Defying Pack Law (21 page)

Dana wanted to believe him, but a sense of
foreboding grew. Kody and John, as if sensing her dread, stuck
close to her as they walked in. The house was shrouded in silence.
Kody flicked on a switch and flooded the place with
light.

“
I’ll go check upstairs,” John
announced.

“
Maybe he’s outside getting wood,”
Kody said, his own tone implying he didn’t believe it.

Dana wandered into the cold kitchen and knew
Nathan was gone. Her stomach plummeted when she saw the white
envelope with her name slashed in blue ink across it sitting on the
counter. She grabbed it and smelled Nathan on the
parchment.

She opened it with trembling hands, her vision
blurring after the first sentence. Sobbing, she collapsed to the
floor, her heart breaking.

Footsteps came running, and as Kody pulled her
up into the shelter of his arms, John tugged the letter from her
hands and read it aloud.

Dana,

I can never express how sorry I am
for losing control like I did, but even worse was your
understanding. There is no excuse for my behavior. Jealousy has no
place in a pack and even less place in a mated group. By my
actions, I’ve proven myself unworthy. You deserve so much better.
At least you’ll find that with John and Kody. I felt through the
bond that you marked Kody, and I wanted to say I’m glad. I don’t
want you to ever be alone again, or to live a life on the
run.

I know you don’t have it in your
heart to make me leave like I should for my actions. So, I’m going
to leave of my own volition knowing it’s for the best, and in time
you will realize it too. As a parting gift and apology for my
actions, I’ve gone to challenge the rogue who held you captive. It
won’t erase what I’ve done to you, but I can at least give you
peace of mind and a home you can live in without fear. I love you,
Dana. Be happy.

Always yours, Nathan

“
Stupid fucking idiot,” she cursed
through her tears. “We have to go after him.”

“
Of course we will,” Kody murmured,
stroking her back as he held her shuddering body.

“
We’ll go after him,” John
corrected. “You will stay here where it’s safe.”

“
No. This is my fault. I have to go.
I have to make him see reason.”

John sighed. “I guess short of handcuffing you
to a bed, you aren’t going to listen, are you?”

Dana smiled at him tremulously. “If you ever
want sex again, you’ll let me come with you.”

Kody gasped in mock horror. “Darling, that’s
just cruel.”

“
Fine. You can come with us, but you
stay behind and keep out of trouble. We’ll do the fighting, and
once we’re done, you get the job of telling Nathan’s he’s an
idiot.”

And then once I’m done yelling at
him for scaring me to death, I am going to strip him naked and
prove how much he means to me.

* * * *

Nathan dropped his duffel bag by the
large oak in the clearing where, a lifetime ago, he’d made love to
Dana. It seemed only fitting to him that he make his stand in the
place where his life had changed and shaped him into the man who
now needed to escape. The irony of the situation didn’t escape
him.
She ran because she didn’t want to be
shared, and now it’s my turn to run because my jealousy couldn’t
handle it.

But he wouldn’t leave until he could assure
himself of her safety, and that meant clearing out the rogues. A
part of him screamed at him for stupidly coming to face them alone.
How many times had he drummed into his pack the need to not leave
the compound at night unless they were in large groups? What made
him think he alone could handle the menace? Sure, he possessed more
strength than his brothers of the fur, and he had the unique
ability to half shift into a beast, but still, he was only one wolf
to who knew how many. Not exactly great odds. Of course, at this
point, he also didn’t care if he lived or died.

How does that Bon Jovi song go that
Dana loved so much? Going down in a blaze of glory or
something?

He stripped his shirt off and laid it on his
bag. He flexed his muscles as he kicked off his shoes. His track
pants, he left on for now. Menacing threats and intimidation were
never as effective among men when naked with their pricks swinging
about.

Unless you’re hung like
Kody.

Nathan’s mind skittered as it avoided the
coming confrontation that might very well see him dead. But, he
wouldn’t back down. By not mobilizing all the packs, the Lycan
council had allowed these damned rogues too much power already. The
time had come to take back the woods. Maybe his death would serve
as wake-up call to the council that their raids on only the rogue
packs who brought attention to themselves by killing humans needed
to expand to include all rogues. Worry about their attitude,
though, would end up someone else’s problem. Lone wolves didn’t get
a say.

Enough stalling. Nathan drew in a breath and
called out, “I’m here, you rogue bastard. Come on and show
yourself. I can smell you and your lackeys.”

Silence hung over the forest, an unnatural
stillness that quieted even the insects that called the night their
own.

“
Don’t tell me you’re afraid to face
me? Is it only women you feel capable of attacking? Coward.” Nathan
imbued his disgust and disdain into that one word, a gauntlet
slapped down that demanded redress.

With the barest whisper of sound, from the
shadows stepped a half dozen forms. Naked and dirty, their feral
gazes appeared almost red in the darkness. Nathan didn’t allow
unease to touch him even as the evil and unnatural glow of their
eyes freaked him a bit.

A familiar stench stepped forward, one he
recognized from when he’d rescued Dana. Nathan’s lip pulled back in
a sneer as he beheld the pockmarked visage of the rogue leader. “If
it isn’t the weakling who preys on women himself.”

The rogue snarled. “You’re just jealous I
enjoyed her first.”

Nathan shook his head. “Even chained up, you
failed to do that. Nice try at riling me. Now are you going to
submit to your punishment like a wolf, or force me to put you down
like a rabid dog?”

With a scream of rage, the rogue’s skin burst
open, his limbs contorted, and his wolf bounded forth. Nathan
coldly watched and called forth his beast, his half shift that gave
him the cunning of man, but the strength and deadliness of his
wolf. He embraced the pain of his changing. He ran forward and
crashed into the rogue leader. They hit the ground rolling. Nathan
wrapped his hairy arm around the wolf’s neck and used his sharp
incisors to tear at its jugular. The hot spray and taste of blood
incited the bloodfever, a good thing because the rogue’s
compatriots had shifted and joined in on the fun.

Nathan fought like a wild animal, his rage
finally finding a release. And he used it well.

The leader managed to twist out of Nathan’s
grasp and slunk away on his belly, his blood still spraying in an
arc from the grievous wound Nathan had given him.

Not that Nathan really noticed, caught up in a
battle for survival. Snarls rang along with yelps. The scent of
carnage hung like a miasma in the air and coated him in a bloody
mist. As body after body slumped in death or unconsciousness,
Nathan began to believe he might just survive. He renewed his
efforts.

A chill breeze invaded the clearing, and at its
ghostly touch, the remaining wolves whimpered and backed away from
Nathan, until he stood alone. Nathan stood on the blood-matted
grass with his chest heaving, wondering at their retreat. He
growled at them to return and thumped his chest to antagonize
them.

The rogue leader, still slumped on the ground,
shifted back to his human shape and lay there gasping as his life
force continued to seep. He managed a wet chuckle, though. “The
master comes. Now you’re fucked.”

Nathan frowned.
Who is he talking
about?

Icy
tendrils wrapped around him, ghostly fingers that made him
shiver.
Nathan whirled, seeking the source of his unease in the
shadows, but saw nothing.

The
mental barrage
, when it hit, threw him to his knees, clutching his head.
Like hundreds of needles piercing his brain, the agony was
unbelievable. Nathan yelled at the pain and lost his grip on his
beast, reverting back to his man shape. The shards of agony receded
after an eternity, and he panted as he knelt.

“
Figures you’d be the one who destroyed my
minions.”

The
voice, cold and chilling
, made Nathan shudder, but worse was the feeling
he knew the speaker. Not one to cave to fear, he forced his gaze up
to see . . . death. Not death as in the grim reaper himself. Not
death as in a killing blow. Death in the form of a walking corpse,
an impossible abomination. His father.

“
Dad?” Nathan whispered the word,
his mind refusing to believe the face of the man leering above him
with the red eyes was the man who’d created and raised
him.

A familiar brow arched, along with the
sarcastic smile Nathan knew only too well. “Surprise,
son!”

“
But-But, you’re supposed to be
dead,” he stammered.

Nathan’s father, Roderick, held out his arms
expansively. “As you can see, hear, and smell, that’s not exactly
true.”

“
Impossible—”

The foot to his face caught Nathan by surprise,
and he fell back. Legs encased in jeans straddled him, and his
father laughed as he stared down at him. “Not impossible. Not if
you’re a vampire.”

Nathan’s brow creased. “Vampires aren’t
real.”

Roderick laughed again as he moved away and
Nathan sat up. “Funny, I used to think the same thing. It seems the
Lycan council has hidden a lot from the packs, vampires being only
the tip of the information iceberg.”

“
I don’t understand. How did you
escape the council’s custody and end up a vampire?”

Roderick’s brows arched in surprise. “Escape?
Who said anything about that? The Lycan council owed the vampire
coven, their queen, to be exact, for accidentally killing one of
her handmaidens. And who better to offer up in sacrifice than a man
slated for death?”

Nathan shook his head. “No, they wouldn’t do
that. They wouldn’t give one of us up to become a
monster.”

“
Nathan, Nathan, Nathan. How naïve
of you.” His father shook his head, the mockery on his face telling
Nathan without words he spoke true. “Of course, the council never
expected the vampire queen would actually manage to turn me. It was
previously considered impossible, although the queen kept trying.
It was she who was originally behind the Lycan abductions and
killings. She found a way to glamour the weak-minded wolves to do
her bidding. But, what she really wanted was a dead wolf of her
own. She finally succeeded with me. And while I will admit it was
beyond any horror you can imagine, the end result was quite worth
it.”

“
What happened after she changed
you?” Nathan asked, horrified yet fascinated in spite of himself at
the macabre tale.

“
Why, I killed her, of course.
Stupid bitch, she thought she could treat me like a pet.
Unfortunately, my ripping her into little pieces didn’t go over
well with the other vampires and placed quite the price on my head.
So now I am mustering an army, one to destroy the vampires who
think to keep me away from the throne that is rightfully
mine.”

Nathan gaped at his dead father in disbelief.
“You’re mad.”

“
Damned straight, I’m pissed,” his
father replied, misconstruing his words. “And because of you, I
keep having to rebuild my forces.”

Nathan grinned, a feral smile of triumph. “It
would seem your mind-controlled rogues are no match for a true
alpha and his pack. Is that why you lurk in the
shadows?”

Nathan was ready for the foot that came flying
his way and managed to turn his head to absorb the blow. He used
that moment to shift back into his beast—half man, half wolf—and he
lunged at his father, only to find his limbs frozen.

“
Ingrate. It’s not enough you take
my pack and send me to my death. You keep eliminating my pawns. I
won’t have it,” Roderick roared. “I might not be able to manipulate
the minds of the strong ones or enter the compound uninvited, but
you are my son. My blood runs in your veins. You are tied to me,
and as such, you will
obey.
”

The needles returned, and while Nathan couldn’t
control his limbs, his voice was free, and he screamed with the
pain of it.

“
Stop it!” Dana’s shrill cry made
his heart stop, but it was his father’s evil chuckle and not the
agony of his head that made the tears flow.

Chapter
Seventeen

It didn’t take long for John and Kody to
assemble the wolves in the pack to search. Nathan hadn’t taken a
vehicle, which meant they could track him. They set out on foot to
search for his trail. Well, Dana was on foot. The rest of the males
adopted their wolf shapes. Dana trusted them to smell anything
before it attacked. She had a different plan in mind.