Half Wolf (22 page)

Chapter 26

K
aitlin was naked, gleaming with moisture, alive and in his arms. Because she was quiet, Michael feared she might be in shock.

She didn’t tremble, didn’t quake. Her body molded to his the way it had when he had stretched out over her on the bed. His hands remained motionless when the desire to run them over her lush bareness was all he could think about. Hunger for the secrets her body held returned with fervor.

Her hold on him was equally as tight.

“I thought I had lost you,” he whispered to her. “Hell, Kaitlin.”

Her voice was smooth, calm. “They will help us.”

Michael loosened his grip. Holding her at arm’s length, he searched Kaitlin’s white face. Sweat dampened her hair at her temples. Several auburn strands clung to her neck, hiding the remnants of the wound that had sent her into his arms in the first place.

Gray eyes showed no glint of the wildness he was feeling. Something had happened behind that curtain that had changed Kaitlin again. He saw determination in her expression, and an angularity to her cheeks that he hadn’t noticed before.

“What did you say?” he asked her.

“They will help us. They have agreed.”

“Great,” Devlin said from behind them. “And what will that cost?”

Kaitlin turned her head.

“There is always a cost for soliciting help from the Fey,” Devlin explained.

Michael said, “Such as?”

“The first-born son. A pretty daughter. The soul of your grandmother. Who the hell knows for sure? As I mentioned before, the Fey aren’t charming little beings prone to dishing out good deeds to anyone who asks.”

“Maybe not to humans,” Kaitlin said.

“Or half-breeds,” Devlin remarked. “So the stories go. In the Old World countries, the Fey were, and probably still are, feared.”

“Could be that they took her clothes as payment,” Rena suggested wryly when the silence grew too thick to cut through any other way.

As if to punctuate that statement, Rena unbuttoned her shirt, exposing her sports bra, and handed the shirt to Kaitlin. “I’d appreciate getting this back sometime. I don’t have time or the cash to hunt for a new wardrobe.”

Michael saw that Rena’s wryness and her heart didn’t go hand in hand. She’d been quick to offer what help she could to Kaitlin. In this case, Rena’s sarcasm disguised real concern for Kaitlin and what Kaitlin might have been through on the other side of that curtain. Devlin hadn’t painted a pretty picture of the Fey.

Devlin then handed Rena his shirt to cover herself with. When Devlin looked to Cade, Cade said, “Not going to happen. I gave Michael my best blue shirt earlier.”

The moment of awkwardness had passed. As Michael glanced to the portal one more time, his wits made a comeback. His hunger backed off. With Kaitlin safely on this side of the portal, it was time to go after Chavez.

It had been suggested, perhaps in a moment of anger, that all they had to do was chase Chavez’s beasts here, to this spot. He had already seen what damage the Fey could inflict, so if they were willing to help, burning down the building housing the fight club didn’t have to be the only option for getting at the werewolf monster maker.

“Time to move.” He barked the order as his mind whirled with ideas on how to accomplish the plan. “We have to find the beasts and keep them away from the school. We need to bring them here, one by one if need be...”

“And shove them in,” Rena said, finishing his thought.

He directed his next words to Kaitlin. “As a wolf, you were noticeable. Like this...” He smiled in spite of the dire situation they were in as she put on Rena’s shirt. “Like this, you’re equally as noticeable.”

Rena moved up. “Home first for more clothes, and then sprinting toward your relatives comes after. Deal, Kate?”

Kaitlin looked at him with eyes that were no longer so innocent. With his heart beating hard and fast in his chest over the need to let Kaitlin out of his sight again, Michael pressed his lips to her forehead. His mouth slipped to her ear.

“If this works,” he whispered to her, “I’ll be damned before letting them take you or any of the others as payment.”

Kaitlin severed the connection that always left them both breathless. Michael watched her go with Rena, stifling the shout that would draw her back. Kaitlin was loath to leave him. Her body language telegraphed her fear of what the future might bring.

But his help was needed elsewhere. Now that they had a plan that Kaitlin had placed herself in danger to secure, that plan demanded his full attention. He couldn’t afford to soften or appear to be torn. This was serious stuff, and dangerous. Chavez was a monster, and they had to keep innocent people away from him.

Could the Fey be trusted to honor a deal? He sure hoped so.

If they managed to get Chavez here and those portal gatekeepers didn’t like the taste of a real beast, Adam and Tory surely would.

And, Michael added in afterthought as he, Dev and Cade eyed the visiting pack...if the newest arrivals from Miami had silver bullets in those guns they carried, one good shot from the hand of an expert would end Chavez’s antics forever.

After that happened, he’d consider everyone in Miami his new best friends.

* * *

Rena laid a hand on Kaitlin’s shoulder, bringing her to a stop. “They’re here,” Rena said in a steady voice. “Werewolves,” she added, as if werewolves and Weres were two entirely different species. “Change of plans, Kate.”

Kaitlin followed Rena’s gaze to the front of her apartment building. Copying the she-wolf, she sniffed at the sultry breeze and immediately picked up the scent.

“It’s not like your scent,” she noted.

“Thank you for the compliment. If I smelled like that, I’d off myself and save everybody the trouble of doing it for me.” Rena pointed. “There are two of them. I guess monsters prefer to travel in pairs.”

“How did they find my apartment?”

“Wolf recognizes wolf. Things are easier that way.”

Kaitlin heard Rena’s silent message to the others in the pack as if the she-wolf had shouted it out loud. She also heard the wolfish yip of a reply.

“Those two can’t hear your message?”

“We have a closed frequency. All packs do,” Rena explained. “Those two idiots will detect us in a minute, so detouring to my place will have to do. We can’t take on these guys by ourselves no matter how much I’d like to.”

“I’m still the weakest link,” Kaitlin confessed.

“You have other talents.”

Kaitlin glanced sideways. “Were you human, Rena? Before—”

“Yep. Although I like to think of my former status as
rebel
.”

As they walked swiftly toward what she assumed would be Rena’s abode, Kaitlin couldn’t help being curious about the female beside her.

But trouble was in the air she breathed, and had been since she opened her eyes Friday night. While in human form, the two werewolves by her apartment building had the look of bikers and smelled like rotten fruit. Rena didn’t appear to be put off by that. Was confidence a trait that could be learned as a person adapted to the particular strengths of being Were?

As a baby wolf, was she actually stronger than she felt at the moment? Was the ability to shape-shift without a full moon, like Michael did, one of those talents Rena was referring to?

She’d told the Fey that she had accepted being a wolf but wondered if they had gleaned that she hadn’t been telling the whole truth.

She didn’t feel like a wolf, even when she shape-shifted. The feeling inside her was more like
theirs.
Devlin’s notorious Fey.

Right then, her wolf filled that hollow space, and yet the wind sang to her. Trees whispered their names to her as she passed. She silently recited those names.

“What if I’m not wolf enough?” she asked aloud without meaning to.

Rena slid her a glance. “Then you’re torturing Michael for nothing, and I won’t stand for that.”

“You love him.”

“Always have. Always will,” Rena admitted. “Then you came along.”

Kaitlin laid a hand on Rena’s arm to slow her. “I’m sorry.”

Rena stopped walking and faced Kaitlin. “For what? No one seems to be able to look past that pretty exterior of yours. Except maybe Dev, who despite his well-honed muscle, remembers his childhood stories too well. These guys can’t help themselves. I’m the only one immune to your charms.”

Kaitlin turned. Rena pulled her back. “Let me finish, Fey girl. I was about to add that even I have been swayed by your courage and your loyalty to a species you’ve only just met the hard way. I wasn’t nearly so ready to accept the fantastical implications of being a werewolf as you are. You have questions. I get that. You have doubts, like we all did. Still, I find your kindness inspiring. Shit, Kaitlin. Maybe I should be in love with you.”

Rena’s conspiratorial grin didn’t quite reach her eyes.

They moved off again. Kaitlin said, “Did Michael rescue you?”

“Is this the Inquisition? If so, the timing is really bad.”

Kaitlin winced.

“Cade did,” Rena said, picking up the pace. “It was Cade who first found me.”

The big blond Were who always had Michael’s back would have made a great mate for Rena, Kaitlin thought.

“You aren’t bonded to Cade?”

“I already had wolf blood in my system by the time Cade came into my life. Some guy at a party took a swipe at my throat when no one was looking, and the next full moon I got a big surprise.”

Kaitlin stared at Rena, but kept up with the she-wolf’s strides.

“Imprinting is different,” Rena continued. “It’s a look in the eyes that snaps a permanent connection in place. A desire to have another person, body and soul, that never eases and can’t be forgotten. We don’t have that. Cade brought me to Michael, and here I stayed. End of story.”

Rena had more to say. “You’ve hooked up with Michael and I envy you that. Who wouldn’t? But I’ve noticed that you don’t seem to be very happy about it.”

“I’m in love,” Kaitlin said, confessing her innermost thoughts.

“And?”

“I’m not like any of you.”

“Old story,” Rena said. “Heard it before.”

“I feel as though the term
wolf
can’t contain what I’ll turn out to be.”

Now Rena looked at her soberly, and the time for sharing confidences was over. Kaitlin was beginning to notice another kind of pull on her system that made her stomach tighten and her throat close up.

“Yeah,” Rena said, glancing up at the sky. “That’s what she does. That’s what you feel, whether or not you see her.”

“She?” Kaitlin choked out the word.

“Madam Moon. She waits in all her silver glory to direct the antics of all her children.”

Kaitlin closed her eyes briefly.

“You might be special, Kaitlin, but you’re not exempt. Tonight the moon will start to change Michael and change you, even if tomorrow is the full. What’s worse is that it will also affect the freaks that are hunting here, putting all of Clement at risk.”

“Then,” Kaitlin said, stiffening her spine and glancing over her shoulder, “we need to get rid of those two beasts behind us, and narrow the field.”

Rena shook her head. “Do you have any weapons on you? Of course you don’t. Have you been up against pure evil and lived to tell about it? Of—”

“Yes,” Kaitlin said, cutting Rena off. “Looking into the soul of pure evil is the reason I’m here.”

Rena went quiet for several seconds. Then she grabbed Kaitlin’s wrist and said, “Okay, Fey girl, I believe you. So, how fast can you run?”

As they circled back toward the street, Kaitlin heard Michael shouting on that special wolf frequency.
No!
he exclaimed, cursing under his breath like an angry sailor.
Damn it, Rena. Don’t chance it.

But it felt good to have an objective, a focus, and Kaitlin followed Rena, hoping she had this, and that they weren’t going to end up like lambs at the slaughter.

Chapter 27

W
aiting was tough. Waiting was hell. In Michael’s mind, he heard Kaitlin ask,
Are you looking for me, werewolf?
She wasn’t speaking to him. He knew who and what she had found.

It took all of his willpower to stay where he was in front of the portal. He couldn’t blow this operation, not now that a group of wolves had been sensed nearby. Both Kaitlin and Rena knew their plan. Both females were fast on their feet. Kaitlin could shift at will if needed and Rena was incredibly bold and strong.

Working against them was the raw power and brainwashing of the hyped-up rogue Weres. They’d be itching for a fight. With the full moon so close, the beasts’ blood would be boiling. The two Weres that were nearing him and the others now had that look—hungry, solicitous, itchy.

“We’re almost there,” Dylan said to him. “Whatever happens after this will flush Chavez out of hiding. He will have scented us in his den. We will have tainted it for him. He can’t afford to start over, with the moon showing up tomorrow. Out of necessity, he will come out of hiding.”

Dylan was right. All Weres had to either accept the moon when it was very near to full, or full, or go mad, even when madness didn’t sound like such a stretch for a character like Chavez. This need for the moon was also true for Lycans carrying the special gift of being able to shape-shift at will. When the moon showed up in all her silver glory, ultimately that moon was the master.

Michael’s head ached. His body ached, not in any way that could be helped without reaching out to Kaitlin.

Run, my lover
, he sent to her.
Run like the wind and pray that a Fey deal is a real one.

Dylan stepped out from under tree cover to confront the two battle-scarred henchmen. They stopped. Forgetting they were in human form, their lips drew back to show blemished human teeth.

Full of themselves, partially moon-whipped from the night that was still hours away, the two undercover beasts came after Dylan. Sensing Michael as well, they fixed their attention on both without realizing that two crazy fledgling werewolves against two pure-blooded Lycans was a no-win situation. Chavez had not taught these poor bastards a thing.

As the angry Weres drew closer, some of Dylan’s group closed in from the sidelines. Matt Wilson, Cameron Mitchell, Dana Delmonico. Perfect tributes to the best of their species. Proof that good guys could remain good guys after being on the wrong side of a raw deal.

Sensing this welcoming party and dissecting their rapidly fragmenting odds, the beasts veered left, catching sight of Tory in the distance. Michael didn’t have any idea where she’d been, but was relieved to see her now, and that she was all right.

In daylight the beautiful flame-haired Lycan she-wolf was a delicacy these bastards could not resist. Coveting that beauty and hungry, they ran toward her. Addled by finding a type of Were they were unfamiliar with, they followed when Tory led them away with a lure they obviously were stupid enough to fall for.

Everybody followed. Only Adam was missing in this parade, and Michael had a bad feeling about that. It seemed that members of Dylan’s pack often went off in their own direction without checking in, turning off their lines of communication. Did he blame Adam for wanting Chavez to himself, hoping to dish out some long-overdue retribution for throwing Adam in a fight ring?

He wanted to have Kaitlin beside him. When Weres loved, they loved with their heart and soul. Bonding was immediate. Love was furious. No dating, sharing chitchat and getting-to-know-you stuff was necessary. Humans had nothing like this. Hell, meeting his mate was like being hit over the head with a rock. His entire way of thinking had been rearranged.

And if Kaitlin was harmed in any way...any way at all... Michael hoped that Adam would step aside and allow Michael Hunter the opportunity to throttle Chavez with his bare hands.

* * *

Kaitlin easily kept pace with Rena as they raced through the park. Students scattered out of their way, unconcerned about a couple of runners out for some exercise. No one paid much attention to the runner who was only half-dressed. None of the few students in the distance gave a second look to the beasts giving chase, because those beasts were in man shape.

The portal wasn’t far from where they had started. Kaitlin could have found it with her eyes closed. The closer she got, the stronger it tugged on her mind. The thing was like a vacuum, sucking her closer, and from afar, it glittered in the sunlight like one of the stars it hid.

What do we do when we get there?
Rena messaged to her, Rena’s legs moving effortlessly as they covered ground.

Not sure.

They ran as though their lives depended on speed...which was true. She could probably go through that doorway, Kaitlin reasoned, and let the beasts follow her. Rena likely wouldn’t be welcome in any circumstance. They’d have to separate at the last minute and hope both of Chavez’s Weres would follow her through the portal.

She perceived sounds on the periphery. Rena heard them, too, and tossed her a glance. More than sounds. She felt Michael getting closer. Michael had others with him.

She ran the last bit of distance with her heart bursting in her chest. This portal was the answer to their prayers, in part, if the Fey honored their word. What the fate would be for Chavez’s beasts wasn’t in the realm of her imagination. Had she made a deal with the devil in order to save this pack from harm?

The portal wavered, then cleared in her vision. Behind her, the two beasts growled with human throats. They were heading into the unknown. If this worked, it would be a miracle.

“Now!” she shouted to Rena. “Turn now!”

Rena obeyed, throwing herself to the right three steps from the curtain. Kaitlin bounded through the opening with her eyes wide-open, hearing Michael’s voice echo inside her head.

Come back to me, Kate.

* * *

Michael ran as fast as his legs would allow, and still couldn’t reach Tory. Dylan and his mate ran beside him, sober-faced and determined to get the job done.

He began to sense the portal because Kaitlin had reached it. There wasn’t far for him to go. He knew this area of the park like he knew the back of his hand. He knew Kaitlin enough to realize she would forfeit her life if helping him demanded it.

Michael’s message to her was heartfelt.
Once you’re through that portal, circle back. Do not hesitate.

He didn’t realize he hadn’t blocked that message until Dylan’s mate, Dana, glanced his way. Of all the Weres here, he figured that Dana would understand. She had mated with a Lycan and had the bonding drill down.

The portal was just ahead. Michael saw Kaitlin go through. He saw Rena duck aside. As soon as they disappeared from sight, Tory reached the curtain. But at the last second, merely a breath away from possible death, Tory was yanked back from the wavering Fey doorway by a strong female hand. Rena’s.

Tory stumbled to the side as the rogue Weres tried to slow. They weren’t as agile as they should have been, and weren’t able to stop in time. Both of the rogues skidded into the veil and disappeared.

Michael and the rest of the wolves pulled up, staring at the curtain. He saw nothing beyond the almost invisible glimmer between the trees. There was no sign of Chavez’s beasts.

And there was no sign of Kaitlin.

The curtain’s motion stilled. No one on this side of it moved. Michael couldn’t draw in a decent breath. His heart was pounding hard.

He waited for what seemed like a century. The others waited with him, without speaking. But Kaitlin didn’t return.

“I’m going in there,” he announced.

“That’s not wise,” Dylan said. “They might mistake you for one of those rogues. You’re needed here.”

Tory, staring at the onyx curtain, spoke softly to him. “She will return, Michael. Let her do so in her own time. Allow her access to what she is.”

“We have to go now,” Dylan said. “We have to find Adam. We have to find Chavez and could use your help, Michael. I know you’ll want to stay here, and I can’t ask you to accompany us, but this is your area. Knowledge of it could mean the difference between life and death for more innocent people.”

“Kaitlin will return,” Rena seconded, adamant about that statement.

He had to go, had to leave the last place he’d seen his lover, his soul mate, his very special little wolf. He had to help save more innocent people from the clutches of a madman whose gang had taken a hit. There was a possibility that Chavez had no henchmen left...until tonight, when foaming at the mouth for revenge, Chavez might start all over again in claiming his next victims.

Michael actually felt his heart break. His soul was being torn from him piece by piece and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

I owe them this, Kate. I’m obligated to help. Don’t you see how much I hate having to leave you here? Find me. I will leave a trail of messages until you do. Find me, Kaitlin, as soon as you can. Don’t prove that I’m as weak as I feel.

Turning from the portal that might have become as treacherous a threat to his future, Michael resigned himself to fulfilling his part of the deal he’d made with Dylan.

Find me
, he repeated, sending that message to Kaitlin over and over as he hustled back toward the college with the rest of the Weres, who also had a quest to fulfill.

Find me.