Rogue Wolf

by Terry Bolryder

  “So you lied to him?” she asked.

  “Of course. Lies make the world go ‘round. In the meantime, we taught him a few needed life skills like driving and how to not punch everything that moved. Quick learners, basilisks. Keen intelligence, though they seem dumb as rocks at first. But you’d be surprised by what you can convince someone of when the person you’re lying about isn’t around to set the record straight. Once we were ready, we directed our basilisk to Dragonclaw, where he was instructed to wait until the opportune moment to nab you. Well, save you, in his mind.”

  So Ajax believed he was keeping her safe by taking her from Reno? It made sense why he never spoke, why he was always watching her, though it had never added up until now.

  He hadn’t trusted anyone at Dragonclaw Ranch the whole time.

  “I’ll tell Ajax you’re lying,” she said. “I love Reno.”

  Drenton rolled his eyes. “Ugh, that name. Reno. So plebeian. So trashy. And I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You see those red eyes of his?”

  She looked at Ajax standing by himself in a corner, arms folded, just watching everyone calmly.

  “Legend says the color of a basilisk’s eyes shows how primal they are. How connected they are to the savage beast inside them that could level this whole building with a sneeze. You wouldn’t want to set him off, perhaps make him confused who is friend or foe now, would you?”

  She gulped.

  “No need to worry. Soon, my brother will be here, and we can have the happy reunion we’ve all been waiting for. Then hopefully this stupid chase that’s been going for years can finally end.”

  Drenton made his way toward a raised platform that had been set up on a loading dock at one end of the warehouse, and before Dani could make a break for it, one of the guards behind her shoved her forward.

  “Why can’t you just leave us be?” Dani asked desperately, infuriated by her situation.

  “Because the fate of the world deserves to be in the hands of wolves, not weak, close-minded humans like you. And with my alpha power, once our plan is revealed, I’ll have every major wolf pack on my side, ready to overthrow the humans and the few shifters that would dare resist us. All I need is a certain wolf with lightning powers to bring down any dragons who would stand in my way.”

  So Reno wasn’t kidding about being turned into a weapon. It sounded like all-out war.

  “How do you plan to do that?”

  Drenton looked annoyed and bored. Then, with a shrug, he turned to face her. “I suppose a demonstration wouldn’t hurt.” Then he looked at the man nearest to him. “Miller, shoot yourself in the foot.” He said it like he was ordering a latte.

  Miller, a broad man with a beard, looked back in horror while he pulled a pistol from his hip, cocked it, and fired directly into his booted shoe. Dani clasped her hands over her mouth as he fell to the ground, groaning in pain, while Drenton laughed uproariously.

  “Even now, it never gets old,” Drenton said, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. What an evil bastard.

  “What just happened? How—”

  “Rembrandt might be able to summon lightning from his fingertips, but I can command any and every wolf of lower status than I to do my bidding. Whenever I want, wherever I want, whatever I want. Besides, bullets don’t hurt wolves… much,” he said casually. “Welcome to the family secrets.” His empty smile made her shiver.

  She didn’t blame Reno for leaving his family behind, including her, for a single second now, knowing he was related to a psychopath like this. She would have probably done the same thing to protect him if she’d had to, given the circumstances.

  Just, back at Dragonclaw that morning, it had all been so sudden. And she’d been so happy with him she couldn’t bear to have it ripped away from her.

  But knowing the fate of the free world was held in the balance changed her perspective slightly.

  Granted, she was still pissed he hadn’t come to talk to her first. But that could be figured out later.

  Right now, she needed to think of something.

  There was the metallic roar of something distant, and everyone turned as a familiar figure riding atop a black motorcycle sped through an open garage door, driving right into the center of the commotion before dropping the bike unceremoniously and striding toward them with angry steps.

  Drenton raised a hand. “Not so fast, little brother.”

  Reno paused only twenty feet away from her. He looked just like he had when she’d last seen him.

  Only his eyes blazed with anger now. Anger that was directed up at his brother.

  “Let her go, you bastard.” His gaze flicked between people, then went wider as he spotted Ajax standing off to the side. “Using basilisks to capture women now? That’s a new low, even for you.”

  Drenton shot a nervous glance at the basilisk. “No, he was saving her from you, you villain.”

  Ajax nodded, seemingly buying Drenton’s bullshit for the time being.

  Reno just shook his head. “I don’t know what my brother’s told you, but it’s all lies, Ajax.” Then he glared up at Drenton. “I’m here, alone, like you asked. Now let Dani go.”

  Drenton took a step forward so he was next to her now. Just the energy coming off him creeped her out. “Now, now, don’t go jumping to conclusions. After all, you two little lovebirds have given our family a lot of trouble. Besides, why should I trade if I can make you come along?” Then he pointed a finger at Reno. “Get up here, you useless excuse for a sibling.” He said it in the same way he’d commanded one of his own men to hurt himself.

  Automatically, Reno took a step forward. Then he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, growling as though he had to resist his own body’s impulse to move at his brother’s command.

  Fight it, Reno, she thought to herself.

  “Now. I won’t ask again,” Drenton said more darkly.

  Like someone pulling a magnet apart from another magnet, Reno tilted forward for a moment, then stepped back as his eyes flew open, and he took in a deep breath. “I don’t think so.”

  Drenton’s expression fell. “What? The scientists assured me it would work. I’m more alpha now than you’ve ever been.”

  Reno stepped forward, this time of his own accord it seemed. “I guess I don’t have to worry any longer about you forcing me to come home like you did back then, brother. Now let go of my mate before I electrocute everyone in this place.”

  “As if I wouldn’t come prepared for you, Rembrandt. I know you’re out of stabilizer. And I have more than enough dampeners to contain your powers,” he said, motioning at the strange, metal rods that had copper coiled all around their centers. “You weren’t even worthy of those powers in the first place. So just come back, and I’ll give you all the stabilizer you need. I’ll even leave the puny woman alive in the dungeon if you cooperate, though you’ll still have to mate an alpha female wolf because our lineage is too pure to waste on a human.”

  Reno looked around him, taking in the situation. Sure, she’d seen him knock Diesel on his butt, but other than that, she had no clue how far his powers really went.

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Then my men will shoot you with tranquilizers to put you down like the rabid dog you are.”

  Reno thought for a moment. Then, confidently, he looked up at Dani with reassurance, then at Drenton.

  “Then I challenge you for the position of pack alpha.”

  Drenton bristled. “What? You can’t do that here. It needs to be approved by the elders first. And you’re insane to think I would fight someone with the power of the topaz dragon in them.”

  “Then we do it fair, like the old ways. Unless you want me to test how effective your fancy equipment really is at containing my rage at what you’ve done.” He glared, and the air seemed to hum with static electricity, making the hairs on Dani’s arms rise.

  Reno’s brother scoffed in response. “So by neutralizing our alpha powers? Funny, I half expected you to do somethi
ng stupid like that anyway, so I came prepared.” He waved at a soldier, and they reappeared with a black suitcase. When he opened it, Dani saw two small vials in it with a pale-green, oily substance in them, and Drenton raised a vial in Reno’s direction before tossing it toward him.

  Reno appraised it, then tossed it back. “Give me the other one. I don’t trust you.”

  Drenton just scowled. “Unlike you, I take our traditions very seriously. You have my pack’s promise that the same thing is in both vials. A short-acting chemical derived from natural ingredients native to the mountains above our home that will deactivate any alpha powers in the wolf who ingests it. It’s been used for generations, and the right to challenge an alpha for dominance has been in wolf law long before you or I existed, brother.”

  “Long enough to beat your ass and leave here with my mate,” Reno replied.

  Drenton tossed the other vial at Reno, which he caught. Then he strode forward, undoing the buttons on his cuffs and shirt before tossing it aside. With a leap, he covered the twenty feet between them, pulling the other vial out of his pocket. “While you’ve been puttering around with engines and living like a hick, I’ve been getting stronger every day.” And Dani worried for a moment as the ripped, intimidating man bore down on Reno, both of them standing at equal heights.

  “Training won’t save you from me right now. You win, I come along. You lose, everyone here disbands, never to return, and you go back to the hell we both came from.”

  “Agreed. Once the challenge is over, the chemical will wear off.”

  Dani watched with rapt attention as Reno tossed his shirt off as well. As much as she wanted to just stare at his sexy physique, her worry about what would happen couldn’t be any greater than it was right now.

  If he lost, then he’d be forced to do the thing he’d run from his family to avoid. But even as both men opened their vial and tossed back the liquid, there was a reassuring confidence in the way Reno looked up at Dani that made her wonder if there wasn’t more to Reno’s plan than he let on.

  Either way, she didn’t have a choice but to watch as the two muscled, similar-but-totally-dissimilar men faced off, fists raised, looking ready to beat the living daylights out of each other.

  All she could do was pray this worked out.

  Otherwise, she really might never see Reno ever again.

  25

  Reno knew the instant the neutralizer took effect in his blood by the way he no longer could feel lightning at the edge of his fingertips. He also felt weaker, but that was just the chemical dampening his alpha strength, making him and his brother, in theory, as strong as normal wolf shifters.

  His brother still looked the same to him. Older and meaner and thirstier to dominate and rule than he’d ever been. And though it was clear Drenton had been working out, he still lived life pampered by his family’s wealth and status in Granite Falls.

  Either way, he wasn’t going to chance using his powers in this place so long as Dani wasn’t at his side where he could protect her. And with Ajax watching off to the side, Reno didn’t know if the basilisk was friend or foe yet.

  Though, with the way Drenton had spoken, it almost seemed like they’d brainwashed Ajax into thinking that Reno was somehow the bad guy here.

  That couldn’t possibly be further from the truth, though Ajax’s stern, confused glances said that maybe the basilisk wasn’t sure about his own position either.

  Drenton lunged, throwing a fist at Reno, which he dodged, still getting used to the effects of the drug in his system. He hadn’t planned on challenging his brother for dominance, but it was the only way he could think of buying time in case his friends from Dragonclaw caught wind of the situation and came for them.

  Granted, he wasn’t sure how they all still felt about him after yesterday. But he could hope.

  Reno threw a jab of his own, and Drenton deflected the blow. When they were kids, Drenton had always used his bigger size and future-alpha status to bully him and send bullies after Dani out of jealousy. Now, man to man, Reno couldn’t wait to wipe the smug grin off his fucking sibling’s face.

  Above, Dani just watched wide-eyed. If they got out of this alive, Reno was going to hold her close and never, ever let go, no matter what came after them this time. He would also tell her everything and anything he hadn’t yet told her. Down to the last bit.

  Drenton attacked in earnest now, a flurry of blows that made Reno need to use both arms to block. Even with their strength diminished, it was clear his brother knew how to fight.

  But Reno knew how to survive. He’d been doing it for years.

  Reno cocked his arm back, opening his left side to a vicious punch that struck his chest. But he focused through the pain, bringing his fist up and hitting Drenton across the jaw. Then he followed with a kick that went straight into his midsection, sending Drenton off balance, though not enough to knock him on his back.

  For a few minutes, they went back and forth, Reno trying to mitigate his brother’s lethal blows while taking advantage of any opening he could find.

  Then something jolted his insides. Something strange yet oddly familiar.

  Oh shit.

  Reno was distracted for a split second, giving Drenton a chance to punch him deep in his right side, throwing Reno to the side. He stayed up, but it felt like someone poured acid on his veins.

  “I see you’re starting to feel it,” Drenton said with a grin.

  Reno turned and raised his arms just as a kick came flying toward him, sending him reeling. “You swore there was nothing in it!”

  “I swore there wasn’t anything in there that shouldn’t be. I didn’t tell you the effects of neutralizer on your blood, though, little brother.”

  Drenton, caught up in his own talking, didn’t see Reno’s counter, which hit him in the chest. But he looked unaffected.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Funny thing about your blood that we didn’t discover until after you left, but even small amounts of neutralizer can have an unexpected canceling effect on the stabilizer. In fact, it should be doing its job right now, freeing the dragon blood in you to do all sorts of terrible things.”

  Reno shouted, flying at Drenton as the horror of what was happening dawned on him. Drenton blocked, but Reno got a good hit on his nose first.

  If Reno didn’t get more stabilizer, if he didn’t beat Drenton fast, then he could turn into the thing he’d tried to avoid turning into his whole adult life.

  “Even though the Tribunal has been responsible for creating countless versions of wyverns, our official stance is to destroy any that are found on sight. So should I capture you and keep you in a cage or have my men gun you down? Choices, choices.”

  Full of rage and frustration, Reno charged harder, leaping at Drenton and getting his arms around his brother’s midsection. He felt a hail of punches on his back and sides, but he focused through the pain and lifted his brother off the ground before slamming him onto the cold concrete.

  Drenton groaned, then started to laugh. “The harder you struggle, the faster the chemical will take effect. Such a waste. I’d hoped you would be around to see the new world order come into being with me as the ruler. You would have had front-row seats.”

  Reno’s fist slammed into Drenton’s face, stunning him for a moment. Then Drenton shifted his weight, and the world spun as he was above Reno now, blood spilling from one nostril, cruel grin on full display.

  Drenton began to hit like a freight train, and it was all Reno could do to just keep blocking.

  “Stupid, stupid little brother. If you give me your pack’s promise to surrender, I can give you all the stabilizer you need. Keep you alive, keep your wolf whole. I promise to even let you see your human pet every year or so if you’re good,” he said with glee, raining down blows on Reno’s chest and face and arms.

  Reno would never do that. A pack’s promise was sacred to wolves, unbreakable. He wasn’t giving up yet.

  Then Dani’s face flashe
d in his mind, along with all of the precious moments he’d shared with her this past week, all the wonderful promises they’d finally been able to fulfill with each other, even as it felt like lightning was starting to tear at his insides.

  “Potent stuff, the topaz dragon’s blood. Your time is running out. Give up. Let go of your obsession with that woman.” He slammed an elbow into Reno’s chest, knocking the wind out of him.

  Never.

  He loved Dani with every fiber of his being. Every action, every sacrifice, had been in an attempt to keep her from harm and keep his power from falling into the hands of his family.

  If he gave up now, everything would be lost.

  “I love Dani,” he growled in response.

  Reno focused his mind, ignoring the searing pain, and caught Drenton’s hand as it came down in a wild punch. Drenton tried to pull back, but both of Reno’s hands clutched Drenton’s wrist. With a quick movement, he twisted Drenton’s arm to throw him onto his back. Then Reno quickly slid his hips up against Drenton’s side, using his hips as a lever and his legs as a brace, separating Drenton’s arm from the rest of his body. A perfect arm bar.

  His brother tried to get up, but Reno yanked backward on his brother’s trapped arm, and a second later, there was a loud snap as the pressure reached an apex.

  Drenton screamed, and Reno pulled away as both of them got on their feet, Drenton nursing his broken arm. “How dare you?” he spat.

  “I love Dani,” Reno just repeated as he bared down on his opponent, cocking his arm back and hitting Drenton down to the ground. Inside, it felt like his blood was boiling, and he fought the urge to shift, knowing that the second he did, his wolf would come into contact with the dragon blood and change him forever.

  But that was frankly a more appealing option right now than surrendering to the demands of a psycho like his brother. Even if Reno became a leathery, winged beast, he’d keep fighting for his mate.

  In seconds, Reno was on top of Drenton, hitting him again and again. Drenton tried to escape, but with his broken arm, he was fighting with only three good limbs.