The woman leaned forward, pointing a finger in her direction. “That boy put himself between you and that mangy mongrel. He’s come a long way from the pitiful starved creature he was a few weeks ago. Don’t take that away from him.”
“He’s twenty-eight. Not a boy,” India snarled, very aware of Reggie’s real feelings concerning their employer. “Don’t take that away from him.” Surging to her feet, she rubbed her hands over her face before coming to stand before Betty.
“Hmph,” Betty’s gaze softened as she turned her head to watch the sleeping man on her couch. “I’m close to fifty. Compared to that, both of you are little more than babies.”
“You’re not fifty.” India crouched in front of the woman. Resting her hands on her knees, she dropped the pretense of being human. “No more lies and half-truths between us.”
“You’re right.” Betty sighed, still avoiding India’s gaze. Smart thing, avoiding meeting the predator’s eyes. The human was in no danger from attack, but with the unknown male’s anger beating at the bond, India felt better for the consideration. The woman’s gaze searched the bottom of her mug. “No more. I knew something was coming this way. I heard about the Hunter, through the local grapevine. Then the two of you showed up, looking worse for wear.”
“You’re a psychic.” Betty flinched at the accusation. Acid ate at India’s stomach at the betrayal. She closed her eyes as the male’s fury receded for a moment, confirming that their link went both ways.
Are you hurt? The words whispered through her mind, surprising her. The packbond tied emotions together. The magic that bound a pack was powerful, but had always given them the privacy of their thoughts.
No. Not me. India thought the words back, the effort of pushing them back down the unfamiliar threads of this new link made her head ache. My packbrother took the blow.
“I’m not strong.” Betty’s words shattered her concentration, breaking the fragile link. The male’s emotions faded away leaving her bereft of the company, letting her focus on her employer’s earnestness. “No one in my family is very strong. But I’m so weak that I left when I was just a kid. I roamed around a lot before gettin’ myself into as big a mess you are in now.”
India waited, watching as Betty eased back into her recliner. She traded cups so that the woman held the untouched cup of tea. Betty looked as if she needed something calming. Physically gathering her resolve, she looked into India’s eyes, letting the wolven female see the past pain.
“I won’t go into it, but I was gonna die. I knew it.” Betty took a sip of her drink. Her breath exhaled on a shudder. “Then he appeared out of nowhere, like the archangel Gabriel and saved me. He brought me here and promised no one would bother me. Eventually, I healed up enough and decided to stay here ‘cause it’s safe.”
“I don’t understand. There’s a Hunter after us. And that—.”
“Shhh. Listen.” Betty’s hand hesitated before settling over hers. “You’ve been on the run so long, you have no idea where you are. Everything is going to work out fine.” Still patting her hand, she laid everything out in a reasonable tone. “You and Reggie will be safe once you join the Pack.” Her confusion showed on her face, prompting Betty to pat her hand once more. Her smile was brilliant, a master tactician whose plan was finally coming together. “Anderson County, Texas, honey.”
Blood drained from India’s body, taking emotion, sanity, and all thought with it. It must have, she had trouble finding her breath even as Betty cackled with malicious glee. “One Hunter and a stray? Just you wait. Nobody messes with the pack here and lives to tell about it.”
Chapter Ten
With the cool night air against her skin, India let herself into her mostly bare garage apartment. Against Betty’s better judgment, she’d come back alone. Reggie was happy enough to stay and have the object of his affections wait on him while he slept on the couch. They hadn’t acquired much in their short stay in Frankston. Packing would take minutes, while moving Reggie would take a little more effort. God, he still thought they were safe, even after being attacked in the diner by that stray she’d invited—no, time to be honest. She’d flirted, coerced, and chased down that male thinking that he was a normal wolf that she could manipulate into protecting them. It was time to move on.
Looking in the pantry, she found two canvas grocery totes that would have to make do for luggage. She didn’t want to be anywhere inside the county once the local pack got wind of her presence. An involuntary shudder ran down her back at the stories still circulating about the Texas, Anderson County Pack. The previous Alpha, Garrick Moser, didn’t run from the Hunters. The wily old wolf bested them at their own game, delighting not only in the extermination but psychologically crippling his enemies before the kill. She’d been a pup at the time the pack changed Alphas, but Garrick Moser was credited with taking all kinds of trophies from the supernatural species, including his own. The Wolven Council kept a very lenient watch on the current Alpha, letting him keep his psychic human pets and fairy army out of fear of reprisal. Oh, no, no, no. She’d take her chances with just the Hunter and the stray chasing her.
Their meager belongings stored in the bags, she pawed under the sink until she located a can of bug spray and one of furniture polish, left behind by the previous tenant. Spraying the beds, linens, tiny sofa, and any other fabric in the apartment to eradicate their scent ate up precious minutes that she wanted to be on the trail. Or at the bus station buying a ticket to the distant land of Far-Far-Away. With a final sneeze, India stood on the small landing and locked the apartment door, pocketing the key to leave with Betty. The insecticide and furniture polish had effectively wiped out her sense of smell—another reason to leave immediately.
She turned to descend the stairs and froze. A male leaned against a big black SUV parked in her driveway. Not fair! She wanted to stamp her foot and snarl. This sort of thing seemed to be happening too often of late. Still, the man had the contained ferocity of a trained tiger as he leaned back against the vehicle that screamed Pack. His arms crossed over his chest. Under the white glare of the security light, she saw that his blond hair was pulled tight and secured behind his neck.
In the shadows, she couldn’t see more than the red wolven shine of his eyes set in a long, face that could be called autocratic if not for the sheer animal magnetism that he wore like mantle. India’s eyes traced over the sculpted muscles showcased by the black t-shirt that molded his upper body. Long legs encased in leather ended in sturdy black boots made for kicking ass. As he straightened, his thumbs hooking into his front pockets, she saw that his hair wasn’t just pulled back. The long thick tail reached his waist. Sleek, dangerous he reduced the stray from the diner to a rough brute.
Mentally, she ran over her options. She had too many clothes on to Change and run. And while she’d taken out one distracted Hunter on her own, this guy looked like every story told about the Anderson County Pack. Maybe she could lead him away from Betty and Reggie.
His mouth quirked as he stopped at the foot of the narrow iron stairway. “We came all this way for that?” The small voice came from low, in front of the tire. A doll sized woman threw up her hands in disgust. “Hellfire. If you want a wolf mate, Tamara’s at the house just waiting for the chance to have her bones jumped.”
India steeled herself, curling a lip at the small creature. She had a sudden urge to find out what it tasted like bar-b-que’d with Betty’s secret sauce. Sour and tough probably.
“I don’t want a mate.” The words slapped at her with an almost physical force. Refocusing her attention back to the real threat she watched him move to the foot of the stairs, blocking her escape. As if he hadn’t already blocked her way by appearing in her driveway. “Runnin’s not an option Sweetheart.” The hard, bitter note gave the endearment just the right touch of sarcasm, as if she’d wronged him somehow. India swallowed, thinking of the fire escape in the back. She could break through the door and dart back through the apartment.
He s
miled, giving the impression that he could hear her thoughts. India dropped the bags, grabbed the rail, and vaulted over. Her wolven constitution absorbed the shock of impact easily and she took off at a dead run through the aging subdivision without looking behind. She wouldn’t let him take her without a fight. Frankston may be their territory, but she’d been living here. They wouldn’t take her in her own neighborhood.
Slipping between houses, she wove through the ongoing construction and homeowner’s renovation before plunging through to the other side. Behind her, she could hear the faint curse of her pursuer while he made his way through the jumbled pile of nail filled rotten timber, insulation, and shingles. India ran through the alley and into the strange rock garden yard, which in reality was a gravel pit. Not a blade of grass or weed dared take root here. Cactus and other desert plants were anchored into small oases around the yard, each connected by well-hidden stepping stones. India danced lightly over the path putting more distance between them when she heard the first crunch of boot sucking gravel.
Excitement spiked through her, lending speed to her cause as she sped through an overgrown lot. Here and there, metal and concrete yard art led the way to the huge rambling junk shop. Stagnant water sitting in old birdbaths vied with rusted arbor frames and uneven piles of corrugated tin. India jogged to the porch, dodged through the hodgepodge of bathtubs, ancient freezer boxes, and broken yard gnomes. Slipping past a wrought iron birdcage large enough to sit in, she doubled back before making a break for the driveway that emptied onto a wonderful four-lane highway. Bliss. India smiled to herself in the darkness, certain he’d lose her scent here.
She ran. A couple of hundred pounds of furry muscle slammed her sideways into the gravel. Dark fur blurred in her vision. This wasn’t the blond warden chasing her. He’d brought backup. Twisting, she tried to avoid the sharp teeth aiming for her neck. She brought her leg up fast and sharp. She was rewarded with a surprised canine yelp. Instead, the teeth clamped her forearm in a vise. India fought back, shredding her arm. In human form, her teeth were ineffectual against the thick wolf pelt. She snapped and bit back anyway. Fury filled her. She’d fought off Hunters, been abandoned by her packmates, and managed to keep Reggie alive, only to be torn apart for being a stray on Pack territory.
* * * *
Growls and yelps stopped Chase from his hunt. Running toward the sounds, he stopped on the rock driveway to assess the situation. Two identical dark wolves engaged in a fight. The leaner pinned Chase’s quarry to the ground. The scent of her blood had him send out a silent demand that she not be hurt. Through the pack bond, Brandon accepted the order.
Chase embraced his wolven nature. He and his packbrother’s were wardens, dangerous, powerful, shapeshifters in perfect control of their bodies. Calling on the Change, Chase molded the tools he needed for this fight, keeping his human form. He barely noticed the sharp teeth that filled his mouth. Claws sprang to the ends of his fingers, sharp knives capable of shredding tough wolven skin. With a growl, he leapt into the fray his arms going around the stray wolven locked in battle with the other twin. The stray let go of Bradley to snap at his arms. Chase bit deep into the shoulder before the wolf twisted free. Bradley circled around, favoring his left front leg. Chase crouched ready to attack again when India whimpered in defeat.
He froze and the stray lunged. Bradley rammed the intruder from the side and the two tumbled end over end. Chase found himself standing over the cause of his trouble, Brandon backing away. Chase barely noticed the stray right himself, and run, his tail tucked firmly between his legs.
Growling at his packbrother, he bent to check her injuries. The wolves’ fur receded in backwards rush that ended in two upright naked men at his flanks.
“You want me to go after him?” Brandon stared in the darkness after the retreating wolf. A car slowed down, flashing a hint of red into his eyes. The car sped off.
“Nah. I’ve got a taste for him now.” Bradley glanced at his brother, knowing that now would be a good time to leave Chase with his unclaimed mate. His brother was a wild thing, ruled only by his loyalty to those in the Pack. Brandon had simply used the most expedient method of holding the female stray that had their Alpha female, the only mother he’d known in their tragic childhood, upset. “We’d better get out of here before the police decide to check reports of two naked guys on the highway.”
True to his nature, Brandon had only pulled back, because their packbrother asked it of him. Had he happened on her alone, chances are the wild wolven twin would have killed the female for distressing Diana Weis. Feeding the Change with Fairy magic, Bradley dropped to all fours almost instantaneously. It was a new trick he’d learned, blending fairy and wolven magic. While it burned like hell, Bradley was determined to make the best of the deal he’d made.
“It’s only the arm,” Brandon said, meeting Chase’s agitated glare. He ignored his brother’s impatient woof. “It’ll heal faster than the ache in my nuts from her knee.” The tingle of the Change hovered in the air, then stopped cold as the wolven considered Chase’s protective touch as he gathered the female in his arms. “Don’t come home.”
Chase stood, aware that all the fight hadn’t left his captive. She was waiting, biding her time. He also sensed shock from her, that she’d been let to live. That irritated him beyond pissed off. He glared at the younger male, uncaring of Brandon’s volatile nature. He growled, letting the warning build deep in his chest.
Surprisingly, the other male didn’t react. Brandon nodded, speaking softly. “Yeah. I didn’t want a mate at first either.” Being mated to Diana Weis’s biological daughter had been the only thing to truly bring the tormented wolven back into the fold. “Take her to my cabin and get your shit straight.” Turning away, he shifted almost as fast as his brother’s magically aided Change. Chase watched the pair leave, once more feeling the odd sense of pride and sadness that the pups were grown. Tank’s absence pointed out how alone he really was. Damn but he was getting old.
Looking down, he met India’s dark eyes. He realized that she’d do better if he just drove her out of town and dumped her at the bus station. But he wasn’t going to. “Come on. We should get that arm wrapped up before the police show up.”
* * * *
“Hey now, none of that.” Chase tightened his arms around the female staring at him in fear. Obviously, she didn’t recognize him on the same level he did her. That kind of irritated. What kind of chick marked a guy’s soul then didn’t know him on sight. He’d known India Demos, aka Cleo from the moment he’s seen her exit her garage apartment. Her long black hair was just as silky as her fur had been. The tilt of her eyes, just as alluring. Damn, he would not think of her as his mate.
“I did not know this was claimed territory.” Those wide eyes fixed on him. “If you let me go, I’ll leave.” She sucked in a breath when he stepped down hard off the curb. Chase castigated himself for the petty action.
“Looks like you’re my prisoner.” Walking back the way they’d run took far longer, making him wish he’d followed his first instinct and parked in the closest business lot. Which would be right about here, at the junk shop. Instead, he wanted to make a statement with the SUV in the driveway. “Why should I let you go? Besides, we’ve got plenty to talk about, Darlin’.”
“I can walk,” she ventured, eliciting a harsh chuckle that rumbled from her captor’s chest.
“You can run like nobody’s business too.”
His easy manner tried to lull her into a false sense of security, at least until she remembered the other male’s comments about a mate. Oh, the irony. She’d wanted a strong male for a mate. Now that she’d changed her mind, here she was being carried caveman style.
“You’re not moving on your own, until we’ve had a chance to get a few things settled.”
She shifted, testing his unbreakable hold while he covered the rest of the distance in irritated silence. At the SUV, he contorted to keep his hold on her while he keyed the entry code onto a touch
pad on the doorframe.
“I can stand, you know.” He growled, opened the door and dumped her inside.
India flinched, holding her already healing arm close and debated jumping out of the moving car. By the time she’d decided against the move, she’d like better odds on escape, the driver’s door slammed shut and she was trapped inside with him. Her feet crammed against the door and she looked down, seeing her bags.
Instantly, she was comforted and worried by them. What if they found Reggie? How could she warn him to run? A little disgusted herself, India knew her packbrother wouldn’t run. Reggie wasn’t very dominant. Not Omega material, but not a fighter either. He’d stick it out beside Betty and roll over for the Pack, hoping for the best.
“You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you’d been up front.” Her captor kept his eyes on the road, his reluctance to speak to her in every tense line of his body. Out of immediate danger, she noticed once more how nice a body it was, before calling herself an idiot. She’d never been one of those females who liked getting sucked into bad relationships and she wasn’t going to start now.
“I had no idea that I was in a pack claimed territory until this afternoon,” she sniffed with all the disdain she could muster. Outside the window, all she saw were trees and pastures as the spaces between country residences became more and more distant. “I was leaving.”
The SUV turned again, leaving the black topped paved road for a rutted bumpy drive sheltered by trees.
“Ever the Queen of Denial.” His golden eyes gleamed red in the confines of the vehicle as he turned to pin her with a hard look. The vehicle stopped in front of the smaller of two buildings. No light or electricity warmed the isolation. “But the fact is Cleo, you and I have unfinished business.”
Chapter Eleven
India waited in shocked silence as the wolven male came around the SUV to let her out. Emotions roiled inside her. Tag was real! But Tag/Chase/Charles was also a member of the Anderson County Pack. She chewed on her bottom lip as he opened the door. “I won’t run,” she whispered when he leaned in to pick her up.
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