’s indicated purpose, much less how to brandish it as an improvised weapon.

  Now they were lost in the wilderness, with vengeful killers on their trail. Yes his instincts, so far, had kept them alive.

  The question remained for how much longer?

  Dammit, I wish I’d listened to Dewi and let her teach me more stuff!

  At least the small trickle of water they got from the tiny spring was enough to slake their thirst and keep them going. Neither of them were used to higher elevations or drier air. While he was in better physical condition than Nami due to age and from all the biking he’d done before meeting Dewi, he wasn’t exactly equipped to survive out here long-term without supplies or shelter.

  And the temperature kept dropping, the cloud cover thickening.

  Ken still avoided going downhill, terrified that when they hit the valley or stream bed or whatever was down there, the landscape might open up and leave them exposed to discovery by their pursuers.

  At least here in the thick of the woods they had a slight advantage. He frequently scanned the ground behind them, making sure they weren’t leaving tracks or other obvious signs of their passing.

  He also glanced at his phone, praying for a signal. At least the compass function still worked.

  Around three o’clock, Nami needed another rest break. Ken stood keeping careful watch with neither of them talking.

  Then, in the distance, he heard voices. Male voices, faint, but definitely speaking Spanish. He studied the way they’d come, but no one was visible behind them. It sounded like the men were farther downhill on the slope than Ken and Nami.

  Nami’s eyes widened in fear and she grabbed Ken’s arm, holding on tight.

  Pressing a finger to his lips, he closed his eyes and listened.

  Yes, definitely going away from them, growing even fainter.

  So much for hoping they thought we’d head toward town.

  If they were hearing the men, the men were traveling in the same direction they were. Obviously unaware of where they were, exactly, or they’d likely be dead already.

  As the voices slowly faded to the south and west, Ken leaned in close, his lips against her ear. “We need to keep moving.”

  “Can’t we head back the other way?” she whispered in his ear when she pulled him close. Her hands felt cold against his arm.

  He shook his head. “If they double back, they might find us. Right now, they don’t know where we are.”

  She nodded, tightly holding onto his arm as he led the way through the trees again.

  After another half hour or so, that’s when they hit their first roadblock that Ken couldn’t find an easy way past. A ravine about fifteen feet deep on their side cut east to west downhill through the slope, and there was no going around it.

  Ken left Nami safely sheltered behind a large boulder and dropped onto his belly to creep out and stare down the slope. The ravine, lined with trees on either side, held a small trickle of water in its bottom and looked like maybe it was a snow runoff path. He couldn’t see any farther than about thirty yards downhill before trees obscured the way.

  That likely meant anyone looking up couldn’t see them, either.

  He hoped.

  If they got down into it without killing themselves, they should be able to climb up and out more easily on the other side. The southern slope of the ravine looked shorter, maybe only eight feet deep at a point about ten yards uphill, and with a slightly gentler grade.

  Ken contemplated his options when two things happened. He looked back and spotted the shape of what was unmistakably a wolf fading into the shadows about twenty yards to the north of them, where they’d just come from. And somewhere in the distance downhill he heard another crack of gunfire, quickly followed by the faint sound of male voices screaming at each other. He couldn’t tell what language for sure, but it didn’t sound like English.

  Nami clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with terror, as she obviously heard it.

  The wolf darted away, downhill and toward the source of the gunfire and voices.

  That settled Ken’s mind. He waved Nami over and she positively scampered toward him.

  He leaned in and whispered. “We go down here, facing the side. Dig your toes and fingers into the dirt to slow yourself as you slide down.” He pointed to the other side. “We’ll climb out over there. Can you make it?”

  “You just watch this fat girl climb, sugar.”

  “I’ll go down first and try to catch you. Watch how I do it.”

  “Just don’t let me land on you.”

  * * * *

  “What the unholy fucking hell do you think you’re doing?” Jose screamed at Aldo.

  “Motherfucking snake, man!”

  “Quit shooting at the motherfucking snakes!”

  “You realize they now know we’re here, right?” Manuel asked. “Fuck, half the people who live around this goddamned valley probably know we’re here.”

  Jose held up his arms and turned around. “Do you see any motherfucking houses around this valley? Do you see anyone?”

  “No,” Miguel said. “Because we’re going the wrong goddamned way. They went toward town, I’m telling you. That’s what I would do.”

  Jose had just about enough of his shit. “You want to go back, alone, be my guest, but you give me the motherfucking car keys before you do.”

  “Fuck that!”

  “Then shut your fucking mouth and let’s keep moving. We can probably search for another hour before we have to turn around because it’s getting dark.”

  “It’s still moving!” Aldo screamed, aiming at the snake again.

  Jose drew his own gun and pointed it at Aldo. “I swear to Jesus and the Mother Mary, if you shoot that motherfucking snake again, I will shoot you and leave you here!”

  Aldo was about to answer him when they all froze at the sound.

  A woman’s shriek.

  Jose held up a finger to his mouth, which proved totally unnecessary. They were all listening now, trying to hear any other sounds.

  Miguel, who looked disappointed as fuck at this development, pointed down the river in the direction they were heading.

  Jose nodded and quickly moved, waving them after him as he holstered his gun.

  Aldo holstered his too. Silently, the men hurried after Jose.

  Fuckin’ A, maybe my luck held out for once.

  If they were heading the right way—which he’d honestly given up hope on hours ago—that meant they might actually get answers.

  For making them drag their asses this far out into the goddamned wilderness, he would get fucking answers.

  But it also meant they weren’t in the middle of whatever was going down with Manuel and the other guys. And Jose had a feeling they were far better off not being in the middle of that.

  * * * *

  Dewi and Beck set out in the rented SUV again after Peyton doled out sections of the compound to search, with a heavy concentration on the southern area where most of the homes, the great hall, and the main campgrounds were located. Their thinking was that anyone who was so determined to come into the compound looking for someone would likely focus on the most populated areas.

  Four armed wolves were being assigned to the main entrance. No one allowed in except pack residents and people involv
ed in the hunt, and any clueless humans would be turned away temporarily with the same “escaped convicts” story.

  And no one allowed out except pack members, unless they were obviously someone local who belonged there.

  “We’re going to kill them,” Dewi said. “Not leave a damn one of them alive. Web said definitely eleven of them, perhaps more who didn’t come in, but he’s not sure of that. He doesn’t have time to go over his security video right now to recount them and be sure.”

  “If they’re with the cartel,” Beck reminded her.

  “They are,” she insisted. “This is too coincidental. No fucking way is this innocent. A large group of Hispanic men who aren’t dressed for the area show up and just happen to be asking around about Joaquin?”

  “Just saying,” Beck reminded her. “Due process.”

  “I’ll do something, all right.”

  She tried not to worry about Ken and Nami. Web’s guy was looking for them now and hadn’t reported back yet.

  With them rode Paul Storenson, a local wolf, an Alpha who lived in the compound with his wife and three kids. They were currently out in the northern section of the compound with several cousins who’d come in for the Muster. His heavily armed beta wolf sister was on her way out there now to try to find them all and bring them in.

  “Call Trent,” Beck said. “See if he’s found anyone yet.”

  “If he’s in range.”

  In the middle and northern sections of the compound, even people using the pack’s cell tower frequently didn’t get cell coverage. It depended on where they were located. The southern part of the compound partially lay on the same heavily wooded plateau area as the town, with mountains surrounding them and valleys plunging below. If you were on the plateau, around the houses and great hall, you usually had coverage.

  Once someone traveled out of that area, though, it was a crapshoot.

  And since her brother’s phone went right to voice mail, Dewi suspected Trent might be out of range.

  Beck slammed on the brakes as three young wolves bolted out of the woods from the south and into the road ahead of them. One of them froze in the middle of the road, and the smallest of the three rammed him, knocking him out of the way and into the third, sending all three sprawling.

  Dewi jumped out of the SUV and rounded the front of the vehicle. “What the hell are you doing running into the road like that? You could have gotten hurt!”

  The three teenagers, two boys and a girl, all shifted back as they picked themselves up.

  “Sorry, Dewi,” they all said, looking appropriately chastised.

  “You’re Ned Barsker’s kids, aren’t you?”

  The three siblings nodded. Dewi couldn’t remember their exact ages but knew they were between fourteen and eighteen.

  “Anyone else out here with you?”

  They shook their heads.

  “Shift and get in the back of the SUV. We’ll take you to the great hall and someone can drive you home. You stay there until the all-clear is sounded. We’ve got a serious security problem.”

  “Is this about the human guys we saw?” the girl asked. She was the one who’d saved her stupid-ass brother by knocking him out of the way.

  Dewi wheeled around. “What guys? And where?”

  The three siblings pointed toward the woods to the south, where they’d come from, one of the boys describing the four men and how far back they’d crossed paths with them.

  Beck jumped out as Dewi headed to the woods. “Paul, take them to the great hall, drop them off, and get back here immediately. Tell Peyton and get some extra noses out here.” He drew his weapon and followed Dewi into the woods.

  Dewi hadn’t even bothered to ask Beck to keep up, knowing he’d figure it out. They’d worked together long enough that they might as well have had a mate bond.

  With her gun in her hand, Dewi scented the three young wolves’ trail easier than if she’d tried to actually find tracks. With such a fresh and large scent trail, she had no trouble.

  A quarter mile or so later, that’s when they crossed scent trails with the strange humans, some of the same scents from the car they’d found near the compound entrance.

  Dewi froze, listening. Beck froze, too. She couldn’t hear anything that didn’t belong there, but that didn’t mean the humans weren’t close by. It smelled like at least two of the men had stopped when they saw the Barsker kids, and then turned around and backtracked.

  As they followed that scent trail back they came across the scent trails of two more men, which had pulled away at a ninety-degree angle to their previous trajectory, heading north toward the main road.

  Dewi closed her eyes and tried to sense if Trent was close by. He wasn’t a Prime, but sometimes she could locate her brothers if they were close by.

  After a moment she opened her eyes and looked around. “You go after the two backtracking,” she whispered, knowing Beck could hear her as if she’d shouted. “I’ll take the two going this way.”

  “I don’t like the idea of splitting up, Dewi.”

  “Unless you figure out how to clone the two of us, suggest something better.”

  He didn’t, because he couldn’t.

  “Exactly.” She took off at a silent run, quickly losing sight of Beck.

  As she ran, she debated swapping her gun for her knife and then decided that was stupid. Shooting them would be okay because she wanted these fuckers to know she was hunting them.

  She wanted them scared.

  Because scared humans did stupid things, made dumb mistakes, meaning it’d be easier to flush them out and pick them off.

  In addition, this was her pack, her land, her house.

  Nobody brought shit into her house that she didn’t finish it. And them.

  Besides, Dewi really needed someone to take out her anger on over having to wear a froufrou wedding dress.

  * * * *

  As soon as Saul and Ricardo were out of sight, Victor and Roberto decided fuck this noise, they were heading back to the car. They’d claim they got separated from Saul and Ricardo and got lost, then decided to go back to regroup.

  Victor had been the one to broach the subject first.

  “What’s your feeling about this?” he asked Roberto.

  “Bad.”

  Victor nodded and silently held up the car keys.

  Roberto nodded.

  That had settled it.

  Victor knew what passed for a main road lay to the north, to their left, so they both turned that way. Once they found the main road, they could stay just off it and quickly work their way back to the car.

  There wasn’t a real plan as far as they could tell. Manuel wanted to go in, start kicking shit and scaring people, and expected to find this guy when the only proof that the guy was actually here was one woman overheard ranting in a gas station about a guy named Joaquin.

  That was not a solid plan.

  Besides, Victor and Roberto, who were brothers-in-law, had actually praised the guy who killed Raul when it happened.

  Not that they’d tell anyone else that.

  Raul Segura had been a cruel, vicious fuck, in their not-so-humble opinions. A pain in their asses for several years.

  Hell, they’d buy this Carlomarles guy a bottle of top-shelf tequila for what he’d done, taking Raul out.

  Had Manuel revealed the purpose of this trip before they left Mexico, several of them knew they would have figured ways out of it. Sudden illness, sick kids—sabotaging the plane so it couldn’t fly—anything.

  This was madness, a possible suicide mission. Neither Victor nor Roberto were feeling particularly suicidal today.

  Especially not over someone like Raul Segura.

  The problem was, no one would say anything about how they really felt in front of Manuel. He’d sworn revenge, and yeah, they got it.

  But it wasn’t technically their circus, nor their monkeys. The guy had raped and killed a girl.

  They never used to give child rapists a pa
ss. Not until Raul got involved with things, then all of a sudden Manuel was making excuses for the man when the rest of them knew damn well they would have been strung up, gutted alive, and left hanging somewhere for vultures to pick apart.

  Add to all of this the feeling that they were being watched, and Victor was done. He had family he wanted to get home to, and this wasn’t a fight he wanted anything to do with. Roberto felt the same way.

  That wasn’t even counting the fact that it was starting to get really fucking cold, and they were dressed in slacks and short sleeves. The temperature must have dropped at least twenty degrees over the past hour, and felt like it was still plunging.

  Not too far ahead of them they heard a vehicle pass in what sounded like a hurry. The men glanced at each other to verify they heard it, and then sped toward the source of the sound.

  That’s when they heard a woman clear her throat right behind them, scaring the crap out of them.

  They both spun around just to get punched in the faces and fall onto the ground next to each other, stunned.

  Victor had taken a lot of punches in his time, but never anything like that. It felt like he’d gotten kicked in the face by a horse, yet the woman didn’t even flinch or flex her fists or anything like most men would after delivering that kind of blow. She’d fucking punched both of them at the same time!

  The slender, lithe woman grinned down at them with an evilly wolfish smile that made Victor nearly wet himself. She wore jeans, hiking boots, and a tank top under a long-sleeved shirt that lay open and unbuttoned, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled back into a braid.

  He didn’t know why, but he’d never felt more terrified in his entire life than he did at that exact moment.

  “Hello, boys,” she drawled in English. “Hola,” she said, slowly and loudly, as if they were deaf…or stupid. “No hablo español. Me llamo one really pissed-off bitch. Drop your guns.”