Wolf Hollow (Wolf Hollow Shifters, Book 1)

by Nikki Jefford

  “Okay, careful, everyone,” Sasha said to the group. “Watch your step and meet back at our starting point once you’ve filled your pack.”

  The men gave a nod of understanding before veering off into opposite directions. Jack and Farley crossed the street and entered neighboring homes. Sasha selected a single-story house with brick columns, making her way along the overgrown stone path to approach the front door tentatively. It gaped open into a furnished room covered in dirt, bird droppings, and a whiff of something else . . . old urine.

  Wrinkling her nose, Sasha stalked toward a hallway, listening for any sounds besides the creak of the rotting floorboards. She stepped gingerly into the first bedroom with a bed, dresser, shelves, and dusty black screen propped on a desk with a chair on wheels facing it.

  Looking around at the faded pictures of cars and men in numbered jerseys wearing helmets over their heads, Sasha pulled her pack off, set it on the rumpled, musty-smelling bed, and unzipped it. She began opening drawers at once, then closed the ones containing underwear and socks. Shifters didn’t bother with undergarments; they were one extra article that required removing before shifting. Clothes, however, protected their human bodies from the elements and were in continual need of replacing, unlike the cooking pots and utensils the elders had gathered many moons ago.

  The long bottom drawers revealed stacks of folded blue jeans and soft shirts.

  Quickly, she stuffed the clothes into her pack, stretching the bag to its limit. There were still three pairs of jeans left and a dozen shirts, which Sasha reluctantly returned to the drawers.

  From another drawer, she selected a pair of soft gray pants with a stretchy waistband along with an oversized T-shirt and laid them over the bed to put on for the trek back. Without warning, the floorboards creaked and the front door snicked shut. Three men dressed in solid brown and heavy boots thundered inside the bedroom, taking Sasha so off guard she momentarily froze, heart in her throat. Her hesitation gave the humans all the advantage they required.

  “Grab her,” the shortest one said, jerking a finger in Sasha’s direction.

  The two men were already on her, impossibly fast and brutally strong. One snatched her under her arms while the other lifted Sasha off her feet, which jolted her into action, thrashing and snarling as her attackers shuffled over the floor to keep hold of her.

  This situation called for her wolf, but she couldn’t concentrate long enough to shift with the two men holding her above the ground and her sense of balance teetering like a loose branch swinging wildly in the wind.

  The short one stormed over, face contorted and eyes glaring at her through narrow slits. He pulled a gun from the holster at his waist and pointed it at Sasha’s face. Fear seized and stilled her as though she’d been frozen in glacial ice.

  The short one smiled slowly. “Good,” he said, satisfied, “you know what this is and what it does. If I see fur, I put you down.” He pointed the gun at Sasha’s face.

  She looked past it, aiming her own glare at the man with her own unspoken threat to rip the entails from his body the moment she got a chance.

  “Now be a good bitch and sit!”

  The man holding her legs loosened his grip, allowing her legs to slide to the floor. His companion dragged her backward then shoved her onto the bed, the aged springs shrieking in outrage.

  The humans’ movements were well coordinated. While one pushed her down, the other had his gun out, pointed at her, freeing up their leader, the vile man who spoke to Sasha as though she was a stray mutt. Firearm tucked away at his hip, he called out, “Casey, Andrew, are we secure?”

  “Front door secure, no sign of the three males,” a voice answered from outside the bedroom.

  “Back door secure, all clear,” a second, more distant, voice chorused.

  Sasha’s heart gave a sickening lurch. She kept her mouth clamped shut, eyes intent on her enemies, watching and listening to their movements. A patchy red rash covered the nose and cheeks on the man who had been holding her legs.

  “And now we wait,” their leader said.

  The tall, gangly man who had pushed Sasha down let his gaze rove over her body.

  “While we wait, can we have ourselves some tail?”

  Sasha leapt to her feet, snarling. The sound of a “click” did nothing to silence her. It wasn’t until the other man waved the firearm at her that she grit her teeth, standing her ground.

  Mangy cowards. Human savages. Such a shame they hadn’t all gone extinct. Instead, the worst of them had crawled out of the wreckage, like cockroaches.

  “No distractions,” the leader snapped. Glowering at Sasha, he lashed out. “And you, sit your ass back down before I change my mind and hump that scowl right off your face.”

  Sasha took a step back and sat slowly, never taking her eyes off the leader. From the corner of her eyes she saw the tall one shrug and mutter, “She’s already undressed.”

  “Hey, boss,” a voice called from the direction of the front door. “We’ve got movement. It’s the big one.”

  The leader strode out of the bedroom asking, “Is he alone?” as he left.

  “Affirmative.”

  “Good. He’s the one we want. What’s he doing?”

  “Walking down the street with a full backpack, and he’s even bigger up close. I think we should call him Rambo.”

  Their leader grunted from the hallway. “Don’t bother. You know that Hawk names all the dogs. Just keep him in your sights.”

  Inside the bedroom, the wretch with the filthy tongue raked his eyes over Sasha, fixating on her breasts.

  The ruddy-faced man shook his head at his companion.

  “Keep your pants on, Duke. You’ll get your reward back at the compound.”

  “Those weathered hags?” The gangly man named Duke leaned forward and leered at Sasha. “This one’s perfect, could have been a Playboy centerfold. For once I’d like to put my cock into something softer than tanned hide.”

  His companion shrugged. “Take it up with Hawk.”

  “It’s two days until the full moon,” Duke grumbled. “By the time we get back he’ll walk her straight to the breeding pens, probably give her to Cujo. Lucky dog gets all the best bitches. All I can hope for is a chance to watch.”

  Fur prickled beneath the surface of Sasha’s skin and claws extended toward her fingertips. As her wolf fought for release, she began to pant. She tried sucking air in through her nostrils, but it was no use. Her canines punched through her gums, an animalistic snarl joining them.

  The man holding the gun opened his mouth wide. “Uh, Duke? We have a problem.”

  “Oh, shit,” Duke said, pulling out his weapon. “It would be a shame to put a hot bitch down before she has a chance to breed.”

  Taking the time to fully shift would make her vulnerable for about fifteen seconds too long. Instead, she lunged at the ruddy-faced human, ducking right before he fired his weapon. Drywall exploded behind her as she tackled the man with a knee to the groin. He groaned in pain, lowering the gun.

  “Shit, he’s on the run!” came a cry from the front door.

  “Where’s he headed?” the man at the back door hollered.

  “He disappeared behind the house directly across the street from me.”

  As Sasha’s assailant doubled over, she laced her fingers together and slammed her fists over his wrist with a bone-bruising smack that knocked the gun out of his hand.

  The humans had taken her off guard when they slipped inside the house behind her; now it was her turn to throw them off balance. The one named Duke rushed toward her, gun lowered, despite threatening her with his firearm moments before. He punched a fist at her face, missing Sasha by a whole head as she dropped to her knees on the ground, snarling with anger and frustration. Her wolf wanted out so she could castrate the filth standing in front of her. With no seconds t
o spare, Sasha wrapped her arms around his legs and bit through fabric and flesh, pulling loose a chunk of thigh muscle with the help of her elongated canines. Duke shrieked. A second later he fired down at Sasha with a shaky hand.

  Wood splintered beside her knee. She released his leg, jumped up, and yanked the gun out of his fingers.

  “What the hell is going on in there?” the leader yelled. Heavy bootsteps slammed the floorboards, but before he could reach the bedroom, his man at the front door hollered.

  “He’s shifted and he’s huge. Boss, he’s running straight for us.”

  “Don’t shoot!” the leader yelled. “Bolt the door. Rusty, Duke, bring me the female if you haven’t fucking killed her already.”

  “Two wolves in back!” the man at the back door shouted.

  “Kill them,” their leader said.

  Shots exploded, followed by vicious growls from outside both ends of the house.

  “Shit, I think you angered Rambo.”

  “Bring me the female!” the leader screamed.

  While Duke pressed his palms against his bleeding thigh, his companion jerked upright, eyes still squeezed in pain. Sasha pointed the gun at him, glancing at the weapon in her hands. She’d seen the men stick their fingers through the hole on the other end. Jamming her finger through, she shook the gun at the ruddy-faced man who froze, eyes widening. When nothing happened, she shook it harder and squeezed. The shot thundered through her body, shattering her eardrums. Heart racing out of control, Sasha gasped for breath, feeling as though her throat had been ripped out and smashed against the wall alongside the wayward bullet.

  The roof cracked and shuddered above their heads, followed by a scuttling sound and cursing on the ground floor.

  “Holy, fuck, he’s on the roof. I’ve never seen one jump that high.”

  “If you have to shoot, shoot to harm, not to kill,” their leader said. “Andrew, what’s going on with the other two?”

  “They ran for cover, Boss.”

  “Hold your position. They come anywhere near the house, you put ’em down. Rusty, Duke, is one bitch too much to handle? Get her out here—now!”

  As the leader screamed the last word, the roof caved in and Aden came crashing down with a ferocious, ear-splintering growl. Plaster rained down from a hole above the hallway as Sasha ran out of the bedroom.

  Aden leapt on top of the man at the back door, taking him down with a snarl. The man screamed as Aden clawed open his back then tore in with his fangs, spraying blood over the faded wallpaper. Sasha’s feet pounded the floorboards as she raced toward Aden. With four men up front, the backdoor was their best way out.

  “Let’s go,” she screamed, running past Aden.

  She flung open the back door and ran into the glaring sunlight.

  Jack and Farley emerged from the shadows of a house with broken windows and peeling paint. When they ran snarling past Sasha, she put her fingers in her mouth and gave a shrill whistle. The two den wolves stopped, ears twitching, and turned to follow her as Aden raced out behind them. A gunshot cracked at their backs.

  “Careful,” the leader yelled.

  “He killed Andrew,” the other man yelled back.

  Sasha took in air by the lungfuls, not slowing until she dove around the house. Without waiting a second longer, she dropped to the ground and completed her shift. Black, gray, and white fur covered her body as her ears lifted and her muzzle lengthened. Duke’s blood still coated her tongue.

  Aden, Jack, and Farley guarded her until she was ready and then they ran between houses, weaving away from the small group of humans. There were no more shots fired as they sprinted toward the hills. The humans had no chance of catching up.

  They kicked up dust as they crossed the sandy plains then began the trek up the hill. Once their paws touched grass, they released a collective breath.

  After clearing the hill, they loped down the rest of the way to the caves.

  As soon as they reached the river, they waded in and stuck their muzzles into the water to drink, gulping down mouthfuls at a time. Water had never tasted so good. Sasha felt like a withered vine that had been revived. Once her thirst was quenched, she splashed across the river, racing ahead of the others, and shifted on the side that marked Wolf Hollow territory.

  Aden followed her. As Sasha stood on shaky legs, he rose, eyes poring over her as she did the same, inspecting one another for wounds.

  “They didn’t hurt me,” she said, blinking rapidly as though having just awoken from a nightmare.

  Once he’d shifted, Farley took a gasping breath. He stumbled over, rubbing his hands over his cheeks, followed by Jack, whose head jerked around, searching the area for hidden threats.

  “You two okay?” Aden asked.

  Jack pulled his attention away from the hills and nodded.

  “The bastards shot at us, but we weren’t hit. What happened?”

  They all looked at Sasha. It felt like ants were crawling all over her skin, making her itch everywhere at once.

  “They snuck into the house after me. I didn’t hear them until it was too late,” she said bitterly.

  Aden growled and gnashed his teeth together. “There were no signs of them yesterday. They must have wandered in after us this morning. Rotten timing.”

  “Well, no fresh clothes for the tribe,” Jack grumbled.

  “At least we’re all okay,” Farley said, eyes sliding back to Sasha questionably.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted. “I even managed to take a chunk of flesh out of one. Aden killed another.”

  “Better them than us,” Jack said.

  Farley nodded. “Makes me appreciate my parents’ decision to join a wolf pack in the wilderness. Our way of life is hard, but at least we’ve built a community.”

  “Well, better get back on all fours and head for the glade. Jager won’t be happy,” Jack said.

  Aden stood rigid beside the river. “You two go ahead. Sasha and I will catch up.”

  Jack frowned. “We should stick together, especially after encountering those humans.”

  “We’ll catch up,” Aden repeated.

  With a low grumble, Jack nodded at Farley as they got onto their hands and knees, shifted, and trotted toward the glade.

  Aden strode over to Sasha, stopping a foot away. The way his eyes searched hers turned her breath ragged.

  “You’d tell me if they put their hands on you?”

  Sasha knew what he meant. He wanted to know if they had raped her. They hadn’t, but given the chance, they would have handed her over to another shifter to breed. What vile purpose could humans have for breeding pups?

  Her heart beat wildly, caught in her throat like a moth struggling to free itself from a spider’s entangled web. Angry tears sprang over her eyes at the injustice. She’d narrowly escaped, but from the sounds of it, other shifters hadn’t been so lucky.

  Sasha blinked and shook her head. “You’re the one they wanted. I think they cornered me to get to you.”

  Aden’s shoulders relaxed as he nodded. “They probably wanted me for their fights.”

  Sasha squinted at him, confused.

  “Human entertainment,” Aden clarified. “Pitting wolves against dogs and other wild animals, including wolves against wolves. They must have been beside themselves to come across a werewolf.”

  Sasha shook her head, stomach roiling at what kind of sick people could force shifters to breed and fight for sport.

  “I don’t think they knew what you were.”

  Aden grunted.

  Sasha watched the gentle flow of the river, allowing it to pull her gaze into its depths.

  “I’ve never seen humans up close like that before. The things they said—” Her words floated away with the current. She didn’t want to repeat what she’d heard.

  “I wish I’
d killed them all,” Aden said.

  Sasha looked up. “I wish we both had.”

  “At least you all made it back unharmed,” Jager said.

  Dressed in the clothes they’d left behind that morning, Sasha, Aden, Jack, and Farley stood outside Jager’s hut, along with the hollow’s elders.

  Palmer paced beside a small firepit, smacking his fist into his open palm.

  “We have to keep this quiet for now. Hector and Alexa only just arrived—Raider is showing them around the den as we speak—and we’ve waited too long for Hector to visit Wolf Hollow to give him any reason to doubt joining our pack.”

  Garrick cracked his knuckles. “Then it’s settled. Everyone keeps their mouths shut.”

  Farley narrowed his eyes. “I don’t keep secrets from my mate.”

  “If Tanya can hold her tongue, it should be fine,” Palmer said, likely because he planned on telling Francine first thing.

  “No one better jeopardize this pairing, especially not mates,” Garrick’s voice boomed.

  Jack folded his arms over his chest, glaring at Garrick.

  Jager cleared his throat. “We will tell the pack what happened after the full moon.” His eyes sparkled when he looked at Sasha. “You have a big night ahead of you tomorrow, Sasha.”

  “Best get a head start tonight,” Garrick said under his breath, but not low enough for anyone to miss. “No sense wasting a perfectly good full moon.”

  Bile rose up Sasha’s throat. She tasted the vole from early that morning along with Duke’s blood and swallowed the foul mixture back down. The trees darkened in the fading light, their lengthening shadows closing in on her. She felt outnumbered, trapped back in that stale room with yet another group of men deciding her fate.

  Aden shook his head. “Thank heavens those mongrels didn’t get to Sasha.”

  “Yes, soon she will be safe in the den,” Jager said.

  Aden tried flashing her a comforting smile, but his warm gaze was lost on her, swallowed into the horizon with the setting sun. She’d wanted so desperately for him to care about her, but clearly his concern had more to do with Hector and the strength of the pack.