From the doorway, she heard a long, wretched moan. She’d heard those moans before, and it was enough to strike deadly fear into her heart. She jumped from the couch, drawing her guns and forgetting the rest.
She saw them lurch forward in the pale evening light. She shot at its eyeballs and didn’t miss. It fell forward in gravity-defying slow motion, dead. But there were more behind them. Shooting as she went, she stepped backwards up the stairs, hoping she could find a way out up there.
Upstairs, she flung open a bedroom door. The stink of death snaked into her nostrils. She gagged and covered her nose. She could hear the zombies climbing the stairs behind her. Slamming the door, she looked around the room for an escape.
Fading sunlight streamed through the window. She’d entered the master bedroom where homeowners had found their final sleep. The decomposed corpses lay together on a king-sized bed, the flowery comforter covered in dried pus and blood from the radiation poisoning.
She passed the macabre scene and pushed open the window. Fresh air blew in from the desert. Cassie took a deep breath and swung her foot over the windowsill as the zombies burst through the bedroom door. It was a twenty-foot drop from the second story. Her heart raced, and she wished she’d stayed back at the fallout shelter for a split second before she jumped.
Falling on her hands and knees, her knee buckled underneath her. Pain seared through her leg as she struggled to get up. The zombies had already made it to the window above. Grimacing, she limped down the street and away from the house.
The horrifying sound of one body after another falling from the second story window followed her down the street. Half a dozen of them were already picking themselves up from the fall and limping after her, some dragging an injured foot or leg behind them. One even crawled.
The zombies who had not made it upstairs circled around from the front door and followed her at a quicker pace. Panic, desperation, fear pushed her forward through the stinging pain in her knee.
She shot at them as they approached, but her bullets could only do so much. Soon she would be empty.
Chapter 42
She hit a zombie in both eyes, pulled her triggers again, and heard an impotent click. She was out. She turned and limped to the intersection, praying she could somehow outsmart them.
A black SUV screeched to a stop in front of her, and the passenger-side door swung open.
“Get in!” Rafe yelled.
Not wasting time on anger, she pulled herself into the car and slammed the door as the SUV sped away from the oncoming horde.
They drove in silence for long minutes as Rafe headed south, back to the shelter.
“How did you find me?” she finally asked.
“I knew that car didn’t have much gas. I figured you would have to stop sooner or later to find more. I found it stalled out a few miles back, and I’ve been circling the area trying to track you by scent. I finally picked up the scent of a zombie nest on the move. I figured they were probably following you.”
“Good call,” she muttered, although she thought he probably meant it as an insult. Her intuition had completely failed her. She couldn’t use her gifts when she was stressed, which made them almost useless.
“Why did you run away?”
“You know why.” She stared out the window and refused to look at him.
“She came on to me. I had nothing to do with it.”
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself well enough,” she said, shooting him a scathing look.
“I’m part animal, Cassandra. It is difficult to control my body’s animal reactions, but I assure you, I was not going to go any further. I simply wanted to get an impression of why she felt she could approach me in that way. I need to understand pack dynamics, and sometimes that can be messy.”
“What a lame-ass excuse,” she said, her tone rising.
“It isn’t an excuse.”
“Just save it. All right? I don’t want to hear any more.”
“Cassie, please come back to my room. We can work this out.”
“I don’t think so, Rafe. I don’t believe I should even be in your shelter. I’m not a wolf. The entire pack hates me now. I’m basically an outcast, yet I’m supposed to be their leader? I can’t do it. I have to go liberate that dome. I have to learn to use my gifts when I need them to work. Hanging out around a bunch of cliquish shifters is not a priority for me.”
“What about me?”
“What about you? You are their leader. You are the biggest problem of all. Face it, Rafe. We can’t be together. It was fun while it lasted, but it simply won’t work.”
“I’ll make it work.”
“You think you can control this? Go tell your pack to stop acting like mean high school girls. See if they listen. It’s in their nature to despise me. You can’t change their minds. You made a mistake of believing it could be any other way. Just because you can see beyond the pack’s mind doesn’t mean they can. Just get over it. It’s time to move on. You saved me from the Anu, and I appreciate that. I do. But we both know this won’t work.”
“I love you.”
“Rafe…”
Her heart hurt. Just saying the words made her stomach twist and writhe with the wrongness of it, but she had no other choice. She and Rafe just weren’t meant to be. It would never work and trying to make the impossible possible was simply too painful.
She sat silently in the passenger seat as the moon rose. His hands gripped the steering wheel, and he stared out into the darkness. She could hear him sigh heavily and growled before he hit the wheel with his palm.
“Cassandra, I won’t accept that this is over.”
“I’m sorry, Rafe. I’ve made up my mind. I can’t do it anymore.”
They drove silently until the outline of the other SUVs came into view under the glare of the headlights. He parked and caught her arm as she opened her door.
“This isn’t over,” he said. She yanked her arm away, not wanting to look him in the eyes. If she did, she would start crying. Limping to the elevator, she got inside and crossed her arms, looking at the wall of iron bars. He came and stood beside her, lifting the crank. The elevator began its descent.
“You’re hurt,” he said tenderly, placing his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged him away, feeling cold and alone.
“It’s nothing.”
The elevator made it to the lower level, and he reached out to help her walk down the corridor, but she shuffled off without taking his hand. Finally, he growled and strode off without her. She knew he didn’t want his pack to see him weak and rejected by a human.
She limped into the dining room and Selina ran up to her and helped her into a chair while Meredith gave her a glass of water.
“Where did you go? We were worried,” Selina said, looking genuinely concerned.
“I was going to leave. I know you don’t want me here.” The two women standing over her denied it in shocked tones. Cassie rolled her eyes and frowned. This was total BS. She knew they resented her; their pretending wouldn’t change that. She was done with the game. Most of the pack was in the dining room, preparing for a hunt. She stood and cleared her throat.
“I know you all had deep apprehensions about Rafe mating with me, a human. I just want to let you all know; I am releasing him from his bond with me. I am no longer the alpha female of this pack. I am no longer mated to your alpha. So you can rest assured, no human will interfere with the integrity of your pack life. All right? I don’t know how much longer I’ll be staying here, but I hope that we can at least be honest with each other until I leave.”
Cassie sat down and took a long swig of water. There was mumbled agreement and a few horrified gasps trying to keep up the pretense. Selina put her hand on Cassie’s shoulder.
“Cassie, what makes you think we don’t want you?”
“Uh, you’ve said as much. I can’t do this whole hated human thing anymore.”
“What about Rafe? He wouldn’t have mated with you if h
e didn’t love you.”
“So. You all should have thought about that before you started hazing me. I’m done. I can’t live this way.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking around the room.
Cassie drew her lip back into her cheek and shrugged. It was over now. She spotted Rafe out of the corner of her eye. His dark expression exuded anger and hurt feelings. Neil came to speak to him quietly in his ear. Cassie looked away, avoiding his eyes before standing up to limp back to the bunkroom.
Once she made it to her room, she sank into the bed and lay down. Clark sat against the wall on his cot, reading a book.
“What happened? What’s the commotion about?”
“I resigned, so you should be happy.”
“No one has anything against you personally, Cassie. It’s just we need a leader who is also a wolf.”
“Yeah. I get that. Thanks.”
She pulled the blanket over her head and waited for someone to turn out the light.
Chapter 43
Rafe joined the others on a midnight hunt. The scent of the cougars bit at his nose, and he could sense they’d been close to the shelter. He put his nose to the ground, sniffing for pray.
Finally, in the underbrush to the east, he picked up the scent of a rabbit. He slowly stalked the scent until he sensed it was just a few yards away under a bush. The others were not far behind, but he’d tracked this kill himself.
He pounced, sinking his teeth into the small creature. It kicked and scratched at his face. Anger welled inside him. His mate, his love, wanted to leave. She’d announced to the whole pack she intended to leave him. He bit down hard on the animal’s neck, harder than necessary.
The anger surged through him, and he shook the limp rabbit, biting and tearing at it until it was a bloody mess of limbs and fur. He sat down, panting, covered in blood, not quite sure what he’d done.
The kill lay before him, torn to shreds and nearly useless for cooking. Neil came through the brush and sniffed at the carcass before lifting his glowing amber eyes to Rafe. He emitted a high-pitched yelp and licked at Rafe’s bloody mouth. Rafe pulled away and walked off into the darkness alone.
Neil trotted after him, but Rafe didn’t stop. Finally, Neil shifted to human form and called after him.
“Rafe, it’s for the best. Try to see the big picture.”
Rafe spun and growled, baring his bloody teeth. He shifted, standing, unfurling to his full human height. “Don’t,” he barked. “You can’t tell me it’s all right. That woman is my mate. The only one I want. Forever.”
Neil approached slowly, his hand out in front of him as if to soothe the enraged alpha. “Don’t you see how much easier it will be now? The female has made up her mind. You don’t have to make the decision. She’s made it for you. It will be better for all of us.” He placed his hand on Rafe’s shoulder.
Rafe gritted his teeth. His eyes glowed in the full moonlight. The full moon was a special time for all werewolves. Myths and legends had been written in the past about the connection between the moon and the shape shifter. In reality, the full moon signaled a time of increased strength, higher sensory perception, and greater awareness. It was also a time when emotions ran hot, and Rafe’s emotions were ready to boil over.
“I’m warning you, Neil,” Rafe said, panting, holding back his anger.
“Why don’t you try mating with Nadine? I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She would be a good mate, eager to please, ready to serve.”
Rafe growled and shifted into wolf form, bounding off into the night. He could still taste the metallic flavor of blood on his lips. He’d left the shredded corpse of the rabbit behind. Enough of this. He had to go get the SUV from Tucson and get on with the job of securing the pack’s interests.
He might not be ready to let Cassie go, but he needed to get his head on straight to take care of his pack. Neil came up behind him as he shifted to human form near the trucks. He grabbed clothing from inside and began getting dressed. This SUV was equipped with food, clothing, gear, and gasoline. If Cassie had taken it, she would have been long gone.
“I’m going for the other truck. I need you to come along to drive it back. Get dressed and get in.”
“Okay.” Neil grabbed some clothing and dressed, dropping the conversation from before.
Rafe got in the driver’s seat and didn’t wait for Neil to close the door before he stepped on the gas. They sped through the night toward Tucson. It only took an hour and a half before they stopped in front of the stalled SUV. Rafe had retrieved the keys from Cassie earlier. They quickly filled the tank with enough gas to get back to the shelter and started home without stopping.
On the way home, the moon rose high above the desert plains. In the distance, Rafe could see a mesa illuminated just right by the full moon to make it look like a heart. Coming to a stop, he hopped out of the SUV with a pair of binoculars. He could make out the shapes of a huge herd of longhorn sheep, just as Cassie had predicted. He licked his lips. This was exactly the windfall his pack needed to keep going. He pulled a rifle from the backseat and waited for Neil to join him.
“There is a herd of longhorn sheep out there. Cassie told me I’d find them under a heart-shaped mesa.”
“Really? Should we shift?”
“We need to get as many as we can. We’ll shift to stalk in close and then take out with the rifles. Then we’ll pull them back to the car in wolf form.” Rafe drew another rifle from the backseat and set them on the ground. They took off their clothes and locked the car, hiding the keys under the tire. Clutching the rifles in their teeth, they moved out.
They paced toward the herd, keeping themselves downwind. The herd hadn’t moved, but the two wolves needed to get closer before opening fire. When they were in range, they shifted back to human form.
Rafe counted down until they opened fire, blasting off shots until the herd bolted and ran away. They’d taken down at least six of the unsuspecting sheep. The wolves shifted and ran up the mesa. It would be enough food for months.
Rafe and Neil began the work of tugging the sheep back to the cars and securing them to any surface possible. They ended up with one in the back of each truck, one on the roof, and one on the hood. By the time they started home, the sun had already peeked over the eastern horizon.
Rafe drove up the road to his shelter and slammed on the breaks. He could see a cougar, looking around one of his SUVs in the dawn light. Rafe jumped out of the car, naked, training rifle on the cougar’s head. Neil followed suit and found several more cougars scavenging through the other cars.
“Hands above your head!” Rafe shouted.
He and Neil herded the cougars out into the open. The redheaded leader was among them. He glared at Rafe and narrowed his eyes at the bighorn sheep strapped to the wolves cars.
“Just like a wolf to hunt with rifles.”
“We need to eat, cougar. You’ve tried to starve us out, but we will hunt any way we can to feed our pack.”
“You need to leave this place,” the cougar spat.
“I have a gun trained to your head, and you want to make demands?” Rafe laughed bitterly.
Several more wolves returned from their morning hunt and surrounded the cougars.
“Give me one good reason not to take you out right now?” Rafe asked.
“Let’s come to a compromise,” the cougar began.
“I don’t think you have much to bargain with right now.”
“Be that as it may, there are more of us, and they will continue to haunt you.”
“Not if their leader is dead. We have guns, cat, and we aren’t afraid to use them.”
“I see your point.”
“How about this. You stay on the other side of the river. You hunt there; you patrol there. We stay on this side. We don’t hunt each other’s land, and we don’t harass each other’s people. Do we have a deal?”
“Fair enough.”
“And if I see one of your cats in my wolves’ territor
y, I won’t hesitate to take them out.”
“Same.”
“Then we have an agreement?”
“Yes.”
The cougars ran off with their tails between their legs. Counting on taking the wolves by surprise had been a mistake. The pack still used human tools, something the cougars had a prejudice against. But the cougars were mean, less willing to compromise unless cornered. It made them dangerous opponents.
The pack butchered the sheep in the gravel around the entrance to the shelter and brought the good meat down to the freezers. Everyone was elated, and Rafe decided to get out the rest of the whiskey for the party that was sure to come.
Rafe passed the bunkroom on his way to take a shower when he noticed Cassie packing her things. He stood in the doorway, the joy from his victories gone. He crossed his arms and stared at her until she turned to meet his eyes.
“What?” she asked when she finally acknowledged him.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m packing. I told you; I can’t stay.”
He moved forward, his hands still stained with blood. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, make her understand how much she meant to him, but he held back.
“Where do you plan to go?”
“North, to the witches’. Circe will take me in and train me. I know she will.”
“Cassie. You can’t go. I need you. We’ve finally secured enough food for the pack and struck a bargain with the cougars. Things will be less stressful. We can focus on our work with The Program. Everything will be better now.”
“You can’t change my mind. You can either lend me a car or have someone drive me, but you can’t make me stay.”
He moved backward, and bowed his head. He felt bone weary. He’d been up all night and most of the last day. He needed rest, a shower. He needed her to wait and to listen to him. Weakness overtook him. He couldn’t keep fighting her. If he loved her, he had to let her go. Let her be happy.
“All right then. I’ll take you. We’ll leave at dusk. Now, I need to shower and sleep. I can’t drive all the way to the witches’ without some rest first.”
Marked by the Alpha Wolf; Part 1 Page 19