Lone Wolf Rising (Paranormal Romantic Thriller) (The Winters Series) (43 page)

"It’s your business."
  The smile on his face was genuine, the gold in his eyes almost sparkled. 

She squeezed his hand in hers and flashed him a dazzling smile before walking out to the dance floor with Gabriel. 
 

“You look tired.”  Rebecca
reached a hand to Gabe’s face as the wolf took control of her motor skills.

“I’ve been putting in some late hours trying to find out more about the guy you said was watching your house.”  He grinned warmly
as he pressed his cheek into her hand.  ‘
That feels wonderful.
’  He spoke softly in her mind.  She pulled her hand back quickly and scolded her wolf for being inappropriate.

Rebecca bit her lower lip.  The poor guy was running himself silly to make sure she was safe.  It was amazing.  “Any luck in find out who it
is?”  She asked, keeping her voice low, knowing his hearing would allow him to discern a whisper despite the loud music playing and the chatter and laughter from her classmates.

He leaned in, which was unnecessary
, but an obvious show of his interest in pursuing her.  "No.  Whoever this man is, he’s elusive.  The only things I’ve discovered is he’s real, he’s a wizard, and he’s skilled at masking and covering his tracks.  I’ve been doing this a long time, Becca, and I can promise you, very few things get past my tracking skills."

She shivered at the way his green eyes locked on hers.
  It was that simple to forget everyone else around her.  She could feel the intense emotions he stirred in her wolf, the emotions he stirred in her.  She was beginning to have a hard time recognizing where one started and the other left off.

"We need to get to the bottom of this."
  Rebecca chewed her lower lip.  "I don't want this wizard to hurt my family."

"Your family is a target for more supernatural beings then this guy.
  It’s why Tomas accepted you into his pack.  If I know my father, I think he hoped the witches’ magic would follow suit."  No one spoke the truth out loud, but there was a real possibility it did come with her transformation.  What that meant neither wanted to investigate at the moment.  It would hold for a while.  There were more pressing matters at hand. 

He placed a hand on Rebecca’s waist and pulled her closer, all the while controlling her dance steps and keeping them in time with the music.
  She was never a good dancer, but Gabriel made her look good.  "The key is to teach your family to defend themselves.  We can do that.  Lucky and I are good fighters.”  He grinned.  “In fact, we are well matched.  It was how we both became friends.”

“Oh, really?  Tell me.”  She was excited to hear the story. 

“Well, he came into the Refuge when I was working as a bus boy.  He was chasing a criminal to the Authority, a man named Blaze.  Blaze asked for sanctuary.  The Refuge staff was obligated to protect him.  As long as Blaze stayed in the sanctuary doors he was safe from everyone, including the Authority.  Lucky decided to try and provoke the mastermind out of the Refuge.  It resulted in a heated exchange which got them both thrown out.  Outside on the street Lucky almost lost his life to Blaze… he was a fire witch and he didn’t play fair.  I couldn’t watch the disaster happen without helping him.  Together we fought Blaze and defeated him but we both almost lost our lives.”  Gabriel took Rebecca’s hand and placed it on his waist on his left side.  She felt the burn scar under his shirt.  It ran up the length of his torso. 

She sucked in a breath.  For all the times she wrapped her arms around his waist she never noticed the scar.  She couldn’t see it, but the touch of it broke her heart as she imagined what it must have felt like to have your flesh on fire. 

‘
I hope that doesn’t disgust you, babe.
’  He spoke softly in her mind.  ‘
I have plenty more scars from other injuries as well.
’  

Rebecca shook her head, ‘
no, it breaks my heart every time I hear about the tragedies in your life.  You’ve seen so much cruelty for someone so young
.’

‘
We all have our own challenges we must face.  I believe we are not given anything we cannot handle though
.’  He grinned in her mind.  ‘
Unfortunately, I think you will see your own physical challenges in the years to come because of your choice to become a wolf.  We’re not known to be a gentle species.  But you will always have me there to help you through.
’

“Whatever comes my way for the choice I made I can live with.  What I can’t live with is if it ever hurt my family.  That is something that could break me.”  She whispered as they danced.

"You don't need anyone’s permission to teach your siblings to defend themselves."  His statement made her think.  He was right.  She was learning to fight, so could they.  So what if they didn’t have supernatural enhancements, at least they’d have some way to protect themselves if they were caught in a bad situation.

He spun her outward and grasped the tips of her fingers to pull her back in, all in time with the soft sounds of the music which was vibrating her very being.
  It was sensual and forbidden. 

"In a few moments we’ll be announcing your homecoming king and queen.
  Will the candidates please come to the stage?"  Vice Principle Frederick's voice interrupted the song playing and their dance.  Rebecca
look
ed around
to 
find Hunter but couldn't catch sight of him.

"Speaking of my siblings
, where’s
H
unter?"   They both scanned the room
and quickly discovered he was nowhere to be found.  "Sav
vy is about to be crowned queen.  He wouldn't want to
m
iss that."  Rebecca looked at Gabriel nervously.

Despite the
fac
t that the song was not over he laced his fingers in hers and pulled
her 
from the dance
floor.  "Hunter is missing
."  
He told Lucky as they passed him and
Lucky 
sprang into action.  He took Rebecca’s hand and Gabriel released the other.  Her wolf whimpered and Rebecca chastised her
appropriately
as they headed out the gym doors to
find 
Hunter. 
Natalia 
followed closely
behind
pe
ppering them with worried questions.

"Do you have his
sc
ent?"  Lucky asked.  

The worry
th
at filled Rebecca made her forget for just a moment that she would be able to smell wher
e Hunter went.  She closed her eyes and
focu
sed on Hunter's smell.  Frustration filled her when she realized, "he’s all over the place."
  Which made perfect sense since he was a student there.  "What good are these new enhancements when they can’t help me in a crisis?"

"Focus on the strongest trail."
  Gabriel urged, and then turned to Natalia.  "Do you have anything of his?"  Rebecca was barely aware of the crowd gathering.  Sundae and Persephone had joined them and helped Gabriel, Lucky, and Natalia form a barrier of protection around Rebecca as she tried to focus on the scent.

Natalia shook her head and mouthed the word
sorry
.

Rebecca closed her eyes again and focused on cinnamon and gingerbread, Hunter's scent.
  In her mind's eye she could begin to tell the difference in the trails, she even saw the trails in different colors.  Her wolf began eliminating the trails; blue, green, red, yellow, one by one they were dispersed until only purple remained.  "This way."  She led them down the hall, around a few corners and toward the wood shop classroom.  "What’s he doing here?"  She reached for the door and Gabriel stopped her. 

"Voices."
  He said in a hushed tone.  They both focused their hearing to what was happening on the other side of the doors.  The first voice was Hunter's and the second sounded like Ethan, the troll.

Wolves don't
have x-ray vision, but the hearing was so perfect she could close her eyes and see the scene play out in front of her. 

"And you’re sure this will make me stronger?"
  Hunter asked, doubt in his voice.

"Danny uses it himself.
  He wouldn't have recommended you to me if he didn’t trust that it would help you."  Ethan coaxed him gently into the sale. 

"Danny isn’t exactly trustworthy."

"He’s dating your sister; he isn’t going to do anything to jeopardize that relationship."
 
Rebecca heard a pop from a pill bottle being released as Ethan went on.  "Here, try the first one for free and you’ll see what I’m talking about."

The scent of blood carried on the air.
  Rebecca reacted instantly as she threw open the doors just as Hunter was putting the pill in his mouth.  Ethan and Hunter stumbled backwards.  Hunter with guilt in his eyes as he swallowed the pill, and Ethan with fear as he took note of Gabriel, Lucky, Natalia, Sundae, Persephone and Rebecca.  Rebecca was probably the scariest of the bunch.  She could feel anger boiling and the pressure was about to explode. 

Gabriel stepped in front of Rebecca and slammed Ethan against the wall.
  In this light Ethan’s dark hair looked bushy instead of the usually perfectly styled way he wore it.  His hands tried to loosen Gabriel's grip at his collar but found no success.  Gabriel growled, "Be thankful I got to you first." 

His snarled warning helped Rebecca to keep the anger pot from boiling over.
  She went to Hunter
inst
ead and checked him out.  "What di
d you give him?"  She asked as she noted the instantly dilated pupils
, shallow breathing, and racing pulse. 

Gabriel slammed Et
han against the
wall
in an effort to get a
respo
nse.  "Black death."

"You’re not telling me you
are bro
kering blood to humans, are
you 
Ethan?"  Lucky asked, his tone even.

"
Blo
od broker?"
  Rebecca asked; fear
sei
zing her and threatened to explode in anger.  "You gave my brother fairy blood?"

"
He wanted to be stronger, to play better football.  Black death will do that."

"How stupid can you be, giving a
child of the Winters family
dru
gs?"  Lucky
asked
, as he
approached 
Ethan.  There was a calmness about him that was scary, like the calm before the storm approached and ripped apart everything in its path.

"He
’s just another stupid human."  Ethan answered, he had no choice but to answer Lucky’s question.

"He is a
Winters,
you fool.  There has never been a child in that family born without the witch gene."  Lucky accented the name again.  

Ethan laughed.  "He isn’t
tha
t
kin
d of
W
inters.  I smell no witch on him."  Ethan exp
lained.

"That’s
beca
use
the
y’re spellbound."  Sundae spoke for the first time that night.  "You really are a stupid little troll Ethan."  She shook her head.

"What’s going to happen to him?"  Rebecca asked, panic filling her.  “Should we get him to a doctor?”

"I... I don't know.  If he’s a
w
itch it could have a different effect on him."  Ethan stated, fear finally dawning in his eyes. 

"Lucky, please get him out of here before I rip him to shreds and show him what a Winter
s really can do."  Rebecca could feel the wolf clawing at her skin, begging to get out, the protective instinct powerful.  Her fingernails grew before her eyes and speaking became difficult past the teeth that were sharpening in her mouth.  The change was pushing itself upon her.  ‘
NO
!’  She screamed at her wolf. 
‘This is my battle!’

‘It is also my job to protect you.’ 
The wolf countered, wanting to come out and play with Ethan’s head.  ‘
Let me show him what you can do.
’

‘
I said NO
!’  She pushed the wolf back down.  It took everything she had to keep her under control.  Her muscles ached from straining against the familiar tearing that came with the transformation.  Sweat coated her forehead as the mental battle took center stage in her mind.  ‘
I will let you know when it is okay to come out.
’  The wolf conceded reluctantly.  Retreating into the corner of her mind where it took up residence.

Rebecca
kept an eye on her brother who was flying high like a kite at the moment.  The only reason she didn’t let the wolf out was because she didn’t want him to see the alpha.  He was still too innocent, so she fought the instinct.  "It’s going to be okay Hunt.  I promise."  Rebecca’s smile was shaky, but the promise was a vow.  Nothing was going to happen to him, she’d make sure of it.