by Marcy Jacks
“Aim for its head,” Everett yelled over his shoulder.
“I’m trying!”
The wolf came dangerously close again, and Cole pulled the trigger again.
This time, when Everett glanced in the mirror, he saw the spatter of blood that erupted from the upper leg area. Again, this managed to slow down the wolf and send him back several steps, but he didn’t stop.
Everett drove on for several yards before the wolf shook itself off and then gave chase again. It looked like there was actually steam coming from its ears.
Screw doing this the safe way. Everett made the machine beneath him go as fast as it could go.
“Shoot him again!” he yelled, watching as the wolf was nearly on them again.
There was no loud bang behind him, and the wolf lunged. Everett made a sharp turn around a heavy set of tall trees, dodging what would have been a killing bite for both him and Cole. The wolf skidded to a stop and then kept right on chasing.
“Shoot him, Cole!” Everett yelled.
“I’m trying! The gun’s jammed!”
Fucking fantastic, and Cole was a wolf, not a hunter. He wouldn’t know what to do to get it working again.
Cole apparently decided to abandon the gun and just reach around for another weapon to use. Everett clenched his teeth. Not only was it dangerous for Cole to be blindly handling weapons like that, loaded weapons on top of everything else, but there was nothing else in there that he could shoot with one hand like the Glock.
“Just hang on!” Everett yelled behind him.
Thankfully Cole did as he was told again and wrapped both of his arms around Everett’s chest and held on, right in time before Everett ran over a particularly gnarled tree root that jarred the entire vehicle and sent their bag of weapons flying out from between Everett’s feet and off of their four-wheeler.
“God fucking damn it!” he yelled. It was difficult to fight the urge to not turn around and get the guns, but the giant wolf was still on their trail.
He had to perform another sharp turn to prevent the wolf from catching them, and they zoomed down a hill at speeds he hadn’t thought were possible.
They were slapped in the face with branches and leaves that were outstretched in their path. This area of the woods was so dense that his only hope was that he was throwing off the wolf a little, even if the giant monster would still be able to smell them and hear the roaring of the engine.
The wolf didn’t slow down at all. When they made it out of the thicket, it was still behind them and as close as ever.
“I can fight him!” Cole yelled.
“Don’t even think about it!” Everett fired back, turning his head to try at look into Cole’s face. His eyes were gold, and he was itching to go over there and fight the werewolf who was attempting to kill the both of them. Maybe it was an alpha thing, but Everett didn’t care. Cole would die if he tried to take on a creature that size.
Cole glared back at him, but then his eyes widened and mouth dropped as he looked ahead.
Everett turned back to face where they were going just in time to duck out of the way of a long, low, and thick tree branch that was coming their way. He and Cole managed to avoid getting hit, but he still felt the way the hairs on the top of his head flew back as the branch sailed by.
The crash and snapping sound of wood said that the wolf hadn’t been so lucky. Everett had learned his lesson and wasn’t about to take his eyes away from the direction they were going in to check on what had happened.
He didn’t care what happened to that other wolf. He only hoped that the wolf knocked itself out and now couldn’t follow them while Everett tried to get both him and Cole back to Cole’s pack in one piece.
After moving several yards with no hungry snarls following behind, against his better judgment, Everett slowed the four-wheeler to a stop to see what was going on, but he didn’t turn the engine off.
The large white body shifted, and then Luke wobbly got back to his feet, or paws, whatever. He shook himself off, dust and leaves and hair flying around as he did so, and his angry eyes locked back onto his targets.
“Fuck,” Cole said.
“Is it normal for a wolf to be that big and that strong?” Everett said, setting them both back into motion once more.
“No fucking clue. Faster!”
Everett could hear the trees themselves snapping and breaking behind him. He glanced into the rearview mirror briefly, and his heart rate shot straight up at the sight of the wolf actually breaking through the trees.
It was coming for them, and it wasn’t about to be stopped.
Everett wished he could’ve done better. His only comfort was the fact that Cole was also a werewolf and that he was the one most likely to survive what would happen when that wolf behind them sank its teeth into them.
He reached up to where Cole’s hands were grasping at his jacket. He spoke in a low voice to keep Cole from hearing him and knowing that he was pretty much giving up on their chances to get away. “Love you, baby. You were the best.”
Another howl sounded from not too far away, and Cole gripped his hand back.
Chapter Twelve
A group of what could be no less than two dozen wolves, and there was likely more than that, flooded through the trees and allowed Everett to pass right by them.
More wolves were not what he needed.
“Everett, stop! That’s my pack!”
Everett fishtailed the four-wheeler to a stop. The move practically turned them both right around, and it was just in time to watch each and every one of those wolves, werewolves, jump onto the large wolf’s back.
Only now that the other wolves were around did Everett have something to compare the sizes to, and Luke was still huge. He four times the size of one of their midsized wolves, but the other wolves had numbers on their side. Luke could only snarl and roll and attempt to scratch them off like they were fleas or something.
Cole jumped off the back of the four-wheeler and ran into the fight.
“Cole!” Everett got off and ran with him. Cole was faster than he was, however, even as he kicked off his pants and pulled the shirt over his head at the same time.
“Cole, come back here!”
Two wolves jumped out from seemingly nowhere and stepped into Everett’s path. Their lips were pulled back in ferocious snarls that showcased their teeth.
He put his hands up and stepped back. “All right, okay. I wasn’t going to hurt him.”
He looked up and watched Cole shift into the red-brown wolf that matched his hair and eyes within seconds, and he jumped into fighting.
It wasn’t fighting so much anymore as it looked as though the other wolves had already scared the large white one off the idea of killing anyone today.
Luke still snarled at the lot of smaller wolves that advanced on him, but he still backed up as they stepped forward. There were bite marks and blood now on his muzzle and paws, and a piece of his right ear was missing, but there was nothing on the places where the fur was heavier.
These werewolves knew better than to attempt to bite through all that protective fur. They’d gone for the more exposed areas instead.
Cole barked loudly at the wolf, and so did another one. This wolf was slightly larger than Cole was, had dark-brown fur, and had a scarred face.
Shit, that was probably Cole’s alpha. That would be the man that Everett was going to have to answer to when all this shit was over with.
At least it was finally coming to an end, and both he and Cole were going to survive.
Finally, with his black lips still pulled back in a snarl, Luke turned tail and ran back into the forest.
Everett’s heart pumped so fast that he actually collapsed to his knees and then fell on his ass when Luke was gone.
Did the other man even know what he was doing while in that form? Did he have any control over himself at all?
Everett didn’t even want to think about what either answer could mean.
“
Rhett, Everett?”
Everett looked up just as Cole’s smooth hands touched onto his cheeks.
He put his hands on top of Cole’s and smiled. All of his bandages were now off thanks to the transformation he’d just done, so everyone in his pack could see all the damage that had been done to him when they’d both been captured.
Oddly enough, no one glared at him for his involvement in that.
Then Phillip came back into view, and beside him stood the large form of the man with the severely scarred face.
“You’re James DeWitt?” Everett asked, though he already knew the answer.
The man nodded. “I am.”
Everett snarled at him. “Where the hell were you all this time?” He wanted to know how it was that Everett had been able to kidnap Cole and drag him so far away from his pack and no one in the land could catch up to him before the hunters did.
James glared back at him. “By the time we finished cleaning up the dead hunters and seeing to our injured, the scent you left behind wasn’t exactly fresh. We made a wide circle to search in, and if we found nothing, we would have extended our searching areas.”
“Maybe you should’ve done that in the first place.”
“Everett,” Cole said, putting his hands onto his shoulders and trying to calm him down.
He wouldn’t be put off of this, even if it mean that all the werewolves in the group were still either growling at him with their hackles on end or glaring at him while cracking their knuckles. “Where the hell were you all this time?”
“Couple miles south of here. How else did you think Phillip managed to get to us so quickly so we could save your sorry human ass from that thing that was chasing you?”
“You—” James’s words sank in before he could say something he’d probably regret.
That was right. Even on the four-wheeler, and even if they’d driven it all day and night, they still wouldn’t have made it back to James’s pack, and James DeWitt and all the alphas standing around him now wouldn’t have been able to get here so quickly either.
They had been out sniffing around after all.
Mortification crawled up Everett’s neck in a slow-burning heat.
The men and wolves who weren’t still growling at him were now snickering and elbowing each other, like it was the funniest thing in the world.
“See?” Cole said, with no trace of superiority in his voice. “I told you it would be okay.”
Everett tried to remember when precisely that had been, but there was definitely a conversation or two when Cole had to defend the honor of his pack whenever Everett questioned it.
He might as well just admit defeat right now. “That you did.”
Cole looked over to his alpha. “Did you say Phillip?”
James nodded. “Yeah, he actually came back.”
James nodded to the man that had helped Everett and Cole get away from the hunters. Everett didn’t really know why the sight of the other man was so impressive to his lover, or to the other werewolves for that matter. Phillip must be someone important to them.
“What are you going to do about Luke? The giant werewolf,” Everett clarified when all he got were a few confused looks.
James looked off in the direction the giant animal had run off in, and he sighed. “We’ve been away from the pack for long enough. Cole is safe, and that’s what matters. We all need to go home.”
Everett wasn’t entirely expecting that answer. “What if he hurts someone? He’s a wild werewolf.”
“Hunting and killing werewolves is your trade, not mine, hunter,” James said. His already angry-looking face became even meaner when he snarled. The scars probably had a lot to do with that.
Everett felt that familiar hot feeling rush up his neck again. “It’s not my trade,” he muttered.
James looked between him and Cole. “Either way, if you two are mated, then we’re all going to have a nice long chat when we get back home. Your friend Luke—”
“He’s not my friend,” Everett said quickly.
James’s lips thinned at being cut off like that. Everett offered no apology.
“Whoever he was, if he’s a wild werewolf of that size, nothing less than a whole pack of werewolves will be able to take him down, and he’ll take several more with him.” James stopped, seemed to think about it, and then shook his head. “We’ve all been too far away from home for too long. We need to get back. If his mind is fully in wolf form, then he’ll likely stay away from signs of human life.”
“Wild werewolves attack humans all the time,” Everett said.
“They do so less than you think they do,” James retorted. Apparently he’d decided that the conversation was over because he walked right by Everett without any other word or explanation.
The other werewolves followed him.
Cole took Everett by the hand and pulled him along. “Come on. You should get back on the four-wheeler. We’ve still got a long way to go.”
That probably meant that Cole felt comfortable running in his wolf form the rest of the way and wouldn’t be sharing the backseat of the four-wheeler with him. Magnificent.
* * * *
James had the pack running until well into nightfall. That human that Cole had mated with, who James was still watching carefully, could bitch and complain all he wanted about not going after his former ally, but the fact of the matter was that the last time nearly every alpha had left pack land like this, they’d returned to find that their omegas were under attack.
That, and Phillip’s pack had been nearly wiped out entirely, including his wife and mate, Helen.
That was what he needed to speak to the man about now. Phillip didn’t look like he was entirely in there, maybe he’d gone half-wild while he’d been out on his own for all this time, and James wanted to prepare the man.
He made sure to also keep an eye on him as they all traveled, but Nick was also sticking close to his former alpha, and when they stopped for the night, James called out to him.
“Hey, Phil, can you come with me for a minute?”
The man just stared at him blankly, but he did come forward. James wasn’t surprised when Nick followed him.
The blind werewolf was a former alpha under Phillip’s command. He was going to want to make sure the man was all right. James respected that and didn’t say anything to him.
The three men walked several feet away from the pack of wolves who were settling down for the night. Everyone was hungry, but no one had the energy to hunt just now. They were tired and sore. Food could wait until morning.
“What did you want to speak to me about?” Phillip asked.
When the man looked at James, he got the feeling that Phillip was staring past him. That couldn’t be a good thing.
James sighed and rubbed his face. “You know you’ve been gone a long time. Are you okay to come back into pack life? If you’re even partially wild right now, then I don’t want to risk that you…allow what happened to you to make you fall even further into depression. I’ve got the pups and the omegas to think about.”
A partially wild werewolf, and even fully wild werewolves, could always be brought back into society. They just had to want it enough.
Thankfully, Phillip only looked like he fell into the partial category. Cole was once partially wild, as was Trevor. Maybe James could get one or both of them to help ease Phillip back into some semblance of a normal life. Cole just found his mate and would likely be wanting to spend more time with him, but Trevor had been looking for some way to prove himself.
That, and the man had been staring at Phillip for quite a long time as they ran. James was inclined to think that there was something going on there.
Phillip frowned at him, and then he looked down at his hands and then back at Nick.
“I’ve been having trouble putting my thoughts into words lately,” he said, speaking slowly. “Everything that goes through my head does seem to be instinctual. Food, rest, that kind of thing, but I believe I w
ill be all right. I would never hurt a pup.”
The thing that worried James the most was the way Phillip’s bottom lip and arms trembled when he said that.
James put his hands on Phillip’s shoulders. “Corey and I have been taking care of your pup, so you don’t have to worry about him. He’s safe.”
Phillip’s head whipped up at those words, and his hazel eyes went as wide as golf balls.
“What…what are you talking about?”
James frowned. He looked over at Nick, and there was a similar look on the blind wolf’s face, too.
Nick decided to be the one to explain this. “Sammy is alive, sir. Didn’t you know that?”
Phillip shook his head. “Sammy…that’s what we were going to name our pup.” His eyes were desperate now as he looked up into James’s eyes. “She was still pregnant when she died. How could the baby have survived?”
Now James’s eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped.
How was he expected to respond to something like that? Phillip had basically just let James know that he’d lost the last year of his memories.
* * * *
Everett didn’t know how he was expected to sleep with all of the wolf bodies lying around him. Many had their golden eyes open, and they were staring at him as though they expected him to get up from his spot under a tree and stab them all in their sleep.
He was just hoping they wouldn’t stab him.
At least the cold and hard ground he was lying on was dry. There was always that one little upside.
Though he fought against it and his stomach rumbled, he was nearly asleep when he felt something moving beside him. He jerked awake, not expecting to see Cole there at all.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“Wasn’t exactly having the best sleep in the world right now anyway,” Everett grumbled. “Where were you?”
“James wanted to ask me about something.”
“Something?”
“About you,” Cole admitted. “I think I’ve got him convinced that you’re not a threat, but you’ll still get watched for a little while.”
That was to be expected, and really, Everett didn’t mind.