by Casey Lane
Hunter’s fingers slid inside her as he leaned back on his heels. His free hand disappeared inside his shorts, stroking with the same urgency as his fingers.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and shuddering.
His hand slowed and then stilled inside her and he opened his eyes, meeting her gaze. Both of their breaths huffed and she marveled at the magic he had just created. Alessandra had never had a true orgasm before and the old adages of it being an earth moving experience weren’t exaggerated.
“I’m sorry. I got a little carried away,” he said, removing his hand from between her legs. He grabbed his discarded shirt and wiped the hand that had been down his shorts, before stretching out next to her.
She just stared at the ceiling, still too stunned at what had transpired to speak.
He rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his hand. “Are you mad?”
His question pulled her gaze to his. She shook her head and his lips curved into that devilish smile that sent a shiver down her spine.
“Just speechless?” he asked.
She nodded, still keeping his gaze. Her muscles felt like the consistency of jello, and she forced herself to raise her hand, cupping his cheek. She ran her thumb along the smooth cheekbone before she traced his lips with it. Hunter sucked the tip between his teeth before just kissing the pad.
“Jacob,” she said softly.
“Leigh,” he replied, and rolled his eyes. “It really is weird calling you something other than Ally.”
“I like it better than my real name. Either that, or it’s just the way you say it that I like better.”
He smiled. “I gotta admit. Hearing my real name from your lips turns me on something fierce.” His cheeks turned red.
As the jello-quality faded from her muscles, they ached with exhaustion. She reached down, grabbed her discarded nightgown, and slipped it on before curling into a ball on her side. Hunter’s hand idly traced her back and her eyes refused to remain open.
Chapter Seven
Hunter slowly traced her back for a long time, long after she fell asleep. Guilt bit at him yet again, and he wondered if everything that had happened to them was his fault. The slow cadence of his fingers across her skin did nothing to soothe his unease, and when he was certain she wouldn’t wake, he climbed out of bed and straightened the covers before heading into the bathroom.
He splashed cold water on his face and brushed his teeth before staring at his reflection. “What were you thinking?”
Of course, his brain had not been the one in control, so he knew thinking had nothing to do with any of it. Although, he had to give himself a little credit. He’d refrained from making love to her like he wanted to. Instead, he purged that need with his hand. Again.
“I just hope she doesn’t have any regrets in the morning,” he mumbled, and headed back to the bed.
He crawled on top of the blankets and stretched on his back, tucking his hands behind his head. Hunter contemplated turning on the television, until Alessandra rolled into the crook of his arm. He stared down at her. The peace in her features drew a smile to his lips and he wrapped his arm around her, nuzzling into her hair.
Hunter thought back to the day he met Alessandra. He was thirteen and had gone hunting with his father. They were stalking a deer and before he had a chance to take off after his prey, an arrow pierced the ground in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. The shock shifted him back to human form and he looked up into the tree behind him. Lying on the branch was a cute girl who was probably half his age.
“Mine,” she hissed, and refocused on the deer. A second arrow flew true, and the deer dropped.
“That was our meal,” Hunter said, as she climbed down.
She gave him a cockeyed smile and nodded towards the dead deer. “Go ahead. I’m sure my parents have something for me at home.”
Even back then, the alpha in her was as apparent as her dark hair. He could also sense that she didn’t seem to want the role. At least, not the way the other alphas projected it. He had seen his fair share of alphas, and none of them had ever given up a kill, not without a fight. She was different, and he knew at that moment he would gladly stand beside her and protect her from the bad in the world.
He also knew she would likely be the death of him.
He closed his eyes, kissed the back of her head, and took a deep inhale, reveling in her sweet scent, drifting off into a satiated sleep.
Sunshine broke through the crack in the curtain, shining right in her eye. She blinked and glanced at the arms wrapped around her. Hunter’s soft snore tickled her neck and she blinked. She couldn’t budge. He had her pinned by the blankets. Every muscle in her body tightened and the air refused to fill her lungs.
The flood of memories, of what his mouth and hands were capable of, sent a shiver through her. In the light of day, the decisions she’d made last night didn’t seem real.
“Hunter,” she whispered, and the man shot up to a sitting position like someone had zapped him.
His gaze bounced around the room while his brain caught up to where he was. When his gaze dropped to hers, his mouth formed a crooked smile.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Leave after breakfast?” she asked, rolling onto her back.
He nodded. “Sounds good,” he said, and slipped out of bed. He made a beeline right for the bathroom and Alessandra sighed, sitting up. Her gaze fell on her torn underwear lying in the middle of the carpet and heat filled her cheeks.
She crossed to the suitcase and filtered through the pile. If they traveled the same distance today, they’d be in Florida before the night was over, so she grabbed the sundress instead of jeans or shorts.
Hunter came out a few minutes later with a towel around his waist, smelling like fresh soap. Her gaze lingered for a moment before she stepped inside for a quick shower.
By the time she finished, Hunter had the suitcase closed and ready to go. His eyes sparkled as they scanned her from head to toe.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” she held out her night shirt and the small toiletry bag that held her razor and brushes. He stuffed the night shirt and bag into a side pocket before zipping it up, and flashed her a smile.
“We have everything?” he asked, glancing around the room.
Both their gazes fell on the discarded underwear and then snapped to each other. His lips pressed together trying to hide a grin and her cheeks heated.
“Should we just leave it there?” Alessandra said, and Hunter’s eyebrows arched. He opened his mouth to answer and then grinned.
“You are naughtier than I expected,” he finally said.
“Perhaps you’ve awakened a beast,” she said, and crossed to the door, swinging it open. A bolt of electricity hit the center of her chest and she froze in the doorway. She licked her lips and refused to look away from the dozen guns aimed at their hotel room door.
“Jake?”
He stood less than an inch behind her in the same state of shock she was in. His scent didn’t alter as he scanned the Virginia State Police surrounding them.
“Put your hands up slowly, Leigh,” he said from behind her, his voice steady.
“Keep your hands where we can see them and step out of the hotel room,” the nearest officer demanded.
They complied.
“Hands on the wall,” the order came from deeper in the group.
Hunter stepped beside her and placed his splayed hands on the wall. She followed his lead, but her heart thundered in her chest. His gaze met hers, but he didn’t make any promises or excuses.
When the police approached and started patting them down, Hunter asked, “What’s this about officer?”
No one said a word. When the officer grabbed her wrist and slapped a cuff on it, she winced at the burn of the metal. The cuffs weren’t iron. They were silver. Before she could struggle out of the cops grip, her other wrist was secured behind her back.
Hun
ter’s gaze met hers as they turned him around and slammed him against the wall.
Her breath locked in her chest at the pain radiating from her wrists. The crowd parted and a visceral need to run gripped every muscle. The head of the national council, Ken Winters, stepped forward, but that’s not what made her blood freeze in her veins. It was the look in his eyes as he stared at her, like he had horrifyingly painful plans for her.
His gaze landed on Hunter and a satisfied smile surfaced. “I warned you,” he said and pointed at Hunter.
“Fuck you,” Hunter growled.
The exchange between the two men sparked a curiosity in Alessandra, but before she could ask any questions, Winters gave the cops a nod and the closest officer hauled them into the back of a cruiser.
The officer who took the driver’s seat in their cruiser wasn’t human. He was a hybrid and he glared in the rearview window.
“You have dodged us for the last time,” he said with a drawl, his gaze locked on Hunter.
“Who do you think we are?” Hunter asked, his voice reasonable enough for the man to glance back.
“Fugitives.”
Hunter laughed. “My father’s a lawyer and he’s going to have a field day with you.” The deadpan glare he leveled made the driver shift. “Unlawful arrest. No one read us our rights, you just hauled us away without any explanation. Your men have the cuffs on so tightly the metal is cutting into my skin. I’m sure that could constitute police brutality.”
“Shut your mouth. I can smell you.”
“I took a shower, dipshit,” he said.
The fact the cop wasn’t human didn’t help her unease. Hunter’s little play acting, along with his strange interaction with Winters, made this much harder for her to deal with. All she could think about was the nightmare that had led to their night of passion. The certainty that he was being led to his death ate at her insides as much as the silver was burning through her wrists.
“I smell damned good,” Hunter added, like he didn’t understand what the driver was getting at.
“He didn’t do anything,” Alessandra said.
The cop glanced back.
“He killed humans,” he said.
“Stop talking, Leigh,” Hunter said.
“They arrested us, Jake.” Her voice rose. “They think we’re someone else,” she added, playing along with whatever game he was trying to play.
The cop’s brow creased and he reached for the radio. “Boss, are you sure these are the ones you’re looking for,” he asked real softly.
“That’s the killer we’ve been tracking. Bring them in and we will take care of them once and for all.”
Hunter glanced at her and his eyes conveyed the same dread pummeling her muscles.
“Do you know why I’m wanted?” she asked, after he had put the radio back in place.
“You harbored a fugitive. A fugitive who killed for sport.”
Now she was thoroughly confused, but she pressed on. “I did not kill for sport. I killed to survive.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“So, I just should have just let the belladonna they injected in me run its course? Kill me like they intended?” She didn’t want to go down without a fight, and if her dream was any indication of reality, Hunter was going to be ripped to shreds by the council pack before they turned on her.
He glared in the mirror. “Yes. Killing humans is not tolerated for any reason.”
“Even if the filthy pigs deserved it?” Alessandra said.
“Stop talking, Leigh.” The anger flared in Hunter’s voice, turning it into a feral growl. “It won’t change a thing. This fucker’s been paid off.”
The cop’s glare moved to the mirror and then back to the road. “You know the price for taking a human life.”
Alessandra’s fear morphed, sending a dose of adrenaline through her entire form. If she didn’t do something, they both would die. She hauled her knees to her chest, catapulting her feet into the back of the driver’s seat with all the strength her alpha blood allowed. The impact threw the driver forward into the steering wheel. A loud crack filled the car and the driver remained slumped over the wheel.
The car accelerated and Hunter tackled her on the seat, driving her down with his shoulder. Screaming metal filled the small space and the cruiser flipped. She didn’t know how many times they hit the cage or the ceiling, but when the car finally came to rest, not one of the windows remained.
“Hunter?” she whispered, her head still spinning enough that she wasn’t sure if they were upright or not.
“Fuck,” he whispered from under her.
Alessandra rolled off him, landing on the hard metal roof next to him.
“We need to get out of here,” she said.
“No shit.” His voice strained with pain and she glanced at him.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. We need to get these cuffs off before I can tell just how fucked up I am.”
Alessandra rolled towards the open window. Once she was on the ground, she curled into a ball and forced her hands under her butt. She managed to get her arms in front of her before she crawled to the front driver’s side window.
Hot liquid dripped into her eye, stinging. The keys hung from the ignition and the cop’s dead stare looked off towards the passenger side. His nose looked as if someone had pressed it inside his face. The impact with the steering wheel had killed him instantly.
She reached for the keys, pulling them out. It took her a minute to find the right one and once she did, her cuffs were easily unlocked. She crawled back to Hunter. He lay face down on the roof, his hands still locked behind his back. She unlocked his cuffs but he didn’t move.
“Hunter?” She rolled him over and gasped. The side of his face was covered in blood. She reached under his arms and hauled him out the window, falling back with his head in her lap. “Please wake up,” she whispered, the panic created a flush through her fueled by adrenaline. Even though she smelled the life still present, she leaned over and put her ear to his chest. His heart pumped, but it wasn’t strong like the beat that had filled her dreams last night.
Their only hope of escape was to shift and make a run for the woods, but she wasn’t leaving without him. She glanced around the ravine they’d ended up in and up the hill towards the road. No one peered over the edge. At least, not yet.
“Hunter, wake your ass up!” she growled low. She knew how dangerous shifting was to the human body if it was broken, but in wolf form, they would heal faster. She covered his lips with hers, planting a kiss. “Wake up,” she commanded.
He groaned under her and his eyes flittered open. “You need to run,” he said. “Keys are in my pocket. Go.”
She laughed.
“I can’t feel my legs,” he said, meeting her gaze.
“Shift and run with me,” she said, her heart squeezing in agony.
“I’m already dead, Leigh. You aren’t. Please,” he pleaded.
Tears blurred her vision as he fumbled in his pocket. He slid the keys into her hand. “Go.”
“Jacob Blaez, shift your ass and run with me,” she said, her breath hitching in her chest.
“Run, before they get here. I know you can smell them. Now go.” His voice held the power of an alpha command and she started to back away.
“Damn it, Jacob, I love you.”
He stared into her eyes. “I love you, too, and if I’m not as bad off as I think I am—I’ll find you. I promise.”
She blinked the tears away and pressed her lips together to keep her chin from trembling.
“Go,” he commanded.
Alessandra turned and placed the key ring between her teeth. In two strides, the large paws came into view and she was flying down the ravine as fast as her wolf legs would take her.
The freedom of the run usually gave her a rush, but this time, each bound away from Hunter squeezed her midsection tighter. She skidded to a halt at his scream of pain, but his command to go still
rang in her ears.
By the time she slinked behind the row of hotel rooms, she was unsure what would greet her in the parking lot. Lifting her nose in the air, the lingering smell of humans remained. She needed the Jeep and that clinched her decision. She shifted back to her human form and took the keys from her mouth. Barefoot and windblown, she stepped around the corner of the hotel into the nearly empty parking lot.
Hunter’s Jeep still sat locked where they had left it, beyond it sat a couple of empty sedans. Guessing she had a small window of opportunity, she trotted to the car, unlocked the door and slid into the driver’s seat. She checked the console and sighed in relief that the box of cash still remained.
Alessandra pulled out of the parking lot, turning south, just like Hunter had wanted, but she didn’t get far. The pains in her stomach nearly doubled her over and her breath started catching in her throat. Sobs spilled and she had to pull over to the side of the road.
She couldn’t leave him to the council’s mercy. She couldn’t let him pay for her sins.
Alessandra turned the car around and headed towards the accident site.
Chapter Eight
Hunter stared after the stunning grey wolf as she galloped away at a pace even a car wouldn’t be able to keep up with. He wanted to be running alongside her, but with how broken his body was at the moment, he wasn’t sure he’d ever walk again, never mind run.
A car skidded to a stop at the top of the ravine and the first of several faces peered over the side. When the head of the council joined the row of police, Hunter let out a low warning growl. He couldn’t help the reaction. This man was the one his father had evidence against. This was the fucker who had killed his dad.
The old man hopped over the bent guardrail and slid down the ravine wall, coming to a stop inches from Hunter.