Her Captive Wolf (Sawtooth Shifters Book 1)

by Kristen Strassel

  “Hey!” Trina exclaimed when I pulled away from her, sinking down to my knees. “I wasn’t done with that.”

  “I need to be inside you, now.” I ripped the button off her jeans. It rolled into the crate area, and the cats went crazy trying to chase it. “Before I go insane.”

  Or shift. That would terrify her, if I turned wolf while she had me in her mouth.

  “You were.”

  “Like this.” This close to the shift, everything was intensified and I didn’t have the control over my body that I usually did. Trina was ready for me, her pussy glistening with arousal as I easily slipped inside her. Exactly where I wanted to be. Still half dressed, pants around our ankles, we moved together in a frantic rhythm. My hands knotted in Trina’s hair so I could ravage her mouth the same way I was doing to her pussy. Every part of her was so fucking sweet.

  “This is good, too.” She pulsed around my cock, her fingers digging into the backs of my arms as she came. I loved riding her orgasm, the contractions of her body bringing me over the edge.

  We lay together, a tangle of half-dressed limbs, panting and holding each other.

  “I don’t know if I should get dressed or just take it all off.” Trina laughed.

  Slicked with sweat, I was still shell-shocked by the intensity of my need for her. Everything in my body was still going haywire, and I wondered if I’d even make it until the full moon before I shifted.

  “I think I’m going to shift tonight.”

  “The moon isn’t completely full until tomorrow.” Trina pulled her jeans up her legs and frowned. “Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

  “It’s never happened before.” My skin rippled. Fuck. It was definitely going to be tonight.

  “If you’re feeling this way, what about your brothers? Major? Wouldn’t it be the same for them? They haven’t shifted in a while, either.”

  “We don’t sit around and talk about our feelings.” I tried to make a joke as I zipped my jeans. Oh, to hell with it. I pushed them down my legs and ripped off my sweatshirt. Trina’s eyes were huge, but she didn’t say anything. “It’s not something guys do. The closest we get to that is talking about the new house.”

  “And I love that. But Shadow, I’m scared. Like in the bad way. I don’t want you to be the only wolf. If you’re feeling this vulnerable as a man—"

  “It’s not weakness!” I growled. It was anything but. It was lightning in a bottle; pure unleashed nuclear fire. If Trina worried about anything, it would be the untamed aggression that I needed to satiate. I hated that her tornado was back, swirling with doubt about me. Once I shifted back to man, I’d fix everything. There wasn’t time for that now. The wolf was on its way. “I’m going to use this to my advantage. No one will expect me tonight.”

  “What are you going to do?” Trina rushed after me. I stood in front of the shelter, my skin glowing in the light of the Beaver Moon. Fur blossomed beneath the surface of my skin. There was no way to stop it.

  “What I always said I was going to do.” My newly sharp teeth cut my tongue as I spoke. “I’m going to restore order to the pack and reclaim what’s been taken from me.”

  THE COOL NIGHT AIR rippled through my fur as I sprinted toward the forest. This felt good. Too good. The last time I ran in wolf form was the night Ryker had caught us. It wasn’t lost on me that my final destination tonight was the same exact place. Full circle.

  Sawtooth had settled in for the evening. None of the electricity pulsed through the air like it normally did on the night of the full moon. That energy always rubbed against my skin, whether I’d shifted yet or not. I was disoriented without it. Maybe after being away from the ebb and flow of the shift for seven months I wasn’t as sensitive, but no other wolves passed through the trees as I approached our village.

  I was greeted by Mom whooping at the cabin.

  “Rummy!” she exclaimed and I already knew what she was doing—putting down the last of her cards and standing up for her victory dance while my brothers groaned, left holding half the deck. “You should’ve never put two fives that close together, Baron. I taught you better than that.”

  We were all convinced she taught us the wrong rules because none of us had ever been able to beat Mom at a game of cards. Didn’t matter the game, she mopped the floor with us every time. She should’ve moved to Vegas, but they’d probably run her out of town for being a card shark.

  Baron and Dallas were playing cards; that meant they had yet to shift. They wouldn’t tonight. None of us would ever have the balls to take on Mom when we were that distracted. I scratched at the door.

  “Shadow?” Mom called out before she opened it. “Honey, come in. You shifted already?”

  “What the fuck?” Dallas finished off his beer. I wondered which one of them was headed to the girls’ apartment. After the attack at Trina’s house, things had quieted way down. But we couldn’t get lazy.

  “Language, Dallas.” It didn’t matter how old we were, in Mom’s house, we followed her rules. She crouched down checking my eyes and coat. “Are you okay, Shadow? I can’t remember the last time any of you have shifted before the full moon.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” We could still communicate because we were all the same species. While Trina would just hear growls and whines, my family always understood me. “Why does everyone think shifting early is weakness? What if it gives me more power?”

  “It’s fu...weird, that’s what it is.” Baron smirked when Mom side-eyed him. “You’re like a kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing. Get control of yourself, Shad. If Major sees you tonight—-“

  “He won’t,” I growled. “I came back to see if you’d shifted. I can’t text like this. I’m headed to Ryker’s. He’ll never expect me tonight. If you want to follow me in the truck, that’s cool. Or else I’ll meet you at the shelter in the morning.”

  “Shadow! Don’t be reckless. Especially around Trina.” Mom was obsessed with Trina. I hadn’t introduced them yet because she wasn’t technically my mate. “You come back here tonight. The boys can check on her.”

  I didn’t want to be away from her for an entire night. I looked over at my brothers. “You coming or what?”

  “Yeah.” Baron got up. “You should ride in the truck with us. If you want to surprise Ryker, don’t let anyone see you coming for him.”

  I was too big for the narrow backseat of Baron’s truck. The discomfort worked in my favor, kept me focused on my mission.

  “What’s your plan, Shad?” Dallas turned around from the passenger’s seat. “This is going to be tricky.”

  “It’s going to be suicidal,” Baron grumbled. “His property will be crawling with his goons. They’ll shoot you on sight.”

  If he wasn’t driving, I’d bite the back of his neck. I was so sick of his negative attitude. Once Ryker was dealt with, I needed to get him away from Major. “We need to distract them.”

  “We?” Baron asked.

  That was it. I nipped at him, and the truck swerved.

  Dallas shoved me hard against the back of the cab. “We’re not going to beat anyone if we can’t fucking work together. Shadow, what do you want us to do?”

  That was more like it. “Let me out before you get to the property. Distract the guards. Get shit riled up. Ryker will have to come out to see what the fuck is going on, and I’ll get him.”

  “We’re not armed.” Baron was really still going to give me attitude?

  “You have the truck. And a fucking brain. Use it.”

  Our best weapon was the element of surprise. Everyone was too pissed off to hammer out a solid plan before we got to the edge of Ryker’s property. I was relieved to get out of the car. I knew I could trust my brothers to do the right thing, even if they doubted me. My focus was on Ryker.

  I had to control myself, slowing down to a trot as the barn came into sight. An all too familiar metallic stench burned my nose and I realized something that I didn’t anticipate.

  Ryker was still fighting
dogs.

  There wouldn’t be a fight tonight. Ryker liked to fight shifters, and they’d be too strong. I was blinded by rage, running full speed to the barn. Bile rose in my throat, and as I approached my former prison, I understood everything that Trina struggled with. Shaking with fear, I ducked behind an equipment building before any of the guards spotted me. I had no idea what the operation had looked like from the outside. Ryker thought he had something worth protecting in there from the size of the guns the guards carried.

  If we’d had any idea this was happening, Baron would know to drive the truck into the side of the barn. Instead, he drove straight for Ryker’s house.

  The impact crushed the hood of the truck, shattering the windshield. The guards ran toward the accident. I chased them, faster than they were as humans, biting the Achilles’ heel of the slower guard.

  “Fuck!” he yelled as he fell to the ground, dropping his gun. I ripped into him, getting any flesh I could, snapping bone. The other guard trained his gun on me, but my brothers, on the edge of their shift, were too quick for him. They knocked the other guy over, and now both Baron and Dallas were armed.

  “He’s got more dogs,” I panted as we left the guards bloody and broken in the dirt and headed back to the truck. Ryker’s voice carried over his property, and more guards joined him. “Can you smell it?”

  “That’s what that is? Shit.” Baron kept time with me. I’d be shocked if he made it through the night as a human. He shouldn’t have this kind of speed unless he was on the verge of shifting.

  “What the fuck? How did the wolves get loose? Jerry, Frank, rein him in.” Ryker didn’t realize that the men running toward him weren’t his guards until Baron and Dallas sprayed him and the men that surrounded him with bullets. Most of them hit the ground before impact, rolling into the dirt. Good thing for Ryker’s foresight, these guns had rounds of ammo. He’d been preparing for a war. He got his wish.

  Ryker pulled a gun from behind him, firing at me as I barreled toward him. The bastard either didn’t have wolves in that barn or didn’t take them seriously. The bullets weren’t silver, and all they did was piss me off even more.

  He was too old to run, and with his guards scattered, I had him just how I wanted him. But I wasn’t going to make it quick and easy for him.

  “Who are you?” His voice shook, but he stood his ground. Arrogant to the very end. “What the fuck do you want? You won’t make it off this property alive.”

  “Neither will you.” I circled him, crowding him against my brother’s ruined truck. My brothers held guard behind me, guns drawn. “I can’t believe you don’t remember me, Ryker. After all, we were roommates for six months.”

  “Oh Jesus, it’s you. The one with the hero girlfriend.” Ryker rolled his eyes. “You shouldn’t have left her alone tonight.”

  My fur stood on end. If the bastard had been right about one thing in his life, it was that. I needed to get back to Trina as soon as possible. Ryker had already proven he’d make good on any threat.

  “We’ve seen you with her. At the shelter, after hours. She’s feisty, but I like that. Nothing will be better than watching the flames in her eyes go out. I bet that plump body tastes real sweet. Like a peach. I’ll find out when I have her brought to me. You’ll be back where you belong, in chains, and you’ll have the pleasure of watching your bitch girlfriend get fucked by every man on this property.”

  I sprung off the ground, a blur of blood and fur. Ryker’s arrogance made him slow. Stupid. I’d anticipated his next move, and my teeth sank into the artery on the side of his neck.

  He tasted rotten, but the sound of his neck snapping made up for it.

  “Shadow! You’ve got him! Enough!” Baron pulled me off him. I knew this bastard wouldn’t just die. I’d practically ripped his head clear away from his body before my brothers were able to pry me off of him. I lunged again, but they held me back. I wanted to destroy everything about him. His threat echoed in my head.

  “What about the rest of them?” Dallas asked, still gripping my bloody scruff.

  All the guards stood frozen in place, in horror or awe. It was hard to tell which one. I shook free of my brother, circling the small crowd that had watched me take out their leader.

  “Tell them to free the dogs,” I instructed. “If these guys stay loyal to me, none of them will be punished. They stray, they pay. That simple.”

  Baron explained the rules to my new men, and Dallas freed the dogs from their chains. I recognized some of them as coming from Forever Home. How anyone in town could look themselves in the mirror after taking Ryker’s bribe and adopting from Trina’s shelter was beyond me. If they knew about the dog fights, I had a hard time believing they didn’t know what they were handing these over dogs for. Luckily, the dogs hadn’t been here long and hadn’t suffered much.

  A guard gave us the keys to one of Ryker’s SUVs. So far, they were cooperating. It was anyone’s guess what would happen once we’d left. I’d either written our death sentence or gained a well-oiled pack. Right now, I only cared about two things—getting these dogs back to the shelter and making sure Trina was safe.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Trina

  “I’m fucking terrified.” I hadn’t taken my eyes off the window. I didn’t expect to see Shadow again tonight, but I kept picturing the worst case scenario. Anyone who was as angry as he was about Ryker couldn’t possibly think straight. Shadow wanted blood, and he didn’t care how he got it. “What if he’s alone? Or he’s been captured? Or...”

  I couldn’t say it out loud.

  “This is his fight.” Kiera offered me a beer, but I shook my head. “The wolves were captured before they met us. You aren’t responsible for this, Trina.”

  The tornado didn’t agree.

  “I can’t lose him,” I said to myself more than anyone. There was nothing the girls could do to console me. I’d created this mess myself. As soon as Shadow came back, and he was coming back, I’d tell him what I should’ve said immediately. That I was his forever.

  My heart stopped when headlights illuminated the driveway. I didn’t recognize the SUV.

  “Do you have your gun, Trina?” Lyssie asked, backing away from the window and shutting off the lights.

  “Yeah.” I didn’t move.

  “Where is it?”

  “We don’t need it.” I didn’t panic when the SUV doors opened, another feeling washed over me. Peace. The eye of the storm. Whoever was here wasn’t going to hurt us. I don’t know how I knew it, but I did.

  “Found it,” Kiera called out.

  I turned to see her looking down the barrel of the gun. “Put that down! It’s loaded and so are you!”

  She dropped the gun, putting her arms up in the air. It was a miracle it didn’t fire.

  “Holy crap,” Lyssie cried. “Is that Jolie and Dex?”

  The two German Shepherds I’d recently adopted out came bounding up the stairs.

  “It is.” Maybe I was seeing things. “Maybe things didn’t work out?” It happened, and it wasn’t unusual to have someone come back in the middle of the night. Sometimes we’d get a note explaining what the problem was. Even though it broke my heart that they didn’t find their forever home, at least the people were smart enough to give the animals back to me.

  “Who’s that?” Kiera asked when more dogs came into view. “It looks like—"

  “Shadow!” He didn’t look quite right, herding the Shepherds up the stairs. Baron and Dallas climbed out of the SUV, following the dogs up the stairs.

  I was already out the door, on my knees in front of Shadow. “What happened to you?”

  His fur was caked with blood. Hoping it belonged to someone else, I pushed his fur aside and almost passed out when I saw the wounds.

  “He’s going to be okay,” Dallas insisted. “We need him to shift as soon as possible. It will speed the healing.”

  “How?” I wouldn’t let go of him. Shadow whinnied, nudging his nose against my shoulde
r. “He was worried about being able to shift easily. I’m even more worried since he turned wolf early and you guys didn’t.”

  “Some of it was stress, I bet.” Baron crouched down in front of us, running his hand through Shadow’s matted fur, then looking at me. “He did it. Ryker’s dead, Trina. He had these guys in the barn. It looked like he was building another dog fighting ring.”

  “You’re shitting me.” I swooned, falling against Shadow. “Girls, check them and make sure they’re okay. Get them food and water, they’re probably starving.”

  I’d call the owners in the morning, hopefully it was a mistake, but now, I couldn’t think of anything but Shadow. His skin was torn, his fur filthy. He was whining, trying to tell me something. I couldn’t let go of him.

  “What should we do for Shadow?” I asked. Baron had transitioned into next in command. “Should I call the vet for these wounds? Is he going to be too weak to shift?”

  Please don’t let these wounds be fatal. There was so much blood.

  Shadow growled. Even in wolf form, he knew what I was thinking.

  Baron laughed and slapped Shadow’s ass. “This guy is anything but weak. No, let’s get him cleaned up. When he shifts, and he will, it’s just a matter of time, anything that’s broken or lodged inside should take care of itself.”

  THE FULL MOON BEGAN to wane and Shadow still had yet to shift. Baron and Dallas had transformed to wolf and back to man in a matter of two days.

  “Are you sure he’s not in danger?” I asked Baron for possibly the millionth time. He’d come to pick up the girls for the night. I was delirious at this point. I had barely slept since they brought Shadow back to me. I held vigil with him, and while his brothers insisted he was fine, I was losing hope.

  New pink skin already covered the wounds, and fuzz covered the bare patches in his coat. Shadow acted like he did the first time he’d come to me. He wouldn’t leave my side.

  “It should be any time.” Baron was less convincing every day.

  “Is there any possibility that he’ll never shift again?” Shadow pawed at me, trying to assure me he was okay. I buried my face in his fur. I loved the way he smelled when he was wolf.