Her Wanted Wolf (8 page)

Deep down, Drew knew they were on borrowed time. If Bardo hadn’t figured
out what was keeping his pack from detection yet, he would soon. When he did,
he’d blanket the area with his men. Then he’d have a hell of a hard time
getting the women to safety.

As Sabine waited for his decision, he felt the tension in her.

Drew’s eyes dropped to the sparse silver down on the cleft of her nether
regions. The image of him sliding his cock into her slipped insidiously into
his head. Hell. He didn’t need this. The words of denial looped in his head.
I
don’t want her. I don’t need a mate.

When he looked up to meet her gaze, she wouldn’t miss the desire in his
expression.

“Are you sure you’re prepared to take me on as a mate and all it
entails?” He gave her a chance to back out. “Once I take you as my mate, my
spoor will soak into your skin. You’ll crave my body, as I will crave yours. It
won’t be so easy to walk away from each other.”

Sabine gulped and her eyes widened with shock. “Weres have sex with weres
who are not their mates all the time.”

“As often as we can as long as we are not mated, but if I put my mate’s
mark on you and say vows, the were in me and the man I am, will not break
them.”

She studied him doubtfully.

Drew realized the little wolf was not completely sure about what she’d
proposed. However, her momentary uncertainty wasn’t enough to curb her tongue.

Hands on her hips, she challenged, “Are you prepared to take
me
on? You don’t have to put your mate’s mark on me. As a matter of fact, I’d
prefer it you didn’t.”

She had what his uncle called gumption. He just wished she had a little
less of it.

Her pert retort pulled a raspy chuckle from him. “Now I’m terrified. I’ll
consider your offer. Do you have a cell? I need to contact my pack.”

He’d have to find a phone, and soon. If the boy Sabine put down was
expected at the Redmavens’ den by a certain time, his absence would put his
pack on alert that something was amiss.

“A what?” She looked puzzled.

“A cell phone.”

Sabine shook her head. “Uh, no, don’t have one.”

“Is there a land line somewhere near here?” Drew asked hopefully.

“Nothing like that near here, either.”

“Short wave radio? Drums? Smoke signals?” His hopes dwindled as she shook
her head at each request.

Christ, he’d been tossed back a couple of centuries.

“None of the above. We never had the need to contact anybody outside of
our pack. We’re pretty self-sufficient here.” She said it with pride.

They’d achieved the impossible, hidden from man and werekin for
centuries. Not an easy task.

“Our supreme alpha, Justice, is going to love you. He has no use for
phones either.” His frustration growing, he asked in a measured tone. “Where is
the nearest town? I’m going to need to call in some of my clan to help protect
your family.”

“We don’t need them. If we come to an agreement, you can lead us to where
you’re going. We’ll get you out undetected. Where do you live by the way?” She
motioned to a small dwelling behind her and took a step in its direction.

“Colorado. Our territory is in the high county, a couple of hundred miles
west of Boulder.” He grasped her wrist before she could slip away. “I noticed
you didn’t say you’ll follow my lead. If we mate, you will abide by my
decisions.”

The snarky she-wolf returned in full force. The cocky little smile that
roused him tugged at her lips, but he preferred it to the cool derision in her
eyes.

“You’ll lead me when you’ve earned my respect. All I know of you as a
leader is that you ran willy-nilly to my rescue without scoping out the area
for the presence of other wolves.”

Drew winced. She had to bring that up. Shit, he’d never had his balls
busted so much by a woman before.

“Balthazar doesn’t have much time.” Sabine’s voice cracked and she
dropped her eyes to the ground. “After we give him back to nature, we can
leave.”

“Your family can’t afford to stay here any longer. I’ll head for the
nearest town to find a way to contact Justice Ambervane. He needs to know about
the existence of your pack.”

“Have you any idea what you look like? You’re naked and have a crazed
look about you. Any human who catches sight of you will shoot you on sight. I
would.” Her grin held a tinge of the imagined pleasure of doing just that.

Drew ran his hand over his scraggly beard. Yeah, he probably looked like
Grizzly Adams.

“Rest and get cleaned up tonight. We’ll steal you some clothes from the
camp further down the mountain in the morning. You can head for Laststop after
the majority of the weres we’ve been avoiding leave the canyon. We can avoid
running into them once we know which direction they’re heading.”

Drew froze. There was only one reason a group of wolves left their den
en
masse
. A hunt.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to face him. “They’re
hunting you, aren’t they?” Drew cupped her jaw and raised her face to read her
expression.

Sabine looked fiercely up at him. “Yes, but I don’t want Balthazar to
know how bad it is. We’ve become complacent in our isolation. We raced the
woods as we pleased before they came. Maybe we weren’t as judicious about
masking our presence as we should have been. It’s my fault we’re in danger. I
have to fix it.” She jerked her chin out of his grip and turned to leave, her
body stiff from having to admit her mistake out loud.

Drew rested his hand on her tense shoulder. “Ahhh, now I get it. You
think you screwed up, so you’re going to sacrifice yourself to make amends.”

“Every morning I worry that day will be the day they’ll stumble across
us. In my head, I know they won’t find the den. The combined efforts of the
women should keep us hidden until we need to leave.” Anguish flitted across her
face. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s my responsibility to keep us safe. I
failed them.”

Yeah, he understood, only too well. It was a hell of a burden Sabine
shouldered. He cringed at the naïveté of this small she-wolf, who, in all
earnestness, believed she’d be able to hide from the rabid pack indefinitely.

Getting the women away from here was more urgent than he thought. It
didn’t take much of a leap to imagine how the Silverwolves’ stealth skills
could give the Redmavens some badly needed leverage. The Lunedares and
Ambervanes were at the top of their shit list, and they’d be crawling up their
butts if they weren’t careful.

“What do
you
want more than anything, Sabine?” Drew asked her the
same question she’d asked him to get her attention.

Her head jerked up. “My family safety, of course. They are everything.”

“Then listen to me very carefully. The weres you’ve cleverly managed to
evade so far are not ordinary wolves. They were bred for strength, cunning,
viciousness. The stench you smell is from the drugs they’ve been poisoned with
to make them killers. You don’t want to know what they’ll do to the women of
your family if they get their hands on them. If you want to save your pack,
it’s time to act. You need to be far away from here as possible. You say
they’ve taken human women. If word spreads that shape-shifting beasts are
roaming the forest, the old myths will be remembered. It’ll start as a whisper
at first. It will feed fears, and the murmurs will grow into a roar man can’t
ignore. They’ll start to hunt us again. If you thought it was bad for our race
in the past, it will be worse this time around. With the weaponry they have at
their disposal now, we’ll be slaughtered. We’re calling for help tonight. Now,
point me in the direction of the nearest town.”

Drew watched the color leach from her face. For once, she didn’t
prevaricate. “Will any communication device do?”

Drew nodded. “It would be a step in the right direction.”

“There is an unmanned ranger station due east of here. It will take no
time at all to get there. They have some sort of radio. Ishbel will take you
down. Come on.” She took off at a fast trot, and he had no choice but to follow
her.

“How do you know this?” He lengthened his gait to keep up. It seemed once
she had a purpose, she went at it full speed.

“I looked, of course. I was curious.” A chagrined grin spread across her
face. “I have to see to my family and prepare them for what’s ahead. So, we
have an agreement of sorts?”

“Yes, after I get a look at the Redmavens’ den I’ll let know what I’ve
decided tomorrow.”

Her shoulders sagged a little with disappointment, but she nodded and
took off to get her sister.

Drew wanted them long gone before the Redmavens got another whiff of
them. The loose plan formulating in his head should work.

But why did he have the sinking feeling his choices were toppling like
dominoes, and leaving him with only one? To take Sabine for his mate.

Chapter Seven

Sabine collapsed in the minuscule cave tucked high into the side of the
hill. The bravado she’d used to hold her own with the alpha was depleted and
left her a mass of spent, quivering nerves. She wrapped her arms around her
chilled body to control the tremors racking her body.

Alone in her personal haven, she allowed her fears and insecurities to
surface. She never felt so intimidated, daunted and hopeful all at once.

Her father’s plan was set in motion. Sabine doubted very much that the
proud were would readily agree to the condition she’d demand before they
cemented their bargain. No alpha would. She only hoped Lunedare’s obsession
with finding his sister outweighed his pride and the instinct to hold onto what
was his.

If he acceded to Balthazar’s wishes, it’d take her one step closer to
fulfilling her promise to her father. Looking back, she realized Balthazar
started to lay the foundations to his plan a long time ago.

Sabine never imagined she’d actually have to keep the vow she’d blithely
made to her father to ensure the continuity of her pack. For that, she required
a male to impregnate her, but she always thought she’d choose her mate. And now
her father had trapped her and Lunedare neatly into a mating. Sabine’s lips
twisted into a grimace.

But nothing was a sure thing, in spite of her father’s machinations. She
might not be able to fall pregnant now that her breeding cycles were irregular
and infrequent. The concept filled her with dread. It would be another failure
on her part.

Duty to the pack was paramount, and it wasn’t in her to stand by and
allow hers to fade into extinction without a fight. Yet, a part of her balked
at doing what her father asked. She had her pride and wished to be wanted for
herself.

As far back as she could remember, her father declared she’d inherited a
full complement of a Silverwolf’s gifts. Her skill at masking their presence
over a wide area outstripped even Balthazar’s. Sabine and her pack sisters
honed their stealth and fighting skills under her father’s tutelage. It hadn’t
occurred to her that they’d actually have to use them to defend their pack.
Their strengths lay in concealment and misdirection. She’d always assumed any
real threat would come from humans. They killed what they didn’t understand.

Sabine couldn’t remember the exact moment she started to cover her
father’s mistakes. What she’d taken for mere absent-mindedness was the
beginning of Balthazar’s decline. Little by little, she stepped in to care for
her family. Sabine kept her family fed and hidden for so long she didn’t know
anything else. Maybe that’s what bothered her most. Sabine hadn’t taken an
order from anyone in a long time. Living under Lunedare edicts would be
confining.

Her family had followed her lead in every way but one. She’d tried to
move the pack while Balthazar was able to run on his own. No matter how much
she pleaded, cajoled, and threatened, the older members of her family wouldn’t
budge.

These woods were the only home she’d ever known, but there was always a
sense they’d have to move on one day. The back of her throat ached with unshed
tears. Sabine would mourn the loss of this valley, and all its familiar nooks
and crannies.

Sabine glanced at her treasures, inconsequential trinkets from a world
alien to her, that Ishbel had pilfered for her. Her sister understood her
thirst for knowledge as much as Sabine knew Ishbel longed to leave the valley.

With gentle fingers, she pushed at the colored bottles strung together
with twine and hung from the ceiling, to send them tinkling musically against
each other. During the day, they caught sunbeams and cast a full spectrum of
colors over the dim cavern. She had a weakness for rainbows, real ones that arced
across the sky, or the ones she created with her bottles.

Rubbing her temples, she contemplated what lay ahead for them.

They were being pitched headfirst into a world they knew nothing of, and
she knew the Silverwolves were ill prepared. The last time any Silverwolf lived
in were society, Queen Elizabeth I ruled England. Her mind boggled at the idea
of interacting with were-tribes larger than her own. All the books she’d read
in her search of knowledge would never give her the skills to cope in a modern
environment.

She’d be an unwanted mate of a man who’d sworn not to take another. Her
pride rebelled at such a union. Yet the inexplicable allure about him pulled at
her like the moon pulled the tides.

To calm herself, she drew in a deep breath and held it until the tension
seeped out of her. Letting out a shuddering sigh, she focused on Lunedare. With
idle curiosity, she wondered what his dead mate had looked like. What kind of
woman evoked such devotion?

The wolf they’d brought to their den intrigued her and presented her with
a puzzle. It took her by surprise that she found him almost impossible to read
because very little of his emotions infused the odors his body. He felt closed
off, an unfamiliar sensation for her. Oh, she caught faint whiffs of anger and
arousal seeping through the tight control he had on his feelings.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to give her an insight into the man.