There was something in her demeanor...she’d been scared out of her mind when she’d taken his truck, but there’d been a quiet strength, too. She hadn’t become hysterical. In fact, she’d been so in control that she’d been able to surprise him and use that blasted Taser on him before he knew what was happening.
“I’ll find her.” Noah yanked open the door and ran across the hall to their family library. His laptop sat open on the large table in the center of the room. A minute later, he had the locator turned on and shook his head in disbelief. His phone was less than five miles away on old lady Craig’s land, a quick jog up route 16.
He practically flew out the back door toward the stables. The horses wouldn’t appreciate being awakened in the middle of the night, but he could get there a lot faster and quieter if he took a horse instead of a car. Changing into a wolf and running there wasn’t really an option unless he wanted to talk to her naked again.
The idea of seeing her naked had crossed his mind, but he really preferred to introduce himself clothed the second time he ran into her.
Ten minutes and several sugar cubes later, he had a gelding named Copper saddled and ready to go. He took off down the dirt roadway toward the east fence. There was a small gate straight ahead on farm road 16. He could use that to get off of the ranch.
The horse gave his all and they quickly crossed the smaller front half of the ranch and slipped through the gate to the farm road. Noah moved Copper off to the west side of the road where there was no ditch.
A few minutes later, he turned his horse and slipped through a stock gate onto Lucinda Craig’s land. He didn’t really want her to see him coming, so he circled around to the back of the property.
He slowed the gelding’s gait to a walk as he approached the big white farmhouse that everyone in Somewhere knew not to visit—ever. Lucinda Craig might be a reclusive middle-aged lady who didn’t like anyone, but she was also known for being cranky and a crack shot. Nobody really knew much about her and the only person she allowed on her land without harassing him was Glen the mail carrier.
Fortunately for Noah, he knew the old lady was laid up in the hospital from a serious accident in town a couple weeks ago. Still, if this girl was related to Lucinda Craig, she could be just as dangerous. He already knew she carried a kick-ass Taser. He imagined that being struck by lightning hurt less than that sucker had.
Chapter 7
Noah dismounted and tied Copper securely to a tree out of sight of the house.
Keeping to low brush and scrubs, he made his way toward the barn. His truck wasn’t out in the open, so she had to have stashed it inside.
He glanced at the house again, but only one light was on in the house, illuminating an upstairs window. Other voices from inside made him suspicious of a radio or television as well, so he couldn’t be sure exactly where she was.
The girl’s scent filled his lungs. His magick pulsed around him, stronger this time, nearly knocking him off his feet. He pushed against the barn door and grimaced when it creaked like a floorboard in a horror movie just before the ax came down to chop someone in half.
He froze, waiting to see if she would emerge from the house. No one came out and nothing changed on the inside.
He pushed again and slipped between the large sliding door and the wall of the barn. The smell of grease, fuel, and old hay filled his lungs. The inside of the barn was pitch black. He narrowed his eyes and called up his wolf, allowing his animal side to enhance his eyesight enough to see.
Sure enough, he could now make out the outline of his truck directly ahead of him. He moved along the side of the vehicle and pulled open the passenger door. His clothes were still lying on the seat. Digging through the pockets of his jeans, he retrieved his phone, wallet, and pocketknife. Then he maneuvered silently to the door and pushed it open enough to slip out into the moonlit early morning.
In an hour or two, the sun would show its face over the forest horizon and sneaking around was going to become exponentially more difficult. He needed to get her to the estate before the town started to wake up. Even though Allan was a deputy, raising questions in town was not something they could ever afford, even if it meant taking drastic measures.
The pack must be protected. That’s why there were live-feed security cameras all over the hundreds of acres the family owned.
Allan could only smooth out so much without raising eyebrows. Sheriff Randall might play the part of a good ol’ country boy, but he had a nose for secrets that no one wanted to alert.
Moving slowly, he crossed the yard to the porch. There was nothing to hide him, so he could only hope she wasn’t watching out the window or as trigger happy as Lucy.
Nothing happened.
He climbed the porch stairs to the back door. A window was broken in the door, and the sight left him frowning. If she was supposed to be here, why break in? Except Lucy wasn’t home and a visitor from out of town might not know she was in the hospital.
His family only knew because of Allan. Being a deputy in a small town came with perks—one being Edna’s wagging tongue. That old secretary knew everything that happened to everyone in town.
Noah reached for the doorknob and pulled. It clicked and swung open. He stepped cautiously into the kitchen and closed the door. Her scent permeated this room as well and her unsteady breath sounds came from the other side of the kitchen, but he couldn’t see her. Where the hell was she? He held his breath and listened for her heartbeat.
Before he locked onto it, the squeak of a door hinge behind him gave away her location. He turned toward the tell-tale squeak and almost immediately collided with something moving fast and hard. Pain radiated through his face. His nose crunched and he stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet and groaning as his ass hit the hardwood.
“Damn! You’ve got to stop attacking me.” He tenderly touched his broken nose and wiped blood from his mouth. That was going to hurt for hours.
“Oh, God! You’re the naked wolf-man! Why are you here?” She stood over him, brandishing an iron skillet, reminding him of the animated Rapunzel character from that movie a few years ago. At least he was still conscious and her hair wasn’t long enough to tie him up in. Not that he would mind being tangled up in her gorgeous hair.
Damn she was hot. Legs that stretched for miles and breasts that he couldn’t help but want to touch. Her nipples were tight beneath the little t-shirt she was wearing, teasing his eyes with their delightfully perky peaks.
“Are you checking me out while your bloody nose runs all over the floor?”
Heat flamed up his neck and onto his face. “Look, you’re the one who stole my truck and Tasered me, by the way.”
“I watched you turn into a wolf.”
Noah held up his hands, letting her know he wasn’t armed. He didn’t see another weapon on her, but there was no need to take a chance. The woman could apparently wield a skillet as well as she could a Taser. He was going to hazard a guess that she might have a clue about how to operate a firearm too.
“Still doesn’t give you the right to go around stealing cars and knocking people out.”
“You were a wolf. You didn’t need the truck at that moment. And I didn’t Taser you—it was merely a stun gun,” she repeated, still staring at him. Her body was visibly tensed and the pan was raised, ready to strike again at the slightest provocation. “How did you find me?”
“My phone was in my pants and I don’t give a shit what it’s called. That sucker hurt.”
She raised an eyebrow, narrowing her gaze at him, a flash of confusion showing in her shining blue-gray eyes.
“I went home and turned on the locator. My phone was in the truck you stole,” he explained further.
“Shit. Who else knows where I am?”
“Nobody yet, but it won’t take long for them to track me if I don’t get you to my house.”
“And why would I want to go to the house where a wolf-man lives? Where people are waiting for me? You’re obviou
sly used to dealing with dumb blondes. I assure you, I don’t fall into that category.”
“I don’t think you’re dumb. I’m just worried about which weapon you might use to assault me with next.”
The slightest smirk turned up the corners of her full lips.
Noah held back another groan and climbed to his feet, keeping his hands out away from his sides.
She took a couple steps backward and put the pan down on the counter. “Are you going to call the police about your truck?”
His mouth threatened to drop open. With everything that had happened, everything that she’d witnessed, she was worried he was going to call the police?
“Hadn’t crossed my mind. I’ve got more at stake than a truck.” He shoved his hands into his jean pockets and took a step closer. She wasn’t going to come willingly and he hated putting his hands on a woman without consent, but he had to take her back with him. If she didn’t, others would come for her and they wouldn’t be nearly as sympathetic.
She countered his movements by backing up again and moving around the island in the center of the kitchen. It was a good plan, especially if he’d been human. But a few extra steps of a head start wasn’t going to help her get away from him a second time. Still, he had to give her points for effort.
The rumble of an engine from the driveway pulled her focus from him and he lunged, but she’d already started running.
Shit. She was a quick little thing.
He turned to run after her but she hadn’t gone far and was flanking the front window, peering outside between the curtains while keeping her body safely tucked behind solid wall—like she expected to be...shot at?
“Who are you?”
“Shhhhhh,” she hissed. She turned to him for a second. “Get down. I don’t want them to know I’ve seen them.”
“Who?” Noah asked, even more curious now. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder and walked to the closet door below the staircase.
“Come on.”
He frowned and walked to the window instead. Two men were getting out of a black SUV and carrying automatic rifles in their hands. Holy shit!
“Who the bloody hell are you?” he growled under his breath. And who is Lucy? He pulled the curtain into place and hurried toward her.
She turned to face him and he gulped. An automatic rifle was slung over her back and she was fastening a shoulder holster over her head into which she shoved a Ruger .357.
Squatting to the floor, she pulled a few more things out of a hole in the floor of the closet and shoved them into what looked like a fringed western purse.
“Here.”
He took the pistol from her outstretched hand and drew in a deep breath. He’d never shot at a person before and didn’t want to now.
“You smell like a horse. Is it tied up nearby?”
Noah’s eyes widened and he nodded, shocked by how calmly she was dealing with this situation. Like it was normal. Like people with automatic weapons showed up every day in her life.
Beams of light flashed across the room, filtering through the thick curtains. Images of her bloody and dying on the floor of the house flashed through his mind and his heart raced. He clenched his hands into fists and pulled in another deep breath to calm himself.
“We’ve got to get out of here.” Noah grabbed her hand and made a dash for the back door.
He pulled the door open and they slipped through as a loud crash shook the bones of the house.
“Lucy is gonna be pissed if they tear up her house,” the girl grumbled under her breath. “I’m gonna kill Hollis and Grimes if they did anything to her.”
Noah yanked her hand. “Shut up and follow me. Lucy is in the hospital in town.”
“What?”
Her heartbeat raced and he could smell the change in her mood shift almost instantly. Sweat beaded across her forehead and her palm slicked in his hand. She’d gone from being calm and collected to insecure and terrified.
Shit.
“Now,” he roared, yanking her along behind him. His palm hit the back door with a thud, sending it flying open as he pulled her out and down the steps to the backyard. For a moment he considered grabbing her around the waist and carrying her to where the horse waited in the shadows of the tree line, but she was surprisingly nimble on her feet and kept up with his rushed pace.
He slid to the ground and ducked behind some shrubs, vaguely aware that his hands were all over very curvy parts of her body as he tried to hide them both from view behind scraggly wild privets.
“Watch it,” she hissed under her breath, but didn’t move away from the shelter of the greenery.
She wasn’t stupid. That was for sure.
He pulled his hands slowly from her ribcage and kept his gaze glued to the doorway. A big burly guy in a black suit walked through the open back door and surveyed the yard.
“She was here,” the man shouted over his shoulder. “The fucking door is still swinging and the TV is on.”
Another volley of curses filtered out from inside the house and the burly guy went inside after one more perusal of the yard.
Noah detected the slightest shudder run through the small female next to him on the ground. “What’s the plan wolf-man? I’ve got guns, but Hollis and Grimes are just as good at shooting as I am. Probably better, because they get more practice.”
His chest tightened and he looked over at her, narrowing his gaze. “You know those assholes carrying automatic weapons?”
She nodded. “They were my bodyguards until about six hours ago. I didn’t think they’d figure out where I went so quickly. The dumbasses are smarter than I gave them credit for. Lucy would’ve known what to do.”
“Why would old lady Craig know what to do with crazy bodyguards turned evil? Why are they chasing you?”
“Money,” she murmured. “I’m pretty sure they’ve killed my parents already. They figured it would be easier to get me to give them money than ask for ransom.”
Noah’s mind spun with the overload of information. Who was this girl? If she was someone with a lot of money who people would miss, his father’s idea of giving her amnesia was not going to go very smoothly. In addition, his magick was was pulsating, translating his wolf’s excitement over their close proximity into an urgent desire to have her even closer.
And how was she not more upset about her parents supposedly being killed? If his parents were missing or presumed dead, he’d be a wreck. Although, she had seen him change into a wolf and kept her wits about her enough to electrocute him with that stupid-ass stun gun.
“Look, we have to get to my house. There are things that need to be discussed and—”
“Look wolf-man, all I need to do is get to Lucy and get out of town. Then we can both go back to living our lives like none of this shit ever happened.” She drew her legs up under her body, as if she were preparing to take off running into the trees.
“It’s not that simple, and where do you think you’re going?”
“Town. You said she’s in the hospital.”
“The only way in and out of this piece of property is down that driveway or through the stock gate where I came in.” He got to his feet, but stayed low behind the shrubs. “Come on. I’ve got a horse this way, behind those oaks,” he said, pointing to his left.
“Geez, finally.”
The next instant millions of volts of electricity coursed through his body and he bit back a shout of anger.
Sonofabitch. That hurts. And on the neck again.
He cringed from the ground as he watched her slink off in the direction he’d pointed. The nerves in his body felt as though he’d plugged them into a giant wall socket. Pain seared along his right shoulder and arm. His muscles spasmed and he struggled to move his arms and legs. She must’ve turned the juice up on that thing from the last time. Through sheer force of will, he climbed to his feet and limped after her.
He had to get to her before she got to Copper.
Chapter 8
Emma tucked the stun gun into her bag and sprinted through the trees where the guy had pointed. She saw the horse standing calmly, tied to a low hanging branch.
“Thank goodness for riding lessons.” Still, even with Ms. Gregor’s years of lessons, she was dressed for a yoga class, not riding western in the dark through forested terrain. It’d been hard enough driving that monster of a pickup truck out of the VonBrandt field, up onto the road, and then down the narrow driveway to Lucy’s house. The only thing she drove at home was her small Beamer.
A heavy hand clamped down on her should and she turned, instinctually throwing a punch, but a second hand caught her fist. She found herself face-to-face with a really pissed off wolf-man. She wriggled her hand, but he didn’t loosen his vice-like grip.
“Use that thing on me again and I will knock you out and carry you like a sack of potatoes. Do you understand me? I don’t usually hit girls, but two electrocutions in one night is wearing my patience very, very thin.”
She flexed her muscles again, but nodded her head. Now wasn’t the time to negotiate. They needed to get as far from Hollis and Grimes as humanly possible. Hell, she didn’t even know where the damn hospital in this town was. For now she might as well stick with this guy until a better option arose.
“Are we getting out of here or what?” she asked, motioning to the empty saddle.
He finally released her shoulder and she winced as blood rushed to the area he’d compressed with his fingers. The guy was strong and a little scarier than she’d first thought. Still, he had kind eyes and that wasn’t something she was used to seeing in her circle of associates.
“Let’s go.” He swung up into the saddle and extended his hand. “But leave the guns here.”
“I’m not leaving myself unarmed with those guys creeping around God knows where after they finish searching the house for any trace of where I went.”
To Love A Mate: Somewhere, TX (VonBrandt Pack Book 2) Page 4
