Wild Dream (5 page)

It had been pure luck that Lincoln stumbled across Ava. He was crossing the field when he happened to see something out of the corner of his eye. He had been coming to warn the homeowners when he spotted auburn hair in the moonlight. The terror, the panic that gripped him was indefinable.

He held her hand tight and pulled her after him as they crashed through the bayou.

Lincoln glanced behind him and saw Kane’s huge werewolf form gaining ground. They were nothing but bait out in the open, and the only way to stop a werewolf was with silver.

And silver would kill Kane.

There was only one place they could go to be safe. If they could make it in time.

“Faster!” Lincoln shouted as Ava stumbled, but quickly regained her feet.

Her amber eyes were wild with fear. Sweat made strands of her hair stick to her neck. She clung to his hand with a firm grip. She didn’t scream, didn’t ask what was after them. She just kept running.

Lincoln kept them out of the water because it would slow them down and allow Kane to catch up. Remaining on land was making them take the long way around as well as draining them of energy.

It had been years since Lincoln had been to the site, and he prayed he remembered exactly where it was. He happened to see a white cross painted on a tree as they ran past, which gave him hope.

“Just a little further, Ava,” he urged.

They didn’t slow, but Kane increased his speed as if he knew they were about to reach a place he couldn’t go. Lincoln withdrew a knife and pushed Ava harder. The site was just a hundred yards ahead, but at the rate in which Kane was gaining on them, they would never make it. Lincoln waited until they got closer before he shoved Ava ahead of him.

“Stay by the oak with the cross!” he shouted.

He turned to confront Kane, only to have a large paw slam into him.
 

~ ~ ~

Ava kept running, hoping she would see an oak with a cross on it. She practically ran into it when she tripped over something and reached out to remain upright. That’s when she saw the silver cross hanging from a limb, dangling in the middle of the tree where the giant limbs branched out into all different directions.

She turned to find Lincoln and sucked in a breath when she got her first look at what had been chasing them. It was a black furred wolf on steroids. It was easily three times the size of a normal wolf.

Its yellow eyes appeared to see everything, and the sheer size of its paws were astounding, large enough to take off a man’s head. But when it lifted its lips and growled, the teeth she saw made her heart miss a beat.
 

Lincoln was on the ground, and the beast circled. The fact that the wolf was moving kept her focused. Ava took a half step away from the tree.

That small movement drew and focused the wolf’s gaze on her. He stared at her as if sizing up his next meal. Ava had never been so frightened in her life, but she had to give Lincoln enough time to get to the tree.

She took another step, and she could have sworn the wolf smiled in anticipation. Her courage was waning fast, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could continue. A quick look at Lincoln showed him watching her with bewilderment. He blinked and looked at the wolf before he rolled toward her a couple of times and then jumped to his feet.

The wolf went nuts at that point, pawing the ground and chomping its jaws furiously as its growls grew deeper and angrier.

Ava rushed to Lincoln and threw her arms around him. It was only because of him that she was alive. That beast would have torn her to shreds.

“We’re safe now,” Lincoln whispered, but she noticed he held her just as tight as she held him.

He pulled back and took her face between his hands. He turned her face one way and then the other. “Are you hurt? Did Kane scratch you?”

“No,” she whispered, her chest still heaving from the mad dash to the tree.

Lincoln’s hands softened and his gaze lowered to her lips. Ava knew she should push him away, but after coming so close to death, she needed to feel something. Which is why she didn’t turn away when his head lowered to hers. Lincoln’s lips were soft, insistent as he kissed her. His hands delved into her hair, holding her firmly.

But it was the moan that rumbled in his chest that made her shiver with anticipation.
 

Need burned through her as she stepped closer to him. The kiss deepened while desire flared unchecked. Ava was ready to give in to him – until the wolf snapped its jaws, jerking her out of her haze of desire.

Ava ended the kiss and stepped away from Lincoln. He slowly dropped his hands to his sides but didn’t take his eyes from her. While her heart hammered and her body ached for more of his kisses, he stood calm and firm.

It was only the fire in his bright blue eyes that told her he was fighting the passion inside him.

Ava swallowed and looked away. Lincoln might be hotter than any guy she had ever seen, and his kisses might send her body into overload...but he was a hunter. She refused to go through that again.

“Tell me how a tree with a cross can keep us safe?”

He took a step closer and tilted her chin up with his finger until she was looking at him. “Listen carefully, Ava. We’re on holy ground. As long as we remain here, you won’t be hurt. Understand?”

She nodded. “That’s a big wolf.”

“Werewolf,” he corrected. He dropped his hands and let out a sigh as he glanced at the creature. “He’s also my cousin.”

She remembered him saying something about family when they were running, but she was too intent on remaining alive to think much about it at the time. “Family?”

“A branch in New Orleans. They’re the LaRues. The first Chiasson that came to Louisiana didn’t come alone. He brought his brother. And his sister.”

“Ah.”

“That’s Kane,” Lincoln said and pointed to the black werewolf. “A couple hundred years ago the LaRues brought the wrath of a Voodoo priestess upon them. She cursed their family to be werewolves until the end of time.”

“They must have really pissed her off.”

“I don’t even know what they did, truth be told. It’s not something they talk about. Even with family.”

Ava looked at Kane who was pacing an invisible barrier from the edge of the water, all the way around the oak, and back to the water again. “Why would Kane travel knowing he would turn?”

“When werewolves turn, they know what’s going on. They remember who they are. When the LaRues shift, they make sure to kill deer or cattle. Never humans.”

Ava raised a brow. “Want to remind him of that?”

Lincoln walked to the oak and slid down the tree until he was seated on the ground. “That’s the thing. It seems my cousin didn’t learn anything from his relatives. Kane managed to piss off another priestess. She altered his curse so that when he shifted he would forget that he was human and kill whatever – or whoever – crossed his path.”

“He didn’t kill you.”

“No,” Lincoln said thoughtfully. “He didn’t.”

Ava shivered despite the hot night as she recalled the way the wolf seemed to zero in on her. “He would have killed me.”

“Why the hell were you in that field?”

“I was attacked. The men came out of nowhere,” she said and wrapped her arms around herself.

“You shouldn’t have been alone.”

Ave glared at him no matter how his Cajun accent made her blood heat. “I’ll have you know it took five of them to take me. I know how to defend myself. I had taken down several before they got the upper hand.”

Lincoln’s slow smile made her stomach flutter with...was that excitement and pleasure? God, she hoped not. It was already bad enough that she was insanely attracted to him. The last thing she wanted was to seek his approval. On anything.

“Did you get a look at the men?”

“No.” And she should have. “They were in all black, and they were intent on taking me no matter what. When I woke, I was in the middle of that field.”

Lincoln smoothed down a few strands of hair that had come loose from the queue at the back of his head. “It’s pure luck that I saw you at all. Had I went a different route, I wouldn’t have.”

Ava glanced at the werewolf – Kane – to see him staring at her while he paced. “Where is your vehicle?”

“I was on foot.”

“What? Why in the world would you be on foot? It’s quicker to go anywhere by car.”

“Perhaps,” he drawled. “But if I had been in my truck on the road miles from where you were, I wouldn’t have spotted you.”

“Oh.” She found herself looking at the immense paws of the werewolf.

“Besides, I can cross more land on foot if I’m tracking something than I can if I’m in a vehicle.”

“Looks as if you found Kane.”

“I wasn’t tracking him. I was coming for you.”

Ava’s gaze jerked to his. He had been out looking for her. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had thought of her. She had been on her own for so long she had forgotten what it was like to have someone worry about her.

It was uncomfortable to have Lincoln’s direct gaze on her. It was as if he knew the turmoil she was in. Ava swallowed and said, “I lost my cell phone. Do you have yours so we can call Olivia or your brothers to come get us?”

“No. We don’t carry phones on our hunts. The sound of a ringer or even a vibration could get us killed.”

“How are we supposed to get away?” She wouldn’t panic. She wouldn’t panic.
 

“We can’t.”

She was panicking.

Ava turned away, her mind racing with everything that had happened. She needed to put some distance between her and Lincoln.
 

One moment she was on her feet walking, and the next she saw a blur of black fur and white fangs before she was on her back, Lincoln leaning over her with a murderous expression.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he ground out.

Ava blinked, unsure of what had happened. Then her mind stopped working at all at the feel of Lincoln’s weight atop her. Before she could wonder at her body’s instant – and traitorous – response, Lincoln jumped off her and grabbed a stick.

Ava sat up and watched him jab the end of the stick in the ground and begin to draw a line. All the while the wolf pawed the dirt and growled.

Lincoln threw down the stick and grabbed her upper arm. He yanked her up and dragged her to the line he had drawn on the ground. “Don’t go outside this line unless you want to be Kane’s next meal. As you almost were just now.”

Ava followed the line to see it made a large square around the live oak about twelve feet on each side. The werewolf stayed just on the other side of the line.

She turned to look at Lincoln. “Thanks for saving me. Again.”

He kept his back to her as he stared out over the bayou. Not that she blamed him. She had nearly ended her own life. Not on purpose. It wasn’t as if she knew where the barrier was. If she hadn’t been so worried about being alone with him, she wouldn’t have made such a dumbass move.

Nope. The blame was squarely on her shoulders.

Ava walked to the oak and sat at its base. The night had turned into a nightmare, and she just wanted it to be over.

The problem was, she feared that if she and Lincoln did survive, she wouldn’t be able to stay away from him and his sexy, soul-stirring kisses.

CHAPTER SIX

Lincoln thought he had experienced dread before, but that was before he saw Kane lunge for Ava. For a split second, Lincoln feared he wouldn’t reach her in time. He still wasn’t sure how he had gotten to her before Kane. Yet somehow he had. Lincoln closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart.
 

If something had happened to Ava, it was on his conscience. He was the one who was supposed to keep her safe. The first thing he should have done was mark the ground so she would know how far she could go.

What had he done instead? Kiss her. And what a kiss it had been. He could still taste her, still feel the warmth of her body against his.

He wanted more of her. Needed more of her.

Just as Christian had warned him, Lincoln had to focus on keeping them alive, not on the many ways he wanted to strip away her clothes and make love to her.

Lincoln looked at Kane to find his cousin’s yellow werewolf gaze focused with intensity on Ava. If Kane didn’t remember who he was, why hadn’t he clawed or bitten him when Lincoln had faced him? Why had Kane merely knocked him to the ground and fixated on Ava?

That was twice that night that Kane had let him live. Not that Lincoln was complaining, but it didn’t make sense. Something about the entire situation didn’t add up, no matter how he tried to look at it.

Lincoln squatted on the balls of his feet and considered their options. With Kane seemingly obsessed with Ava, and with Kane’s speed and power, they wouldn’t get one foot off holy ground before they were attacked.