Love Bites (Bitten Book 4) (23 page)

She nodded and ran from the room, bending to scoop up Pepper on her way. I waited until I heard my bedroom door slam and the click of the lock before I sprinted out the back door. I didn’t make it far before I saw Chloe trotting up to me. Even though she wasn’t in human form, I could tell she was pissed, which could only mean the spy had gotten away.

“Fuck.”

She shifted smoothly, in mid-stride, and walked toward me. “They got away.”

“They?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t get close enough to determine if it was a male or female.”

“So only the one?” I asked.

“That I saw.”

I thrust my hands into my hair. “Shit.”

“That’s not the worst of it. I didn’t recognize the scent.”

Though Chloe was new to the pack, she’d met every member. Either the wolf wasn’t part of the MacIntire pack or they didn’t spend as much time in the community.

I yanked my shirt off. “Go into my house. Ricki’s in the master bedroom. I’m going to track these fuckers. Maybe I’ll recognize them.”

“Calder, you need someone to have your back—”

“I’m just going to track them,” I interrupted. “As much as I’d like to tear the fuckers apart, I have to know who they are and if there is anyone else involved. It’ll be easier to get the information if I follow and listen rather than capture and interrogate.”

Chloe studied me. “Well, damn. Maybe you’ll make a good alpha after all.”

I flipped her off and finished stripping out of my jeans. I tossed my clothes to her. “Carry those back for me.”

She nodded and headed toward my house, completely unconcerned with her nudity. God only knew what Ricki would say the next time I saw her since Chloe was going to be knocking on the bedroom door.

When she was out of sight, I fell to my hands and knees in the grass and shifted. Moving quickly, I backtracked to the ground beneath the dining room window. Somehow the scent was familiar, yet strange. It wasn’t one of my pack, but I wondered if I’d met them before. While Chloe and Lachlan had the ability to memorize someone’s scent immediately, I would often forget them after a few years.

I followed the trail through the woods until I emerged from the dense foliage by a gravel road about three miles from the edge of pack property. The spy had left the property in a car. One tire must have been in the soft dirt of the shoulder because there was a clear track.

I looked around a bit more, smelling for familiar wolves or vampires, hoping to find a clue to the identity of the spy. After another fifteen minutes, I knew I wasn’t going to find anything else, so I headed back into the woods and toward my house. I was certain that Ricki would have a lot of questions and Chloe and I needed to talk. Never before had the pack dealt with a situation like this, much less without a functioning alpha. While I was technically in charge, I knew I wasn’t prepared to handle this without Lachlan.

*     *     *

Ricki

When Calder told
me to hide in his bedroom, I didn’t hesitate. Whatever was happening, now was not the time to argue. I grabbed Pepper as I hurried upstairs. After I slammed the door behind me, I locked it. I’d teased Calder just a few days before about having a deadbolt on his bedroom door, but now I knew why. It was for events like this.

I heard the back door open and close, then nothing. Unfortunately, the bedroom was on the other side of the house, so I couldn’t look out to see what was happening. Instead, I carried Pepper to the bed and sat down on the side, listening for any sounds of an intruder. My muscles were tense with anxiety.

My cat butted my chin with her head, her rough tongue darting out to lick my neck. I cradled her closer, appreciative of the comfort. I couldn’t hear anything other than the sound of my breathing, shallow and quick, and the low purrs Pepper emitted every minute or so.

Finally, I heard the front door open and shut. Faint footsteps moved from the entrance to the stairs. They weren’t making any sort of effort to hide their presence, so I really hoped that meant they were friendly. I waited, my entire body wound tight and my lungs paralyzed, as the footsteps came up the stairs and straight to the bedroom door.

“Ricki, it’s Chloe. Open the door.”

I jumped to my feet and ran to the door. Flipping the locks, I yanked it open and froze. Chloe stood in the hall, completely naked, holding Calder’s clothes in her arms. I started to ask her what in the hell was going on when I realized I needed to keep my mouth shut. Shifters didn’t have hang-ups about nudity. She had probably changed and come straight here. Since she was carrying Calder’s clothes, he’d obviously changed as well.

I stepped back and let her come into the room. When she dumped the clothes on the bed, I realized that Calder’s jeans weren’t with them. I wondered where they were.

Though she seemed fine being bare assed, it was chilly both inside the house and out. “Do you want a t-shirt and some shorts?” I asked.

Grinning, Chloe nodded. “It’s cold in here.”

I put Pepper on the floor and went into the closet. I grabbed one of my baggier t-shirts and a pair of cotton shorts. Chloe was taller than me, so I hoped that they’d fit okay.

I tossed them to her. “Did you find the guy?”

She shook her head before she pulled the shirt over it. “No. Pissed me off too. That sneaky fucker was fast.”

I watched as she pulled the shorts on. “So what’s Calder doing?”

She shoved at her tangled blonde hair, tucking it behind her ears. “Whoever it was isn’t a pack member. The scent isn’t familiar to me so he’s going back over the trail to see if he recognizes the wolf.”

That made sense.

“Hey, can I borrow a rubber band or something?” Chloe asked, irritably brushing her hair away from her face again.

I chuckled. “Sure. I’ll even let you borrow my brush. Unless you have fleas…”

“Bitch,” she muttered as I went into the bathroom to grab my brush and a hair band.

“I heard that.”

“I meant for you too,” she quipped.

Despite my worry, I let loose a full belly laugh. Now that I was spending more time with Chloe, I was pretty sure we would be good friends. She reminded me a lot of Shannon, with her take-no-prisoners attitude and smart mouth. She would fit right in with my snarky, sassy group.

I handed her the brush and band. “So what now?”

I winced as she yanked the bristles through her hair. The sound alone was horrific, I couldn’t imagine what her scalp felt like.

“When Calder comes back, we have to figure out what we’re going to do to draw out the traitors in the pack. There has to be a few because there’s no way a strange wolf could get on pack property without help from a guard or two. They would have noticed them if they weren’t deliberately turning a blind eye.”

“Shit.”

Chloe finished pulling her hair into a ponytail and secured it with the band. “Yeah. I haven’t mentioned this to Calder yet, but I’m thinking that the attack on Lachlan and Belinda wasn’t meant to kill Lach, but to undermine him. After losing a mate, most wolves take months to recover. Some even years. Though Lach is strong, he’ll be struggling for a while longer. Calder will be a good alpha, but he’s not ready yet. He’s too young. Whoever is behind all this bullshit knows that.”

My eyes widened.

When she saw my face, Chloe shook her head. “Don’t take what I said the wrong way, Ricki. Calder is going to be an amazing alpha, but he needs some seasoning first. Lach is over one hundred years old. He was the pack beta for fifty years before he took over for Calder’s father. That’s just the way things are done.”

I nodded.

Suddenly, the front door flew open downstairs. In a blink of an eye, Chloe stood between me and the entrance to the bedroom, a loud snarl echoing throughout the house as she waited for the intruder to appear at the top of the stairs.

Calder’s voice carried up from downstairs. “It’s me!”

Chloe’s shoulders relaxed and she stepped to the side. I stared at her. “Were you going to protect me?”

She shrugged. “As pack enforcer, that’s my job.”

My eyes narrowed on her, but Calder bounded up the stairs. He was wearing his jeans, which appeased my curiosity about where they were. Chloe must have left them outside for him. That was a gesture I appreciated. Though I knew it wasn’t a big deal to either of them, Calder standing around naked in front of her made me uncomfortable. Obviously, I was going to have to get over that. The first full moon run was in just under two weeks and I would probably have to see a lot more penises than just my mate’s. And probably a lot of tits and ass too.

“Did you recognize them?” Chloe asked Calder.

He shook his head. “Their scent is familiar, but only vaguely. I may have only met them once or not been introduced to them, but I know for sure they’re not from our pack.”

Calder went to the bed and grabbed his shirt, tugging it over his head. Then he looked at Chloe. “We need to figure out what our next move will be.”

“There’s no one else you trust?” she asked incredulously.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “A few weeks ago, I could have listed ten wolves in this pack I would trust with my life, but today, there are three and two of them are in this room. Lach is the only other.”

Chloe glanced at me. “It’ll take all four of us to accomplish anything, and that’ll be a stretch.”

Calder shook his head. “No, Ricki won’t be a part of this.”

Chloe’s brows lifted in shock, but she didn’t say anything.

I, however, had plenty to say. “Excuse me?”

His jaw was hard as he looked at me. “You heard me.”

“You’re gonna need my help,” I insisted, my hands clenching into fists by my sides.

“No. You’re not ready. You can’t control your shifts or your strength. You’ll be a liability.”

His words hit me like a blow to the gut, taking away my ability to breath. First of all, I knew he had a point. I wasn’t ready to fight yet, but I could be if I had some training. Secondly, I hadn’t had much input in the changes that had occurred in my life over the last month. I’d never felt so out of control or furious.

“Fuck. You. Calder,” I spat the words at him. In that moment, I hated him. I hated what his presence had done to my life. I hated myself for being too weak. All the rage I felt mixed with self-loathing until I could swear I was choking on it.

Turning on my heel, I dashed down the stairs, literally tearing the clothes from my back. As soon as I hit the front porch, I shifted. For the first time since I was turned, it came smoothly, easily, and without pain. But I never noticed, because I leaped off the porch and ran, hell for leather, into the trees behind Calder’s house. There was only one thought on my mind; escape.

Ricki

A
s I tore
through the trees, I realized I should probably stop running away every time I got upset, but I came by the inclination honestly. My dad always ran when things got nasty, and it seemed I inherited that stupid trait.

I was just so angry at the unfairness of the situation. Things weren’t like they should be. I’d wanted Calder to turn me, but I hadn’t expected to have so much difficulty. Obviously, I hadn’t been realistic.

I pushed myself, lengthening my stride, until the ground was a blur coming up to meet me. I careened out of the trees, skidding to a stop next to the edge of a small lake, almost tumbling over the edge into the water. I’d never been here before.

Panting, I collapsed on my side. My heart thumped so hard against my ribs that my entire body shook with the force. I sucked in the crisp fall air, letting it cool me down. Now that my thoughts and body weren’t moving at lightning speed, I realized that I was the one who wasn’t handling the situation.

Getting angry because things weren’t the way I wanted them wouldn’t make it better. Maybe my life wasn’t going according to my original plan, but I had what I wanted. I was mated to Calder, turned, and learning how to fight.

I felt the tingling in my limbs that signaled the change. Rather than trying to control it, I embraced it. Within a few seconds, I was naked on the grass and I rolled onto my back, staring at the grey sky. It looked like rain was imminent and the wind was picking up.

“Everything okay?”

I shrieked and sat up, looking around. I had no idea that someone was nearby. I hadn’t heard, seen, or even smelled him.

Lachlan was leaning against a tree a few feet away, his knees drawn up in front of him, arms draped over them. How I missed him, I didn’t know. Yet another reason Calder was right in thinking I wasn’t equipped to help the pack.

I pulled my own knees up to my chest, keeping my back mostly turned to Lachlan. I was glad for my long hair, though it didn’t do much good with the wind blowing. Normally, I wasn’t an overly modest person, but the sensation of exposure went deep. Not just physical vulnerability but emotional nakedness as well.

“Not yet,” I mumbled.

I glanced over my shoulder at him, but he wasn’t even looking at me. Instead he was staring off into the distance, his hazel eyes a little lost. I looked at him, really looked at him, and realized that he had lost a tremendous amount of weight. The bones of his face stood out starkly beneath his pale skin. Dark shadows ringed his sunken eyes. The vibrant man I’d met over a month ago was nothing but a memory. In his place was a broken man with one foot in the grave. I certainly understood why Chloe was so concerned about him.