by Beth Wylde
Chapter Eighteen
The thick stench of gun oil and explosives reached Lance seconds before the sound of wood splintering thundered towards the front of the house. He heard Twila scream and immediately changed and threw himself in front of Tinsel, shielding her the way a male was supposed to.
Loud, heavy, footsteps moved rapidly down the hallway, followed by the sound of something large being dragged across the worn, wooden floor. The bedroom door crashed inwards seconds later, revealing a big, filthy, hulk of a man wearing faded camouflage coveralls and covered in more weapons than Rambo.
Lance growled and prepared to pounce as the stranger paused in the doorway. He gave a sudden jerk and the bundle he’d been dragging came into view. Tinsel screamed as a limp body was flung into the room. Twila’s battered body landed on the floor and for a moment, Lance feared she was dead until he noticed the subtle movement of her chest as she inhaled and exhaled.
Lance took another step forward, unintentionally revealing all of Tinsel’s nudity as he hunched down to attack. The hunter leered openly as he cocked his shotgun and pointed it at Twila’s still body, addressing Lance even though his gaze never wavered from Tinsel’s naked form.
“If you take one more step I’ll blow the bitch’s brains out.” He reached out and poked Twila in the side with the barrel of the gun. “She may be pretty to look at, but inside, she’s still just a filthy beast.” He paused for effect before addressing Tinsel. “I found what I assume are the remains of your car hidden in the woods. Someone did a good job of covering things up, but not good enough to keep it hidden from me. I’ve been a tracker all my life.” He puffed out his chest with pride as he proclaimed his killer status. “I found traces of blood on the ground, too, and footprints. I even found your purse and your cell phone where they landed in the ravine.” He held up the pink phone in question. “Damn thing still works, too. Someone named Katie called you. She was raving about a lack of single men on campus. I told her you’d call back. She thinks I’m your boyfriend and that we were having sex. She apologized for interrupting and said she’d handle the mess herself. I might call her back and pay her a visit when I’m finished here.”
Tinsel didn’t know how to reply, so she kept silent. She was pretty sure he was telling the truth about Kat’s phone call. Only her best friend could so easily freak out and then shrug off the incident.
“I called a few of the other numbers listed in the directory. The most recent one got me connected to a hospital. I told them I was calling on your behalf. A nurse named Hughes answered. She said she was worried because you were late and your grandma had already been transferred to ICU. I might decide to go check in on her, too. Wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to your granny.”
Tinsel’s immediate anger helped chase away her fear. “If you hurt her, I’ll…”
The tracker laughed. “You’ll do what? I could kill all of you in the blink of an eye.” He nodded his head in Lance’s direction. “I kill his kind just for fun. Just last month I killed a whole family of monsters up on the ridge not too far from here. I waited until they were all asleep and then set the house on fire. I used an accelerant so it would go up quick. The parents died trying to save their two kids. I was real proud of that one.”
Lance howled in anguish when he heard the man’s confession. He knew the family that had died in that fire. The husband, Terry, had been a good friend of his. They’d met at work and started talking when they realized they lived close by and shared the same type of family tree. The Collins family had just joined the Den when the horrible accident had taken place. Now more than ever Lance wanted to kill the evil bastard holding his family hostage, but he knew he had to be careful. Even with a werewolf’s rapid ability to heal, he knew none of them could survive a gunshot at point blank range, especially one from such a large gauge hunting rifle.
“Tell me something, sweetheart, and I’ll give you a chance to redeem my opinion of you. What’s a nice girl like you doing naked in here with an animal like him? Did he kidnap you? Rape you? Is he holding you hostage?”
Tinsel shook her head slowly left to right. “No. I’m here because I want to be.”
The hunter’s face contorted in rage. “You’re nothing but a slut. Does he stay human while he screws you or do you prefer him to fuck you while he’s furry?” His eyes noticed the rapidly healing bite mark on Tinsel’s leg for the first time. “Being human isn’t good enough for you, bitch? If you like it doggy style, all you had to do was ask.”
As the hunter’s free hand started to unzip his pants, Lance roared in anger. He refused to let some pathetic excuse for a human insult his mate. The stranger turned towards Lance and aimed the rifle in his direction. Lance bared his teeth in a vicious snarl and snapped in the killer’s direction. The tracker seemed completely unimpressed. “I know who the real threat in this room is. I’ll take you out first. Then take my time killing the women.” He pulled the zipper on his camouflage suit all the way down until it gaped open. “Maybe I’ll even play with them first.”
The thought of the hunter’s twisted hands touching his mate sent Lance into a killing frenzy. He sprang through the air, totally unconcerned with whether he got shot or not as long as he killed the man in front of him before he died.
The muzzle of the gun turned, aiming directly at Lance. Tinsel screamed as the hunter squeezed the trigger. At the same time a small, furry shape shot through the doorway and tackled the madman.
The blur turned out to be a young wolf. The animal’s fur was a dirty blond color and it was a barely bigger than a Labrador Retriever. The wolf hit the hunter in the side, taking him down as the rifle went off. The shot went wide, hitting Lance in the shoulder instead of his head.
Blood blossomed through his fur and Lance fell back briefly, stunned by the pain of the impact and shocked as he realized who had just saved his life. The small wolf was Jacob. Lance knew exactly what had happened and what the boy was feeling. He remembered his own first shift vividly and paused for a moment in sympathy.
The child’s worry and confusion combined with the strength and agility of his new form were a heady combination and the first few changes were all but void of human intelligence. In the beginning, animal instinct ruled until you learned to integrate your human emotions with your wolf’s urges. Lance had been told it was different for bitten wolves, but he’d never met any, so he couldn’t be sure of the rumor. He guessed he’d have to ask Tinsel after her first full moon.
Jacob had reacted the way a real wolf would when faced with the same situation. Like any threatened predator, he had attacked to protect his family. It was simple logic that Lance agreed with wholeheartedly.
The hunter and Jacob rolled back and forth across the floor as they engaged in battle. Lance watched with a mix of horror and pride as his nephew fought the killer. The wolf ended up on top of the hunter, leaning down and raking his claws across the man’s face in a blatant display of anger and dominance.
Jacob was currently acting on pure rage and adrenaline, which made him even stronger than a normal werewolf his size. The hunter didn’t stand a chance, but Lance was still hesitant to walk away. He didn’t want to risk his future Alpha getting hurt, but he was also worried about his mate.
Sudden movement from the far corner of the room drew his attention. Twila was up and conscious, and by the look on her face, she was royally pissed off. Lance smiled as she moved to where Jacob had the hunter pinned beneath him. Between the two of them, there wouldn’t be enough pieces of the man left to fill a shoebox.
Chapter Nineteen
Satisfied that the situation with the tracker was well under control, Lance shifted quickly as he looked around the room for Tinsel, panicking when he couldn’t find her. He spotted his ripped jeans on the floor and bent down to slip the torn garment on. The sound of soft sobbing drew him towards the bed. He crouched down low to find his future wife’s amber wolf eyes peeking back out at him from beneath the handmade wooden structure.
As he heard her request, his stomach lurched. His hopes plummeted as the scent of her fear engulfed him. He dropped his arms to his sides and sat back, not sure how to handle his mate now that she was afraid of him. If she ran, he’d have no choice but to track her down now that they were bonded. As a man he might be able to let her walk away, but his wolf would never accept the concept of releasing its mate. He had to try and reason with her.
“I’m not going to attack you. The hunter was a threat. What Twila and Jacob are doing is completely within the rules of Den law.”
He kept his voice as quiet as he could and still be heard over the sound of Twila and Jacob as they taunted the hunter into attacking. Lance knew they were just playing with him and he wanted to get Tinsel out of the room before they got serious and ripped him to shreds. After what he’d done, death was the only acceptable course of action among his kind.
She shook her head and he watched in fascination as her yellow eyes darted left and right. “It’s not that. Something’s happened and I don’t want to hurt you.” She moved forward timidly, as if her body wasn’t working right.
He reached out again and she brought her hands out slowly, letting him see the razor-tipped claws that now adorned her fingertips. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized she wasn’t frightened of him but of what was happening to her. Her strong emotions had started to bring on her first change, the way it had happened with Jacob, even though the full moon was still weeks away.
Apparently the books Tinsel had read didn’t contain all the necessary information about werewolf life. Emotional or intense physical stress could bring on a partial change as well. Lance knew her eyes and hands would change back to normal if he could just get her to relax.
Judging from the catcalls and noise in the background, Twila and Jacob were still toying with the hunter, giving him a mock chance to defend himself. Lance needed to get Tinsel out of the room before that happened because the carnage that was sure to ensue would be anything but calming to a werewolf’s senses.
Lance picked up Tinsel, despite her protests, and wrapped her in a bed sheet before swiftly carrying her outside. He passed Thomas and Dalenna on the way, with their three youngest children in tow, as they searched for Jacob.
Thomas noticed Tinsel’s state and gave Lance a questioning look. Lance avoided the subject altogether by giving his brother a quick rundown on what was happening inside his house instead. Thomas ran for the cabin like a streak of lightening, leaving the children in Dalenna’s capable hands and Tinsel in Lance’s.
Tinsel was more afraid than she’d ever been in her life, even more than she’d been after the car accident. Her grandma was still in the hospital and her condition was unknown, her best friend thought she had lied and was shacked up with some guy, and she couldn’t get her body to change back to normal. With every passing second, the itching of her skin grew worse and with her new nails, she feared she’d scratch herself to bits. She wiggled and squirmed until Lance finally stopped and sat her down on an old tree stump.
“You have to relax.”
She gave a harsh bark of laughter. “You must be kidding. I need to know if my grandma is okay and I can’t go check on her like this” She held out her claws. “Plus I’m late for a meeting with my best friend, who probably thinks I’m a big liar, and I feel like my skin’s trying to crawl off my body. What am I going to do?” She paused for a moment and then looked desperately at Lance. “I can’t go anywhere looking like this.”
He rubbed her back soothingly. “Mason, Twila’s husband, has a house close by. We’ll try to call the hospital on the phone from there. If you want me to, I can go check on her while you get some much needed rest.” Tinsel grabbed onto his arm in a panic at the thought of him leaving her, forgetting about her new nails as they pierced into his skin. She drew back in horror and he pulled her back into his embrace tightly. “If you want, I can send Mason to check on her instead. You can call your friend from his house, too.”
Her voice shook as she answered. “Okay.”
“Look at me.” Tinsel obeyed his request hesitantly. “I heal quickly, we both do now, so don’t worry about a little scratch.” He pointed to his shoulder where he’d been shot earlier. The wound was almost completely closed, the skin over the area shiny, new, and pink. She wondered briefly where the bullet was and Lance answered as if he knew what she’d been thinking. “The bullet came out when I shifted back to human. You don’t have to be careful around me and you don’t have to be shy. I’m going to help you through your adjustment period. That’s what I’m here for. You’re my mate. We’re going to be together for a long time.”
He caressed her cheek gently and she gave him a real smile as some of the tension eased out of her. She took a deep breath and Lance watched in approval as her eyes began to change back to normal. He noticed her hands changing as well and pointed the fact out to her by cradling her fingers in his. “See, all you have to do is be calm. Stress brings on the transition. Now let’s go to Mason’s and check on everyone.”
They headed off further into the forest until they came to another house nestled deep in the woods. This one was newer and quite a bit bigger than Thomas’. Lance noticed Tinsel’s appreciation of the building and promised her something similar. “We can build a house close by if you want. I’m not rich, but I’ll take care of you. Tell me what you need and I’ll try to provide it.”
Tinsel swallowed audibly as she realized how serious Lance’s declaration was and that she felt the same way. “All I’ve ever wanted was a family of my own. My mom passed away when I was younger and Dad couldn’t handle me on his own. My grandma raised me until I was old enough to live by myself. My best friend went off to college last year and I miss her. I guess I’m just tired of being so alone. I don’t need a fancy house or a new car. I just want to be happy.” She wrapped her arms around Lance’s waist and held on tight. “I just want you.”
Chapter Twenty
Her words moved Lance like nothing else ever had. If Mason hadn’t chosen that moment to open the door, Lance was sure he would have been down on his knees for his female. He quickly filled Mason in on the situation. He made a fast call to assure himself that Twila was really okay and then let Tinsel call to check on her grandma Gertrude. Gertrude turned out to be fine. Nurse Hughes gave Tinsel a full report and took down Mason’s number, promising to call her back when her grandma was coherent enough to talk on the phone. Tinsel told her about the car wreck, but she was forced to fib a bit about the severity of it since she couldn’t come straight out and explain why her injuries had healed so rapidly. Lance knew the hunter’s story had been true. His kind could smell a lie and he had no doubt the tracker had killed Terry’s family. He couldn’t help being glad that Jacob and Twila had tortured him a bit before finishing him off.
A quick call to Katie’s college assured Tinsel that her best friend was all right as well, better than all right actually. In fact, she’d found a replacement date for the dance and was beaming about his rugged good looks and his position as the Dean’s son. When she heard about Tinsel’s accident and modified rescue story, she assured Tinsel she could visit later. Tinsel giggled at the thought that she could brag to Kat about catching a hunk of a guy as well. She was all smiles as she hung up the phone.
Lance loved the look of contentment on his mate’s face and promised to do everything in his power to keep it there. Her first name was unusual, but her nickname was even worse. She was Little Red and he was, for all intents and purposes, The Big Bad Wolf. Under different circumstances he thought the irony would have been hysterically funny. He knew that if Thomas or Mason ever found out about her nickname, he’d never live it down. They’d tease him for the rest of his days. Since Tinsel was now his, he thought he might be able to handle the joking good naturedly.
As Mason pa
cked an overnight bag so he could go check on his wife, he offered Lance and Tinsel the use of his house until he returned. Lance accepted readily, loving the idea of some alone time with his new wife. He made a mental note to get Tinsel a ring as soon as possible, and explain her status in the Den to her as well, but at the moment, he had more pressing matters on his mind. The full moon was over a week away, but she’d already experienced some of what it meant to shift.
The thought of Tinsel’s nails digging deep into his back while her teeth nipped at his throat had him ready to mount her on the kitchen table. Only his rigid self control held him back long enough to usher her into a bedroom before he stripped off her makeshift toga and divested himself of his shredded pants. He pushed her back on the bed, spread her legs, and drove himself inside her at a brutal pace, determined to make mad passionate love to her until they both passed out from exhaustion.
Epilogue
Several miles away Mason stood on his Alpha’s front porch and knocked on the door. He knew Twila was okay from his earlier phone conversation with her, but he wouldn’t truly feel at ease until he saw his mate with his own eyes. As the door opened, a high-pitched feminine howl cut through the night, followed closely by a deeper, more masculine roar. Mason smiled as he realized the sounds had come from the direction of his house. Thomas opened the door with a smile on his face, showing he’d plainly heard the wild noise and was indeed happy for his brother. As Mason stepped inside, he made plans to stay with Thomas and his family for a few extra days to give the newly mated couple a little more time to get to know each other better.