by Cynthia Eden
The whisper came from deep inside. That deep, dark place inside that he tried to ignore. A place of savagery and darkness.
Harrison shook his head. No. Elise wasn’t for him. She was bait to lure monsters to him. She made his job easier. There was no way on earth that she was—
Mine!
Dammit, he needed a drink. Also, maybe a shrink because that voice hadn’t been a whisper in his head that time. It had been a freaking bellow.
Chapter Four
Her eyes flew open and a gasp slid past her lips. Fear churned through her body, and Elise knew she wasn’t alone. Something dangerous was with her. Something big and bad and—
A hand pressed over her mouth. A familiar, sandalwood scent teased her nose. “Don’t scream,” Harrison told her, his voice barely more than a breath. “We’ve got company coming.”
Her heart slammed into her chest.
He slowly lowered his hand. He sat on the edge of the bed, his body curving over hers. She could see perfectly in the dark—at least she hadn’t lost that trait—and Elise noted the tenseness of his handsome features. Battle-ready. That was how he looked. She swallowed. “I don’t want company, thank you very much.”
His lips quirked. “I’ll be sure to tell the wolves to fuck off.”
Oh, no. She sat up and grabbed his arm when he tried to move away. “It’s the werewolves? They followed us?”
“Caught a howl outside. They’re circling the place now, thinking they can close in and trap us.” He smiled. “Dumbasses. If they come at me tonight, they won’t survive until tomorrow.”
Wonderful. The paranormal war was in full effect. “And, ah, how will you defeat them?”
“The usual way. I’ll empty silver bullets into their hearts.” He reached under the mattress and his hand came back up with a gun. “Thought you might want a backup.”
“I was sleeping on your gun?”
“You were sleeping on my backup.” He reached down again. Pulled up a small box. When he opened it—surprise, surprise—there were silver bullets inside. He loaded the gun for her. “You know how to shoot?”
She nodded. “No.”
He frowned. “You nodded.”
Yes, she had. She’d also told the truth, dammit. “I mean, I know you pull the trigger, but it’s not like I’ve ever had to shoot a werewolf.” There weren’t any guns where she’d come from, mostly because guns didn’t work there.
He caught her hand and pressed the gun against her palm. “You aim and you squeeze the trigger. If a werewolf is coming at you, you fire, got me?”
“Yes, I’ve quite got you. But…”
“I won’t let them get you. It’s just a precaution, understand?” Tension seemed to roll off him in heavy, hot waves.
Actually…was the air heating? “Is it hot in here?” Elise asked as she kicked away the covers.
His gaze immediately darted to her legs. “Christ.” His stare flew back to her. “You stay in this room, okay? I don’t care what you hear, you remain in my bedroom. I’ll come back for you.”
“After you kill the werewolves.” Um, good plan. Except…She could hear howls. Like a lot of howls. “How many are out there?”
“I think Gustave sent his whole freaking pack.”
“Is that about four wolves?” Elise asked hopefully.
He shook his head.
“Five?”
“Try a dozen.”
Oh, crap.
He rose.
She grabbed his shirt and yanked, intending to pull him back to her.
Only the guy was an immoveable object. She’d forgotten how strong he was supposed to be. She wound up just fisting her hand in the soft material. “You can’t face that many wolves alone.”
He smiled down at her. “Of course, I can.”
“But—it’s a dozen werewolves.”
“I’m the best hunter in North America. Relax. They won’t get to you.”
He was supposed to be the best. Wasn’t that why she’d sought him out? This was sort of his chance to show her how tough he could be. To see if he lived up to expectations, so to speak. Only, if he didn’t live up to expectations…
Then he dies.
She didn’t want that. “No.” Now she hopped out of bed. She put the gun on the nightstand and then put her hands on him. Her palms flattened against his chest. “Let’s run.”
He blinked. “I’m not the running type.”
“Why not? I’ve heard running is great for the lungs.” She searched his eyes. “I don’t want you getting hurt.” Her mouth dropped open in surprise after that confession because…it had been the truth. The actual, real truth. She didn’t want her hunter hurt.
He gave her a half-smile. “You’ve got a target on you. What did you think would happen when you came to me for protection?”
She hadn’t thought she would care about him. Caring about him hadn’t been part of the plan. Yes, that was cold and cruel and, well, her. She was cold and cruel most days. So were many of her kind.
Most days.
Not that day. Or rather, not that night. “Don’t go out there.”
He laughed. “Sounds like you care.” He pulled away.
“Don’t!” She grabbed him, yanked him back and—
Kissed him. She shoved up onto her tip-toes, pulled his head down toward hers, and planted her lips against his. His mouth was open, as if he’d been about to say something, and her parted lips met his.
Her tongue slipped inside his mouth. Just a little taste…
The explosion of lust slammed through her. She moaned into his mouth and the spontaneous kiss turned into something frantic and desperate. His arms locked around her as he lifted her up against him. He took over the kiss, claiming her, seducing her, making her whole body shudder and quake. Wow. Elise hadn’t expected the intensity of her response, but she sure as heck loved it and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next—
He dropped her on the bed.
She bounced a little and frowned when she realized he wasn’t following her down onto the mattress.
“We’ll finish that…” Harrison assured her as his eyes gleamed, “as soon as I get rid of the wolves.”
Hold up…what?
He was heading for the door. No, he was walking through the doorway. As she watched, he slammed the door. He left her there.
Her.
Left. Her.
After a kiss. A kiss that had made her toes curl, made her sex quiver, made her yearn…
He’d left her.
That was just damn unacceptable. Elise huffed out a breath. By the time she was done with Harrison, that jerk would be begging for her kisses. First, though, before he started begging, she had to make sure that he did his job and slayed those wolves. She rather needed Harrison to stay alive.
She grabbed the gun and headed for the door.
***
Harrison watched the figures on his security monitors. Night-vision cameras let him see the wolves as they closed in. Not that the guys were exactly trying to hide their presence. Seriously, what was up with those idiots? Coming straight at a hunter? Did they want a swift trip to hell?
He sighed and grabbed his rifle. He was on the second floor of the house, in a room just down the hallway from Elise, and he turned away from the monitors as he made his way to the windows. He set up his weapon. Glanced through the scope.
He’d warned them to stay away. They should have listened.
He put his eye close to the sight and saw—
Fuck me.
Two of the wolves were in shifted form, but the other stood as a man, and he had a human shield in front of him. A woman. Though the werewolf wore the form of a man, his claws were out, and those claws were at the woman’s throat.
And the bastard was smiling. After a tense moment, the werewolf shouted, “I know you see me!”
Yeah, Harrison saw him just fine. I see a soon-to-be dead wolf.
“I know you hear me! Hunters…sharp eyes…the better to see…”
“Enhanced hearing…the better to hear…”
He could hear the jackass just fine. It was lucky no one else lived close by. The way the fellow was shouting, any close neighbors would have freaked out.
The werewolf’s claws cut into the woman’s throat, and she sobbed.
“Strong sense of smell, too, right? The better to pull in that rich scent of blood.” Laughter from the werewolf. “There’s gonna be a whole lot of blood. If you don’t come out here, right now, I will rip this woman’s throat out! I will tear her open from ear to ear!”
Harrison sighed. Then he leaned toward the window. He lifted it up. He had planned to shoot through the glass, but since someone was being a pain in the ass, he’d spare a few minutes to talk. “Hey, Cujo!”
The werewolf frowned up at him.
“You kill her, you’re dead two seconds later. Actually, I think I might just go ahead and start shooting right—”
The werewolf bellowed, “Burn the house!”
More figures surged forward from the darkness. Figures holding what looked like gasoline containers as they rushed toward the house.
The woman who’d been the sobbing victim? She laughed and grabbed one of the containers.
Shit. She wasn’t a victim. She was with the pack.
Harrison started firing. One, two, three. The bullets slammed into their targets, but the pack was swarming. Swarming and pouring gasoline all over the place.
Harrison whirled and rushed for the door. He had to get down there and stop those bastards before they ignited the whole house. But as he ran for the door, Elise appeared. Still wearing his t-shirt and now holding her gun, she stood in the doorway.
She looked at him. At the rifle he held. Then back up at his face. “I think I smell smoke.”
He surged toward her and grabbed her left hand. “You do. They’re trying to burn us out.”
“Burn us out…or just burn us?”
“Does it matter?” He hauled her with him. “I’m getting outside and I’m—” He stopped. They were at the top of the stairs, and when he looked down—
Chaos.
Alarms were shrieking. They were shrieking because the werewolves had busted a few of the downstairs windows. Busted the windows and tossed in some kind of explosives. Explosives or Molotov cocktails or maybe even some paranormal magic to go along with the freaking gasoline they were dumping everywhere. Smoke billowed from below, and he could hear the crackle of flames.
Werewolves normally attacked with fangs and claws. Since when did they try to burn their enemies? His gaze darted to Elise. Since her?
She’d stiffened at the top of the stairs. Dug in her heels. “We can’t go down there.” She shook her head, hard. “I’ll die.”
The flames were getting bigger, wilder. “I think that’s the plan for us both.” That fire had spread fast. Far faster than it should have. Definitely a little paranormal help had been given to the flames.
Okay, so going out the first floor wasn’t an option. That left…
“Come on,” he growled at her, and they ran back into his bedroom. He barely glanced at the tousled covers. He hurried toward the window and yanked it open. He saw two werewolves down there. He didn’t know where the others were, but he was sure they’d be showing up soon enough. “Too bad you can’t fly,” Harrison muttered as he climbed through the window. “That would really help us both out right now.”
“I—” She gaped at him. “Sorry?”
A grunt. “Climb on my back.” He was hanging onto the window’s edge, with his back partially toward her. “Hurry.”
“You’re not jumping.”
“We don’t have an option.”
The werewolves below were already screaming for backup.
“Climb on, Elise, now.” The flames were eating up the first level. He sure hoped that when he surged downward, he could avoid the lash of the fire.
He felt her gingerly climb onto his back. She wrapped her legs around his hips. Curled one arm around his neck as he waited near the window, his body tense.
“Now what?” Her question whispered against his ear.
“Now you don’t let go.”
He jumped.
Chapter Five
Wind rushed around her, flames crackled, and Elise sucked in a sharp breath—
His knees didn’t even buckle. Harrison just kind of slammed down into the ground and immediately took off running. She had one arm looped around his neck—basically in a stranglehold—and her legs were clamped around his hips. He raced forward and werewolves—some shifted, some not—lunged at them.
“Shoot!” Harrison snarled.
Shoot? Oh, yes. She still had the gun in her right hand. Elise aimed at a charging werewolf. She fired.
The bullet missed him. She thought it might have thudded into the ground. Or maybe hit a tree. Crap. She tried again.
Missed by a good foot.
“You have to hit them,” Harrison threw at her.
“It’s hard! You’re running, they’re running, and this shit is way harder than I expected it to be!”
A wolf leapt right at Harrison. She fired and at this close of a distance, she hit the guy. Finally. The werewolf fell back with a whimper as smoke rose from his body. Harrison surged forward—
Then stopped dead. Crap, they were surrounded. Elise cast a desperate glance around them and realized that the wolves had circled around them.
Oh, no.
“Slide down,” Harrison ordered softly.
She unhooked her legs from his hips. Ever so slowly, she slid down. Her arm pulled away from his neck.
“Stay behind me.”
She was behind him. The problem? The wolves circled them, so even being behind the big, bad hunter wasn’t helping her out too much.
“You don’t disrespect our leader,” one of them blasted. “You don’t ever—”
Harrison grabbed Elise’s hand—the hand that held the gun. His fingers curled around hers, he aimed and said, “Fire.”
She did.
He jerked her hand again, moving so quickly.
She fired again.
He pulled her hand, she fired. Fired. The werewolves went down and she just kept shooting until the gun only clicked.
By that point, the wolves—those who hadn’t been shot—had run. The others were sprawled on the ground, and their path to freedom had been cleared.
A fast glance showed her that the flames at the house were growing and thrashing. Smoke billowed. Harrison ran toward the side of the house—heading for the garage—and she ran with him. The werewolves didn’t seem particularly interested in attacking right then. They were too busy fleeing.
Harrison didn’t have any close neighbors. The street had been dead quiet when they arrived earlier, but surely someone would notice the flames and smoke? She figured the human cops had to be coming soon. Right? Maybe? Only she didn’t hear any sirens.
He hit a code on the garage wall and a few moments later, the garage door was open and he was jumping onto the bike. She hopped on right behind him and held tight. Sure, she wasn’t wearing shoes, was wearing his shirt and no pants, but hey, what was the point in worrying about clothing? The house was burning, werewolves were on the run, and Elise knew they had to get the hell out of there.
The motorcycle growled and raced them forward. As they fled the scene, she saw a few of the wolves turn toward them. Their eyes were glowing and furious, and she mentally urged the motorcycle to go faster. Faster. To get them the hell out of—
Harrison hit the brakes. The bike lurched. So did she. Elise almost flew right off the bike, but he twisted and grabbed her with those lightning-like reflexes of his. Her breath heaved in and out, and Elise managed to gasp, “Why…stop?”
Harrison’s head turned so that he was staring straight ahead. She followed his stare. The light from the motorcycle fell on the man who stood in the middle of the road.
Gustave. Not shifted. Simply standing there as calm as you please with his arms crossed over his chest.
Oh, sweet hell. Again… “Why did we stop?” They should’ve just driven over the alpha werewolf.
“Because if you cut off the head, you kill the snake.” Then Harrison got off the bike.
She grabbed the handlebars. “He’s not a snake,” she loud whispered at Harrison. “He’s a werewolf, and his pack just attacked us!”
Gustave uncrossed his arms. He lifted his hands. “No claws. I’m not here to fight.”
He sure could’ve fooled her.
“No?” Harrison called back. “Too bad. I am.” Harrison bent low and she saw him unsheathe a knife from his ankle. Handy. She hadn’t even realized it was there. In the next moment, he ran forward, moving with enhanced speed as he barreled at Gustave. She could barely breathe as she waited to see what would happen.
And then, just before Harrison’s knife would have plunged into Gustave’s chest—
Gustave knelt in the middle of the road.
Her mouth dropped open. A sign of submission? From an alpha?
Harrison stopped, the knife gripped in his hand. “What in the hell are you doing?”
Gustave stared up at him. “They didn’t attack on my order.”
“No?” Obvious disbelief from Harrison. “Then who sent them?”
A siren screamed in the distance.
A shiver slid over Elise. She glanced around. That fire was sure raging. Where had the other werewolves gone?
“They came on their own. Wanted payback for what they perceived as an insult against me. I assure you, I’ll deal with them.”
Elise wanted to scream out, “Don’t believe him! Werewolves can’t be trusted!” But she was too busy looking for threats. Where had those werewolves gone? She didn’t like the fact that they’d all seemingly vanished. Not one bit.
“Deal with them?” Harrison asked. “I hope you mean you’ll kill them. The ones who survive their injuries, anyway. They came at me. They burned my home. That shit doesn’t go unpunished.”
“I will punish them. My pack. My punishments.”
Her gaze jerked back to Gustave. He was rising.
Harrison hadn’t stabbed him yet. What was the hunter waiting for? Christmas?