Freedom in the Smokies

by Becca Jameson

  Her gaze landed on his as she held his face. His own tears spilled.

  “Never ever think your decision was a bad one. What would have happened to me if it weren’t for you?” She shook her head vigorously. She couldn’t stand to ponder the answer to that question. “You made me who I am, taught me everything I know about horses. Finished up the fine job my mother started right here in these mountains.”

  “Is that why you came back here?”

  Kaitlyn nodded. “This is my home. I know I disappointed Grandmother by fleeing the farm. But this is where I belong. Even before I met Micah, I knew I needed to return to my Smokies.” She glanced at her mate, barely seeing him through the tears.

  He smiled. That was all she needed. No matter what happened, their own child would not repeat history. Micah loved her. Nothing would separate them.

  Micah sat stunned. The woman he’d met only yesterday just had her world turned upside down. And she had a smile on her face. Yes, she was crying, but some of the tears were tears of joy. Answers to long-unanswered questions freed her in some ways.

  She was so strong. So damn confident. Someone had done a good job along the way. First her mother and then her grandfather had formed and shaped this woman until she came out shining. The wrath of her grandmother hadn’t broken her spirit.

  “I feel so sad for her,” she mumbled as she took a seat next to George. “She never had any joy in her life.”

  Micah smiled. Even in the face of all this information, Kaitlyn was genuinely saddened by the lost life of a woman who’d never shown her a second of kindness.

  Kaitlyn Winston was a true source of inspiration. Pride that he would have her in his life made Micah’s chest swell.

  Kaitlyn’s head popped up. “She wasn’t even very old. God, she must have been…”

  “Seventy,” George finished.

  “Jeez. As a kid I thought she was practically a hundred.” Kaitlyn looked down at their hands entwined together on the table.

  “She seemed that way. She aged fifty years after she had your mother. Her parents were disappointed in her, although I don’t believe they were ever as hard on her as she was on herself. They made her take care of Maggie. Take responsibility. She didn’t want to.”

  Silence filled the room. A moment of mourning.

  “You aren’t coming home, are you?” George asked. He took her hands in his own.

  She shook her head. “I can’t. This is where I belong now.”

  “We’ll have to sell the farm…” His shoulders slumped.

  “Why? That’s preposterous. That farm belongs to you more than it does me. It should rightfully be yours.”

  “It doesn’t work that way. No judge is ever going to give a farm to the foreman. I’m not listed in the will, which states only you are allowed to inherit.”

  Kaitlyn squeezed her grandfather’s hands. “Let me think about this. Talk to the lawyer. There’s got to be something we can do. A loophole.” Her optimism made Micah grin. If anyone could move hell and earth, he had no doubt his mate could. He’d bump heads with her until they figured something out. No way could this man lose his farm over something as absurd as a strange will.

  The radio on the counter in the kitchen beeped, making Micah flinch. The noise sounded extraordinarily loud in the quiet.

  Micah rose to grab the radio.

  He cringed when he saw the name. It wasn’t as though anyone besides the sheriff usually radioed them, but nevertheless, any news was probably bad news today.

  “Micah here.” He spoke into the receiver.

  “We have a situation.” Micah stiffened at James’s words.

  “Go on.”

  “I believe McKinney has killed two women and he has hostages.”

  Micah’s heart sank. That was the last thing he wanted to hear. He and his brothers had been so worried about protecting their own, they hadn’t stopped to ponder the multitude of other possibilities. “Shit.”

  Firm hands squeezed his shoulders as he leaned over the counter.

  “I’m on my way back out there. Hang tight until I can give you more details.” James sounded winded. Micah could picture him scurrying around the office to get out the door.

  “We’ll be waiting.” Micah rubbed his temples as he set the radio back on its dock.

  “Oh my God. Why?” Kaitlyn’s voice was high-pitched, laced with fear.

  He didn’t answer her. Fuck, that bastard would kill everyone in the tri-state area if it meant he could get rid of the Durhams.

  “Serg? Jax? Get everyone back inside.”

  He turned in Kaitlyn’s arms and wrapped himself around her. Setting his chin on top of her head, he stared at George across the room. He hoped his look conveyed enough without him having to speak the words out loud. He’d need George to help protect his mate. He didn’t want to scare the hell out of her if he didn’t have to.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Micah had gathered the whole family in the great room, along with George and Enrique, when James arrived. Micah opened the door to let him in. “What’s going on?” he asked without pleasantries, leading the sheriff into the living room.

  “A hiker came across two female bodies this morning in the middle of a trail just east of here. That’s where I’ve been since soon after I left here. Both were nearly drained and appeared to have been killed yesterday.”

  “Drained?” Kaitlyn flinched beside Micah and squeezed his arm tight.

  Micah glanced back at her. “Of blood, babe.”

  She turned pale and her lower lip trembled.

  “And that’s not all,” James continued. “The Wilks farm? The one where the chickens were released last night?”

  Micah nodded.

  “Well, Ronald and his son went out this morning to clean up the mess. When they came back in, the women weren’t there.”

  “That motherfuckingsonofabitch.” Micah paced the room, hands on his hips. Ron Wilks was a good man. His son Ronnie Jr. was about twenty and worked with him on the farm. Micah had met Ronald’s wife Louise and daughter Chelsie only once and remembered them both vaguely.

  Sergius ran his hands through his hair. “What makes you think McKinney has them? Couldn’t they have gone into town or something?”

  “I’d hoped. And so had Ronald. But then I found this.” James held out a folded piece of paper, his hand trembling as he handed it to Serg.

  Micah leaned over his brother’s shoulder while Jaxon did the same on the other side so they could all three read the note.

  Hardin,

  You know what I want. Get rid of them now or poor Mr. Wilks will never see his wife and daughter alive again. For every day you do not comply, I will take two more women. I suggest you get moving.

  “Fuck,” Micah uttered.

  “That was my first word.” James sat in a chair and leaned over his knees.

  “Godammit. What are we going to do?” Sergius turned to Micah. “Ideas?”

  “Track him,” Enrique interjected. “We’ll hunt his ass down and kill him today.”

  “How the hell are we going to do that with him masking himself? We didn’t even scent him when he opened our own barn to let the horses out,” Micah said.

  “You haven’t shifted, have you?” Enrique raised an eyebrow.

  Micah shook his head. “Not for days.”

  Enrique smiled. “That’s the key. I’m sure of it. He’s been blocking you from noticing him in human form. He may even be able to block you in wolf form for short periods of time if there is only one of you. But I’m gonna guess he can’t block four wolves, keep all of us from communicating and monitor two hostages without running out of steam along the way.”

  “You think his power is finite?” Sergius asked.

  “I know it is. I’ve seen this before. His powers are increasing, yes, but not overnight. If you staked him—” he glanced at Jaxon, “—what, eight months ago? Then he’s been recovering most of that time. He’s only recently had the ability to get around. H
is anger has fueled his abilities, but it takes a lot of effort to maintain that much exertion. If the women are still alive and he intends to release them, then he’s hurting additionally from the need to feed from them.”

  “God.” Micah couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “What if it isn’t that simple?” Jaxon asked. “What if we don’t find him in time?”

  “It’s our only hope right now.” Enrique grabbed a water bottle off the counter and drained it. As he set it back down, he froze.

  “What?” Micah narrowed his gaze.

  Enrique smiled. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”

  “So?” Sergius stepped forward.

  “So, he isn’t blocking me. I’d bet money on it.”

  “You think it’s possible?” James stood.

  Enrique nodded. “Let’s get going. We’re burning daylight.”

  “Where the hell are you even going to start the search?” James asked.

  “The Wilks farm. Chances are he took the women on foot if the men didn’t hear a vehicle. They can’t have gone too far.” Enrique stepped toward the back door.

  Micah glanced at Kaitlyn. She sat on the couch, chewing her bottom lip, her brow furrowed. He took three long strides toward her and then leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Don’t leave this house, understand?”

  “Wait. I have another idea.” Sergius wrapped his arms around Juliana and hugged her. “One of us should stay behind.”

  Micah looked up at his brother.

  “Good thinking, Sergius,” Enrique stated. “Three of us go. We leave one wolf behind to protect the women in case the entire thing is a sham to get us to leave the premises. Hopefully your vampire will be so worn down he’ll only notice three wolves are hunting him and overlook the fact that one of them isn’t a Durham.”

  “Jaxon, that should be you.” Micah held up a hand before Jaxon could complain. “We know that bastard has a penchant for caves. Assuming he’s holding the women in a nearby cave, we’re going to need you and Brianna to be ready to burn the fucker to smithereens. We need you on fire duty.”

  Sergius nodded when Micah glanced his way.

  Jaxon slumped his shoulders. “Fine, but you’d better find some vampire ass, and fast. My pyromaniac skills are itching for a fight.” He grinned.

  Micah kissed Kaitlyn briefly on the lips and then stood. Her eyes remained wide as her mouth fell open.

  Micah smiled at her. “Stay inside. Nothing can happen to you with George, James and Jaxon here. McKinney is good, but he can’t take on six people at once. I agree with Enrique. He’s expecting three Durham wolves to come after him and fall into some sort of trap. He would think we left three women here with just James for protection. He has no idea we have guests.”

  Micah winked at George. “Keep them safe.”

  “Count on it.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Micah, Sergius and Enrique wasted no time clambering out the back door and running toward the tree line. They dropped their clothes, shifted and dashed into the forest. They’d be much faster arriving at their search perimeter in wolf form than by car.

  Darting between trees, they began circling the Wilks farm in minutes, splitting up in three directions to make concentric circles around the property. If they could keep the Wilks family from finding out about wolves and vampires, life would be easier. If it couldn’t be helped, they’d do what needed to be done.

  “You got anything?” Enrique communicated.

  “Not yet,” Micah said. “But we’ll come to some caves in a while on the east side of the property. I’d bet my left arm he’s holed up in a cave.”

  “Okay, I’ll keep my eye out.” Enrique added.

  A lot of their success depended on Enrique’s suggestions and the wolves’ ability to scent out the enemy. Micah couldn’t imagine what they would have done without his help.

  Ten minutes into the search Micah had nothing. Hell, he couldn’t even smell a human in the vicinity. The wolves hadn’t bothered stopping at the farm to specifically get a reading on the scent of Louise and Chelsie. There was no point in wasting time. They hadn’t brought packs of clothes with them to change into, and besides, all they needed to hunt was a human. Specifics weren’t necessary. Time was the enemy.

  “Serg?” Micah reached out to his brother.

  “Nothing yet. Let’s circle wider and head for those eastern caves. Enrique, you got that?”

  Silence. Nothing. “Enrique?” Micah repeated. He skidded to a halt. His fur stood on end.

  “I’m here. Sorry. Nothing in the eastern caves. I just came out of the third one. Are there others?”

  Micah breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn’t completely relax. Something didn’t feel right.

  Sergius’s voice came through. “There are some a bit farther out to the north. Think we should head there next.”

  “That’s probably best. I’ll meet you there.” Enrique sounded even more out of breath. Odd. Did Sergius detect it too? Or was Micah being paranoid?

  Micah loped toward the north, but his skin still itched with some unknown threat. His steps weren’t as quick. He didn’t want to say anything to Sergius…yet. Maybe he was being paranoid.

  Micah reached the northern caves right on Sergius’s heels. They entered two large caverns before determining they were empty.

  Micah snarled and turned toward Sergius. “Fuck.”

  “Ditto.” Sergius glanced around as if they’d missed something. “It’s a damn long way before we get to the next set of caves. I was sure this was the answer. What the hell else could McKinney have done with two women besides drag them to a cave? He couldn’t have been able to knock them out and carry both of them. They had to have been on foot. Walking under duress.”

  “Enrique. We’ve got nothing in the northern caves. What’s your status?” Micah paced the entrance.

  When he got no response, he whipped around toward his brother. Seconds passed.

  Sergius lifted his nose to the air. “Enrique?”

  Nothing. What the fuck?

  Micah lowered his head toward the ground. “Jaxon? Have you got a reading on Enrique? We’ve lost contact.”

  “No. I haven’t heard from him since you left. What do you mean you’ve lost contact? Aren’t you together?”

  “No. We separated. He searched the eastern caves while we went west and then met up in the north. He said the east was clear. Then nothing.” Micah stared at the ground. His skin crawled.

  “You’re running out of caves in that area,” Jaxon said.

  “No shit,” Sergius agreed.

  Micah glanced up at Serg. “We have to go back east.”

  Serg nodded and they took off at a full run. “What are you thinking?”

  “I hate to even give voice to it,” Micah answered.

  “How long has Kaitlyn known Enrique?”

  “Since she went to live on the farm twelve years ago.” Micah shuddered. Was it even remotely possible Enrique wasn’t on the up and up? He’d been leery about the man’s intentions where they concerned Kaitlyn, but was there more to it than that? God. “His family lives and works on the farm. They have for twenty years. They’ve been there since way before Kaitlyn arrived.”

  “What does your gut tell you?” Sergius asked as they ran as fast as their legs would carry them through the trees.

  “Kaitlyn has a firm head on her shoulders. I can’t stand to think she misjudged the people working on her family farm for all these years. Besides, why would Enrique be working in cahoots with a vampire? It doesn’t add up.” Did Micah even believe all that himself?

  “So you think this has something to do with McKinney.” Sergius jumped over a fallen tree trunk and thundered forward.

  “I’ve no doubt we’ll find those women in the eastern cave. He used us.”

  “Who? Enrique? Or McKinney?” Sergius asked.

  Micah shook. A chill went down his spine. “I fucking hope this is all McKinney or we’ve got way bigger probl
ems than one vampire.”

  The seconds ticked by in silence as they approached the eastern caves. Three small caves in a row. The perfect place to hide someone, as Micah had suspected all along.

  Sure enough, they could smell the two females inside. Nothing else though. No other scent was in the vicinity.

  “Hang on. Let me make sure they’re okay.” Sergius ducked his head into the cavern where they could hear the women whimpering. He popped right back out. “They’re fine. Tied to each other. Huddling in a corner.”

  “Did they see you?”

  “No.” Sergius raised his head into the air and sniffed. “I don’t think Enrique ever got this close.”

  “Fuck.” Micah realized Serg was right. Enrique hadn’t been inside those caves. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  “Let’s go.” Serg started running. “Jaxon? Send someone for the women. They’re fine. They’re in the first of the three eastern caves. I didn’t let them see me. We don’t have clothes. They don’t need a wolf or a naked man coming in and giving them a heart attack.”

  “What? I thought you said Enrique cleared those caves? Where is he?” Jaxon sounded agitated, as Micah would have expected.

  “Good question. We’re headed your way. I expect you’ll have less desirable company before our arrival though. Is everyone accounted for there?” Micah ran next to Sergius.

  “Yes. We’re all in the house,” Jaxon replied.

  “Don’t let anyone out of your sight, you hear?” Sergius ran faster.

  Sergius’s words did nothing to make Micah feel warm and fuzzy. His woman was in that house. Hell, all the women were. He’d put nothing past McKinney. The Wilks women had been some sort of decoy. His heart pounded to think what the repercussions would be for chasing that red herring.

  “Got it. We’re on the lookout,” Jaxon said. “James is calling the precinct now to get someone out to those caves.”

  If McKinney had used the Wilks women to lure the Durhams away from the house, where was Enrique? Blood pumped hard through Micah’s veins. In wolf form he wanted to tear something or someone to shreds. His teeth bared, he growled.