Cowboy in Wolf's Clothing

by Kait Ballenger

  “Go on,” he urged.

  She was shaking her head in disbelief. “And I know this sounds crazy, but I overheard them say…” She struggled to find the words. “I…I heard them say they planned to use your blood for a…a serum. They were talking about vampires being able to feed off werewolves. They said the purer the blood, the better. They made it sound like it made them stronger by drinking it. They mentioned a bobcat and a cougar not being as effective. I’m not sure what it all means but…”

  Colt’s anger flared, but he kept his breath steady, even as he felt his pulse beat inside his temple. He would destroy Lucas…

  He searched Belle’s face. If she was lying, she was excellent at it, but his instincts told him she was telling the truth. This woman wore her heart on her sleeve. If she was lying, he would know, and from what he remembered of her file, she’d only served as the Wild Eight’s physician. She’d never directly hurt anyone, only served their misguided cause. As far as enemies went, she was on the lowest rung of the list. Hardly dangerous or full of evil intent.

  It wouldn’t be the first time one of their enemies had targeted him personally, but he’d make certain it was their last. And if what she said was true, this would change not only the war, but the future of their species. This had deep implications for the entire Seven Range Pact.

  But why him? What made his blood different from any other Grey Wolf?

  Colt froze.

  There was only one thing that made his blood different from any other Grey Wolf’s—that he wasn’t truly a Grey Wolf at all. Colt’s thoughts raced. No, it wasn’t possible. How could Lucas know? His father, James, the only person who knew, had passed years ago. Not even Maverick or his own sister, Sierra, knew the truth. Lucas couldn’t know, unless…

  They needed to get back to the Missoula ranch—and fast.

  “We’re leaving.” He reached for Belle, but she pulled away.

  “I’m not going back. I was trying to escape when you found me,” she said.

  “I’m aware. It’s not often I encounter jail-breaking horse thieves streaking naked through the woods.”

  “I saved your life,” she challenged. “You said so yourself.”

  “After I saved yours.” He gestured toward the horse. “Ladies first.”

  She rolled her eyes. “What a gentleman.”

  He rattled the handcuffs on her wrists. “I’m not a gentleman, Belle. Don’t forget that.”

  “Believe me, I won’t.” Her cheeks were flushed red now, and that saucy little tongue he enjoyed peeked out to wet her lips.

  “I wouldn’t have run into that vampire if you weren’t chasing me,” she added.

  “And I wouldn’t have been chasing you, had you not been stealing my horse,” he shot back.

  Gripping her by the handcuffs, he marched her toward Silver.

  She must have known it was a lost cause, because she didn’t try to resist. “I knew you were a Grey Wolf soldier.”

  “Yet knowing who I was, you still saved me?” She’d risked not only her life, but also her freedom and safety. For him. Her enemy. The thought turned sour in his stomach.

  “Yes.” She straightened her shoulders, standing tall and confident. “Yes, I did.”

  “Why?” he breathed.

  “Because it was the right thing to do.”

  The raw honesty stopped his breath short.

  She glared at him. “The Wild Eight may be murderous traitors, but in my experience, the Grey Wolf cowboys are just as violent and at least twice as arrogant.” She eyed him up and down.

  The insult hit home. She wasn’t the first and likely wouldn’t be the last to call him arrogant. But if she knew his true origins, she’d think twice.

  “Spoken like a true Wild Eight,” he countered.

  She stepped toward him. “I’m not going with you.”

  He gripped the handcuffs at her wrist again. “I don’t think you have much of a choice.”

  When she didn’t move, he stepped closer, bringing them nearly nose to nose, their gazes locked in a battle of wills. “Get on the damn horse, Belle.”

  Returning to the Missoula ranch and then Wolf Pack Run was the best decision. For both of them. Enemy or not, after she’d saved his life. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he abandoned her in the woods, though he’d never dare to admit it, especially not to her. If the vampires had caught his scent, they could find her in his place, and the consequences would be deadly…

  When she still refused to move, he shook his head. He couldn’t fully release her from custody. If he spared her and anyone found out, it could raise questions about his loyalties, and those questions could reveal the secrets of his past. Secrets he had no intention of revealing.

  “You really want me to let you go?”

  “Obviously.” She rattled the cuffs on her wrists.

  “Fine,” he grumbled. “As long as you don’t try to steal my horse again.” Stepping behind her, he unlocked the cuffs.

  When her wrists were free, she stepped away from him—tentatively at first—before she quickly placed several paces between them. She eyed him with weary suspicion. “I’m really free to go?”

  Colt pocketed the handcuffs, heading down the mountainside to where his Stetson had fallen off in their scuffle. “Sure, you’re free to go.”

  He retrieved the hat, brushing the snow from its rim before he tipped it onto his head. “Just don’t expect any mercy when someone turns you in for the reward money.”

  * * *

  Belle was certain no other person—wolf, human, or otherwise—had ever infuriated her more than Colt Cavanaugh. She’d always considered herself a mild-mannered person. Having grown up on a ranch in the Deep South, she’d been taught to be polite, accommodating, and generally pleasant. Sugar wouldn’t melt in her mouth, her mother used to say of her. Some would have called her bookish, shy even—when she wasn’t donning her lab coat overtop her cowgirl boots, that is.

  Yet, at the moment, as she looked into this cowboy’s ruggedly handsome face, all Southern hospitality flew out the window. Everything about him turned her to salt instead of sugar. Who did he think he was, bossing her around and acting as if he gave a crap about her safety?

  The high commander of the Grey Wolves, that’s who.

  And now he was baiting her. Playing on her sense of curiosity with that dark, playful grin on his face. And she was falling for it, hook, line, and sinker. Damn him.

  “What you do mean, reward money?” she asked.

  He strode toward his horse, untying the animal’s reins from the cabin’s fence post. “It means it’s in your best interest to come with me.”

  The horse flicked his tail excitedly.

  “We’re outside Grey Wolf territory, Commander, so unless you’re as much of a monster as the Wild Eight, I’m not going anywhere.”

  His features hardened, darkening in a way that stirred something low and forbidden in her. “I’m more like them than you’d ever believe.” The words were nearly a growl.

  She wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but the question was lost as he stalked toward her, each movement the calculated prowl of a predator. She retreated until she was flush against the porch railing.

  His hands locked on the posts beside her, caging her in. The liquid steel of his eyes blazed. “A week before the Wild Eight staged their attack on the Grey Wolves and started the war, Wyatt Maxwell was found dead in his apartment in downtown Billings. He was one abusive, sick fuck.”

  Boy, didn’t she know it.

  “We wanted that bastard dead, but we don’t know who the perpetrator was. There’re only five remaining Wild Eight members. You; Wyatt’s brother, Eli; Brent Remington; Clint Mack; and Silas Buck. We believe one of those five killed Wyatt, so the Grey Wolves put out a ban on any interaction with Wild Eight members and offered compe
nsation to any wolf who turns any of you in. Do you know what that means, Belle?”

  She was too breathless at his proximity to answer. He couldn’t possibly know. He couldn’t see the guilt in her eyes, could he? He was so close. She could practically feel the weight of his muscled body pressed against hers. She inhaled a sharp breath. This was the first she’d heard about the price on her head, but she knew exactly what it meant.

  Her only option would be to take an alias, change her identity, which meant she wouldn’t be able to practice medicine any longer, not even for the rodeo. And that was if no one discovered her identity and sold her out.

  “What had you planned to do with your freedom, Belle?”

  Immediately, her thoughts turned to the rodeo. It hadn’t provided her much in the way of a community like a pack would, but she’d had a few companionable acquaintances there, other Rogues who’d worked the circuit. She wouldn’t call them close, but it was more than the isolation she’d been accustomed to in her younger years. She’d enjoyed the challenge of her work, as well as the travel, and she’d gotten to see parts of the country she never would have visited otherwise, had she been practicing medicine in a more traditional setting.

  To think she’d come to Montana wanting more than the rodeo had offered her! A family, friends, a pack to call her own. They’d been the dreams of her childhood—young and overly optimistic—and she’d been fool enough to chase them.

  She’d given up something good, and now that she knew better, she’d give anything to go back. But if Colt was telling the truth, she would never have any of that again.

  “I can give you your freedom.” His gaze seared into her. He was so close that the scent of his skin wrapped around her. His wolf scent smelled of sandalwood and soap and all things deliciously male.

  “I thought you already did,” she said.

  Colt smiled again as if she’d amused him. In an instant, his face changed from hardened soldier to dark, sexy cowboy. That grin alone was enough to make a woman weak in the knees.

  “I mean true freedom, Belle, from living your life on the run and having a price on your head.”

  She didn’t like where this was going. Favors like that didn’t come without payment. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  That sexy grin widened. “Do you often lash out at people who try to help you?”

  She laughed. “You? Want to help me? A she-wolf with ties to the Wild Eight? Why would I believe that?”

  “Is that so hard to believe? You saved my life after all.” He grinned.

  She growled. The man was infuriating. She had no doubt he could run circles around her with words and wit. He was constantly trying to push every one of her buttons, but infuriating as it was, there was charm in his dark, playful game. She liked their verbal sparring, which only ruffled her feathers even more.

  “Come with me to Wolf Pack Run. I’ll sign the paperwork to remove the price from your head myself.”

  She had no doubt he held that kind of power, but she knew better. Alpha males were all the same. “And what do you get out of this, Commander?”

  He reached into his saddlebag, retrieving an apple nestled inside for his horse. The animal sniffed the apple, brushing his lips over the skin and making it inedible for Colt before turning his nose up at it.

  Colt scowled. “Did you have to lick it if you weren’t going to eat it?” he grumbled at the beast.

  Belle couldn’t help but stifle a grin.

  He placed the apple back in the saddlebag. “I already knew the vampires were up to something, that they planned to take Grey Wolf soldiers captive, though I didn’t know I was their target. During active wartime, the Grey Wolves and the Seven Range Pact act as one. Now that I know the vampires’ intent, I’ll need the Pact’s approval in order to eradicate them and stop this scheme of theirs in its tracks.”

  Belle recognized where he was going with this, and she didn’t like it one bit.

  “And for that, I’ll need proof,” he said, “Eyewitness proof.”

  She was shaking her head as soon as the words left his mouth. “No. No.”

  “You’ll need to play the role of prisoner—for now—then plead guilty to the charges outstanding against you, show your remorse, and testify about what you overheard from the vampires to the Seven Range Pact.”

  She was no Wild Eight. Not really. She’d only stayed because if she hadn’t…

  She shoved past him. With the strength he’d demonstrated thus far, he could have held her in place, but he let her go.

  “You can tell Maverick your story. He’s a reasonable man, Belle. If you help us, he won’t put you back in a cell. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

  “I swore an oath to save lives, no matter the personal cost.” She spun to face him again. “I don’t regret a single one of the lives I saved—Wild Eight or otherwise. Not for a second.”

  He’d never understand that. This cowboy wolf had everything. He could never understand her plight. She’d been dealt the worst kind of hand in life, born a Rogue and then being forced into an unwanted pack affiliation she’d been too terrified to escape, until…

  She thought of Dalia, and guilt seared through her.

  No. She would save herself. She didn’t need some cowboy to come into her life and sweep her off her feet as he saved her. She’d already saved herself from Wyatt. “I’m not remorseful,” she repeated, inhaling a long breath. “I’m not sorry for the things I’ve done, because in my mind, they weren’t really crimes at all.”

  It was more than that. The real truth in her hesitation remained unspoken, and she intended to keep it that way. It was a tempting offer, but she turned away from him and started to walk back toward the cabin.

  His horse stomped a front hoof as if in agreement. At least someone was on her side.

  Colt followed her. “What would you do with your newfound freedom, Belle?”

  She kept walking, refusing to turn back toward him. “I don’t see how my future has anything to do with you.”

  “The life of a Rogue is a lonely one.”

  She gaped at him. “A pack wolf giving a born Rogue a lecture on what it’s like to be a Rogue? You really are arrogant, aren’t you?”

  “The life of an outlaw is even lonelier,” he said.

  “I’ll take my chances.”

  “This is your best option, Belle.”

  Her mind was reeling, terrified of the possibility, yet deep down…she knew he was right. As she considered the true weight of his offer, an ounce of hope sparked there. If what he said was true, if she fulfilled her promise, she could have her life back. Her job. The rodeo. Her freedom. Once and for all. With no price on her head, no having to watch her back constantly. She might not have been guilty of the crimes they accused her of, but she was guilty of others, and what difference would it make if she didn’t have her freedom?

  The life of a Rogue is a lonely one, but the life of an outlaw is even lonelier…

  She’d already spent far too much of her life alone.

  “And if I do this, you’ll guarantee that I walk away free? No more price on my head? You swear to it?” Something told her he was a man of his word.

  A satisfied smirk curled across his lips. He had her, and he knew it. “I’ll sign your release paperwork myself.”

  She had no other choice. Not if she wanted true freedom.

  He extended his hand toward her. “Do we have a deal, Belle?”

  She hesitated. If she did this, she’d need to tread carefully to keep herself safe. “Fine,” she said, shaking his hand. “You have yourself a deal, Colt.” Not Commander. She refused to use his title.

  He grinned at her obvious jab, and from that look alone, she couldn’t help feeling as if she’d just made a wager with the devil himself.

  “Good,” he said coolly, still gripping her hand
in a firm hold that prickled heated awareness across her flesh. By the grip of their hands, he yanked her toward him. Before she knew what was going on, his hands were suddenly on her waist. He hoisted her up into the saddle before she could protest. Within seconds, he’d mounted the horse, sitting behind her. His large, muscled arms wrapped around her as he reached for the reins.

  He nudged the beast forward with the heel of his cowboy boots, and the horse started to trot. “You won’t regret this, Belle,” he said as they started down the mountainside.

  She’d been telling herself that same thing since the moment she’d decided to save him back in that clearing, and somehow, despite her logic telling her she was making yet another horrible decision, her intuition and heart told her that he was right.

  Chapter 5

  Colt had almost let her walk away.

  That thought haunted him as they rode down the mountainside atop Silver. The snow-covered pine trees and surrounding scenery passed in a steady blur. Or maybe he was too distracted by the enticing scent of a certain beauty’s dark hair inches from his face. She smelled of spring, of lemon verbena and sweet wildflowers, despite the cold winter air surrounding them. It was a warm, intoxicating mixture that made his cock ache.

  What had he been thinking? If he’d let her go, Maverick would have been beyond pissed, but that paled in comparison to what really vexed him. It was the thought that if he’d let her walk away, that would have meant he couldn’t guarantee her safety. This woman was an enemy to him, but all things considered, the thought of leaving her open to potential attack was torturous. He never showed an enemy mercy, yet he wanted to help her.

  And he hated it. He fucking hated it.

  The last thing he needed was this woman thinking he was some knight in shining armor. He was no prize. Just a man who paid his debts, whose past wouldn’t allow him to abandon a woman to danger and violence, and if she confessed to the Seven Range Pact as they planned, it would give him what he needed to protect his own life and the secrets that came with it, and the excuse he needed to set her free.