Wanted: Devils Point Wolves #3 (Mating Season Collection) (4 page)

“I think I have an idea where we can start looking.”

She jumped up from her chair. “Where?”

“Follow me.”

Unconcerned with whether she would follow him (she would), Diego headed toward the boathouse where the rentals were stored. With the master key on his key ring, he unlocked the old building and entered ahead of Allison.
 

“Where are we? I can’t see,” she whispered behind him.

Because he didn’t need any additional light to see the interior, he’d forgotten that little miss human didn’t have super vision.
 

“Just stay there at the entrance and don’t touch anything. I don’t want to turn the lights on and give away our location to anyone who might see that we’re this close.”

“You think we’re being watched?”
 

He grabbed one of the canoes and headed back to the door. “I’m almost certain, but I’m not taking any chances. That damned rogue has been elusive for too long. It’s time to find him and end this tonight.”

Allison sucked in a breath. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Look, Allison. I know you’re on some kind of mystery mission that you don’t want to talk about. But if the rogue is feral we have a bigger problem than you or whoever your boss is wanting some sort of revenge.”

The more he thought about what he’d learned so far, he leaned towards feral. Living alone too long without a pack could cause a wolf to go crazy. Although newbie could also explain the erratic behavior. Either way, he wasn’t human and therefore they needed to be on guard.
 

“You think he’s feral? What exactly does that… Uhm—why are you carrying a canoe?”

Out here in the moonlight she didn’t need extra light to see what he was up to. “I saw a fire out on Deadman’s Island and I’m going out there to check it out. Might be nothing, might be the elusive wolf. At least if we found him out there it would explain why he has continued to disappear on us.”

“Where is this Deadman’s Island?”

Diego pointed to the small circle of trees in the middle of the bay. “Right out there.”

“And you think that’s where the wolf is? How can you be sure?”

He shrugged. “I can’t. But someone is out there and shouldn’t be so I might as well check it out.”

“Fine. I’m going with you.”

He smiled. “Yeah, beautiful, you are. If I leave you here I’m sure you’ll take off and then where will I be?”
 

In deep and pining alone, he thought to himself.

“I’m not leaving Devils Point until I find the wolf I’m looking for.” She crossed her arms and cocked her hip.

“I’m still waiting on my answer on why this wolf is so important to you. There’s got to be a catch in all this.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Wait away.”

Despite the severity of the situation he let the smile come instead of fighting it. Sassy and beautiful. He liked it.
 

“Why don’t you grab a set of oars from the back of the door and we’ll get this show on the road.”

She peeked her head inside and grabbed two sets instead of one like he expected. Interesting.
 

“You always go this primitive? Isn’t there a boat with a motor we can use somewhere? This seems so twentieth century.”

He walked the canoe to the water and set it in. “Sure there are if you don’t mind announcing your arrival from a mile away. Kind of takes away the element of surprise.”

“Oh right. Super hearing, yes?”

He nodded. “Something like that.”

Diego grabbed the end of the boat and held it in place. “Go ahead and hop in. I got this.”

With little delay and smooth movements, Allison climbed into the boat and settled onto the front bench. He climbed in behind her and grabbed a set of the oars. She followed suit.
 

One minute they were captor and captive and next they were setting off on a little adventure as partners.

She had no trouble setting the pace as they paddled in the direction of the smaller island. “I take it you’ve been in a canoe before. You’re pretty handy with an oar.”

“Girl Scouts. It was the only extra curricular activity I was allowed to do growing up besides sports. My father wanted me to learn to be useful in the woods and my mother insisted I do it while being with other girls.”

“Only child?” he asked.

“Only girl.”

He nodded his head. “Makes sense. Fathers can be overprotective and overbearing.”

“Is that knowledge from experience?”
 

Diego thought about her question while watching the smooth strokes she made in the water. Strong, beautiful and feisty. The list of things he liked about her was getting longer and longer.
 

“I see it in the pack all the time. Girl pups are pretty rare, so when they do come along they are coddled and protected beyond necessity.”
 

“No children yourself?” she whispered the question, full knowing he would still hear it.
 

“No.” His answer was both gruff and abrupt. Hopefully she got the message he didn’t want to talk about it.
 

They continued the rest of the way in silence, each scanning the island as they got close and not seeing anything out of the ordinary.
 

The light he’d seen from the point had disappeared. Maybe it had been a trick of the moon shining on something colorful.
 

When they hit land she scrambled out of the canoe and he followed suit before lifting the canoe and stowing it inside the tree line so it wouldn’t be spotted.
 

“It’s really quiet here. It seems deserted,” she whispered.

“Too much so. The forest is rarely a silent place. It could be quiet because I’m here now or it might be something else.”

“Because you’re a wolf.”

It wasn’t a question but the tone of her statement made him uneasy. The word wolf didn’t come easy.
 

“You really hate us, don’t you?”

Her head whipped around and her widened eyes fixed on his. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say to that.”

“The truth,” he suggested.

“Well, the truth is I don’t know what to think anymore. You’re the first shifter I’ve ever encountered who wasn’t trying to kill me. Although I fully expected it when I was first tackled on the beach. You and your brothers were so angry.”

“Rightfully so. You shot Dante. It’s kind of hard to keep a level head when your brother narrowly escapes death.”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that if I wanted him dead he would be. I could have made that shot with my eyes closed and one arm tied behind my back.”

“So you keep saying.”

She threw her arms up in frustration and blew out a hard breath before she turned away and started up the beach. “Let’s just get this over with. The sooner we find no one out here the sooner we can leave.”

A loud snap sounded from in front of them.

“I don’t think we’re alone...”
 

Chapter Five

Allison fought the nerves taking flight in her stomach. If he was out there they should both be worried. She wasn’t sure what to expect but she had a hunch it wasn’t good. Which is why she’d come prepared.
 

The sounds ahead of them disappeared and she took off to follow them.
 

“Hey,” Diego called behind her.
 

She didn’t have time to stop and chat with him anymore. She had to find her brother. He was in danger from their family and these werewolves and she wasn’t about to let either faction kill him.

There had to be a way to save him.

She ran harder, ignoring the branches scraping at her arms and face as she single-mindedly followed the subtle signs of a trail left behind by someone moving fast. Broken branches, depressed leaves, and compacted soil all made it obvious someone had been here watching her and Diego come on the island.

Not that Diego was far behind her. She didn’t have a hope in hell of outrunning him, but if he followed from the rear then there was a chance she could get between her brother Brody and the wolf Diego.
 

A snarl not far in front of her brought her to a screeching halt. There was a very large tan wolf now standing in her path and his eyes glowed yellow while he continued to growl at her.
 

At her back, another growl was her only warning before the sound of bones popping and breaking filled her ears.
 

Afraid to take her eyes from the animal in front of her, she didn’t move.
 

“Brody?”

The animal took a step forward and she got a closer-than-she-ever-wanted-to look at sharp teeth barely contained under the wolf’s lips.
 

She held out her hands. “I’m not here to hurt you. But we need to—”

Before she finished her sentence the man/wolf behind her sailed over her head and landed gracefully on the forest floor in front of her.
 

“No!” she screamed

She’d officially lost the only advantage she had.

Teeth bared, the two animals circled each other. They were going to attack any second and probably kill each other before she could stop them. She had to do something.
 

Allison bent over and lifted her pant leg and grabbed the tiny gun from the holster still strapped to her calf. How it had been missed when she was tackled on the beach was nothing short of a miracle.
 

She aimed it toward the two wolves and stared down the sights. Now she only had to decide which one to shoot.
 

Before she could pick, they took the decision away from her when Diego attacked Brody in a blur of movement and vicious growls that scraped along her spine far worse than any nails on a chalkboard.
 

Fur flew as they wrestled each other to the ground and took turns biting at each other. Diego’s nearly all black fur stood out in contrast to the much lighter coat of Brody’s. If they weren’t trying to kill each other she might stand back and admire the beauty of the creatures in front of her.
 

She filed that strange thought away for further examination when there wasn’t a fight to the death going on in front of her. Werewolves were supposed to be her enemies, not subjects of her admiration.

Diego twisted in Brody’s grasp and came up under her brother’s throat. With sudden clarity she could see the vulnerable spot that Diego was after. She moved the gun to the left and sighted in on both of them. But the way they fought and moved it was really difficult to zone in on either of them.

Brody slashed outward, snagging his claws into the other wolf’s side. Diego scrambled backward, twisting his body to pry the razor sharp claws loose. But Brody knew how to fight as dirty as they came and he managed to keep hold of Diego by sinking his teeth into the wolf’s shoulder.
 

The snarling howls of both animals filled Allison’s mind with pain. They were both moving so fast it was hard to tell who was doing what to whom. The fight became a blur.

Then Diego grabbed her brother and jerked him away from his shoulder. That was when she saw the bright red sheen of blood coating one side of Brody.
 

With the horror of the situation staring her straight in the face she tightened her stance and aimed the gun. One way or another she had to stop this. She only hoped she hit the right one.
 

Her brother recovered and renewed his attack, knocking Diego across the small clearing and into the tree. With a ferocious growl he followed that up by launching himself on top of Diego’s wolf.
 

For Allison, instinct kicked in. She whipped her gun around, took a shallow breath and squeezed the trigger while looking straight down the sight. The gun went off and her arms jerked from the recoil.
 

Startled, both wolves turned her way. They scrambled apart and for a moment she thought she’d missed as they turned back to each other, both ready to finish the fight.
 

Then Brody stumbled. He turned and looked at her, howling in her direction. Diego followed suit.
 

Her brother sat down on his haunches, his howls growing weaker until they sounded more like human whimpers. Bones popped and muscles stretched. One minute he was the wolf and the next he was her beloved brother falling over on his side.
 

She rushed forward, dropping the gun. “Brody. Oh my God. It is you.”

“You shot me.”

“I had to do something. You were going to kill him.”

“So? That’s no reason to shoooot meeee.” The tranquilizer she’d shot him with was beginning to take hold.

“Don’t be such a baby about it. I think we have bigger issues.”

“Yeah, like who he is and how you know him,” a familiar voice growled behind him.

“Back off, mother fucker. I may look down for the count, but you haven’t seen anything yet.”