by Alisa Woods
Cruz and his wolves growled their intent. Their claws came out, along with their fangs. Marco’s pack in front of Julia were likewise agitated and growling and halfway shifting.
Marco didn’t shift or move. “I’m willing to settle this in the form of reparations, but you need to make the smart move here, Cruz.”
Cruz ramped up his snarls. “I’ll take the girls as payment. The young one and the healer.”
“I told you, they’re not up for negotiation. But I’m willing to turn over a certain amount of the southern part of our territory. The part you’ve been eyeing? You can stop trying to poach our customers coming in from Bellevue and just handle them directly. I’ll even send them your way.”
Customers? He had to be talking about drug dealing.
Cruz squinted at him. “Sounds like a lot of smoke you’re trying to blow up my ass.”
“The more important thing,” Marco said, the tension still in his voice, but it stayed remarkably calm, “is that we need to work together to resolve this Wolf Hunter problem. Our people are getting snatched right off the fucking street. We’re setting up patrols, but we can’t catch these guys if they drive off into your territory. We need a cease-fire, Cruz, at least for a little while. We have to agree not to flip the fuck out if we infringe on territory right now, especially if the cause is the Wolf Hunter. He’s our common enemy. And this is the only way we’re going to catch the asshole before he picks us off, one by one.”
Cruz held up a hand to keep his pack members back—his claws had disappeared, and his hand was fully human again. “And why would we do that?” he sneered. “What’s it to me if some of your pack members go missing?”
“I’m sure your people are going missing, too.” He held Cruz’s gaze steady. “And if they haven’t turned up yet, let me tell you how they will—dead and fucked up. Tortured good and damn long. If you can’t protect your own people from this guy, how long do you think they’re going to keep you as alpha? Because I sure as hell wouldn’t want an alpha who didn’t know how to keep his people safe.”
With the unease rippling through the shoulders of Cruz’s pack members, Julia could tell Marco was hitting a nerve. Cruz growled at his own pack, and that just ramped up the unease.
He turned back to Marco. “Okay, cease fire. For the moment. But don’t fucking push it, Marco.”
“Agreed.” Marco tipped his head to Cruz. “And if you see those fuckers come through, call me. You’ve got my number. Between our two territories, they can’t get away with snatching someone without us catching them before they get out of downtown.”
Cruz’s eyebrows lifted, just slightly, but he nodded. “Agreed. We put these bastards down. Then we go back to our normal arrangement.”
Two wolves nodded to each other and slowly backed away. Marco brought the healer with him, and one of Cruz’s men grabbed hold of the woman Julia had tried to rescue, roughly hauling her away as well. She didn’t try to fight him, and Julia couldn’t help wondering what would happen to her now that her mate was dead. Maybe she would find someone better. Someone who would protect her. But in Cruz’s pack… it didn’t seem likely. If she had been smart, she would’ve joined Marco’s pack as soon as he made the offer. But she’d been too afraid.
And maybe that was the smart move for Julia as well.
Marco had just impressed the hell out of her. He had saved Julia, saved the woman, offered her a place in his pack, and managed to diffuse the gang brawl that all of that almost tipped off. Plus he’d brokered this cease-fire, getting enemies to work together to catch the Wolf Hunter. She was in awe of what he’d done… and that was completely neglecting the fact that he was hotter than sin without his clothes on.
Marco scooped up his shirt from the ground and intentionally turned his back on Cruz’s retreating pack members, wiping the blood off his face and his chest. He stood in front of the small cluster of his pack members and the healer woman—Julia was still toward the back, in the most protected position.
Marco bent his head to Stefan and said quietly, “Is he gone yet?”
“Almost.” Stefan glared over Marco’s shoulder. “I don’t like that you gave away some of our revenue, but fucking hell, Marco, did you just negotiate a cease-fire? Shit, man, can I join your pack?”
Marco smirked at him, but that smile slowly faded as he looked over Stefan’s shoulder and made eye contact with Julia. Shit. He had to be totally pissed at her right now. Maybe joining his pack wasn’t even an option. Or even sticking around for a few days as a safe hideout. She wouldn’t want someone as reckless and out of control as she was around, causing trouble.
“The important thing is that all our people got out of this safe. That’s the only thing that matters to me.” He was saying the words to Stefan, but Julia felt like they were aimed at her. Then Marco broke eye contact with her as Stefan handed him his clothes.
While he got dressed, the other wolves relaxed in their tight brigade formation. No one said anything to her, but she was garnering lots of side-eye looks. As the uncomfortable silence stretched out, Stefan’s phone beeped some kind of alert.
He pulled it out of his pocket and swiped it open… then cringed and cursed under his breath.
“What is it?” Marco asked, pulling on his shirt.
“That damn Wolf Hunter’s got another video up.” Stefan squinted at the phone. “No fucking way.”
Marco peered at the phone. Julia couldn’t really see it, but it seemed to just be a shot of some buildings with words scrolling past.
“Goddamnit!” Marco spat out.
Julia flinched, but she was confused. What was wrong with having some buildings in a Wolf Hunter video? The ones she’d seen before were much worse—tortured wolves, all kinds of hate.
Stefan was shaking his head. “There has to be a camera somewhere—a spycam of some kind. This isn’t a handheld, Marco. They have something bugged near the shelter.”
Marco pushed past Stefan and his other pack members. “Then let’s go find that thing and tear it the fuck out.”
He stormed past her without so much as a glance her way—Julia’s heart shrank a little.
She knew he was after the Wolf Hunter and trying to protect his pack—and if there was one thing she’d already figured out about Marco Wilding, it was that he would do anything to protect the people in his family. His pack. He was the kind of alpha—the kind of man—she’d always heard about, but never really believed existed.
Stefan waited for her to pull her shit together and stop gawking after Marco’s retreating back.
Then all of them hurried after him.
Marco was tearing through the apartment like a demon.
He had half the pack ripping through the apartments, the abandoned storefronts downstairs, and even the light poles outside. Somewhere, a hidden camera was spying on his pack and the shelter, and he was going to find it. Stefan kept close to his side, his phone playing the video on an endless silent loop. He was trying to judge the angle to tell where the camera’s viewpoint came from. The video had the Wolf Hunter droning on about destroying all the criminal shifters in the city, and that he had them under surveillance. The second part was definitely true, but Marco would do everything in his power to stop the first.
Isabel had wrestled together a pack of the pups and coordinated them for the search. They climbed the light poles outside, shimmied into the small corners of the apartments, and used their skinny fingers to check out every tiny hole that might contain a hidden camera. He was glad she was occupied because that allowed him to keep Julia by his side—he was literally hauling her from room to room with him, never letting her out of his sight.
He knew that had to look crazy, and he was stirring up all kinds of rumors by doing so, not least in his beta’s mind—Stefan kept shooting him and Julia looks that were speaking volumes of unspoken words—but Marco couldn’t stand to be separated from her right now. Or rather, his wolf would be howling in his ear if he did, and he didn’t need the distra
ction.
Marco had nearly lost her when she ran off into Cruz’s territory. He meant what he said about that not being something to apologize for, but what he hadn’t said was that in the middle of the fight when he’d been taking down Cruz’s beta, even as he knew that decision might adversely affect his entire pack… he didn’t care.
All he wanted was to protect her. And having another man threaten this girl—his girl—had driven his wolf into a frenzy.
The fact that he thought of her that way cemented something inside him. Something he didn’t have a chance to express or do anything about in the minutes that followed—but as soon as he had an opening, he was going to tell her.
“We’ve got to go higher,” Stefan said from the window. He was holding up the camera, lining up the shot, and peering at the perspective of the video. “We‘re close, but I think it’s up at least one more floor.”
“All right,” Marco said, “let’s head on up.”
Julia had her arms crossed in front of her chest and a frown etched on her face. She had tried to go back to the shelter, saying something about not bothering him, but he had shut that down fast. Once he made it clear she had to stay with him, she had quietly followed him around. But she looked unsettled. With the fight and the dead man and the confrontation with Cruz’s pack—he could only imagine what was going through her head.
He had an urgent need to find the Wolf Hunter’s bug, but he also had fifty people in on the hunt. He could afford a minute to make sure she was okay.
They followed Stefan out into the apartment hallway. Marco let him pull a little ahead, then turned to her. “Hey, how are you doing?”
She still seemed out of it. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” She didn’t look fine.
He slid a hand to her cheek like he had before, and he liked how she felt—not just the softness of her skin, but how her small face, the curve of it, fit so well in his hand. He pulled her close, ducking his head to peer into her eyes. If they didn’t have everyone in the world buzzing around the floors and apartments around them, he would’ve kissed her right then. But that wasn’t what she needed from him, anyway—she needed reassurance. He wasn’t sure exactly what kind, but the fact that she didn’t pull away, that she was responding to his touch, leaning into it ever so slightly, was speaking to his wolf in the most powerful of ways.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he said softly, so no one tromping at the end of the hall would hear. “Whatever you’re worrying about, stop.”
She nodded but kept her lips pressed tight.
He frowned, but he didn’t have time to go into it right now. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, then dropped his hand down to hold hers and guide her towards the stairwell.
Once they were heading up, she spoke again. “Do you really think you can find it? Surveillance technology can be extremely small.”
He peered back at her, lifting one eyebrow. “Oh? You have some kind of background in surveillance that I should be aware of?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, I went to school for a while. I know a little bit about technology. Nothing much, but I know you can hide camera just about anywhere.”
He frowned because she was probably right. He kept holding her hand until they reached the next level, then he dropped it but ushered her toward the front apartment, the one that faced the street. The whole unit was abandoned a while ago, along with the rest of the businesses and dwellings in this area—that was one of the reasons why they located the shelter here. There was a ring of unoccupied buildings surrounding it. Of course, that also meant that someone had been able to slip in and plant surveillance.
He led Julia into the apartment, and the two of them watched as Stefan, John, and Bobby scoured every inch of the windows, lifting the panes and leaning out to peer at the walls on the exterior.
Marco gave Julia a serious look, one he hoped would be reassuring. “All I know,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear, “is that I’m creating a family here. My own family was fucked up in so many ways, but the family we have here? This is something special. This is what a family should be. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the Wolf Hunter terrorize my family and tear them apart. My father was no better than Cruz, no better than the previous alpha of this pack—they’re all assholes. They’re all fucked up. But I’m making something better here. And I’ll do everything necessary protect it.”
Her eyes went wide, and she was nodding along with his little speech.
That sent a flush of satisfaction through him.
He couldn’t believe how idiotic he had been to take her that close to Cruz’s territory—he’d almost lost her, just as he was figuring out how important she was to him.
Stefan and the others were busy doing everything that could be done to scour the apartment for the bug. Marco slipped his hand into Julia’s again and towed her toward the back. It was a small place—just an open kitchen, a small living room, and a short hallway to a couple of bedrooms in the back. He brought her slightly into the hallway—just enough to give them a little privacy, but not enough to make it look like they were sneaking off to the bedrooms.
Although he really liked the idea of doing that.
She gave him a questioning look.
“I don’t know what else is going on in your life,” he said quietly to her, “but I’d really like for you to consider joining the pack. We can keep you safe from whatever your troubles are, you’re damned good in a fight, and I think what we’re building here is something you’re looking for. I could be wrong about that, but I don’t think so.”
She looked away from him—at the walls peeling with paint, the warped wooden floorboards, even back at the wolves out in the open area of the apartment, tearing it apart, looking for the bug. She seemed to be struggling for words, so he waited.
Finally, she looked back at him. “I’d like that,” she said softly, “I’m just not sure that… you don’t really know anything about me, Marco.”
That stirred something up inside him. It was true—he didn’t know the details about where she came from, or what she’d done before trying to save Ethan, or even what was driving her, this darkness he saw inside her—but he knew everything he needed to know. His wolf was singing to her as he had never sung for another woman. And she was good in a way that few people were—instinctively, forcefully, without regard for her personal safety. Which was the kind of person he both respected in an unbounded way and wanted to protect with everything he had.
In short, they were made for each other. All that was left was to figure out the details.
He pulled her little closer, dipping his head to speak softly in her ear. “There’s a darkness inside you, Julia. Where does it come from? What is it that drove you to attack Cruz’s beta like that?”
She gritted her teeth. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help myself—”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m not saying it’s bad. It was an instinctual response, as far as I can tell. Or at least your wolf seemed to think—”
“Hey, Marco!” Stefan called from the front of the room. He was keeping his distance and eyeing them like he wasn’t quite sure if he should interrupt.
“Did you find something?” Marco asked, stepping back from his close-quarters conversation with Julia. He was sure that wouldn’t go unnoticed under Stefan’s careful gaze.
“No, I think we still need to go up a level.” Stefan waved the guys toward the door. “We’re going to check it out. I’ll let you know if we find anything.”
Marco narrowed his eyes as Stefan and the other two wolves hustled out of the apartment, leaving Marco and Julia alone. That had to be an intentional move on Stefan’s part, giving them time away from the rest. His suspicion was completely confirmed when he heard the front door click closed behind them.
His beta was pretty fucking awesome.
Marco turned back to Julia and cornered her against the wall with a hand on either side of her head. “What’s your last
name, Julia?” He leaned in but didn’t quite go for the kiss yet.
Her eyes went wide as she flattened against the wall and stared in amazement at his sudden move into her personal space. “Holloway.”
She seemed confused, and he didn’t want to leave any confusion whatsoever as to his intentions.
“Julia Holloway,” he whispered, moving closer to her lips. “I want to know who you are.”
Then he kissed her, softly, just a touch of his lips to hers, to make sure she wanted it, too—that this insane sexual attraction he was feeling wasn’t just one-sided lusting after this gorgeous, whip-strong girl he had somehow managed to land in his arms. When he pulled away, her lips followed after, chasing him and brushing again, but then jerking back, like she hadn’t meant to do it.
Because kissing him was instinctual—just like the rest of everything she’d done that was good and right.
That was all he needed to know.
He crashed his lips back into hers, releasing the urgent need for her that he’d felt from the beginning. It was a kiss so possessive, his wolf howled in triumph. He slipped a hand behind her head, protecting it from the torn paperboard wall he was pressing her against. His tongue was already laying claim to her mouth, and the whimper in her throat sprung his cock to life. She was so damn sweet. His other hand slid around her slender waist, pulling her into him so she could feel exactly how much he wanted her then sliding down to cup her gorgeous bottom. Her hands were feather touches on his shoulders and back, like she couldn’t decide how to hold onto him for this ride. Or maybe she was lost in the hotness of the kiss like he was, the sweet ache of wanting her finally finding expression as he devoured her mouth and ground his body into hers.
Goddamn, he wanted her. Right here. Right now.
If she were any other girl, he would absolutely just go for it—but Julia Holloway was no ordinary girl. And no way in hell was he going to just bang her in the hallway of some decrepit apartment. She deserved better than that. Much better. Possibly more than he even had to offer, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to try.