Alpha Pack 4 - Hunters Heart (4 page)

side to beg for help—and his wolf had come roaring to

life inside him. Now his constant companion was anxious,

insisting they race to help this unknown woman.

Ryon struggled to control the shift. Apparently, hiding

and licking his wounds like a big baby was no longer on

the wolf’s agenda. The creature was practically clawing

him apart from the inside out in his hurry to be gone. He

had something much more important to focus on now, and

he wasn’t going to let anything keep him from finding the

gorgeous vision.

Ryon had to alert his team. Pushing out the door, he

stumbled into the corridor of the infirmary and ran straight

into Noah. The blond nurse grabbed and steadied him,

fussing.

“What the heck are you doing out of bed? If you need

something, use the call button!”

“No time,” he said hoarsely. “Gotta find Nick. We’ve

got a problem.”

Scowling, the younger man steered Ryon back into the

room. “Sit your butt down in here while I get hold of him,

or you’re going to be the one with the problem when I

sedate your stubborn self.”

Ryon complied, but he didn’t have to like it. Until he let

his wolf out, he wasn’t going to have the strength to walk

across the compound, much less run through the mountains

searching for an injured hiker. He listened impatiently

while Noah used the room’s phone and made the call to

Nick. As he did, it occurred to Ryon that he wasn’t

thinking straight—he could’ve simply used his ability as a

Telepath to reach Nick himself, pushing his thoughts into

his commander’s head. If that wasn’t proof that he had no

business leaping from bed to run through the Shoshone,

nothing was.

But that wasn’t going to stop him.

Noah replaced the receiver and turned, grabbing the

discarded wires from the heart monitor. “He’s on his way.

Scoot back and I’ll fix this.”

“No. I’m not staying here.”

“Ryon—”

“I said no!”

“Fine! Stubborn furballs, all of you.” The nurse

stomped out, leaving the door open behind him.

Ryon felt bad for snapping, but anxiety was riding him

hard. He needed to be gone, like five minutes ago.

Dammit, he’d apologize later.

Nick walked in a couple of minutes after Noah left, his

expression concerned. The Pack’s commander was a big

SOB who put off a
don’t fuck with me
vibe that was best

heeded. Oh, Nick was a good guy, but more than a little

intimidating.

The commander pushed a hand through his dark hair, his

eyes piercing Ryon’s. “I knew a big change was coming

for you. I just didn’t expect it to arrive so soon.”

The hair on the back of Ryon’s neck stood up. In

addition to being a rare white wolf—born, not made—the

commander was a PreCog, which meant he could

sometimes see events before they happened. Or get a sense

of something important on the horizon. As much as Ryon

hated his own
gift
, he wouldn’t trade with Nick for

anything. Some people might think being able to see the

future would be cool, but Ryon thought it would totally

suck to know the bad stuff.

“What did you see?” he asked in curiosity. And with a

bit of dread as well.

“A woman,” Nick said simply, with a bit of reluctance.

“And the fact that she’s going to shake up your world

pretty thoroughly.”

Oh, crap. “How so?”

“You’ll just have to find out for yourself. But for that to

happen, we’ll have to get going.” The man cocked his

head. “Did she appear to you?”

Evasive bastard. “Yes, and she’s hurt. She didn’t say

her name, but she told me she was pushed into a ravine

past the second ridge, to the north.”

“Pushed? By whom?”

“I don’t know. She tried to say something about the

rangers and a checkpoint, but the message was garbled at

the end.”

“Okay. I’ll go by my office on the way out and give the

ranger station a call while you grab a few of the guys.” He

eyed Ryon. “That is, if you’re healed enough to go.”

“I will be after I shift,” he insisted. “My wolf is going

nuts and if I stay behind, it won’t be pretty.”

Nick paused, considering. “All right. I trust you to know

your limits.”

“I’ll meet you at the hangar with others. And thanks,

Nick.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll speak to Melina, Mac, and Noah

on the way out, tell them what’s going on and get them to

accompany us in a second vehicle.”

“We’re bringing her here?” he asked in surprise. “What

about the humans’ Search and Rescue team? Sounds like

she’ll need a regular hospital.”

A mysterious smile played about Nick’s lips. “I have a

feeling that’s not going to work out so well.”

“What—” Much to his annoyance, his boss left without

explaining. “Damn.”

Ryon stood, shrugging off the annoying hospital gown.

Next went his briefs, tossed to join the gown. Naked and

trembling from that small exertion, he focused on reaching

out to his wolf in preparation for the shift, a process that

wasn’t typically as fluid and easy for him as it was for

some of the other guys. Now, however, his wolf surged to

the surface and completely took over, his anxiety to get to

the injured woman almost a physical need.

Muscle and bone popped, morphed. His body

rearranged itself, fur sprouting from his skin, muzzle

lengthening, tail growing, hands and feet becoming paws.

All of this in less than five seconds.

Immediately he felt stronger. Not fully healed, but he

would last until the raven-haired beauty was found and

brought back safely. The pull to do just that got him

moving.

Steady on four legs, he bolted from the room and down

the infirmary’s corridor. Ryon ran straight to the

recreation room where many of his friends could be found

loitering away their downtime on any given day, and he

wasn’t surprised to find that today was no different.

Hammer and Aric were there, playing a video game on

the Wii, and Micah Chase and Kalen Black were watching

a rerun of
Ghost Hunters
. The foursome stopped what

they were doing, giving him their full attention as he

skidded to a stop and shifted back.

“Damn, my eyes!” Aric moaned as the others laughed.

“I guess you’re feeling better, huh? At least put on some

pants.”

They all knew the redheaded wolf was teasing—the

Pack had been together long enough that they didn’t care

about nudity before or after their shifts. But Ryon didn’t

have the time or patience to play along.

“I need you guys,” he said, holding on to the sofa for

support. In human form he wasn’t as well as he’d like, but

it couldn’t be helped at the moment. “We’ve got an injured

hiker out there, and we’re mobilizing.”

Hammer, the team’s gentle giant and Nick’s righthand

man, rubbed his bald head, perplexed. “That’s not our job.

What about Search and Rescue?”

“The woman appeared to me in astral form and begged

for my help,” he explained impatiently, unable to hide his

anxiety. He chose to leave out Nick’s interesting response

to that very question Ryon had asked. “Getting S and R

involved will take time she doesn’t have. There’s no way

a bunch of humans will be able to find her before we do,

and she’s going to die if we don’t hurry.”

Aric stood. “In that case, I’m in.”

The other three echoed him, and Ryon looked to Micah.

The brown wolf/Dreamwalker had been rescued along

with Aric, weeks ago, by the Pack and Rowan, Micah’s

sister, an LAPD cop who turned out to be Aric’s mate.

Micah had fared much worse in the lab facility where he

and Aric had been held, and had endured heinous

experiments for months at the hands of the now-deceased

Dr. Gene Bowman. Micah was horribly scarred inside and

out. But with drugs and therapy he was making progress, it

seemed.

“You ready to test the waters?” Ryon asked him. He

was fairly sure Nick wouldn’t object to their Pack brother

stretching his long-unused muscles while assisting on a

simple rescue. If so, he’d take the heat later.

Micah nodded eagerly, pushing a long strand of brown

hair from his face. “You bet. If I have to stay behind again,

I’ll lose what’s left of my mind.”

“That’s settled, then. We’re meeting Nick at the hangar

with the medical team. Anybody know where Jax is?”

Jaxon Law was their unofficial Pack leader, right after

Nick.

“I’ll find him and Rowan. We’ll see you there.” Aric

jogged off.

“I’ll get dressed and be there in a few.”

Ryon shifted again and took off in the direction of his

personal quarters. Everyone had his own apartment at the

compound and Ryon’s was situated at the end of one of the

wings that housed the Pack and the rest of the staff. At his

door, he shifted to human form again and cursed the

necessity. His wolf was much stronger and faster in many

aspects. He could follow a scent trail and locate someone

in a way that was impossible as a man. But they would

need vehicles and emergency equipment. No help for that.

Anxious, he punched his code into the security pad and

let himself into his quarters. As quickly as possible, given

his own injuries, he dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, and hiking

boots, and then braced his hands on the dresser. Mirrors

didn’t lie, and this one was telling him to go straight back

to bed and stay there for another week.

Unfortunately, on top of looking like shit, he felt even

worse. As he headed out again, the stab of pain in his side

reminded him that he’d missed the promised dose of pain

meds. But it wasn’t the pain that concerned him—he’d

been through plenty of scrapes and survived. It was the

possibility that his body might fail him before he found the

woman.

He didn’t doubt that if something happened to him, the

Pack would find her. But every instinct in his body

screamed that it was vitally important that he be with

them. He couldn’t fail.

Half-limping, he jogged into the hangar to see Nick and

the others waiting. The group of men, plus the medical

team, was swallowed by the cavernous space that held a

number of vehicles, including SUVs, three Hueys, and a

private jet. Several pairs of eyes turned in his direction,

and a couple of his buddies exchanged dubious looks.

Aric shook his head. “You need to sit this one out, bro.”

“I agree,” Jax said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Forget it.” Slowing to a walk, he joined his team. “The

woman reached out to
m e
for help, nobody else. That

makes it sort of personal.”

Jax persisted. “We’ll find her and bring her here.

You’ve done enough—”

“We’re wasting time,” he snapped. “Can we just get on

with the plan?”

Anger flashed in Jax’s gaze and for a couple of

heartbeats, Ryon thought they were about to get into it.

Nick didn’t intervene, simply watched and waited. Even

Aric, the smartass, went silent. But then his friend

relented, albeit reluctantly. “Fine. But if you pass out, I’m

not carrying your stubborn ass back to the vehicles.”

“Like nobody’s had to carry
you
before,” he shot back.

Jax had no comeback, and the decency to appear contrite.

The tension gradually dissipated as Nick brought them

up to speed. “I contacted the rangers’ station and learned

some interesting things. First, the woman we’re looking

for is probably Daria Bradford. She’s a wildlife biologist

studying the wolf population in the Shoshone—the real

kind.”

Daria. What a pretty name.
Ryon’s insides fluttered,

but he hid his reaction.

Micah snorted. “Wolves? How’s that for irony?”

“They’re also not too concerned about her just yet. Miss

Bradford checked in with the rangers this morning as

scheduled, and gave them the coordinates for her next

campsite. She’s not due to call in for another few hours.”

“So how did you explain the inquiry?” Ryon asked.

“I told them I’d heard a call over the radio on my office

from someone in distress. Of course, they were baffled

that they didn’t hear anything, but they were too distracted

by another development to focus too much on the

discrepancy.”

“What’s going on?”

“A couple of campers have gone missing, a man and his

wife from Nebraska who are, or were, here on vacation.”

Nick’s expression was grim. “They arrived eight days

ago, according to a daughter who spoke with them by cell

phone before they settled in. The couple didn’t check in

with the rangers when they got here, though. They were

only supposed to camp for four nights, and then head

home, calling their daughter when they left. They never

made that call and by the morning of the sixth day, she

started to panic.”

“So, Search and Rescue is already out there, looking for

them,” Ryon mused. “This could complicate our effort to