Werewolves in Love 2: Yours, Mine and Howls (35 page)

Silence greeted this announcement.

“What did you do that for?” Cade asked quietly.

“I figured we could use his help, and he owes us. Fae can move faster than wolves, you know. So I thought he could keep up with them until we got there.” He paused for a moment before continuing thoughtfully, “I don’t know if he could fight Stapkis, though.”

“No, he couldn’t,” MacSorley snarled. “They can move faster than wolves, and they have their talents, but high Fae are no stronger than humans. The really old purebreds like Adnar are usually weaklings. He’d be able to make Stapkis believe what he wanted him to. That’s it.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know that, would I? Since you’ve never told me about any of this,
Uncle
Dec.”

“If he tells Rufus to let the girls go, like he told the cops to release Dylan, Rufus would do it?” Cade asked.

“If the wolf didn’t eat him first, yeah.”

“So, what, this Adnar guy followed us from the ranch?” Michael interjected. “You think he could’ve been there for two days without us knowing it?”

“Shite, I don’t know. I’ve been looking for the wanker for two fucking days and for all I know, he’s been tracking
me.
Christ. When did I become so fucking useless?”

No one said anything to that. They rode in silence, maintaining a steady distance between themselves and the Rover.

In the rearview, MacSorley put his head back and closed his eyes.

“Dylan, d’you really think Adnar will feel guilty, pup? You don’t think he’ll try to attack one of us, one of the girls?”

“What’s he gonna do? Tell us to waste ourselves or something?”

MacSorley sighed. “No, he couldn’t do that. Only Michael would be susceptible to his talent. And I’m not sure about Michael.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Michael asked.

“He came here to see Eirny, didn’t he?” Dylan interrupted. “He killed Jakob for her. Why would he try to hurt us?”

MacSorley made a startled sound and opened his eyes. “What? When did he kill Jakob?”

Dylan quickly—and, Cade noted, curtly—told his great-uncle about Jakob Lind’s body and the note accompanying it. The teenager had grown both quieter and more assertive, more confident, in his months on the ranch. Cade liked watching the wolf his nephew was becoming.

“The mad bastard,” said MacSorley, shaking his head. “God, I hate him.”

“He loved my grandmother, though, didn’t he?”

“If you want to call it that. He loved her so much he killed her children’s father.”

“Dec,” Dylan asked calmly, “what’s the deal with our family?”

Cade turned to the backseat again, surprised at the question. MacSorley appeared to take it in stride.

“It’s a long story, pup.”

“I mean the way I can understand languages and Cade can—”

“Yes, I know. I said, it’s a long story. Let’s get the girls back, then we can talk about it.”

“Hey!” Michael interrupted. “He just turned off the highway onto, onto—shit! He turned onto Fourmile!” He banged a hand on the steering wheel.

“Huh?” Cade turned back around. “Why would—God damn it! The son of bitch is squatting at the—”

“—Fourmile Inn,” Michael finished for him.

“Why the fuck didn’t anyone—?”

“I don’t know, Cade!” Michael shouted. “I don’t fucking know!”

“What’s so exciting about the Fourmile Inn, pups?” asked Dec.

“Nothing,” Cade said in disgust. “Just a bed-and-breakfast that closed about ten years ago because no one wanted to stay so far outside town.”

“It’s the only building on Fourmile Road,” Michael added. “If I wanted to hide out and plan an attack on someone I was stalking, that would be a real good place to do it.” He banged the steering wheel again, still cursing and muttering to himself. “I can’t
believe
we missed that. If we’d looked for the Fae out here, we could’ve—”

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter,” Cade said tightly. “I didn’t think of it either. Just speed up. I don’t care if he knows we’re behind him now.”

Fourmile Road was a literally descriptive name. While a werewolf could see much better than a human, he couldn’t see for a mile. By the time they turned onto the two lane blacktop, there was no other vehicle in sight.

“Faster,” he muttered, and Michael obeyed. Harrowing minutes passed as they flew down the empty road. Hoping to catch a whiff or a sound of the Rover, Cade rolled the window down.

What he heard, and what he didn’t smell, kicked the primitive wolf part of his brain into panic mode. When the change began, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop it.

He heard Ally screaming for Becca. He heard Stapkis roaring wordless bellows of rage.

He could smell Ally. He could smell Stapkis.

He couldn’t smell Becca.

“Over there!” Michael shouted, pointing to the other side of the road.

The Rover was half on its side, the rear side crunched up against a pine tree, back window shattered, tailgate hanging.

Oh, Christ. Oh, Baby Girl.

The pheromones flooding his body—fear, alarm, aggression—had an immediate effect on the other wolves, who ripped off their seat belts. Dylan and MacSorley slammed against the front seat as Michael threw the Lexus into park. Cade pressed an elbow against his door and fell to the ground, gasping in agony as he struggled out of his clothes. He hadn’t changed involuntarily since his baptism by fire in the Rangers. The change was only painful if you fought it, and he couldn’t help fighting it, even though he knew it was useless.

“Michael,” he panted, “can you keep—? You need to stop, don’t—”

He couldn’t believe how fast he was changing. Less than a minute had passed but speech was almost impossible, the fur was pushing through his skin, his neck was stretching, his shoulder blades popping…

“I can do it, Cade,” Michael, panting heavily, replied from the other side of the car, “but I have to— I need—” Cade heard the effort in his second’s voice, knew how hard Michael was fighting the change.

“Go!” Cade screamed. “Go!”

Not even an alpha as strong as Michael could keep from changing if he was in close proximity to a Pack Alpha involuntarily shifting. Dylan would be changing right now. A beta like MacSorley wouldn’t have a chance…

MacSorley stood staring down at him, still two-footed and impossibly, unbelievably calm. He knelt beside Cade.

“Stop fighting it, pup. You’re almost done. Michael and I will do the thinking. You go find Stapkis.”

For the first time, Cade was grateful for his uncle’s presence.

Change completed, the wolf raced after his enemy.

Stapkis’ fingers were iron bands around her ankle. She tried to kick, but she couldn’t get any leverage, stretched as she was across the backseat of the Rover, scrabbling furiously at the seat to steady herself.

“Becca!
Go
!”

The kitten arched her back, hissing and yowling, crouched amid the glass shards covering the floor of the cargo space.

Why wouldn’t she jump?

Stapkis yanked on Ally’s leg to drag her back. She dug her fingernails into the carpet but couldn’t grab hold of anything.

He growled as he pulled her back. She wiggled and kicked and fought as hard as she could, but a second later she was back in the front seat where she'd started.

He let go of her ankle and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head so she was forced to look up at his mottled face and his crazy, crazy eyes. His breath stank.

“What happened to the kid? What did you do with her?”

Becca was still mewling in the cargo space. Ally had the most insane urge to giggle.

She tugged at his hand, but she couldn't dislodge it. He was pulling her hair so tight her eyes watered. Hoping to buy some time, she went limp. He relaxed his hold and she headbutted him straight in the nose.

It hurt like hell.

It hurt him worse. As the blood gushed, he dropped her head to put a hand to his face.

“You fucking bitch!” he roared.

This time, Becca. Please listen to me this time.

As she shouted for Becca to run, she kicked the passenger door. It went flying, and she with it. Her skull still ringing from the headbutt, she staggered for the first few steps, then ran around to the back of the Rover.

“Becca!”

The kitten sprang out of the cargo hold, sailing over Ally’s shoulder. Becca hit the ground and rolled. Then a streak of black fur disappeared into the trees.

Ally took off in the same direction, running for all she was worth, Stapkis right behind her.

She couldn't outrun a Pack Alpha. She just couldn't.

Every breath burned her lungs. Her legs ached as they pumped. She'd never run this fast in her life.

Becca. Where the hell was—?

Sound exploded behind her. Something went whizzing past her ear.

Great. He remembered to grab the gun.

Where was Becca? Ally couldn't hear her, couldn't smell her. She prayed the kitten had run up a tree, out of reach of natural wolves and other predators. At least she was safe from Stapkis for the moment.

A few feet behind her, he bellowed and took another shot. This one hit a tree, bark exploding everywhere. Thank God werewolves couldn't change while in motion or she'd have been long dead.

Though it slowed her down, she started running between the trees, zigzagging to make it harder for him to shoot at her.

Where were Cade and the others? What happened to them?

“Ally!”

“Ally!”

Dec and Michael’s voices echoed through the woods.

Stapkis yelled again, right behind her.

Wolves howled, first Dylan and then, thank God, Cade.

Relief washed through her, so profound her legs went weak and she stumbled.

Keep running, Dead Girl.
Would Eir resurrect her a second time? She didn’t want to find out.

Racing into a clearing, she paused a fraction of a millisecond. That was all it took.

Stapkis was right behind her. As she plunged back into the woods, he shot again. A burning pain sliced through her right thigh. Pure adrenaline kept her going a few more yards before her leg buckled.

She heard him right behind her, fancied she could smell his rancid breath. Curled into a tight little ball, her arms covering her head, she tensed and waited for the next shot. Or for Stapkis to start tearing her apart with his bare hands. Or for Stapkis to shift, then eat her. Or…

Cade howled. It sounded like he was on top of them.

Eyes still screwed shut, she heard Stapkis’ yell climb several octaves and turn into a scream. She felt a rush of air as something huge flew over her, heard a crash, and felt the ground reverberate.

Cade. It had to be Cade and Stapkis—

Dec and Michael were still calling her name, closer now. Dylan was still howling. But the loudest noise was near her head—teeth ripping through flesh. Stapkis didn’t make a sound, and she knew why.

She stuffed her fingers in her ears, but even without her wolf’s hearing it wouldn’t have blocked the wet, squishy noise of werewolf teeth and werewolf claws slicing through human guts. The smell of the blood made her gag. She swallowed hard against the bile rising in her throat. Knowing what a wolf could do was completely different from having him do it three feet away.

“Ally!”

Dec dropped to his knees beside her, took one look at her leg and started ripping her jeans up to the bullet hole.

“Where’s Becca? What happened to Becca?” yelled Michael.

“I don’t know!” she sobbed. “She ran, I don’t know where, I lost her, I— Dec, she’s a cat! Becca’s a cat!”

“Shh, love, I know. Lay back and let me look at your leg.”

“The hell with my leg! It’ll heal!” she shrieked. Both wolves winced. She was screaming so she wouldn’t have to listen to Cade. She couldn’t look at him. “Would one of you make him stop that?”

“We can’t. You can,” said Dec.

“How?”

“Yell at him,” Michael replied. “Isn’t that what you usually do?”

“
Cade! Stop eating Stapkis!
”

The squishy, crunching sounds ceased immediately.

“Okay, he wasn’t really eating him, Ally. We’re not cannibals…”

“Shut up, Michael! Go find Becca!”

But he stayed where he was, his body fairly vibrating with tension, the odor of distress rolling off him. “She’s a cat? You said Becca’s a cat?”

“Yes. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear—”

He swallowed and closed his eyes. “I believe you. I do. I dreamed it. Sometimes I dream stuff and then it happens, but I thought— I thought this, this would be too fucked up, you know? I mean, how—?”

“Michael, please, let’s look for Becca. Dec will explain all this later because if he doesn’t, I’ll make Cade eat him. Got that, Dec?”

“Yes, love.”

“Help me up.”

She held out her hand, he hauled her up, and she stood with all her weight on her left foot.

“You can’t walk around like that!” Michael exclaimed. “You’re gonna collapse! It’ll get infected. You can’t—”

“I won’t get an infection. It’ll heal. Until it does, I’ll limp.”

“But you’re—”

“A freak. Let’s get moving.”

Dylan howled from somewhere nearby.

“What will we do about Cade?” she fretted, not looking at him or Stapkis’ body.

Dec waved a hand impatiently. “I’ll stay with him. You two find Rebecca.”

Michael nodded and put an arm around Ally’s waist. They started off, she leaning on him for support.

“Ally,” said Dec.

They stopped.

“She’s not dead. I’d feel it if she were. Our girls are almost as tough to kill as we are.”

“But, Dec, she must be scared to death! And these woods are enormous, and how—”

He gave her a quick hug. “Shh. Go. We’ll find her.”

As she limped away into the trees, she heard him say, with rough tenderness, “All right, pup. You need to get two-footed, quick. I’ll be right back.”

He came out of the change with his uncle standing over him, holding his clothes. MacSorley waited patiently for Cade to return to himself, giving him time to figure out where he was, to grab the memories of what had just happened before they dissolved into distant, hazy impressions.