Heir To The Pack (The Cursed Pack Book 1) (10 page)

“Neither do I.” Dash
scowled. “Let’s get out of here. I want to reach the ranch well before dark.” He
gestured for Annie to sit in the front seat.

“I want you to watch the
side mirror,” he said. “Make sure nobody’s following us.”

Oh God. She shivered,
looking around the parking lot for threats.

As she turned, Annie met
Daisy’s gaze. What must her mother think of all this? It was a damn sight
scarier than her book club, the usual highlight of her week.

“It’s fine, dear,” she
said, smiling beatifically. “Jack and I are both due for a nap, anyhow, and
we’ll keep each other company. Won’t we, Jackie?”

“Okay, Grandma,” Jack
said, his head already resting against the side cushion of the new seat.

Dash drove onto the
freeway and silence reigned in the truck for some time.

Annie continued turning
the day’s events over in her mind, unable to forget the bomb or the fear she’d
felt. It left her drained. Flashes of the explosion appeared every time she
closed her eyes.

She checked her family in
the mirror on the back of her sun visor. Napping. “They’re both asleep.”

Dash nodded, one hand on
the steering wheel as he watched the road ahead.

They had some privacy, at last.
She had a chance to gather some information, fill in the gaps. The more she
knew, the less anxious she’d feel. “Can I ask you some questions?”

“Sure. It’ll pass the
time. It’s a pretty long drive.”

She tried to keep her tone
mild, even though she felt like screaming. “What was that all about, back at
the house? Is this really what your normal life is like?”

Dash shot a glance at her,
unreadable, and turned back to the road. “Second question first. No, it’s not. No
one has ever thrown a bomb at me or shot at me before. We take precautions
because there have always been some political tensions. This is different. A
change of leadership doesn’t happen often.”

She absorbed that. It
offered some relief, but it didn’t answer the question of why they had been
attacked. “Why is the leadership changing now?”

He paused before
answering, and when he did, his voice was gruff. “My father died.”

Annie’s stomach lurched. She’d
never known her own father. He’d died before she was born. Her grief came from
never having known him. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Was this very recent?”

“Two months ago. We knew
the Gathering was coming. I’ve been the
de
facto
Lycaon since, but this will formalize the succession.”

“Had he planned for you to
take over?”

Dash laughed, a short,
angry bark. “He thought he was immortal. We’re really tough, as a species, but
not truly immortal. I don’t think he planned on handing over the leadership to
me...any time soon.”

Annie mulled that over. She
didn’t want to pry, but her compulsive curiosity got the better of her. Had
someone killed his father—maybe the same enemies that chased them now? “How
did he die?”

Dash shook his head. “His
own stupidity. He got drunk, got in a bar fight, and tried to drive home. Ended
up in the river, at the bottom of a ravine. Even he wasn’t tough enough to
survive that.” He paused, and took a measured breath. “But how doesn’t really
matter, does it? He left no succession plan, no will, no wishes. By our law
since I’m his son, and dominant, I’m next in line for Lycaon. I just have to be
appointed.” He sighed and took another look at Annie.

His eyes had shadows
below, and his shoulders sagged. He looked exhausted. She wasn’t the only one
having a bad day. She reached out and took his free hand from where it rested
on his thigh, and squeezed it. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess we turned up at
the worst possible time.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he said,
forcefully. “I’m really happy to see you, and to meet Jack. We will solve this,
I promise. It’s the most important thing to me right now. All this political
bullshit is way, way down the list.” He squeezed her hand back so hard she
squeaked. His grip on her eased but he continued holding her hand, his long
fingers encasing hers.

When he touched her, it
was hard to concentrate. His skin was very warm, and the heat flowed up her
arm. She had to work hard to drag her mind back on to the subject at hand. “Back
at the house...who attacked us?”

“Could be another pack
wanting Jack to use as leverage. Another kidnapping attempt. Could be someone
trying to kill me before I get formally recognized as Lycaon. Could be someone
trying to kill you, or any of my pack, to put me off my game, to send a
message. It’s impossible to know. But I will find out, I assure you. And
whoever is behind this, and the other attack on my family, will pay.”

A shiver took her by the
shoulders and ran the length of her body. Even the warmth of his hand could not
counteract the chill. Her world depended on logic and science, and this
outbreak of dark, magical, and chaotic events undermined the very basis on
which she understood the universe. “I won’t let fear get to me,” she said, an
affirmation to dispel the demons. If she said it and thought it often enough,
it might even become true. She squeezed his hand.

“Good. I like that about
you.” Dash ran his thumb over the back of her fingers, sending warm vibrations
through her body. “You were going to ask me about the phone call from Gaelan.”

She was, before she got
distracted by his touch. “Yes.”

He glanced over his
shoulder. “Bill and Novie are still there, cleaning up. Their plan is to hide
until nightfall, change, and sneak out as wolves. Much easier to hide that way.
Besides, with a bit of luck anyone waiting for them will have to leave the
house at some point to get to the Gathering. G thought he might have been
followed, wasn’t sure, which is why we left without him.”

Annie remembered she was
supposed to be watching the side mirror. They had left the outskirts of town
and now drove through farmland, still on a divided highway. The road behind
them held only two vehicles she could see—a tractor-trailer in the slow
lane and a green minivan a hundred yards back.

“How would I know if
someone was following us?” This wasn’t anything like the dreadful action movies
her mother loved. In one of those, a red sports car would be coming up fast
behind them, with someone shooting out of the side window.

“Fair question.” Dash
scanned the rear view mirror. “I’m guessing that nobody would follow us in a
big truck, so that leaves one. Let’s find out.” Without touching the turn
signal, he abruptly swung the wheel and turned the Hummer down an exit they had
nearly passed.

Annie clutched at the
dashboard. “Oh my God.”

“Watch,” Dash said,
gesturing over his shoulder.

She chanced a glance in
the side mirror, in time to see the green van swaying as it, too, barely made
the exit. A cold sensation prickled the back of her neck. “Are they following
us?”

“Sure looks like it.” Annie
glanced back at him in time to see his face tightening into a hard smile. “We’ll
have to do something about that.”

They drove now on a rural
farm route, passing a white farmhouse with a huge old barn behind it. The road
led straight in front of them, and she didn’t see any side roads.

“How are we going to lose
them out here?”

“We’ll see,” Dash said. “I
have some ideas. First up, that van looks like it was made to go to soccer
practice, not off road.”

Annie’s stomach dropped. “Off
road?”

“Relax. This vehicle was
made to drive through war zones. I’m pretty sure it can cope with a hay field.”
Dash turned off into a rutted lane between crops, little more than a path.

She became instantly and
painfully aware of the Hummer’s military grade suspension. Every bump and
bounce transmitted itself through her spinal column. In the back seat, Jack
still slept, but her mom was sitting upright, watching every move.

“Where are we?” Daisy
said. She seemed surprisingly calm.

“I don’t know,” Dash said.
“A field somewhere. “ His knuckles gripped the wheel, whitening, as he checked
the rear view mirror. “We’ve got company.”
They hit a bump, making Annie’s teeth bang together, bringing tears to her eyes.

The lane continued down the
hill and made a sharp left at a line of woods. Dash steered them around the
corner, through the sudden right turn beyond, then slammed on the brakes. Annie
snapped forward against her seatbelt, and instantly turned to check her son.

Jack slept on. Of course,
if she’d been trying to read a journal paper the mere sound of the pages
turning would have been enough to rouse him.

The lane ended abruptly at
a riverbank. No ford here, either, but a muddy drop of a couple feet to the water
below, and a similar bank on the other side. A tire swing hung from a tree
above. There was a small bare area, enough to turn the truck around.

“Huh,” Dash said, peering
down at the water. “That’s a surprise.” He tapped the GPS. “River’s not on
here.”

“They’ll catch up to us any
minute,” Annie said. She snapped her mouth shut, embarrassed at the way her
voice cracked. Fear sped her heart, turned her belly, and trembled her fingers.
She turned back to look at Jack in the back seat. Could she hide him, somehow? “Should
we get out and run?”

“If I was on my own,
maybe. There’s no way the four of us can outrun a pack of angry werewolves.”

Or anything else. She
heard the unspoken words. Again, they were a liability to Dash. They’d brought
a good deal of trouble with them.

He slammed the truck into
reverse and put a hand on the back of her seat to brace himself while he spun
the wheel.

“Are you turning around?”

“I’m going to back up a little,
to give us some choices.”

She couldn’t help but
laugh, and it came out in a high pitched cackle. Hysterical.

“Do you want to drive or
shoot?” He turned to her, waiting, matter-of-fact.

She’d never even held a
gun. She’d never driven off road, but she could drive, even if the thought of
driving under gunfire turned her insides to liquid. “I’ll drive.”

“Quick.” He shoved his
seat back, gesturing at his lap. “Climb over. I’ll slide out.”

She stared at him, not
comprehending anything except the fact he was asking her to sit on his lap.

“Come on! They’ll be here
any minute.”

Her arms and legs trembled
as she climbed, fumbling, into his lap. For a flash his body was hot against
hers and then he was gone, in the passenger seat, grabbing the gun, winding
down the window. He watched the track, gun aimed, waiting.

“You know, for the first
time I’m glad I didn’t buy the MilSpec version of this truck, or we wouldn’t
have been able to do that little maneuver. I may come to regret it again
shortly.”

“The
what
now?” He could have been speaking Greek.

“Military Specification,”
Daisy piped up from the back seat.

“How do you know that?” Annie
wanted to turn and look at her, but she kept her gaze pinned to the path
through the field.

 
“You read enough books about Navy SEALs,
you pick up the lingo.”

“You read books about Navy
SEALs?” She’d thought her mom spent her time playing with Jack, knitting, and
going to church suppers. “What on earth could possibly motivate you to do that?”

“SEALs are hot.”

Oh
God.
Could this day get
any more surreal?

“Shush, please.”

Annie turned to Dash, who
had his gun at the ready, face set. “Sorry.”

“Let's focus.” He paused. “I
thought they’d be here by now. If I say go, Annie, you go. This truck will go
anywhere you point it. It’s virtually bomb-proof.”

“Okay.” She shivered. Had
he actually tested that?

“Someone’s coming.” Daisy
leaned forward between the seats. “Look!”

An old red farm truck
appeared around the corner in front of them. Dash lowered the gun out of sight.
“Might be the farmer,” he said. “We’re trespassing.”

The truck stopped,
blocking the track leading back to the road. One young, tanned man, wearing a
checked shirt, sat inside, watching them. He looked like a farmer. Annie took a
breath.

All was quiet. Until a
sound she’d heard many times in the movies—the sound of a gun being
cocked.

“Nobody move,” said a
voice from her left.

She glanced out of the
window. Another man, dark haired, dirty, and bedraggled, stood on the edge of
the wood, a double-barreled shotgun held low in front of him. She’d arrived on
the set of Deliverance.

He stood twenty feet or so
away and bared his yellow teeth in a snaggle-toothed smile. Predator. Werewolf.

“That’s no farmer,” she
said. “And he’s got a gun.”

The other man got out of
his truck at a leisurely pace, armed also with a shotgun. He began shouting,
and Dash cracked his window enough to hear.