Jacks, Marcy - The Blind Werewolf Assassin [DeWitt's Pack 4] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (7 page)

Nick had told him, and Adam was still debating on whether or not he should do anything about it.

* * * *

“Is there anything going on between you and Adam?”

Not many people could sneak up on Nick or startle him. The  question had definitely startled him.

He had to tread carefully here. James was Adam’s pack leader. If  he decided he didn’t want a blind wolf in any sort of relationship with  one of his alphas, whether it be romantic or just casual, he could force  Nick to leave the property and go back to Phillip.

“Why do you ask, sir?”

“I’m not an idiot. I notice when one of my alphas starts acting  differently. Mostly right before he follows you into the woods five  minutes after you’ve gone, or goes into the cabin I offered you, stays  there for several minutes, and then leaves in a pretty big hurry. And  you have been teaching us to use our noses and ears more than we  have.”

Nick stopped. “Sir, I can explain.”

“No explanations necessary.”

And here  it came. The talk of how James was grateful for Nick’s help, but he was still a blind wolf, and he couldn’t have that in his pack, and thank you for coming, give my best to Phillip.

James slapped his shoulder. “Just take good care of him, y’hear?  He was never very social before, and really isn’t much better now, but if you’re good for him, then you have my blessing.”

Nick could hardly believe his ears, and they’ve been his most trusted companions since his eyes decided to abandon him. “R–really?”

“Of course.” James’s voice gave off confusion, as if he couldn’t understand why Nick would be so shocked at his easy acceptance to  Nick’s almost relationship with Adam.

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“I don’t know what you’ve had to deal with, or what you’ve  heard, but I like to think I’m a little different from other pack  leaders,” James said. “I’m mated to a male, for one thing, and I don’t  plan on having any pups for that.”

“Sir?” Nick asked, trying to see where this was going.

“I’m just saying that, I know a lot of alphas wouldn’t want to see  a  blind wolf in their pack because they would be worried about … ” He  trailed off.

Nick took some pity and finished for him. “Contaminated blood?”

James cleared his throat. “Yes, well, something like that.”

Not just something like that. Nick was lucky to have Phillip for a pack leader. Any other pack would have tossed Nick out to fend for himself the second his eyesight had left him completely. Nor would they want him mating with any of their females for fear of producing pups with similar eye problems. In a  world where a doctor’s visit was a fantasy, that was a big deal.

“Well, Adam is not a female,” James said, continuing on. “So it’s not like you can pass down any genetic eye problems to any pups.  Even if he was, I wouldn’t say anything about the both of you wanting something together. You’re a good wolf. You’re teaching my alphas a thing or two that could help us with our hunter problems. I’d be very honored if you were to mate with one of my own.”

Nick’s throat swelled. He hoped that it wouldn’t be obvious in his voice.

“Thank you, sir.”

“No worries,” James said, and they both went on their way, yet  Nick still couldn’t help the feeling of dread pitted in his stomach.

James had almost been correct in his assumptions. He and Adam  were seeing each other, but clearly, it was nothing that Adam wanted

to pursue.

Nick had no idea what he was supposed to do about that.

During their little chat, James had gone on to explain just why his

pack in particular was having such a problem with hunters lately, and

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in one case, even werewolves from other packs.

Apparently, one hunter had tried to kidnap and torture his mate,  and right before James killed him, the hunter had informed him that  he had summoned other hunters, revealing the whereabouts to his  pack land to them.

Nick had never been a hunter, and there was little information

about how they worked, but then James introduced him to Isaac. The  only human on the land and a former hunter.

“Basically, they set up these little groups, sometimes over the  Internet, sometimes they meet up. It’s like a club or something,  usually involving anywhere from thirty to fifty members, and that’s  not including the casual hunters. Hunters who worked alone but liked  going to those little group sessions once in a while for the gossip on  possible pack locations, hunting tips, that kind of thing.”

“Jesus,” Nick said. During his time as a killer for his pack, he’d  never come across groups of hunters so big. “The biggest group of  hunters I ever tracked and killed was about seven people strong. I

never thought they got bigger than that.”

“Sick, right?” Isaac asked.

Nick couldn’t help himself. “Then why did you become a

hunter?”

“Not your business,” Isaac muttered.

“Isaac has been a good help to our pack ever since he came. You

can trust him,” James  said.

Nick wasn’t entirely sure on that front and hadn’t been ever since he first met Isaac and discovered what he was, but if the pack leader said so, then he would give the former hunter the benefit of the doubt.

He certainly hadn’t caused any problems.  Yet.

“So as you’ve been killing them, more have been coming to replace them,” Nick said. “And you have no idea when the raids will stop?”

“No,” James said. “Even if we leave, the fact that Phillip’s pack is so close is still a problem. We need to be the ones to kill off any

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hunters who come sniffing around our territory.”

Well, that explained why Phillip was so eager to send Nick off.

“Hunters are usually men out for a thrill, or revenge,” Nick said.  “Even if the hunters that were coming only because they’d been  tipped off by another hunter were all dead, more would still find this  place just because of all the deaths, to avenge the ones killed.”

“Yeah,” Isaac said. “They tend to tell other people where they’re  going, in case they’re never seen again, for just that reason.”

Nick thought about the father and his two sons he’d killed out in  the woods nearly a week ago when he’d first arrived.

Either way, if that small group had no other family, they likely  had other hunter contacts, people who considered them friends, if not  extended family. Someone was going to be pissed off about the deaths  of the father and two sons and want revenge for them.

Shit.

“I’ll leave you to this,” Nick said.

“Where’re you going?” James asked.

“I just want to take a quick run. It’ll  clear my head.”

It was true, he needed the run. He also wanted to find out where

Adam had gone. He liked going deeper into the woods than normal, all the way into former enemy territory. Adam had gone for his own run nearly an hour ago, and Nick wanted to  be sure that no other hunter had gotten a hold of him since then.

* * * *

He didn’t find Adam. He found someone else. A stranger whose scent and voice he did not recognize, and that immediately put him on edge.

“Who are you?” Nick demanded after making the shift back into a

man.

The man before him was a wolf. He could smell that much about

him, but that didn’t make it any less suspicious that some strange

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drifter was sniffing around territory that was not his.

“Uh…” The guy seemed at a loss for words. His voice was deep,  unless that had been just a nervous croak. The sound of a man’s voice  was also an indication to their size.

Nick advanced upon him. “Who are you?” he asked again, slower

this time.

“Uh, Gerald. Sorry to bother you, friend. Didn’t realize others  were running around here.”

Nick just wanted to get rid of this guy so he could keep tracking  Adam. His scent was strong, and he was close, but that didn’t mean  safe, and Nick wanted to get out of here already.

“You need to find somewhere else to travel. You’re heading right  into the territory of another pack.” The guy’s voice didn’t just tell  Nick this man’s size, it also hinted to his status as a wolf. An alpha.  Too few omegas had voices that deep for this man to be one of the  gentler wolves, and an  uninvited alpha traveling onto someone else's  territory was never a good thing.

“Am I? Sorry, didn’t realize.”

“There’s also hunters around these parts. You need to be careful  as you’re traveling.”

“Right, thanks.”

Definitely an alpha. An omega wouldn’t have sounded so moody  about being spoon-fed that kind of advice.

Gerald stepped closer to him, and Nick tensed up. “That’s far  enough.”

The wind shifted just a bit, the air waving about unnaturally near  the stranger’s face.

This was something that usually occurred whenever people waved  their hands, checking to see if Nick would see it.

“I’d appreciate it if you would not do that, friend,” Nick said with  a growl.

“Oh, you’re, uh—” Clearly, Nick had startled him with the veiled  command. “Right.”

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Nick and Gerald gruffed at each other and then went on their separate ways. Nick waited until the man was gone, until he could no longer hear the footfalls of his feet or smell his scent so close to this space, before he transformed again and took off, searching for Adam

once more.

He ran for another five minutes before he found him in a clearing.  Nick had never been to this one. The places he and Adam frequented tended to be closer to pack territory. It was at least safer that way.

His heartbeat sounded normal, as did his breathing, and there was not so much as a whiff in the air that something could be amiss. He sighed.

Adam had apparently heard that and noticed him for the first time.  “What are you doing here?”

The sound of his body shifting told Nick that Adam had suddenly stood. Nick didn’t scent any cotton or polyester clothing on him, which meant that Adam had run here, the same way Nick had.

“It’s too dangerous for you to be so far out here. Come back,”  Nick said.

“I can handle myself just fine,” Adam said, and Nick could just  picture the way his face twisted and fists clenched, the way they used  to whenever Nick had said something that offended him.

He could have mentioned the rescue Nick had to offer him when

he first arrived at James DeWitt’s pack, but he didn’t want to start a  physical fight. He just wanted Adam to come back.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve come all the way out here. It  makes me nervous. On the way I came across a strange werewolf  prowling around.”

“Really?”

Curiosity in his voice was much better than defensiveness.

“Yes, really. Please come back.” Nick held out his hand, hoping  that Adam would come forward and take it.

Ever since that time together, when he realized Adam had shed tears, something had grown between them that made every

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conversation they had as uncomfortable as possible. It seemed they  couldn’t even do the friends with benefits thing, and Nick desperately  wished he knew what was going on.

Of course, Adam didn’t move, didn’t take Nick’s hand, and they  were both standing there naked.

Had they not been so far away from the property, Nick would  have relished the chance to put Adam onto his knees. Not now,  though. Not while they were so far away that no member of James’s  pack would so much as hear them should they be ambushed.

Nick lowered his hand, his heart making little butterfly flutters as  the fear of what he was about to say, and what that could possibly  reveal, lanced through him. “Adam, the other day, if I hurt you, I’m  sorry for that. It wasn’t intended.”

“Christ, you’re stupid.”

“What?” Nick went from apologetic to angry in an instant. Now  his fists were the ones clenching, and his entire body shook with the  urge to just go over there and punch Adam good in the head. “What  the hell is your problem?” he demanded.

“My problem is that I want to kick your ass,” Adam countered. “I  can’t stop thinking about the time you left, and don’t you dare tell me  that I should let that go. I can’t. I thought we were mates then and I  still think it now, otherwise I would’ve been able to stop this by now.”

Adam still thought—

“Then you tell me that you love me while we’re fucking.”

“
What?
” Nick so did not remember that ever leaving his mouth. It  was true, he did love him, but he still didn’t recall saying it.