Finding the Texas Wolf

by Karen Whiddon

  “Your chance? You stole a vial of a deadly virus and took it from a controlled environment out among mankind.”

  He at least had the grace to appear ashamed. “What else could I do? When the Sons of Darkness contacted me, telling me how they had a clean lab and offering me the opportunity to save humankind, how could I refuse? How could anyone refuse?”

  She opened and closed her mouth, not sure how to answer.

  “Anyway,” he continued, apparently taking her silence for agreement, “what’s your story? You act like you’re some super hotshot scientist, but did you ever even work for the CDC?”

  “Nope.” And that was all she intended to say about that. “If you want to help me analyze these tissue samples, you’d better get busy.”

  To his credit, he once again stepped up. Looking as if he might vomit at any moment, he watched while she filled the first test tube halfway and placed it in the metal stand. When he handed her the second, his hands weren’t shaking as noticeably, though the tremor was still there.

  Once all three test tubes had been filled, they carefully zipped up the body bag and also reclosed the container. “We’ll need to burn that,” Scott commented.

  “True,” she agreed. “But not yet. Right now, I want to take advantage of all the active tissue samples.”

  The barn door opened, sending a beam of brilliant sunlight to light up the other part of the barn. Rick stood silhouetted in the door for a moment before he closed it. He hurried back to the lab area, entered the antechamber and quickly suited up. After rushing into the decontamination room, he once again entered the lab.

  “Well?” Scott demanded. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

  “No,” he answered, his voice muffled behind the headgear. “That’s on a need-to-know basis. And right now, you don’t need to know.”

  Chapter 17

  Though it had been years since Maddie had visited her father’s old hunting cabin, she knew the way there as if she was still a regular visitor. Once upon a time, she had been. Before she and Colton had been born, their grandparents had gone in with their own siblings and purchased a hundred-acre parcel of land in Southeast Texas. Each family had constructed several small cabins, careful that none of them were in sight of the others. Young Shifters learned how to change here, and how to hunt. They’d had family reunions and group hunts, and celebrated birthdays and anniversaries there. Despite the pall of the occasional divorce and remarriage, the tradition continued strong.

  But then Colton and Maddie’s father had been killed. This horrific act, a brutal murder with a silver bullet, had forever changed their tight-knit clan. After his death, their stepmother had wanted nothing to do with the rest of the family. She’d sold what she could and moved away. Since the cabin remained deeded to the still-living grandparents, she’d been unable to get her greedy hands on that.

  These days, with all the kids grown and their elders traveling, the cabins weren’t used much. But they would be, as soon as the next generation of Shape-shifters was born.

  Driving, Maddie’s heart quickened at the thought. She’d been too busy establishing her career to even think of having children. And to be honest, she hadn’t met anyone she’d even consider mating with. Until now. Until Jake.

  Now that she’d had the thought, instead of shutting it down, she allowed herself the luxury of trying to imagine what their babies would look like. She’d hope they had Jake’s beautiful skin tone rather than her freckled, pale one. In fact, she’d rather they’d totally resemble him, as he was the most handsome man she’d ever met.

  Damn. Gripping the steering wheel, she shook her head. When had she become so far gone? Jake’s capture, even if by her own brother, had forced her to face the truth.

  She loved him. Truly, madly, deeply. Amazed, she turned up the radio, singing along as she drove. She drove fast in the passing lane, noted what vehicles were around her, and then switched to the far right lane and a much slower rate of speed.

  None of the original group of cars stayed back with her. They all passed her.

  She did this several times on the trip, with the same results. Then, just before she made the turnoff to take her east, she pulled in to a fast food restaurant. After sitting in her car for a few minutes and checking out all the other vehicles that pulled in after her, she got out and stretched her legs. Inside, after using the restroom, she bought a large coffee and a sandwich. When she returned to her car, she locked the doors and sat there until she’d finished eating.

  Again she went through the parking lot, noting vehicles, before pulling out. She kept a close eye behind her, but saw nothing of interest, so she got back on the highway and took the necessary exit.

  Once more, in an overabundance of caution, she performed her little test. Fast, then slow. Finally satisfied that no one was trailing her, she continued on to her destination.

  Not a single other car in sight, she turned off the main road onto the familiar gravel one. As she drove through a set of open iron gates marked Private, her heart rate sped up. Odd how even with so many years since her last visit, this still felt like returning home.

  Finally, the first cabin came into view. Set deep within a copse of trees, the weathered wood blended with the rich colors of earth and forest. A flood of memories rushed back, but Maddie continued on. Her family’s cabin was much deeper, near the river.

  After passing three other cabins, she finally rounded a curve in the road and got her first glimpse in years of the one belonging to her family. The faded gray color gave it a homey look. She felt a rush of nostalgia as she turned in the horseshoe-shaped drive.

  Parking behind the white box truck, she got out of her car and headed toward the back door. Despite the sidewalk, no one ever used the front entrance to the cabin. The back side, with its large wooden deck, had been deliberately made more inviting. As she crossed the walkway and the overgrown flower beds, the back door opened and Colton came out.

  “You made great time,” he said, enveloping her in a quick hug.

  “I did,” she agreed, looking past him for Jake. “And I made sure no one followed me.”

  “Perfect.” His gaze followed hers. “Looking for something?”

  “Quit.” Pulling away, she punched his arm. “Where is he? Please tell me you don’t still have him locked in the garage.”

  “Where else would he be?”

  She stared in disbelief. “Judging by your frown, you don’t see how awful that is.”

  “What? He’s fine. I didn’t want to bring him into the house until you got here.”

  “Why not?” Turning to face him, hands on her hips, she glared. “Afraid of a human man?”

  He actually appeared offended at her words. “That wasn’t it. I needed to talk to you first and find out how much he knows. Is he aware that you’re Pack?”

  “No.” She swallowed. “We haven’t reached that stage in our relationship yet. It’s all too new.”

  His gaze searched her face. “Yet you seem pretty certain about your feelings.”

  “I am. When you know, you just know. I can’t explain it any more succinctly.”

  Though she could tell he had no idea what she meant, he slowly nodded. “I haven’t had a chance to get to know him very well. Actually, he’s really pissed at me. And I can’t say I blame him.” He shrugged. “Eventually, he’ll understand what I did was for his own good.”

  “Was it?” she asked, crossing her arms.

  “Yes. Some of the other Pack Protectors got wind of the fact that he is planning to write an exposé on Broken Chains. I have to tell you, that went over like a ton of bricks.”

  “Where did they get that info?” she asked. “As far as I know, he’s only mentioned it to me.”

  “Apparently, he approached who he thought was some random guy and offered him money to help him get in.”

  She groaned. “Yes, he mentioned that. Let me guess. The guy is a Protector.”

  “Bingo. Orders came down from H
eadquarters yesterday that he was to be brought in and interrogated. If they learned he knew too much, he was to be...reprogrammed.”

  A shudder crept up her spine. “He doesn’t know anything, I promise. All I’ve done is misdirect him.”

  “I believe you. But you know how it is. Once a report is made, it has to be investigated. That’s why I staged such an elaborate abduction.”

  “Because you want them to believe...what, exactly?”

  “That a Protector unit has grabbed him. There’s still the occasional infighting in the group. Competition is fierce to see who can find the most threats and neutralize them.”

  “Are there truly that many?” she asked, still skeptical. “I mean, come on. Everyone knows about the consequences of revealing the truth to humans and no one wants to be picked up by the Protectors. I’d think that alone would act as a huge deterrent.”

  He shrugged. “What can I say? People can be stupid.”

  Since she had no answer for that, she glanced at the house. “Can we go get Jake now? I imagine this has all been stressful for him.”

  “Sure.” Colton shook his head. “But if you ask me, that guy’s plenty capable of dealing with stuff like this. He’s a well-respected journalist who’s written articles from all over the world, including dangerous war zones.”

  “You looked him up?” she asked, incredulous.

  “Didn’t you?”

  Instead of responding, she punched him in the arm and pushed past him to get inside the house. As she hurried toward the garage, Colton stopped her. “I was kidding. He’s not in the garage anymore. He wanted a shower, so I let him use the bathroom.” He pointed at the closed door. “Unless you intend to go in after him, you might as well wait with me in the kitchen.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” she muttered.

  Hearing that, her brother made a face. “Gross. Don’t even think about it.”

  The bathroom door opened before she could reply. Maddie’s thoughts scattered at the sight of Jake, his close-cropped dark hair damp, button-down shirt open to reveal his muscular chest. Unable to help herself, she let her gaze roam to where his jeans rode low on his hips. To top it all off, he was barefoot. He hadn’t yet seen her because he appeared to be preoccupied rubbing at one of his wrists.

  “Rein it in, Kinslow,” Colton murmured, elbowing her hard. Raising his voice, he invited Jake to join them in the kitchen.

  Jake looked up and his gaze locked on Maddie. Swiftly he crossed the room and went to her, took her in his arms and held her. Heart hammering, she snuggled close, relishing the warmth of his skin, the feel of his muscular body, his unique masculine scent. Mine, she thought, unbidden. All mine.

  “Oh, for the love of...” Colton turned away. “Anyone want coffee?”

  Raising his gaze, Jake’s expression hardened. “Will it be laced with something to knock me out?”

  “Ouch.” Colton shook his head. “Look, as I told my sister, I had good reasons for doing what I did.”

  “And they are?”

  Maddie swallowed. Now came the tricky part. She wanted to tell Jake the truth, just not all of it. “There’s another group that’s after you,” she said. “Colton did what he did to make them believe you were abducted. That will buy you some additional time.”

  Judging by his closed off expression, Jake wasn’t buying it. “After me? Why?”

  Colton took over. “This group believes you might have stumbled on some classified information. They’ll do anything to keep you from revealing it to anyone.”

  “Classified?” Now Jake frowned. “I haven’t come across anything like that. Believe me, I’d know. I’m a reporter. We’re good about quickly comprehending things like that.”

  Aware she couldn’t glance at her brother, which might make Jake realize they weren’t telling him the full story, Maddie kept her gaze trained on Jake. “You know that and we know that, but this group doesn’t. They want to bring you in for questioning.”

  The ever-observant Jake picked up on her use of that particular phrase. “Are they law enforcement?” he asked.

  “More like covert ops,” Colton interjected. “That’s why letting them nab you wouldn’t have been safe. They operate outside the constraints of the law.”

  “Where’s your evidence?”

  Both Colton and Maddie froze at Jake’s question.

  “You’d better believe he wants evidence,” Maddie said, finally looking directly at her brother. “He’s a reporter.”

  “And as such, I need proof.” Jake shook his head. “Facts, not speculation. What hard evidence do you have that this story you’re telling me is true?”

  “Because I’m one of them,” Colton finally said, anger flashing in his gaze. “And believe me when I tell you that you’re a wanted man.”

  * * *

  While Colton’s story had holes in it large enough to drive a truck though, Jake could also see elements of truth. He understood they—and this included Maddie, which bothered him—were trying to manipulate him. For what reason? That had yet to be revealed.

  “All right,” Jake finally said. “Let’s say I decide to believe you. I’m a wanted man. But I also know top secret government agencies don’t go after someone on a hunch. They need proof. Hard data. So tell me, what do these people have on me?”

  Neither Colton or Maddie responded. When Maddie reached over to take his hand, he moved away. Though hurt flashed across her mobile features, she didn’t say anything. Of course not. What could she say, other than an outright lie?

  “I trusted you,” he told her. “The one thing I thought I could always count on was you being straight with me.”

  “I am being straight with you,” she exclaimed. “There are just certain things I can’t tell you.”

  “Sorry, that doesn’t cut it. If you want me to believe any part of what you say, you’ve got to tell me everything.”

  When Maddie looked down, Jake felt like she’d just stabbed a knife into his heart.

  “I can’t,” she whispered. “Believe me, if I could, I would. But this is the very information those others are worried you already know. If either Colton or I were to fill you in, it’d be like marking you for dead.”

  The pain in her voice only compounded his own. Hardening his heart, he looked from the woman he’d thought he might love, to her brother. “Are we finished here? If so, I’d like to go.”

  Instead of answering, Colton glowered at him. The ferocity of the stare reminded Jake a bit of a wild animal, attempting to prove dominance with only a look.

  “Stop it, you two.” Maddie’s voice seemed to catch in her throat. With a strangled sob, she ran out of the room.

  “Great,” Colton groused. “Now look what you’ve done.”

  Dumbfounded at the comment, Jake strode over to the window, hoping if he stared long enough at the beautiful forest, some of his feelings of betrayal would fade. Of course, that would be wishful thinking. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get over the knowledge that Maddie wasn’t at all the person he’d believed her to be. That kind of hurt ran deep.

  “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Colton asked. “It’s important, so I’d like you to really think about it before you answer.”

  Both impressed and appalled that Colton seriously believed Jake would do anything he asked, Jake didn’t even acknowledge that he’d heard the other man.

  However, that didn’t seem to faze Colton. “What exactly is your relationship with my sister?”

  Jake ignored him.

  “Are you friends,” Colton continued, “or more than that?” Colton came closer, even going so far as to dare to reach out and grip Jake by the shoulder.

  Jake spun, knocking the other man’s hand off. He felt like all of his regret, his bottled-up rage, blazed from his eyes. A warning. “None of your business,” he said, his voice hard. “Whatever might have been between me and Maddie is dead now anyway.”

  “Aha! Now you’re admitting there was something between the two of you.”r />
  “Enough.” Jake wandered away from the window and sank back down on the couch. “You and your stupid games are exhausting. I just want to get out of this place and go home, back to my normal life. Back to reality.”

  “If you do that, I can guarantee those other guys will grab you.” Colton sat down on the other end, as far away as the sofa would allow. “And what I’m asking you is important. It speaks to the things Maddie couldn’t say. You see, among our kind, there are certain truths one can only admit to someone who is the one who will become our mate.”

  “Mate?” The change in subject only made Jake’s head hurt worse. “As in soul mate?”

  “That, too.” Colton shrugged. “I think if you and Maddie took the time to talk about how you feel about each other—about your expectations—that might help her know what to do.”

  “You’re not making sense.” Jake dragged his hand through his hair. “None of this does.”

  “I get what you’re saying, but I promise you, there’s sound logic behind it.” Leaning forward, Colton spoke earnestly. “If you care at all—even the slightest bit—for Maddie, go find her and talk to her. She’s hurting right now.”

  Since Jake was hurting, too—though he’d be damned if he’d admit that to Colton—he pushed to his feet. “Any idea where she might have gone?”

  “Yes. Out in back there’s a trail that goes into the woods. Follow that to the pond. There’s a small fishing dock there. When we were kids, it was always her favorite place to go when she needed to think.”

  Throat tight, Jake nodded. When he turned to go, Colton called after him. “Don’t you hurt my sister, understand?”

  Ignoring him, Jake left the cabin, and started down the path. He had to admit, the beauty of the apparently remote area surprised him. The pine trees and tall live oaks meant they were in East Texas, a part of his state that he particularly loved.

  He spotted her in the distance as soon as he rounded a curve in the path. Like her brother had said, she sat with her back to him at the end of a short wooden pier. Her legs dangled in the water and the breeze lifted strands of her long red hair. Just the sight of her had his chest feeling tight.