Chasing Sam: Vegas Mates Book 1 (9 page)

Tess nodded.

His heart sank.
Did she really not want
him, either?
Doubt flooded his consciousness.

“
It’s not true.” His wolf assured him.
“You are her perfect match.”

I want to believe that.

“
She’s just scared, Chase.”

His inner conversation was interrupted when
Hallie spoke again. “That’s what Sam does best.”

The spiteful tone in Hallie’s voice made
Chase wonder if she resented her older sister. Doubts crossed his
mind again. Would Sam leave him, too? After all this was said and
done, was he just a means to an end? Was he just her escape
hatch?

“
Fucking stop thinking that! Focus on the
task at hand, or she won’t even have a choice.”

Chase growled at the mental kick in the ass,
but his wolf was right. His focus needed to be on the hunt and
figuring out how he was going to beat three formidable wolves by
himself.

Sam’s father handed her a glass flute filled
with a dark purple liquid. Servers appeared from nowhere and
dispensed champagne to himself, the other men, and Sam’s sisters.
Then he turned and faced the small group.

“Honored guests. I present my daughter,
Samantha Talia Demakis. She is my eldest daughter and heir to the
Demakis seat on the noble council. Since I have no sons, I am the
last generation of Demakis. One of your family names will take its
place and start a new line. Please, raise your glasses to honor
this change.”

Chase’s gaze locked with Sam’s father’s cold
stare.
Holy crap! Nobody said anything about a damn council
seat.

“Good luck, and may your wolves be your
strength. Whoever marks Samantha and returns with her from this
hunt will be her mate. No exceptions, no other rules. You are
hunting for keeps tonight.”

With a shove from her mother, a forlorn
Samantha downed her purple concoction. A quick grimace spoke to the
liquid’s unpleasant taste. Peter raised his champagne flute and
drank. Chase and the others followed suit. The champagne was dry,
and the carbonation irritated the inside of his mouth.

A server came around and retrieved all the
empty champagne flutes. Another appeared shortly with a tray of
four more glasses, filled with the same purple looking liquid Sam
had just downed. Chase took his from the young woman and held it up
to his nose. A faint hint of grape and the heavy scent of mint
assaulted his olfactory system. He pulled the flute back.

Everyone’s attention had turned back to Sam.
Her mother was pulling the long white satin robe from her
shoulders. Tresses of long wavy blonde hair fell midway down her
bare back. Firm upturned breasts, just the right size for his
hands, were revealed next. His erection pressed uncomfortably
against the zipper in his pants. The robe slipped down completely
and pooled at her feet. Sam’s torso was toned and muscular. Her
round ass flexed appealingly as she stepped away from the satin
fabric.

His wolf paced and growled at the sight of
her exquisite naked form, wanting to mark her right now and be done
with this whole ceremony. Chase shifted, uncomfortable with the
looks the other men were casting her way.

A pulse went through him when Sam shifted
down into her wolf form. She was a sandy color with dark streaks
echoing the colors of fall running the length of her back and tail.
So beautiful. I feel like I’m connected to her through something
already.

“
That was the pulse of magic you felt
when she shifted. She’s already begun bonding with you, probably
without even realizing,”
his wolf whispered.

Sam bounded away from the patio and
disappeared into the spotty tree line. The Sierra Nevada Mountains
rose in the distance. Inky blue-black sky twinkled with stars and
the nearly full moon cast an eerie glow on the treetops.

A howl carried from the forest, and Chase
steeled against his wolf’s desire to change instantly to follow.
Sam’s instincts had taken over, and she was calling for a mate. He
wasn’t the only one having difficulty with his wolf. The other
three men were also fidgeting excessively.

“Please drink your inhibitor. It will not
activate until you shift.”

Chase lifted the glass to his lips. The
overpowering scent of mint assailed his nostrils again. The purple
liquid was quite sour. He swallowed quickly and gave a grimace. The
same young server returned to take their glasses.

“Please be seated.” Sam’s father directed
them to the chairs set around a large fire pit. “Sam receives an
hour head start.”

***

Fucking tranquilizer! I can’t even see
straight.

The ground below her seemed to be rocking
like the sailboat she’d ridden in over the summer with a few
girlfriends from school. Not a pleasant feeling at all. She’d
already fallen on her face twice, tripping over her own furry feet.
Sam glanced around, but in her hazy state she couldn’t focus on the
path.

She wanted to head up the mountain so she
would have the advantage of higher ground and be able to see who
was approaching. But with her body being so out of whack from the
drugs, she couldn’t see. Everything was fuzzy and moving…and
rocking. Her stomach lurched and twisted while the bitter tang of
bile rose into her throat.

God! Could this be any harder?

“
We can do this Sam. One step at a
time.”

Sam walked carefully up an incline and put
one foot slowly in front of the next. A loud crunch in the brush a
dozen yards away caught her attention. The wind shifted and Sam
whined. A roar rumbled from the foliage.

Shit!

***

“
We need to get to our mate.”

Chase took a deep breath to try and calm his
anxious wolf. It was hard to do since he was just as worried. But
he couldn’t shift yet. He couldn’t chance being eliminated from the
hunt on some technicality he wasn’t familiar with. Peter Demakis
had been very clear that Sam receive an hour head start.

He glanced at the forest and then to the
fire in the center of the circle. It was strange to see so many
trees in Nevada, but they were close to the La Madre Mountains
where pine and fir trees flourished.

No one had spoken since they sat down.
Stress levels were up for everyone, and the tension was almost
painful. Even the three men, who had previously been civil among
themselves, were eyeing each other with distrust.

The wind had shifted, and Sam’s scent no
longer clung to the air around the patio. Chase wondered how far
she’d been able to get in her state. He was also trying to devise a
plan for fighting three wolves at the same time. These men had
already proved playing dirty was first in their game book.

“
We can beat them, Chase. It won’t be the
first time against multiple assailants.”

Yes, but it will be the first time with
multiple wolves.

Sam’s father rose from his seat. “The hour
has passed. Shift and begin.”

The four men stood, growling. Magic rippled
across the patio as they all shifted into their animal forms.

Chase bolted the second all four feet hit
the ground. He was halfway to the tree line before he heard the
snarls and snaps begin. They ran through the underbrush for several
minutes before coming across the strong scent of…

Shit! There’s a bear out here. What the fuck
is a bear doing in Nevada?

He paused to try and locate Sam’s scent when
a body slammed into him from the side, sending him flying to the
right a few yards. A quick roll righted his body. Moonlight
filtered through the treetops, and he saw two of the wolves,
Ricardo and Tomas, advancing slowly toward him. Henry padded by and
then took off, following Sam’s trail.

Chase whined. He couldn’t let that jackass
get to Sam first. Tomas hesitated when he noticed Henry trot past
them and continue. Chase took the opening and lunged. His teeth
sunk into Tomas’s front leg. The coppery taste of blood fueled his
wolf, and he heard the crunch of bone. Tomas yelped and snarled. He
felt the Brazilian wolf’s fangs slash his shoulders several times
before Tomas whined and submitted, forfeiting the fight.

He took a step back and woofed at the
injured male. Tomas snarled, but remained on the ground. Chase
glanced around for Ricardo, but the coward had fled down the
path.

Maybe he’ll take a bite out of Henry for
me.

He stretched out his sore shoulder and then
jumped into a loping run down the path. The two males left an easy
trail to follow. What worried him was Sam’s trail was there along
with the bear’s, too. His legs ate up the trail, pushing through
the pain in his shoulder and ribs. He flew from the tree line into
a large clearing and heard a painful yelp.

No! No! No! Please don’t be Sam.

He ran toward the sounds of growling. A roar
boomed from the other side of the clearing. A big grey wolf and a
giant brown grizzly bear came tearing out into the meadow. Chase
ducked to the ground to avoid being seen. The grey wolf was already
limping, and the bear was on top of him in seconds. A cry of pain
echoed across the field, and Chase cringed. There was nothing he
could do. If he revealed himself, the bear would probably give
chase and kill him as well. Though, he still couldn’t figure out
why there was a bear anywhere near Las Vegas. They just didn’t live
out here.

When Chase peered up again, the bear had
turned and was lumbering back the way it had come. Back toward
Sam!

“
She’s alive, Chase.”

His body shook, wanting to believe his wolf
but terrified he’d already lost her.

“
We would have felt her pain through the
connection if she’d been hurt.”

Right. Okay.

He padded carefully up to the lifeless body
of the grey wolf. His throat had been ripped out.
Two down, one
to go.
Henry was still out there somewhere unless the bear had
already eliminated him, too. These guys apparently didn’t know not
to tangle with a fucking bear.

The smell of blood and the ripped flesh
reminded him of his last few skirmishes in Afghanistan. He’d saved
a man in his unit during a raid by elongating his fangs in human
form and tearing another man’s throat out. It happened so fast.
Chase had reacted without thinking. The guy he saved had seen the
whole thing, but never mentioned it.

Jerry had gone home safely to his wife and
two kids. That was what was important.

The scent of the grizzly, stronger on the
dead wolf, pricked at his senses. A familiar magical scent coated
the ground, too.
It couldn’t be…

Chase leapt over Ricardo and plowed down the
forest path after the bear.

“
What are you going to do? You can’t
shift back yet? He won’t know it’s you.”

She can’t shift either. The potion hides the
magic. He won’t know.

“
Exactly. He won’t know!”

He won’t hurt her.

“
You can’t be sure it’s him.”

I am. Bears don’t live near Las Vegas, but
Scott does.

Chase shot through some dense underbrush and
skidded to a halt. The grizzly bear and a large brown wolf were
facing off. Henry’s lips were curled into an ugly snarl. The bear
was unaffected by the threat and swung a dinner-plate sized claw at
the wolf. The grizzly swung his gaze to meet Chase’s.

Recognize me, you big oaf. Come on.

He caught Sam’s scent and saw her lying at
the foot of a tree behind the bear. Behind Scott. He’d known Scott
O’Hearn for years. Bear or not, he would never hurt a female. The
man loved women—all women.

Henry thought Scott was distracted and
started circling around toward Sam. Chase growled and advanced.
Through his peripheral vision he saw Scott cock his head for a
moment before quickly sliding between Henry and Sam’s body.

He was protecting Sam!

Chase charged the other wolf. Henry whirled
at the last second and white-hot pain seared through his already
sore ribcage. He could smell his blood on Henry’s muzzle. Chase
yelped and leapt clear of Henry’s retaliating lunge.

They circled, watching each other for an
opening. It came. When Henry took a quick glance in Scott’s
direction, Chase lunged and his teeth tore through the other male’s
front shoulder. It wasn’t enough, and Henry retaliated, viciously
tearing a gash along the whole length of Chase’s back.
That was
really going to hurt later.

He twisted and rolled underneath Henry. His
mouth closed on a leg, and he bit down—hard. Henry yelped and
snarled, biting at Chase and kicking and scratching with his free
legs. His underbelly burned from Henry’s claws, but he closed his
eyes and hung on. He clamped down harder and finally heard the
sickening crunch of bone. In an instant the big brown wolf
surrendered and went limp.

Chase released the leg and then struggled to
stand. Everything hurt, but for damn sure he wasn’t going to let
Henry know. He raised his head and stood dominantly over Henry’s
lax form. Henry whined and scrambled to his feet. After he began
hobbling away, Chase turned to Scott and sighed, closing his eyes
for a just a moment. When he opened them again, Scott was charging
straight at him.

The booming of the bear’s roar shook his
exhausted form.
What the fuck!
He dropped to the ground and
Scott literally leapt over him. He heard a strangled whine and the
off-putting sound of tearing flesh. Henry was dead.

Magic rippled over the big brown bear and he
shifted into human form. Scott was massive, even in human form. All
bears were. But he measured in at a good six foot ten and close to
two hundred and eighty pounds of hard muscle. Nobody tangled with a
bear…except maybe another bear.

“Fucking hell, Chase! Are there more?”

Chase sat on his haunches and shook his
head, ears flapping from side to side. The movement yanked at his
open wounds, and he growled in pain.