Or was she?
I can’t answer that question, and frankly it doesn’t make a difference, seeing as we’re all grown up and that is all in the past. Right now, I know who Hannah is, and that female is not someone I like very much.
What I do know now, I think, helping Mom clean up while Dad takes the ruined table out to his shed, is that I need her help, and God help me, there’s only one way to get it.
“I…I feel awful. Ban is so angry.” Mom sniffles, her tears pissing me off as I dry the dishes she passes to me and focus on not losing my temper.
“He’ll get over it, Mom.”
“Yes, I know. Banner isn’t one to hold grudges for long but, what if he’s right, Logan? That girl was only a child. I should have been kinder, more understanding, maybe explained to her that her parents were wrong and taught her better.”
“What if he’s wrong and you did the right thing?” I ask, knowing deep down that I am wrong just asking that question.
Is Banner right? Am I as prejudiced as I accuse Hannah of being?
I don’t want to answer that question right now, so I finish off the dishes beside Mom and take my leave not long after, my mind in turmoil. I can’t spend valuable time thinking about shit that happened so long ago its ancient history.
I have a job to do, a female to find, and God help Hannah Seers if she doesn’t deliver. Sighing, I make my way back through the woods, avoiding the town altogether as I walk back to Nick’s, where my target is currently lying in a cell and stewing.
I bet she thinks she’s won. She’s probably even now planning some big, fancy mating ceremony in which I am the male who waits for her. I snort, rolling my eyes when an image of her impish smile pops into my head and snarl when it makes my chest tight.
No, Hannah Seers is no angel, and I better not let Banner’s words change the facts. I need to use her to find Barbie, or else I’m looking at losing a friend and also having set my Alpha up for a fall.
Growling, I see the house come into view and take the porch steps two at a time, my fist burning where I slammed it into the wall earlier. Ignoring the sting, I knock, grinning when the door opens to reveal Mika who is shining with happiness.
“Hey, baby. You’re looking good,” I drawl, lifting her into my arms for a tight hug when she grins and kisses my cheek.
“I feel good. In the evenings. Any time between seven and twelve I am sick as a dog. No offense.” She giggles, her eyes twinkling when I growl and remind her we’re wolves.
“Well whatever may be, you look great and you’re glowing.”
“You look like hell. No offense,” she says, closing the door with a bang when she sees Damon Seers stalking up the path.
I chuckle when I hear his snarl, the insult Mika just dealt him no doubt riling his pureblood ass. A second later, I hear a knock and Nick’s curse when he comes stalking out of his office.
“Meek, honey, do Dad a favor and go to the kitchen with Mom. I don’t want you females anywhere near that male. Logan, get your ass out of here. I don’t want you causing a fight with that male. You’re too volatile right now.”
I grunt, kissing Mika’s cheek before she skips away and out of sight.
“He’s here for Hannah,” I say, standing my ground even when Nick scowls.
“I know. I called him. I can’t have that female in lock up every few days driving Prissy crazy. She’s unbearable to live with if she knows Hannah is anywhere near. God help me, but I would rather have her father come down here to get her and lay down the law than live with Priss’ tantrums,” he admits.
I almost smile until it hits me that if Seers is here to get Hannah I have no power to stop him. She’s his unmated daughter, a female he has utter and complete power over unless she rejects his claim to her. Knowing Hannah, she won’t do that, and that means that I have just made a monumental mistake.
Shit.
“Keep him busy Nick. Please. I need to get Hannah out of here before he can take her,” I say, rushing for the basement door, my nerves tight when he frowns.
“What the—?”
“I’ll explain later! Please just keep him busy in your office, and I’ll tell you everything,” I beg, not waiting to hear his response as I close the door and take the stairs at a sprint.
Alpha is all powerful in the pack, but the elite have fought for dominion over family for decades, and as the law now stands, Damon can come in here and demand she be handed over and there won’t be a thing Nick can do to stop it. I could challenge his claim—if Hannah doesn’t reject his authority—but it would only buy time if I don’t mate her.
Fuck.
I’m breathing heavily when I burst through the door leading to the cells only to come to a stop when I see the cell door listing to the side where Hannah must have separated it from the wall.
The cell is empty, the faint traces of her blood still clinging to the air when I sniff to get her scent.
“Free.”
I turn to look at Lync and almost stagger back when his half-shifted face smiles, his eyes filled with more awareness than I ever expected to see again. He’s happy, satisfied, as he looks me up and down before turning to stalk to his cot where he sits down and stares ahead.
“Lync—”
“Hannah. Free.”
I run without another word, back up the stairs, out the basement door before I stop and sniff again. For some reason her scent isn’t strong here, but I catch just enough to pick up a trace at a door leading to the backyard.
Once outside, I sniff again, taking a deep breath to test the air—
Shit.
I shift fast, not caring that my clothes rip to shreds and fall at my feet. My wolf is snapping, angry at me as my paws hit the dirt and I take off into the woods, running—hell bent—in the direction where I can still smell her.
Fuck.
Chapter Nine
Hannah
My wolf is tiring by the time I make it to Whitefish Lake, my healing having taken up more energy than I could afford to expend. Shifting has its advantages, like super-fast healing and speed, but it cost me a lot on energy, and even more in endurance because I’m dragging ass when I make it to shore, stopping to drink and consider my options.
I really don’t have any. I have no clothes, no place to go, and no money, something my genius plan did not include but should have, I think, flopping down into the sand with a sigh.
Staring out at the water, I try to think of something, anything, that will help me, but all I can think about is how I’m all alone with nothing and no one.
Part of me thinks I should have stayed down in those cells, but dammit, I am not going to get myself killed just to help Logan. It may be the right thing to do, who knows, I really don’t have enough conscience to really know that, but right now I do know that staying down there was a death sentence.
He didn’t believe one word I said to him, I groan, thinking back to how I opened my big mouth. See why I didn’t bother to report Jessa Rubens’ disappearance? Those enforcers, hell the Alpha, would have laughed themselves sick and left me to go home to my father’s wrath.
Yes, I feel shitty about not being that female’s voice, but come on, it’s hard to protest such things when you’re dead and that is not something I am willing to be. I have survived thus far, why should I ruin all that hard work because one female was idiotic enough to open her fat mouth and think her engagement to a leading male would save her.
Stupid bitch. Poor idiot, I think, my throat tightening because she was not a bad person. She was so sure about life, about rebelling against the wrongs and standing up for what’s right.
Too bad she was a fool to believe that justice is alive and kicking, I think, shaking my head to dispel the image of that female walking to her death, her cries of fear and pleas still ringing in my ears.
I don’t want to end up like that and to avoid it I need a plan.
My wolf snorts, chuffing her annoyance, and I totally agree with her when all I can think to
do is keep going. I could run north, hit the border and get lost up there for a while.
If I stay in wolf form, I could hunt and disappear until things die down, but the thought of going wild the longer I stay in fur scares me. I used to listen to Dennis Kilter tell us scary stories about the ancients who’d become trapped in their forms if they didn’t shift in time and how they turned into wild animals with the intelligence of men, hunting people like rabid beasts.
I don’t know if it’s true, but I am so not willing to risk it, not when a larger part of me is telling me to do just that and get lost. Things would be so easy if I didn’t have to think and worry. I could just run, hunt, and be free.
Oh hell. And lose out on fashion and all the good stuff in life? Not happening, I think, chuckling inside when my wolf huffs her disagreement.
Sorry bitch, but your pelt is not in this season, I giggle, my muzzle baring sharp teeth when she growls.
God, what have I gotten myself into? See, this is why I endured Dad’s anger. I needed time to set my plans in motion, not to antagonize the male to the point he wants me dead.
Fucking Blain. If I ever see my brother again, I will rip his throat out and enjoy the killing. I can’t believe he did this. He has effectively been my jury, handing down a death sentence because he and Brig have some super-secret ulterior motive about what the council is up to.
Bastard, I think again, whining because it hurts. God, it hurts to know that I have absolutely no one.
Sniffing again, I get to my feet tiredly, my paws dragging with every step I take along the wet sand, the tracks I leave behind disappearing when the water licks at them.
I keep to the water’s edge, using it to mask my scent and make it around the shoreline until I see human cabins in the distance. I veer left, back into the trees, to avoid being spotted and spend an hour letting my wolf lead me, her sense of direction taking us further north and away from my pack.
Being out here alone isn’t scary, just not what I’m used. I can hear for miles. Trees swaying in the wind, the crisp chill of winter air on my muzzle, the owls hooting in the distance.
For now, I don’t let myself think about what’s going to happen, what I should do. I just enjoy the peace and revel in this change, the enforced punishment that Dad used when he wanted me to hurt, refusing to let me shift and heal properly.
For now, all I want to think about is the peace and not focus on what anyone did to me or wants from me. It’s not easy though. I am so used to always thinking, planning, making sure I’m a step ahead of anyone else to keep from hurting that it’s not possible to stop my thoughts.
If only, I think, conjuring an image of the house I wanted to buy, the furniture I wanted. The kitchen. Teaching myself to cook. I mean, not that I haven’t read about it and learned about cooking and baking.
In theory. It’s just that it’s hard to know if I can do it without ever having done it. Mom would have had a heart attack if I’d so much as stepped foot in the kitchen to do more than eat or yell at the shifter female who works for us.
I wanted so much. Just normal things. For me.
Now, I don’t have anything. All the money I saved is still stuck in the floorboards under my bed, my clothes are gone, my laptop, all the stuff I liked…
I have only me, and God help me, that scares me. I don’t know how to run and hide and not want stuff. I’m way too spoiled and used to having nice things to even think I can make it out of here and build a life.
Where would I go? What would I do when I get there?
It’s not as if I can just shift and walk out into human society naked as the day I was born. I’d have to steal stuff, and while I don’t feel a drop of guilt over that, I have no clue how to do it without getting caught.
I should have googled practical things like that, I think, stopping to look up at the sky where the moon is big and shining like a spotlight. Forcing myself not to get down on myself because I like me. I am just about to start loping again when I hear something not far away and freeze.
The wind is blowing at me, the air sighing over my lolling tongue and through my nose, bringing with it the scent of—
I dart off, running before I can whimper a thought and force my wolf to pick up speed when I smell that scent. Oh God. Brig. I run so hard I stumble, going down and rolling before I regain my feet and dig my paws in, desperation and survival all I can think about now.
I run hard, harder than I ever have before, and with the knowledge that it’s not enough when I hear panting and a snarl. Please Brig, please.
I beg silently for a reprieve, my mind refusing to believe that he could be coming after me to do what Dad wanted but also knowing I can’t stop and test the theory.
Snarling alerts me to another presence, and I sniff again as I run, my whole body going cold when I catch the scent of Goose Bane.
Oh Jesus—
Something hits me from the left. Heavy, so heavy I yelp when it takes me down to the ground and sends me rolling and skittering when I manage to right myself and come to my feet.
I want to turn and run but stop myself, instead planting my feet to square off when the russet wolf comes to his own, his fur rising as he faces me, teeth bared when he growls deep in his chest, the sound menacing.
I stop a whimper and right the urge to submit, feeling my wolf snap her fury when he growls and barks, his mouth dripping with saliva. My pelt bristles in warning, my own teeth bared when my wolf takes up the threat and pads to the left when he moves, keeping him in my line of sight.
He’s going to kill me. I know this as surely as I know that running was a mistake. Where’s Brig—?
The attack happens fast, so out of the blue I don’t have a chance to move before he lunges at me and takes me down, sinking his teeth into my foreleg.
Pain comes swiftly, the smell of my blood coating the air when Banes shakes his head, ripping at the muscle and flesh to keep me from getting away.
I whimper, letting off a howl of pain, writhing and struggling to get out from under the massive weight pinning me. My wolf snaps at him, teeth grazing his fur, her instinct for life forcing us to lash out and fight to get free.
I keep asking myself where Brig is when teeth sink into my throat, cutting off my air and clamping down, teeth piercing fur and skin. Oh God, I think when struggling only makes him bite harder, the movement ripping at my flesh, making me bleed faster, profusely.
I need to get free and run. it’s the only thought I have now but for the weakness that comes over me, stopping me altogether. Blood. Mine. It’s all she whimpers, and I know I’m not surviving this when suddenly the weight is gone from me.
I hear snarls, growls, the yelp and whimpers of a wolf, and a sound that is so aggressive I’d run if I could. My vision goes fuzzy, the stench of my blood so thick in the air that my wolf whimpers and gags.
I feel the shift coming, my wolf retreating the dimmer everything becomes, and soon I am in human form again, my chilled body naked and lying among the dead leaves on the ground.
Shivers wrack me, the bubbling of blood up my throat making me choke as blood pours from the wound at my neck and the wound on my broken arm.
I should have stayed in that cell.
The sounds around me hardly reach my ears now. All I can hear is the beating of my heart, the slow ebb of life as it thuds slower and my blood slackens, going sluggish in my veins.
The shift tried to heal me. I felt the wounds go tight, but it didn’t work, not nearly enough to make a difference. The wind flows over me, pebbling my nipples and making the blood beneath my head thicken and congeal against my hair.
I stay still, my body not responding, and listen as the growls die down and something pads near. I can’t see properly, but I know it’s Logan when his scent reaches through the smell of blood and a hand closes over my throat.
“Jesus.”
“Told…you.”
# # # #
Logan
I crash through the doors of Nick’s
house, not giving a shit that I’m buck-assed naked and my dick is on full display as I yell for help, cradling Hannah against me, the scent of her blood so thick it chokes me.
It’s all over her, painted in red waves over her front, splattered from her breasts to the cradle of her thighs and down my own where I have her clutched to my chest.
I hear curses before Nick barrels into the foyer, his own horror apparent when he takes in all the blood and the savage rip in Hannah’s throat. Priss follows, and even she screams when she sees us, her eyes going wide when a gurgle of air pushes more blood out of the wound and onto my throat.
“Banes. Banes caught her out in the woods.”
It’s all I can say before my knees buckle and dump us to the floor, my body screaming in pain because I ran all the way here without stopping. Oh Christ, there wasn’t a second to spare, I think, feeling my wolf snarl a denial when the pale face of my ex-Fated stares back at me, her lifeless mouth hanging open to reveal a pool of blood collecting there.
“Bear! Tell Althea to get here now. She needs to bring a trauma kit. Prissy, call Grogan and tell him to get the OR ready for an emergency. Move!” he snarls, falling in front of me to lift a trembling hand to Hannah’s throat, his breath stuttering out when he touches her.
“Jesus Christ Logan, what the hell happened to this female?”
I shake my head, not capable of speech when Bear runs in beside Mika, his yell of pain echoing around us. I see him catch Mika out of the corner of my eye before she falls, her scream of shock making my wolf whine louder.
“Father…sent Banes,” I wheeze, my throat going tight when I don’t hear a whistle or gurgle of air as I have been since I grabbed her and started running.
“Banes? What the hell are you talking about?” he roars, his hand closing around the wound in Hannah’s throat to stop at least some of the bleeding.
Greyriver Shifters Page 33