Alpha Pack 4 - Hunters Heart (19 page)

the site of the second body and they walked the rest of the

way. Aric carried a heavy net over one shoulder, Jax a

coil of rope. “Nothing like having to play rodeo star with

an enraged lizard.”

“No fuckin’ shit,” Aric muttered. “It’d be a lot easier if

I could just fry his ass. Then we could get on home and get

laid.”

“That’s got my vote,” Jax put in.

Micah remained silent, and Ryon studied his friend in

concern. He never had much to say these days, and seemed

kind of spacey. But he figured Nick knew best, letting him

begin to take assignments although he was actually worse

off than Phoenix, who still hadn’t been cleared for duty.

A thirty-minute hike later, they came to the area where

the man’s body had been found. Crime scene tape was

wrapped around the trees to form a rough circle, but if it

hadn’t been for that, there wouldn’t have been much to

mark where another life had ended so horribly.

Except the odor. Ryon detected old blood, and a more

rancid smell that must belong to the beast. It was strong

here, more so than at the first scene, for whatever reason.

He wanted to gag.

The reminder that Daria had discovered the first body,

and could easily have fallen victim to this creature as she

went about her job, had him breaking out in a cold sweat.

He was glad she was at the magically warded compound,

well away from danger. That was about the only point in

this day’s favor.

Just to the right of the area marked by the crime scene

tape, Ryon saw the glow of a figure seated on the ground.

He moved closer and saw that it was the spirit of a man

with his arms encircling his legs, staring forlornly into

space.

“Whatcha got?” Aric asked. “Another Casper?”

“Yeah. It’s the male victim. He’s confused.”

Ryon was about to try to question the man when another

ghost appeared beside him—the woman that Ryon had

seen twice before. Looking up, joy bloomed on the man’s

face and he bolted to his feet, taking her into his arms.

They held on to each other as though they’d never let go,

and a lump formed in Ryon’s throat. He never got to see

happy endings, and guessed this one was as close as he’d

ever seen.

The man spun his wife around, then kissed her soundly.

Then, hand in hand, they walked toward the trees . . . and

disappeared into thin air.

Ryon cleared his throat. “They’re together now.”

“Well, that’s good,” Micah said quietly. “I guess.”

The others agreed halfheartedly. Ryon contacted his

commander.

Nick? How’s it going?

Not great,
Nick pushed back to him.
We’ve found

another body, six miles south of where Daria found the

woman. It’s a god-awful mess.

Sheriff on the way?

Yeah.

Okay. Nothing here yet, except I saw the spirit of the

man close to the site where he was found. His wife

showed up and they were reunited.

Did either of them say anything to you?

No. They were too wrapped up in each other. Never

noticed me.

Okay. I’ll check in soon.

“Nick said they’ve got a body,” he told the group. “Six

miles south of where the woman was found. Said it’s a

mess.”

There were several curses and expressions of general

disgust. Aric was most likely about to pop off a smartass

remark when he stopped and squinted into the trees ahead.

“Man, I think my vision is messed up.”

Ryon looked in the direction his friend was staring.

“What is it?”

“Over there.” He pointed. “Do you see a big area where

the trees look blurry?”

Micah piped up. “I see it. Looks like a kaleidoscope

effect, only clear.”

Ryon’s eyes studied the big area, his brain slow to

catch up with what he was seeing. And when he did, a

roar shook the entire forest that sounded just as Daria had

described.

“Fucking Christ,” Micah shouted as the blur detached

itself from the trees.

The
pum-pum
of the beast’s feet slamming into the earth

as it ran toward them reminded him of a scene out of

Jurassic Park
. Only instead of a T. rex, the creature

bearing down on them was almost a dead ringer for Nick’s

drawing of it.

Except the fucker was almost invisible.

No wonder the thing had been able to sneak up on

unsuspecting hikers. They couldn’t see the damned beast

until it was too late.

Nick! The beast is here, it’s attacking! We’re gonna

try to catch it!

On our way, hang tight!

Whatever was going to happen, Nick couldn’t prevent

it. Ryon just hoped their commander wasn’t forced to

scoop up their remains with a shovel.

Ryon and his teammates formed a square around the

creature as it skidded to a halt in the middle, bellowing.

He watched in sick fascination as that maw opened wide,

the outlines of two rows of jagged teeth visible if you

knew just how to look. The beast snapped its broad head

toward him and just stopped. Stared. Its bulky arms were

held out slightly from its sides, long, razor-sharp claws

deadly on the ends of its webbed fingers.

Ryon suddenly realized the beast was confused. It had

obviously not encountered any sort of opposition from

anyone in the weeks since it had escaped from the lab, and

it didn’t know what to do now. For a fleeting few seconds,

he thought maybe the man inside the beast would take

over, allowing them to take him in peacefully so the

doctors could work on a cure.

He should’ve known it wasn’t going to be that simple.

He held out a hand. “Hey, man. We want to help you.

Why don’t you—”

The creature let out another deafening roar and charged

him. Scrambling backward, Ryon barely managed to

escape a swipe with those deadly claws. Then the net was

thrown over the beast’s head, stopping his attack. It

swiped and screeched, pissed off and trying to get out of

the net. Jax tossed the rope, attempting to lasso its

shoulders, but the creature managed to grab the rope,

yanking it right out of Jax’s hands and trampling it

underfoot as he dropped it.

Rushing forward, they grasped the edges of the net and

tried to wrestle the beast to the ground. If they could make

him fall, all four of them might be able to hold him until he

was tied up.

It didn’t work out that way. The creature used the net to

sling them with all his strength, the net flying off him.

Ryon, Jax, and Aric were flung in different directions—

But Micah, the closest one to the raging monster, was

now caught in the net. As the thing stomped over to him,

Micah’s eyes widened and he worked frantically to free

himself. He shifted his hands into claws and sliced at the

net, just as the monster seized his leg and started pulling

him backward.

“Fuck! Somebody do something!” he yelled.

Ryon and the others bolted toward them, Ryon pulling

his gun from his waistband. He squeezed off a couple of

shots to the creature’s shoulder, just as it raked Micah

across the ribs. Micah screamed, then went horribly silent

as it threw him down. The beast turned toward Jax and

took two steps, but the others joined in, firing at it.

Apparently not happy with this development, it whirled

and fled into the woods. As far as Ryon could tell, they

hadn’t even wounded the damned thing.

“Jesus. Come on, kid, hang on,” Aric begged.

Ryon ran to where his friends were kneeling by Micah,

worry etched on their faces. Jax stripped off Micah’s shirt

and balled it up, pressing the cloth into the wound in his

side. The slice was long and deep, made by one of the

claws. If the beast had struck with a bit more curve, their

friend would’ve been gutted.

“I’m all right,” Micah panted, pale and sweating.

“Burns, though. Like acid.”

He wasn’t okay by a long shot. Blood was fast soaking

the ground, and his eyes drifted closed. Though they kept

talking to him, he was losing ground fast.

Jax put his arms under Micah’s knees and back, and

lifted him. “Let’s go.”

They made the long hike as fast as they could, jogging a

good part of the way. Nick’s group had just arrived at

Ryon’s Range Rover when they came through the trees.

The commander jogged up to them, laying a palm on

Micah’s slack face—the scarred side.

“Dammit, we just got you on your feet,” Nick said

grimly. “Your sister is going to kill me.”

The younger man didn’t stir. Nick helped get Micah into

the back of the SUV, and climbed in with him. Ryon

jumped in the driver’s seat and soon they were on their

way, the other team racing behind them.

Nick spoke into his cell phone. “Melina, get the trauma

room ready. We’ve got one coming in with an open wound

to his side. Coming in hot.”

Meaning he was in bad shape.

Gripping the steering wheel, Ryon sped up. This day

had been a clusterfuck from the time the alarm went off.

It appeared things were going to get worse before they

improved. One thing for sure, they needed to develop a

different strategy to catch the monster.

Because that one sure as fuck didn’t work.

• • •

Daria was losing her mind.

All she’d had to hear from Blue while sitting in the

cafeteria was that one of the Pack had been badly injured

fighting the creature, and she had almost fainted. How was

she going to take this every time they went on an op?

Always terrified that her mate would come home in a body

bag?

She was waiting by the emergency entrance doors when

the first teams poured in. Jax was carrying the hurt man in

his arms—and it wasn’t Ryon. The man had shoulder-

length brown hair, not blond. Her knees nearly gave out,

her relief was so great. Then she heard Rowan’s stricken

cry and realized it was her brother, and guilt flailed at her.

Rowan followed after Jax, and Daria could only stare at

the doors and wait for Ryon.

When he walked through them, she ran toward him. The

instant he saw her, he opened his arms and she ran into

them, clasping him tight. He returned the embrace, holding

her against his strong body. She could feel every muscle

and ridge, and took joy in him being there.

Sweaty, salty, dirty. But alive.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I was such a bitch to

you last night, and if that had been the last time I ever saw

you—”

“No, shh. I’m here, honey. I’m safe.”

“This time.”

“This is my life. There will always be danger, but I’ll

always move heaven and hell to come home.”

“I was awful to you,” she repeated. She couldn’t get

past that she could’ve lost him in the wake of her stupid

pity party. “I would never have forgiven myself if

something had happened to you.”

“You’ve had a lot thrown at you, so give yourself a

break.” He kissed the top of her head. “Let’s just move

forward, all right?”

“Can we?”

“Good grief, woman.” Pulling back, he gave her a mock

frown. “Do I look like a man who gives up easily?”

“No. Rowan may have said something like that.”

“Well, she’s right. I’m a stubborn bastard and I like

getting my way. Now, why don’t we join the others and

wait for some word about Micah?”

“Sounds good.”

Ryon told everyone assembled about the doomed fight

with the creature, and how Micah was injured. Rowan,

eyes red from crying, sat huddled next to Aric, shushing

his repeated apologies for getting her brother hurt.

“You didn’t get him hurt,” she snapped finally. “So

knock it off, okay? He’s a grown man.”

“Sure, baby.” They kissed gently, with such love, in

their own universe.

Three hours later, Melina came out to inform them all

that he would recover, and the relief swept through the

group like a storm. But the creature’s claws contained

some sort of venom that was making his system and the

gash slow to heal. It was a word of caution for future

battles against the monster.

Ryon squeezed Daria’s hand. “Now that we know he’ll

be okay, shall we go back to my place?”

“Sounds great.”

On the way, she got one more confession off her chest.

“I’m still not sure about the whole wolf thing, and I’m still

angry at having fate decide my life for me.”

“I understand,” he said, and she read the truth in his

eyes. He was an incredible man. “I’ve been there, Daria.”

“God, I’m an idiot! Of course you have.”

“You’re not an idiot. You’re doing the best you can, and

no one blames you for being upset, least of all me.”

“But I do care for you,” she said softly. “I realize I

don’t want to miss out on something wonderful with you

because I’m so busy looking backward.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” They came to his door, and he