Far From Innocent (18 page)

“None of them will bother you again.” He’d see to it if he had to hunt each
lunewulf
in this pack down and find the bastards himself.

“Hold on tight, everyone.” Moira slowed and then pulled a u-turn in the next intersection. “We’re going back to get Dante and your den, Erin. They’ve got the lead, but there are
lunewulfs
chasing them. This is going to have to be quick.”

Erin leaned in to him and he wrapped his arms around her. The jeans she wore were so large his hand easily slipped inside them. He cupped her smooth ass, her warm skin feeling damned good.

“Dante taught me a few things as a cub that I’ve mastered over the years,” Rosa offered. “But are you communicating with him now? I’ve never managed to pull that one off.”

Moira smiled at her. “Dante taught me how to do it.”

“All of us won’t fit in this car. Once we reach the werewolves, let me out and we’ll manage a diversion. You three bitches haul ass back to our pack. We’ll be there shortly.” Juan gripped the door handle.

Erin fisted his shirt. “Juan,” she began.

Moira turned another corner and then slowed. “I don’t know if we’re still being followed or not.”

“I’m sure we are.” Juan opened his car door when he spotted the three werewolves coming toward them. Dante reached them first.

“I’ve bought us a few minutes, but we need to get the hell out of here.” His pale eyes glowed in the darkness and he smelled of adrenaline peaking from a damned good adventure.

The bitches all started jumping out of the car and he grabbed Erin’s arm before she straightened.

“You three head back to the pack. We’ll meet you there,” Juan told her.

“I can run with you,” she whispered, an imploring look in her eyes.

He shook his head.

Dante spoke up before he answered.

“There isn’t time to discuss this. You three head out now. You’ll make it. Trust me.

We’ll meet you at my den soon.”

93

Lorie O’Clare

They all started to protest and Dante hurried around the car, almost pushing Moira back into it.

Juan pulled Erin to him, kissing her hard. Her mouth was like fire, and he ached to have more of her.

“Get going. Now,” he whispered into her mouth. “I’ll be with you again soon.”

She protested when he pushed her into the backseat, but already he smelled
lunewulfs
. They all needed to get the hell out of there.

As soon as the car pulled from the curb, Juan glanced up and down the dark, quiet street and then stripped out of his clothes. He barely saw the tail lights of Moira’s car by the time he had twisted his clothes and tied them around his neck.

The change burned in his veins while he focused on the fading red lights on the back of the car. Cold, bitter air attacked his bare flesh. Thick fur punctured through his pores, covering his body. His face stretched, bones and muscles altering and changing shape while his senses grew more alert to every movement, every sound around him.

As he dropped to all fours, his heart pounding hard from the surge of energy that pumped through him, he willed the tail lights of Moira’s car to not disappear from his sight. He ignored the werewolves around him and leapt forward, immediately breaking into a hard run. Erin wouldn’t disappear on him. He raced after the car, focused only on catching up with her. That car would make it back to their pack safely. He’d fucking see to it.

All that mattered was getting Erin to his den. He licked his lips, still tasting her there. Those clothes she’d had on, the sweatshirt too small and the jeans too big, made her look even sexier. He growled, realizing she’d look good to him covered in trash bags.

All of this had happened because she’d fled her den, thinking he’d been with another bitch. Her pain made her run. Well, he’d run even faster to show her there were no other bitches. And there wouldn’t be. All he wanted was her.

Cold, damp night air clung to his fur. His long dagger-like claws scraped over pavement and concrete while he tore through the
lunewulf
town, indifferent to businesses and dens that he passed while fighting to catch up with the car.

Moira wasn’t driving slowly either. The bitch raced down the street, turning corners without hesitation. He had no doubts she used her gift to help navigate through town.

Someday he’d learn the details of what she and Dante could do with their gift, but right now, all that mattered was Erin.

There was growling and barking behind him, and it wasn’t all coming from Dante and the others. They had
lunewulfs
on their tails. If the motherfuckers crossed the line into Malta territory, it would be their loss.

When the town ended and steep, rugged ground was on both sides of the narrow highway, he found it easier to stay behind the car, breaking into a hard run. Malta werewolves were known for their size but also their speed. He doubted it had ever been 94

Far From Innocent

clocked, and in spite of the fact that
lunewulfs
were known as the fastest werewolf species, Juan was convinced that Malta werewolves were just as fast.

He ran so fast that when Moira hit the brakes and then slid into the other lane, he couldn’t slow in time and jumped onto the trunk and then off the hood of her car.

Another car had come onto her head-on and slowed facing her. Juan glared into the surprised looks of the
lunewulfs
in the front seat before plowing into their windshield.

Pain ripped into him, broken glass tearing at his flesh while the sky seemed to come up at him. Airborne for what seemed like too long, he twisted his body, his paws searching for the ground. It came up at him quickly, and the wind left him when he smashed onto the highway on the other side of the car.

Juan’s entire world went black.

95

Lorie O’Clare

Erin kicked several loose rocks and watched them skip over the ground in the darkness. They’d been so excited to have a den, a pack where all Malta werewolves could live. Now she listened to the werewolves yelling at each other inside. Dimitri, Dante, the pack leader from the American werewolves and a couple of the
lunewulfs
were all howling at the same time
.
She was sick of hearing it, sick of the fighting and damned tired of werewolves hating each other because they felt threatened.

“None of you even know each other,” she mumbled, putting more distance

between her and the grocery store in downtown Valle.

The American pack leader had agreed to meet with Malta werewolves prior to the challenge. They discussed where the challenge would take place, who would mediate all these rules males put so much merit into. When several
lunewulfs
showed up, demanding a say in where and when such a violent event would take place, all hell broke loose.

She’d stormed out the back door, heading down the alley. None of the werewolves noticed she had left.

Sighing, she focused on the millions of bright stars sparkling against an endless black sky. Over the past few days, Juan seldom left her thoughts. She slowed her pace, trying at least to enjoy the peaceful evening now that she was out of earshot of the fighting werewolves.

Would she ever enjoy a life without so much fighting?

The anger that gripped their pack ripped her thoughts apart too. Word traveled fast after she’d returned from the
lunewulf
pack. Juan was run over at high speed on the highway by a car from the
lunewulf
pack. And they’d stolen her. The desire for revenge reeked on the mountain, every werewolf anxious to teach the other pack a bit of respect.

In spite of all that, Erin’s apprehension built the longer she didn’t see Juan. Nicolo and Dimitri insisted she stay around their den, and she really had no clue how Juan convalesced. If another bitch cared for him, saw to his needs while he recovered, she’d have that female’s throat. Just thinking about it had made it impossible to eat, hard to sleep and distracted her enough to keep her littermates sniffing after her even more than they usually did.

If she didn’t see him soon, she’d absolutely fucking lose it.

“Juan asked about you today.” Moira spoke from behind her.

Erin spun around, smelling Moira’s scent at the same time the bitch spoke to her.

She chided herself for being so distracted she hadn’t noticed the female approaching from behind.

96

Far From Innocent

Moira’s long black hair fanned over one shoulder and then streamed down her back. She wore a thick sweater and snug-fitting black jeans. There was concern on her face and her dark eyes probed Erin.

“I hope he’s doing better.” Her littermates hadn’t shipped her off to North Dakota, but they’d kept her on such a tight leash she could hardly breathe.

“We’re lucky our pack has a doctor. And even luckier he didn’t break his neck.”

Erin shivered at the thought. Pretty much the only thing that could bring quick death to a werewolf was breaking the neck or spine. She nodded then turned, entertaining the thought of breaking into a run and trying to escape the bitch who trailed her.

“I think Dante is gaining a lot of respect for your littermate.” Moira fell into stride alongside her. “I know it’s hard to tell, the way they keep going at each other’s throats.”

At the moment, Erin really didn’t give a damn about either werewolf. The fighting grew old, and it wore at her. Worrying about Juan made her sick to her stomach. But she wouldn’t ask the bitch to leave her alone. They reached the end of the alley and started toward a quiet park where a swing set and other playground equipment made for odd shadows in the dark.

“I wish he and Juan would quit biting at each other,” she confessed, reaching the swings and running her fingers down the cold, twisted metal chain. “But I’m sure you know my thoughts.”

“I’m not trying to enter your mind.” Moira sat down in one of the swings and shoved herself backward, straightening her legs and swinging back and forth. Her long hair trailed behind her like a black cape. “If I stayed in there any longer, the thickness of animosity was going to make me puke. Somehow Dante and Dimitri need to learn to get along.”

“I’m sure after the challenge is over, all of that will be settled.” She took the swing next to Moira and rocked back and forth slightly, not wanting to talk about either one of them.

Maybe she could pry some information out of Moira. She wasn’t sure she could handle knowing if another bitch took care of Juan though.

If Moira hadn’t latched on to her, it would have been the perfect time to try to go see him. The werewolf took a nasty blow being hit head-on by a car. Some werewolves would die from such an impact. She ached to care for him, to see to his needs and to be there when he woke up. But the closest she got to him was in her dreams.

“Dante has spent years denying any of his gift, fighting to make others believe it didn’t exist. It takes time to change that way of thinking and to acknowledge that possibly our pack could be accepted and not burnt out again because we are different.”

“None of us want that.” Swinging made energy burn to life inside her. She dug her heels into the ground, making her swing quit moving.

97

Lorie O’Clare

What was Juan doing right now? Had they left him alone? This was the first night her littermates were too distracted to care where she was. And now she had Moira gabbing away at her. If only she could ditch her, then maybe she could see him.

“American packs have been burnt out before. Even with the laws and protection of Werewolf Affairs, we have no assurance of being safe if we go public with the gift.”

Erin looked at Moira. “I’m not going to hide in shadows the rest of my life. You make it sound like you wish your sire hadn’t helped so many of us learn how to use the gift.”

“I’ve never thought that for a moment,” Moira said quickly.

Her dark eyes glowed in the night, but this time Erin wasn’t intimidated by Moira.

Her need to see Juan outweighed any feelings this bitch might be able to stir inside her.

She simply stared at her, drowning in possibilities of how to get out of this conversation and away from Moira so she could get up the mountain before her littermates ended their meeting.

Someone walked toward them and Moira looked past her, her jaw dropping. Erin snapped her head around, sniffing the air while focusing her gaze on the female who approached them. In the darkness, she swore she didn’t see right at first.

“Mom,” Moira gasped, jumping off the swing.

Erin stood too, panic hitting her hard. “It can’t be,” she muttered. “You’re dead.”

Her insides got so hot from embarrassment, the sour smell filling the air was as strong as the heat that burned inside her. “You didn’t die?”

Fear and excitement dripped heavily in the cold night and Erin shot a sideways glance at Moira. Never had she seen the bitch look so unsure of herself. Emotions cluttered her pretty face, clouding her eyes and creating a flush over her dark skin.

Moira met her gaze, her eyes brimming with tears. “You see her too.” Her voice cracked and her smile was unguarded.

Erin nodded and then looked toward Renee Tangaree, Moira’s mother who’d died in the fires in Malta—or at least Erin thought she had. Her heart pounded hard in her chest and the intense heat swarming inside her faded, turning into a secure, warm feeling. The older female’s gaze drifted from one of them to the other.

Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, her dark hair bundled at the nape of her neck, she looked just as Erin remembered her.

“The gift offers advantages that I can’t even begin to describe to you.” Renee moved closer, extending her hand, which Moira quickly took. She looked lovingly at her daughter but then smiled at Erin. “I don’t want either one of you to fear what naturally runs inside you. Do you understand?”

“How can you be here?” Erin didn’t understand any of this. She sniffed the air, her insides tightening when there was no scent to the bitch.

Renee’s smile had always made Erin feel everything was right in the world. It had the same effect on her now.