Cowboy in Wolf's Clothing

by Kait Ballenger

  In an instant, the color drained from Colt’s face. She hadn’t seen his tanned skin look so pale since he’d been about to drop dead from blood loss after the vampire had attacked him. The Adam’s apple in his throat gave an uneasy bob as he gulped.

  His gaze fell to her belly, searching for a difference there.

  Belle stared down at her hands, willing them to quit trembling. “I have an appointment with an obstetrician to make sure everything is progressing well. She’s a wolf, too.” Well, that was neither here nor there. She chanced a glance at him.

  The color was slowly returning to his cheeks, and he looked resolved, calm even. “I suppose that changes things then…”

  For a moment, her heart swelled with hope.

  He cleared his throat. “I’ll need to return to Wolf Pack Run with you, announce my resignation to Maverick.”

  All the relief and hope she’d felt in the past moment dropped away. “Announce your resignation?” She gaped at him.

  His demeanor was calm, distant, like he’d been when they first met. The image of the cold, calculating commander. Everything she knew now was a mask, a shield to keep the real him hidden from the world. Hours ago, those gray eyes had been full of emotion, and seeing them so chilled tore at her heartstrings. He might as well have ripped the still-beating organ from her chest.

  “I can’t ask you to live your life pretending to be a Grey Wolf when you’re not, Belle. I know what that’s like, and I won’t do that to you, and even more importantly, I won’t do that to my child. But I also can’t continue lying to my packmaster. Not forever. The only choice is to leave the pack and renounce my position.”

  “But you’ve worked your whole life to follow in your father’s footsteps. You told me that yourself. I won’t ask you to give up your pack for me.”

  “I know you’re not asking, Belle, but I’ll give it up for you.” His eyes fell to her stomach, and even with his stare cold and distant, she warmed there. “For our child. I have to.”

  I have to. As if she were an obligation, not a choice.

  “Why not tell Maverick the truth?” she asked. “He loves you, Colt. They all do. They’ll accept you as you are…”

  “No.” That single word cut through her in its finality. “No, I can’t do that.”

  “So you’d rather have them think you’re walking away than let them see who you really are?”

  “I made a promise to James,” he said. “And besides, there’s nothing willful about it.”

  And there it was. The truth of the matter. She wasn’t his choice. She and their child were an obligation. Nothing more.

  “Colt, do you love me?” She swallowed hard. Based on the way he was looking at her, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

  “Belle, I…” He hesitated.

  No. She couldn’t bear to hear him say he didn’t. His pause was answer enough. She shook her head. It occurred to her that when she’d first returned to the pack, she hadn’t expected a relationship with him. Little more than a cordial agreement about parental rights. But now…

  She wanted so much more.

  “No, I can’t accept that.”

  “Belle.” He stood from where he’d perched on the desk and stepped toward her.

  “No!” She warned him away with a growl. “Child or not, I won’t be with a man who has to be forced into choosing me.”

  Still, he eased toward her, backing her closer to the door. “You know it’s not like that, Belle. You know how much I care for you, but—”

  “But you don’t love me! Not like I love you,” she yelled.

  Colt stilled. For a long, pulsing moment, they stood there, staring at each other. The weight of her confession hung between them, filling the air with tension. It was so thick, she felt as if she could choke on it.

  “Belle…” he breathed.

  “No.” She lashed out, defending her hurting heart. Her lower lip quivered, and her eyes welled with tears. “Don’t try to tell me how I feel, Colt. I love you, but I won’t spend the rest of my life with you unwillingly chained to me. If you loved me, if you had chosen me, it would be different. But if I let you walk away from your position, your pack, your family, you’ll resent me. It may not happen at first, but over the years, it will, and I won’t live the rest of my life with a partner who will grow to hate me.” Belle charged toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” He tried to follow her, but she waved him off.

  He knew better than to push her. Not when she was so barely held together that she felt as if one touch would cause her to shatter.

  “To Wolf Pack Run. To finish my paperwork.” She gripped the door handle.

  “And then?”

  “I don’t know,” she shot back as she pulled the door open.

  His hand grabbed hers. The feel of his skin brushing hers shattered her. The tears came hot and fierce. She refused to look at him.

  “It’s my child, too, Belle,” he whispered. “If you refuse to be with me, even though I’ve offered to give up everything for you, you still can’t keep me away.”

  “You know I wouldn’t.” The fact that he thought that of her hurt even more. No matter how much it destroyed her, she would never deprive their child of a relationship with him. Never. “Giving up everything hardly means much when you’re being forced against your will.”

  She would run straight to Maeve and Sierra, ask them to take her back to Wolf Pack Run immediately. Because she needed to be away from here, from him. She still couldn’t look at him. “As for the baby, my first doctor’s appointment is on the fifth.” She tore her hand away from his as she fled from the room. “I’ll call you in a few weeks.”

  She couldn’t bring herself to look back to see his face.

  Chapter 20

  The breeze from the open air ruffled Belle’s hair as she gazed out the window. She was sitting in the back seat of Sierra’s F-150. The windows were rolled down, and the air from the open highway blew into the cab. They’d been on the road for the better part of an hour as they headed back down to Wolf Pack Run in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains outside Billings.

  After Belle had left Colt’s office, she’d run to her room and packed her things. Sierra and Maeve had found her like that, red-faced and eyes puffy from crying as she shoved the few amenities she had into an old backpack. Neither of the Grey Wolf females had asked what happened or attempted to pry further. They’d simply helped her pack, loaded her up with tissues and hugs, and ushered her out to the car. The only words spoken were Sierra’s occasional mutterings under her breath about how her brother “was a damn fool” and how she’d “skin him alive” as soon as she had the chance.

  Belle leaned back into her seat. She felt raw with pain, almost numb as she watched the vast blue sky roll by. White puffy clouds floated in the distance.

  A small ding sounded from the dashboard as the gas light came on.

  “We’ll need to stop soon,” Maeve said. She was sitting in the front seat, and Sierra was driving. It had taken less than five minutes for Belle to gather that Maeve was always the back-seat—or in this case, front-seat—driver.

  “I know,” Sierra said, glancing into the rearview mirror. “But I don’t want to yet.”

  “Why not?” Maeve asked. “The price is only going to go up as we get closer to Billings.”

  Sierra’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror again. “Yes, Maeve,” she said, slightly exasperated. “I know, but I’m waiting until these assholes quit tailgating me.”

  Belle glanced out the window behind her. A large white van with black tinted windows trailed them, periodically pulling closer and closer to the truck’s bumper.

  “They’ve been trailing us since shortly after we pulled out of the Missoula ranch,” Sierra said. “It’s giving me a bad feeling.”

  “Pull off at this next
exit,” Maeve suggested. “You don’t have to stop at the gas station. Just let them go by, and we’ll get back on the highway. Once they’re gone, then we’ll get gas.”

  “Good idea,” Belle agreed. “And roll the window up,” she suggested.

  Sierra did so before she changed lanes, promptly pulling off at the next exit, but the van followed.

  “No way that’s a coincidence.” Maeve craned her neck to get a better view of the vehicle. “Do you think they’re following us?”

  “I don’t like this,” Sierra growled.

  Belle’s pulse kicked into overdrive, and she checked that her seat belt was securely fastened. They were quickly approaching a yellow light about to turn red.

  “I’m going for it.” Sierra jammed her foot down onto the gas pedal. The truck lurched forward, and they sped through the light as it turned red. The van hit the brakes to stop as they barreled through the intersection and back onto the highway ramp.

  “They’re gone,” Maeve said, checking in the rearview.

  “Nice.” Sierra grinned as they headed back onto the highway without the van trailing them.

  Belle sat a little easier in her seat.

  “Uh…Sierra,” Maeve said, her voice taking on a note of panic.

  Belle twisted in her seat to look behind them. The van had pulled off the ramp, racing at full speed toward them. Whoever was in the van, they were definitely following them. Belle’s blood ran cold.

  “Shit,” Sierra swore. She floored the gas pedal again.

  Maeve let out a little squeak as she scrambled to grab her cell phone. “I’m calling Maverick.”

  Sierra weaved in and out of traffic, attempting to throw the van off their trail.

  “They’re gaining on us,” Belle warned.

  “I’m going as fast as I can,” Sierra barked.

  Maeve was already on her cell phone. “Maverick, it’s me. We’re on the highway back from the Missoula ranch, and there’s this white van following us.”

  Suddenly, the front end of the van connected with the bumper of the truck in an obvious tap.

  “Shit!” Sierra yelled.

  “Scratch that,” Maeve squeaked. “They’re trying to ram our car off the road.”

  The van slammed into them again, this time causing them to swerve. They narrowly missed colliding with a nearby Volkswagen Beetle.

  “Maverick says to floor it and not to stop,” Maeve said.

  “Thanks, Packmaster Obvious,” Sierra snapped. She steered the truck with precision, as if she’d been in a million car chases before, but still the van gained on them.

  It slammed into them a third time, so hard the back of the truck fishtailed. Maeve and Belle screamed, and Maeve’s cell phone clattered to the floor. Sierra fought against the momentum, wrenching on the wheel to regain the balance, but the van slammed them again. The truck went flying, turning over in midair.

  Belle’s body became weightless, anchored only by the security of her seat belt. Broken glass flew through the air in a sparkling shower. The truck landed upside down with a massive crash, the screeching sounds of crushing, crunching metal piercing her ears until Belle blacked out.

  When she came to, she was hanging upside down by the seat belt, and someone was tugging on her.

  “Elizabeth. Elizabeth!” It was Maeve. She was free of her own seat belt and crawling through the glass and debris into the back of the cab to reach for her. Sierra was slumped partway out the broken window of the cab from where Maeve had clearly removed her from her seat belt, but the she-wolf was unconscious. Blood ran from her temple, where her forehead had hit the steering wheel. The truck’s airbag had failed to deploy.

  Belle undid her seat belt, collapsing onto the roof of the car as she reached for Maeve’s hand. She gripped the other woman’s palm, but Maeve’s eyes grew wide and she screamed. Someone had ahold of her ankle and was wrenching her from the car. Belle slid from the vehicle along with her, unable to fight after the blows from the crash.

  “Leave the other,” a familiar-sounding voice ordered. “She’s one of their warriors. We can’t have her waking up and trying to let her friends out.”

  Someone yanked Belle to her feet. As she lifted her gaze to their attacker, she expected to see the same face she’d seen glaring at her from the shadow depths in the clearing, just before Colt had been stabbed, but it wasn’t.

  “Eli,” she gasped.

  One of the final five remaining members of the Wild Eight, four if she wasn’t counted, and, more importantly, Wyatt’s brother.

  Immediately, he gripped her by the throat. Belle struggled to breathe. “Don’t look so surprised, you murderous bitch,” Eli hissed. “After you killed my brother, you really thought I wouldn’t come for you?”

  Belle struggled for air, unable to speak. If she could have, she would have told him what an abusive fuck his brother was, but it wouldn’t have mattered, because Eli’s eyes blazed with revenge and evil intent.

  There were several other wolves with him. Hired Rogues by her guess. They’d be little help to her. Black spots swam in front of her eyes, and Eli tossed her to the ground.

  “Throw them in the back of the van,” he ordered. “Take them to Lucas.”

  Belle’s eyes widened. So Eli and that monster were working together. No wonder she’d smelled both vampire and wolf when she’d been attacked. It’d been Eli who’d tried to abduct her. They’d been looking for a vampire, when it was a werewolf working for him the whole time.

  “And make sure you duct-tape their mouths real good.” Eli cast her an evil grin. “This one’s likely to bite when she’s cornered.”

  * * *

  It had been a little over an hour since Belle stormed from his office, yet Colt hadn’t managed to get any work done. He had tried to rid his mind of her, but he was failing miserably. He’d even abandoned the counterstrike plans and gone out to the calving shed to muck out the stalls and lay down some fresh hay to clear his head. Nothing like cleaning up cow shit to make a man put his own bullshit into perspective, but it was no use.

  He was still struggling to wrap his mind around the part where Belle had confessed she was pregnant with his child. Shit, he wasn’t certain he was ready to be a father, but the thought of having a family with Belle filled him with hope for the future—even as he mourned the inevitable loss of his pack.

  He jabbed the shovel he was holding into the hay, digging and lifting another pile into the wheelbarrow.

  And she’d told him she loved him.

  Colt hadn’t said those three words to a woman other than his sister since his mother had died. Did he even know the feeling in the romantic sense? Until now, he’d never allowed any woman close enough to come near to loving her.

  Except for Belle…

  Colt wasn’t prepared to answer that question, but as he moved to drive the shovel into the muck again, his cell phone rang. It was likely Sierra, calling to update him on their progress back to Wolf Pack Run or, more likely, chew him out for making Belle cry. He was already beating himself up inside over that. He didn’t need the extra help.

  He glanced at the phone. Instead of Sierra, Maverick’s name flashed across the screen.

  “Hello?” he answered.

  “Colt.” Maverick’s voice was tense.

  Colt dropped the shovel he was holding.

  “What happened?” he breathed.

  “A white van followed the females after they left the Missoula ranch. Maeve called me. The line went dead. The GPS on Maeve’s phone is showing up just outside mile marker 316 in the Bozeman Pass on I-90.”

  “I’m on my way.” Colt pocketed his cell phone and tore out of the calving shed toward the main house as if his life depended on it. He was shouting orders to his men from the moment he reached the door.

  He didn’t remember any of the details of the ride, but
as he saw Sierra’s truck lying in a ditch, a swarm of human police officers surrounding it, Colt stiffened. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, and it was as if his heart suddenly stopped beating within his chest.

  Both his sister and Belle.

  No.

  No. No. No.

  He didn’t even wait for the car to stop before he was running through the traffic cones toward the accident.

  “Colt!” Sierra shouted to him from the back of an ambulance, where she’d clearly been fighting against being treated. It wouldn’t take much for the human paramedics to discover there was something different about her.

  She ran to him. He caught her in his arms. She was bleeding from the head. “They attacked us, Colt. Wild Eight. But I heard them say they were going to Lucas. They took Elizabeth and Maeve, but they—”

  Colt didn’t hear the next words Sierra spoke. His mind was already making the connections, drawing the parallels. All he heard was the sound of his own pulse thumping inside his temple. His vision turned red at the edges. But he forced it down, locking his rage away with the ironclad control James had taught him. He was already formulating a plan, calculating the best routes of entry and means of attack. He would make Lucas’s death slow and torturous. By comparison, what they’d done to him would be mere child’s play, and he wouldn’t rest until every last member of their coven met their true death.

  But first, he needed to find her. Save her.

  Because he loved her…

  * * *

  Belle wrapped her arms around her knees and huddled in the corner of the vampires’ cell. After Eli and his hired Rogue wolf thugs had abducted them from Sierra’s truck, they’d thrown Belle and Maeve into the back of their van. They’d duct-taped their mouths and bound their hands and feet, leaving them no escape. Belle’s stomach had churned in fear with each turn of the van’s wheels, bringing them closer and closer to the vampires’ coven, but that was nothing compared to the fear she felt now.