Marked by the Alpha (12 page)

She ran back and forth through the woods for what seemed like hours, sniffing con
stantly for the Mason’s trail, but she found nothing. Maybe he had gone back to the house and was waiting for her? Should she go back and rejoin the pack? But what if he was in trouble and he needed her? What if he had been injured or captured by the hunters? Even in her wolf form these questions still dominated her thoughts.
Dani
hung her head.
Maybe s
he
had been stupid to run off into the woods
halfcocked
without anyone assisting her.

Dani
had just about decided to head for home when the loud crack of a gunshot echoed through the woods.
Mason!
Without hesitation she changed direction and headed in the direction of the shot, running as fast as she had in her life.
If Mason was hurt, she would kill every one of those hunters herself!

As she got closer, though, she heard a loud, painful sounding whimper. It was not a sound that an alpha was capable of making, no matter how badly injured he might be. The sound of the whimper
ing grew louder, and suddenly an unexpected scent caught her attention. It was the scent of a wolf, but not Mason… it was a female scent… one she knew.
Portia!

Dani
slowed as she reached the edge of a small clearing, and silently peered through the darkness. In the center of the clearing lay a wounded wolf.
Dani
had never seen Portia in her wolf form before, but
she
was certain it was her. Three men, all dressed as hunters, stood about ten yards away, and they were walking carefully toward Portia. Fury filled
Dani
, along with something else she had never felt before… a deep, intense urge to protect her fallen friend. In her wolf form
Dani
did not stop to consider what she was feeling, the only thought that burned in her mind like liquid fire was the absolute need to defend an injured female of
her
pack.

“Finish her off, Rufus,” one of the three said, and the hunter nearest to Portia started to raise his rifle. With a terrible, savage growl,
Dani
exploded from the edge of the clearing faster than she had known she was capable of moving. She leapt into the air almost ten feet from the hunter and sank her fangs in at the place where his neck met his shoulder, ripping out his throat before he hit the ground. One of the remaining hunters froze in shock, while the second tried to aim his rifle with shaking hands.

He had time for only one shot, and he didn’t make it count. She felt the bullet graze her fur, and then she was on him. He lasted no longer than the first, and in
seconds his body lay motionless on the ground. The last hunter managed to regain control of
himself
, and he turned and ran for his life… but he wasn’t even close to fast enough. She caught him before he had gone ten feet and finished him as quickly as she had the others.

Consumed by rage,
Dani
was just about to dash into the woods to look for more hunters to kill, but then a new sound came from behind her. It was the sound of a woman in pain… a human sound, not a wolf sound. She turned quickly, and saw Portia lying on the ground, naked, in human form. Blood was streaming from a gunshot wound in her right shoulder.
Dani
ran up to her, but even in her wolf from she could tell that something was terribly wrong. Why had Portia shifted back, when she would heal just as fast in her wolf form
?
A
t least in that form her fur would keep her warm in the cold night air
…

As she got closer, she saw that the flesh around the wound was turning black. Something tugged at
Dani’s
mind, and she shifted back to human form to think more clearly. Back in human form, it hit
her almost immediately.
Silver-cored bullets!
Portia couldn’t stay in wolf form because the silver was poisoning her,
Dani
realized quickly. She had to get Portia back to the house, and she had to get her there fast.

There was no way she could possibly carry Portia while in wolf form, so she would have to run back this way.
Fortunately Portia was a good deal smaller, and
Dani
was able to gently lift her and set the smaller woman over her shoulder. Then, calling on every bit of luck she hoped she possessed, she headed in what she
thought
was the direction of the house.

The rough ground hurt her feet, and sticks and thorns slashed at her naked body as she moved through the forest as fast as she was able. That same liquid fire of need she had felt earlier still burned in her mind, though, and she barely noticed the pain. This female was a member of her pack, and she was in danger. At that moment
Dani
finally realized what it meant to be not just a member of a pack, but the dominant female of a pack.
It was as if Portia was her sister and her child and her friend all rolled into one, as far as her wolf instincts were concerned, and
Dani
would make any sacrifice to protect her.

In the distance,
Dani
heard the sound of a pickup truck engine coming in her direction. There must be an unpaved road somewhere in the forest nearby
; t
he only people who would be out in these woods right now were hunters, she thought darkly. She heard the sound of a second vehicle, then a third, and then more. She quickened her pace, praying she could make it to the house before they caught up to her.

* * *

Mason had been running for
quite a while
, and he knew it was long
past time for him to return to
the
pack. This long run in his wolf form had calmed his mind and simplified his thoughts. Two things needed to be done as fast as possible. First, he had to protect his pack from the hunters. Then, he needed to claim
Dani
. The time for talk with her was over, and being in wolf form had opened his eyes to what he needed to do.
The decision to claim
Dani
whether she liked it or not calmed him further, as if a great strain had been taken from his mind.
First, though, the hunters…

As he approached the house, he shifted back into human form to avoid alarming his pack more than necessary. He found a clean pair of clothes
by the back door, and tha
nked Phil silently in his mind.
Phil truly was the best second-in-command a wolf could hope for. After dressing quickly, he walked into the living area to address his pack.

As soon as he entered the room, however, he knew something was wrong. Phil was pacing back and forth, and Cal was sitting on the couch next to Alisha, but
Dani
was nowhere to be seen.

“Mason, we need to talk—” Phil began.

Mason cut him off. “Where is
Dani
?” he demanded fiercely.

“She ran off looking for you,” Phil answered quickly. “Portia went after her,” he continued, “and I’m sure they’ll be back any minute once they realize you aren’t out there.”

Dani
was out in the woods. There were hunters out in the woods.
Dani
was in danger! These thoughts hit Mason like a sledgehammer, and suddenly all the effort he had put into calming himself was undone. He saw red, and his mind was clouded by the same rage and fear which had taken him earlier that day.

“You let my mate go wandering in the woods by herself? You worthless
piece of shit
!” he shouted, advancing toward Phil.

“What did you expect me to do? Leave everyone else in the pack confused and unprotected because our idiot leader didn’t bother to claim his mate and
can’t keep her in line, or
himself
for that matter?” Phil was just as angry, and showed no sign of backing down. So be it, thought Mason, his mind becoming cloudier
every moment. If his second-in-
command wanted to challenge him, then it would end right here!

He started toward Phil, not even bothering to shift first, but then something hit him in the
back of the head
. He whirled in fury, ready to tear apart whoever had attacked him… and then stopped cold. Standing not ten feet away was a tiny
, dark-skinned
human female—that friend of
Dani’s
, Alisha he thought her name was. It was literally the last thing he expected to see, and the shock of it actually cleared his mind a little. He looked down at the ground to see what had hit him—it was a shoe, he realized—and sure enough Alisha was standing barefoot and hefting her remaining piece of footwear as if she were about to let it fly at his
face
. His mind cleared a little more.

“What do you think you are doing—” he started.
Then he saw that the hand which held the shoe was shaking.
Her entire body was shuddering like a leaf, in fact. Nonetheless, she stood her ground.

“You listen here,” she snapped, her eyes flashing fire. “My very best friend is out in those woods—out there where there are hunters
! What in the hell are you doing fighting your own kind when she could
already
be in their hands? Go and get her right now!
You too, Phil.
I don’t want to hear another word from either of you furry mutts until my friends are back here safely
!
”

This situation was not something Mason’s wolf instincts knew how to handle. It was a direct challenge to his authority, but it carried no threat. The absurdity of it broke through his anger completely and he regained control. He turned to Phil, and spoke quickly and with authority. “Call together the pack.”

The pack assembled quickly, and Mason addressed them. “There are hunters in the woods, and
Dani
and Portia may have been taken,” he said simply. “Every male who wants to remain in this pack, come with me now. The females will stay here and wait for us
to return. Cal, you go and gather all the medical supplies you can find, because we may need them tonight.”

He watched the faces of the members of his pack as he delivered the news, and was pleased to see loyalty and determination in their eyes. He shifted without even bothering to undress first, sending torn fabric flying from his massive form. He bounded toward the door, sensing without seeing tha
t his pack was following behind him.

* * *

Dani
had been carrying Portia for well over a mile, and the house was still nowhere in sight. Worse, she could hear hunters throughout the woods around her, although she hadn’t been spotted yet. Portia’s breathing was ragged and she had lost consciousness.

As she forced herself to go on, painful emotions hammered at
Dani’s
mind. This was all her fault, she thought. If she had not been so proud and foolish, she would have accepted the protection of Mason’s pack after they had dinner together that first night, and she wouldn’t have ever been captured by hunters in the first place. If she had just told Mason the truth—that she wanted very much for him to claim her—she would be his by now, they would be safe together with the pack, and Portia would not be on the verge of death in her arms.

The best she could do now was get Portia home and hope that Cal could save her life. After that,
Dani
decided, she would just leave quietly and slip into the night. Mason would never want to claim
her now
after all she had put him through,
if he was even alive and not captured by the hunters,
and the pack wouldn’t want so
meone whose foolish actions had risked all of their lives. A tear ran down her face, and then another, and then she
was
crying. She truly would have loved being with Mason, she thought, and now it was too late.
Damn my pride
, she cursed herself silently.

Still, what mattered now was saving Portia, she told herself. She pressed on, willing herself to keep moving forward even as her body ached and her feet bled from a hundred tiny cuts.

At last, she came to
the edge of
a broad clearing, and she saw the lights of the house in the distance. All she had to do was cross this clearing and make her way through another few hundred yards or so of forest on the other side, and then she would reach safety.

She stepped out into the open, moving as quickly and silently as she could, but then she heard a
gunshot ring out in the clearing. She felt a whoosh of air as the bullet missed the left side of her face by only inches. Thankfully Portia was over her right shoulder and the shot missed her as well.
Dani
turned and dashed back into the woods as quickly as she could, hearing another two
shots
which slammed into trees on either side of her. The hunters had set a trap and waited for her!