Wolf Hills (26 page)

She was too important to him. Too vital to his continued happiness. Without her, he didn’t think he would be able to go on. She was quickly becoming the center of his universe.

He’d tried to fight against it. She was human. Weak. Her wolf genes were too far back to really make a difference. Then he’d discovered her magic. He’d begun to feel better about their involvement. She had some protections of her own. She might be able to hold her own among his Pack.

He hadn’t even declared himself, and she’d been threatened and forced into a confrontation at the Pack house. The way she handled it made him proud. An Alpha wolf female couldn’t have done better. Only then did he start to think she might be able to earn the respect of the Pack. That was essential if he planned to continue as Alpha.

If the Pack wouldn’t accept her, he had already decided to step down. Jesse—no matter how much he complained about it—could have the job. He should’ve had it from the beginning. But something had changed him—damaged him—in the wars he’d fought. Something inside had curled in upon itself to the point where only his fellow soldiers could understand him.

Jason would’ve handed the leadership over to his brother with no dispute. No contest. The sad truth was, Jesse didn’t want it.

If push came to shove and the Pack refused to accept Sally, Jesse would find himself in a position Jason had been protecting him from. He’d have to take on the role of Alpha. He was the only male strong enough both physically and mentally to handle the responsibility. The Pack loved him. They respected him. They would take to him easily as Alpha. Screw him if he didn’t want it. He’d have to take it for the good of the Pack if they didn’t like Jason’s choice in a mate.

The Fates had spoken. Sally was it for him. She didn’t know it yet, but wherever she went, he would go too. If she didn’t agree to be with him here, he’d follow her—to the ends of the earth if necessary—and do his best to convince her to marry him, live with him wherever she chose, and be his mate for the rest of their naturally long lives.

He hadn’t figured out how to broach the subject yet, but his decision was made. He just had to find the right time to tell her how he felt and ask her that all important question. The mere thought of it made his mouth go dry with nerves. Did she feel the same? Could she? She only had a little wolf in her and he had no idea how humans, or nymphs for that matter, chose their mates.

With wolves, it was instinctual. Her scent, her form, her voice and the things she said and did, the way she moved…all of it combined to let him know that she was his perfect match. He supposed, if he had to think about it, her scent had captured him first. He’d known when he breathed her in for the first time that she was special. So very special. He’d been entranced from that moment on and as he got to know her, he only liked her more. Her allure was undeniable. Her intellect matched his own. She was smart, funny, sexy as hell, and all his. Whether she knew it yet or not.

She looked at him now expectantly and it was all he could do not to drag her into his arms. What a time to realize he was hopelessly in love.

Jason settled for a quick, hard kiss before he settled down to business. There was still at least one more dangerous man out there, in the woods, gunning for his people. That old bastard who’d been setting up the tree stand had to be stopped before Jason could turn his full attention to matters of the heart.

“What was that for?” she asked breathlessly when he released her.

“For not getting us all blown up,” he answered flippantly.

He wasn’t about to reveal the deeper thoughts in his mind at the moment. For one thing, there were too many witnesses. When he declared himself, he wanted them to be alone. Preferably in bed, with hours free before them to explore their love—if she did, indeed, love him back. If she didn’t, it would be better to have privacy in which to lick his wounds, and try desperately to convince her otherwise.

“I’ll have to not get us all blown up more often then.” She smiled at him, not knowing the thoughts racing through his mind. She would soon. That he promised himself. “Now, what about that fourth hunter? How do you want to do this?” she prompted him.

“Alone, preferably,” he answered bluntly. He really didn’t want to put her in danger any more than he already had.

“Sorry. As the song goes, you can’t always get what you want. That man is armed, dangerous, and completely off his rocker. You know I can handle the armed part. Seems to me, you just sent your best weapons experts away. I think you’ll need me. To watch your back, if nothing else.”

Though he’d rather see her well away from danger, he also perversely wanted her with him. At his side. Fighting together. Where he could keep an eye on her. Where he could protect her. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but sometimes the wolf’s instincts went contrary to the man’s intellect.

“All right.” He made his decision and gave the signal for the rest of the Pack’s fighters who were present to move closer for instruction.

They formed a loose circle around him and Sally. Interesting. They saw her as separate from them, otherwise they would have included her in the circle around him. Whether that was because she was not a wolf, or because they perceived her as being equal in rank, or perhaps part of his authority as Alpha, remained to be seen. Still, it was an intriguing development. One he hadn’t anticipated.

“The last man we need to deal with tonight is closing in on the Pack house. He doesn’t know it’s empty. He’s hunting werewolves and he knows a lot about our Pack. He may even know some of you on sight. He’s been stalking us for a while and we honestly don’t know how much he knows. I can guarantee it’s more than he should. He knows what we are and where we live. He knows I’m your Alpha and he knows how to kill us.”

“What do you mean?” Sally asked, looking up at him with those big brown eyes of hers that made him want to kiss her. Not the right place or time, but he still felt the undeniable pull of her attraction.

“Samuels had silver bullets in his rifle tonight.” A murmur of anger went through the Pack members gathered all around.

“But the bullet that hit Colleen wasn’t silver, right?”

“No, thank the Lady,” he confirmed. “When we get hit with silver, it’s like a human getting hit by a regular bullet. It hurts and it doesn’t heal the way we’re used to healing. In fact, it’s a little worse. You’ve got a bullet wound that can’t be easily healed, plus the poison. It’s not a good combination.”

“Wow.” She looked like she was thinking hard. “So the fact that they were using normal ammunition when they went after Colleen means they were just trying to slow her down, not necessarily kill her outright.”

“She was probably their first choice for a kidnapping victim. When she escaped, they went after Jimmy instead. Either way, they intended to kill a child. And as many Pack members as they could lure in. A bomb works just as well at killing werewolves as normal people. Rip us into enough pieces and even our healing powers won’t be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”

A few of the men snickered at his graveyard humor. He had to get the plan in motion. Every moment delayed was another moment that bastard had alive. Jason firmed his resolve.

“I want to push him away from the Pack house, if possible. Without putting yourselves in the line of fire, I want you all to herd him toward the bear den. Blood has already been spilled there. I don’t want to foul our home woods with this bastard’s blood if we don’t have to.”

Murmurs of assent went around the group. The scent of blood was one of the most powerful to their kind. And the enemy’s blood would be spilled that night. Oh, yes, it definitely would.

Chapter Thirteen

“All right, same teams as before. Team 1 will spread out from north to west. Team 2 will do the same from north to east. Start above the ridgeline and work your way down toward the bear den. We don’t want him slipping past. Sally and I will come up from the south with you all either herding or leading him toward us. The Master will meet us there. He’s hunting with us tonight.” Murmurs of interest rose around them.

Jason continued to give orders as Sally watched. Looking at the circle that had formed around them she saw mostly men, but there were a couple women too. She liked that. The protective instinct ran very strong in females of most species. It was only right they be part of the group protecting their own.

They all scattered when Jason gave the word. He led her back toward the road where he’d parked his pickup truck out of sight. A few other vehicles were nearby so it wasn’t until they were both sealed in the cab that they were truly alone.

Jason started the truck and headed down the road in the opposite direction from the majority of the vehicles. As he drove, he began to speak.

“You took about ten years off my life when you went through that window.” He didn’t look at her in the darkness, staring intently at the road, but she could see his tension in the way he gripped the steering wheel. She didn’t know what to say.

“I was the only one who fit.”

“I know.” He banged one fist on the steering wheel. “If there was any other way, I would’ve taken it. As it is…” he trailed off.

“As it is, I’m still alive. So is Jimmy. So is everyone who took part in his rescue. I think it was a win all around. Though I will admit, it was a little hairy there for a few minutes.”

“You mean when that bastard was trying to rape you?” His tone was harsh. Raw. As if it hurt him to remember that moment.

“Yeah,” she agreed quietly. “That was probably the worst moment of the night, if truth be told.”

“So far.” He seemed to bite off each word.

“Thank you for saving me from him, Jason.” Her voice trembled and she did her best to firm her backbone.

It looked like he swallowed a few times before he could speak again.

“We’ll talk about it more later. For now, I’m just glad I was there.” He cleared his throat and continued to watch the road with a strange intensity as he drove fast down the mountain road. “Be careful of Dmitri.” His change of topic caught her off guard.

“How do you mean?”

“Vampires can get a little…difficult…when the bloodlust is upon them. I’ve never hunted human prey with him and I don’t know how he’ll react. He’s one of the older ones, so I assume he knows how to behave himself. I don’t think he would have lasted this long if he hadn’t. Still, be wary. Stay close to me when he’s around and blood has been shed. Once a bloodletter gets the scent, things can get dangerous real fast.”

“You mean Carly could…?” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the thought.

“Any of your newly turned friends. You have to be cautious around them all. They’re too new at this to really know how to handle all the impulses and instincts coursing through their bodies. I’d hope their link to their partners grounds them enough to shorten the learning curve, but I don’t know for sure. For now, just be careful around Dmitri. I don’t know how he’s going to act when the hunt is on.”

“Okay.” It was a lot to think about. Not only were they going to be hunting a man who had no compunction about shooting anybody he came across in the woods, but now she’d have to worry that the vampire hunting with them might turn against them when he caught the scent of blood.

She wasn’t sure how justice worked in this new world she’d been introduced to, but she had a feeling it was more…um…Biblical…than in her world. More eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth kind of stuff.

Nothing had been said about the man who’d tried to rape her and she hadn’t seen any evidence of him since Jason pulled him off her. There’d been some smears of blood on Jason’s hands, but nothing to indicate he’d actually killed the man. Yet, the feeling persisted that he had.

Sally didn’t mind. A bastard who would commit those kinds of acts against innocent people deserved to die, to her mind. She’d hated the way the human justice system had all too often allowed violent criminals back out on the streets to do it again. Yet she’d sworn to uphold that law and she did so every day when she went to work.

But those laws never took into account things like vampires and werewolves. There was no consideration of penalties for those who could control magic. It was a square peg and round hole kind of situation. She assumed Jason and his people had their own laws and code of ethics. While operating in their world, she’d have to trust them to adhere to them.

“What are you going to do with the hunters once you find them all?”

“The two who kidnapped Jimmy have already decided their own fate.” His voice was grim. “The other two? We might let them run for a bit. See where they go. Try to find the source of the danger, if there is one. It’ll be up to Jesse. He’s better at dealing with covert operations than I am.” He turned the vehicle down another road she hadn’t been on before. Thirty seconds later, he stopped.

“Where are we going to meet up with Dmitri?”

“Just up ahead.” Jason grimaced, scanning the area with annoyance. “I’m going to park the car down here and we’ll hike up, okay? Belakov’s late. We’ll go ahead. He’ll have to catch up.”

She agreed and hopped out of the truck. The moment her feet touched the ground, she could tell something was wrong. The song in the trees was off. Way off.

“The forest doesn’t like him,” she said absently, listening hard as Jason came around to her side of the truck, closest to the tree line. “The hunter is back. Oh, God—” She took off running, pausing only to draw her weapon.