Seeking Pack Redemption (9 page)

Who did he
signal? She didn’t have time to wonder as a pair of wolves came loping around
the corner. She shrieked and pulled back against the hand anchoring her. He
didn’t let go, nor did he slow down, heading straight to the hairy pair, and
talking to them.

“David’s
dead, but I found the girl. We need to get out of here.”

An ululation
rose from her left where a thick line of trees marched off into the distance, a
symphony of howls that started with one and ended in a chorus.

Trent, who
kept his hand glued to hers, lifted his head and sniffed the air.

“They’re
coming back. Fuck.
Thea
, right?” he asked pinning her
in place with his gaze.

She
nodded.

“We’re
going to have to run, okay? As fast as you can.”

“I take it
that’s not more of your friends coming?”

“Not
exactly. More like nasty wolves with sharp teeth.
Probably
the same ones that have been keeping you captive.
And I doubt they’re
going to be happy we’ve shown up and stolen you.”

Good
enough. At least he didn’t try to sugarcoat it. “What about them?” she asked
inclining her head to his furry buddies.

“The least
of your worries. Trust me. You need to come with me if you want to live.”

With
freedom a sudden possibility and with a chance to save her unborn child,
Thea
ran like the wind, or her version, at any rate.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t fast enough.

Trotting
on four feet behind Trent and the female they’d saved, Darren tried to process
everything that had happened in the last few minutes. And he didn’t mean the
battle.

When he’d
kicked open the door to the only barred room he’d found in the large cabin,
he’d not expected the kick to the gut when he saw the small brunette peering
fearfully at him. Enclosed in a dark room with only a bed to sit on, a bed with
currently unused restraints hanging at the four corners, a wild rage imbued him,
a rage that grew as he noted her fear. Then he got a whiff of her, and even
unbathed
and frightened, her underlying scent, the odor
that marked every person like a fingerprint, hit him and his eyes widened
further in surprise.
His wolf roused enough to growl
,
Mine
.

Unfucking
believable
. He’d found his mate.

Darren
wanted to gather her in his arms, reassure her that she was safe. Instead,
he’d gotten attacked by yet another fucking rogue
. The place
virtually crawled with them, but lucky for them, the attacking rogues, crazed
and slavering creatures, were made clumsy by their madness and were thus fairly
easy to dispatch. They did, however, have numbers on their side. Did they ever,
which meant he needed to quickly take care of his current attacker before
reinforcements arrived. But he didn’t want to frighten
Thea
further with the bloody violence required to put the snapping rogue down.
Despite what his wolf wanted—
protect
the female!
—
he
led his attackers away.

When he
returned, no worse for
wear,
he found the room empty
and his mate gone. Following her scent led him to a closed door, where Marc
stood looking puzzled.

“She ran
away from me.” He sounded incredulous. “I thought when you rescued a damsel
they were supposed to throw themselves at the man and thank them for being
their hero?
A nice thank-you kiss?
Or a promise of a
bj
for later?”

Darren
resisted an urge to punch his friend, especially for doing what came naturally.
Since their teens, they’d quite enjoyed ribald jests and comments aimed at the
fairer sex. But with it now aimed at
Thea
, Darren no
longer saw the humor. Not one bit. “You’re an idiot. The girl is terrified and
here we are, naked as the fucking day we were born, wolves all over the place,
covered partially in blood. I’d be freaking, too.”

“That’s
because somewhere down the line, one of your ancestors fucked a pussy.”

Darren ignored
his friend to grab the doorknob and turn.

“Don’t
bother. She slid something across it.”

“
We breaking
it down?”

“We could,
or we could come into the room from outside, where she’s not expecting us.”

The
tinkling sound of glass breaking spurred them into action. They ran back to the
kitchen area and dove out the back door—or at least Darren did.
Marc got halted by another rabid wolf coming out of nowhere
.

Help his
friend or go after the girl? Darren kept going. She needed him more than Marc
did. It took him just a second to spot
Thea
running,
not very quickly, while a pair of rogues chased her.
Fuck!
Still recovering from his last shift not even five minutes
ago, he nevertheless morphed into his other shape and took off after the enemy,
his long legs eating up the ground. With a soaring leap he tackled the lead one.
Lucky for her, the other one stopped to help his buddy.
Two
against one?

Easy odds.
His wolf practically slobbered in glee with the blood and action it got to
enjoy. But he didn’t have time to play with his prey. Kill them quickly, grab
the girl, and get out of there before the rest came back.

With a
crunch of bone, a yelp of pain, and a few shakes of his head, he took care of
the rogues, one dead weight on the ground, the other wheezing as its life force
seeped from a neck wound. Lifting his muzzle he scanned the area only to find
her gone. As he loped in the direction in which he’d last seen her scurrying,
he caught the scent of bear piss, Trent’s perfume for this invasion. Relieved
she didn’t flee alone, he tracked the smell, his short yip answered by Marc.

Darren
caught up to them as they fled the camp, minus David, but plus one female.
Part of the rear guard, his mind mulled over the rapidly unfolding
events.
With his wolf currently driving, he couldn’t ignore the
possessive urge coursing through him as he watched
Thea’s
ass wiggle under the thigh-high shapeless gown she wore. Rounded calves; full
bottom; short, not even chin-high, he bet she cleaned up nicely.
But she’s not a wolf?
Or so his nose
claimed. Yet despite her human status, she drew him. Called to his beast.
I’ve found my mate.
What else could
explain the instant connection he felt for her?

The idea
didn’t scare him. He’d waited almost twenty-seven years to encounter a woman
who made his wolf howl. Who made him want to put downs roots and start a
family. But he needed to slow down. They were strangers. All he knew currently
was her name—and the fact she possessed a wicked wiggle—but their
stranger status didn’t bother him. Part of the excitement involved getting to
know her and finding out what fate had in store. First, though, he’d have to
aid her in getting over her abduction and abuse. That terrified look she
sported when he first saw her flashed to mind.
I’ll have to take it real slow and careful.

Speaking
of slow. Watching her move, a slow, stumbling trot, as she tried to keep up
with Trent, who yanked her along, he was the first to notice how she panted
heavily. Something seemed amiss. He loped up to place himself alongside her and
noted how she clutched her middle with her free hand, a tummy more rounded than
expected given the size of her legs and arms. However, it was the scent of her
blood, and view of it running down her one leg, and more of it coating her
soles that had him shifting despite his fatigue.

With quick
strides, he came up alongside her, and swung her into his arms—where she
belonged.
Fuck
, the tingling
awareness that shot through him almost had him stumbling in shock. If he’d
harbored any doubt, it disappeared.
No
two ways about it, she’s mine.

“What the
fuck are
you doing?” Trent asked, still holding her hand.

“She’s
injured and can’t keep up.”

“So you’re
going to carry her the whole way down the mountain?” Trent snarled, seeming
displeased for some reason. Actually, a good reason seeing as how they’d come
away without their main purpose: David. Or was there more at play here given he
seemed reluctant to release his grip?

“I’ll
carry her to the motel if I have to,” Darren replied, tightening his grip.
“She’s not like us.”

“No shit,
Sherlock. But we’ve got about thirty miles to cover. You aren’t going to be
able to carry her the entire way while outrunning the rogues.”

“Watch me!
Besides, it’s mostly downhill from here.”

“Please
don’t fight. I’ll walk,” she interjected.

“We need
to run!” Trent snapped.

Darren’s
jaw tightened at the fear in her tone. “Stop scaring her, Trent. I understand
your brother’s gone and you’re upset, but don’t punish her for it.”

“I wasn’t.”
Trent grimaced as he released her hand. “Fine. You want to carry her,
then
be my fucking guest. But we need to hurry. It looks
like
Jaxon’s
ruse failed, or he’s dead. The other
wolves are coming back.” As if to reinforce Trent’s claim, howls echoed behind
them. Darren increased his pace to a steady jog, finding a reserve of strength
inside that stemmed from a need to protect his precious burden.

Thea
bounced in his arms, and she clung to him as he jogged.
As if I’d let her fall.
Not while he
still breathed.

Foliage
crackled around them as they chose speed over stealth. Despite his added
burden, Darren kept his gait steady for the first mile even if the urge to
sprint kept nudging him every time he heard a howl. A flat-out run this far
from the truck would just wind him and
sap
his energy.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice low so as to not carry.

“Doing
what?” he asked, keeping his answer short so as to not waste breath.

“Carrying
me? Risking your life?”

Was it too
soon to say because he intended to claim her as his forever? Probably. “You’re
not that heavy. And I’ve always wanted to be a hero.”

“Heroes
save princesses. I’m not that special.”

“I beg to
differ. My name, by the way, is Darren.”

“Can you
save the chitchat for later, when we’re not in mortal danger?” Trent barked.

“He’s
right. We’re in terrible danger. We need to be far away from here before
sundown,” she whispered, the haunted look in her eyes returning. “Put me down.
You’ll just slow yourself down by carrying me.”

“And what
of the baby you carry?” Darren asked, suddenly sure of his suspicion as she
cradled her rounded belly still, and had since he’d scooped her up.

“How did
you know?” Brown eyes framed in dark lashes peered up at him. He couldn’t wait
until he could make their expression a happier one.

“What
baby?” Trent asked. He stopped dead. “Whose baby?”

Thea’s
eyes closed, and Darren, closest to her, almost didn’t
hear her answer. “David’s.”

Fuck.

Baby or
not, the view of his wolf didn’t change.
Mine.
Ours. Protect the pup.
Since that coincided with his own feelings on the
matter, he ignored Trent’s dazed look and forged ahead. Moments later, Trent
took point, back in his wolf shape, his enhanced senses leading the way to the
creek, their stash of supplies, and, if lucky, safety.

Behind
him, he could sense Marc guarding the rear. Flanked by his two best friends,
Darren ran, ignoring the sharp stones that bit into his feet. Forget heading
back to the cache where he’d left his stuff a mile outside of the camp. They
needed out of here as fast as possible. He just hoped they didn’t run into any
humans or park rangers. A naked man carrying a bleeding, missing woman
accompanied by wolves might be a touch hard to explain. Add in a
semihard
cock that refused to pay attention to the dire
situation because her scent enveloped him, and, well, he’d probably go straight
to jail—
no passing go, no
collecting
nothing
.

And that
wouldn’t work for him, not with his future resting in his arms. Protecting
Thea
from everything, even
well-meaning
humans, now took precedence over everything else. The mating fever had him in
its grasp, and Darren didn’t intend to fight it.

A warning
yip from up ahead preceded a black wolf swerving in from the side. It took only
a moment for Darren to realize
Jaxon
joined them. It
changed nothing. He kept pumping his legs, watching for obstacles and leaping over
them. The body in his arms jostled, but to her credit,
Thea
didn’t complain, although she did hold on for dear life.
Now if only we were naked, with a bed and a little privacy. I’d give
her a different reason to hold on tight.
Such an inappropriate thought for
the current situation, but as a goal, it kept him moving even when fatigue
threatened to slow him down.