To Chase A Wolf

by Sara Kimball

  Jax’s voice got serious and intent. “Consider it done.”

  ///

  Alex stood in the shower in her room, shivering even though the water was turned almost all the way to hot. Her mind raced, thinking about earlier in the day, wondering if the attackers were after her or Moira. Although she still had a bad feeling they were after her. Alex was upset with herself for not realizing that her being here might have put others in danger.

  She never would have imagined Mitch was dumb enough to hurt members of the Gold Pack to get her back. If anything he wasn’t dumb, and harming Elizabeth’s wolves was a surefire way to cause an incident. Mitch and Alex had had their differences—though now she could think of them without as much anger as when she was a teenager—but he had put the Pack first in all things. At least, until he had tried to give her to Dupree. Alex had no excuse for that behavior.

  Hurting Moira just to achieve his own ends didn’t sound like the brother she had known, and she had to wonder how much he had changed in the eight years she had been away.

  Stepping out of the shower, she dried off and dressed. It didn’t take her long to grab her belongings and throw them onto the bed, shoving them into her suitcases haphazardly. It felt weak, but Alex tried not to think of it as running away, but more as a tactical retreat. Not wanting those that were after her to hurt innocents, like Moira, was not a weakness.

  Behind her, a throat was cleared, and Alex whirled to find Elizabeth standing in the doorway to the bedroom, looking concerned. The older woman’s eyes trailed over the half full bags of belongings and the small piles on the bed yet to be packed before turning to Alex again.

  “I gather you think it is best if you left?”

  Alex swallowed. “Yes. Don’t worry about paying me. You can work that out with Tyler—I mean Mr. Rypien—when he arrives.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “My thought was to send you away, so I am glad we are in accord on that.” Elizabeth didn’t bother commenting about Tyler replacing her, instead she moved closer and began folding clothing and handing it to Alex, who was frozen, watching Elizabeth with a confused look on her face.

  Elizabeth nudged her and Alex shoved the shirt she held into her bag. In a quiet voice the other woman said, “I know who you really are, Alex.” Alex looked up at Elizabeth cautiously. “I knew your mother, dear.” She handed another shirt over. “I know a bit about what happened eight years ago with your brother and Dupree. And I imagine we are on the same page in thinking that what happened today is about you?”

  “Yes. I think so.” She paused. “Although I can’t be sure. One of them was trying to shoot Moira, she was their first target.”

  Elizabeth contemplated that for a moment, “Perhaps to keep her occupied while they spirited you away?”

  Alex barely had a second to think about the proposed theory before a pair of pants, folded neatly, was handed over. “Well, I can’t say I agree with your brother’s actions. And I’m ever one for listening to my conscience rather than what the menfolk tell me. So how about we keep this between us for now—especially don’t tell Lincoln—and send you on a little vacation, until I handle your brother, hmm? It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.”

  Alex was confused, standing there packing with Elizabeth, and realized there was nothing holding her back from saying something. “You want me to leave, and you aren’t going to tell my brother where I am. But you want to send me…where exactly? And why?”

  Elizabeth smiled. “I know a place, nice and quiet, somewhere we can keep an eye on you to keep you safe. And if I have my way, this problem will be sorted before too much longer. Two days, max. I plan on calling your brother and telling him where he can stick his little dirty men-for-hire and their attempt to shoot my wolf.” A look came over her face that made Alex’s knees tremble in fear. “Or I’ll take great pleasure in going there and showing him what a mistake it is to mess with me and mine.”

  Alex supposed that Moira’s near miss had roused Elizabeth’s protective instincts. Elizabeth must be helping Alex due to her desire to keep her Pack safe. For once, Alex didn’t mind doing as she was told. If there was anyone that could sort her brother out, it was the infamous Mrs. Harcourt, Queen of Wolves.

  Alex and Elizabeth finished packing her bags and then Elizabeth carried one, Alex the other—her backpack hastily stuffed inside—to the seating area of the suite. “I’ll let your students know that classes will be on hold until further notice. Now, just go and tell Lincoln you’re alright, and then come back to wait in here until I come and get you. It should be less than an hour.”

  Alex glanced at the doorway and then back to Elizabeth. “I already told him I was fine, before I came in here.”

  Elizabeth smiled and nodded. “I know dear. But he’s rather worried. Just go tell him all is well and then he’ll be good.”

  Alex opened the door, stepping out into the hallway with Elizabeth. Lincoln was leaning against the wall beside her door, in a casual pose. However, his amber eyes belied his easy-going body language and Alex approached him cautiously. “Lincoln, I really am alright. I wasn’t hurt—beyond some bruises—” He growled, low in his throat, and Alex quickly continued, “I’m all healed and better. I’m fine.”

  Alex was confused about Lincoln’s reactions to her, but didn’t have much time to process it, as his grandmother was soon stepping in, sending him away with an errand. He hesitated, looking his grandmother in the eyes. Her eyes flashed yellow and Lincoln looked down after a moment of locking gazes, turning to stride down the hallway with stiff, angry steps.

  “Now Alex, go wait in your room. I’ll be back.” Alex did as she was told, still rather confused about what was going on, and how she had suddenly garnered Elizabeth Harcourt as her protector.

  ///

  Lincoln reached the bottom of the stairs, and turned to go complete his grandmother’s request when he realized that the last thing Alex would need right was now more food since she had already eaten lunch with Moira. He shook his head and looked around, but then heard his grandmother behind him.

  “Oh good, that at least got you downstairs and thinking again. Come, Lincoln dear, I need to speak to you in my office for a moment.”

  She traipsed ahead of him, looking serene. He wondered how she could be so calm and in control when he felt like his wolf was going to break through his skin and start knocking down the walls. Once they were inside her office, the door closed behind them, she got close to him and took his hands in her own. “Lincoln, I know you are upset right now, but I need you to answer me a very important question. Is Alex your mate?”

  Lincoln blinked at her, confused. “Yes. I realized at the crash.”

  His grandmother squeezed his hands and smiled at him. “Okay. So you need to keep her safe, right? That’s what you are feeling. Why you are so worked up about it?” He nodded to her slowly, the words taking longer than usual to penetrate his brain. “So here is what you need to do, Lincoln. You need to calm down and put your wolf away, or you’ll do something that you and she will both regret for many years to come.”

  She released his left hand and raised her palm to cup his cheek. “I know it will be hard, but don’t make the same mistake others have made and claim her in a fit of pique because she was put into danger. Woo her a little bit, okay?”

  Lincoln’s wolf conceded she had a point, allowing even more rational brain function...moving away from the whispering voice to smash any threat in his path. He stepped back from his grandmother and she dropped her hands to her sides. “I can do that.”

  Elizabeth smiled at him. “Good. I know men have a tendency to grab their mates like a Viking, claiming and taking without any other considerations. But be very sure she wants you. Because if she doesn’t, and you take her anyway, you’ll both be unhappy. We aren’t humans, we don’t divorce.”

  Lincoln felt his throat tighten at the thought of Alex leaving him, and decided he would do well to follow his grandmother’s advice. She smiled and pulled h
im to the door to her office. “Okay good. Now, you need to go pack, and be ready at the front door in fifteen minutes.”

  He studied her face, his brow quirked in confusion, but then realizing what she meant. “I’m taking her somewhere to keep her safe…and presumably to woo her as instructed?”

  His grandmother nodded. “Precisely. I was thinking the cabin would be nice. You could bring your friends to be extra guards, and they can stay in the lodge as I’m sure you’ll need privacy.” He opened his mouth to object, but she overrode him. “Jax has kept me informed of the incursions. And I don’t know if they are after Alex or Moira, so…we separate them and keep them safe until this mess is dealt with or we get further information. I can handle it. You have enough on your plate.”

  He grabbed his grandmother in a tight hug and kissed her cheek. “Thanks grandmother.” She patted his arm and then opened his door, shooing him through. “I’ll have the car brought around for you. I figured you might want to get on the road and away from here as soon as you can. I’ll send the others after you.”

  ///

  Alex watched as the butler put her suitcases into the back of another shiny SUV owned by the Harcourts, her battered bags looking incongruous next to the designer suitcase. Elizabeth, who had a firm grip on her arm, towed her around the car towards the passenger side and practically shoved her in, standing in the opening of the door. She looked across the car at Lincoln, who had just settled into the driver’s seat, before turning back to Alex. “I’m loaning you my grandson and some other Pack members that are rather good at protection.” She over-rode Alex’s protests, “I know you are good at protecting yourself, but we’ll come out ahead together, just watch and see. You’ll be able to come back and resume classes or whatever else you would like to do soon enough.” She shot a speaking glance at Alex and then flicked her eyes to Lincoln, who wasn’t paying attention, texting someone on his phone. “We’ll figure out who did this, don’t worry.”

  Alex thanked her meekly, hoping Lincoln wouldn’t detect the insincerity in her voice. Elizabeth then closed the door and patted the car, speaking again, Alex and Lincoln still able to hear her clearly. “I’ll see you soon.”

  The car rolled forward and Alex sat in her seat for a bit. Eventually, she turned to Lincoln, “Your grandmother is like a steamroller when she gets going, isn’t she?”

  He laughed. “You aren’t even close to the first person to say that.”

  ///

  Elizabeth watched the car with Lincoln and Alex drive away, and turned to Jax, who was standing on the steps to the house. “Come to my office, Jax.”

  He followed her down the halls until they were ensconced behind closed doors, and then she spoke again. “I need you to be very careful with Alex. Don’t get too close to her, don’t touch her unless it is life or death, and don’t flirt with her. Make sure to tell the others.”

  Jax’s brow crinkled but he nodded. “So they are mates?”

  Elizabeth sat down. “He says yes. I don’t think her wolf has recognized him as such yet or she’d be in the same state. But he’s feeling a very strong urge to protect her after today’s events, and will be touchy for a day or two. Wolves in his shoes can be very…fragile. I don’t want to push him over the edge by having one of you boys get too close to her before he can claim her for his own.”

  Jax nodded, understanding dawning over his face. “Go now, and keep that girl safe. I have big plans for her, Jax.” He turned and left, shutting the door behind him, and Elizabeth picked up her phone, dialing the number for Mitch Cannon.

  She listened for several moments to the ringing in her ear before the other end was picked up. “Cannon,” said the male voice on the other end.

  “Mr. Cannon, do you imagine that starting a war with me would be beneficial to your well-being?”

  He was silent for a second, and Elizabeth could practically feel the cogs of his brain beginning to whirl. “Mrs. Harcourt, I can assure you I haven’t condoned anything that would start a war between you and me.”

  Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, imagining squishing his neck between her hands until his eyeballs popped from his skull. She kept that thought in her head and let her tone go dangerously soft as she spoke again. “Be very careful what you are about to say, little wolf, or I’ll teach you what it means to be big and bad. There won’t be enough of you left for your Pack to bury.”

  He started to speak but she spoke over him. “Alex is with us. I know you know this, as three wolves came into my territory and had the foolish idea to attack my wolf, who was with her. Now. I am having problems with their clear intent to shoot my wolf to incapacitate her, and I’m having a problem with them attacking Alex as well.

  “You have messed with those that I care about. And whether you have condoned their actions or not, this is the kind of thing I take very seriously. So I say again, choose your words very carefully.” Elizabeth certainly didn’t want to tell Mitch that Lincoln and Alex were mates. She would spring that on him when they had a truce and it was finalized, for now she would express to him her upset about Moira.

  He was silent for nearly a full minute. Elizabeth felt no compunction to make noise as he thought about her words, as she knew that he was a thinker and liked to consider all his possibilities thoroughly before making decisions.

  “Is Alexandra safe?”

  “She is with the best bodyguard I could find, who is taking her somewhere safe until we have reached an agreement.” Elizabeth’s tone was still soft and dangerous.

  “Very well. I can safely say I didn’t condone any physical attacks on any of your wolves.” Elizabeth noted what he didn’t say—that he hadn’t ordered Alex’s abduction. She rather thought his wolves for hire had come up with the plan to shoot Moira on their own, because he wasn’t that stupid. “However, I can say that this has changed matters considerably.

  “Allowing that she is now safely in your care, I will stop any endeavors to retrieve her.”

  Elizabeth was silent for a moment longer, letting him twitch, and then hung up the phone without agreeing to anything. She wanted to reserve the right to rip his head off if she so chose. She’d give him a day or two to think it over, then call back and notify him Alex and Lincoln were mated and he couldn’t do anything about it.

  Sometimes I think people have forgotten what I can do…it may be time for a reminder, if I am brave enough. Or provoked enough.

  ///

  Mitch Cannon set the phone down in its cradle and rose, turning to the wall and punching it, opening a deep hole that swallowed his fist and forearm. His Beta, James, came into the room quickly when he heard the noise, but left again when Mitch waved him out.

  All those years of planning. Two decades of waiting, spoiled.

  He sat down at his desk, his shoulders squaring in resolution. Wasting time wailing over what had happened was pointless; he had to come up with an alternate scheme to achieve his ends. Up until now, giving Alex to Dupree had been the fastest course of action. Sure, she would suffer, but not for long. He had planned on getting her help after, but it was all ruined now if Elizabeth Harcourt had decided to be his sister’s protector. He thought on it for a while. And if she put Alex with her ‘best bodyguard’ that probably meant her grandson, Lincoln. Mitch’s eyes narrowed as he had a thought, his head cocked to the side like he was listening for something. Perhaps there was another way…

  Mitch used a disposable cell phone, retrieved from his desk drawer, to call his contact that was stationed at Elizabeth’s house. After a short conversation, he was almost smiling in anticipation of getting everything he had been working towards for the past twenty years.

  He stood and strode out of his office, calling for James to make a phone call. If the men he had in California acted quickly, he was sure they could put his plan into action before too much time had passed, ensuring the result he wanted. He would just have to make sure they didn’t go off half-cocked again, because he wasn’t going to give them a third chance. The o
nly reason they were getting a second chance was simply due to time being of the essence.

  1899

  The man that was waiting eyed Johnny as he sat on the steps, like always. The man was new, and Johnny didn’t like him the way he looked him over. Inside was the sound of grunting, and then a load moan. Through the wall he could hear his mother asking, “Where’s the liquor you promised then?”

  After a few minutes, she kicked the man out, and he could hear her opening the bottle. The last man entered, and Johnny leaned his head against the wall, looking up at the stars.

  Once everyone was gone, he crept back inside like always. His wolf didn’t like the smells in the cabin, but he tried to be still and quiet to avoid his mother’s attention. It didn’t work.

  “You bastard.” She snarled at him, in that way that humans do when they are too drunk and mad to function clearly. “Come here.”

  He walked to her, slowly, but trying not to look like he was dragging his feet. She picked up a cigar that one of the men had left, pushing it into his cheek.

  Johnny screamed in pain, and she slapped him, right over his burn. “He told me he wouldn’t take you back. That if I wanted out, it was through death. How’s that for choices?” She laughed, maniacally, then stopped suddenly, looking at him with hatred. “You and your freak of a father have me trapped. But you already know that, don’t you?“ She leaned close to him. “I hate you.”

  Johnny swallowed, his eyes dry, and moved when she made a motion, sitting on the chair she pointed to. The cigar came closer again, this time on his arm.

  It was a while before he stopped screaming. And even longer until she slept.

  Chapter 11

  Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Alex looked out of the corner of her eye towards where Lincoln steered the car with practiced ease. She finally blurted out the question that had been bothering her for the last thirty minutes. “So…this place we are going. What is it like?”