Un.Bridled (Claimed Series #2) (33 page)

Cole would have a conniption.

Quelling her sorrow at the thought, Hayden forced herself to widen her strides and push herself faster than she’d ever gone before. Nicolas didn’t seem to have trouble keeping up, his soft, barely audible pants sounding just ahead of her.

While she didn’t get a sense of her pack members unless it was the full moon, Hayden had the notion Nicolas was leading her to the others. Nevertheless, each step she took, her gut wrenched in protest. The direction they were heading was away from Cole. She wanted desperately to turn around and search for him, but she knew finding the pack was her first priority. Cole would have done the same.

Forging ahead for what seemed like
miles, Hayden eventually broke through the trees and came upon the cabin. She lingered in the outskirts of the woods, examining the cabin and the warm glow it emitted from the inside. It was possible the pack was still inside, oblivious to everything, albeit worried over Cole and Hayden’s long absence.

Her high hopes abruptly crumbled when she noticed the wide open door and the smashed window. “Are you sure they’re in there?” she asked Nicolas, who had silently joined her side.

The wolf’s ears twitched at the spoken question. Gradually, he looked up at her, his gaze clearly conveying his bland indifference. Hayden frowned and turned back to the cabin, sniffing the air and keeping a sharp ear open.

It smelt of the pack, and other strangers, but she could also smell traces of Cole. In a nesting area, scents lingered even after their occupants were long gone. And as far as she could hear, everything was silent and still.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t inside.

Hayden escaped the trees and approached the cabin, her steps light and silent. As she climbed the stairs to the cabin, she kept her posture stooped. She peered over the top step and into the open door, searching for an immediate threat.

The smell of blood scented the air and it took all of Hayden’s willpower not to charge inside. As soon as the entranceway proved clear, she slithered inside, her eyes dancing from one corner to the other.

The body sprawled in the family room wasn’t a member of Cole’s pack, but of Celeste’s. Apparently, Celeste’s ‘missing pack members’ were sent here to watch over the others but had been thwarted. Hayden felt a brief flicker of smugness, but sobered when the sound of claws striking the hardwood floors resonated across the cabin.

She turned, eyeing Nicolas with disapproval as the wolf gave away their location. Nicolas growled lowly, unimpressed with her glare. He turned his tail with a surprising amount of attitude and retreated further into the house.

Hayden turned in the other direction and entered the kitchen. She spied a pair of legs sticking out from behind the island, submerged in a trail of crimson blood. Swallowing thickly, she assessed her surroundings, deeming it safe to identify the second body.

With measured steps, she approached the prone figure. Inch by inch, the body’s identity began to become clearer. It was another woman with a wicked-looking wound to her chest. It wasn’t Addie. It wasn’t anyone Hayden knew. From the looks of it, she’d been a fierce fighter. She’d died with an enraged frown on her face, her eternal rest certainly not looking very restful.

Hayden’s eyes rose, her wolf sensing the threat before her senses became aware of it. Across from her, the shiny material of the refrigerator revealed a blurry figure standing behind her.

“You’re too predictable.”

As Hayden reached for a knife inside her jacket, the sound of a safety clicked off.

“Put your hands in the air.”

Knowing she had no other choice but to comply, Hayden gradually raised her hands, surrendering her intentions of grabbing a throwing knife. The voice behind her was somewhat familiar, but Hayden couldn’t place it.

“Turn around. Slowly.”

Following the order, she turned and spied Sophia, Celeste’s beta. The woman had a gun aimed unswervingly at Hayden, the muzzle pointed between her eyes. Guns and arrows weren’t usually threats to werewolves, who could usually dodge and swerve quick enough to avoid being shot, but it depended on who wielded the weapon.

Sophia narrowed her eyes on Hayden. “I don’t know what she sees in you. You’re sloppy and unaware. And you’re so
predictable
.”

With the swiftness of a lethal hunter, Nicolas emerged from the shadows and took an aggressive stance behind Sophia. A hair-rising growl emitted from his chest, his posture entirely hostile. His hackles were raised, proudly revealing sharp and unrelenting teeth. Even the hair on his shoulders was standing on end.

Sophia matched his quickness. In a fraction of a second, she turned and fired at him, taking her aim off Hayden.

But that was all the time Hayden needed.

As Nicolas lunged away from the rapid fire, Hayden sprinted towards Sophia, descending to her knees and sliding across the floor. Her hand plunged into the folds of her jacket and removed a blade, the hilt twirling on her palm until it fit properly into her grip. By the time Sophia turned back to her, Hayden had already thrown her knife. 

The blade cut through the air and flew straight at Sophia’s chest. With a surprised gasp, the woman dived to the floor. She barely moved in time, for the knife scratched her cheek, drawing a minimal amount of blood.

Hayden jumped to her feet and kicked the gun out of Sophia’s hand, sending the weapon spiraling across the floor. She then sent her elbow into the woman’s face, fracturing the bridge of her nose.

Sophia refused to let a broken nose get the better of her. She delivered a painful kick to Hayden’s back, sending the blonde-haired Alpha to the ground. Hayden grunted as she landed on her stomach, feeling the reverberations of the kick all the way to the front of her chest. She exhaled levelly, gathering herself and waiting for Sophia to lunge at her fallen figure.

As soon as the brunette bent down to grab her neck, Hayden threw her head back and slammed it into the woman’s face. She then kicked Sophia in the stomach, forcing her to stumble backwards.

Hayden braced her weight on her hands and executed a backflip in order to get back on her feet. She barely got her arms up to block Sophia’s anger-driven fist. Standing her ground and refusing to be driven backwards, Hayden endured the relentless attacks. Her reflexes were honed enough to stop the punches from reaching her person, but she was surprised by the force of them. They certainly weren’t as strong as the three rogues who had attacked Cole, but they were stronger than ordinary.

Doubtless, Hayden countered the attacks with equal ferocity. She remembered Cole’s brief skirmish with Tobias and took a leaf from his book. With a single-minded intensity, she began focusing her attention on her opponent’s dominant elbow. Anytime she could, she would punch, grab, and twist Sophia’s right elbow. The skin began to grow raw and pink and the joint began to swell and knot, effectively lessening the force behind the woman’s punches.

Judging from Sophia’s pinched expression, the other female was aware of Hayden’s intentions. A nasty scowl marred the woman’s face before she slipped past Hayden’s defenses and punched her squarely in the face. With her left fist.

Apparently, she was ambidextrous.

Hayden stumbled back, disorientated, but stopped herself from falling to the ground. Instead, she leaped off the ground and swung both legs around, keeping her torso horizontal and executing a strong butterfly kick to Sophia’s face.

Landing and grabbing a second knife simultaneously, Hayden whirled around, halting her throw at the last moment. Sophia had fallen near her gun and now had it aimed at Hayden.

It was a draw.

“I want you to keep your nose out of Celeste’s business,” Sophia spat, her dark eyes alight with rage. “Just stay away.
I
will take care of her.”

The admission nearly caused Hayden to drop her grip on her knife. She kept it aimed at Sophia, ready to throw it if the situation proved necessary. “Excuse me?”

Sophia stood, refusing to turn her back on either Hayden or Nicolas, wherever the wolf disappeared to. With slow, measured steps, she began to make her way towards the back exit. “It took me months to earn her trust,” she whispered heatedly. “I don’t need you coming into the fold and diverting her attention away from me.”

Hayden watched the beta, unsure whether Sophia was using a ploy to lower Hayden’s guard or if she was telling the truth, and that she really did want to destroy Celeste herself.

“She has Cole,” Hayden reasoned. “I’m not letting this go. I’m not going away.” She paused and considered the delirious-looking female. “We can work together.”

Sophia narrowed her eyes. “The next time I see you, I won’t hesitate to kill you.” Without another word, the woman fled the home, leaving Hayden standing solitarily in the kitchen.

Her gaze hardened when she saw Nicolas twitch towards the exit, clearly intent on hunting Sophia down. “
Don’t
,” she growled lowly with authority. “You will not disappear again. You have some explaining to do.”

His unnerving blue eyes assessed her blandly, hardly impressed with her attempt of intimidation. He did give a long look at the knife in her hand, which Hayden dimly noted was now aimed at him.

She kept her aim firm, her expression hard, and her eyes level with his own. When she was sure he wasn’t going to lunge across the kitchen at her, she lowered her knife and sheathed it.

“Is there no one else here?”

She assumed, during her fight with Sophia, he had searched the house. It would explain his absence and willingness not lend his assistance to Hayden. 

When the wolf inclined his head in simple confirmation, Hayden lowered her gaze. The pack wasn’t here. She hoped they made it out safe. It would certainly explain the fallen bodies on the ground, but she didn’t know the extent of their condition. She wouldn’t have any idea how track their whereabouts.

And without tracking them down, it wouldn’t feel right looking for Cole. Who knew how long it could take to reach him. Plus, he’d be disappointed if she couldn’t reassure him of the pack’s whereabouts. Their safety had been his last request.

Hayden wiped the blood from beneath her nose, glancing again at the immovable form of Nicolas. She didn’t know what to do with him. Despite her willingness to follow him to the cabin, she didn’t trust him.

He had many things to answer for.

Nicolas stood from his haunches and stretched his front paws. His body began shuddering and his fur
ruffled, a sign of his impending transformation. In one fluid motion, human appendages began replacing his canine form. It wasn’t long before a naked man was crouching in place of the black wolf.

Hayden wanted to avert her eyes from his state of undress, but she willed herself to remain indifferent. Nicolas would think little of her modesty.

Gradually, he stood, unfolding from his crouched pose and standing tall and proud. Hayden’s earlier assumptions about his wolf form were only confirmed now that she saw him in his human skin. He appeared in bad health, having lost a bit of weight, both fat and muscle.

The cool, aristocratic man was gone, and in his place was a rugged scoundrel. With his beard and shoulder-length black hair, he looked strikingly similar to Cole. Only, Cole carried his ruggedness with natural grace, whereas Nicolas just looked out of place without his refined aristocracy.

Though his body appeared to have gone through much, his eyes were sharper than ever before. Hayden lowered her eyes again, wondering if she was intimidated by his stare or just curious to see what his feet looked like.

To justify her curiosity, mud
was
caked up and down the length of his legs and even his toenails were torn and muddy.

“You don’t look well,” Hayden remarked darkly. There was nothing else she could think to say to a man like Nicolas.

“I thank you for your concern.” Nicolas said dryly, his voice hoarse and raspy. “You even expressed your concern for me in front of Cole. I find it touching and admirable.”

Anger coursed through Hayden and she had no trouble meeting his gaze. She had confronted Cole about Nicolas just before the attack. “You were there the whole time,” she accused hotly. “You could have prevented them from taking Cole.”

Unimpressed with her outburst, Nicolas merely raised his eyebrows. “Even with Cole standing beside me, it wouldn’t have been enough. We would have both been taken and you would have still been in Celeste’s clutches. The best way to rescue Cole is through stealth and surprise.”

She faltered at that. “You want to rescue Cole?” Hayden’s lips twisted in a disbelieving grimace. “You want me to believe that? After all this time, you…” she trailed off, afraid if she started, she wouldn’t be able to stop. “You are the rogue Alpha.”

Nicolas chuckled breathlessly. “Haven’t you ever heard of smoke and mirrors, my dear? Celeste wanted everyone to believe I was the Alpha, when in reality,
she
was and is the mastermind behind the rogues.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t need to believe me. You just need me to retrieve Cole.”

Hayden took a step back, her mind reeling. “You were
never
the rogue Alpha?” she asked, needing confirmation.