Wolf on the Hunt (23 page)

“You expecting something?”

“Maybe.”

“Should we gather the women together?” Armand asked.

Jacque tilted his head to one side and breathed deeply. Gwen stepped out, wearing a cotton camisole and boy shorts. “What’s going on?”

He pulled the phone away from his mouth. “Gray is uneasy.”

Gwen padded over to her. “What’s wrong?”

She was beginning to wish she’d kept her mouth shut. Only she couldn’t shake the ominous feeling pressing down on her. “I don’t know. Something just doesn’t feel right.”

Gwen turned back to her mate. “Have everyone come over here. Better safe than sorry.”

Jacque closed the phone. “Already done. Armand will get the others up and they’ll be here soon.”

Gray couldn’t quite wrap her head around what had just happened. They hadn’t dismissed her feeling or ignored it. No, they’d accepted it as truth and acted on it. Only her grandmother had ever done that.

Gwen hustled inside. “I’m going to get dressed,” she said as she went. “Then I’ll put coffee on.”

That left Gray alone on the porch with Jacque. “Why?” she asked.

He shrugged his massive shoulders. “You’re one of us. Even though you haven’t committed to Louis yet, I know you want to.”

“How do you know?” she asked.

Jacque placed his big hands on the railing and peered out into the night. “Because I see the way you look at him.”

He didn’t look at her, but that didn’t lessen the force of his words. “Louis loves you.”

“I know.”

Jacque turned around and faced her once again. The intensity of his gaze almost making her look away, but she held her ground. “My brother is an amazing man, Gray Everson. I don’t think you understand just how special he is.”

“Then tell me.” She wanted to know what Jacque had to say about him.

“We were raised to compete against one another.” He raked his fingers through his hair. She’d seen Louis make the exact gesture many times and recognized what it signified—frustration.

“Hell,” Jacque continued, “we were raised to hate one another.”

Louis had told her something similar. Her heart ached for both men. “Your mother taught you different.”

Jacque’s gaze narrowed. “So Louis has told you of our past?”

“Some of it.” She suspected there was so much more he would never tell her. Some hurts went too deep. She understood that.

“Instead of hating me, Louis stood by my side against our father. He left everything behind to be here with me and to protect this pack. He’s given everything and asked for nothing in return.”

“I know he’s special.” Her quiet words calmed Jacque and some of his intensity bled away, leaving a rock-solid determination that made her heart ache. The two brothers were alike in so many ways.

“He wants you, Gray. It’s not a passing fancy for him. This is as real and as solid as it gets. He’d die for you.”

She nodded and looked away. She knew that.

“You’ve already proved you’d die for him too. So what are you waiting for?”

She jerked her head back to stare at Jacque. God, he was right.

“You risked your life for him before you even knew him.” The alpha continued to ruthlessly destroy the remaining walls around her heart. “You wouldn’t be sleeping with him if you didn’t have feelings for him. And you wouldn’t have stayed, wouldn’t be worried if you didn’t love him.”

Jacque closed the distance between them. He closed his arms around her and gave her a hug. “Don’t wait too long to tell him.”

Gray nodded. “I won’t,” she promised.

Jacque gave her a solemn nod and turned her toward the house. “We should go inside. The others are almost here.”

Gray didn’t need any more urging. She ducked inside and hurried to the bedroom she now shared with Louis. Shadow must have sensed her distress, either that or he was curious about all the sudden activity, because he was right behind her.

She sat on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands. The dog nudged her until she looked up. “What am I going to do?” Her life as she knew it was irrevocably altered. Now that she’d admitted it, she wasn’t quite as upset as she’d thought she’d be.

“I need to get changed,” she told Shadow. If trouble was coming, she didn’t want to face it in a dress. She quickly pulled on the jeans and tank top she’d worn earlier in the day.

The others had arrived. She could hear their voices coming from the kitchen. She caught the dog’s head in her hands and peered into his eyes. “You like it here, don’t you?”

Shadow thumped his tail.

“Yeah, me too.” She went to the door and opened it. “Let’s join the others.”

* * * * *

“Get the men into position,” Pierre LaForge ordered Jean Paul. The younger man nodded and he, along with the rest of the pack Pierre had brought with him, faded into the surrounding forest. He’d already told them what he wanted and trusted Jean Paul to see it done. With Jean Paul and his brother and a dozen men, Pierre figured there were more than enough of them to destroy his sons’ small pack.

He’d join them later. Right now, he wanted to go for a solo run over the land his sons had settled on. And if he ran into one of them patrolling, it would only make the odds more in his favor once he’d disposed of them.

Pierre stripped off his clothes and tossed them into the bed of his truck. He raised his arms and embraced his wolf. The animal leapt to the fore, ready and eager to run.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Louis had split away from Gator several miles back. He’d covered most of the west side of the property and was now heading closer to home. He wondered how Gray was doing and hoped she was getting some rest. He planned to wake her when he got home. His body ached for her.

He padded to a stop and listened to the forest. It wouldn’t do to get careless, not with so much on the line. The safety of Gray and all the women depended on how well he and the other males did their jobs. The animals and insects had plenty to share if one knew how to listen.

The air was still and quiet. Heavy. He slowly turned in a circle. A brook bubbled off to his left, the thin ribbon of water down to a trickle after the long, hot summer. The air was thick with the sweet scent of flowers and pine.

There were no animals about. That made Louis wary. The owls and raccoons and other nocturnal animals were used to the pack and gave them a wide berth, but they were usually out and about. That meant there was another predator out here.

Could be a normal four-legged one like a bear or cougar, but Louis didn’t think so. It would be too much of a coincidence. Those large predators usually stayed away from their land out of respect for the pack.

Louis shifted and moved into the shadow of a tall oak tree. He rested his hand on the trunk and listened. He remained motionless for what seemed like hours. His heart rate was steady, his breathing even, almost nonexistent. He knew how to blend in with his environment.

He was just about to shift back and head home when he caught the faintest sound of something brushing against the leaves of a bush. The light
swoosh
made him freeze in place. He cast his gaze to the left and waited.

Whatever or whoever was out there was wily and stealthy.

Louis crept forward, moving steadily downwind. He needed to know who the intruder was. Keeping his senses on alert, he carefully set his foot down on the mossy ground. Silently, he moved into position. The breeze was light and warm but it cooled his heated flesh. Better, it brought all the smells from upwind back to him.

He paused by another tall tree and crouched down to listen. Louis no longer thought it was an animal out there. A bear would still be rambling through the woods and a cougar would have made some sound he could hear.

Louis shifted into his wolf form, embracing his wilder side. He let the animal’s instincts take over and quickly darted to a nearby rock.

He gazed through the darkness, easily picking out shapes and images. He could see quite well through the thick veil of night. He sniffed and stilled when he caught a very familiar scent. It took all his willpower not to growl and give away his position.

He drew the scent into his lungs once again to be sure, but there was no denying the facts. His former alpha was out here and that could only mean one thing—an attack on the pack was imminent.

Louis trusted Gator and the others to be aware. Right now, he had to deal with the biggest threat of all. If he killed Pierre LaForge, the rest of his pack might scatter.

It was a hard thing for a man to contemplate killing his own father, but Pierre wouldn’t leave them in peace, had attacked them time and time again. They’d wanted to live and let live, but not their sire. There was no changing his mind once he’d set it, and Louis knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him or any of the other members of the pack.

His cousin had already faced a similar trial. Armand had killed his father months before. Now it was Louis’s turn. Funny how things turned out. Jacque had been so sure he’d be the one to face their father. Louis had always known deep in his soul that he would be the one to fight him.

He walked boldly forward. There was no real clearing around, which would make it harder and much more dangerous to fight another wolf, but there was no other choice. Louis couldn’t allow Pierre to get closer to their homes, to the women, to Gray.

Louis was fighting for more than his pack, his brother, his family. He was fighting for his mate, his everything. He cleared his head of all thoughts but the coming challenge.

He stepped out from between two trees and studied the wolf before him. Pierre’s back was turned, but not for long. Sensing something behind him, Pierre spun around and faced his son.

Pierre growled and pawed the ground, making a show of aggression. Louis simply stood there and watched him. He understood the value of silence, of conserving every ounce of energy he had for the coming fight.

His father shifted. Louis was surprised by that move and cast his senses out to make sure they were alone. He couldn’t smell or hear any other wolf. What was his father doing?

Pierre glared at him, but Louis wasn’t shifting. That took energy he wasn’t willing to expend.

As expected, his father sneered at him. “Too weak to shift back and forth too many times, are you?” Pierre stood tall and proud, still a good-looking man, in spite of his many sins. Louis wondered, not for the first time, what kind of leader his father might have been if he’d turned all his energy into productive avenues instead of killing and fighting. He’d never know. His father was content being what he was, and Louis would never change either. That left them at an impasse.

“I’m going to kill your brother,” Pierre announced. “I can’t let his rebellion go unpunished. The pack has to know they cannot leave without repercussions.”

Once again, Louis swallowed back his growl of anger and stayed silent.

“I’m going to kill all of them but Sylvie. She has to come back to the pack to answer for her sins.”

Over Louis’s dead body. Even if the worst happened and his father got by him, Louis knew that there was no way Gator would allow that to happen. Sylvie’s only sin was faking her own death to escape from her murderous mate. His cousin had remained hidden until she’d known the man was dead. As usual, Pierre had a very distorted idea of the truth.

Pierre crossed his arms over his broad chest, acting totally relaxed. Louis knew it was a calculated act meant to rile him up, but he was beyond those kinds of games. He’d had too many years of being subjected to his father’s scorn to have it affect him now.

“You could come home with me.”

That was new. Louis expected if Pierre ever offered such a thing it would be to Jacque, the firstborn son. He knew his father was holding out the offering because he thought Louis was weak, easily controlled.

Louis didn’t move, didn’t respond in any way. Predictably, his father quickly lost patience and swore both in English and French. “I should have killed you at birth,” his father sneered. “You’re weak. Content to be in your brother’s shadow.” He rolled his shoulders. “You don’t deserve to live.”

The attack came fast and hard. Even though he’d been expecting it, Louis barely had time to react. He rolled to one side as his father leapt and shifted at the same time. Pierre hadn’t remained alpha all these years because he was afraid to fight. No, Pierre LaForge loved to maim and kill, to exert his power over others.

Louis came back up on his feet and jumped at his father before the man had a chance to turn back around. He raked his claws over Pierre’s flanks. His father let out a howl of anger and the fight was on.

He knew that Gator would have heard the howl. So would the others his father had brought with him. There was no way he was alone. Pierre always stacked the deck in his favor.

His father rolled, knocking Louis from his back. Then he lunged, but Louis was already gone. They circled one another, two big wolves, very similar in size and coloring. Even their eyes were alike. Jacque had inherited the golden-brown of their mother, but Louis had his father’s dark eyes.

Teeth gleamed in the moonlight as they snapped and tested their opponent’s defenses. Louis watched Pierre’s eyes. With most people, their actions showed up in miniscule movements in their bodies before they actually made them. A slight weight shift onto one leg, a head turn. But not his father. No, Pierre’s actions were all there in his eyes if a person cared to look.

Right now, Louis could read his own death there. So be it. He’d known all his life this day could come, and he would not fail.

Patience was key. It was the one thing his father lacked. Pierre would move first and think later, often not liking the consequences of his actions. As a young boy and later as a grown man, Louis had made a thorough study of his sire and alpha, instinctually knowing his life would depend on that knowledge someday.

Pierre leapt without warning. Louis didn’t panic. He left himself wide open for attack, rolling at the very last second and swiping his claws over his opponent’s soft underbelly. Blood trickled down his paws. Pierre howled and Louis knew he’d made a good strike.

His father whirled around and attacked in earnest, totally ignoring his wounds. The two large wolves collided, each of them using teeth and claws to inflict the most damage they could.

Louis barely managed to avoid getting his ear bitten off but couldn’t get out of the way of a brutal swipe of claws that opened up four long wounds on his left flank. He didn’t even register pain or blood loss. He was too focused on the outcome of the battle.

If he survived, he could worry about his injuries then.

Louis sensed another wolf sneaking up behind him and managed to jump to the right to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, that gave his father and advantage. Pierre’s claws caught him once again, this time gouging his right back leg. Louis yelped but focused instantly. He had two foes now.

He recognized the other wolf from childhood. Robert Dupointe. He might not be an overly smart man, but he was big and a brutal fighter. And, it seemed, he was one of Pierre’s newest enforcers. And Robert’s brother was usually with him. Where was the other wolf?

This wasn’t good. His father was the best fighter of the Louisiana Pack. It would be a challenge to beat him alone. Having to deal with Robert as well put Louis at a distinct disadvantage.

So be it. He couldn’t afford to fail. Gray’s safety and his brother’s safety were on the line. He could not allow Pierre to hurt any member of their small pack. They were his true family.

The night went strangely silent. There were no sounds other than the panting of the three large wolves facing off against one another. Louis gathered his strength and was about to attack when a huge wolf bolted from the darkness and took Robert down easily, snapping the man’s neck with his huge jaws. It was fast and brutal and over in a split second.

At first, Louis thought it was Cole. There was no wolf bigger than his friend. But the coloring was slightly off. Then he scented and recognized the other wolf. Shock hit him. What was Cole’s daddy doing here?

Before he could question his good fortune, his father turned and ran. Not away, but in the direction of the house.

Gray.

Fear ripped at Louis and he began to run. He had no idea if Joseph Blanchard was behind him or not and he didn’t care. He had to catch Pierre before he made it to the house. Gray was a half-breed, she couldn’t shift to protect herself and Louis knew his sire would go straight for her, instinctively knowing she was Louis’s weakness.

Louis pushed his wolf harder and faster than he’d ever done and the animal responded, just as eager to end the threat to their mate. His strides lengthened and his heart raced as he dodged rocks and trees. He knew his land better than his father. Pierre might have originally been the hunter, but now he’d become the prey. Louis was on the hunt.

Joseph Blanchard raced the half mile back to where he’d stashed his wife and Elise. Thankfully, it was in the same direction as the house. Both women were anxiously waiting.

Elise stepped out from behind a rock. “What is it? What’s happened?” She grabbed his arm as he shifted.

“Pierre attacked Louis. I killed one of his men and Pierre took off with Louis in pursuit.”

Elise was already stripping off her dress. “I won’t let him hurt my sons.”

Corrine yanked her top over her head. “Cole may be a man, but he’s still my baby.”

Joseph nodded, knowing it was futile to even suggest both women stay and let him handle things. They were both loving mothers and would do whatever it took to protect their children, even if those children were powerful werewolf males.

“Just don’t distract them and get them killed,” he warned. They’d never forgive themselves if that happened.

Joseph shifted and waited until the women had done the same. Then he led Elise and Corrine toward the fighting. His wolf was not happy with him, but Joseph fought his natural instincts to protect his mate. Their son and his friends were under attack and needed every edge they could get in order to protect them.

A howl ripped through the night. Pure terror struck Gray’s heart.

Louis
.

Before she could figure out what to do, Jacque, Armand and Cole jumped from their chairs and bolted outside, stripping their clothes as they went. Armand and Cole shifted first and stationed themselves in the center of the yard.

Jacque turned back to Gwen. “You know what to do.” Then he shifted and disappeared around to the front.

“Come with me,” Gwen ordered.

Gray followed the other women down the hallway to the office. Shadow was plastered against her side, sensing her fear. “What’s going on?” she demanded.

“We’re under attack.” Gwen yanked back the rug and pressed a slight depression in the floorboard. A small section of the floor several feet away popped open, exposing a hidden compartment.

Gwen lifted several serious-looking guns from the hiding spot. “You ever use one of these?” she asked.

Gray shook her head. “No.”

Gwen walked over and handed her one of the weapons. “Aim for the heart and the head, point and shoot. Make sure you’re shooting one of the enemies and not one of us.”

The gun was heavy in her hand, but she was glad to have it. “How can I be sure?”

“It’s all in the eyes. You’ve seen Louis and you just saw the other three shift.”

“I’ve seen Gator too,” Gray added.

“Good.” Gwen handed the other gun to Cherise, who handled the weapon like a pro. “If you’re not sure, just look at the eyes.”