The Reluctant Alpha (8 page)

“I can get rid of the body, if you think that would help?”

Chastity’s eyes widened so much they were like saucers in her face and he saw her mind going to work. Barely a moment passed before she nodded once. “Oui, if he doesn’t find him then he can’t know I was involved and he really
can’t
know.”

“Okay,” Cam pushed a lock of hair that had fallen over her cheek, his finger tingling at the brief touch. “I’ll do what I can to make sure he doesn’t know you were involved.”

“Merci!” Chastity breathed out, as if she’d been holding her breath for an eternity.

“You’re welcome.” Cam smiled, “Chastity, if your brother is as bad as I’ve just heard then maybe you should leave?”

She shook her head. “Non. I cannot! He would hunt me down and he would not just punish me. He would rip me apart. I cannot leave, not ever.”

Chastity pulled away from Cam, her head shaking so forcefully her hair swirled around her head. “I have to go. He will miss me soon and send out guards to find me.”

“Wait.” Cam held out a hand, trying to grasp her but she ducked away from him. “You don’t need to go back. I’ll protect you from him, I promise.”

“You are kind, and strong, but you don’t know him like I do. He is cruel and depraved and so very strong, I fear nobody can stand up to him.” Chastity pulled the blanket from around her, holding it out to Cam. “Merci, Monsieur, but I have to go now.”

Cam looked at the cover in her hands, hesitating before he took the blanket, his stomach clenching at the thought of this gorgeous female going back into the hands of someone like her brother. “My name’s Cameron, if you ever need my help try and find me, Cameron Sinclair of Sinclair Enterprises. Your brother shouldn’t be able to scent me on you, we were masked.”

He saw her nod her head before she transformed before him, the loss of the sight of her nakedness causing him to snarl abruptly. Cam watched until she went Wolf, taking in her beast’s beauty, its eyes meeting his for a brief moment before it turned and disappeared back into the forest.

His Wolf howling in his head in protest at her leaving,
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
he asked as he took the blanket over to the dead Wolf lying on the grass and wrapping it around the blood soaked fur.
“Shit! This is gonna hurt,”
he thought as he bent to pick the large body up, knowing he would need to take it far before he could dispose of it.

Struggling under the weight of the Wolf, Cam staggered forwards, only to stop short when he saw a set of Wolf eyes staring at him from between the brush in front of him.

~
Chapter
7
~

Cam halted his steps, dropping the deadweight of the body he held in his arms, straightened up and snarled. “What the hell are you doing here?”

The Wolf pushed forward, leaves sticking to its thick fur, coming towards Cam confidently to stop in front of the dead Wolf on the ground. A growl rumbled in its throat for a second before the change started. In less than a minute, Jinx stood defiantly before Cam.

“I said, what the hell are you doing here?” Cam spat the words out, “I told you to go on, didn’t I?”

Jinx cocked his head to the side. “What? You really thought, for even a moment, that I’d just carry on and leave you alone in enemy territory?” Jinx’s tone was incredulous as he shook his head. “How long have we been together, Sin? Just the two of us? So long that I can’t remember but you sure as hell shoulda known I would never have left you alone.”

The look of anger and hurt on his best friend’s face halted Cam’s retort, instead he took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking. “You should still have gone with the others. What if something happened to you out here?”

“Sin, what’s going on?” Jinx looked pointedly at the dead body lying between them.

“I’m not sure, I felt her fear and my beast kinda took over but then when I saw him bring her down like that…” Cam ran a hand through his hair, “I just lost it.”

“First things first, get me some jeans or something will ya?” Jinx smirked up at him, “I’m not hauling that lump through the forest naked!”

Cameron produced a pair of jeans and handed them over. “Sorry, you know I’m useless at getting boot sizes right so I guess we’re gonna have sore feet by the end of the day.”

“Ya don’t say!” Jinx pulled the denim up over his nakedness. “At least it’s not cold or raining, ‘cause if it was I’d be wanting a lot more than a pair of jeans.”

“She was something though, wasn’t she?” Cam all but whispered as his mind went again and again to the memory of the beautiful White Wolf.

“Yeah, she was.” Jinx fastened the button then looked up at him, “Not so sure she’s worth killing for though, my friend. The shit is really going to hit the fan if we don’t get a move on and get rid of this body.”

“She was,” Cameron murmured as he bent down to heft the body of the Wolf up.

“You take the back end and I’ll take the front, and we need to get moving, Cam.” Jinx held on tight to his end of the dead weight. “We definitely don’t want to be caught here lugging around the dead body of one of their Wolves.”

They set off at a brisk pace but it wasn’t too long before Jinx started to moan. “For fuck sake! Could ye no pick a smaller Wolf to kill? This blinking eejit weighs a ton!”

A rumble of laughter erupted from Cam, the Scottish twang heavy in his friend’s words. “I know! He’s a big git and I think we should pick up the pace and get him off Wild Ranch land ASAP.”

Cam’s long legs strode faster, Jinx only just managing to keep up with him. Although out of breath, his friend didn’t shut up, “So, who is she? I was too busy looking at the dead Wolf to concentrate on what you two were talking about.”

“You won’t believe me, but, she’s the Alpha’s sister, Chastity, and she’s absolutely terrified of him.” Cam had to stop, his anger rising once again at the thought of a brother allowing his Beta to rape his sister.

“You okay?” Jinx asked, worry in his voice as he stared at Cam.

“No, not really.” Cam stated. “He told her that this fuck was Beta and could do whatever the hell he wanted with her. She was running from him to stop getting raped. Fuck! What kind of brother would say such a thing? She told me about a lot of abuse against the women in the Pack. It’s bad, Jinx, real bad.”

“Philippe Dupont’s her brother? Shit, Cam, you certainly know how to pick ‘em!”

Cam growled, “I didn’t
pick
her! I saw a Wolf in trouble and helped, that’s all.”

Jinx laughed, “Yeah, right! I saw the way you held her and you killed a Wolf for her, Cam. That’s not something you do every day so I’m betting there’s more to this than you’re letting on, my friend.”

Another low rumble escaped from Cam as they trudged on, the dead Wolf heavy in their arms. Silence all around apart from the animals and birds, all of which scarpered out of the way of the two Wolves walking through their home. Finally Cam answered his friend.

“There’s nothing going on but we need to get rid of this body and I have no idea where. What do you think we should do with him?”

Jinx snorted, “You keep telling yourself that but I know there’s more to it and I have no clue what to do with this lump. If we just dump him somewhere he’s gonna be found and that’s definitely not a good idea. We need to really get rid of him.”

“True,” Cam pondered for a moment, “guess I could burn him, use a little magic but I don’t like the others seeing that. They have no clue about my magical abilities.”

Jinx stopped, causing Cam to almost stumble, “What?” Cam grumbled as he fought to keep hold of the body.

“They deserve to know. It’s not something to be ashamed of, Cam.”

Cameron cocked an eyebrow, his steely blue eyes locking with Jinx’s. “Really? You’re really gonna say that when you know they all hate magic and Witches?”

Jinx nodded. “Yeah, I’m saying it. You’re a Wolf who just happens to do some magic and those three are our friends. You should trust them, Cam.”

“Come on,” Cam said and started to walk again, “it’s not as simple as that and you know it. Only you and my mother know how powerful I am in that regard and that’s the way I’d like it to stay.”

“For fuck’s sake, Cam! You’re gonna have to tell Fearghas you used a spell to find out about the other Wolves being on his land and being the ones to attack his son. There’s no getting ‘round that.”

Walking on for a few steps before stopping, Cam sighed heavily. “I know. That’s not going to go down well with my uncle. He hates magic.”

“Well tough, ‘cause it was your magic that got us the information we needed. We now know who was behind Fergie’s attack and the fact that they’ve been invading Clan land for some time.”

“He’s going to be very angry, Jinx, we’ll need to stop him going off half-cocked against this Philippe guy. If he’s as strong as I’m beginning to think, then Fearghas doesn’t stand a chance and that would leave the Pack without an Alpha.”

Jinx’s eyes widened. “Shit, I didn’t think of that. Obviously your cousin is in no place to take charge and that would leave Matthieu and we both know we don’t trust him.”

“I’ve got Jacob working on that and also Philippe. I want to know everything I can about him. We may be able to attack him in other ways, financial, property, anything I can get I’ll take right now.”

“If there’s anything to find out then Jacob’s the one to do it.”

Cam agreed, Jacob was the best damn PI he knew and was an utter whiz when it came to electronic investigation. “He’s going to get everything together and send it to me later today. Hell, by the time we get back to camp it’ll be there on my laptop. I just hope he finds something we can use as leverage.”

“So,” Jinx slowed his pace, “this looks as good a place as any and we’re a good way away from their camp now. Want to do your magic here?”

Looking around Cam saw a sheer drop off to their right and he walked towards it. “Here,” he said as he dropped the body on the ground. “Take your jeans off, we’ll burn those as well and go back the rest of the way Wolf, it’ll be quicker.”

Jinx tore the jeans off, “Quickly, I want to be far away from here if they smell the smoke and come to investigate.”

Cam took his own jeans off, placing them on top of the blanket covered body, turning to pick up a thick branch that lay on the ground. “Take this, as soon as it’s well alight push it over the edge. Make it harder for them to reach it if they do come looking.”

Jinx took the branch and Cam focused on his magic, making fire was one of the simpler spells, so it wasn’t long ‘til the blanket was encompassed in flames. The scent of burning flesh thick in the air as Jinx placed the end of the branch underneath the bulk and levered it up and over the edge. With the rain that had obviously fallen recently everything was damp and there was very little chance of the flames taking root on the way down. A small stream sparkled at the bottom and they waited until the body fell, landing on a large rock before tumbling off and coming to rest at the very edge of the stream. Cam turned away, no regret at killing the Beta. “Let’s get back, by the way, did the others say where they’d wait?”

Jinx shook his head. “I told them to wait for us just outside the Camp. I didn’t want them going in and being seen without us ‘cause that would have Fearghas asking them where we were and I didn’t want him coming to look for us.”

“Good thinking.” Cam approved of Jinx’s reasoning, it was what he would’ve done too.

“Let’s get back and get this over with.” Cam scowled, knowing the meeting with his uncle wasn’t going to go down well at all.

Morphing in moments, Cam’s large black Wolf waited on his friend and as soon as Jinx was ready they took off back towards the Clan camp.

As his beast ran free he could feel its utter happiness, the freedom he’d denied it for so long making him feel guilty.
“Yes!”
it answered him as its great paws flitted across the ground gaining speed. Jinx’s Wolf kept pace with his, winding in and around the trees and brush as they sped towards Clan land with the information they’d found.

Cam let his mind float away, leaving his beast in complete charge as he savored the feelings that ran through the great body. He was sure neither he nor his beast had felt as delighted as they did now. The problems that were to come would be dealt with but this moment he gave in to his Wolf.

As Jinx’s Wolf yipped with excitement Cam felt his own answer with glee. Their fur flying out as their speed increased again. Now they were almost flying across the ground, eating it up so fast that it in no time at all he could scent his friends. All three waiting for them in Wolf form.

Cam thought it strange they hadn’t changed and dressed and as he slowed his beast to a trot he gave a small yip of command. Rory, Logan and Mac fell in behind him with Jinx coming up the rear. As they reached their clothes, Cam changed quickly, noticing a hose attached to the side of the shelves.

“What a great idea,”
he thought as he cleaned off his hands and feet, before reaching for the plastic tub that held his clothing. Once dressed he checked his phone, seeing several missed calls, one from Jacob and quite a few from his secretary, Stracey. There was a text from Jacob, his PI. Cam frowned as he read the message –
“I’m coming. Be there early evening.”
Cam wondered what he’d found that had Jacob leaving his office in LA to join them here. Shrugging, Cam put his phone back in his pocket, he’d find out soon enough so no point worrying about it.

He’d call Stracey after his meeting with Fearghas. It was rare that there was something his right-hand woman couldn’t take care of herself and there wasn’t anything businesswise what was urgent at the moment. Not that he knew of anyway.

Looking around he saw his Wolves were all dressed, the twins and Mac waiting patiently to see if he would tell them what had happened. Jinx raised an eyebrow in question as Cam sighed and said, “I felt a Wolf in trouble and went to take a look. Found her and she was being attacked by a male.”

Rory swore, “Shit! One of theirs?”

Jinx sniggered, Cam throwing him a dirty look before he carried on, “Yes, she’d been told the Beta could do whatever the hell he wanted. Including hunting her in the forest with the aim of raping her, which was where I came in.”

“Damn!” Logan exclaimed, anger now rising in all three.

“Exactly, long story short, we fought, he’s dead. Jinx and I disposed of the body.”

A loud snort came from Jinx, causing the twins and Mac to turn to him, confusion on their faces. “Oh, wait for it guys, just wait.” He laughed as Cam stood straight, his eyes boring into Jinx’s.

Rory, Logan and Mac turned back to Cam, “Fine! The She-Wolf I saved is named Chastity and she’s Philippe Dupont’s sister. She’s terrified of him and even though I told her she should leave, she was too scared. The women in that Pack are abused in the worst possible way. It makes my blood boil. She said Dupont would hunt her down and rip her apart if she left.”

Mac ran a hand through his hair, frowning as a low growl rumbled in his chest. “That’s fucked up! Where was he brought up to think it’s okay to act like that? She’s his sister! He should be protecting her not scaring the shit out of her!”

“Too right!” Rory grumbled, his face tight with anger.

“That’s what we’re up against and add in that he’s using magic, this is not going to be easy, guys.” Cam looked at each of them and continued, “Plus, when I let Fearghas know he’s gonna go nuts. If he goes after Dupont he’s gonna get hurt and I won’t allow that to happen. So, let’s go break the bad news but I want you all calm. I don’t want your anger to affect him. Okay?”

“Gotcha.” Logan nodded, giving his twin a pointed look.

“What?” Rory poked Logan, “I’m okay, promise.”

As they walked to the Alpha’s cabin, Cam could see his uncle pacing back and forth on the wrap around veranda. He could feel the tension in his uncle and as soon as Fearghas saw them approach he came down the stairs, waiting for them with a scowl on his face.