Authors: Cynthia Shelly; Eden Laurenston

Howl for It (19 page)

BOOK: Howl for It

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She turned and headed for the door. Took two fast steps.

And was jerked back against her husband’s hard, muscled body. “You’re not leaving me,” he told her, his words whispered right into her ear. “You promised forever, remember?”

He’d obviously gone insane. Kayla jerked against him, but there was no give to the guy at all. She’d always known he was much stronger than he looked, but Gage’s arms wouldn’t budge no matter how much she twisted and shoved against him.

Then the hotel room door flew inward, driven by a powerful kick, and three men dressed in black, from toe to ski mask covered heads, burst into the room. They were all armed, and their weapons were pointed right at—

Me.

Shit. Kayla gulped and stopped struggling.

Gage had pulled her in front of him and he was using her as a human shield. His claws were back at her neck.
Again with that?
And a growl rumbled from his throat. Her husband was definitely showing the beast-like tendencies that he’d kept so carefully hidden for weeks.

He sure wasn’t so easygoing right then.

“Stand the hell down,” Gage ordered, voice cold and deadly, “or watch her die.”

The guy in front lifted his left hand immediately in a signal she knew meant the others should freeze. She couldn’t see the guy’s face, but she didn’t have to. She’d know Jonah anyplace. The tall build, the wiry strength. He was the lead on this mission, and the others would do whatever he commanded.

“Let her go,” Jonah said, and his own voice matched Gage’s in arctic chill. The perfect hunter. Cold and emotionless. Jonah hadn’t always been like that.

But then again, she hadn’t always been a killer, either. They’d both been more, before.

Before a night of blood and screams. Death and hell. And monsters.

“Let her go?” Gage repeated, sounding surprised. He actually laughed, then said, “I don’t think so,” as he began to back up—with her still clutched tightly against him. His slow, deliberate steps eased them across the room.

Oh, so
now
he was heading toward the window? Kayla kept her movements timed with his and made sure to use her body to shield him. At least he was fleeing now. Better late than never. He’d drop her before he made his exit. He’d be safe. She’d be—

Um, well, something.

Jonah took a step forward.

Gage’s hold tightened on her. “Move again,” he told the men in black, “and you’ll find yourself walking in her blood.”

Kayla’s breath froze in her lungs. Were the vicious words an idle threat or the real deal? In that moment, she wasn’t sure. Claws were at her throat. A shifter at her back. And guns waited in front of her.

Hardly the perfect morning-after that most brides experienced.

Jonah holstered his weapon. He gave a quick hand-motion to the two silent men behind him. They lowered their weapons.

“Why isn’t he dead?” Jonah asked her.

Did he really want her to go into that
now
?

Gage stopped the backward walk they were doing. He lifted his hand and slammed it into the window. Glass shattered and rained down around their feet.

“Because she loves me,” Gage told him, voice clear and loud. And definitely with a
duh
edge. “And that’s why she’s leaving you assholes behind and joining
me. ”

Kayla’s jaw dropped, but before she could speak, Gage spun her around and pulled her flush against his body.

“Put your arms around me,” he ordered with glinting eyes and a locked jaw. “And hold the hell on.”

She put her arms around him but shook her head. No, he couldn’t mean to take her with him. Not
through
the window. While he’d easily survive the fall and quickly heal from any broken bones, as a human, she didn’t have that luxury. A fall from the third floor could kill her.

Probably
would
kill her.

He brought his head in close to hers. His lips feathered over her cheek and he whispered, “Trust me, I’ll keep you safe.”

On a three-story fall? The hell, no, he—

Gage leapt through the window, holding her tight, and Kayla screamed.

Wind whipped past her.
I’m dying.
So this was the way she was going out. Better than getting slashed apart by a vamp or incinerated by a demon but—

They were on the ground. Gage’s knees had barely buckled. And . . . she was fine. Still held tightly in his arms.

No bruises. No cuts. Nothing.

Holy hell. They’d made it.

“Come on,” he muttered and put her on her feet. His hand still had a tight grip on her arm, and as he rushed forward, he pulled her behind him. Her boots crunched over the glass that had fallen from their window.

Cat shifters were supposed to be pretty freaking awesome at landing on their feet after jumps like that, but the wolf had shown her just how agile his beast could be.

“Kayla!”
Jonah’s scream had her turning back. He was leaning out of the window, and he’d jerked off his ski mask. His face was white. His eyes wild.

“I’m okay!” She yelled back to him. “I’m—”

Gage grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. Really, that was too much. No, the jump through the window had been
too
much. In a minute, she was gonna get pissed.

But she didn’t have a minute. Before she could do more than pound her fist into Gage’s back—
hard, leaving lots of bruises
—he tossed her inside an SUV.

Kayla could have jumped out. When he ran around to the driver’s side, she could have leapt for safety. If she’d wanted safety. But . . .

But she didn’t move.

And, technically, she
could
have gotten away from the guy when he tossed her over his shoulder. Her body was a lethal weapon, after all. Not much could subdue her.

But she hadn’t fought back too hard then.

She wasn’t fighting now, either.

Gage jumped behind the driver’s seat. He bent low and hot-wired the ride.
Sneaky and impressive.
She liked a man with skills. Then he gunned the engine as he shot that SUV out of the parking lot fast enough to make her head whip back.

They’d be pursued, she knew that. Lyle wouldn’t just let them vanish into the night.

No way would he do that. The real hunt . . . well, it was only getting started.

C
HAPTER
T
HREE

G
age was good at losing any tails who thought they were dumb enough to be able to track him.

This wasn��t his first life-or-death ball game. Not even close. So he raced through the city, cutting down streets, twisting the SUV through tight alleys, and taking all the shortcuts that most wouldn’t know about in Vegas.

He switched vehicles at a run-down gas station. When they ditched the SUV for a pickup, Kayla didn’t even try to run from him. Huh. She wasn’t talking, but she wasn’t running either. Was that a good sign?

He wasn’t sure quite what to make of it. Or her.

So he just kept heading toward the desert. Dust trailed behind them, and in his rearview mirror, he saw nothing but an open road.

No tail. No more hunters.

It looked as if they’d gotten away clean. For the moment.

Gage exhaled slowly and some of the battle-ready tension started to ease from him. The beast who’d wanted to claw his way to freedom stopped fighting the leash Gage had wrapped around the wolf ’s neck.

“You’re not just gonna . . . dump me in the desert, are you?” Ah, his wife finally spoke. Pity her words just pissed him off.

Is that who she thinks I am? What I am?
A killer. His hands clenched around the wheel. “I’ve got other plans for you.”

She took that in silence and the anger churned higher in him. He wanted Kayla to strike back at him. To yell. To explode. But she didn’t.

Kayla just sat there, looking too sexy and fuckable, with her hair mussed and her head turned away as she glanced out at the blurring terrain. Her profile gave no hint of her emotions, but she had to be feeling something. He was about to rip apart inside.

Stick to the plan. Stick. To. It.

He’d known all along that she had secrets. The fact that was she was a hunter—

“I let you escape.”

He laughed at her confession. Such bullshit. Did she even see it? “Sweetheart, I let myself escape.” That was why he’d booked a room on the third floor. That kind of jump was nothing to him. Always have an exit strategy—that was his motto.

Always.

He jerked the wheel to the right and barreled down the thin strip of road that most folks would never even notice, not the way it was nestled behind an old, run-down highway billboard.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Kayla stiffen. “Where are we going?” Now there was suspicion in her tone.

Because she realized that he wasn’t just blindly fleeing the city, scared of the big, old tough hunters.

Fuck that.
No, fuck them. He’d never been afraid of hunters, and he wouldn’t start now. He’d left Vegas for a reason.

In less time than it took to shift, he could have taken out every man in that hotel room. He hadn’t, though, because that wouldn’t have been part of his plan—and he did have a plan.

So now it was his turn to play the silent game. But the game didn’t last long. All too soon, they were pulling up next to the small, wooden cabin that lay nestled in the middle of freaking nowhere.

Before he’d even parked, two men strode toward them. One was tall, fair, with light hair. The other, darker, leaner, shadowed the blond’s movements. Neither man looked particularly happy.

What else was new?

Gage almost smiled. He would have, if he hadn’t still been so pissed off.
She’d betrayed him.

He jumped from the truck and slammed the door shut behind him.

The blond approached. “Thought you’d be here sooner,” Davis Black said, rubbing his chin as he surveyed the pack alpha.

“Um . . .” This came from the dark wolf. A grin lifted his lips as William “Billy” Tanner glanced over Gage’s shoulder and back at the truck. “Trouble with the missus?” The light hint of his native Mississippi drawl rolled beneath the shifter’s voice.

Gage slit his eyes. “Nothing I can’t handle.” The other members of the pack wouldn’t be making an appearance. That was the plan. Only his top two enforcers were supposed to meet him here.

The others would wait, until he needed them.

“Is everything set up?” Gage asked as his gaze swept the area. The place looked deserted. With its sagging roof and busted windows, the cabin seemed damn near uninhabitable. But appearances could be deceiving.

Why didn’t humans ever seem to truly understand that fact?

The truck door squeaked behind him. So Kayla was coming after him now?

Control.
He just had to hold on for a little longer. A few more minutes, and he’d have her in the cabin. They’d be alone. Just a few more—

He saw Billy’s nostrils flare. “Oh, man, she smells
good.
Like sex and—”

His control snapped and Gage slammed his fist into Billy’s jaw. Though he was stronger than a human, Billy wasn’t an alpha, and that blow had him stumbling back.

“Billy,” Gage barked out as the wolf howled inside of him, “don’t push me right now.” The thread of his control had been stripped raw.

The easygoing façade he’d worn for Kayla was gone. All that remained right then was animal instinct. He hadn’t realized just how wild he’d be after claiming Kayla.

A little matter of betrayal could break a guy.

But he didn’t want Billy sniffing around her. Pity he needed the guy, for the moment. A moment that wouldn’t last much longer if Billy kept pushing and eyeing Kayla like she was some kind of tasty meal.

Kayla’s feet crunched over the graveled drive. Gage turned and took in her wide eyes as she gazed down at Billy. What? Like this was the first time she’d seen a guy get decked? In her line of work, not likely. She’d probably decked more than her share of assholes. The lady packed a pretty good punch. She’d sure hit him a few good times back at the hotel.

“She doesn’t look like much of a hunter,” Davis said and he was still rubbing his chin. The guy always did that. His eyes swept over her. “Kinda small, don’t you think? A little weak.”

That
whipped her gaze off Billy and got it locked on the other wolf.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Gage said. Who knew that fact better than shifters?

Most folks—those who knew the truth about supernaturals, anyway—thought that shifters were born to deceive. A beast, wearing the skin of a man or woman. How did you get more deceptive than that?

They were good at lying. Tricking. And killing.

Kayla’s head turned toward him. Her eyes weren’t flashing her emotions. No, she had whatever emotions she was feeling masked too tightly.

Humans were good at deceit, too.

She kept walking until she was by his side. “You didn’t make any calls once we left the hotel.”

There hadn’t been a need. Gage shrugged and knew the gesture would say,
yeah, so?

He saw the understanding in her eyes and the flush of fury on her cheeks.
Her mask was fading.

“You really did know what I was,” Kayla snapped. “The whole time, you knew.”

Ah, but knowing was just the first part. Knowing and actually springing his trap—two whole different things.

But Gage let a cold smile lift his lips. He had to do the show right. “Hunters have been after my pack ever since the moment we took over this town.” And that’s what he’d done—taken over. Every paranormal in the city knew that Gage’s pack were the alpha dogs. They’d kicked demon butt, terrorized the vamps, and made sure that the fools knew who was dominating Sin City. It had been perfect.

Then the hunters had come along and started their dumbass little cat and mouse game. Supernaturals had been dying. Going missing.

He’d lost two wolves.

No more.

When members of his pack had fallen under the gun, Gage had known it was time to attack.

He just hadn’t realized part of his attack plan would be so sweet. At least, not until he’d met Kayla.

Now she was bound to him, body and soul, just as he was bound to her.

A shifter and a hunter. How insane.

He caught her hand and led her toward the cabin. For the first time, the lady dug in her heels and his jaw almost dropped.
Now?
Now she was gonna start fighting?

Not when they’d jumped from the window.

Not when they’d been in the hotel parking lot and she could have escaped.

Not even when they’d been at that one-stop gas station.

Now?

The timing was so perfect, he almost smiled.

Instead, he tightened his hold on her and hauled her closer. “You need me to carry you in?” He injected a note of menace in the words. He was rather proud of that low growl.

Her breath huffed out. “Maybe you’re forgetting, I
dropped
that knife, I—”

He heaved her over his shoulder. The lady was in one serious fighting mood now and she kicked and punched and,
ouch,
hell, yeah, he’d have bruises from that one.

Luckily, he healed fast.

She didn’t though, so he made sure his hold didn’t hurt her. Unbreakable, yes, but painful? Not to her.

Hurting her wasn’t part of the plan he’d crafted.

But he knew some pain couldn’t be avoided, no matter how hard he tried.

As they headed for the cabin, Billy rose from the ground and swiped away the blood that dripped from his nose.

Gage spared him one glance. “We gonna have a problem?” If they were, he was more than ready to kick ass. This, too, was part of the plan.

Kayla dug her nails into his back, and he almost shuddered. Did she know he liked that?

Later.

Billy shook his head. “No.”

“Good,” Gage almost purred the words. “Now go stand guard.”
Cause company will be coming.
Soon.

Davis dogged Gage’s steps as he made for the cabin. Kayla was yelling now, at the top of her very powerful lungs. Yells wouldn’t do her any good. The folks close enough to hear her weren’t exactly the helping sort.

“You sure this is a good idea?” Davis’s voice was low. “Maybe you should just kill her and dump her—”

Gage knew his lethal gaze had stopped the tumble of the guy’s words. Davis had always been too quick to kill. Gage had recognized that weakness, but he’d still taken the guy into the pack. He’d needed Davis’s strength, and he’d thought that the pack bond might temper the beast’s savagery.

Maybe I thought wrong.

Kayla stopped struggling. Even over her own screams, she would have heard the guy’s dark words. Figured.

“I’m not done with her yet,” Gage said, and that was all that he’d say to the enforcer. “Now guard the fucking perimeter, and make sure we don’t have any uninvited guests.”

A muscle jerked in Davis’s jaw, but he didn’t argue. Good. Gage took Kayla up the cabin steps and inside. He kicked the door closed and dropped her on the floor. Not too hard, but, she
had
pulled a knife on him.

Drop.
Her sweet ass slammed into the old, hard wood.

“This makes two times, wife . . .”—he said deliberately as he leaned his shoulders back against the doorframe—“that I’ve carried you over the threshold.”

She shoved the hair out of her eyes. Oh, yes, those golden eyes blazed with fury. “I’m not a sack of fucking potatoes!”

No, she wasn’t. He didn’t want to fuck potatoes.

Kayla leapt to her feet. “I
protected
you! Dumbass wolf! I. Protected. You!”

The anger in his own gut burned. Gage lunged forward, making sure he towered over her. “You set me up.”

“I—” She snapped her lips closed then gave a curt nod. “Fine, I did.”

He blinked at the easy admission. He hadn’t quite been expecting things to move so . . . fast.

“But . . .” Her chin tipped up. Every time she did that, he wanted to kiss her right on that stubborn, sexy chin. “But I didn’t go for your heart when I had the chance.”

Didn’t she? Why the hell did she think they were in this mess? “I saw the knife. Most wives don’t exactly go around bringing silver knives into bed with them.”

Her arms crossed over her chest. Did she huff? Sounded like it, and then she said, “I’m not most wives.”

No, she wasn’t. Gage stepped away from her and paced around the room. The place was pretty bare as far as furniture was concerned. An old, sagging bed. A wooden table. Two chairs. A dark brown refrigerator that hummed.

The cabin wasn’t a place of comforts. He used this area for only one reason—interrogation.

It was the perfect place to learn the truth from his enemies. And the desert was perfect for making unwanted bodies disappear.

BOOK: Howl for It

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