by J. C RIMELL
“It's possible. But she's one of us, she'll figure it out.”
Ryker blew out a frustrated breath. His gut swirled uneasily. The thought if her hating him, pitying him as a result of the truth wasn't something he could cope with. “I don't want to pass the buck here, but I think it should come from you, Chief.”
Fleet gripped his shoulder. “Ryker, you saved her life and lost a limb in the process, I hardly think she'll hold a grudge for too long. If anyone's to blame for making the situation worse, it's me and I'll handle that.”
Ryker's thoughts were in one hell of a mess before he could shield them behind his personal firewall, he knew his alpha had picked up on some of them.
“I didn't need to hear your thoughts to know you found yourself dancing with that female FBI Agent,” he chuckled. “Her scent is all over you.”
Damn, he was going to get his chain yanked… and hard. “It's nothing, Chief. I ain't about to go all mushy and shit.”
Fleet finished his coffee. “Yeah, seems to me your wolf has other ideas.” He got up and rinsed his mug, dried it and put it back on the shelf.
“You've no need to worry about me or my wolf. Just had an itch that needed scratching. I pledged myself to the Society. I'm a soldier, ain't no amount of pussy gonna change that.”
Fleet came level with him again. “I remember when the pledge we made was set in stone. Things are changing, Ryker. Trust me, things are changing.”
Snow didn't bother going back to the lair. After a quick phone call to Fleet explaining the situation, his alpha agreed it was better to go and tell Major General Tobias Parker about the death of his daughter before he heard it from somewhere else.
It was a forty-five-minute drive out to Camp Kalmia from Grace Valley. The skyline was a ribbon of blood red beneath a canvas of Egyptian blue as the night caved into the dawn. Coming off the highway, the hills rose up and dipped and the roads became winding and narrowed as he approached the Camp.
Pulling up to the secured barrier, he flicked the window down.
“What's your business here, sir?” The marine looked Snow up and down and checked the vehicle with quick proficiency.
It was only then, Snow realized just what the hell he must look like.
Shit. He still had Hayley's blood on his hands, on his shirt. “Ah, I need to see Major General Parker, it's urgent,” he said, handing the guy his ID. “Please advise him that a member of Shadow Force is here.”
A few seconds later the barrier lifted and Snow drove the SUV through, found a parking space and killed the engine. He'd never done this before. Never had to notify a parent that their child was dead. He swallowed the lump in his throat. No one should have to get this kind of news.
He pulled himself together and entered the L shape, two story building and headed for the General's office.
“Snow, isn't it?” The General was waiting for him, his lips drawn into a thin line as he went to shake Snow's hand. He hesitated, obviously seeing the blood that stained it, but then shook it anyway.
“Ah, yes, sir.” Taking the seat opposite the General's desk as directed, Snow sucked in a quiet breath. The General was a stern-looking man. Despite his impeccable appearance dressed in his uniform even at this ungodly hour, he wasn't the kind of guy you'd want to get on the bad side of. His dark hair was graying at the temples and his forest green eyes were watching Snow with an intent curiosity.
“Something tells me you're not here on a social call.”
Snow cleared his throat. “Sir, I don't know if you're aware, but there was a bomb attack last night at a club in Grace Valley.”
“I am. Saw it on the news about thirty minutes ago.” He leaned his elbows onto the desk. “They haven't named all the casualties yet, though.”
Oh, God. “That's why I'm here. I pulled your daughter, Hayley, from out of the place...”
The General sat up straight, eyes suddenly wide. “Is she okay? I called...”
“I'm so very sorry. She didn't make it.”
“What?”
“Hayley died from her injuries, in my arms, sir.”
Snow had never seen a man age so fast. The General's shoulders sagged. The creases around his eyes intensified and the light behind them diminished.
Poof.
Gone.
It was as though the grief struck his heart and piled twenty years on his back.
“She wanted me to tell you personally, sir, that she loved you and Vivienne, too. I'm so very sorry for your loss.”
Something flashed in the General's eyes just then.
Anger.
“Do we have any information? Who's behind the attack?”
“I haven't been back to the compound, yet, but I'm sure we'll have something soon. The device has already been found.”
In the brief silence that passed between them, Snow's eyes were drawn to a photo in a gilt frame on the bureau behind where the General was sitting. It was Hayley, he recognized her at once. She was laughing and looked so happy with her arms loosely embracing another young woman, who bore no resemblance to her or her father.
The General turned in his seat and palmed the photo. “It's a couple of years old now, but that's Hayley and Vivienne,” he said offering Snow the photo for further inspection.
Snow hid his confusion as he looked at the photo more closely. The other girl had pale, coffee-colored skin, deep, dark eyes and facial bone-structure that looked liked it had been sculptured by Michael Angelo it was so damn exquisite. She reminded him of a young Halle Berry if he had to compare her to someone.
“Vivienne was only five when we adopted her,” the General clarified.
His voice brought Snow's eyes back up to look at him. “They are… I mean, were,” Crap. Could he put his foot in it any deeper? “Sorry, well, they're very beautiful, sir.”
The man's eyes glistened with moisture as he took the photo and placed it back on the bureau with such affection, Snow's heart squeezed in sympathy. He cleared his throat, the lump constricting his airflow.
“Thank you, Snow, for looking after my girl,” he said as he stood up and offered his hand. “I take it she's been transferred to the… morgue at Grace Valley General?”
“Yes, sir.” Jesus, he could feel the tears balancing precariously on the rims of his own eyes as he stood and shook the man's hand. “It was my honor, sir, and a privilege to have known your daughter even for the briefest of moments.”
“I want to be kept up to date with everything, it that clear, son?”
Snow gave a clipped nod. “Of course. We'll find whoever did this. I promise you.”
Sixteen
“I'm sorry your girls' night out was ruined.”
Madeleine glanced at her alpha and shrugged. “I'll live to have another, unlike some unlucky people who lost their lives.”
“Snow seems to think the male you were with could have something to do with the attack?”
Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Snow was being over protective.”
“Did you get his name?”
“He didn't have anything to do with it.” She didn't have proof, but she felt certain. “Jared. His name is Jared.”
Madeleine watched Fleet rock back in his seat and rub a hand over his troubled face, his eyes suddenly seemed distant. “I had only just arrived a few days before your attack. This place wasn't properly up and running and only Ryker and I were here, setting things up. We were carrying supplies and furniture in from a truck parked out front when we heard screams.” His pale tawny eyes flicked up to look at her then. “Ryker and I ran into the forest, a storm was just beginning to pick up. A few seconds later we found traces of blood. Ryker tracked it.”
“Ryker was there?”
“A rogue wolf was trying to get at you. It was young, barely out of its transition, but the son-of-a-bitch was big. Its instability was possibly the reason for the frenzied attack on you. Ryker went at the wolf hard. He was still in human form when the two of them collided. I managed to pull you out
of from the hollow of the tree and started to head back to the lair. I put you in the truck's cab, then shifted and went back to find Ryker. The rogue was gone and Ryker was bleeding out from having lost his leg. He'd taken two of the rogues claws, had them in his grip.”
A heavy feeling hit the bottom of her stomach like a lead weight. “Ryker lost his leg… saving me?”
Fleet nodded.
“Why? Why didn't you tell me?”
Fleet's jaw ticked. “I was going to, but Ryker didn't want you to feel indebted to him, and I didn't see the harm at the time. Now I can see we were wrong to keep the truth from you.”
Madeleine's legs felt hollow as she stood up. “I need some air,” she whispered, her head a daze.
“Madeleine, look...”
“No, I… I need to digest this. I need to think.”
She moved robotically out of Fleet's office and through the corridor leading out of the lair. She kept walking with no idea where she was going. Something inside willed her forward, needed her to get away.
Reaching edge of the training grounds, she slipped free from her clothes and shifted, streaking into the trees like a fierce wind.
Madeleine didn't know how long she'd ran, or even how far. She hadn't stayed within the perimeter, crossing it without any thought in what felt like hours ago. Slowing her breakneck speed, she jogged to the edge of a rocky knoll, realizing she was in Blue Ridge Mountain territory. It wasn't the best place to be right now with all that was going on, but the way she felt, her safety was the last thing on her mind. Halting, she surveyed the beauty stretching out before her, in the dusk it was a heavenly sight.
Panting heavily, the cool, early evening breeze stroked her pelt, and she sensed a change in the air. Turning her head she looked back toward where she had come from. She knew she should return to the lair, but Madeleine felt a calling, something pulling her forward.
The sensation that rippled within her told her at once where she was going. She felt the heat ignite in her veins at the mere thought of him.
Jared.
But it wasn't Jared who appeared in her line of sight just then. It was a group of several rogue wolves and they were closing in on her as though she was the enemy.
As a wolf, Madeleine was slight and agile. Her keen eyes scanned each one of them. They were mostly male with an exception of a female among them. The fact they were young and inexperienced might just give her a slight advantage.
She couldn't move backward, to do so would be a sign of submission, so she held her ground as they came closer. The largest male, a deep russet wolf in the center of the pack seemed to be the one giving the orders.
They formed a semi-circle around her, the russet wolf moved forward and shifted. Dropping to one knee, he partially shielded his nakedness from her before he spoke.
“You're far away from home, she-wolf.”
Madeleine was not about to shift, she wouldn't take the chance, not with so many surrounding her.
“Does your precious Society know you've just crossed the line by coming out of your own territory and onto our lands?”
His voice was cocksure and held a vicious tone that made it quite clear Madeleine wasn't about to walk away from here without a fight. She could telepathically call for her pack and for her alpha's help. It would be the sensible thing to do. But Madeleine knew she had to make a split second decision and her pack wouldn't get here in time, even as fast as they were. So, she had two choices: shift and try to talk her way out of it, or make a run for it.
There was a slither of a gap to the left of the group, and she went for it.
“After her!” the male yelled.
Madeleine ran hard. Damn it! Why did I run this far? Now look where it's gotten me.
She heard the stone and earth beneath the pounding of paws close on her heels. One was near. Too near as she weaved through a gap in some boulders. It would slow down some of the bigger wolves, but not the one she could feel gaining on her.
Leaping over a narrow ravine, she felt the sharp sting of claws catch her flank, knocking her sideways and crashing to the ground with a painful thud.
The blood oozed from the nasty gash and she tried to scramble to a stand as the fawn wolf pounced. The female was young and hungry for a fight. Madeleine bit hard into the wolf's shoulder and heard the high-pitched yelp. The young wolf was pushed aside by the dominant russet wolf, he was twice Madeleine's size as he edged toward her.
She spun around, only to see she was surrounded once more.
Turning back, she faced the large wolf, bared her fangs and lunged forward striking for the jugular. She got there, too, sinking her razor sharp canines into the thick russet pelt, tasting the warm gush of his blood. But he was too strong. Ripping himself free from her, his own flesh tearing in the process, he reared and pounced, pinning her beneath him.
Madeleine tried to claw at him, bite, wriggle out from his hold.
She heard someone shout, and it gained the attention of the wolf, leaving her a second chance to get free.
The russet wolf let her go as he tried to see whoever it was. She scrambled to a stand, then shot off in the direction of the caves that were up ahead. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw four of the others closing in. Wincing with the pain of her injuries, she pushed on. They would heal quick enough, but not until she could rest.
Darting between a crevice in the rock face, she scurried deeper and found an opening on the other side and gunned for it. Before she could stop, the ground fell away beneath her paws and she was falling down a rocky embankment. Her ribs cracked and snapped and her right leg broke on impact. The world span, over and over until her head hit a boulder as she collided with it at the bottom. A bright flash of light across her retinas and then her sight faded in and out of focus. Her eyes fluttered closed, extinguishing the fading light, and her very last thought was that she was as good as dead.
Jared had sensed the she-wolf was close. He didn't know what had caused her to travel so far from her pack, but he was not best pleased to come upon her being attacked by a group of rogues.
He saw her quick lunge for freedom as the leader of the group's attention turned on him.
Jared knew the SOB.
He sauntered forward. His wolf's massive frame looming over the younger wolf, his muzzle pulled back, he licked a fang and growled in warning. The young wolf stood his ground, but only because the others were watching. Jared shifted. He needed to speak to the male, but he had no connection to the rogues, making it impossible to communicate using telepathy. The wolf stared up at him and Jared knew he was weighing up his chances. But he didn't move, even naked, Jared's body looked just as threatening.
Moments later, Nix, shifted and stood a good few feet shorter than Jared. “Why don't you go and crawl back under whatever rock you emerged from, asshole.”
Jared chuckled. The kid had balls, he'd give him that much. The savage, flesh wound to Nix's neck didn't escape his attention. He smiled, a pang of pride that the she-wolf had put up a good fight. “Who the hell made you king of the mountain, pup?”
The male squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest as blood ran down his skin in a steady stream. “I ain't no pup!” Next, his pointer finger came up and he poked it at Jared.
Big mistake.
“You don't know who you're messin' with.”
“Really?” Jared leaned forward and took hold of the offending finger. “Why don't you elaborate?”
“We're the fucking Real Freedom Allegiance,” he yelled, trying to free his finger from the death grip holding on to it. “And you're gonna be sorry you messed in our business.”
Jared squeezed and felt the finger snap in two like a twig, enjoyed seeing Nix's face creased in pain. “Yeah, see, I couldn't give a flying fuck who you are, pup. But if I see you anywhere near that she-wolf again,” he dropped Nix's hand and the male recoiled, cradling his injury in his other hand. In a flash, Jared had a punishing hold on his throat and continued, “You and your mighty Al
legiance will be sorry. Do we understand one another, pup?”
The male's eyes had watered up and he was struggling to breathe. He nodded the best he could and Jared let him go, shoving him backward to his pack of followers, noticing four others joining them.
“If any one of your rogues has harmed her, I'll hunt them down and kill every last one of them,” Jared warned.
Nix seemed to be communicating silently with one of them. He turned back to Jared, an evil glint in his eye.
“Your she-wolf just ran herself off the cliff-side.”
Jared's body exploded as he shifted into his wolf and took off at breakneck speed. He followed her scent. His heart pounding against his ribs, the thought of the woman he hardly knew being hurt tore him apart. Made him roar in anguish. Why it made him feel such things eluded him, but still he ran on.
He came to the narrow opening in the rock face, his body was too big in both wolf and human form to get through. Morphing into his falcon, smaller and agile with the added benefit of wings, he took to the sky. Feeling the breeze flow between the primaries, he flew over the rock-face. With eyesight eight times clearer than a human's, he spotted her magnified body from the air. The she-wolf lay twisted and motionless.
Descending, he cut through the air like a hot knife through butter and shifted; his talons hitting the ground as he ran forward to reach her. Crouching over the she-wolf, he examined her with his eyes, saw the vague rise and fall of her body as she breathed. Placing his ear against her chest, her soft pelt smooth against his cheek, he heard the faintest flutter of her heartbeat. A pool of blood circled her head like a scarlet halo from a gash just below her hairline. Slipping his hands beneath her limp body, he marveled at how very small and fragile she felt in his big arms. He cradled her with care, pulled her into the warmth of his naked skin.
“I'll not harm you, she-wolf. You're safe with me,” Jared whispered in her ear as he carried her away into the night.