Wanted: Devils Point Wolves #3 (Mating Season Collection) (5 page)

“Shut up, Brody.” And of course he didn’t listen.

“You touch one hair on my sister’s head and I’ll kill you twice just for the fun of it.” Her brother’s threat seemed menacing until he gave her one last look and promptly passed out.
 

“So… Aren’t we the little secret keeper?” Diego appeared in her peripheral vision as naked as her brother. She kept her eyes forward doing her damndest not to take a peek.

“Knew it was something.” He bent down and picked up the gun, nudging Brody with his foot. “Clever girl keeping this hidden.”

“Leave him alone. You’ve done enough, don’t you think?”

“Me?” he asked. “I was fighting to save you.”

Allison guffawed. “I don’t need your saving. I just needed to find my brother and keep him alive.”

“Alive for what? What are you planning to do with him now that you have him? It’s time for some answers, Allison.”

Maybe it was, but she still wasn’t sure whether she could trust him or not. Her gut said yes, and her head played devil’s advocate. Either way it was driving her crazy.
 

“I barely know you, so how can I trust you with anything, let alone this?” She waved her hand over her brother. “I’ve spent my entire life believing one thing.” She looked up at him. “One thing. Don’t you get that? I have to either do what I’m told and kill you both or…”

“Or what?” he asked, crouching down next to her.

Tears she would never shed pooled in her eyes. “Become the hunted,” she whispered.
 

Chapter Six

Diego grabbed an extra pair of pants from a nearby backpack he found as part of Brody’s camp and slid them over his legs and fastened them at his hips. They were a little big, making the fabric ride low. Not that he cared. His body vibrated with fury over the situation between Allison and her brother. It pissed him off more than the fact the hunters and their distorted ways had managed to infect his island. Two of them on Devils Point felt like overkill. Even if one of them was now a wolf.

They were in a Catch 22 situation here and they all knew it. If she left, she’d come back eventually with more of her kind.
 

He also had the situation with the brother. He looked and acted like a newly turned wolf on the verge of losing his mind. There was a high probability the pack would have to put him down for the safety of himself and others.
 

This was the danger of turning humans. It didn’t always take. Especially without a mate bond.
 

And then there was his third problem. Allison was his fated mate. The hokey bullshit that he’d “just know” was true and that annoyed him to no end. That meant the wolf inside him would literally do anything to keep her close.
 

Anything.
 

The man on the other hand… Diego held his head in his hands and took a long, slow breath. Years ago he’d tried to bond with a shifter female. It didn’t take. She’d turned her back on him and left town leaving him with nothing but a Dear John letter to show for his time.
 

His jaw hardened. That betrayal to him and the pack still burned deep. And it served a purpose. Reminding him that some bonds made him weak. Something he refused to be again.
 

Diego back tracked to the mouth of the clearing and searched through the brush until he found remnants of his pants. He dug into the pocket and pulled out his still intact cell phone. He turned it on and checked for signal. Weak. But maybe just enough to get a text message through.
 

He began tapping out a message to Creed.
 

“What are you doing?” Allison asked.
 

“Calling for a pick up.”

“Why? You and I can handle this. I don’t think it’s a good idea for others to know what’s happening.”

He frowned at her. “That’s where you’re wrong. Your brother is dangerous.”

“What part of
I need to keep him alive
did you not get?”

This time her feist did not humor him. “I got it just fine. Now you need to let me do what I do best. You don’t know shifters as well as you think you do, remember? My first idea is not to kill him, but to try and save him. He was bitten and the least we can do is try to get him through the transition.”

She sat stunned, not responding.

“In order to do that I’ve got to get him somewhere safe where he can’t hurt you, me or anyone else. Got it?”

The resignation that crossed her face tore at his defenses. He didn’t want to make his mate unhappy. Only do what was best for her without compromising their safety.
 

He cupped her cheek, savoring the soft skin he wanted to explore. “I give you my word, nothing will happen to him you don’t know about. Creed and Sawyer will keep us apprised of his progress.”
 

For a moment she turned her face into his hand and pressed her nose to his calloused skin. “What about me? What am I supposed to do during all this?”

“You’ll stay with me.”

She pulled back. “Uhm...I don’t know about that. I shot your brother, remember? Your pack is not going to embrace me.”

He tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Whatever agreement you and I come to, the pack will go along with. You can’t worry about them right now.”

“What’s the catch? From my experience if it seems too good to be true then it is.”

“You’re too young to be this jaded.”

“Well, you already told me you wanted to have sex with me. Is that what this is about? And I’m not that young.”

“You worried?” he asked. “I am irresistible after all.”

That got a smile from her and it went straight to his cock. Wanting to get inside her was no joke. But he wasn’t going to coerce her. Although some gentle nudges or using all of the seduction tools in his arsenal wasn’t out of the question. “Relax, Allison. Whatever happens or doesn’t happen is up to you. I’m not going to force you into anything.”

“What if I want to leave?”

“You don’t.”

“But what if I did? What then?”

Diego gripped her shoulders and hauled her to her feet. “Stop grilling me on things with no relevance. You want to be close to your brother and I want you close to me. There’s nothing else to discuss.”

“Do you have a thing for being in charge that I need to know about?” The words were serious but her eyes were full of mischief when she said them. It made him groan.
 

“I’m a shifter. So staying in my home is not going to be like hanging out with some human. I won’t be coy or play games, I’ll tell you what I want. Then you can decide if you want it too. You can disagree with me, but expect to be worn down until you get my point.”

“Are you trying to convince me to stay or go?” she asked.
 

He pulled her close and tipped her head back with his finger at her chin. “Most importantly, and this isn’t going to change, I do still plan to fuck you.”

Her reaction to his intentions made her mouth drop open again and he took advantage of the opportunity. He leaned forward and captured her mouth with his, his hands moving to cradle the sides of her face.
 

The initial touch was light, but after a stunned moment Diego deepened the kiss, turning it desperate for them both.

Chapter Seven

Too shocked to think it through, Allison allowed him to take control by opening to him. Diego’s mouth was hot, making her fall all the easier. She welcomed the firm strokes of his tongue as he tasted her and she tasted him back.
 

When the world began to spin, she grabbed his shoulders and held on. She knew he was spectacular but she hadn’t counted on the hard muscles stretched beneath silky skin.
 

Heat rushed through her before she could stop it, where it quickly thawed her resistance to a man supposedly forbidden to her. He didn’t taste forbidden. He tasted decadent. Better than chocolate.
 

Even better was the way Diego held her. His grip was tight, harder than necessary and yet the possessive nature made her flower against him. The heady sensations went straight to her head, making his demanding touch far better than any before him.
 

The wild kiss continued as he pulled her tight, ensuring they were plastered together from shoulder to hip. At that point her brain shut down as need and desire began to consume her.
 

Every inch of her body heated to the point she craved more. That’s all she could think of.
More
. It couldn’t stop.

As if drawing the emotions out of her, many of her worries floated to the top. The pain of being captured by a madman never far from the surface came first.
 

Diego growled, sliding his hands down to her buttocks and squeezing at the same time pulling her closer. Taking that memory from her.

The worry for her brother came next as did the fear of what their family might do to them if she didn’t bring him home—dead or alive. She jerked in his arms unable to understand how or why this was happening.
 

He ignored her and held her tight, giving her some much needed comfort in the safe harbor of his arms. For a moment she believed that maybe everything would work out. Fate hadn’t been kind in the past so maybe it was finally time for something good to happen.
 

Keep me safe.

The words floated through her mind before she could stop them. Diego broke the kiss and stared down at her.
 

“Always,” he said.

She was breathing hard, making it difficult to understand what he said. But there was something about him that made her accept him. He needed her as much as she needed him. Her instincts screamed this at her. By now her body was shaking and he cupped the back of her head and leaned her into his shoulder.
 

“It’s okay, beautiful. It’s nature. It wants what it wants. Come home with me. Let me keep you safe while we wait to see if Creed and Sawyer can help your brother.”

Part of her still worried about Brody’s safety, but something deeper told her to go with this man. That it was the right decision.
 

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go with you. Brody will need me nearby so he doesn’t have to worry.”

Diego kissed her again, his tongue breaching her mouth once more.
 

She sighed, sinking into him. This would be okay. It was only for a little while. There would be plenty of time to figure this out later.

Chapter Eight

Shortly after Creed and Sawyer arrived to scoop up her brother, Diego took Allison back to his house. While everything was fairly quiet he scented the beginnings of breakfast.

“Smells like someone is cooking. You hungry?”

She nodded.
 

“Good. Let me get you settled and then I’ll see about getting you fed. He led her down to the finished basement and opened the guest room door. Although calling this the guest room was quite a stretch. Inside there was a small bed made from steel with a thin mattress, an even tinier bathroom in the corner that could be closed off but not locked, and a television built into the wall behind Plexiglas to keep it safe from any angry shifters they needed to house.

“Why does this look like a prison cell?” she asked.

“It’s a multipurpose room. Whatever the occasion, it works.”

“And does this occasion include locking me in here?”

“I wouldn’t say lock you in per se. It’s just that the door automatically locks when you close it. But no worries, I’m going straight up stairs to get your food and right back down here again. I’m not leaving you.”

She looked skeptical, her raised eyebrows saying it all.
 

He backed away quickly before she had time to get defensive and start a debate. “Promise, I’ll be right back.” He slipped out the door and closed it firmly behind him. A little to keep her in and a lot to keep others out. Until he had time to explain the situation to his pack, it wouldn’t do anyone good to find her down here.

He took the stairs three steps at a time until he entered the main dining/kitchen/living room space. There he found Faith, Damien, Rebel and Dante all gathered around the table in his dining room.
 

The table was covered with every kind of breakfast food known to man and his stomach growled. He eyed the piles of meat and contemplated where he would start. Ultimately, he decided a lot of everything. Whatever Allison didn’t eat, he’d finish for her.
 

“I hope you plan to save some for me,” he said. He hopped into one of the empty chairs and grabbed a plate. After picking out about ten slices of bacon, he dug into the pile of eggs and glanced up to find them all staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Damien started. "Last time we saw you, you were walking away with our captured hunter and no one has seen you since. Where is she?"

"In the basement. I've been interrogating her." He stuffed two pieces of sausage in his mouth and reached for the pancakes.