Wolf Unbound: Aspen Valley Wolf Pack (6 page)

G
arrett still couldn’t believe
how beautiful Autumn was and how much she'd affected him since he'd met her. Every hour that she was in his presence, he grew fonder of her. Last night had been hard for him with her sleeping in the bed just three feet away from him while he lay on the couch. He barely got any sleep thinking about her. All he wanted to do was protect her and suddenly getting rid of Simon became more of a priority for him. Not because of the money, but because it mattered to him that Autumn was safe and happy.

And he wanted her all to himself.

She slid her half empty fry basket to the side and pulled the glass of water from the middle of the table towards her.

“About this mating thing…I’m curious,” she said.

At the mention of the word “mating”, Garrett glanced up sharply across the table at Autumn. She was running her fingers up and down the sweat of the glass of chilled water, drawing patterns as she went. She seemed to have a lot on her mind, but he could tell he was holding many of her frustrations inside. With everything she’d gone through over the past years, she’d come out a strong woman. Most women Garrett knew would’ve caved under the circumstances. But not Autumn. She was content on fighting for that tavern with everything she had.

She had no problems shifting the attention to him. All humans were slightly curious about shifters, but not all of them knew enough about them. However, their mating rituals usually weren’t something Garrett got asked about. Most of the time, women wanted to see him shift just for the hell of it, which was a no-go for him. To date, no human woman had ever seen him shift into his wolf.

“Ask away,” he said.

“What exactly is it? This mating, biting, and imprinting business.”

“Well.” He rubbed his hands together, thinking of the best way to put shifter things into perspective for a human. “There are differences between the three. Among our kind, matings are often referred to as a permanent and irrevocable union between true mates. The only way to find out if one is a true mate is to first imprint on someone. If the union is a true mating, the imprint will become permanent and a birthmark will be transferred between the two. Biting someone, on the other hand, will mark him or her temporarily. It’s imprinting without the sex, but it doesn’t hold the same weight. Usually it’s done when two wolves who seek to track each other, either voluntarily or involuntarily.”

“I see. So marking by biting or imprinting aren’t really permanent unless the two are true mates?”

“That’s right. Under the usual conditions, imprinting is only temporary.”

“How does the imprinting happen?”

“While having sex, a wolf’s essence will transfer to his or her lover. If at least one of them is a shifter, the union creates a sort of chemical imbalance in both the male and the female. The couple can continue to have sex, which means it will just take longer for the imbalance to correct itself, or they can wait it out.”

“Chemical imbalance?”

“Increased sex drive, carnal cravings. The urge to continuously have sex with this person. The outcome is more emotional and psychological than anything else. One of the main instincts of our kind is to find a mate and have offspring, so naturally the imprinting occurs to ensure that we keep having sex with women until they’re pregnant with our pups. While the imprints remain intact, both will continue to crave the other. It leaves them in a constant state of arousal.”

“Then what if a pair only has sex once and chooses to wait it out. Do they walk around horny all day until the imprints fade?”

He laughed. “Basically. The imprint lasts about a week. Wolves learn how to abstain in the absence of the person they imprinted on, but humans are a different matter all together.”

“You know, I’ve heard the stories about how some of my friends seek out shifters to have sex with to take them on this sexual high, like it’s a drug.”

“The stories are true,” he said.

“I’ve even seen a few hookups at the tavern.” She blushed. “I mean, I don’t see them having sex, but I’ve overheard women openly propositioning shifters for sex.”

Her scent intensified, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his chair. Her interest in the sex life of shifters made him react in ways that he’d normally be able to suppress. But there was no suppressing the sudden smell of her arousal or the hard evidence of his—two things that simply wouldn’t go away.

He breathed in and out steadily and then looked around the room to make sure no one was witnessing his meltdown.

“Have you ever been propositioned like that…for sex?” she asked.

Garrett caught a glimpse of the small smile that momentarily crossed her lips. Her eyes were filled with innocence, but asking him about his sex life was anything but innocent. He cleared his throat and prayed to God that his dick wouldn’t burst through the fly of his pants and reveal just how turned on he was.

“Do you really want the answer to that question, sweetheart?”

“I could see women asking a man like you.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “You know what? I’m being rude. I talk to a lot of shifters like you at the tavern, but not like this.”

“It’s not rude at all. In fact, it’s perfectly normal to be curious about what you don’t know and what you haven’t yet experienced.”

“My dad was married to Melisandra and she’s a shifter and they never talked of imprinting and all that stuff,” she said. “When wolves find their true mates, wouldn’t that be like imprinting times ten? I couldn’t imagine walking around wanting to have sex all the time.”

“Pretty much, but it’s not like that all the time. Over time, true mates have managed to control their urges when they’re not together. The difference is that true mates carry each other’s birthmarks. All shifters have them, but not all humans do.”

“I don’t have a birthmark or at least I’ve never seen one on me anywhere.”

His gaze swept over her flawless skin and he imagined for a moment what she would look like naked and writhing beneath him. Why did he suddenly feel the blinding need to fuck and imprint on a woman? He’d held those urges in for so long, only succumbing when he and the wolf inside of him had built up too much aggression, usually right after a job was completed. Autumn brought out the side of him that wanted to imprint because of a wolf’s need for companionship and natural mating urges. His wolf was sending out pheromones all over the place. Even the couple of shifters sitting and eating inside the small deli were beginning to take note.

“Have you ever mated like that with anyone that could have been your true mate?”

“No.”

“Then you’re single? No girlfriend or anything?” she asked, as a heated blush spread across her cheeks. “Sorry, that’s not of my business.”

“No, it’s fine and yes, I’m single. I never really stay put long enough to get involved with any woman on a long term basis.”

“So you have sex with them once and then leave them…aroused for several days?”

He chuckled. “You’re persistent, aren’t you? Actually, yes…I’m not the type to stick around because of my profession.”

“Well, at least you’re honest,” she said.

“I’m honest when it matters the most.” He winked. “I don’t go around telling all women that I’m a shifter and that if they have sex with me, they’ll have the urge to fuck me day and night for days afterwards.”

“Okay,” she said, and then pressed her lips together cautiously. “But that would probably be icing on the cake for some women.”

“Yeah, it probably would be, but I doubt they’d want a wolf outlaw,” he replied. “And quite frankly, I don’t know if I ever want to put any woman through the commitment and stress that my job requires. Being away from home most of the time. That sort of stuff. I don’t want to hurt anyone again.”

“Again?”

Garrett shifted in his seat, realizing how easy it was to talk to Autumn, even with the dozens of questions she’d asked him so far. He didn’t know whether he should see this as an advantage or disadvantage. He was more propelled to tell her the truth about himself than any other woman he’d met before. It was strange. Her signature scent of nutmeg and cinnamon continued to fuck with his reasoning and his judgment. And that scared the shit out of him. He had an important job to do with a deadline, but all he could think about was getting Autumn to safety.

“I had a long term relationship before.”

“What happened?”

“I put my work before her. I admit it now, but I couldn’t before. She wanted to settle down. She wanted me to give up my lifestyle, along with my profession, because it was too stressful for her. I met her when I was twenty-one and we spent a year and a half together while I trained to become an Enforcer for my Pack. At the time, dozens of shifters were in competition for only a handful of Enforcer positions. Needless to say, I didn’t take the Enforcer job I was offered. Neither did my brothers. We made a pact with each other that we’d defend from the outside of our Pack versus the inside. I joined them with one universal mission of seeking justice for all shifters, whether it involved humans conspiring against us or our own kind threatening our existence and going against our customs. We were, and are still, known as wolf outlaws to those humans that know about us. We’re also mistaken for lone wolves most of the time.”

“When you say that you’re protecting your own kind from threats to your existence and going against customs, do you mean like what Simon's doing?”

“Yes.”

“Melisandra used to say the same thing about Simon. She stopped going to the pack meetings a long time ago when Simon became the Beta.”

“His actions ignore the rules that have been in place to protect us. He’s being accused of murdering his Alpha. That’s the same thing as a vice president conspiring to murder the president. It’s just not done. If we fail to govern ourselves, others will step in and try to take that privilege from us. Based on history, humans with power have been known to strip our rights from us under the assumption that we’re all wild animals and uncontrollable.”

“You know what I think? I think you’re one of kind and that you’re brave for doing something for your Pack that not everyone can or will do,” she said, her eyes lighting up with compassion. “To risk your happiness for something like this takes a whole lot of courage.”

He smiled. “I’m happy doing it, so I’m not risking too much.”

“Just your time and your life…your love life,” she replied.

He nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Was she your true mate?”

“Who? Donna?”

“Donna?” she inquired. “Was that her name?”

“She wasn’t. And if she were, there would’ve been nothing, not even my choice of job that could’ve prevented us from being together. It’s different for true mates. It’s like we’re preprogrammed for this special person that completes us. Dane says it feels like she’s your other half. You can’t live without her. Nothing will stop you from being with this person. The fucked up part about it is that true mates are also hard to find. There’s no guarantee that we’ll ever find one in our lifetime. Maybe one in fifty of us ever find our true mates.”

“Wow. So what happens if you don’t find your true mate?”

“We go on with our lives. You can be with someone even if they aren’t your true mate and you can also love them just as fiercely.”

“Like Melisandra and my dad.” Her gaze dropped to the table. “When I first met her I was skeptical about her intentions. She spent so much time with my dad while he was supposed to be grieving our mother, but she also helped him get through a tough time.”

“We all need someone like that in our lives,” he said, meeting her gaze.

“Yes, we do.”

“We should get back on the road. A driver will meet us near the county line. He’ll take you to see Johnston, the family lawyer. I’ll stay here and follow the lead you gave me about Simon. You can stay at my lodge in Aspen Valley while you get things straightened out. I don’t think you should return to Cross City until everything is settled. I mean,
really
settled.”

“You’re right,” she said. “I don’t want to be in the same city with Simon anymore. The sooner he’s gone, the sooner I can revamp the tavern.”

A
utumn had been scared as heck
the first time her dad had taken her riding on his motorcycle. At the time, she was barely a preteen. In his lifetime, he’d had a total of three riding accidents that put him in the hospital and gave everyone a good scare. Well, everyone except for him. Despite the incidents, he rode the motorcycle to work nearly every day. To this day, she was still cautious about bikes—and the bad boys who rode them. While riding with Garrett, her arms wrapped around his waist and her chest pressed against his back, she felt secure. But she hadn't let her guards down completely. She still worried about whether she'd truly be free and clear of Simon and that stupid arranged mating deal. Every day there was a setback, but as soon as she thought she was doomed to give a year of her life to Simon, something happened in her favor that gave her more time to fight the issue. She knew her luck was running out, but she was never the type of woman to give up easily.

Simon had already demonstrated that he was far more dangerous than she had first realized. His threats and hurried attempts to mate on his terms, only proved that she'd have to take extra precautions. Especially if getting the tavern back meant living in the same town with him. Maybe luck was on her side yet again with Garrett’s new plan. Or maybe not.

She sighed and evaporation fogged the helmet visor.

Garrett turned his head slightly. "You okay?" he asked, projecting his voice above the furious flow of the wind.

She nodded.

"We're almost there."

She was ready to meet his lawyer, but she wasn't ready to leave Garrett. Not just yet. They had only just met and she wanted to learn more about him and about his life as a wolf shifter. If all that he said was true about his intentions to remain a bachelor because of his profession, she wasn't sure how receptive he'd be to the idea of ever seeing her again. He'd said it himself—he never stuck around long enough for any long-term relationship to develop.

They rode another fifteen minutes before she began to recognize her surroundings. The lake they were approaching flowed between three neighboring counties. When she was younger, her family used to come out here almost monthly to go fishing or swimming. That was before times got rough, before mom died in that car accident, and before things went south with the tavern.

Garrett slowed down a bit and snatched off his helmet. He turned off of the main highway down a long-winding road and looked off into the distance.

“There,” he said, lifting a chin in the direction of a white sedan parked near the side of the road. “Our driver is here.”

He rolled to a complete stop next to the car, cut the engine, and helped her off the bike. She pulled her own helmet off and gave it back to him.

“
Whew.
Finally. You’re a good driver and all, but others on the road…not so much,” she joked.

He grinned. “Yeah, you’ve gotta look out for the folks who should’ve never been granted a driver’s license.”

He knocked on the tinted windows of the sedan and then glanced around nervously. The driver had yet to reveal himself.

“So, where’s the driver?” she asked.

Garrett frowned. “He’s supposed to be here.” He sniffed at the air and a look of dread swept over his face. He leaned down and retrieved a handgun from the inside his boot.

“You were carrying a gun?” she shrieked. It was the first time she’d seen someone, up, close, and personal—clutching one the way he did.

“Something’s not right,” he said. “Stay close to me.”

They circled around the car. When they reached the front, she spotted red smears on the hood and the headlamps.
Blood.
There wasn’t a lot of it. But still…

“Oh God.”

“Dammit,” Garrett exclaimed.

A dead man lay on the ground in the tall unkempt grass. It appeared that he’d succumbed to his wound—a shot to the chest. His hands looked ice cold, gray, and rigid as he clutched his chest near the point of entry.

Autumn screamed. A blood curdling scream that rung out across the field. She doubled over in panic and hurled dry air. She tasted the remnants of her breakfast, but nothing came up.

Garrett knelt next to the man and took his pulse. “He’s been dead a while.”

“Who would do this? Was that the lawyer?”

“No. Jack was his driver.” He rose swiftly with the gun still gripped in his hands. “We’ve gotta get out of here. I think we’ve been compromised.”

Not even a split second later, a distant sound caught in Autumn’s ears. The deep rumbling of an engine grew louder as it advanced in their direction. A black pickup truck burst out from the wooded area and across the tall fields of grass and came barreling right at them.

Her mouth went dry. Her chest tightened and heart slammed repeatedly against her breastbone. She swung her attention to Garrett, hoping that he had an explanation for this. Any kind of explanation. She saw a different Garrett than the man that had saved her. His eyes had turned dark, almost black. His lips were pulled taut. The uneasiness on his face changed to a look of horror.

“Garrett…what’s going on?” she asked.

He grabbed her arm and began backing her up in the direction of the motorcycle. “We’ve got company.
Bad company.
Stay back behind the car and I’ll handle this.” He fished another small handgun from under his shirt and shoved it into her palm. “If anyone or anything comes at you, shoot ‘em.”

“Oh God.” She trembled, nearly dropping the gun.

She did as he said, rushing back to the edge of the highway. She slipped behind the white sedan, the gun shaking in her hand.

Dust billowed up and carried on the wind toward her. Her mouth was already dry as heck and her lungs were burning from exertion. The dust stinging her eyes only made it worst.

The black pickup truck came to an abrupt halt just five feet in front of Garrett. Two men jumped out. One of them was holding a gun. The second man reached into the backseat and pulled out a hostage who had been blindfolded and had his hands tied behind his back.

Autumn shielded her eyes from the blazing hot sun with her hand and almost couldn’t believe her luck when she spotted Simon out in the field, shoving the hostage forward.

Oh, my God.
This was all her fault. The driver had died because of her. Someone else was in trouble because of her.

“Well, well, well…” Simon drawled.

“Let Edward go. He did nothing wrong.” Garrett growled.

“Oh, really now?” Simon replied. “Because I know a couple of women back at Mina’s strip joint who beg to differ. He’s a rough one, bruising and manhandling the goods and all that. I take great pride in making sure my broads are presentable, so I can’t have him biting them.”

“Dammit, Edward,” Garrett said, between clenched teeth.

“Get out of here, Garrett. Don’t try to save me. Just go,” Edward told him.

Simon's driver clipped Edward across the face with his gun. The impact of the hit sent spit and blood spewing across the ground.

“We told you not to talk,” Simon said. “You’ve done enough of that.”

“What did you tell them, Edward?” Garrett demanded.

Edward spat blood on the ground. “I—”

Simon retrieved a small knife from his front pocket and shoved the sharp blade in Edward’s shoulder. Edward hollered in pain and then snapped his mouth shut.

“He didn’t have to tell us anything.” Simon threw a small object on the ground in front of Garrett. A cell phone. “It took us a couple hours to break the encryption and decode his messages.”

“You’re Simon, aren’t you?” Garrett inquired. “I’m going to put a bullet in your head if anything happens to him.”

Simon's driver lifted the gun, targeting Garrett’s chest.

“I beg to differ,” Simon said. “You have something that I’ve already laid claim to.” His gaze lifted then traveled across the short distance to where Autumn was hiding behind the sedan.

Shit.

“Bullshit. She doesn’t belong to you.” Garrett moved forward toward his intended target—Simon. “Leave her out of this.”

“She’s been promised to me. I have the papers to prove it.”

“Fuck your papers.
She’s mine.
”

Simon took a step back. “Not so fast. You can’t claim her. There’s already an existing claim on her. I don’t know how it’s done down in the back country where you live, but around these parts, the first to claim a bitch, gets the bitch.”

“Do you think I give a fuck about your claim?” Garrett replied.

“I’m here to give you a choice. You can take this low-life can’t keep his dick in his pants mutt back with you and get the hell out of this town or you can attempt to steal what I want and I’ll kill him.”

“No deal.”

“A member from your Pack is already lying dead on the ground. Don’t think I won’t have Charlie here put another bullet in both of you. Killing you would be my pleasure, and it’ll definitely serve as a message to your Alpha that you can’t just come running up in our territory uninvited. I’m not as generous as the last Alpha.”

“I take it that you’re aware of the accusations about you concerning the last Alpha,” Garrett pondered.

“Hmmm, yes, I’m aware that members from my own Pack are trying to implicate me, but each incident has been dealt with swiftly. Anyone who has a problem with me can get out or die. The doors are open for them to leave.”

“For them to leave and for you to claim the Alpha position…is that your plan?”

“Haven’t I made my intentions clear enough? I want what’s mine and what I deserve according to the laws of ascension. If you take this bitch over the border, you know very well what that entails, don’t know?” He didn’t give Garrett a chance to respond. “You don’t come onto my territory and cherry pick what you want.”

“Nothing’s stopping me from ending you right now,” Garrett snarled. “I’d be in my best interests to do so.” He raised the gun.

Simon shoved Edward roughly into the ground. “Shoot him,” he ordered Charlie, the man with the gun.

Not even a second passed, before Charlie put a bullet in Edward’s side.

“No,” Autumn screamed.

Edward writhed on the ground for a moment before rolling over onto his hands and knees. Then he began to shift. At least, that’s what it looked like he was doing from Autumn’s position.

A full-grown wolf pounced out from the same spot where Edward once knelt. The wolf rushed the shooter and chaos ensued.

Garrett turned and growled at her, “Get out of here.”

She didn’t bother responding or resisting when she witnessed him dropping to his knees and tearing off his shirt.

Bones cracked and shifted, limbs lengthened and reformed, fur appeared where there was once cloth and skin. The second half of the transformation happened swiftly and rapidly, as if by magic. The only human on the field was Autumn and the dead man on the ground. But was he really human or was he wolf like the rest of them? Either way, he was dead.

Autumn held up her gun and shot a few rounds in the air in an attempt to stop the chaos. The wolves didn’t care. They were too busy trying to tear out each other’s throats out. While she was standing there, yelling for them to stop the fighting or she’d call the police, one of the wolves with auburn-colored fur came charging at her. At this point, she couldn’t tell who was who. She released a blood-curdling scream and raced in the other direction, but the wolf mowed her down.

Its claws were on the ground and she was between its legs. Its fangs were bared and he snapped and growled at her. Spit and sweat flew into her face and she shielded herself, trying to shove the wolf off of her. The animal was heavy as hell and had to have weighed at least two hundred pounds, maybe more.

She stretched her arms outward, trying to reach the gun that had fallen on the ground next to her. She was too far away to reach it and she scratched at the ground, only bringing up grass and dirt.

Suddenly, a load of weight lifted off of her and she saw blue skies and clouds again. When she regained her focus, she spotted the wolf that had been on top of her being tackled by another. The wolf who’d saved her had deep brown fur with hints of white at the throat. The eyes somehow reminded her of Garrett, and in that instant, she knew he’d saved her. Again.

As the wolves fought in the middle of the field, Autumn acted quickly. She raced back to the front of the car and yanked the door open. The keys were on the floor mat as if someone had dropped them while they were getting out. There was blood on the inside of the car. On the doorknob. On the steering wheel.

Autumn managed to get the keys in the ignition and started the engine. She slammed her foot on the gas and the car lurched forward. When she glanced in the rear view mirror, she spotted a wolf chasing the car. It was the wolf with the auburn colored fur who’d jumped her.

“Oh God, please.”
Don’t let it catch up to me.

But her plea wasn’t answered in that moment. These wolves were big, fast, and not like any other regular animal. She’d heard they could run up to speeds of sixty miles an hour. The loose gravel on the road made it difficult for the little sedan to catch any real traction or speed.

The wolf had caught up to the driver’s side window. Suddenly, it lunged upward at the car. She jolted to the right in an effort to prevent contact with its gaping jaws, but lost control of the wheel. The car jerked and flew off of the highway into a ditch. The impact was more painful than she anticipated. She bit down forcefully and tasted blood. Her blood. A ringing sound resonated in her head and her eardrums pulsed wildly. She was stuck in the car between the ditch and the doorframe. Her leg hurt like hell. Something was holding it down. Still, she wasn’t prepared for what was to come next. She felt the lick of a cold tongue on her forearm and then canines sinking deep into her flesh, causing the most excruciating pain ever.

“Ahhh,” she screamed, immediately jerking her arm away, but it was too late. The wolf had already bitten her.

A few gunshots rang out in the distance and then there was silence.

The next face she saw brought back a shred of hope. It was Garrett.

Her voice was too hoarse and dry to form words, her tongue felt too heavy to lift, and she was to weak to get up. She lifted her arm slowly and tried to reach out to him…