Wolf on the Run: Salvation Pack, Book 3 (7 page)

He wet a cloth and went back into the bedroom. Cherise was lying there, her eyes closed, her breathing shallow.

When he touched between her legs with the cloth, she bolted upright. “What are you doing?” She grabbed at the cloth, but he wouldn’t let her take it.

“Cleaning you up so you’ll sleep more comfortably.” Even though she squirmed and tried to take the cloth from him, he wasn’t about to relinquish it. Her cheeks were stained pink and she slapped at his hands.

“You shouldn’t do that,” she admonished.

“Why not? I’ve already had my hands and my mouth on you.” She made a sound of frustration but relented. When he was satisfied, he tossed the cloth aside. Cole lifted her off the bed, yanked back the covers and put her back down. He climbed into bed next to her and pulled her into his arms.

She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re going to be difficult, aren’t you?”

She sounded so disgruntled, he smiled. “I’m going to be difficult,” he agreed. He positioned her so she had one leg draped over his thighs and an arm across his chest. It felt right to have her next to him. He’d always refrained from actually sleeping with women over the years. Whenever he’d had sex, it was always at the woman’s home so he could leave when it was over. But he didn’t want Cherise to leave.

He tightened his hold on her. “Sleep. We’ll talk more once you’re rested.”

“I’m not going to change my mind,” she warned. Her words were slurred with exhaustion. He knew she was almost asleep.

“I’m not going to change mine either.” He combed his fingers through her hair, enjoying the sensual glide of her tresses against his skin.

She didn’t answer him back. He felt her body sink deeper against his and knew she was asleep. “I’m not letting you go,” he whispered. “You belong here with me.” He’d never been more certain of anything in his life than he was of that.

Cole felt more relaxed, more at ease than he’d ever been in his entire life, and he knew it was all due to the woman in his arms. She soothed him, calmed him in a way he’d never known. With her he felt complete.

And that was something worth fighting for.

Ryan Hatfield, alpha of the Pike County Pack, wanted to howl with frustration but restrained himself. It wasn’t easy, but he did it. He leaned back in his chair on his front porch and breathed in the cool evening air. As soon as he was done with his brother, he was going to go for a long run.

“What do you mean Keith and his friends haven’t returned?” Ryan was going to kill his nephew when he returned home. That boy had been nothing but trouble since the day he was born. Unfortunately, he was also his brother’s only son.

Matthew Hatfield shrugged and dug the toe of his boot into the dirt. He also wouldn’t look Ryan in the eyes. Not a good sign. “He and his buddies went hunting over a week ago. They checked in a few days back, but I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Have you called him?” Really, if Matt wasn’t his brother, he’d have sent him packing. He had enough to deal with without adding family problems to the mix. Pack business kept him busy enough as it was.

Matt shrugged again. “He ain’t answering.”

“Have Lex look into it.” Lex was the most tech savvy of the bunch. “Maybe he can trace Keith’s phone and find out where he is.” Probably out chasing a human woman. That boy thought with his dick more often than his brain. Ryan had hoped he’d outgrow the tendency, but so far it hadn’t happened even though he was in his late twenties.

Ryan’s gaze narrowed on his brother. “What were they hunting?” This wasn’t just a run though a national park for a lark. He could feel it in his bones. His wolf was worried. Restless.

Matt gazed off into the distance and Ryan growled. His brother swung his gaze back to his alpha. “A female.”

He started to relax. It was just as he’d thought. The boys were out chasing pussy. But there was something about the tone of Matt’s voice that told him his nephew wasn’t just looking to get laid. “What has your son done now?”

Matt squared his shoulders, his stance belligerent. “Only what needed doing. Something you should have seen to long ago.”

Ryan slowly stood to his full height of six-two. He didn’t repeat his question, only stared at his brother until Matt broke and started talking.

“He went after Cherise Michaels and her mama.”

Ryan’s claws erupted from the tips of his fingers and his fangs dropped. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so angry. Matt backed up a step. Ryan could smell his brother’s fear, see the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. Good, he should be scared.

“You better pray he doesn’t do something stupid that comes back on this pack.” His words were little more than a growl. He strove for control and mastered his wolf. “Find Lex. Get him searching for Keith’s cell phone. I assume Wayne and Gene went with him?” Those three were always together. Bad enough when it was only one of them. Get the three of them together and their intelligence dropped significantly.

Matt nodded but said nothing, which was probably for the best. “Find them and bring them home.” Ryan jerked his head to the side and his brother fled.

“Anything wrong?”

Ryan took a deep breath and slowly released his anger before turning to face his mate. Massie looked as beautiful to him now as she had when he’d mated her twenty-five years ago. He knew her well and could see the concern she tried to hide from him. He hated to worry her, but there was no hiding something this big. It wouldn’t be long before everyone knew they were searching for his nephew and his friends. “Keith may have done something stupid.”

“Again.” Massie shook her head in disgust making Ryan lips twitch into a small smile. “I swear, that boy doesn’t have any sense at all.”

He walked toward her and put his arm over her shoulders, guiding her back toward their home. “Come on. I need to get online and check the news reports.”

“It’s that serious?”

Ryan stroked his beard. “I don’t know yet. We’ll have to see. If that boy has done something really stupid, I may have a mess to clean up.” And he’d do whatever he had to in order to protect his pack.

Chapter Seven

Cole hated to leave Cherise alone in his bed. She’d slept the entire afternoon and evening away and was still sound asleep, snuggled up next to him using his shoulder as a pillow. He’d gotten up hours before, but only long enough to use the bathroom and rescue her knapsack from the front porch before returning to her. He was drawn to her in a way he’d never been to another female.

But from the sounds coming from the kitchen, he knew Gator was home. He glanced at the bedside clock. It was close to midnight. Louis and Gator must have been back for hours and Gator was still up waiting to talk to him. The pack must have eaten supper over at Jacque’s place so as not to disturb him and Cherise. Cole had heard Anny and Armand head to their room about an hour ago.

He eased away from Cherise, holding his breath when she snuffled and moved restlessly against the sheets for a moment before settling back into sleep. He smiled as she buried her face against his pillow.

It really was a miracle she’d survived and was now here with him. Whatever force had brought her to him, he was glad for it. And he would protect her with his life. These kinds of deep feelings probably wouldn’t make much sense to anyone else, especially a human. But he was a werewolf, and he trusted his animal side implicitly. And his wolf recognized his mate.

He pulled on his jeans and padded out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. As he’d expected, Gator was in the kitchen pouring a cup of freshly made coffee. His friend took in his mussed appearance and poured him a cup without even asking if he wanted one. Cole took the mug from him and sipped. The brew was hot and strong, just the way he liked it.

“Any problems?” he asked Gator.

“Nope. The truck is gone and I dumped their cell phones while we were there.” Gator walked to the table, sank down onto a chair and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Got three grand for the truck.” He motioned to an envelope on the table.

Cole ambled over to stand beside the window in the dining area. He peered out into the darkness, his eyes seeing every detail. “Good. Don’t tell, Cherise.” He turned his back on the night and faced his friend.

Gator lifted one eyebrow in question. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to make it easier for her to run.” A decent man might feel guilty about not immediately giving Cherise the money, but Cole shrugged away any doubts. The best thing for her was to stay here. The thought of her running around unprotected was enough to give him nightmares.

“Ahh.” That one word made him want to punch Gator in the face. The fact that it was accompanied by a sly smile and a knowing glint in his friend’s eye just added to that urge.

“Got a problem with that?” He set his mug down on the table and put his hands on his hips, his stance aggressive.

Gator shook his head and took a sip of his coffee, totally unconcerned about the threat of Cole glaring at him. “No. I’ve never seen you get this worked up about a woman before. Your wolf wants her even though she can’t shift?”

Cole raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. That just doesn’t seem to matter.”

Gator rose and put his mug in the sink. “Then that’s that.” He slapped Cole on the back as he passed. “Don’t worry so much. It will all work out. I’m heading to bed. Shout if you need anything.”

“Keep an eye on Cherise. I’m going out on patrol.” He was feeling restless and knew if he went back to bed he’d end up waking Cherise and making love to her. And she needed her rest.

“Jacque is patrolling. I passed him on my way in.”

Cole shrugged. “I’ll be back in a bit.” He let himself out the back door, knowing Gator would guard Cherise with his life. His wolf howled inside him, not wanting to be away from her at all. He gritted his teeth as he stripped off his jeans and tossed them over the railing.

He raised his arms up and embraced the change. His wolf lunged forward, snapping and snarling. The beast actually turned toward the door before Cole exerted enough mental control over the creature to make him patrol. Cherise’s safety came before anything else. And Cole wouldn’t rest until he knew the threat to her was past.

Cole padded toward the trees, a silent shadow. He raised his nose to the air and caught Jacque’s scent off to the left. Turning in that direction, he raised his head and howled, the sound low and mournful. When it was answered, he trotted off in that direction.

He’d send Jacque home to his mate.

What about your mate?
He ignored the voice in the back of his head. She wasn’t his. Yet. And he couldn’t crowd her too much or she’d run. It would take a delicate balancing act if he wanted to keep her here with him.

Pushing aside his worries for now, Cole let the wolf have his head. The large beast took off through the woods, racing around trees, under fallen logs and through low shrubs. There was a partial moon and many stars to guide his way. He saw every obstacle before it became a problem and deftly avoided it.

Even as he ran and embraced the freedom of the night, his mind was back in his bedroom with Cherise.

Cherise woke with a start and sat up in bed. Her heart raced and a fine sheen of sweat covered her body. Had she been dreaming? What had awakened her? A wolf howled and she bolted out of bed, standing naked in the middle of the room as she searched for any threat. Had they found her?

Where was she? She peered around, her enhanced vision making it easy for her to see the masculine space around her. She took a deep breath and was immediately assailed by a hot, spicy masculine scent.

Cole.

He was gone, but his presence remained.

She hurried to the window and pressed her nose against the glass. It was extremely dark here in the wilderness, away from civilization. But seeing was no problem for her.

The yard was empty, Cole obviously gone. Why had he left? Was something wrong?

Cherise rubbed her face with her hand and made her way back to the king-sized bed. Her knees were a little shaky, so she sank down onto the mattress to rest.

What had she done?

“Oh, Cherise,” she whispered. She’d slept with Cole. Not just slept with him, she’d had smoking-hot sex with him. Her body still ached in places she’d never ached before. Her skin felt overly sensitized and the cool air in the room made her nipples pucker.

Swearing under her breath, she grabbed the comforter off the bed and wrapped it around her. What had she been thinking?

She snorted. Obviously, she hadn’t been thinking at all. There was something about Cole that messed with her common sense. She never did impulsive things. Had learned to live with caution from the earliest age.

But Cole made a mockery of her level-headedness.

Oh, she could explain it away by blaming it on her near brush with death combined with the grief over her mama’s murder. At times like this it was only natural to want to grab on to life with both hands. And when both people involved were werewolves, it was doubly, if not triply so. Animal instincts combined with human ones and the results were explosive.

She’d certainly celebrated life in the age-old tradition—making love.

Cherise shoved her hair out of her face and took a deep breath. Okay, what was done was done. And she couldn’t regret it. Cole had been so good to her, holding her while she cried and then making love to her with a quiet intensity that had simply left no room for anything other than what he was making her body feel.

She’d stopped thinking and just lost herself in the physical sensations he’d provoked in her.

Her pussy began to throb and she jumped to her feet and began to pace the room, the long end of the comforter trailing behind her. She couldn’t stay here. Her being here put everyone else in danger. When Keith and his friends didn’t return home or contact anyone in Kentucky, they’d send others to search for them.

Cherise shivered at the thought.

She needed to leave while Cole was gone.

The thought almost crippled her, but there was no other choice. Thick bands of emotion made her chest constrict to the point of pain. It wasn’t fair. She hadn’t done anything wrong, hadn’t asked for any of this. It wasn’t her fault her wolf wasn’t there, that she couldn’t shift.

But as her mama had told her many times, life simply wasn’t fair. It was what it was. She could either whine about it or face it bravely and do what needed to be done.

Cherise threw off the comforter and went in search of her clothing, stopping when she saw her knapsack on the floor by the bed. She knew Cole had left it there for her, knowing how important it was to her to have her belongings close by. It was just another tangible reminder of what a good and decent person he was.

It didn’t take her long to dress and gather her belongings. She didn’t have much. She didn’t even feel guilty about wearing the shirt Cole’s had loaned her earlier. It had been draped over the arm of a chair and still faintly smelled like him. It was missing a few buttons, but she didn’t care.

She closed her eyes as a wave of regret swept over her. She’d never see Cole again once she left him. He didn’t seem like the type of wolf who’d enjoy living in the city. He was too rugged, too untamed to be confined by towers of concrete and glass. And that was precisely the reason she and her mama had always lived in large cities.

A dream had led her to Salvation and to Cole. On one hand, coming here had been the smartest thing she’d ever done. She’d be dead if Cole hadn’t found her. On the other hand, it was breaking her spirit to leave Cole and his pack. They’d welcomed her for a short time. She’d forgotten what it was like to belong somewhere.

Cherise plucked the comforter off the floor and held it to her face for a moment, breathing deeply. Then she tossed it aside.

It had been a dream, nothing more. She couldn’t stay here and risk their lives. And there was a part of her that kept expecting them to turn on her. She didn’t want to wait around until that happened. She was better off alone. It was what she knew, what she was used to.

She grabbed her knapsack and hooked it over her shoulder before creeping to the door and putting her ear against the wood. She waited for long seconds until she was certain no one was up and about. It was late at night, or early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it. Everyone was either in bed or out patrolling.

How would she get past whatever wolves were running around outside?

“You can do this,” she whispered. It stood to reason they wouldn’t pay as much attention to the main road, never expecting an attack to come from such an obvious direction. She’d go that way but still be cautious. She wouldn’t underestimate Cole or his packmates.

Cherise held her breath as she turned the knob, cringing when it made a slight clicking noise. She carefully pulled the door open and waited. When no one confronted her, she crept down the hallway to the front door. It was locked. It seemed to take her forever to unbolt it and open the door. Cold air rushed in and she tiptoed outside and shut the door behind her.

The night surrounded her, but there was no comfort to be found. Comfort was behind her in the big bed she’d shared with Cole. “Don’t think about it.” She wrapped her arms around her waist and stealthily made her way down the stairs to the ground.

When no hue and cry was raised, she relaxed and began to quickly walk toward the road. She had no idea where she was going. Salvation didn’t even have a bus station. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get to the next town that did have one. She was running low on money, but she had to get to a big city. There were shelters there that helped women in need. She hadn’t had to use one of those places in years, not since the early years with her mama. But she’d swallow her pride and do it in order to survive. When she was back on her feet, she’d repay them.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she flicked it away, angry with herself for crying. She never cried, or rather she hadn’t in years. Being here had wrenched open a part of herself she’d kept locked up for such a long time. She couldn’t afford to be emotional, not if she was going to survive. She shoved aside all softer emotions and squared her shoulders. She would get through this the same way she had everything else in her life.

But she’d never been truly alone before. She’d always had her mama. The two of them had drawn strength from one another, facing every ordeal together.

A lump of dread settled in her belly, but she ignored it and kept putting one foot in front of the other. She passed by their vehicles, wishing for one moment she had a set of keys for one of them. She wouldn’t have stolen it, simply borrowed it and left it in town for them to find.

It was too late to go back and search for keys now. Turning her face away from the trucks, she concentrated on the dirt road before her. It wouldn’t take her too long to get to the main road. She’d run from there into town. She was hungry and still tired and had to conserve her energy as much as possible until she could eat and replenish her strength.

It was a simple fact of life that she wasn’t quite as strong as most werewolves. Not being able to shift was a huge drawback at times like this.

“Going somewhere?” A shadow detached itself from the side of a tree, startling her. It was Gator, and there was no smile, no welcome on his face as there’d been earlier. With his cold blue eyes and tattoos, he looked fierce and none too happy with her.

Cherise jumped back a step and her body immediately went into fight-or-flight mode. And since she knew she was no match in a fight with a full-blooded werewolf male, flight was her only option. With no destination in mind, she went from zero to a full-out run in the blink of an eye. She heard Gator swearing and knew he was on her tail.

The road. She had to get to the road. Maybe there would be a truck passing by that she could flag down for help. And maybe that would get an innocent human killed. She was under no delusions. This pack would do whatever it had to in order to protect itself.

No, she couldn’t risk anyone else, least of all an innocent stranger. She was on her own.

Behind her, a wolf howled. He was calling the others.

Panic slammed into her with the force of a sledgehammer to the stomach. Once again, she was racing through these woods, running for her life with a group of male wolves in pursuit. Fear ate at her. She no longer remembered that this pack had been kind to her. All she knew was that she was running for her life.