by Kimber White
He was telling his boss he found me. I was safe for now. My cat ears pricked as he lowered his voice. They were deciding what to do with me.
“Hmm,” I snorted. I had no intention of giving him the power to decide.
I went through the kitchen and found the back door. It opened to an expanse of land with fencing all around. Angus cows dotted the horizon. There was probably a main house and a bunk for ranch hands up the road. Shifters, most likely. Loyal to Wolfguard, obviously. But, I sensed nothing feline save for a barn cat or two for miles around.
“Wolves,” I muttered. “Always think they can outsmart you.”
The trouble was, they almost did. Except that pack wasn’t playing fair. I believed Erik that they’d used a spell of some sort to mask their scent from me. It’s the only thing that could explain how I didn’t sense them coming in. Wolves stink almost worse than bears to my nose. And yet, I’d smelled nothing.
That should have been the tipoff, and I was kicking myself for not picking up on it before it was too late. The land around the cabin had been too...clean...when I approached from the stream.
Then there was Erik himself. Though I scented him right away, I felt drawn to him. Lord. He was playing me. I’d gotten careless with that pack. I’d be damned if I’d do it again.
It was almost full dark now. Erik sounded like he was wrapping up his conversation. If I was going to make my move, it had to be now.
I weighed my options. Heading up to the big house was folly. My best chance was to head for the mountains to the east of us. I could disappear and hunt for days. Long enough to figure out where to go.
The trouble was, I now had no money. None of my fake I.D.s. If I wanted solitude, I’d have to live fully wild for the foreseeable future.
The idea had appeal. I loved Little Fork. I still needed people in my life and that small-town atmosphere suited me. But now, even that was too much of a risk.
Maybe someday I could go back. That cabin belonged to me, dammit. Only it was my freedom I needed to protect more.
Before I even made a conscious decision, I was out the back door. It was easy to blend into the shadows. From there, I could be invisible.
Behind me, I still heard the low murmur of Erik’s voice as he finished his call. With any luck, I’d put enough distance between us before he realized he was gone. Then, even a full-blooded Alpha wolf like him could never catch up with me.
Once I started, the wild thing inside of me clawed to get out.
I let her.
Shedding my clothes, I felt that delicious ache as bones and muscle reknit. My fangs dropped and my claws came out. I sank my paw into the soft earth, testing it. I was maybe two miles from the base of the mountain.
There would be caves there. Probably dozens of them. It was all I’d need.
I went faster. At top speed, my paws barely touched the ground. I let out a growl, unbidden. Lord, it had been far too long since I’d taken to the night like this.
My heart thundered. To the west, the cattle stirred and scattered, sensing a predator in their midst. That most feral part of me wanted to tear into one of them. There was no time for that. Plus, I wasn’t a criminal. Not yet anyway.
I reached the base of the mountain in no time. Flying through the air, I began to climb. Power surged through me and I swore I could reach the apex if I kept on going.
Then, something tore at me.
A new scent assailed my nostrils. Familiar. Deadly.
Whatever they’d used to cloak their scent before had worn off. Or they’d been here before they used it.
I screeched to a halt, landing on a flat outcropping of rock. From there, I could see for miles.
The wind stopped. The cattle in the pasture below...stopped. They sensed me, but I wasn’t the only predator out here.
I froze.
He couldn’t see me. My midnight-black fur blended into the thick, night sky. Stars studded the horizon with no light pollution to conceal them.
Below me, twin stars hovered and moved. They weren’t stars at all. As he drew closer, his eyes glinted blue.
The moon glowed above, illuminating him. While my fur blended into the dark, his gleamed white like snow.
He scented the pack. Baring his teeth, he let out a primal growl that stoked a fire inside of me. Warring urges tore at me. His kind was a polar opposite to mine. I heard him on an elemental level. But, I was drawn to him too. When he howled, it went through me, spiking the hair along my back.
My own growl escaped me. Careless. Unbidden. But still, he was more concerned with the intruder’s scent.
Erik’s wolf crouched low to the ground, growling. He scanned for the threat. Finding none, he went back on his haunches and squared off with me.
I’d been a fool to think he hadn’t seen me or at least sensed I was there. I could outrun him. I felt it in my bones. And I would be surer footed, better suited for a mountain climb.
Only I knew he would keep coming. It was in his blood like it was in mine.
Trapped. Caught. Cornered.
It seemed I’d been running all my life. Only I knew I was no match for that pack of wolves. If they’d been this way once, they would come back. They had my scent. Without Erik’s help, they might catch me this time.
Erik stood stock still as I bounded down the hill.
I approached him slowly. He knew what I was. Even so, his feral nature took hold and he bared his teeth. My tail went up. I circled him.
Jaguar. Wolf.
I stood my ground and faced him.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that. Frozen in time. His nature both calling to and repelling mine.
It was magic. It had to be. Some lingering effect of the masking spell the pack had used.
Finally, Erik took a step back. He shifted seamlessly with a power that stunned even me. I’d never been this close to a wolf during his shift before.
“All right, wildcat,” he said. “You’ve proven you’re faster than me. Only how long do you think you can keep running?”
He was magnificent. I admit I hesitated partly so I could drink in the sight of him. Every muscle, every solid curve on him seemed chiseled from granite. Broad shoulders Massive quads. His blond hair touched his shoulders, giving him an almost Viking-like air.
I somehow managed to keep from staring at the more private parts of him. We were shifters, after all. This kind of thing wasn’t supposed to faze me. Lord, maybe I’d just been alone way too long.
I didn’t shift. I swung my tail and bared my teeth. But, I followed him as he turned his back on me. That alone was a bold, trusting move. I had no doubt he was far stronger than I was, but I could have done fatal damage with the element of surprise.
But, Erik, walking regal and straight just headed back to the gatehouse. Reluctantly, I went with him.
When we approached, I purred a warning. Erik gestured with his hand, settling me.
“Relax,” he said. “He’s a friend.”
Friend.
A tall man leaned against Erik’s SUV. He wore a weathered cowboy hat and chewed on an unlit cigar.
Erik grabbed his jeans off the hood of the car and slid them on. He tossed me a blanket. Still shielded by the shadows, I shifted and wrapped the blanket around my shoulders.
“Nova,” Erik said. “Meet Jeremiah. This is his ranch. I told you, he’s a friend.”
“Ma’am,” Jeremiah said. I recognized him instantly by his scent. Bear. I couldn’t help the growl that escaped me.
Jeremiah’s smile faltered. His eyes darted to Erik.
“Anyway,” Jeremiah said. “I suppose you’ve both caught scent of the wolf pack. I tried to get a hold of you yesterday to give you a warning. They came through the day before yesterday. About twelve of them. Big Alpha. Gray wolf. One of the bad kind.”
“Thanks,” Erik said. “We ran into them near Flatland. They’re using magic. So, you can be sure they’ve got some...uh...affiliations.”
Jeremiah frowned. �
��Hell. Erik...shit. You know I’m on your side. I’d do anything I can to help you out.”
Erik put a hand up. “I understand, Jeremiah.”
“I’m trying to survive,” he said. “Just like everybody else. If you’re telling me you’ve got minions of the Ring on your tail, I’d rather not have that kind of attention just now.”
My heart jolted. The Ring. My God.
Erik sensed my reaction. His eyes narrowed. For my part, it got hard to breathe.
My sister, Sena. Her words echoed through me.
“The Ring isn’t what you think,” she said. “It’s a better life, Nova. You have to want that.”
No. Sweat trickled between my shoulder blades.
“It’s all good, Jeremiah,” Erik said. His eyes narrowed. “We’ll clear out by morning.”
Jeremiah hesitated. I think he might have been hoping for our more immediate departure. But, Erik seemed to realize something was very, very wrong with me.
I wanted to shift. I wanted to run. Only now I understood I truly had nowhere safe left to go.
Chapter Five
Erik
I didn’t like it. I was antsy as hell. I wanted to stay in my wolf and circle the perimeter of Jeremiah’s property. Those mountains loomed above us like a watchful eye.
That pack had come through here. That couldn’t be a coincidence. It meant they knew we were coming.
“I’m truly sorry, my friend,” Jeremiah said. We stood in the yard outside the gatehouse. I’d convinced Nova to go back inside. Even having her out of my line of sight for that long was adding to my restlessness. I wanted her with me.
Hell, I wanted her under me.
I turned to Jeremiah. He was hard to read in the dark. An older bear, he’d settled here over a decade ago with his fated mate, Amanda.
“You know this wasn’t me,” he said. “I’d die before I did anything to compromise Wolfguard. You’re like family. My brother…”
“I know,” I said. “Jeremiah, if I thought you tipped that pack off, I’d have cut you down where you stand.”
He looked back toward the house. “Something about that one, though,” he said. “Can’t say I’ve ever seen a jaguar that close. Certainly not a woman. I mean...is she the only one?”
I shrugged. “Hell if I know. Most of the jags I know don’t come this far north.”
“She’s on her own though,” he said. “How the hell did she survive this long?”
Because she was special. I almost bit my tongue to keep from saying it out loud. Nova was strong. Sleek. Her power was so different than mine. She had a balletic grace to the way she moved. Those amber eyes cut through me in the dark. I damn near doubled over from the urge to sink my teeth into her neck as she submitted to me.
“You okay, man?” Jeremiah asked. “I’ve known you for a long time, Kalenkov. This girl’s got you rattled. I can see it. I don’t need to be a damn wolf to sense it, either.”
I shook my head. “It’s not the girl,” I lied. “I just don’t like feeling like the bad guy’s two steps ahead, you know?”
“Yeah,” he said. “And I wish I could offer you more help. This one’s out of my league, Erik. I don’t have the manpower to guard every inch of this property. You’re gonna have to tell Payne to take me off the list for the time being.”
For the time being. Once a safehouse had been compromised, there was no going back. Even if it was just a coincidence those wolves came through here, it was too risky to send anyone else to Jeremiah. It was a loss. A big one. It meant we might have to write Montana off as a point of operations completely. I sure as hell didn’t like something like that happening under my watch. Payne counted on me.
“You should try to get some sleep,” Jeremiah said. “Come at it all fresh in the morning.”
I slapped Jeremiah on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. This is a minor setback. I told you. I know this one’s not on you. For all we know it was just dumb luck that pack glommed on to this place. There’s no sign they’ve tried to circle back. Yet.”
Yet. That was the kicker.
“You should get some rest too,” I said.
“I’ve got hands out there, watching the perimeter. Men I trust,” he said. “They don’t know you’re here. But, if anyone comes out of those mountains who shouldn’t, they’ll sound the alarm. It’ll buy you a couple of hours at least. I’m sorry it can’t be more.”
“Relax,” I said, smiling. “This is what I do for a living, remember?”
“She’s worth something to someone,” he said. “Tell me what you know. Is that pack mixed up with the Ring?”
I got the sense Jeremiah had worked himself up to asking. As if uttering the name gave it some power or tempted fate that they’d come after him specifically.
“That’s above my pay grade,” I lied. “I’m just here to keep the girl from getting into any more trouble until the boss man tells me my next move.”
“Right. Sure. It’s just...Erik. They’re getting bolder. I hear things.”
“What things?”
“I can’t believe I’m even saying this. That there are shifters out there, willing to turn like that. But, I heard there’s a black market. Ring-backed. They traffic in women. We already knew that. But...I heard they’re starting to offer bounties for female shifters. Any kind.”
My blood boiled. It got hard to see for a moment as my wolf churned. I couldn’t stop the low growl from coming out.
“Yeah,” Jeremiah said. “I’m right there with you. You know my Amanda’s full-blooded bear like me. What I heard is...they’re offering on any kind.”
His words chilled me. What he was talking about violated the most elemental shifter law. The Ring was actually hunting marked fated mates?
“I hadn’t heard that,” I said. I wondered if Payne had. It was monstrous enough knowing the Ring procured human women. Taking claimed mates went even deeper.
“You don’t know,” Jeremiah said. “And I’m sorry to put it like that, but you’re not mated. If they took Amanda from me. Erik, have you ever seen firsthand what it does to a shifter who’s had his mate ripped away?”
I had. I felt myself turn to stone against the memory of it. My uncle Andre hadn’t always been the Russian pack leader. Nearly twenty years ago now, we’d been exiled. The Vadim pack staged a coup that almost wiped us out. It started with the assassination of Uncle Andre’s mate. For a time, he’d gone mad from it. When one half of a fated mate pairing dies, often, the other can’t survive it either.
First comes the madness. Then, sickness like poison seeps through their soul.
I thought of Irina again. The agony etched on her face, frozen in time. It had been so long since I could think of her any other way.
My fault. My curse.
“I understand,” I said to Jeremiah. “None of us want you to risk something you can’t afford to lose. Like you said. We’re family. That means Amanda too.”
“I'm just so damn sorry,” he said. “But, I have to protect what’s mine.”
What’s mine. Mine. That heated flutter went through my heart as I looked back at the house. Nova stood in the window. Her amber eyes glinted.
“You better head back up to the main house,” I said to Jeremiah. “Stay close to Amanda. We’ll be gone before she wakes up. And again, thank you.”
Jeremiah nodded, though his expression remained grim. As he climbed into his truck, I scanned the mountains. The air was still. The faint trace of the wolfpack faded.
Maybe it had just been a coincidence they came through here on the way to Nova’s cabin hideout. Only it made no sense. There were a hundred easier paths to take and they would have sensed Jeremiah and the other bear shifters on this land. Any normal pack wouldn’t find it worth the trouble.
Only I knew full well that was no normal pack. And that was it. Something nagged at me about their scent. More than just the trace of cloaking magic they’d used to sneak up on Nova. There was something familiar about it that made my hair stand
up on end and rattled my wolf.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I walked into the house and found Nova waiting for me. She paced in the kitchen. She’d showered, finding fresh clothes we kept here for emergencies. The jeans were a little baggy on her and she’d put on a pink tank top that scooped low, showing off her irresistible cleavage.
“You still think you can trust him?” she asked.
“Jeremiah?” I was about to tell her yes. Only, I knew it would be a lie. More than that, I knew she’d be able to tell. It mattered to me at that moment that Nova trusted me more than anything.
“No,” I finally said. “No. I don’t think he sold us out. Nova, until we showed up, Jeremiah had no clue I’d even been sent to track you. He’d have had no information to sell.”
“He does now though,” she said. “He’s seen me. And if your people use this place as a hideout...hell...even I picked up on the scents around here. I knew there were shifters on the premises from about a mile away. If I did, they did. You don’t think that’s what drew them here in the first place?”
What she said made a certain amount of sense.
“How long have you been on your own?” I asked. Nova followed me into the front room. She took a seat at the end of the couch. I took the other.
“Four years,” she answered.
Her words clawed at me. Four years. Alone. Unprotected. Though I suppose it was arrogant of me to think that. She’d done all right up until now. I just found myself wanting her not to have to.
“You want to tell me what happened to you that made you want to run in the first place?” I asked, not sure I wanted the answer.
She considered the question. I could see the moon reflected in her eyes from the bay window beside us. She purred and it sent a shiver of desire through me. I shook it off.
“Not yet,” she said. Her straightforward answer threw me for a second. Then, I smiled, respecting it.
“Fair enough.”
“So now what?” she asked. “If you were sent here to rescue me, it’s not working out all that great.”
