The Shadow Wolf

by Bonnie Vanak

He dared to glance up. Blue fire raged in her eyes.

  “Deke deserved no mercy,” she repeated.

  The sharp pain in his chest eased a bit. “Logan didn’t believe the planted story. He’s discovered the truth. All of it. He wants my hide. And you and the girls are a bonus. I’ll be damned if he touches you.”

  The hand he ran over his cheek scrubbed lengthening bristles. Fingernails began elongating into claws. Gabriel fisted his hands. “Go see to the girls, Megan. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  He fought the change, his wolf snarling to escape. Fur rippled along his arms, covered the backs of his hands. The tight, itching feeling burst out of his chest.

  Minutes passed. He gave a short, bitter laugh at the people rushing in and out of the service plaza. If they knew a werewolf was in the car, ready to spring out and release all the savagery inside him, would they be so cavalier?

  Logan’s cold voice echoed in his mind. “I’ll be waiting for you in New Orleans, Robichaux. When I’m finished with you, I’ll drag your sorry carcass to the council, along with the Shadows, and get the reward for killing the disgusting animal you are. If I were you, I wouldn’t stop to rest before you reach the city.”

  Cold panic raced through him. Stop to rest…

  He whipped his head toward the ice cream truck.

  It was gone.

  “Megan!” The name came out in a snarl.

  Couldn’t leave the car like this, too many people and he needed to reserve his power. Gabriel glanced at his arms and whispered, “Stop it.” Thoughts of home and family didn’t hold the wolf at bay.

  Megan’s sweet smile flashed before him. Gabriel slowly unclenched his fists.

  Fur had vanished from his hands and arms. He bolted out of the car, raced across the parking lot toward the plaza. Gabriel hooked a left around the plaza’s building and ground to a halt.

  On the southbound side of the plaza, the parking lot had emptied and no traffic zipped past on the Turnpike. Complete quiet.

  Except for the merry tinkling of an ice cream truck. It ground on his sensitive eardrums like broken glass as it rolled toward him.

  Fifty yards away, he saw the driver’s yellow eyes flash pure black. Soulless. Morph.

  Gray, mottled skin like a corpse’s. Wisps of hair tufted from its sunken scalp. The creature stopped the truck, slid out and faced Gabriel with an obscene giggle. It dragged itself closer. A stench of rotting flesh drifted on the air.

  “Where are they?” he demanded.

  “Safe, oh so safe. The master wants them for dessert. But you, you’re the entrée. My entrée.”

  The creature’s razor thin voice lowered to a raw whisper. “I’ll rip out your heart and suck out your energy, Draicon. You’ll die with your entrails in my mouth. And I’ll make them…watch.”

  Testosterone levels shot up. His body hardened to a steel blade, ready to cut and dice and chop. His beast growled in approval.

  Then he glanced at the service window of the truck, where children had handed over dollar bills in exchange for treats. Frozen in terror, Jennifer and Jillian stared out at him. Squares of silver duct tape sealed their mouths shut.

  The Morph raised a hand and flicked a talon at them.

  “Such simple, sweet children. So easy to cork their magick. Just one swipe of their cousin’s cheek and a small lick of her blood and they screamed for me to stop. They begged.”

  Megan’s face appeared in the window, her wild gaze boring into his. Dry lips moved past the dirty gag shoved into her mouth.

  Gabriel hesitated.

  A gnashing, whirling sound drew closer. The Morph had shifted and cloned itself into a pack of wolves. Not ordinary wolves. White foam dribbled from their sharp teeth. Rabid wolves.

  The frantic beat of a terrified heart as he’d dismembered, slowly, oh so slowly, Deke as the Draicon screamed. White splinters of bone, coated with blood as Gabriel had bitten off his left femur and tossed it aside like a dog discarded an unwanted toy….

  The thought of her seeing his wolf emerge and go Feral made his stomach churn. He called forth his magick, drew on the Morph blackness, siphoned it inside him.

  Gabriel flung out his hands at the snarling horde, but the pack parted. The energy bolt slammed into the ice cream truck, obliterating the front grill and shattering the windshield. Screams erupted inside.

  Merde, he would kill them. Couldn’t transmute the energy. Gabriel backed off the magick, sent it hurling toward a lamppost. It exploded in a shower of steel sparks.

  Two dozen wolves with bared teeth faced him. Reckless courage filled him. Standing straight and proud, he extended both middle fingers at the wolf pack.

  “Embrasse moi tchew,” he told them. Kiss my ass.

  The Morphs fell on him.

  Mustering all his strength, he charged forward again, ignoring the demanding howl of his beast to be freed.

  Gabriel was going to die out there.

  Megan struggled to loosen the ropes binding her. Her first concern after awakening from the vicious blow had been soothing the girls’ terrors. Now, seeing her mate bloodied as the pack of snarling wolves tore into him, anger swelled inside her.

  The ropes burst apart with brute strength. Megan tore the gag from her mouth, leaned toward the girls and ripped off the duct tape. She found the key, unlocked the silver handcuffs that inhibited their magick.

  “Stay here,” she ordered the twins. “If anything happens to Gabriel or me, use your magick. Find a ride, use glamour and get to New Orleans.”

  She kissed their tear-dampened cheeks and burst outside. Spreading her fingers, Megan let the magick gather inside her.

  Halfling Shadows had a little secret few knew about. As if to make up for their deficit, the goddess had endowed her with a special ability. She rarely used it.

  She used it now. Megan sent energy hurling outward.

  Dozens of snarling wolves popped out of thin air. Wolves the size of Lincoln Continentals with teeth long as carving knives. The Morphs halted their attack on Gabriel and turned around. They howled as her pack of wolves raced forward.

  Megan smiled. Aggression had its uses.

  The Morphs snarled in fear, backing away from this new threat. Their retreat gave Gabriel a needed advantage. He crouched into a fighting stance as a Morph attacked one of her wolves.

  As Morph talons touched the wolf’s fur, the lupine vanished. She could swear the Morph looked confused. As the other Morph clones engaged her Shadow clones, Gabriel attacked from the rear. A scream of raw fury tearing from her throat, Megan charged forward. The scream turned into a growl.

  She leaped on the closest Morph with fangs and teeth and claws. Acid blood spurted, but she ignored the splash as it sank into her thick fur. When the Morph lay dead at her feet, it vanished into a pile of gray ash.

  The rest of the Morphs were dead by Gabriel’s hand. Megan glanced out of her wolf eyes at her mate. Covered in blood, Gabriel had several raw wounds where the Morphs had gouged out skin. He sank to his knees, bending over and wheezing.

  He was hurt, badly. Why hadn’t he released his wolf?

  Concern filled her. Suddenly she found herself standing on two legs. Megan waved a hand and clothed herself. She raced forward, dropped to the ground beside Gabriel.

  Blood streamed from a deep gash in his forehead. Tenderly, she wiped back a hank of dark hair hanging over his brow. Gabriel looked up through half-lowered lids.

  “What was that?” he rasped.

  “A little trick of mine. Shadow clones. They look real, act real, until you touch them.”

  Her arms went around him, holding him tight. For a long while they remained like that, until Gabriel raised his head. His gaze was sharpened, renewed with determination.

  “Go get the girls, and let’s get out of here.”

  “Shouldn’t you rest first? You’re wounded.”

  “No time. I’ll be fine.” He stood, shrugging off her assistance. “No time.”

  Megan glanced at the piles
of gray ash, already blown by the wind. On the turnpike, a few cars went southbound once more, the accident created by the Morphs now clearing up.

  “But Gabriel, the Morphs are dead.”

  “Logan isn’t. And he won’t stop until I am.”

  Chapter 16

  “Why didn’t you shift?” Megan asked.

  On the seat beside her, Gabriel didn’t reply. They’d bandaged the worst of his wounds and already he’d started to heal. He flexed his bruised right hand and gave his fingertips a wry look.

  “Damn energy sucking couillon. Ruined my manicure. Now I’ll have to get another.”

  “Gabriel, it isn’t funny.”

  “I know. Manicures are damn expensive.”

  “Your wolf could have defeated them without you getting so injured. Why didn’t you shift?” Megan passed a slow-moving RV. Children staring out of one window saw the twins in the backseat and waved. The girls gave a sluggish wave back. The Morphs had not injured them, but their listless attitudes worried her.

  Gabriel’s insouciance about his injuries was also bothersome. He hid something dangerous.

  He tipped his hat down on his brow, shadowing his eyes. “Think I’ll rest a bit. When you reach the next exit, get off. We need to eat and find a retail store.”

  “Not a nail salon?”

  He gave an amused snort. “I’ve a hankering for a rare roast beef sandwich, first.”

  “I have a hankering, too. For answers. Why didn’t you shift? I saw you throw the power surge.”

  She felt him go still. “That could have killed you and the girls.”

  Megan’s voice softened. “But your wolf is your natural defense against Morphs. Your best chance of evening the fight.”

  “Not with me,” he said darkly.

  “Gabriel, what are you hiding from me? Why can’t you trust me with the truth?”

  “Some people can’t handle the truth.”

  “I’m not one of them,” she insisted. “I’m your bonded mate. Are you thinking I’m too afraid to handle the truth?”

  “Pas, maintenant,” he said gently. “Of course not. One day, when things settle down, I’ll tell you.”

  Then he tipped his hat down farther. “I’m getting some shut-eye. Wake me up when we get to Gainesville.”

  The deep, even sound of his breathing told her that he’d fallen asleep. Gabriel’s ability to shut down to heal his injuries was as honed as his skills at shutting out her questions. She’d get no answers from him now.

  Megan wondered if she ever would.

  The steak dinner was delicious, but Megan had eaten purely to regain lost energy. His injuries healing quickly, Gabriel had washed up in the bathroom and changed into gray linen trousers and a hunter-green polo shirt. The preppy clothing stripped away the casual, earthy look Megan adored.

  Now her stomach churned as they walked through a large retail store. The twins lagged behind them as he headed for the electronics section. Gabriel pulled two inexpensive cell phones from the shelves.

  “The phones I’ll toss out after I make a call. Those Morphs knew exactly where we were headed. Logan must have put a tracer on my cell and tracked us that way.”

  “Unless he tracked us by sound alone.” Megan touched the plastic covering to the cell phone. “When I had mercenaries on my trail, they used vibrant echoes of my own voice to track me down. They had voice recognition scanners that could read and distinguish an individual’s sound patterns.”

  “Impressive equipment. I doubt Logan is so sophisticated. He prefers more sedate, insidious ways of catching victims. Such as Morphs.” Gabriel’s gaze went icy and hard. “He’s embraced evil to clone himself. He’s Morph now, a Draicon’s greatest threat.”

  “I thought Shadows were the greatest threat.” Megan bit her lip at his darkened expression. “Why wouldn’t other Draicon track and capture him, then?”

  “His magick is powerful and ancient. He throws up enough glamour to fool most Draicon. I didn’t even know it was him until he called,” Gabriel admitted.

  He studied the twins examining the items on the shelves. His look softened. “There’s a few more things I need to buy.”

  In the toy aisle, even the plethora of colorful electronic playthings didn’t stir Jillian and Jennifer’s interest. Only when Gabriel handed them each a blond doll did they brighten.

  As they headed for women’s clothing, her throat tightened at how the twins hugged their new treasures. The sooner they reached their father and had a secure home, the better. But would Alexandre love them, even though they were Shadows? Could Alexandre learn to reach out and share his world with Shadows?

  The girls settled against a wall and glanced around. When no one looked, they vanished into Shadow.

  “Stay here,” Megan whispered. “Remember to cloak your scent, too. You’ll be safe.”

  Women openly stared at him with feminine interest as Gabriel thumbed through the dress racks. Ignoring them, he chose a flowing dress with cap sleeves in a bright turquoise floral print. She hungered for such a pretty thing.

  When she emerged from the dressing room and pivoted for his assessment, she felt feminine and aware. A man whistled at her. Crimson flooded her cheeks at the stranger’s admiring gaze.

  Frowning, Gabriel selected a sedate long-sleeved shirt and dressy black pants. “Try these on.”

  Gazing longingly at the dress, she shook her head. “I like this.”

  “It won’t do for our next stop, ma petite chou.”

  While the endearment warmed her, Megan continued to look at the dress. Suddenly all she wanted was to look pretty, instead of a worn, desperate Shadow on the run. Gabriel cupped her chin, his touch sending heat shivering through her. “I need your legs and arms free for fighting.”

  “I can shift for that,” she challenged.

  His expression hardened again, reminding her of the ruthless Gabriel. “I won’t see you tied up and gagged in another ice cream truck, Megan. If you find yourself in a tight spot, you need every advantage. Now, go try them on.”

  The clothing fit perfectly. Gabriel trailed her back into the dressing room’s tight confines. “You’re so beautiful.”

  She warmed under his praise and laced her fingers through his in a simple act of trust. Megan squeezed his sun-darkened hand.

  “Every woman in the store stared at you, Gabriel. They all want you.”

  He touched her cheek, the smooth stroke of his fingers creating a delicious friction. “I only see you, ma petite chou. Only you.”

  She started to undress.

  “Wear them out,” he instructed.

  “But the tags…”

  Lethally sharp claws emerged from his fingertips and Gabriel ripped off the tags. Stunned, she stared at his reflection in the mirror as he stood behind her. Unbuttoning the blouse, he slid it off her shoulders and pressed a sizzling kiss to her skin. Breath sucked in as he unhooked her lacy white bra and slid it off.

  When his palms slid up to cup her breasts, her nipples tightened to hard diamonds. Need raged through her as his thumbs stroked. She reached behind her, slipped her hands down the front of his tight jeans and squeezed playfully.

  A low growl escaped him.

  He pressed against her backside, letting her feel the long length of his erection. Gabriel nuzzled her neck, his warm breath feathering over her cheek. Excitement bloomed hot and sharp in her belly.

  “I want you, now,” he breathed.

  Turning her around, he stripped the pants off her and yanked down her white lace panties. Gabriel dropped to his knees and looked up at her. Intensity radiated in his amber gaze.

  “Part your legs.”

  The rough order made her tremble. Megan leaned back against the coolness of the wall mirror as he pulled her close.

  He put his mouth between her thighs. She bit back a scream as his tongue swept over her core.

  The feelings were too much, too intense. I can’t bear it, she moaned in his mind.

  You can.
>
  An excited whimper escaped her. Voices outside the dressing room warned they weren’t alone. Someone banged on the dressing room door.

  Gabriel’s long fingers tightened as he continued tasting her.

  “Is anyone in here?”

  Panic shot through her pleasure. She glanced down and saw someone drop down to peer inside the room.

  Yanking on her powers, she cloaked them in Shadow. Gabriel’s scent swam in her nostrils. Her head lolled back, hips rising and falling to the erotic rhythm Gabriel created with his mouth.

  Megan fisted her hands in his silky hair, anchoring to him. The hot tension built with each lash of his wicked tongue until she shattered, putting a fist at her mouth to hold back the screams.

  Trembling, she eased her grip on him.

  Seductive intent gleamed in his amber gaze as he stood, backhanding his wet mouth. Drawing in a trembling breath, Megan grasped his jeans. He made a rough sound as she caressed the long, hard length of him. Gabriel arched against her touch.

  Emboldened by his desire, she unzipped him. He pushed the jeans past his lean hips, baring his thick erection. Lifting her by her bare bottom with one hand, he fisted the other in her long hair and kissed her deeply. She tasted the musk of her own arousal.

  His cock nudged at her soaked folds. With an impatient sound, he pushed hard and deep inside her. Her inner walls shuddered and stretched to accommodate his invasion. She moaned into his mouth as he stroked his tongue inside.

  Megan wrapped her legs around his hips as he began to thrust hard and deep. Gabriel pulled back, staring into her eyes. The intimate visual caress combined with his complete penetration built the tension higher and higher.

  She reached down and licked the straining tendons of his neck, then lightly bit.

  Snarling, he thrust harder, and she felt herself spiraling out of control. With a low moan, she climaxed as he buried his face into her shoulder. She felt him shudder, his hot seed flooding inside her.

  The glamour faded, leaving them visible. Dazed with sensual pleasure, she trembled as he kissed her. Gabriel leaned his forehead against hers, his ragged breaths mingling with her own.