Wicked Jackal

by Cherie Marks

  Nerves on fire, she finally stepped out of the vehicle at the same time as Alex and adjusted the silky, red robe that fell to mid-thigh on her. She wore nothing underneath because she didn’t want to destroy any more clothes with her transition.

  Alex made his way around to her side just as Andrei stepped away from his own large Chevy truck.

  “Everything’s in place, right?” Alex asked his brother.

  Andrei nodded sharply. “I’ve got men stationed at various points throughout the forest. She’ll be well-protected.” He focused on me and pointed toward an open trail that split the tree line in front of them. “You can only run as far as the small falls at the end of this path. After that, you need to turn around and run back. Understood?”

  “Yes, of course.” She wasn’t going to jeopardize the opportunity to repeat something so wonderful.

  Satisfied, Andrei turned and walked to the other side of the clearing to give her privacy to shift, and she realized just how great both the Chilikov brothers were. They’d gone out of their way to help her, and she knew she owed them her life on multiple occasions.

  Alex put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “I’ll be close by, but I’m not going to run with you.”

  “Still afraid to show me your shifter form? Afraid I’ll be turned off by your toady, warty skin?” She laughed lightly at her own joke.

  “Exactly.”

  He leaned in and kissed her lightly, and at just that simple touch, fireworks went off inside her. She really had it bad for him and couldn’t seem to keep in mind how bad it would be for her to fall in love with such a man. She had such a soft spot for heroes, and with his latest gift to her, he was her biggest champion.

  With a brush of his hand over her hair, he pulled back and said, “When you get back, we have a lot to talk about.”

  His tone was so serious, it made her feel nervous. The sensation that he’d been keeping secrets from her returned, and she wanted to demand he explain everything right now. But the call of the forest was strong, and she didn’t want to start what might become a long conversation yet. When she returned would be soon enough to hash it all out and end with a bout of make-up sex, if called for.

  “Sounds important. I will pencil you in.”

  “Use pen. I’m not putting this one off any longer.”

  “Okay.” She took three steps back, holding his gaze a few charged seconds, a smile playing over her lips, before she finally turned, dropped her robe, and charged toward the forest. With a leap into the air, she shifted and hit the ground running, paws digging into the dirt. The fresh smell of earth and pine on the wind filled her nose, and she loved the rush of air over her fur. This was everything she’d been missing, everything for which she’d been yearning.

  And though she’d worried a little bit about being out of shape, she practically flew along the trail without feeling out of breath. Before she knew it, she could hear the splash of the small waterfall just a short distance away. She thought she might need to make at least two more trips before her need to run was finally satisfied, but this was a good start.

  Yet, as she continued to lope, a strange shadow stretched out around a bend in the path. It almost appeared human-like, and she figured it could be a tree that had grown in a strange shape or possibly one of Andrei’s guards. But as she banked around the corner, she skidded to a halt. Standing in the path were two of the Russian guys who’d been at The Bread Basket.

  “Told you. We stand here. She come to us.”

  As she swiveled to run back the way she’d come, three more men stepped onto the trail behind her, beginning to surround her and blocking any chance of escape. Suddenly, a heavy net landed over her body, and she sank to the ground even as she struggled to get free. She vocalized a few squeaky yelps before a hand wrapped around her muzzle, net between them, and clamped it shut.

  “Davai!” She recognized the Russian word that roughly translated to let’s do this. They were going to take her away from Alex.

  They scooped her up, and rather than heading back toward where Alex and Andrei waited, they began to run toward the sound of the waterfall and away from any chance of the help she desperately needed.

  She knew she needed to fight, to shift back to human form and bite, scratch, and claw her way out of this mess. With determination, she began to buck in her captor’s arms, swinging her head wildly to try to free her mouth from the hand still holding it. She wasn’t going down without a fight, and they needed to know that.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement from behind them, something coming at them from down the path. It stunned her enough to stop moving, so she could get a better look at what was heading in their direction.

  As her eyes focused and her sense of smell picked up the scents, she recognized three things. Two jackal shifters were running toward them, one was her father, and most shocking of all, the other was Alex. Alex was a jackal shifter like her.

  But why hadn’t he told her? Why keep it secret when they had that in common? Reality dawned on her, and her struggles ceased completely. It could only mean one thing. Alex was the one her father had intended her to marry. He’d been working with her father all along. He’d been steering her the whole time. Making her fall for him.

  Talk about an inside job. She’d fallen right into their trap, and the sense of betrayal overwhelmed her as the men slung her over their shoulder and took off even faster.

  The sound of a gun clicking brought her out of her speculation and made Tasia nervous. She saw one of the Russian guys aim at the two jackals following closely behind. She wanted to call out a warning, but everything happened so quickly. As she watched, three shots were fired, and one of the targets was hit, going down to the ground with a snarl. Immediately, she knew it was Alex, and a moaning howl rose from her throat over and over until a heavy hand came down on the back of her head and everything went black.

  One slight move sent pain radiating through Alex’s shoulder as he re-gained consciousness. He was in human form again, and someone was torturing him.

  “Hold still. I’m working here.” His brother’s voice came to him through a thick haze. He struggled to understand where he was and what was happening.

  “Dammit! What are you doing to me?”

  Andrei sighed heavily. “Removing a bullet. And looks like I’m saving your lousy hide.”

  He dug into Alex’s flesh. Alex gritted his teeth against the pain and tightened his hands to fists. He opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. Still lying on the forest floor, the loss of Tasia came back to him suddenly.

  “Where is she? Where’s Olev?” He tried to shove Andrei’s hands away and struggled to get up, but his brother pushed him back down.

  “Let me take care of this. You’ll heal quickly, but rushing after her bleeding to death isn’t going to help anyone but the enemy.”

  Frustration forced an angry growl from deep within his chest as Alex said, “I can’t lay here when they have her. I have to go after them before they take her away forever.”

  “I still smell her here, and if you’d calm down enough, you would too. They’re holing up somewhere in this forest. We’ll find her and her father, but let me bandage this first.”

  Alex raised his good hand to cover his eyes as he laid back down on the ground. He felt so damn helpless and hated that feeling, especially since his conscience was eating at him already for not telling her about his arrangement with her father.

  He should’ve told her every…damn…thing!

  All he knew was as he waited for her return, he sensed something was wrong. Just as he was ready to shift and run after her, her father pulled up in a gray BMW Z4 and jumped out of the driver’s seat.

  He’d rushed to Alex’s side and said, “They’ve found her. They traced her friend, B or something like that’s call to your phone and tracked you here.” That had been the mysterious caller earlier. Now it made sense.

  Without asking how Olev knew all this,
he shifted and darted onto the trail. He sensed Olev’s change as well and felt him come up beside Alex. Together, they raced along the path until they heard her struggles. Once he knew she was within reach, he’d put his head down and pushed himself to run faster. Unfortunately, he hadn’t seen the gun pointed in his direction until it was too late.

  Pain seared his flesh as the bullet struck and knocked him backwards. Olev ran on, Tasia’d vocalized a protest, and those were the last things he’d seen and heard before he’d passed out.

  “Hurry up!”

  “Don’t rush me. You really need a doctor, but I know you. You won’t be able to walk away from this situation until she’s safe. Even for medical attention.”

  “Andrei, she’s…she’s…I can’t let anything happen to her.”

  As he worked, Andrei met his gaze. “I know. I can tell there’s something more between you two than just lust. You’ve developed feelings for her, and it’s obvious she feels just as strongly about you. I think father’s plan fell apart the minute you two met.”

  “I’m not going back to work for him, no matter what happens.”

  Andrei began stacking gauze over the clean wound and ran thick strands of tape over top to adhere them to Alex’s skin, covering the injury. “I expected as much, but he’ll press the conditions of the deal you two made. How are going to get around that?”

  “I don’t know yet, but I will.”

  Anxiety still sunk its claws into him, but a surprising thought was bothering him. In the past, he couldn’t have brought it up to Andrei, but lately things had been different between them, and he knew it had to do with Tasia.

  “Not sure if the reason I don’t want to marry her is entirely unselfish. Do you still think about Mom? What if Tasia is just like her?”

  “It’s time I told you something I learned shortly after she left. I thought it was best if you just forgot about her and moved on, but clearly you should know the truth.” He slowed in his motions and stared into the trees before continuing, “She tried to take us with her. The trip to her mother’s was really an attempt to run with us. Unfortunately, father caught on and tried to kill her. If it weren’t for one of his guards who stepped in and pried his fingers from around her throat, she wouldn’t have survived. But even after that, he had the courts on his side. Money goes a long way. She tried to get custody, but he made up so many lies about her, the courts took away any legal rights she had to her own children.”

  These were heavy revelations, and so much of what Alex thought he knew about his parents was flat wrong. “Why did she never try to contact us once we were adults?”

  “Not sure. Maybe she thought we wouldn’t understand, but she is still alive, living alone in a small town in Kentucky.”

  “If we survive this, we should find her.”

  “Okay, little brother. Let’s do that.”

  Pushing back on his haunches, Andrei surveyed his handiwork. “That’s the best I can do under the circumstances. The bullet’s out, the wound is cleaned, and everything’s covered for now.”

  “Where’d you get all this medical crap?”

  “Unlike you, not everyone’s superman in the field, brother. Some of us need some first-aid every once in a while. I always keep supplies with me, just in case.”

  Alex finally pushed himself to a sitting position. “Well, I’m far from a super hero in any shape or form, but for right now, I’m going to call on every ability I have to get her free. Can I count on you to help me?”

  “Of course. And though they killed two of my best men, I’ve still got three with me that want to kick those assholes’ asses good and make them pay for what they did.”

  “Then, help me up and let’s get moving while the trail is still warm.”

  With Andrei’s help, Alex stood and took the clothes his brother offered. Once he was dressed again, they ran into the forest, following the scent trail cautiously. For all he knew, they could be sprinting right into a trap.

  Tasia woke to the sound of her name being called. Not the name she’d created for herself in Woodland Creek, but the name she’d been called as a child growing up in Estonia. She glanced at the craggy, pine walls and ceiling that looked like they’d been hand-hewn a hundred years ago and sat unused until now. She was on a set of rumpled sheets on a bed that smelled like an animal died on it, and, oddly, a pile of clothes lay beside her. Her surroundings didn’t inspire good feelings at all.

  Taking advantage of the odd gift, she stood and stepped into a pair of dark blue running shorts and a large, white t-shirt. No bra or underwear provided, but she realized she could’ve woken up in a much worse situation, being unclothed and all, like being leered at by hulking Russians. The fact she still had no shoes made it clear she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  For a minute, she was completely confused about where she was, but then everything came rushing back. Her capture, Alex’s race to her rescue, the shot cracking loudly, and the bullet knocking Alex onto the ground.

  He’d been motionless, and uncertainty, followed by anxiety, slid into her brain. What if he was dead? Beyond devastating, she couldn’t stand the thought of him lying on the ground dead. It wasn’t a fitting end, even to someone who’d conspired with her father to force her into a marriage she didn’t want. He might have taken advantage of the danger coming after her to get close, to draw her in, to make her care about him, but she wouldn’t wish an end like that on him.

  “Ana, can you hear me?” Her father’s voice carried through the wall opposite the bed on which she’d been laid.

  “Isa? Daddy?”

  “Yes, mu kallis. I am here. In the next room.”

  It was a relief to hear her father’s voice again and to hear him call her his darling even after she’d gotten them into this mess, but now she knew they were in real danger.

  She sobbed silently. “This is all my fault.”

  “No, Ana. It is all my fault. I brought this on us and then pushed you away with a marriage you did not want.”

  The reminder brought back the last time she’d seen Alex, lying so still on the ground. He’d been working with her father, but she’d started to believe he was really on her side. He’d made her feel like she could go anywhere and do anything. Genuinely thinking of her needs, he’d gifted her with things she’d desperately wanted. Yet, had it all been to gain her trust just so he could rush her back to her father to go through with an arranged marriage?

  “You should have told me what was going on.”

  “Yes, there is no doubt now. Sometimes my love for you clouds my thinking. You are my youngest daughter, and I worry I have used up all my good ideas on your sisters for putting you on the path to a good and happy life, especially when I lose control of a situation.”

  “Isa, I have my own mind about how I will make my life a good one. I know I am still young, but I can choose things for myself and, though it will not always work out, that will make me happy.”

  His heavy, frustrated sigh carried to her even through the thin wall. “I am far from perfect, but after losing your mother, the thought of losing any of my girls, especially my youngest, was unthinkable. I could not see another way to protect you, except to find a place, far from the danger I was in. And I needed a trusted protector for you when I could not be there.”

  “So, you were protecting me from a Russian Mafiya boss, but how was I to know that if you never told me?”

  “Again, I see the mistake now. I just hope it is not too late.”

  “Have you tried your door?”

  “Yes. Locked. Try yours.”

  She crossed the room and gripped the round knob. When she twisted, it shook in her hand but didn’t turn. She slammed her open palm against the door. She didn’t want to think about what they had in store for her father and her.

  She called to her dad, “Also locked. Now what?”

  “Now, we wait, mu kallis. Alex will come for us.”

  Her knees went weak as the last image came back to her
yet again. “They shot him.”

  “But he wasn’t dead. I know that for a fact.”

  Relief surged through her. “Oh, thank goodness.”

  He paused for a few minutes before asking, “You have grown fond of him, have you?”

  “No! Well, maybe…a little. He seemed to be a decent guy. He took good care of me, but that does not mean I want to marry him.”

  “I might have tainted you against him in my rush to get you to safety. But do not let my one bad decision make you forget that he is a good jackal.”

  If she was being totally honest with herself, she had to admit she’d never felt so in tune with another person as she had with Alex, and the sex…well…her experience might be lacking, but she couldn’t imagine it getting better. The icing on the cake though was that he’d understood her ambitions. He’d told her he’d take her anywhere she wanted to go and help her create her own life. That was what she’d wanted all her sheltered existence—to make her own choices. And it didn’t hurt that he not only understood being a shifter, but he was a jackal too. Maybe she was being naïve, but she felt she could search the whole world over and not find someone as perfect for her as Alex.

  But she wasn’t going to rush back into his arms just like that. First, she needed to know something—something her father could tell her.

  “Answer me this—when you sent him after me, what did you ask him to do?”

  “To keep you safe, of course.”

  His words reassured her. She waited to see if he’d add anything. “Nothing else?”

  “Well, I did ask him to bring you home.”

  She knew it! “That sonofa…”

  “What?”

  “Nothing! Just good to know the score.”