Wolf's Capture (5 page)

“Hello, Bait.”

She pursed her lips but didn’t reply.

Through the hair that flopped over his eyes, he perused her.

Exotic in appearance, with deeply tanned skin and raven-dark hair, she was softly curved all over from her plump cheeks and even fuller lips, to the roundness of her bosom lightly hinted at by her linen gown. He couldn’t truly discern her body shape, but he’d wager it was hourglass with an indented waist and wide hips. A luscious build, one that would fill a man’s hands more than adequately.

Nice mouthful,
agreed his wolf.

A gorgeous woman. An enticing one.

One with less-than-human eyes?

What the hell.

No human ever bore the vivid purple of her gaze. The freakish orbs also did not belong to any shapeshifter castes that Brody knew of. And he knew plenty.

Shifters eyes tended to be a variety of colors from a common brown to blue to vivid green and even golden. If stimulated enough, sometimes a hint of otherness would seep through and their gaze would glow to the point they could shine in the darkness.

It totally freaked the enemy out when you did that. More than one soldier had pissed himself when a group of glowing eyes came from the shadows snarling a promise of death.

Ah, the good old days. How he missed them.

Brody was one of the crazy soldiers who’d come home from the war and longed to return. It wasn’t that he’d not experienced his share of bad shit during his enlisted service, but more that he thrived on the danger of it. He enjoyed the close comradery he and his soldier brothers shared. The thrill of the chase, of adventure, infused his blood. He was a hunter. A tracker. A wolf.

He was born to seek—and destroy.

Awoo!

Before you got the wrong impression and labeled him a killer, keep in mind, Brody didn’t take other lives heedlessly. He did follow a certain code.

Assassination of the enemy for the greater good, totally acceptable.

Kill for fun or pleasure? No, but if you attacked him or those he’d sworn to protect? His feral and wild side would revel in the mayhem.

Forget anything so cliché as calling him the big bad wolf. He was more than that. Brody prided himself as being the ultimate soldier. Spy. Assassin.

Or at least I used to be.

Say hello to the current Kodiak Point clan beta. Boring! Ultimate soldier or not, Brody had retired to remain with his friends who’d emerged from their ordeal a lot more damaged than him. They needed him. So, he got his walking papers from the military and moved to Kodiak Point, small-town boring until recently.

How wrong was it of him to find the recent feints against Reid and the jabs at the inhabitants exciting?
Finally, something to do.

More interesting than dragging a drunken Eli—who’d shifted into a drunken bald eagle—home, only to have him vomit half digested bug guts and moonshine all over him.

Since the attacks on Kodiak Point began, Brody felt more alive and eager to face the day. Booyah!

But he was totally getting distracted. Back to his current situation involving a cage and a woman with an unnatural gaze. Those glowing freaking purple eyes totally mesmerized him. Only an idiot would ever mistake this woman for human.

She was also not as innocent as she tried to appear.
Don’t forget, she dangled herself like a worm on a hook to capture me.

He hardened himself against her feminine wiles and decided to attack—verbally. “What the fuck are you?” Not his most elegant of introductions, but then again, whether Bait was beautiful or not, he was kind of pissed at her.
She fooled me.
Never mind his own inattention led to his ignoble capture—which Boris would mock him mercilessly for—she had him drugged, like a common animal!

I am not a simple dog to be put to sleep.
Nor was he a greenhorn new to the mercenary game or soldier’s battle.

So why had he walked blindly into the trap? He could think of only one reason.

He’d gotten soft during his tenure as beta at Kodiak Point.
I lost my edge.
It was enough to make him want to howl.

Sad awoo. Such a mournful revelation.

Once he escaped—because in his optimistic world, it wasn’t a matter of
if
but
when
—he’d have to do something to rectify his complacent attitude. Hone his skills. But for now, he needed to deal with the woman before him, a woman they’d foolishly placed within reach.

A desirable, yummy-smelling, cushy-soft female who, when grabbed and tucked against his body, her round buttocks pressed into his groin, one of his arms around her torso, the other around her neck, caused a total boner moment.

What the fuck!

We do not get aroused during missions.

At least he never had, until now.

Brody had heard of other guys getting hard-ons during skirmishes, but this was a first for him. Given his intense dislike of the woman he held, it disturbed him how attractive she still seemed to his senses. Even his wolf approved. He thought Brody should yank up that skirt on her gown, bend her over and—

Bad wolf.

Chastising his inner wolf for lusting after bait? What was going on? He needed to clear his senses and figure some stuff out, starting with what the hell was this woman? How did she manage to make him react this way?

“I said, what the fuck are you?” He waited for her to answer his question.

She remained silent.

He brought his lips close to her ear and felt her shiver when he whispered. “Silence won’t save you. I could kill you in an instant. Snap your neck like a chicken.” In reality, he wouldn’t. However, she couldn’t know that. For so long as she proved possibly useful, she’d get to live. But if she did anything to harm him…

She broke her silence. “I can’t answer you, sir wolf, for I do not know what I am. No one truly does.”

“Are you human?” She certainly felt human, her body solid if soft, her plump frame not muscle-bound like most of the women of his acquaintance. She sounded human, her voice a sultry, harmonious tone with a hint of an exotic accent.

Did she derive from some unusual caste overseas that would perhaps explain the cinnamon hint on her skin, the aroma of jasmine delicately woven around it, making her smell entirely too tasty?

We should totally take a lick.

Such a bad wolf.

There would be no licking. Or lusting. And, no, definitely no thrusting. Despite her appearance in his cage, she was the enemy. One did not fornicate with them.

Well…unless it proved truly necessary. A life or death situation came to mind. Then, sleeping with her would be heroic. The things he did to survive war. Sigh. How he missed his old life.

“My father is human.”

“But your mother?” he prodded, his lips almost brushing the lobe of her ear. So easy to take a nip.

As if she read his thoughts, her breathing hitched, and the beat of her heart sped up, a rapid flutter almost like that of a trapped animal. It excited his beast.

She licked her lips. “I never knew my mother. She died giving birth to me.”

So far, his bullshit detector seemed to think she spoke the truth. How long would it last? “That’s convenient.”

“Not really. You try living and not knowing what you are.”

“Surely someone in your family knows.”

She shook her head.

“What about your father, human or not, he must have had a clue? What about her family? Friends? Someone must have told you something.”

The entire time he asked, her head shook. “No. Nothing. It wasn’t for lack of trying. My father would only say I was special, just like my mother.” She shrugged, the simple motion causing her breasts to momentarily lift then settle against the arm banding her, a simple act he couldn’t help but notice.

Definitely more than a handful.

“Get your head in the game!”
He could practically hear his old rhino sergeant bark the order. Damn, did he miss the horned bastard. He really should go back for a visit.

“I take it you’re not denying there’s something different about you?”

“I’d say that was pretty obvious.” Such sarcasm from a woman who should have trembled in fear.

Yet, she did tremble a bit. Just not out of trepidation. Did she fight the same bodily awareness he did?

She’s the enemy. Remember that.
Mutually attracted or not, he mustn’t lose sight of what she was.

“What is it you do? I saw those animals in that clearing. Something was wrong with them. And you…” He recalled the odd vibrating hum that originated from her. “You had something to do with it.”

“I did.”

What, she didn’t even make him work for the reply? He’d totally expected her to deny it.

What was her game?
Because she’s certainly thrown mine.
“Mind explaining a bit more.”

“Ever heard of the Pied Piper?”

“It’s like a nursery rhyme or story or something.”

“It’s a legend that dates back a few centuries.”

“I thought he was a guy, and you—” He paused as he squeezed her tight for a moment. “Definitely aren’t.”

She squirmed. He liked it. He ignored it.

“No, and I never claimed I was him. I’m just using him as an example. Anyhow, according to the story, he used to play an instrument and the animals would obey him.”

“Are you saying you control animals? With what, that weird humming sound?” He couldn’t stem his incredulity. It sounded farfetched when said aloud, and yet, he couldn’t help but recall the mesmerized state of the creatures crowding that clearing.

“I guess it’s what I do, in a sense. It’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the general idea.”

His brow wrinkled as he had a thought. “In the story, didn’t the piper dude end up leading the children away with his music?”

“If this is your way of asking if I can do it to humans or shifters, then the answer is no. Mostly.”

“What do you mean, mostly?”

Again with the shrug and the boob shift against him, which really was tempting him to loosen his grip so he could cup.

Randy wolf.
Behave!

“While animals seem to obey with fairly little trouble, those with a developed mind can resist. They have a strong sense of free will. I cannot compel them. But if I’m in extreme danger, and they’re not strong minded enough…”

He grasped where she was going and finished. “Then sometimes your mind control thing works.”

Her head bobbed.

He whistled. “You are one dangerous chick.”

“I suppose.”

“You’re also in cahoots with the enemy.” He stated it with confidence. It seemed obvious given the evidence. Their town had been plagued in all the recent attacks by wild creatures. Wolves, even jackrabbits and some other creatures, had joined shapeshifters in nipping at Kodiak Point. At the time, they’d wondered at the strange behavior of the wildlife. Now he had an answer, make that a culprit.

Wait until Reid and the others find out. They’ll shit kittens.

Telling, though, would have to wait until he escaped.

“I do not do
his
bidding willingly.” How vehemently she said it.

“I didn’t see you trying to escape too hard when I came across you.” Oh say it like it was, when he’d foolishly walked right into the obvious trap.

“I’ve spent years trying to escape. Take a look around and tell me how well that’s worked.”

Her sarcasm amused him.

Not acceptable. She didn’t grasp the situation obviously. Prisoner or not, he was in charge, and he had to remain firm.

I’m the boss. I’m the one with her life in my hands.

He tightened his grip. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? For all I know this is yet another trap.”

“A trap? How?”

“Oh please. It’s so obvious. You pretending you’re all sweet and innocent, little miss victim stuck in the cage with the captured wolf, when in reality you’re trying to soften me up so you can siphon me for information. I’ll tell you right now, honey, you can tempt me with your feminine wiles, you can attempt to seduce me with your body, but I’ll never crack.” But he really hoped she’d try her damnedest.

She shook, a tremble of her upper body that transferred to his. He shifted. Again, she shuddered, and she made a low noise, a choked sound that was…laughter?

Mirth rocked her body. Chuckles bubbled forth in a musical wave of sound.

“You’ll have to fill me in, sweetheart, because I’m not getting the joke.”

In between giggles, she managed to gasp, “I’m laughing at your assumption. Or, rather, your hope that they placed me in this cage to play the part of sexy siren. On the contrary, sir wolf, I am surprised they’ve even allowed you to touch me. I am the master’s prized pet and prisoner. This cage you see with the pallet and the books is my home. It is you who has been put in here with me. I just don’t know why. I thought for sure to hear your screams by now. The ones
he
captures usually don’t last long.”

The information that spilled from her took a long blink to process. One fact stood out. This was her home.

His grip on her loosened, and he allowed her to step away. Although, he almost grabbed her back. She truly did fit too well against him.

He let his gaze roam the space. At ten by ten, it wasn’t large, barely a small bedroom, but one framed in bars on three sides and a cinder block wall for the fourth. Although, he’d already tasted the silver on the bars facing the stairs, he still brushed a finger along all of them, the sizzling burn of each testifying that it wasn’t just a few that bore the burning taint.

He moved his glance to what the cage held. A mound of blankets atop an air mattress took up part of the floor. He crouched by the bed. A simple inhalation brought him her rich scent. Those were her sheets. But someone could have planted them in here for authenticity.

Against the stone wall sat a toilet and, beside it, a chipped white porcelain sink, the cheap faucet rusted with time and calcium deposits. There was only one more thing of note in the cage—if one ignored the woman watching his inspection with an amused gaze. Stacked in messy piles were books, tawdry books. Books with shirtless men grasping women with half-awake visages, spilling bosoms, and wind-blown locks.